rvroberts

Hey Dunedindragon, I think you are correct as far as it goes - but I find half the problems are from people with no idea of studios, and the other half have no idea of analogue gear! When people ask stuff related to pedals and amps, a lot of it is because they have no experience of a range of valve amps with a batch of pedals. Cause you can do anything in the Helix, (and sometimes breaking all the rules can do something interesting) people ask weird stuff like why does my wah sound weird after my delay. Why does my marshall sim distort above 5........I'm possibly over exaggerating, but half the stuff here is like that. How do I get the sound of so and so.............Ever thought of looking at a video of them and see what they use on stage to get that sound? So it is a mix - lack of studio knowledge but also lack of real world amp experience - which is half of what we are simulating. Incidentally, I think that if you got enough power in your FRFR setup, you can get a pretty solid kick in the guts 4x12 felling if that's what you are after...... Obviously though most of the sounds people point at are the result of an amp and some pedals, mic'd, compressed, EQ'd and delayed in some way..... after the amp.........they just don't realise that. Just sit in a mastering suite for a few hours.

If you don't want to use your stereo system, Ik Multimedia iloud could be a possibility. Any compact full range device will work - stereo is nice though........lots of lovely delay and reverb, chorus etc in stereo........ I'd probably avoid some of the wireless systems though, they seem to have too much latency for playing guitar.

Hi Phil, There is no way! People talk of meters, but you said it at the start of your question. Perceived volume is the only one that counts when you are on stage with a band. Some sounds cut really well and some get lost - if a sound is getting lost even when you have the volume well pushed, you probably need to look at it's EQ as well as volume. What I did was find one sound that was really typical - for me that was a mid crunch - and then jumped back and forward at band level (I went into the rehearsal studio an hour before the rest turned up) and jumped back and forward from patch to patch trying to get it as close as possible. Then when the band turned up, that had put me in the ball park, but still maybe 80%. So since then I tweak anything that doesn't seem to cut through - and that will be both volume and EQ. Generally if I'm just stalling everyone on an odd occasion, they live with my fiddling! I also have a volume pedal set to global volume at the end of every patch - so I can make adjustments depending on the stage and the typical volume creep of a band over the night...... It works well - but no silver bullet!

I would be trying to get to the bottom of what it is that I like about my old valve amp - read and youtube all you can, and see if I can get something very similar out of the Helix. I have to say that I find the Helix superior to any valve amp I ever had - but that is because I like a produced sound - I keep saying in posts here that I realise some people like that raw punch in the guts of a valve amp that's cooking and moving a lot of speaker area. And I understand that from using Marshalls and Voxs over the years. What always bugged me was that you couldn't get the spatial spread you could in the studio - that it sounded different on every stage, and that it ended up 1 gig in 10 where all the magic happened. I'm so happy to have a predictable sound now - I'm so happy to know it is what people hear out front, and because I'm monitoring in stereo, I stand bathed in a broad wash of sound that I totally enjoy while knowing the rest of the band aren't damaging their ears trying to hear themselves over me (and the escalating noise as everyone compensates with their volume knob!) There are still special nights and so so nights - but that's now up to me and the other members of the band - I've eliminated bad sound as one of those reasons. On that perfect night with a valve amp was it better? - I'll never know, because I can't relive the experience with an A/B switch! What I do know is I can get a Marshall rock based sound out of the Helix that does it for me - I can get a cutting edge that does what I always loved about my Vox and I can now enjoy an American clean when I want one - all in the one song if I really wanted to! Never could have done that in the "good old days"!

I think if you opened it up and sprayed stuff in it, you got to live with the color problem..........I'm betting Line 6 would say warranty void. If you had returned it and they sprayed it - it would be their problem. Sounds minor, and I know we sometimes just need a quick fix! No downtime seems a decent result to me!

Well, any power amp! You got 1/4in and XLRs out - and at instrument or mic or line level - something for any occasion! I'm assuming your 2x12 is a guitar cab? Then you won't be able to use IRs or Helix cabs - so you start to limit your sound a fair bit - speakers make a lot of the sound you hear. Then it's all an argument with 100 answers - solid state - with a ton of headroom vs Valve (tube) with less............ Do yourself a favour - if you are willing to explore what the Helix can really do for you - and learn to tailor your sound using FRFR. Then you can send what you hear to the front of house in pristine quality - with a 2x12 guitar cab - you might as well mic it - and waste half of what makes the Helix so great. If you want to feel old fashioned kick in the guts power - and you actually play places where you can be that loud - then get a valve power amp........a big one!

You connected the Helix to a speaker cabinet? It's an amplifier simulator - but it's not an amp! You need to have an amplifier to power the helix - generally they are built in to a FRFR box - or you use the effects return on a guitar amp. But it needs amplification.

You are in the Netherlands? Interesting - I would have thought you would have legal protection. I'm in Australia, and do worry that if I have a problem, the turn around time for repair could be a big problem. Any technology can fail - nothing is perfect - I've had a reasonably new Mac laptop die too. Getting a replacement for a device 60 days old will always be a problem, but legally in Australia it would be considered not fit for purpose, and would need replacing - the responsibility would be firstly with the Retailer. But that legal position doesn't solve all problems - the retailer can only say that a replacement isn't available. Also, Line 6 may have a different view on who is responsible - which is the retailer's problem, but if I'm the retailer, I want to try really hard to pass that problem to you! I can see that having a supply of replacement Helixes at convenient locations all over the world is probably unlikely, so those of us in smaller markets are always taking a bigger chance on technology! What do Line 6 have to say? We need a solution - and 2 Helixes is an expensive solution!!

Is the Helix the winner for those who know both well - of cause it is! Why would anyone upgrade if that were not the case? But everything that's said above is also true - it's all about how well you take advantage of it. This particular reviewer at about the time of that video went out of his way to trash the Helix in a variety of reviews where he compared it to other units like the Fractal. I love his body language...........do you get anything from that?? But simply what I said at the top is the truth - you can make any unit look good or bad - just depends on how you go about it. So is the Helix better than the Fractal AX8? or the Kemper? Very hard to say - they all can sound great! Which either makes it a great time to be alive, or a massive dilemma that's going to bug you for ever! If that's how you see your glass half empty!

When you hear stuff like this or that amp is "fizzy" you are hearing an inexperienced user who hasn't figured out the EQ yet. (personal opinion!) Full range speakers (FRFR) need to have the non-guitar amp highs pulled out - those comments are by people who haven't figured that out. The Amps are great - when you know what you are doing - and you expect to hear them treated as they are when you put a mic on a cab and sit in the control room. It's a "recorded sound" which most of us think is better than an loud amp with directional speakers hitting us in the head! It is the sound you hear from guitarists you love when you hear them recorded or produced through a decent PA and a sound guy who knows what he/she is doing......... I used to use a lot of upmarket pedals - and I don't any more.......so the internal effects are good. I'm not keen on outboard gain boxes though - but between the internal gain boxes and the subtle drive possibilities of the range of amps, I've not found myself missing my Lovepedal Eternity. Having said that, if you own a Strymon Delay/reverb or similar - you might want to keep that. The big difference is you might put it after the amp and cab - to give you a wider sound - especially for cleaner sounds - exactly like you would in the studio. So there will be a bit of learning curve and some need to rethink what you are doing (think studio) - but you should love it! If you are playing through an amp at the moment, you might have one killer clean sound and a few variations due to modulation and delay - now the core clean sound is open to lots of variation too.........try a lot of the amps that overdrive nicely - but run them at the clean end - or just on the edge - add a little compression.......mix it out through 2 totally different cabs - with slightly different reverb on each....... a hint of modulation.......heaven!

Try the Litigator Amp model - add a Tube screamer if you run it cleanish.

Hi, I got straight into the Helix with very little problem. I think that is because I've used a wide range of amps and pedal in my playing career. The Helix just simulates them - it is pretty much that simple! Now, I think I'm hearing 2 types of problems from new users - those with a live amp and pedalboard background and just don't get that the Helix is that in a recording studio, and people who don't have the real world analogue experience and therefore don't know how to put amps and pedals together. Sounds like you are from the second group? I think the presets are a great place to start. I also think there are some great presets to download from people like Glenn DeLaune - at a price - be cautious of some of the freebies, they can be more trouble than they are worth - some are great - but you are not yet ready for figuring that out! That gets you up and running. Then, I think you should go look at "That Pedal Show" on YouTube - (start at their early shows) you will learn tons of stuff about pedals and amps in the real world - and it almost all translates 100% to the Helix. There are also plenty of videos on building patches etc - take your time and enjoy!

The Helix Control is not able to be connected to the Helix Floor unit or the LT. It is designed to give the rack unit a similar control to the Floor unit. You have almost the same control on the LT except for scribble strips.......which are cool, but maybe not all that better in practice to the display you get on the LT. (I'd be interested to see what others who have both think after a little familiarity......... I hope the scribble strips still win out, because, as I don't connect a lot of outboard gear, there might be no reason why the LT couldn't do the job totally for me - which would make me the expensive early adopter I seem to be!) I don't see how you could use the Floor unit, although, an extension set of pedals might well be useful if the Helix API can use more controllers. Anyhow, the Floor Control is not that! I do believe that you can use another midi pedal for extra control if you need it...........

Well, it would be normal in a high gain situation to only use reverb in a studio situation following the rule - more gain is less reverb. I personally love reverb with a gained sound, but you use it like a studio recording does - after the amp, cab and Mic. Try it as the last thing in your chain - you should have great sounding reverb.

Kind of like renaming any folder on a computer??.................

Not sure what you are saying - if you mean that when you change a snapshot or turn off a delay in stomp mode you don't have delay trails continue naturally.......yes you do if you turn on trails. Is that what you are talking about?

I use 2 B112s in stereo as my FRFR and it works great! Simply set your global EQ so that you have a big cut below 100hz (maybe even 120hz) and another drastic cut above about 5.5Khz. I also put a slight kick at around 2K for extra presence and cut - just a little. I'm getting great sound. You will need to do something similar with any FRFR (you can do it per patch and different IRs need it more or less) but that global setting does the trick for me and I still get plenty of variation from patch to patch, IR to IR. Now how much better one of the best FRFR boxes - the Mission or the CLR seeming to be the top choices - I'd be keen to quantify - there and none available in my part of the world to test. But I'm going to be controversial and say that well EQ'd it's not that big of a deal! Atomic, you are welcome to send me one to prove otherwise!!!

I can't answer all your problems. I can explain some things though. I also think that the Helix is probably not the world's best effects switcher in fact as I will describe later it is not really a switcher at all! But that is not what you are asking......... The way something like a Tube Screamer reacts with your amp is based on a batch of stuff - firstly, it has a specific mid hump which is what gives the fat sound with cut. Then it generally is also pushing the front end of your amp and those 2 things together are more important than the drive level. Now you don't say what you are doing inside the Helix chain - if you wanted the same effect, you would start with absolutely nothing else in that chain - only the Tube Screamer patched into the in and out. Then you would need to send the screamer about the same level as your guitar output. You would know that when the distortion sounded the same as you are used to. Then you would need to send exactly the same level that the screamer outputs to your amp. Again you would have to adjust output level until you were getting the same level of drive into the front of your amp. All that is possible, but tricky to set up as you have nothing to measure each part of the chain with and the Helix is not a simple switcher - it is doing an analogue to digital conversion on the way in and the reverse on the way out - again complicating the matching of levels. I does that because it is intended that you will combine the outboard effect with internal effects. - that does not sound like what you are trying to do? It can be very hard to have a drive pedal behave exactly the same as it did not connected to the Helix. Delay and Chorus etc are better at playing in that environment. I'm also wondering why you aren't using the screamer built into the Helix - you would at least have a little more control? And don't think it can't do the job - give it a good try first. I'm actually wondering what you use the Helix for? (I'm assuming it is not just as an effects switcher? - if so you probably bought the wrong device...) You do realise that as you describe the way you have things set up running into the front of an AC30 (which doesn't have any effects send and return unless it's a version I've not seen - see 4 cable method) you can not get a lot from the Helix? You can't just put a Marshall model into your AC30 and get a Marshall really........let alone a Blackface Fender! It's always going to sound a lot like an AC30! Probably an amp model in the front will sound like a drive pedal actually...............

Who told you your machine can't run Sierra? Your model is - Model: MacBookPro9,2 See here for supported mac - http://www.everymac.com/mac-answers/macos-sierra-faq/macos-sierra-1012-compatible-macs-system-requirements.html Yours is supported. Not that I'm sure that is your problem - seemed from a quick look it could not find a component while starting - which would mean it is not correctly installed or your operating system is damaged. I would update to a more recent OS anyhow - not Sierra if you have a lot of old software, and you should then reinstall the updater without a problem. Take it to the Genius bar if you aren't comfortable doing it yourself.

As the LT is exactly the same processors as the Helix Rack and floor just in a different box without a few I/Os and knobs, I assume it comes with exactly the same 2.20 firmware and presets as the Helix - so there should be no difference to hear!

I personally would not get the Helix as a replacement for the M13. If you want all the extra capability from I/O to amp switching or more importantly, you want to replace your amp and go FRFR. then go Helix - but if you just want an effects unit to stick in front of your amp - stay with the M13. If you buy the Helix though, you can keep the M13 and still use any sound you like from it - patch it into the one of the send/return loops - no reason to ditch it if it makes some sounds you love. The Helix does a huge range of sounds, and it will do a lot more organic stuff than the M13 - like real amp distortion rather than overdrive - but it is not the most comprehensive range of effects on the planet!

This is an example of something I'm seeing a fair bit of on the forum. There is a sense that a poster deserves to have their problem attended to - almost like they are paying someone for support rather than asking a favour........ There are real and complex problems - there are things that are not well explained in the Heix-verse and there are ideas and concepts that might be worth discussing/debating. I think that's what this forum should encourage. I equally think it is unacceptable for a new user to expect to get full attention without any attempt to learn about the piece of technology they have just bought. I think most of us solve the majority of our problems with the manual, google and Youtube. I think that's as it should be. Then what you get on the forum should be the stuff that isn't really easy to get on the above. Line 6 could help by directing all new users to a batch of YouTube videos that get them up and running. Being abusive should be an offence that can have you removed. I have been on other technical forums where well documented questions just get RTFM. People here are a lot more patient than that - but there is a danger that a place where there is too much noise is somewhere experienced users start to drift away from.

Seems those who don't like the editor on a computer don't like the delay. Well, if you get everything you want from the Helix controls - you don't need the editor. But I suspect that is many people not using the computer for its strength as a computer. You can use folders in the interface to keep multiple slight variations of a patch as you tweak away - so it's never hard to go back (nothing to do with using the Helix - its to do with managing files on a computer). You can load 10 variations into some empty slots on your Helix and flick through them to see what really works. You can have the same patch with a batch of different IRs. Let me explain - I have a folder that is just for tests - copy patch_v1, then make a change, then copy patch_v2 etc - none of it is taking up any space on the Helix until I decide to run some side by side comparisons. You need to know that you might want to do that before you start if you are editing on the Helix itself. And it is definitely more time consuming to do file management on the Helix. I also find I feel that I am able to get a finer control - even if I have to resort to numbers sometimes. There are problems that are computer/Helix related.....USB connectivity of the Helix seems a bit flaky - it works 100% perfect with my Laptop (Macbook Pro) but often won't even connect with my iMac - so you obviously need a good solid USB experience - and maybe - I'm not using your gear so I can't compare - your experience regarding delay is different to mine...... But I love the editor!

I can see your point and at the start of my Helix exploration, I had some similar pain. That is why I embraced the editor as soon as it was useful! I just can't imagine going back to editing on the controls! I fact I've pretty much forgotten how! You can make changes and do saves - you can keep a folder of backups so at any stage of the process so you can go back easily - you got to use the editor to back up and update anyhow - just get used to it - it has a slight update visually thing some people get frustrated with, but the actual changes are almost instantaneous - and I love it! You still can't access all your globals......which I think is a bit of a cop out - but day to day that's little concern. Seriously, I know they sell the Helix on how fantastic it is to edit your patches on the "user friendly" device- but you sound like you don't find editing on it a joy - and neither did I - use the Editor!

You do have the cabs on different paths?