surfsup1955

The FM9 factory Marshall presets I played were 100% outstanding - dynamics are wonderful - but not sure they are any better than Helix. My problem with Marshall tone is that my style of playing always leans me towards the Fender tones, which I can dial in pretty good. I typically rely on 3rd party for good Marshall tones.. John Nathan Cordy (YouTube) has repeatedly demonstrated that yea, Helix can nail down Marshall. But, then again, he can nail jello to the wall.

I need to try and clean the switched for sure.. haven't been inside the unit yet. soon

I’ll definitely read the article Craig, thanks. Regarding the MBcomp, I was able to dial in a threshold for the mids for my D18 (Martin) preset which softened the attack (ring sound). Then I went back to the Q setting on my ParaEQ and was able to pull that back some to let some of the problem low-mid frequency back into my tone. So playing the MBcomp and ParaEQ off of each other is a pretty effective tool - especially for acoustic guitar. I’m totally onboard with the MBcomp now, have all ideas I’ll be using it more across my other presets. Look’n fwd to the read..

Yea.. sweet deal there!!

Did a search on the MB Comp and found the above topic, some really good info there so I thought I’d link it and create a new post in lieu of a resurrection. Also, my input is more in line with using the MBcomp specifically to tame the mid EQs on acoustic guitar in addition to the Parametric EQ. I have successfully used the Para for years with my acoustic but recently delved into my main preset to see what I could do to tame the pick attack harshness in the mids. That dead ring sound that I hate. I need another day to re-check with fresh ears, but I think I have found a good use for this MBcomp in this preset, in fact it might even be pretty frigg’n good?!

Ordered mine late 2015 - waitlisted by Sweetwater - arrived Feb, 2016. The M13 was a big part of my signal chain, so I was pretty sure it was gonna be special.. it is. I enjoyed tweaking with the FM9 and can see why it has such a loyal following but from what I could tell on the forums and YouTube, a lot of Fractal owners use 3rd party presets and don’t build their own - whereas it’s the opposite with HX gear.

3.50 presets are the best they’ve ever provided to my ears..

I strolled through them when I first got the Helix, then once or twice after a few of the big updates, most notably v3.5, just to hear and see the settings. But had I kept the FM9 I would have used quite a few of their presets with minor tweaks, they are that good.

Still going strong. The tap tempo/tuner footswitch is a bit quirky but still gets the job done. It doesn’t like flip flops or my house slippers at all - it prefers stiffer soles. Other than that the Helix Floor has been, and continues to remain, on the cutting edge of the growing list of modeling units out there. However, recently I took deliver of an FM9 to play around with just to see what it was all about. One pro the FM9 has over the Helix is that a good many of the factory presets are totally usable as is - very little tweaking required to get going. The next pro - being the unit provides visual metering for input, preset leveling, and output. In fact, at initial set up of the FM9, Fractal strongly suggests that the operator gets these levels adjusted correctly, which ensures the factory presets sound right. That’s about it. Well… it does have more DSP but a non issue for me, I build and use fairly straight fwd presets. I won’t go into all the Helix pros, but naturally there are quite a few for anyone who has spent so much time using it. The most important and obvious being the logical and easy to use interface on the hardware, firmware, and the software. The FX, amps, cabs are tit for tat, subjective, etc. I’m pretty certain most new users that have a hard time liking Helix factory presets - or dialing in great presets is mostly due to the lack of metering/leveling. I discovered (years ago) that building Helix presets via FOH mixer meters made a huge difference. And with Helix Native, metering came along, and everyone realized that made a huge difference as well. I ate the shipping and sent the FM9 back.

Saw this post and went to check for the 3.52 update for my Mac (Logic) and there is none.. 3.51 is still the latest. Only posting as an fyi.

Exactly what I was looking for, I’m attempting the to match the Tech 2112. Downloading both your tones soon and will reply with my results. Thanks!

Working great with mine.. maybe I’m not up to date on OS?

There has been discussion on that subject here and there, not sure if L6 will be doing that though? I feel they should label the product more accurately.. something like “Helix Plug In for DAWs” lol. Having watched several HN YouTube videos it really isn’t clear that the product is a plug in - most screen shots make it look like an app? However, after a few days of using it inside Logic Pro I can tell you it’s pretty much a game changer for tones and recording functionality - acoustic guitar IR tones (HN with Logic Pro EQs) are, for me, some of the best acoustic tones I’ve dialed in to date. Also, I’ve found, it’s best to just build new presets for HN. The ones off my floor unit were ok in HN but not great. Makes sense since my floor unit presets are set up for FOH mono, whereas I am building stereo tones in my DAW.

That is a really good idea. I just installed HN today and have to run the buffer at 128 minimum and it still has a faint lag… mostly in the feel of playing. Still annoying. Tones are really good though. Looking for all ideas.. thanks?

Going on 6 years with the Helix Floor and if it died tomorrow, I’d probably get the Stomp and streamline my presets accordingly. My son has the Stomp, I helped him set it up and have used it a few times, love it.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it won't happen before July 2021..

That’s clever, did not know that! Thanks

Looks like you can get it right now for $99.. Memorial Day (lingering) sale?

I get it. I’ve been 100% Mac OS and iOS for a long time and have been a Helix owner since their first machines (2015/16?) and this is the first long term OS incompatibility issue that I’ve seen. Also, Line 6 was not the only company in the same boat. Hopefully it was just a one off and due to the magnitude of Big Sur?

Do you have any acoustic IRs?

Where did you buy it? If it was Sweetwater, and you've had it less than 30 days, tell them you want to return it. Your Line 6 support scenario doesn't sound typical to me?

To my ears, especially in the mix, I can easily miss the mark on perfect tone. So as a Helix owner/tweaker for almost 5 years I can't tell much difference in the Helix and tube/analog gear (have sold off most of my amps and analog pedals as a result). I'd be interested in seeing if you or anyone here can get (guess) Jason's setup correctly: Jason's tone test.. If anyone takes the test please paste your response here before the deadline. Thanks..

Created a Sound Cloud account, hopefully you can listen to these short files: Acoustic Natural Acoustic Strumming Acoustic Ambient

Try sweeping a high Q (narrow) reduction between 750-850 hz.. I set the parametric EQ as my first fx block to get the best sound possible from my dry line in tone (guitar and pickup only), then I switch on the IRs. I prefer 2 IRs in parallel, one with more bass and one with more mid/highs), then I use the IR block level settings to mix the tone. I add the wet stuff last. Works for me.

I would like to share some of my acoustic preset samples but even the short wav files are a few MBs and too large to post here..