BBD_123

Interesting - will try that later - thanks :-)

I'm into my second year with Helix and I still haven't stopped marveling at how good it is. Nor am I even remotely close to having explored it all, or in all likelihood, learned how to get the very best out of it yet. So I'm endlessly baffled by people griping about updates. To me, they are the gravy on the pie. Maybe it's an age thing - I'm 53, and spent decades dealing with the many shortcomings of various amps and cabs and pedals. To have that all just... go away has been a quietly but profoundly life-enhancing experience :-)

Hiwatt 100 is a nice amp for clean tones.

As well as a lack of critical perspective, there's the 'chain of ineptitude': silly pickups, too much gain right from the git-go (guitar pad off instead of on), high-gain amps wide open and not enough high cut at the end of the chain... you reap what you sow :-)

+1 :-)

Sure, got that, but what I don't get is the 'ratty' tail that the OP at TGP got. I suspect some fuzz blocks might put it there, though, but not the amp blocks if basic setup is okay...

What are you playing (pickup type) and what are you monitoring through? This is a JB bridge, tone and vol wide open, into Helix with guitar pad ON, Placater dirty, master vol at 12 o'clock, monitoring through Beyerdynamic 770 pros 80 ohm... Can you hear fizz in this through your rig? Open a new preset and double-click and the patch should load direct to Helix Edit. Placater squirrl.hlx

Well, yes, as channel volume is nothing to do with the modelling of the amp power stage. But for me, at least, that's the point. Keeping the amp block close to unity gain avoids accidentally shouting too loudly at everything further along the signal chain. There are different perspectives on the thread, so my focus on gain (mis)management in Helix may be a tad off topic.

I have become persuaded that one of the more common 'issues' with Helix is incorrect (excessive) gain staging. The results are then ascribed to supposed failings in the modelling itself, which is somewhat like TYPING ALL IN CAPS. Less is indeed more :-)

+1

+ 1 Also quite tired of people blaming Helix for their own limitations as users.

Only if they don't understand how to use it... QED :-)

+1

Glad you got a great deal on the L3Ms but as always, use the right tool for the job. Some of the money you saved could go to a decent set of studio monitors (I use these for my home setup). Blasting yourself out in a confined space like a basement room with high output speakers will damage your ears, quite quickly, and they don't really recover.

RC we crossed, sorry.

You've got two L3Ms and you don't play live?! :-) Well, at least you have the live rig covered. So spend some money on studio monitors, with Rocco's caveats in mind. Don't bugger your hearing up.

Well, they are monster speakers designed to push out serious volume. They will hurt your ears when driven at even a modest fraction of their designed range. Please, try some studio monitors before you do irreversible damage to your hearing.

You're right, he did. So perhaps rd2rk is on the right track. Subjectivity is king when in comes to sensory inputs :-)

No apology necessary :-) I was just a bit puzzled. And no, unfortunately it doesn't help the OP. Although given what's been explored on the thread, it may be that the OP has a faulty LT unit. I wondered if it was the guitar, but he said he used other guitars and had the same issue so... :-( dodgy unit.

That was my experience, and prompted me to be careful about Channel Vol as some effects don't like being shouted at by the previous block in the chain :-)

Is it? I was under the impression that (as others have said ) the Channel Vol simply controlled the output gain of the amp block. Master Vol controls the amp power stage gain. If I've got this muddled, please correct me as I've assumed it from day one...

No, but I sold most of mine in the year after getting Helix... Like crusinon2, I find the beauty of Helix lies in its not being an analogue pedal board (or amp, cab etc). That's why I bought it :-)

Helix to mixer is left and right 1/4" jacks (to line 3+4), PC to mixer is via a converter cable: mini-jack at PC out to Y split L and R 1/4" jacks (to line 5+6). Mixer out to the monitors is XLR, headphones out is dedicated 1/4". The mixer doesn't colour the tone compared to direct out from the Helix. Helix can handle two separate inputs in parallel, so you can have your guitar on input A and your music on input B. But it's often better to have the full power of Helix just for your guitar signal processing. If there is no second input, Helix can combine input A and input B into a single chain for your guitar. Using a mini-mixer is a good way of keeping Helix free just for your guitar.

Well, it depends what you want to do, but my home setup is a pair of active KRK Rokit powered studio monitors and the ubiquitous DT770 Pros. Audio clips via the PC, which also runs Helix Edit. Everything goes through a mini-mixer so I can play along to recordings, backing tracks and whatever I'm trying to learn. It works perfectly for me, the mini-mixer was the key that pulled everything together...

Well, the A6ts look good on paper for sure - and one would hope so at that price. They ought to do the job for you, but I've never tried them so all I can say is that if you don't like them then keep them for live work and spend the modest extra amount on any decent studio quality over-ear headphones you fancy and have done with it. I use the BD BT-770 Pros and they're fine, although by no means the only choice out there.