HonestOpinion

Maybe it is because I grew up on Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Jerry Garcia, Brian May, Edward Van Halen, Steve Morse, Al Di Meola, etc. but the guitars I heard were played through gloriously sonically crippled guitar cabinets and combos that generally started to drop off at the high end around 5khz. Although I can start my high cuts around 8-9khz or even higher on some presets, generally I like high cuts starting in the 5-7khz range. There is a reason any of us who tried at least once to play their electric guitar through the family stereo with its full 20hz-20,00khz frequency range thought it sounded thin and like fingernails on a chalkboard, and it wasn't just the frequency response (as opposed to frequency range) or which frequencies were emphasized. To my ears, conditioned to the sounds of some of my favorite guitar players, the sound of the guitar just starts to sound exhausting, ice-picky, and harsh at the upper frequencies. I just don't like it up there. I want to cut through the mix but I like the tone to also be warm with an almost vocal-like qualty, rarely harsh. I know there is a whole beautiful soundscape up in those upper reaches. I am however perfectly content for the most part, with some exceptions such as synth guitar type sounds, to leave that region of the frequency range to the keyboards, flutes and the like, cymbal sizzle, airiness for vocals, and instruments that require mountainous peaks. I would not be surprised if the ears of young guitarists, brought up from jump on guitar modelers and full range FRFR systems learn to appreciate the sound of a guitar still going strong at frequencies above say 9khz but I don't know if I will ever fully appreciate that range for rock guitar. I guess I am not sure whether it is subjective or whether most players, regardless of their age and the equipment used to make their favorite music think that the guitar just does not sound its best without cuts on the high end.

We can debate whether the difference is audible or significant or deleterious or detectable but there is no way it is "nothing". The D/A conversion, cable quality, shielding, and length, and any number of other factors can all make minute or substantial differences to an analog signal and the tone as it gets passed down the chain. The whole point of keeping the signal path digital is it is all ones and zeros often possibly with error checking to ensure what goes out is what comes in. In a good digital path the signal you send out is exactly what arrives at the digital recording interface. This is not necessarily the case with analog although I have to agree with PeterHamm, which sounds better is somewhat a matter of opinion or as he mentioned, sometimes undetectable, and sometimes more pleasing with analog . So if you can get a great recording, with for the sake or argument, a lamp cord and two cans with a string between them, or multiple D/A conversions and analog (e.g. XLR) cabling, more power to you but it is also a great thing to be able to take advantage of a high quality, highly accurate digital signal all the way to the DAW.

Great stuff and great playing! Love me some Bach whether it is Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", neo-classical Yngwie on guitar, old Walter Carlos "Switched On Bach" on the Moog, or a full orchestra.

If you only want to add/copy a single block to multiple pre-existing presets, you have to do it one preset at a time (unless you want to get into editing the .hlx files directly). But.. you do not have to create/copy templated presets one at a time. The copying of a template to multiple presets sort of works multiplicatively. Use the Editor to first copy the template/preset you want to a new preset. Now you have two of these presets. Highlight both of them, right-click to copy, then highlight the next blank preset in your list and right-click to paste. Now you will have four "Template" presets. Now highlight those four presets, copy, select the next empty preset slot and paste, now you will have eight. Wash, rinse, repeat, now you have sixteen. You can swiftly fill a setlist with as many templated presets as you want using this method. Just be careful not to overwrite presets further down the list that you want to keep as the more times you do this the larger the number of presets you will be copying over (doubling each time).

It would be nice to be able to set up a an input/ouput globally as you are attempting. One possible workaround would be to set up a Template or a blank preset that had the route setup for the iPod and just copy this to all your "New Preset" slots at one time using the editor. That way at least any new preset would start with the basic route you want. I know it is not the best alternative but it may save you a bit of hassle if you always use the iPod or other music playing device..

It may be this bug. There is a workaround at the bottom of this post. Firmware 1.12.0 Editor 1.12.0 OS: Windows 10 Bug: Presets that have been saved to prevent the "rebuilding preset #" message when you boot the Helix can not only crash the editor when selected, they can also actually prevent the editor from starting up if the affected preset is already selected on the Helix when you try to start the Editor. Test Procedure: Save one of the presets causing the "rebuild preset" message upon boot such that it no longer appears on bootup. Restart the Helix. Select the preset that you "fixed" with a save. Now try to start the Helix Editor. The Helix Editor will not start at all if you have the "fixed" preset selected on the Helix when you try to start the Editor. Select any of your unaffected presets and then try to star the Editor and it will start right up. I also found that if you start the Helix editor successfully with any of your other presets, and then switch to one of the saved presets you were getting the "rebuild" message on, it will consistently crash the editor. I can also replicate the crashing editor issue by simply copying the "fixed" preset to any other preset location. If I select the newly saved preset the Editor will not start. If I start the editor on a working preset and switch to the copy of the problem preset it will crash the editor. UPDATE: I noticed that if you modify any parameter on the "fixed" preset no matter how minutely and save it a second time. The Editor crashing behavior both on editor startup and when you switch to the preset is fixed. Se here is my conclusion. There is a workaround for now but this is definitely a strange bug which I hope gets addressed. Workaround: If you fix any of these presets affected by the "rebuilding..." message by saving them (which causes the rebuilding message to go away) make sure you edit at least one parameter on one of the blocks and save the preset again. It does not matter how small the change is. This will prevent the editor from either not starting or crashing when that preset is selected. Here is the link for the Excel sheet that will help you find the setlist, bank, and footswitch that corresponds to the number you are seeing in the "rebuilding ..." message: http://line6.com/sup...e-1120/?hl=grid

I had not seen an editor screen for DT Edit before. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have the Helix editor but I have to say it I vastly prefer this type of editor approach with dropdown menus and switches to the approach they chose for the Helix editor screens where EVERYTHING is done with bars. It also allows way more parameters and information on a single screen.

If you click on the "Ratings" heading at the top right hand side of the Customtone main page you can order them by 5 stars - 1 stars and pick off the ones that people have rated the highest.

One of the most common sources of noise has been plugging the Helix into a channel that has the phantom power switched on. Make sure you don't have phantom power in the channel you plug your Helix into.

I know it doesn't exactly answer your question as far as what the qualitative differences between the XLR vs. USB output is, but certainly one major difference as you alluded to is that the XLR output is analog and the USB output is digital so the signal is going through a D/A conversion when it leaves the Helix and then an additional A/D conversion when it inputs into your sound card. Perhaps not a significant impact with the quality of A/D conversion these days but I usually try to avoid these additional conversion stages where possible. Which version of OSX does not support USB recording? I am not a Mac user but I thought OSX supported ASIO which supports most USB devices.

The solution is to select something like Guitar, Aux, Mic, etc., anything other than Variax or Multi for your other input blocks. You will then be able to select S/PDIF for the targeted input block. I believe the entry below from page 20 of the Helix manual will explain the source of the issue you are experiencing. If you have Variax, or Multi which includes Variax, selected as the input in any input block in the preset, then you will not be able to select S/PDIF in any other input block. I am assuming this is probably because the digital Variax input protocol differs from S/PDIF and you only get a choice of one digital input protocol type per preset. Here is the entry from the Helix manual: S/PDIF (page 20 of manual) S/PDIF digital in only. If a Variax input (or Multi input, which includes Variax) exists on another Input block within the preset, S/PDIF in will be non-selectable.

Although the Helix is an incredible centerpiece for a much larger studio rig, and will be even more so if the MIDI functionality is enhanced, I think there are a substantial number of users like myself out here who want exactly the opposite when it comes to our touring/live rig. The last thing I want is a larger live rig. If I wanted that I would go back to my embarrassingly overwrought analog pedal board and tube amp. I believe for many of us the motivating factor is to trim down our rig to the most compact form factor possible, end the pedalboard tap dance, dump the extra weight and baggage, reduce complexity, and have a plug and play solution that sounds great. We don't want to have to worry about cables, power supplies, multiple points of failure, ground loops, hums, clicks, and mysterious hard to diagnose sources of noise and things that go bump in the night, back breaking furniture moving, etc.. To me the most important virtue of the Helix is that it totally negates the need for all that extra "stuff". I think the I/O options, e.g. send/return loops, external amp control, etc., on the Helix are great to have and certainly offer a tremendous amount of potential and flexibility and I am delighted they are there when I need them for maximum flexibility in the studio, and for those players who require additional devices live, but I use the Helix primarily for gigging as an amp and pedalboard in a box direct to the PA. The less I have to attach to it at a gig the better. So... I am really happy that your comment started with "We certainly want to create a bigger range of high quality amps and effects for Helix".

Robberns, you may want to switch the "Mark Solved" to Glideman's answer. That way his answer to your question is what shows up highlighted in green and answered.

Good to hear the Helix survived this. I will consider this a remarkably close approximation to a spilled beer test, functionally and substantively equivalent to spilling a Pabst Blue Ribbon on your Helix. ;)

I have to agree that it would have been a fine thing for this bug to have been addressed in a more timely fashion. For those of us who gig using tap tempo this is a major bug. I use it on every tune unless I either forget, don't have enough time, or am going for a specific tempo. I know Line6 is working on some great stuff right now and I am truly looking forward to it but ideally there would be enough flexibility built into the the code release process to respond quickly to a major and I am guessing (no way for me to know for sure) a fairly easy bug to fix like this one. Bugs like this require as close to an immediate response as L6 can muster and should not just result in "business as usual" as appears to be the case. I am sure they immediately started working on the fix, I don't mean to imply they are unresponsive in their efforts, the guys are working overtime, but there just does not appear to be a mechanism in the firmware release schedule to allow a fix to be quickly released. My apologies for being an armchair quarterback. I don't quite understand why a quickfix to this bug would represent such a major disruption to the rest of their firmware efforts that it can't be pushed out rapidly. I would love for L6 to reach out and give us some insight into their update process that would explain why we can't seem to get quick fixes on bugs. We are with you and would like to just understand the process a bit better. Perhaps the QA process is simply too heavyweight and the risk too high, or there is a company decision not to do them. Perhaps by the time the bug was reported they were so far down the line on the new firmware that back-fitting the fix would have represented a substantial delay to the next release. There is probably a (good?) reason and I am mystified as to what it is? Does L6 even have a process for quickfixes (I can't remember ever seeing one) or would they prefer we just rollback when there is a problem?

Have always thought that the slot for the pedal should have been isolated with a plastic sleeve or separate compartment for just this reason.

I added the link to the downloadable spreadsheet that assists you in finding the setlist,bank, and footswitch that corresponds to the number showing in the "rebuilding ..." message. If anyone is having random lockups while using the editor, or can't get the editor to start, the procedure described in the "Workaround:" part of my original post might be one potential fix to the problem.

Glad to hear it!

I still prefer "Double Helix", its a genetics thang :D

You may be able to emulate that sound to some extent by turning the sag all the way down and lowering the bias setting on the Helix cab as well as tweaking your compression and EQ settings. You may also want to play with a low cut to tighten up the bottom a bit. I would also make sure it is a "hot" preset with plenty of level to emulate the active pickups. Setting the impedance to a higher number in global settings may also help.

Reasonably priced, thanks! Seems they are on vacation right now, there is a message on their website. I cannot find these on either their website or their eBay store. It looks like you may be able to specify what you want in an email though.

I also would recommend using XLR cables to connect to the Presonus monitors. I would not spend a fortune on the cables; just get something mid-range that is well made enough to hold up and high enough quality to carry an intact and relatively noise-free signal. You do not need the platinum-plated, diamond encrusted, Chateau Lafite infused cables unless you are planning to have Lady Gaga in your recording studio and she has demanded them in her rider. There is definitely a point of diminishing returns with cables such that unless you are some kind of audio savant or hyper experienced producer or sound engineer, you will not hear the difference (and maybe not even then). Many reasonably priced cables have adequate durability, shielding, and signal transference.

Looks like you are getting it sorted, you may want to also consider a high-pass (low cut) filter to cut boominess and tighten up the sound, set anywhere from 65-100hz according to your preset, the sound you are going for, and what your ears tell you.

One more thing occurred to me. You have been comparing the sound of your Mesa amp and your headphones. Your Mesa amp will probably have a Black Shadow or some other Celestion speaker. These speakers like many other guitar amp speakers have a steep drop-off starting at around 5khz. Your headphones may have a frequency range all the way up to 20khz. If you are not using a high cut on your presets you are probably hearing higher frequencies on the headphones that don't naturally occur for instance through a guitar amp or guitar amp & cab. This may be contributing to the additional pick noise. Experiment with the high cut filter either on your Helix cab blocks or one of the EQ blocks. I find you can be as aggressive as cutting at or about 5khz depending on the preset and sound you are going for. This should give you a more guitar amp-like sound through both your headphones and the FOH speakers and may well cut down on the pick noise substantially.

I agree. I think I prefer the way for instance the way the controls on the Roland GR-55 are set up. The navigation and selection are all well integrated into an almost flush inset dial and switches on the right side of the control panel that seem positively immune to destruction by being kicked although I don't know how susceptible to spilled liquid they are. The design is definitely far superior from an ergonomic perspective IMHO.