HonestOpinion

Don't forget the additional "Allure" cabs available for free from Line6. http://line6.com/allure/

I agree with many of robbie61's comments although I would reassert that mic'ing a cab can change the sound of a cab in two ways . One is depending on the mic used, certain frequencies that might be more subdued when just listening to the speaker can be accentuated depending on the mic's frequency response and where it is most sensitive. This means that even if the mic is not actually adding any frequencies that are not there as robbie61 points out, it may be making certain unpleasing frequencies that do exist more prominent.The second area impacting the sound is the fact that a mic is like sticking your ear right in front of the speaker, quite different from the way a concert goer is listening from a distance and probably off axis. However, it is not so different from mic'ing a cab to the PA and yet it does take a bit more work to EQ the Helix properly versus sticking a mic in front of one of your Celestions. It is not as simple as close mic'ing a traditional guitar cab, especially through an FRFR monitor and direct to the PA. I think that is the disconnect for a lot of Helix users and the source of a lot of threads asking about how to EQ out the gnarlier parts of the high end which as some have pointed out are not just in the range above 5k. I tape all our shows and the clarity of the guitar sound is awesome but both live and on playback I have sometimes heard those sort of ear "exhausting" frequencies we all try to avoid in vocal or guitar sounds where the wrong frequencies are being accentuated. Those are the part of the frequency spectrum that really wear an audience down by the end of the evening. When I hear those I return to the preset and do more work on the EQ and maybe even change the mic model. Most of this has probably been all said before though. Even though I have decades of experience with EQ I would still be a fan of a few "Idiot's EQ filter settings", an "FRFR specific EQ setting", or cab model options that put me somewhere in the territory of a great sounding Celestion right from jump. The Helix definitely has models that are dialed in nicely already but It requires more work on some amp and mic model combinations than others. I think that is why some users just prefer using their favorite guitar amp and cab as a monitor and its inherent frequency response, curve, and limiting, as opposed to the extra work required for using an FRFR. There are rewards to using an FRFR for a monitor however, which is the direction I selected to go, which include a sound much more faithful to the amp and cab that is being modeled as well as a more accurate representation of what the PA sounds like if you are going direct to the PA.

:D

Hah, a "Johnny Dangerously" reference, not to speak of some of the great lines from Monty Python. This has been one of the more entertaining threads in quite a while. :P

One thing to look for is if there is any pattern to which presets it is freezing on. Frequently it has turned out to be problematic presets that cause lockups. If specific presets are the cause you can try modifying the preset or copying it to a different slot to see if that fixes it, otherwise recreate it from scratch. Also, as FlyingsCool mentioned do a backup of your presets, IRs, take note of your global settings and run a global reset.

Exactly!

Thx!

Thanks! I can't really lay claim to much in the way of originality on the idea as it exists on other equipment but I agree it is an excellent way to do things and I would love to see it come to the Helix.

Posted an Idea to Ideascale to add "Setlists" to the Helix. A "Setlist" as differentiated from a "Bank" does not actually contain presets but is instead composed of pointers to the presets. This allows you to quickly set up a list for the presets for upcoming performances without having to go and physically move all of your presets around. Would love to see this on both the Helix and the Editor but I would probably use it mostly from the Editor. Please chime in with comments if you have some ideas on the best implementation. Vote for it here: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/idea-v2/911976

Posted an Idea to Ideascale to add "Setlists" to the Helix. A "Setlist" as differentiated from a "Bank" does not actually contain presets but is instead composed of pointers to the presets. This allows you to quickly set up a list for the presets for upcoming performances without having to go and physically move all of your presets around. Would love to see this on both the Helix and the Editor but I would probably use it mostly from the Editor. Please chime in with comments if you have some ideas on the best implementation. Vote for it here: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/idea-v2/911976

I feel exactly the same way. As long as the currently existing models and any new effect, amp model or whatever is updated to take full advantage of the new architecture, codeline, and hardware of the Helix I don't care if it is pulled from an old Pod or built from the ground up. Not looking to throw out the baby with the bathwater. If there is a great effect to be had from Line6's older devices or for that matter anywhere else it has the potential to make an excellent addition to the Helix. It seems though as if the gold standard would be to update it so it takes full advantage of the Helix's capabilities.

Something tells me when the 3.0 upgrade rolls around you may take a less leisurely approach... ;)

Agree 100%, in no way did I mean to imply that I am not revved about seeing new effects, amp models, features, etc., as well.

I'm hoping we see updated HX reverbs in stereo and mono. If the wahs are also ported directly from the HD library as I have heard said (don't know if that is actually the case) then they should be updated to. Out with old, in with the new. High time to update anything left over from the old HD codeline to the new HX standard and take full advantage of the improved processors on the Helix. This is actually higher priority to me than new effect models.

I don't usually comment on these topics regarding customer service because I always feel like whatever I say will come across as pandering to Line6 and sound somewhat self-serving as in "maybe my complimentary comment will result in a better response when I have a problem". But I have to say, Line6 may well have the best customer service in the industry. There are few companies I have dealt with over my lifetime that are first off, so easy to contact on the phone, and secondly go to such lengths to remedy issues. Companies as large as Line6 almost never attain the high bar that Line6 sets. It is exceptional and notable. After companies reach the size of Line6 they often adopt an "economy of scale" where they consistently deny service calculating that there are "more customers where that one came from". Look at any large insurance, cable, or phone company if you want an example of that philosophy. I can't say how much I appreciate working with the Line6 customer reps who not only take an active interest in finding a satisfactory resolution for me, have excellent product knowledge, and most importantly at no time give me the feeling that they are reading off of a script with canned answers designed to deny my request and save the company money at my expense. I have dealt with Will before and his customer service has been fantastic. The fact that he bothered to post a mea culpa publicly here is unprecedented in my experience with any company. Please keep doing what you are doing Line6. It is noted, hugely appreciated, and a real differentiator in a market place full of companies who fail to stand behind their products and are difficult to reach. One thing I am confident of is that when I buy a product from Line6, customer service will be there to help if I have an issue.

Definition: 'fizz'ticuffs Fighting with your Helix EQ until you feel compelled to post on the forum ;)

You would be dragging a .wav file (IR) to the desktop, not a zip file. You have to unzip your IR's first.

For anyone looking for the unassign parameter from snapshots command. Mac Assign - OPTION-Click Unassign - SHIFT-OPTION-Click Windows Assign - ALT-Click Unassign - SHIFT-ALT-Click

As DunedinDragon indicated you may want to double check and make sure you are loading the correct Ownhammer ".wav" files in the Helix format ( 48kHz, 16-bit, mono). I have not seen much in the way of problems reported loading IRs since the earliest firmware revisions and even then they were infrequent and usually due to pilot error. The first thing I would check is that your firmware and Editor versions are properly matched. I do remember some people using a trick when they were having problems loading the IRs which was to drag the IR first to the desktop and then dragging it to the Editor but if things are operating normally you should not need to resort to this. Where are you setting the level on the IRs? I think most of them come up at "-18" by default. If you set the level to "0" this could be part of the problem. Does the loud screeching when scrolling happen on multiple presets? If the preset you are using for testing is already too hot, putting the IR in may be putting it over the top. If you use a native Helix cab instead of an IR do you still get the same screeching effect? You may want to start by testing this out with a preset created from scratch with just an amp(no cab) and adding things one by one until you can replicate the screeching problem you are seeing on your other preset(s).

:D

You may want to try uninstalling and then reinstalling the Helix app (Editor, Updater, Driver).

Strongly agree with this!

I agree with you and this is not the first time this issue has been brought up. I remember being involved in a topic discussing this about a year ago and am glad to see the subject being approached again. Thanks for posting up the Idea, voted!

Some great and scholarly comments on this thread and I am not surprised that there is so much debate as there are a lot of conflicting opinions out on the web regarding this subject. Wanted to point out that the OP's amp is solid state. The advice that states matching the impedance correctly to the speaker is the safest way to go is doubtless correct. Almost everything I have read and my own personal practice is that if you do have to go with an impedance mismatch, particularly with a solid state amp, a higher impedance on the speaker is the safer way to go. Can Mr. Tessla please weigh in already and no I am not referring to Elon Musk. :) Regarding tube amps, after reading the posts here and elsewhere I find myself actually less sure than I have always been that a higher impedance is safer when you have to setup a tube amp and speaker with an impedance mismatch. I would say the preponderance of web posts and articles on this topic indicate that in situations where an impedance mismatch is the only option, a higher impedance on the speaker (relatively close to the rated output on the amplifier) is better on both tube and solid state amps. However, there are also a fair number of well written posts by seemingly knowledgeable sources that seem to indicate that in the case of tube amps, a lower impedance on the speaker is better. I still don't feel as if I have located a totally definitive answer on this subject. Another good post on this subject from TDPRI.com and this one seems to indicate that a lower impedance on a mismatch is preferable if using a tube amp and a higher impedance on the speaker is better when using a solid state amp. Sheesh, I was way less confused before I "educated" myself on this subject.: http://www.tdpri.com/threads/speaker-impedance-mismatch.197323/#post-2286808

You just need to explicitly assign the desired effect blocks to the footswiches directly on the Helix LT or using the Editor.