HonestOpinion

The Helix can provide its own phantom power 'Global Settings' --> Ins/Outs --> 'Mic In 48v Phantom' = "On". Reportedly it is best to have this set the way you need it prior to plugging in a mic. Turn the Helix off before you plug/unplug the mic to minimize chances for frying something, particularly when using phantom power. I wouldn't plug a shorted XLR cable in there either.

With Thanksgiving only a day away and our oven on the blink we have been trying to roast a small turkey on top of the HX Stomp for the last two days. So far no luck. Very disappointing. Happy Holidays!

Very cool that someone figured this out but definitely not for the faint of heart or vision. Despite Line6's excellent service the words "Warranty Voided" leap easily to the tongue on this one.

Check out the Unofficial Helix MIDI Guide from Stoopalini referenced on the Gear Page as well. Lots of helpful information there, whether you are a MIDI newbie, or relatively experienced with it. Highly recommend any HX user who would like to learn more about using MIDI with their device bookmark or better yet download this guide. Lots of specific tips on how to use MIDI with HX devices as well as an excellent spreadsheet showing the specific commands available for each HX device(Rack,Floor, LT, FX, Stomp). Thanks Stoopalini! https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/the-unofficial-helix-midi-guide.1954544/

The long and short of it is that IMHO Line6 still has a ways to go to improve IR management and handling. Adding the ability to the backup and restore to replace IRs in their original location a while back was a huge step forward but there really hasn't been any improvement I can see since then. I hope they continue to enhance the process. The limited name space for the IRs often truncates the names and forces renaming to keep them meaningful. Also, for me at least, the fact that we are limited to 128 IRs is not ideal. I would like to see this limit doubled or tripled. Subjective I know, some people would find ten slots or even none sufficient :-) Wouldn't mind being able to import larger/longer IR files without truncation to their rather compact format either. In addition to limiting the IRs that can be imported without truncation to a relatively small filesize there is also no capacity to import anything but the left side of a stereo IR. I suspect some of these issues, particularly the UI for IR management can/will be improved on the current hardware and some, e.g. increased filesize, stereo IRs, may(who knows?) have to wait for the next generation of devices.

Ultimately you've got it right. It probably isn't worth obsessing about and can usually be fairly easily worked around but from what others have observed and commented on, Line6 could do a better job of compensating for the way pan law impacts volume as you move away from or towards a center detent.

This does appear to be associated as codamedia points out with the way the pan law is handled(or not) on the Helix. The principle in that law can result in anywhere up to about a 6db boost at center(seems like less than that on the Helix) which will need to be compensated for. The jump in volume when panned center has definitely been discussed extensively before on the forum. Haven't looked at the presets but it sure reminds me of those threads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_law

I don't know about missing anything amazing but I think its worth doing a global reset after every upgrade anyway. Just seems to help prevent weirdness between firmware versions. Anecdotal I know but it has worked for me. So my routine is since I'm gonna do a global reset anyway I might as well get the latest Factory and Template presets while I'm at at it. There were some interesting Templates added to demonstrate the new Hotkey qwerty keyboard capabilities that were added in 2.80. The following is in the 2.80 release notes: Hotkey Templates Helix Floor, Helix Rack/Control, Helix LT, HX Effects To get you started with hotkeys, we’ve provided the following template presets in 2.80: Cubase Pro Tools (Mac) Pro Tools (PC) Logic/GarageBand Ableton Live (Mac) Ableton Live (PC) Reaper (Mac) Reaper (PC) StudioOne Cakewalk MainStage QLab YouTube iTunes Spotify (Mac) Spotify (PC) Apple Keynote First-person shooter video games

Have you tried looking at the Windows Event Viewer to see if anything is being reported when HX Edit crashes? If there is an entry it might help you track down or google the issue. Also if you haven't tried it yet, although unlikely the problem, disable your anti-virus program for a second and see if HX Edit still crashes.

I have had mixed results and limited success with acoustic IRs used with an acoustic guitar. I agree with Kilrahi that an acoustic instrument set up with the right combination of EQ, compression, reverb, maybe a touch of chorus, etc. often sounds better without using an acoustic IR, especially if you have a decent quality acoustic guitar to start with. If your acoustic guitar or its pickup is not quite up to snuff though an acoustic IR can help give it the vibe of a higher end guitar, e.g. a 'Martin D28'. Somewhat a matter of taste though, I have had good results now and then with acoustic IRs and continue to experiment with them but in general find them more useful for making an electric guitar sound more like an acoustic.

Sound advice and I believe that was the full Nirvana album title before it was shortened.

If the snapshots are only using one path just put both paths in one snapshot. I assume you're trying to play the dual guitar solo at the end with Felder and Walsh by yourself. Might be a better way to go about it this by just using the harmonizer. If you are just trying to switch between rhythm and lead than find a way to either put the two tones on separate paths and toggle the output blocks or assign all the relevant blocks/parameters to a stomp switch and toggle. If you aren't using snapshots yet though I would encourage you to start. Makes everything easier, especially complicated changes between tones.

Agree, customizable saveable blocks ranks high on my wish list. Allowing your settings to be persistent once you modified a block, any block.would be a good start. A least you would have one customized entry for every block that way. My other hope is that modelers in general add a USB port for storage of backups setlists/presets, IRs, custom blocks, or whatever. It is such a simple solution to allow enough flash storage to future proof a device. It would allow you to backup and restore from USB, keep additional setlists and presets available, have near infinite numbers of IRs on tap, as many customized blocks as you want, store loops, .wav files, the possibilities are endless.

Yup, I get it. The boy who cried wolf syndrome (or rat in this case).

I don't see how this would solve your issue. Whether you have one button or two for the looper, if it is stopped you will still lose the loop as soon as you change presets. The MIDI solution is for people struggling with the two-click stop command on the 1Switch looper. You appear to require a firmware change or some nifty workaround no one's come up with yet.

Not everything, puppies and tofu have no warnings. Not everything is illegal there either - 420 :-)

Perhaps, the primary contribution to upping your odds of contracting cancer is probably after they have disposed. I don't know if they off-gas but that might be detrimental if you work in a warehouse with about ten thousand power supplies or maybe even a small room with poor ventilation and twenty of these. Point is these warnings are not exclusive to Line6 power supplies. This same technology is ubiquitous in other products. The effects are cumulative when you are surrounded by carcinogenic materials. You would have to toss about 50% of the products in your home, your furniture, and many of the building materials composing your home. One power supply is a drop in the ocean( literally).

Respectfully California is way ahead of the rest of the country on pollution standards. We need cleaner safer batteries and power supplies,they use old and dirty technology. Instead of slamming the whistle-blower we need to make more progress on clean power tech that does not lead to the disposal of heaps of toxic heavy metals, non-bioedegradeable plastics, and other nasty stuff that eventually ends up in our groundwater, streams, rivers, and oceans. It is true that living in California you will find a surplus of warnings for a host of products. Enough to scare you into living in a cold-water yurt in the Redwoods. They're not wrong though and they have been ahead of the curve with car pollution(CAFE) standards and a long list of other environmental initiatives . Many of which get adopted at the federal level years after California has implemented them. We need to progress and change the materials we use in our manufacturing. With that said I would think that unless you open up and lick your power supply on a daily basis the chance of getting cancer from a million other carcinogens in the environment or random mutation is infinitely higher.

Here is a link to an excellent "unofficial" MIDI guide compiled by Stoopalini over on the Gear Page. It has a chart full of MIDI codes for the entire line of HX devices including some/all(?) of the looper commands as well as lots of other great MIDI information and tips. https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/26700425/

Sounds like you might have an old copy of the editor malingering on your PC. When you bring up the editor and check the Help->'About HX Edit' dialog box it should say 2.82. Check your programs and make sure you don't still have the old editor. If you do, uninstall it from your PC. If in doubt, remove all the Helix programs and reinstall 'HX Edit' 2.82.

As many users are already aware there are some interesting ways you can use the existing footswitches on the Helix by looping a MIDI cable from the Helix's MIDI IN to the MIDI Out. Handy if you don't feel like adding an external MIDI switcher. This allows you to assign switches to make changes on the Helix that aren't necessarily available through the HX interface. Here are a couple, hope folks on the forum can add a few more. Wouldn't be surprised if some of these commands end up in the HX interface eventually, but for now... #1 -Turn the 1Switch looper into a 2Switch looper Puts the 'Stop' function for the 1Switchlooper on a second switch so it no longer requires a double-click to stop. Set 'Global Settings' --> 'MIDI/Tempo' --> 'MIDI Thru' = "Off" This prevents runaway infinite loop MIDI funkiness when you are looping MIDI back into the Helix Set up a MIDI cable from your Helix MIDI output and loop it back to your Helix MIDI input Go to the Command Center and set the following parameters on the switch of your choice: "Command"='MIDI CC', "MIDI Ch"='Base', "CC#"='61', "Value"=0. This will now be the footswitch you use to stop the looper. Assign the 1Switch looper to the footswitch of your choice. You now have a two switch looper and the 'Stop' command no longer requires a double click. You can stop the looper with the switch you assigned the MIDI command to and as you would expect use the switch you assigned the 1Switch looper to for other looper operations(play, erase, etc.). #2- Assign wah to a footswitch Allows you to switch the wah from a footswitch so the volume setting on the expression pedal doesn't change when switching to the wah as it does using the toeswitch Download and modify template - the easy method Download and modify the template preset below to your needs or you can set this up manually yourself. https://line6.com/customtone/tone/4397153/ If you use the preset do these two steps first Set 'Global Settings' --> 'MIDI/Tempo' --> 'MIDI Thru' = "Off" This prevents runaway infinite loop MIDI funkiness when you are looping MIDI back into the Helix Set up a MIDI cable from your Helix MIDI output and loop it back to your Helix MIDI input Set it up from scratch Instructions below use HX Edit for several steps but they could also be done from the Helix directly. You can substitute the references to footswitch#11 for whichever footswitch you prefer to use. Please let me know if I omitted anything or got it wrong but my preset appears to work correctly. Set 'Global Settings' --> 'MIDI/Tempo' --> 'MIDI Thru' = "Off" This prevents runaway infinite loop MIDI funkiness when you are looping MIDI back into the Helix Set up a MIDI cable from your Helix MIDI output and loop it back to your Helix MIDI input Add your wah and volume block using the Helix's default settings for your volume on EXP2 and wah on EXP1. The volume block should be active, wah should be bypassed, and the text above the expression pedal should have EXP2 highlit. Use HX Edit and go to the 'Bypass Controller Assign' tab and change the assignment for your Wah block for the 'Bypass' parameter to the footswitch you want to switch from volume to wah. In this example I will use footswitch#11. While you are still on the 'Bypass Controller Assign' tab clear the assignment for the Volume block's 'Bypass' parameter. So now you should be looking at three assignment entries only for both the volume and wah blocks - Wah Position = EXP1, WAH Bypasss = Footswitch#11 (used in this example) and Volume Position = EXP2 Now go to the Command Center (where you set up your MIDI commands) and set up the following values in the parameters for Footswitch#11(used in this example) Command = "MIDI CC", MIDI Ch = "Base", CC# = 59, Value = 0 The Helix uses the CC# "59" to switch between EXP1 and EXP2 on the expression pedal. Handy as we will no longer be using the toe switch. It is this capability that allows the expression pedal's control to be passed from the volume to the wah pedal without turning the volume block off. This preserves the volume pedal's last setting. As we are using footswitch #11 in this example which is on the bottom row next to the tuner switch, you are going to need to have your global settings set for Stomps on the bottom row or you need to switch into Stomp mode so you can use footswitch#11. You are done. Use footswitch#11 to switch between volume and wah. Don't use the expression pedal toe switch! Now when you press footswitch#11 (used in this example) the expression pedal will control only the wah or only the volume. Also, when you switch from volume to wah your volume will be retained at the same level without maxing out. VolWah on FS#11.hlx

Well turns out there is a MIDI command for stopping the looper. It is CC=61, Value=0. Sure enough it was simple to loop a MIDI cable from MIDI IN to MIDI out on the Helix, assign the 'Stop' command to one footswitch and the 1Switch looper to another and you now have a 2Switch looper. Stopping the looper can now be done with a single-click instead of a double-click from the switch you assigned the CC command to and all other looper operations can be done using the switch assigned to the looper. Another use of MIDI loopback I posted up allows you to switch from volume to wah on the expression pedal from a footswitch instead of the toe switch. This maintains the volume on the expression pedal instead of maxing it out as using the toe switch does. Link below with step-by-step instructions for setting up "2Switch" looper and wah assignment to a footswitch instead of toeswitch.

Or maybe the 20th century with Pop art, Andy Warhol and the Factory :-)

The MIDI solution would be more for folks who don't like the double-click operation required by the 1Switch looper. Your workflow issue probably won't be resolved by a MIDI solution. More likely a firmware change.

There may be a way to send a MIDI command to stop the 1Swtich looper, I have no idea. If so using an external MIDI switcher might be a way to convert the 1Switch looper into a 2Switch looper(or more). Another way to do this, provided the MIDI "stop" command exists, would be to connect the Helix's MIDI IN to MIDI OUT and assign an additional switch on the Helix for a "2Switch" looper. For some, depending on your requirements and switching preferences, either of these might be a preferable and excellent solution. Others may just find themselves saying, "hmmm, think I'll just use Helix's 6Switch looper instead".