HonestOpinion

Could be just a matter of your configuration or my personal tone preference but I have to agree that the Rat with the PV Panama sounds awful to me on your clip. Clips #2(Helix) and #5(Revalver) sound inferior to the other three to my ears. The 4th clip(TH3) almost sounds a little muffled but still a good tone and the 5th(Revalver) besides not having IMHO a great tone also sounds a bit phased. Have to admit though, I was never a fan of the Rat's distortion sound in the first place though so for all I know Line6 may have captured it faithfully. The actual pedal always sounded a little bright and thin to me.

Yes, the current version is great!

Ah, I see where the confusion is now. By "in front of it" I mean in the position you would normally be in while using the Helix in performance. The rear position would be staring at the back panel where all the Input/Output connections are. I think many players find themselves n the "front" position while connecting cables on stage as you may have a vocal monitor, mic stand, and multiple cables behind the Helix that make it difficult to position yourself in a way where you are staring at the back panel. Sorry for any confusion, I realize now that "front" and "back" can be somewhat vague depending on whether you consider the musician's view or the audience's view as "the front". In this case I was using the "front" to indicate the player's view of the Helix while performing.

Thanks for uploading. I definitely think the issue is the preset. I get grit and not a good clean sound on it as well and my pickups would not be described as hot although they are humbuckers. You will definitely need to turn the Gain parameter down and either crank the Ch Vol or add some other blocks before the amp to get a hotter but still clean signal going in. That amp model is not very loud and also definitely needs one of the blocks I described above in front of it, e.g. a gain block turned on with at least a 3db boost, an EQ block with the level turned up, a compression block with the level turned up, a distortion block with the Gain parameter turned all the way down and the level up, a Kinky Boost block, etc.. You should experiment with placing some of those supplemental blocks after the amp block as well. These options should get you a clean sound on this preset. One thing I noticed is that the volume block you have in front of the amp block is set to EXP 1. By default the volume block on the Helix is ordinarily assigned to EXP 2 and I would stick with that unless you add additional expression pedals and require an alternate configuration. Even with additional expression pedals it will generally save you some reconfiguration woes to leave it at the EXP 2 default if possible. Especially when you add a wah block. By default the Helix assigns the volume block to EXP 2 and the wah block to EXP 1. I would try some other amp models that are easier to get higher volume clean sounds on such as the "WhoWatt 100". I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with your Helix or your monitoring setup. This is just a matter of jacking up the levels on this amp model with other blocks while making sure to keep the amp block's Gain parameter down. Also, I don't know if you mentioned it but which version of the firmware and editor are you on?

Seems to be some confusion regarding my last post? I edited it such that I hope it makes more sense.

I listened to your .wma file and it does not sound like you have a defective Helix although it is too soon and too little to go on to rule that out. To me it sounds like it could well be a problem with the amp block settings. This could just be a problem with the way the preset is configured although something upstream or downstream from the Helix certainly can't be ruled out. I think the quickest way for fellow forum users to help out would be for you to upload the preset you used for that recording. This would at least allow us to assist you in determining if the issue might be with preset design or something else.

This probably is not the issue but some users are unaware that there is a noise gate on the Input block. It is worth checking to make sure it is either off or that the Threshold parameter is set properly. I remember when I first got my Helix and was trying out the factory presets some of them had the gate on and the threshold was set too aggressively for my setup and was killing the sustain.

Yep, makes sense to try both Instrument and Line levels. Some amp loops expect rack-mount Line levels and others expect Instrument levels like you might find from a pedal. Some work well with either and some not so much. Your simple configuration right now is probably a great way to start troubleshooting the issue and getting the output level optimal from the Helix would probably be a first priority. That would include not only the right Line/Instrument setting but the main large knob output volume as well as the preset's overall volume.

LOL, definitely want to please the public. The reason I suggested a version with the text upside down is that I think many players often find themselves kneeling in the front of their Helix when connecting their cabling. This is the position where the text on the back is totally invisible to the player so the sticker with upside down text labels would be particularly helpful as from the front the text labels would be oriented correctly for the player to read. Of course any audience member would see the text as a strange and illegible language as it would be upside down to them. The Helix logos could remain right side up for the audience :-)

This is definitely not normal behavior. There is ordinarily no perceptible latency out from the XLR connection on the Helix. Does this happen for example on various factory presets or is this happening on presets you have designed? Make sure you test with no effects dialed in on the channel in your PA being used for the Helix. Keep in mind that many/most of the effects are at 50%-dry/50%-wet when they are set to "50". This means as you move the effect block towards "100" you start to only get the wet signal which, for example on a delay block, means you are increasingly only getting the delayed/wet sound which can resemble latency. May not be the issue but worth checking. If none of the other suggestions people make help I would recommend swapping out cables and also backing up and reapplying the firmware.

IMHO a feedbacker should be included with every modeler regardless of make or model. It is the best way for IEM users to be able to get feedback and can make it infinitely easier for FRFR users as well. Not to speak of all the creative possibilities it offers in general. Depending on how the modeler is monitored, lack of proper feedback is one of the last technical barriers remaining that can negatively differentiate modeling with FRFR or IEM from using old-school analog amps. Would love to see this come to the Helix.

If you do decide to expand your list of designs, you may want to try including a version that has the text upside down so that the label can be read from the front and above of the Helix. No reason you couldn't sell these although the freebie is hugely appreciated. No one would fault you if you sold them for a reasonable price. Sounds like you may be letting yourself in for a lot more work.

It looks like polyphonic effects may be coming to Line6 and perhaps the HX devices. That would be awesome! Listen to the video just past 49 minutes in. If this comes to fruition on the HX line of devices I am beyond revved. Btw, the section where DI discusses polyphonic processing also implies an improved tuner. Apparently they now have a team that has prior experience working with polyphonic processing elsewhere. One of my overriding impressions from this video is that some of the most talked about and desirable items on Helix users' wishlists, changes that Line6 are typically very tight-lipped about, are under heavy consideration or already in development at Line6. There appears to be some really exciting stuff coming to the HX line. Check out the link from The Gear Page as well as the Helix Hour video. Quote from Line6's Frank Ritchotte on TGP https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/26383728/ The Helix Hour video with Eric Klein (DigitalIgloo). This video has so much information I had never heard before regarding the HX device line. It includes some tasty tidbits regarding the merging of Yamaha and Line6 under the same corporate umbrella. This is the first time I have actually heard specifics from anyone at Line6 regarding how that alliance might be leveraged. Also appears that Yamaha and Line6 guitar production is joining forces in a big way in California. Details on the PowerCab and as mentioned polyphonic processing. No new specific details on the 2.6 firmware but it is coming and probably soon, they are in beta testing, as had been hinted at earlier the clean channels of the Lonestar and Friedman amps will be included (the last firmware update delivered the dirty channels for these amps). They mention they are working on new reverbs. There's a handy tip about using snapshots as a way to do A/B comparisons of different preset changes. A couple of interesting notes regarding touchscreens. Eric(DI) has been promoted to Chief Product Design Architect at Yamaha's guitar division, oh no! Congratulations, but I hope he keeps at least a toe in HX and particularly Helix development. Could be a great era for Variax and TransAcoustic guitar development. Lots 'o other great stuff regarding future direction in this video within the limits of what can be disclosed! It is a must-see!

One thing to check is that you will probably want to use 'Line' level to your amp's return but experiment with 'Instrument' level if need be. I would also try adjusting the Ch Vol level on the amp block to make sure that the power amp section on your guitar amplifier is receiving a level it plays nicely with. How are you connecting to your guitar amp? Are you using the 4CM method? If so check your cabling configuration and make sure your Helix loop blocks and loop block levels are set up properly when bypassing your guitar amp's guitar input connection and preamp and going straight into the power amp via the guitar amp's send/return loop.

First question I have is are you playing the Helix through the new PRX815's you were talking about or your old Yamaha DSR112's? A fifteen inch speaker is likely to sound much different and "looser" and more bass heavy than what you are used to with your old 12" speakers. You might want to try your old 12" speakers with the Helix before swapping out the speakers for larger ones. Lot's of people including me prefer 10" or 12" speakers with modelers although 15"s can sound great too if that is your preference and especially if you play bass. I personally think the sound is a bit more tricky to dial in on 15" speakers. So much that could be going in here it is hard to say where to start. One of the ways people get more volume out of their amp/cab blocks and still maintain a clean tone is by putting any of the following types of blocks before or after the amp/cab block - gain block, EQ block, compressor block, or an overdrive block like the Kinky Boost or other with the Gain parameter all the way down and the level up to taste. . This will allow you to gain stage the volume without adding dirt. All of those blocks mentioned have level parameters you can kick up a bit to add some punch/volume without distortion. Adding these blocks before the amp block tends to add more punch and, adding them after the amp block adds more volume. Either way you get a clean sound with more kick. Keep the Drive parameter level on your amp block down for clean sounds and be sure to pick an amplifier that is not intended for high gain tones. Although some of the higher gain models can get surprisingly good clean sounds, something like a 5150 or Bogner is probably not a first choice for most player's clean tones. It helps to experiment with different models though. You mentioned that you turned something up to "8.5", wasn't sure whether you meant you turned up the Drive or the Master or Ch Vol to 8.5. If you turned the Drive up to 8.5 that would be partly or entirely why you are hearing a dirty sound. Try turning the Drive down until the sound cleans up and boost the amp block's Master and Ch Vol instead. Also be careful with Bass, Mid, and High settings on the amp. Having them cranked up too much on certain models will introduce dirt into a clean tone. Also the 'Sag' control on the amp can clean things up considerably on certain models, try moving it around. Put a low cut into an EQ block after the cab somewhere between 70-120hz. This will clean up the low end and tighten up the sound. A high cut from 5khz or higher(whatever sounds right to you) usually helps when playing through an FRFR/'PA speaker' as well. You said you had the pad on and had been experimenting with different impedance settings. I would start with the pad off(unless you have really hot pickups) and the impedance on 'Auto'. If all else fails you can return to the pad and impedance settings. Trying an alternate guitar might be instructive as well. There are probably a dozen other things you can try but one other thing to be aware of is that if you are getting grit or distortion when using any of the Delay models that include a "Headroom" parameter you should turn the 'Headroom' setting up as it will clean up the delay sound. Although I prefer to build my own presets, cycling through the factory presets until you find something that is in the ballpark of what you are looking for and modifying it can be a good place to start if you are finding it difficult to dial in a decent tone from scratch. It may give you a better idea of how you want to construct your own presets. Also last but not least, every once in a while it turns out someone just has a bad cable or something is not plugged in all the way or incorrectly. Recheck all your connections and try swapping out cables. There are definitely good clean sounds to be found in the Helix.

My apologies that probably should have said "...Input/Output..." but I hope the heading change gets you some new eyes on the post. Please feel free to change it back if not. Either way it ultimately caught many people's attention with more hopefully to come. Thanks again!

Btw, even though the topic heading you used, "Free Helix Sticker" might have more general appeal, you might want to consider relabeling the heading for this topic or perhaps re-posting it with a different heading at some point in the future with something a bit more descriptive like "Free Helix Back Panel Output Label sticker", or something similar. It actually took me a while to get around to reading this topic because I thought it might just be a "Modelers Have More Fun" or "Vote Muskie" sticker, or something in that vein :-) It would be a shame to see anyone miss out on this great piece of work due to the topic title although it seems to have a healthy number of views so far. As you can tell I'm a fan of what you have done here and the fact that you put it out without asking for compensation. I think it deserves maximum exposure.

See page #29 in the HX Effects manual. The section is: "Assigning Switches in Signal Flow View". You can also do it by using snapshots instead.

I am mystified as to why people are writing posts chastising rd2rk for being justifiably disappointed by the responses he has gotten directly from Headrush/Alto regarding their new Headrush FRFR. When did it become ok for a company to use its image, in Headrush's case as a modeler company, to market a new product under what appear to me to be dubious pretenses? I would think most consumers would expect the Headrush to be something other than just a feature impaired version of something else Alto sells at exactly the same price. They are expecting an FRFR that is specifically designed and tuned to sound better with modelers. Consumers naturally make that assumption and that is what inMusic is counting on or they wouldn't have bothered rebranding what appears to be, according to their own support department, a limited version speaker of the exact same Alto speaker they sell for PA usage. How is it that rd2rk somehow becomes the bad guy for having done the research and discovering that it is appears to be nothing more than a marketing ploy and not a product that has been redesigned for its target audience? He has been posting up the exact quotes from the company! His comments are not based on an opinion. The ball is in Headrush's court now to substantiate how their speaker is a superior choice to the Alto which seems to have the exact same specs and capacity to be used with a modeler but also includes a mic (or general use) preamp that can be leveraged for a PA as well. I for one applaud rd2rk for shedding some much needed light on this subject. He is not just complaining or expressing sour grapes about having purchased a product that is "as advertised" but that he doesn't like. If that were the case the comments that express the sentiment essentially of "live with it or return it, you got exactly what was expected" would be right on target. As a matter of fact he appears to like the Headrush, he is just sharing the fact that it appears to be a limited version of another brand's PA speaker at exactly the same price. Right now this product appears to be more about marketing than substance. That doesn't mean it isn't worth getting, just that you should know what you are getting. That marketing is IMHO somewhat misleading or at best incomplete given the other information they provided after he followed up. Information provided only when they were directly asked. I would love to see Headrush provide more details as to the Headrush design if that is not actually the case. If one of their reps sees these posts I would encourage them to post up additional details if the Headrush includes more in the way of a resdesign targeted towards users of modelers. If the Headrush is indeed only a rebranding of the Alto minus a feature it is up to consumers to inform each other that they may want to buy the Alto instead unless you prefer the Headrush logo, and are ok with an input that cannot double as a mic input. Now that is truth in advertising and some buyers will still prefer the Headrush but at least they will know exactly what they are getting. As it should be! I would ask this, how would people feel if they found out if for example that Line6's new PowerCab speaker was nothing more than a rebranded L3t that had some of the features stripped away, and they were selling for exactly the same price? This is of course not the case! The PowerCab is an entirely new animal and approach with extremely innovative and different speaker technology optimized for modeling, and I might add a lower price than the L3t. That is probably to a much lesser extent what people were expecting with the Headrush. Headrush purchasers weren't expecting the same level of innovation that we see in the PowerCab series but I use the analogy just to make the point. I think it is fair to say that although some were already dubious, many buyers were expecting, given the Headrush branding to get a new brand of FRFR, specifically intended for guitar modeling, rather than just an Alto speaker with a Headrush logo. I am very appreciative when anyone provides me with information that helps me make an informed purchase, especially when it is counter to what I have been led to believe. I think that is what rd2rk has done here unless and until new information comes to light. Let's not kill the messenger!

Not sure if you are encountering some other issue but the key to getting the correct LED to be on(or off) when you recall the preset/snapshot is to make sure you get the two effects in the states you want , then touch (but don't press), repeatedly if necessary, the footswitch until the LED reflects the lit state (on or off) that you want. Then save. If this is not working than maybe something else is going on.

I know what you mean, he is dead on accurate. That was my first reaction but then it occurred to me that even if he was lip-synching and doing air guitar, bass, and drums he is so good at it that it is incredible. At the very least he would be an epic mime and video producer. And why go to that much trouble to fake it? You might as well execute the material at that point. Has CGI had a major technological leap forward while we weren't looking? Did it say Industrial Light & Magic, Lucas Studios in the credits somewhere? :-)

That much talent in a single human being proves unequivocally that the universe is not fair. Incredible!

This is a really critical troubleshooting step that should be added to the general list of things suggested to try when folks are having USB connectivity issues - try a different and perhaps a short USB cable. Btw, I am sure Line6 would be happy to send you out another cable if you are still under warranty. Just open up a ticket.

Thanks, I just took your post as an opportunity to put out an explanation that was kind of more directed out into the ether for anyone who might benefit from an in-depth description of those snapshot preference settings. As you indicated in your post they can definitely cause unanticipated behavior while designing snapshots if someone is unaware of them. Brue58ski and you seemed to potentially be on the right track regarding the OP's issue and both of you actually already sounded pretty familiar with snapshot usage.

You can control either only one or both of the 'Start' and 'End' vowels on the Legacy--> Vocoder effect by assigning their parameters to a single expression pedal. Select the Vocoder block and assign the 'Start' or both the 'Start' and 'End' parameters to the same expression pedal(I used EXP 1) by right clicking on the parameter value in the Editor. As you might or might not expect these are the parameters that select which vowel sound the effects starts and ends with. If you have assigned both the 'Start' and 'End' parameters you will want to hit the "BYPASS/CONTROLLER ASSIGN" tab, select one of your parameters('Start' or 'End') from the list of assignments on the left part of your screen and then reverse the positions for the sliders on 'Min End' and 'Max End'. If you only assigned one of the parameters, 'Start' or 'End' to the expression pedal you can either ignore this step or set the 'Min End' and 'Max End' to limit which vowel combinations will be available when you move the pedal. For those who have assigned both the Start and End vowel sounds to the expression pedal, Step #2 is will reverse the Start and End vowel lists so they don't match up when you move the pedal. This will allow you to invoke different combinations of vowels for your Start and End vowels as you change pedal position. Otherwise if you are assigning both the 'Start' and 'End' parameters, without reversing the position of the 'Min End' and 'Max End' settings for one of the parameters assigned to the expression pedal, the vowels will match up exactly when you move the pedal, e.g. the 'Start' and 'End' vowels will be both be "a" or both be "i" etc., and you won't get a proper shift from one vowel sound to the other. Another issue is that even once you reverse the pedal travel for one of the vowel lists there is a single point in the pedals travel where the vowel lists for the start and end match up as they cross. You could avoid this by either assigning only for example the 'Start' parameter to the pedal and limiting the 'Min End' and 'Max End' or perhaps by playing around with the 'Min End' and 'Max End' settings so they don't ever show the same vowel sound . Anyway, this explanation probably looks like gibberish until you jump into the Editor and dial this up. Makes sense then. This has nothing to do with the above expression pedal setup and could be pilot error but some of the vowel sound combinations in this effect don't seem to operate properly and the overall tone was a bit muted and not as clearly articulated as some other vocoder effects I have used.Some vowel combinations did sound quite good however. One thing I did find that helped considerably was placing the Vocoder after the amplifier/cab block. Placements earlier in my signal chain did not sound as good. Adjusting the 'Speed' parameter in the right combination with the 'Auto 1-4' parameter definitely helped enormously as well. If anybody has some tips on how to best use this effect please post 'em up.