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rvroberts

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Everything posted by rvroberts

  1. If the Helix system is out of space..........You might have to export your patches in small groups. Try to export just one - if that works - there's your problem - if you can't export one - it's some other problem. OH, maybe it's a good idea to be on an empty patch when you try too - if you are really out of DSP I think it loads dynamically - so it might be that simple - go to an empty patch before export. Just ideas - no Idea if it will solve your problem - but worth a try!
  2. So almost totally unrelated..........but........here I go anyhow!! Just because someone on YouTube says - Global EQ is just for live - doesn't make it so! Yes, I agree it's not doing anything to your USB signal. Different situation if you plug into an interface though. Mind you I'd love that style of EQ as a module. But - I personally found that Global EQ (used sanely) is a great way to put all my patches "in the ball park" pretty much instantly. (Cuts built in!) I don't ever change it live - I long ago learnt that a guitar player on stage making decisions for the sound in the room is a mistake - a boomy stage is just as likely a hollow floor under the stage and has nothing to do with out front sound. I do a few things to deal with that stuff though - My wedges (FRFRish and running off the Helix outs) face me. They have basic EQ where I can make changes that are quick and don't effect the FOH. I put isolation under them. I find that the sound I get is very consistent. I might tweak the bass or top a little given time - but if I don't its still very acceptable - much more so than it used to be with traditional amps. This works - FOH guys are always complimentary. They can pull my guitar up flat and be pretty much ready to go. Obviously there are other ways to "skin a cat" - but that's how I do it. There is no rule here.
  3. I'd be very concerned about that! From a quick read = With a 500mA load, the 529i will power your pedalboard for 4 hours on a single charge. So, drawing more than 500mA will deplete your battery faster. Doesn't sound like a solution before you get into will it actually run the Stomp from a volts and currant perspective. ( it looks like the doubler doubles the Voltage to 18V - there is still the same actual amount of storage) I'd personally not be happy with that just running a few pedals. From sound check till end of gig can easily be more than 4 hours - and you just have to forget to turn it off!
  4. Well, I believe 12dB is 12dB an octave. So if you place a 12dB roll off at 80Hz, it is 24dB at 40Hz and 36dB at 20Hz. In a real world sense, that seems to do the trick! I don't think anything in the Helix does more. I do regularly use high and low cuts and then also use another EQ (so I'm free to ad cut upon cut) I like the Cali Q Graphic simply because those frequencies are so well placed for tone sculpting and I generally have the 80Hz pulled down a bit too (-5dB being typical - but that's because I hate boom and play with a keyboard player using big sounds and try to keep out of the way! Obviously the Cali Q is not a fine tuner - but it's a surprisingly good tone shaper. I've never needed more than that.
  5. Hi, the above answer is good and I'm only wanting to clarify. Amp models and cabs are intended to be used with FRFR (Full Range Flat Response) systems. An amp and cab - any amp and cab will not work well for that as they are reducing and EQing the frequency range on purpose. The full range of a guitar needs this - Guitar amps and suitable speaker cabs remove bottom and lots of tops and this make a tone we like to hear. If you run an Amp sim and a speaker simulation (IR) through an amp and cab - you are repeating this process - doubling up - so you are taking out even more top and bottom and probably doing other stuff like creating harmonics etc. This results in a muffled sound. If you liked the sound of your Marshall - use Helix products as pedal boards - no amp or cabs - just effects. (note - the Valve state is a mostly solid state amp - some just aren't great pedal platforms!) If not - probably you need to think about going FRFR - definitely if you want to change amps for different songs etc. Oh, agree totally - don't change those pickups - excellent humbuckers - unless you want to sound like a strat! - in which case get a strat!
  6. The above answer is 100% correct. What you might not realise is it applies to almost every parameter on the Helix. Snapshots don't just turn things on and off - you could totally change the amp gain and the echo level too - just for an example.
  7. I don't use HXFX (I'm a Helix floor guy) and I don't play bass!! But..... The Floor has a pedal, so there are arguments for using it and maybe using it as a Wah. The HXFX doesn't. If I was concerned about the feel and operation of the pedal, I'd use a real Wah - the one I like best. Otherwise you will be limited to one particular Mission Control pedal I suspect that may not be everything you want (not that one as a Volume pedal wouldn't be a good idea) So I'd use the wah I know and love!
  8. rvroberts

    When?

    Interesting reaction. I'm not attempting to get into a this device does these limited things better than that discussion. The Helix was a great response however many years ago that was.............and it still does the business. But its technology. The whole market segment was brand new back then - but it's not anymore. Obviously it is bad business to discuss new products before anything is getting very close to being finalised and just about ready to ship - so I'm not looking for Line 6 to say - "oh, interesting you should speculate - we are working flat out on Helix II or whatever - and hope to have the new product out in 6 month" All I've said was - it's got to be in the works - it won't be the Helix we know for ever! If there had been any information, it might have been interesting to know.
  9. rvroberts

    When?

    Thanks for the clarification. Regarding Helix MK!!......... If Line 6 is too slow to the party the opposition will start to take over. I think they can't afford to be as slow as the first generation - after all, that was a different world in so many ways. Fractal are up to V3 and their floor pedal is a price and feature competitor to Helix floor. Then there are the other contenders like Quad Cortex Neural DSP Processing power allows for increased bit depth - storage costs increase the space needed/available for those bigger files........ Technology moves on...... If you were getting into this universe now, Helix is not such a clear choice. I share everyone's concern about protecting their investment in the ecosystem, but time moves quickly..........
  10. rvroberts

    When?

    Surely there are 2 questions.......... When the next Helix software/hardware update And When the next generation Helix? Which one are you talking about?
  11. Unfortunately hubs are a problem. and from personal experience not all hubs are created equal. I recently bought a reasonably expensive hub. It lets me make all the connections I want to make. But it turns out I can’t get 4K monitor support ( although it is supposed to work) so I bought a midrange USB-c to HDMI cable and that works 100%. My point is that usb hubs are just a minefield of pain- there are lots of YouTube videos on it. So all you can do is buy a USB-c to Helix USB and hope it works- some here might have a common brand to point you at? Otherwise, you are stuck with trial and error as all the cables say they work and many don’t!!
  12. IR management could be better - yes - it is clear the Helix designers in the early stages expected you would probably use the inbuilt cabs and IRs were just an "extra" option - so not fantastically implemented. I suspect this is a design issue as a good solution has not happened and probably would have if the possibility were there in the core software design. For personal management, it's up to you to do some form of sane file management - like giving your IRs a number so you know which slot to put them in. But, really guys, it's totally academic and not worth getting excited about! Given all the parameters that can affect your tone and the result that things will sound totally different on different systems - any logical IR is a good starting point. That's kind of what a few people above who suggest you try certain IR sets are really saying - the IR you use might actually sound better on your rig than the one used by whoever created the patch to begin with. Thinking in a "fixed" way about tone is a real mistake - you don't have to do it exactly the same as someone else - and even if you do, the differences in your rig will no doubt not leave you hearing what they heard anyhow!
  13. You will have your computer audio coming out of the headphone out on the Helix if you use it as your audio device. But Bluetooth audio has a delay. As far as I know, it is totally unavailable. Wired headphones into the headphones input on the Helix works fine although some models don’t match well for impedance. that results in thin sound, but most work fine. it’s the best way by far - short of running everything into a mixer - for quiet practice.
  14. I’m going to make a guess here….. load an old preset that works, remove everything, rename it to something like empty, and copy to all the extra slots
  15. Well you could- depending on availability slots and DSP, but I suspect you would just be creating needles pain! what most of us seek is to get a great sound on stage and hope the audience is hearing something similar. This is already a place where trusting the soundie’s ears and tastes is probably not giving us total satisfaction! setting up cabs for direct to PA is pretty hard when you are not connected to said PA (before that sound person gets plugged into the chain). most soundies are used to miking an amp. So that keeps things simple. you would need an FRFR system running loud ( preferably with rest of the band playing too) to set up a better guess for front of house sounds. Or a full PA and band with a lot of patience to get to a better place. This is one argument for full FRFR systems. At least what you hear on stage then is likely to be similar to what’s out front. Not that you can still know, my setup is Full FRFR, and has been proven over time and gigs, but I’ve heard recording of the band where FOH has still screwed my sound. so unless you want to go full FRFR (and go through totally rebuilding all your tones), I’d just keep it simple!!
  16. rd2rk has essentially answered the question. A lot of people seem truely concerned about stuff that doesn't matter. Helix amps might as well be preamps - they are just models and don't put out a level that is incompatible with a power amp. Using a poweramp (Katana) that is not full range may result in the model not sounding exactly as intended - but it still might sound good. So try it. If you like it - then you are done - if you really think it's important to produce accurate models of real world amps - go FRFR - but even then you will need to adjust based on the fact that no FRFR is 100% perfect at all volume levels.
  17. So you have left out some vital info...... Are you listening through speakers connected to the Mac, or are you using speakers connected to the Helix? I'm using a mac. I have my speakers connected to the Helix. I use HX Edit to control the Helix. (HX Edit seems to be necessary) I have Helix audio selected as my input and output normally, although I think it only matters that it's my output. I feed my stereo amp/speakers from the headphone jack - gives me a master volume control on the Helix (guitar and Mac audio because my Mac audio is going through the Helix) I have volume control of the material coming from the Mac on the Mac - but I always have a volume pedal in all my patches - that means I can match my guitar level using the volume pedal or increase volume on the Mac - both work. I'm not using an M1 mac (last of the intel models.......) but am running latest OS. I've never used any drivers other than native Mac audio. I can't tell you if there is any discernible difference from the normal outputs and the headphone outs, but I'm pretty happy with the results I get when I plug into my FRFR and PA (using main output jacks and XLRs)- I've now got something that gives me pretty much what I'm expecting. ( I do have good studio monitors) One thing I find is USB-c cables on Macs are very fussy - you seem to need a good cable to get a reliable connection - I've used some adaptors with mixed results. I personally don't think drivers are your issue - more likely the master slave relationship of the audio interface. (I'm assuming you aren't using a seperate interface only the Helix and are connecting the Mac by USB?)
  18. I think what you suggest above - plug into the Helix and basically just use the stereo power section is probably the way to go. I don't think you will find the Helix chorus models in stereo through the same amp and speakers inferior to the JC - never done it - but that is my suspicion. Plus you can then control those parameters per patch/snapshot. I also find mixing effects extends the quality of them - so one of my favourites is to use the harmonic Flanger down the end of my signal chain - so you have a chorus pedal doing the more obvious chorus effect, and the Harmonic flanger after any distortion/amp overdrive just subtly adding more dimension. In stereo obviously! Also some delays with modulation do that as well. I hear stuff about delay based effects not being as good as this or that pedal, but it always seems to me that the solution is just to use more than one! Normal thinking would be not to use speaker/cab simulation in this setup............which is where I'd start - but there are no rules, and you might find that a certain speaker sim is just giving you a tasteful midrange push that still works through the JC - so don't think it's wrong, just not likely to produce an accurate model of the speaker you use - but good doesn't have to be accurate - just good to your ears. Same goes for amp models - they are never going to sound accurate to the amp they are meant to emulate - but they still might sound good.......and probably a very organic way to add overdrive sounds..........again, use your ears - I have used an amp model for a gain pedal before - it's just another alternative. But start simple and build up your experience of the rig logically......so you actually get to know what effect each module can have on the total sound.
  19. Oh, you do know how to enable individual parameters to save in snapshots? Just checking.....
  20. This sounds strange. Are you saving your snapshots correctly? Can you normally turn the Helix off and back on and your snapshots stay as they were? I would just set up 2 snapshots, then save them and restart your Helix. If that works fine then you are either OK - or you are doing something wrong - or your Helix is faulty, (and as some information is being saved, that does not sound likely.) If you can't turn the thing on and off, you need to hit save twice before leaving that preset........see if that works. If not, time to put in a support ticket.
  21. Then do yourself a favour and look at a few videos on 4 cable method and give it a try! There's a lot of "noise" in this thread - just try it! Can't be bothered looking for the best video on the subject, but chances are this one is good enough!
  22. Hi, I suspect you problem is about gain staging. So the first question is do you have any headroom left in your amp? If you run it already into overdrive with the master well up, you might not have enough headroom to make much of a difference. Referring to the above post, in the good old days, if you were already driving you non master volume stack into crunch, you really didn't get muck/any volume increase when you increased the drive - but then you hoped your FOH guy (who used to be close to being another member of the band) knew when to push up your volume. If you are maintaining headroom (you could turn up your amp and get more volume), then you can get a solo boost. You won't get that from putting a gain pedal in front of your amp unless you are running totally clean. When you say you are running 2 cable - are you saying you feed the Helix into the effects return of the front of the amp? If the front of the amp, and the preamp is already at crunch level, you can't get a volume boost. You need to be running into the FX return (probably 4 cable system, unless you just want to use your expensive amp as a power amp and not for it's sound) So let me try to make that a bit clearer - Your amp has a preamp and a power amp - between those is the fx send and return. Now most gain sounds come (especially on a modern amp like the Dual Rec) from the preamp. The gain sound is created by pushing the preamp into clipping - as in driving it till its past maximum volume. So more gain - on the amp or from a pedal in front won't give you more volume - in fact the heavily overdriven sound probably cuts through less (you talk about dropping lows for cut - that's a kind of workaround) Now it is very likely your power amp is not working flat out (or you play extremely loud!). So it is very possible turning up you power amp will actually increase your volume - generally if you can turn up the master and get more volume, that is the control on your power amp. So - if you run in 4 cable method, you can increase the level going to your power amp - that is effectively turning up the master and will give you a solo boost. It can be as simple as a send and return with a boost (try 3dB) on the return in your Helix. Obviously you need to be connecting that send and return to your FX loop on the amp! Hence 4 cable method. If you start doing that, you will almost certainly discover that delays and reverbs (chorus and flange etc) also work better in the FX send chain. There are lots of videos on youtube about 4 cable method......time to study up!
  23. I’m going to suggest there are better pedals. brass players often find doubling and harmony effects very useful, and these are not Helix’s best attributes. there are other digital devices out there for vocals and brass that offer more of that stuff along with chorus, flange, delay and reverb and some do distortion and wah too. But their main thing is they are built for a mic input and enhancing that type of stuff.
  24. OK - not an IT expert - but - Helix devices are automatically detected by Apple OS. You don't need the Mac Helix driver - it is (as far as I know) not totally out of date. I don't use it and I suspect not many do. The Helix is compliant with the USB audio system (Quartz?) that Macs use. What your system names the Helix is really no problem - it is possible that your 3rd party software renamed the devices to pass them through it's code.......but I can't imagine that is a problem - that the native driver is in use is fine - not a problem - the Mac driver was a quick fix for a problem back in history. It's not better quality or anything. If you still have the device recognised and it performs normally (with the native system), you have nothing to worry about. If you no longer can use some other functionality that's different - but not what you are saying here? If you can go to the system preferences and still select your device - all good! (but you are using a very out of date version of the OS - and expect problems with various software in the future as your old OS is no longer supported.)
  25. Regarding the extra or parallel path…. You need to use a splitter- think of it as a y cable with mixing capabilities ( a 2 channel mixer) and you can control that mix with snapshots if you like so it can be a switch or a mix. What most of us use this for is things like dual cabs. So you can have a cab of greenbacks and a cab of V30s with different mics. Next step up might be a delay or other processing on each cab. Also, it’s a place to put extra pedals when you fill the path and you just need another pedal! Be careful with that mixing capability though, I can’t tell you how often you read some post like “my x pedal seems to be leaking into my clean tone”. If you don’t set the mix on the extra path, anything might be happening! Unfortunately, dual amps tend to be not something you mostly can do on a parallel path as you tend to run out of DSP, so most dual amp rigs will use both paths. And that can get a bit tricky where you might be forced to run double pedals so you can feed say chorus to both amps. It’s fine for wet/dry rigs, but if you want say 5 pedals feeding 2 different amps, it can tie you in the odd logistical knot! So there are limitations, still there are a huge range of options!! Subtle effects like mixing 2 chorus effects are also possible but often putting the 2 pedals on one path and using the pedal mix, can get hard to tell the difference- until you add the idea of stereo!! My other advise- don’t get too lost in this stuff- playing music is the final aim, not disappearing into tweaker land!
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