dennisnv

This is the second time I've had Helix Native fail to work and was issued these two error codes. 1. Failed to get favorite names, Service is not online. Code -8207 2. Failed to connect to DSP engine. (Device has not been initialized properly. code -8201. The first is on a pop-up dialog box and the second is on an orange banner across the plug-in interface. Based on the above discussion this problem doesn't seem to be specific to a particular OS or DAW so I won't bother posting that information. Neither time this occurred was there a particular event (Helix update, computer change, etc.) to associate the problem with. The first time I was working with Line6 tech support to resolve the issue but nothing we tried had as yet worked when the problem suddenly went away on its own. I had installed an update onto the Helix Floor but that seems unrelated to me. The second time this happened was a couple of days ago and I resolved the issue by removing all of the files and directories from the "%appdata%/Roaming/Line6" directory then restarting and reactivating the plug-in. I haven't checked to see if one of my activations has been removed from my account because Yamaha/LIne6 has been very good to work with and I remain certain they will make good on this if I ever run out of activations. For anyone from Yamaha/Line6 monitoring this thread, this seems to be an ongoing issue and I hope you are working to get this corrected. In the meantime, please let us know if you want us to contact you each time this issue arises to help with troubleshooting the issue.

Hey rd2rk, thanks for the tip, I'll try to get around to doing that ...

Yes, thanks for pointing me in the right direction; I applied for access to the Line6 Ideascale site yesterday and am awaiting approval. Ideascale surely makes it easier for Yamaha/Line6 to involve users in product development as opposed to culling out the user request/input data from the forum discussion; and, I am thinking this is only one tool of many used to develop their product improvement plan. These forums, however, are surely the place to lobby for votes. I was president of a CAD user group back in the day and I sometimes wonder if an autonomous community of users might still be the better way to steer a corporation/product from the user side of things; probably not since corporate image is everything these days so they are much more responsive ...

I agree there is no man made substitute for our ears; and, our hearing truly is the ultimate judge of musical value but there is certainly a place for signal metering in the world of audio. While your approach to developing signal chains might not benefit from block-centric metering, I, and I think many others, would find them quite useful. I am not sure where you got the idea that I suggested some form of automated gain staging tool be invented; this topic is, or at least started out as, an observation that a more convenient means of metering could be provided in the Helix platform to facilitate the task of gain staging a signal chain. It seems you are intent on converting me to a different way of going about my business, or at least convincing me there's a better way. I'm also sensing you want me to counter with more detail of my process; however, that would be remiss. There are many books, videos and other resources available that can explain audio engineering much better than I ever could here. I assure you I am completely satisfied with my approach to music creation; I think that the long and successful history of applying science in harmony with the artistic nature of music speaks for itself. In that regard, it would be helpful for people like me if a tedious aspect of our process were made quicker so we could get on with the more interesting aspects; and, with no negative impact on people who approach their work like you do. I must say, it is very interesting to read your insights on the signal chain and thank you for sharing your obviously well developed and extensive knowledge base on the subject. I hope you don't mind me saying so, but your discourse reminds me of that I find in "amp-in-the-room" analog oriented chat rooms; your "real world" vernacular adds needed dimension to a digital-realm oriented forum such as this and speaks to how closely Line6/Yamaha have come to replicating the analog realm. I have read your discussion carefully and have taken it seriously as part of my never ending quest for self improvement. While I am not sure there was anything new, there were certainly things presented in ways new to me.

Wow, an active forum indeed; thanks for all the interest in this topic. First, in response to RD2RK, I appreciate you getting me pointed in the right direction. I actually thought I was putting this in the ideascale thread so I obviously need to spend some time figuring out how to properly use this forum. Maybe a moderator can move it to the correct location? I'll be sure to go and vote for the post about improving the gain staging tools assuming that the post you refer to is for the same, and just similar, topic as mine. To DunedinDragon I thank you for your inspired summary of how levels are handled in the Helix; it's always good to add some background to the topic. But with regard to maintaining a viable signal level between each block and the subsequent block; as we all know, a signal that is too hot or too cold can affect how the subsequent block will function, digital clipping being the worse case scenario. Kloton totally gets it and to confirm it all one need do is add a Deranged Master distortion to a signal chain and increase the drive control; you will get an increase in the signal level without touching the level control. Compensating for level changes when applying compression to the signal is also part of gain staging and the Helix compression blocks do contain helpful gain reduction meters but they don't include level meters. SoundDog also get's it; the whole purpose of gain staging is to ensure unity gain throughout the signal chain. DunedinDragon, you also point out the need for gain staging in your second reply and your process for evaluating each block as it is added to the chain is good practice for initial creation of a preset but it doesn't speak to the need for a convenient way to continue the process when tweaking the existing blocks or when swapping models within a block. It is also certain that some musicians work with more complex signal chains than others and needs will vary accordingly. Whew! So, to iterate the topic: While there is a way (or perhaps ways) to perform the task of gain staging in Helix, to me it seems more important for Yamaha to expend resources developing a quicker and more convenient way to do this necessary task than to, for example, add yet another distortion pedal to the already massive library. Once again, I thank everyone for their input, you are a fun and spirited group of people ...

Unless I am missing something the only way to gain stage a preset in the Helix is to bypass all the blocks and check each one using the master output meters. It would be handy in HX Edit to: A) have mini meters on each block, or B) have a meter block to place, or move around, between the various fx blocks, or C) have an option where the connectors between blocks act as meters.

Did you try changing the input impedance setting? The factory default is "Auto" but I had to change mine to a specific number because it was running too hot on the default "Auto" setting for high gain amp models.