erniedenov

Ha! Maybe I need new bifocals. DOH!

Yes. I use Shure 535 IEMs with my Helix and they sound great! You'll probably have to get an adapter because most IEMs don't have a quarter inch jack. But that's the only thing you need to be concerned with. Have fun!

After 13 months of owning a Helix, I made a discovery that I should've made the first week: you can get 20 dBs of additional volume via the output menu on each preset (smacks palm on forehead)! To cut myself a slight break, I can't find anything in the manual that mentions this. I've only done a handful of live gigs using my Alto FRFR powered speaker though I've played many gigs with Helix going direct to FOH while using in-ear monitors. Because I have a gig coming up in 10 days where I will be using the Alto, I had an "at volume" tweaking session yesterday in my home; that's when I made the big (to me) discovery. On the live gigs I have done with the speaker I was always wondering why I can't get more volume out of it; after all, it's rated at 1,100 watts. I've never exactly been overpowered by the rest of the band, but I've had to crank the master volume on the Helix all the way up on occasion. Now I'm realizing that I can hold my own with anyone who might want to involve me in a volume battle! I'm bypassing my pride here just to pass along this revelation in case anybody else has been struggling with getting enough volume out of their rig. I've now added 10 dB on the output of all of my presets in my "speaker setlists" and I won't have to turn my Helix master volume much past noon on this upcoming gig. Pleased!

Thank you; I was beginning to think I was the only one. The only thing I disagree about is that I think clean patches cut through more easily than dirty ones unless you're using a lot of compression on the clean ones. But I try to think about how things would be mixed on a record. Often but not always, clean rhythm stuff is at a more subliminal volume; lower in the mix. Power chord/riff kind of stuff is usually a little louder and of course lead stuff is the loudest (with the possible exception of lead fills behind singing). When I save a patch, I always do it so that volume is immediately accessible for tweaking on the fly. If the amp volume is maxed out I have the cab/IR volume in the display and on the ready. And if it isn't obvious... yes, I use my ears.

It's the placebo effect. I thought everything sounded better the first two times I updated. I didn't this time and now I have my doubts about those other two times. I did notice that! I wouldn't say "problem solved," but I think it is better.

Funny, I tried building a high gain lead patch with that Trainwreck model but as much as I liked it, it didn't surpass my Archetype lead patch. Then I turned the drive down substantially and got the best semi-dirt blues tone I've gotten yet. Versatile amp model!

Well, I updated from 2:10 (never bothered with 2:11). No hitches; in fact updating is a lot easier than it was previously! I was once bitten twice shy from the very first time I updated Helix; lost a bunch of my presets. But I figure the best way to overcome your fears is to face them. I've updated twice since that first time with no problems. Just don't export and import bundles; I think that's what went wrong that first time. I save and import by individual preset now just to be safe but doing it by setlist is probably fine.

Thanks!

I know the ideal third party IR sample rate for Helix is 48.0 kHz, but what is the preferred length, 200 ms or 500 ms? I just got some from Celestion's Black Friday sale and the download came in both versions. Thanks in advance!

Successfully updated! I didn't have to follow step 4 either, I backed up my presets and IRs with the editor, did the update and when I closed the updater and reopened HX editor, my stuff all magically appeared! I tested it out because it seemed too good to be true, but everything's intact. Of course I had to get my globals back to where they were, but that was it! I don't understand, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Just had a little time to browse with headphones. Trainwreck sounded pretty great with just 1 minute of tweaking and I dig the new Space Echo delay! Looking forward to digging deeper. Thank you Line 6!

It's dependent on several things; the guitar, the amp and cab models (or third party IRs), the mic models, etc. For me, there's no approximate EQ that works universally for all presets; some of my high and low cuts are drastic and some are subtle. It's simply a matter of turning knobs until it sounds good. A full range speaker is what it says; guitar amp cabs are not full range. I never used anything but the tone knobs on tube amps before I entered the digital domain.

I initially created all of my presets with the headphone jack and in-ear monitors. When I got an FRFR powered speaker, I did this exactly; tweaked them for the speaker. I was told by someone here that it's best to just start from scratch with the speaker, but with some time and patience, I got those patches sounding pretty great eventually. If you get a powered speaker that doesn't have "monitor mode" you'll need to get a mounting pole or an amp stand to avoid floor coupling. And as has been said, be sure to tweak at the approximate volume you'll be using at a live gig. Venues can vary wildly; that's what the global EQ is for.

Litigator Cali Rhythm 1 Matchstick Channel 1 Archtype Lead Cali Rectifier

I had and still have an HD500 (before they came out with the X) and I thought it sounded pretty decent with my Line 6 DT 25 amp. But when one of the bands I'm in decided to go without amps on stage and I had go direct with the HD500, I was pretty unhappy with my tones. The Helix changed all that; amp and cab models are infinitely better! Direct or with my Alto TS212, it's by far the best DMA (digital modeling amp) I've ever had the pleasure of playing through! And it's faster and easier to tweak than any previous Line 6 modeler.

Same here. And the difference from one to the other can be so subtle that you can lose all perspective after auditioning the multitudes that come in a pack. I bought a 3 Sigma Diezel 4x12 IR and it was a bit too scooped sounding for my taste. So far, the most usable 3rd party IRs I've gotten were this freebie from Celestion: https://www.celestionplus.com/free-download I'm planning on purchasing some of their other IRs when my work picks up.

Same here. And the first thing I did when I got it was to tuck the shoulder straps away. My guitar is my backpack.

None! One of the minor reasons I got Helix was to get rid of the clutter. I can dig it. I think the Helix Rat model sounds better than the pedal that I have.

Great! Thanks for sharing!

"Me tones" here. I've gotten by doing that for 40 years of being a professional musician and nobody has complained. I've always improvised my own solos too, unless it's an "iconic" solo that you sorta have to play, like "Don't Stop Believing." I sometimes sub for one of the 2 guitar players in a local Steely Dan cover band and had to learn a few solos from the studio albums (at the band leader's insistence) like the ones on "Reelin' In The Years," "Kid Charlemagne" and "Rikki," but that's about it. One of the great things about the real SD is that they let the players improvise their own solos for the live shows. I never bring more than one guitar to a gig unless I'll need an acoustic for something. A Strat-type guitar with a humbucker in the bridge (mine is a Suhr) covers most of the tonal ground I need for most pop/rock. No, that humbucker can't fool anyone into believing that it's a Les Paul, but most people in the audience don't know or care. My hat's off to those that do ape the tones off records; I've just never been interested in that myself and it has worked out okay.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Same here. When you've played live with enough bands over the years, you get a pretty good idea of how your tones will sit in a mix. As long as you're tweaking at gig volume, you should have two feet firmly in the ballpark.

I still have a Pod HD500, but haven't touched it since getting my Helix. The HD500 sounded pretty decent with my Line 6 DT 25 amp, but once I had to use it direct to the mixing board, I couldn't get any tones I was happy with. Helix is a giant leap forward from Pod HD in every way. The answer to all of your questions except for migrating tones from one to the other is YES!

I sometimes use the "Simple EQ" block in front of the signal to boost the midrange on a lead tone. I like that you can dial in the frequency of the midrange; very useful!

My Strat isn't a Fender, it's a Suhr. John Suhr worked in the Fender Custom Shop for a couple of years, does that count? Anyway, Fender Strats can vary wildly from one to the next, even if it's the same model, like Cruisinon2 said. Happy hunting!

When I first got my Alto TS212, I was tweaking Helix with it on the floor and I had to use massive amounts of low cut on the cab blocks. Then someone here told me about floor coupling and that I should mount it on a pole or amp stand. Been mounting it on a pole ever since (and of course had to re-EQ all of my presets to accommodate), but now I'm considering getting an amp stand instead. I don't really like having the speaker at ear level or higher up and the pole won't get as low as I'd like it to be.