chrisvermaak

I've just reverted to 1.12 and am now upgrading to 2.0 again.

 

Had some problems updating to 2.0 - the first time I tried it failed and said something like "unable to update" on the Helix screen.

Then I tried again and it appeared to work - except the text on the Helix screen changed into some weird hieroglyphics about halfway through the update..

 

It seemed my presets weren't opening properly in 2.0 as I was playing earlier today and just a few minutes ago I plugged USB into Helix to do a bit of recording and Helix froze up.

 

So I've just done the downgrade/upgrade as I typed this - and it seems to have worked - no hieroglyphics this time!  Hope the presets will work now.

 

One question.. on the updater screen first page it says to press buttons 9 and 10 whilst and powering up Helix, but then on the next screen it says to press buttons 7 and 8... do you do both?  Or is one of those messages wrong?

I read somewhere and it is simple "press the middle two buttons on the bottom row in fully then switch Helix on and release after switch-on"

 

When you have buttons depressed and energise the Helix there is a warning on the screen that if you release now all factory presets will update to version 2.0. If you you release the Helix will work a while and after full boot you will have like a brand new Helix V2.0 with none of you patches there anymore and all the global settings restored also to factory settings.

 

That is when you backup is required. Simply connect and download to Helix your setlist(s) and voila all is there. Then you will have to set again any global settings you may have had previously.

I think there is a slight change in tone and possibly that is because now my guitar input impedance is only "auto". I had that set at 1Mohm on the older firmware but now I cannot find where to set the impedance actually to my value and not the auto default value.

I had that very same requirements. Want my guitar to sound like a guitar. Like Hank Marvins guitar. And wanted my backing tracks or just pure music sound like pure music through the same system.

 

Finally I purchased 2 off L3t speakers and connected them to my Helix full digital via Line 6 Link

 

Now I have full stereo backing track at HiFi quality sound and my modeled VOX AC30 (Hanks favourite amp) with delays, reverb, compressor all going through stereo patches straight from the Helix to the L3ts and it sound beautifull.

 

I needed two speakers to accomplish the stereo from backing tracks and I went big for the L3t's such that when you have your guitar and backing track going to both speakers the volume you can achieve is truly huge. 

 

And whether I practise at reduced volume at home or play at loud volume with my sons or to myself the tone only sounds slightly different  and I think that is just because of my ears always enjoying the louder tone but the soft tone also makes me perfectly happy.

 

I achieved that by finally setting the levels on Helix and L3t's to what really works close for low or high volumes.

 

The L3t's are heavy (effectively each 1300W speaker amps) at 26kg each. But they carry easy and the setup is simple with one serial cable going from Helix to 1st speaker then loop through to the 2nd. 

 

I do not think you can buy better equipment for your (and my purpose)

Ok did the upgrade no problem

Reset all presets to new factory presets

And restored my patches no problem

 

Not even looked at the new features. Just first played to hear if everything is ok and it is. 

 

Just first want to thank Line 6 for the new tuner. That is now world class. Could hear immediately how much better in tune my guitar is now and could see also that my intonation is slightly off. This is the only tuner I now need. Thank you so much

Thanks PeterHam, Duncann and Silverhead for the explanations. 

I think I got it and it seems brilliant solution and application developed here.

But here I am a total idiot. What is a snapshot and what is a scene?

Going to upgrade my Helix just now but am I looking for a photo of movie?  :(

 

Please just a sentence or two so I can grasp this concept related to Helix.

I think this is an important post. Sure there must be some standard to digital audio level.

 

I think it is 0dB. (of course dB being a relative measurement). But there must exist a standard in the recording industry because when I playback my CD in my car then all artists, albums, songs etc are of the relative very similar volume level should I leave volume control on the player in one position. That can only be achieved if there is an audio standard level in the recording industry.

 

If we assume 0dB to be that level then somehow I just need to figure out what is the actual guitar volume gain but I would assume even there all guitar pickups generally generate the same signal level at full volume setting on the guitar. Thus if I have my guitar at full volume on the input to Helix and all my FX settings on 0dB gain then effectively I should be recording at approx 0dB level on DAW. If I paste an audio track from say ITunes into Ableton and hit playback that is the level approx indicated on the playback display in Ableton.

 

Thus I should see a recording ouput level from Helix with 0dB on all FX and Amps to render the same level of 0dB to Ableton. But it does not. It renders a much lower -25dB level to Ableton via Helix Asio on Windows 10. This confuses me.

 

Then when I use my USB to connect to Windows 10 pc then Helix takes over as the sound card, sets the audio ouput to 100% and the sound level arriving in my Helix from an Iturnes playback (backing track) is way too loud. So I set the little speaker icon in Win10 right lower corner much lower. But Helix Asio does not remember this level and next time I connect it is back to 100% output which is way louder on my L3t's output. 

As a matter of fact I set Cosy patch I created to 0dB on all blocks and to get a comparably similar level from the Helix playback via Asio I have to turn that ouput level from PC down to 5%. From there I have a balance between backing track and my guitar (a Fender Elite 2015 model set at 100% volume). Surely this cannot be right. And surely if these anomolies can be solved then pathches created at 0dB should be almost perfectly interchangeable?

 

I am actaully now just totally lost in how to set up my Helix on levels such that interconnections with Ableton and PC sourced playbacks and volume from my own patch (my guitar at full volume) shoudl really all be at the same 0dB standard?

Dude, you saved my day :)

 

Had crackles and clicks through USB on win 10 and was starting to get grumpy - updated the driver and it sounds great now :D

Dude I am glad it helped.

As for me I realise by the minute more and more I am lost in this world of digital audio. I think I am just totally stupid

Thanks Dennis that looks like amazing software. But I am not really familiar with Mac though I do have also a Macbook Pro.

 

I still think it should be possible to get the option of connecting two USB channels back to DAW from inside the Helix which carries the total mixed (FX+backing track) output to the power amp (in my case L3t via Line 6 link) for direct recording. That means what I hear is what I record which includes my backing track arriving somehow via USB to the Helix through to the final output to my L3t's.

 

For example the option in global settings of of USB 7 and 8: Why can I not select there also AES/EBU to be sent to DAW if I do not want to have the dry signal on these channels. That way I can record that exact total mixed output (a duplicate of what is going to my speakers) and do not even have to worry about latency because the mixed recording is happening at exactly the same clock speed from the Helix while what I hear (as my monitor then) is my music from my L3t's while the recording is happening in the background on DAW.

 

Think I will post this on idea scale to find out if this would be possible.

I posted a separate entry on this but might s well ask this here too:

 

I'd like to know how to Record both iTunes & Helix USB Gtr into Ableton using Helix for Stereo too on OSX. In the process of discovering and playing about with Helix patches so that if inspiration strikes it all gets recorded. I'd rather not instead have to drag any backing track into Ableton as that takes time - commits one - and kills inspiration. Also i could possibly be using Band In A Box instead of iTunes.

 

I'd like to be using the HELIX USB interface as both the stereo master outs from my Ableton, while having my Helix guitar on USB 1/2 on one track and backing tracks etc coming in from iTunes into a second stereo input.

 

Now to divert iTunes or other audio apps one can use SoundFlower - setting the main OSX output option to point to Soundflower instead of the stereo outputs. One then specifies in Ableton that the ableton stereo outputs go NOT to the main mac outputs ( i.e. headphone set ) but instead to HELIX USB.

 

Now of course this requires Soundflower to be the audio input in Ableton but I ALSO want to feed in the Helix stereo outputs with my guitar noodling on it. So....... for this one is supposed to use the Aggregate Audio Interface option in OSX to combine ( presumably ) the Helix interface AND Soundflower ( to route iTunes/BIAB etc into Ableton instead of to the main mac outputs ). But....... I cannot seem to get this method to work !!!

 

 

Has anyone managed to successfully solve this problem ? Ie be able to record both the Helix output ( over USB ) AND a separate track receiving iTunes music ( or output from - say band in a box )

 

Cheers and have a nice Helix Day !

 

Guess this is exactly what I am trying to do but on Windows 10. Any success on your side?

Hi Dennis,

Yes this I did use IE on the Windows 10 and got the corruption error. But I did download the 1.77 version also with IE. 

Anyway everything works for now and I did not want to scratch now again there while it all is working.

I will wait for the Line 6 Updater to be out of Beta and then use that. It will work updates on everything from Variax to Helix?

Can anyone explain how you physically connect to the 8 inputs on the Helix. I have seen this image from the manual that is posted elsewhere on these forums, but It only shows 2 inputs (guitar, or Aux, and Mic or Variax).

Hi Ndutyme

Thanks for posting this diagram and ask the questions. I must admit I do not have a clue what this all means actually. The diagram shows outputs from pc going to outputs on Helix. And inputs on pc going to inputs on Helix. Now maybe it is just nomeclature since if I understand a little bit about a Bus (Universal Serial Bus) then am I correct in saying that actually such a bus is bidirectional and that input side is also output side and thus the "ins" and "outs" and the little arrows attached are only mentioned to confuse me more as I am probably already the most stupid guy on this forum.

 

But my system at this moment works beautifull and I am very happy with the sound coming out of the LT3 speakers when playing Shadows as lead guitarist trying to emulate the great Hank Marvin and have my backing track feeding via Helix from my pc to the same Stagesource L3T's. Just stunning.

 

Now I would like to record that sound I am hearing on the LT3's onto my PC while I am playing. I mean this combined sound of me and the backing track is going out via the Line 6 connection to the 1st speaker and then loop to the 2nd L3t.  I arm the Ableton Lite 9 software on the pc and then record and then……..I only get the guitar alone recorded not the backing track.

 

So without copying the backing track into Ableton I would think I could just record the mix sent out to the L3t's back to the Ableton one time avoiding any latency whatsoever (even if there would be slight timelag between what I am playing and hearing and what is being recorded on the hard drive a few milliseconds later)

 

So where on which bus is the output Line 6 connection to L3t's connected so I can set Ableton to just record that one stereo channel for me at once ……. mix done on Helix and adjusted to my ears regarding volume end of story? I mean for that I would need just a very simple one stereo channel recording software actually?

 

I think my problem starts that I actually can hear my backing track (playing straight from MP3) via Helix onto L3t's but I honestly do not have clue how (which Bus) does it get there. It is just present and I adjust the volume on the PC output little speaker icon which indicates "line 6 helix" as the helix is now the sound card. On which bus is the backing track and why can I not record that Line 6 Link ouput which I am hearing which is the output to L3t via Line 6 link?

Think I solved it

downloaded latest Line 6 Driver2 version 1.77 (this relates to Windows 10)

Installed and click is gone

 

Note I saw version 1.78 but when I downloaded that my browser indicated that the download is corrupt (did that twice then aborted the 1.78 version)

 

I did have latest Helix firmware upgrade already

Only installed Line 6 Monkey this weekend. 

 

Ok I am now again very happy.

My backing tracks playback through USB via Helix to L3T is now just stunning!!!

 Hi Klangmaler thanks for your response

 

I am sure I have no feedback loop of any kind. I have no recording software even installed 

It is purely the Helix usb cable plugged into the USB of my PC. At that moment is seems the Helix becomes the "sound card" since the little speaker icon where I adjust the realtek volume of the very same backing track then becomes "Line 6" volume control.

Also at that moment the quality of the sound is better (since I do not go via the headphones socket anymore I suppose)

But note at that moment when usb connects to helix i do not even have the headphones connection anymore. Thus the Helix sits like an extension to the PC on the end of the USB cable. Also plugged into the Helix of course is my Fender Elite.

 

The click is not at all tempo related â€¦â€¦. intially there is no click and then after a while you hear the first one one and then start to occur more often. Not repetitive and not loud rather like a scratch on an old vinyl recording. I have read it is to do with the sampling of the audio by the PC but also that now the Helix controls the sound and also the sampling rate etc. The moment I unplug the Helix USB the sound on the realtek simple built in audio card is immediately without the click.

 

Please help

Please help with my issue

I have Helix and two LT3 stagesource speakers. 

I have been very satisfied with everything in the way I played my backing tracks: Simply plugged from the PC audio (headphone socket) into Return1/2 and added that as second channel on each preset and there is my backing track beautifulll with my guitar playing on channel 1 all in stereo on the LT3's. Perfect. I can control total mix of backing track and guitar with master volume pending if I thought my neigbours are sleeping or not.

 

Then I tried USB audio in. 

The sound quality from the backing track is sure much better!. But now there is the click in the backing track somehow related to the whole digital usb interface I assume.

 

How do I fix this? I have looked at drivers etc (not a pc expert at all) and noted that Line 6 driver takes control of the sound when USB is connected to Helix. So now I think this problem is somewhere Helix related since the stupid low cost REALTEK soundcard I use to play backing tracks via Analog through Return1/2 has no clicks!

 

My PC is a high end Dell Workstation for high performance 3D drawing package and very powerfull with solidstate C:\ drive.

 

I have thought to install a highe end audio card but then I am really only interested in the digital USB audio interface and not sure an expensive sound card can solve the click heard on USB Helix audio.

 

Please help

Again the issue is resolution not necessarily accuracy.

 

Gotta agree. If every bar could be subdivided in 5 bars that would be brilliant. Only then could we comment on the accuracy. At this time I can change the pitch audible to my tonedeaf ears while staying within the bar.

Helix use of the very best in dac and processors thus this should give us a real high end tuner

If you're using 110-Ohm AES/EBU cables with two L3ts, it's better to select Output > Multi blocks, which include L6 LINK. If two L3ts are daisy-chained via L6 LINK, they should automatically become stereo (even if their displays say 1 and 2, I believe). From one of the Output blocks, turn Knob 1 (Pan) hard left or right and you should hear that reflected correctly between your speakers.

 

Thank you Igloo,

I just needed confirmation that labeled 1 & 2 does not imply mono operation but still stereo on the L3ts.

I see no point in processing other I/O than the ones I use. And from my understanding the most simple is the Line6 Link which is one cable from Helix to 1st L3t and then one cable from there to the second L3T.

 

Since at this time I have my two L3ts stacked on top of each other (space limitation) I could not really confirm stereo output via listening.

Helix has two primary stereo paths—1 and 2—each of which can be:

• Serial—1 input block to 1 output block
• Parallel—1 input block, split and merged before the 1 output block
• Parallel—2 input blocks, merged to 1 output block
• Parallel—1 input block split to 2 output blocks
• True Parallel (dual serial)—2 input blocks to 2 output blocks

The last one is how you get four stereo signal paths. Path 1 blocks can be routed to Path 2 blocks, and depending on where your splits and merges are, Paths 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B can be set up for "Super Serial", where they all get routed into one gigantic 32-block path. You won't fill all 32 blocks tho', unless you really like EQs, gains, and volume pedals.

 

All routing is accomplished from the Home screen. It's as simple as selecting an Output bock and then turning the joystick to select its destination. Pushing the joystick displays available destinations in a list.

All sounds so simple. However I had to be clever (read ignorant).

I used one (2nd "lower") input for guitar (dedicated "guitar pad" so what does that actually mean on the description I mean why is it not just called "guitar"). The output (after some beautiful blocks creating beautiful sound with some magnificent Vox 30 amp and Stereo Chorus and Simple delay) creating a fantastic clean sound, I routed to AES out (labelled 101 on the home screen).

 

The other channel is for Ipad which I implemented via input selecting "Return 1/2" for a stereo input from Ipad through one "Gain" block (so I can switch off the backing track via FS) and straight out to AES (indicates "101" on the home screen.)

 

Now I have two AES (L6 Link) outputs (both indicating 101 on home screen).

 

From my Helix I connect obviously then via AES out to two L3T's.  One cable to speaker no one and then output from AES to 2nd speaker.

 

Now heres my problem:

 

The L3T's indicate L and R on the rear until I energise the Helix and then speakers change to indicate 1 and 2.  I think this is no longer stereo then?

 

I use all block after the amp as stereo blocks so the top output to "101" should be stereo?

I use one simple volume/gain block which I assume is stereo on the 2nd line.

 

So is my mistake that I have two 101 output blocks effectively going via one AES cable out to 1st L3T?

So should I (can I?) connect (merge) the lower output from volume/gain block to the same 101 output of the upper string?

 

Is the fact that I use two 101 output blocks confusing the Helix AES output such that it thinks this is mono?

 

I am new here and new to Line 6 but oh man is the sound stunning which I am getting out of this equipment. Hank Marvin is already having sleepless nights :)