joemoder

If you can purchase from a vendor with a good return policy then go for it. Then if you decide it's not for you, send it back. I can not see why anyone would prefer a powered monitor over the powercab but that's my ears. I have no idea what your preference is so it would be irresponsible for me to advise you to buy one. I personally really like the powercab but would be interested in hearing the laney LFR 112 which is less expensive. Cant try Laney here in the U.S. because they are in Europe. Perhaps the shops in your area have the Laney for you to try. The powercab would integrate very nicely with the rest of your gear but it would better for you to hear it. There are plenty of you tube videos you can listen to and reviews as well. It's a nice amp and very well built. Good luck. .

I have never been satisfied with powered monitors. I took my helix and guitar to a shop and tried the 12'' variation of just about every make including Yamaha, qsc, electrolux, etc. I own an RCF HD32a which sounded the best to me but was still lacking the tonal qualities I like. Helix in 4 cable to my tube amp never sounded good and straight through the front was the worst. All of these options sounded pretty good with the several boss units I have so I just assumed the helix was not that good. Then I purchased the Powercab 112 plus. The tone and sound dispersion are far better to my ears than the monitors. Not exactly tube amp tone but close when in LF Flat. That mode shuts off the high frequency driver and sounds very amp like. I know it's not just me, everyone I jam with has noticed it as well. I have gotten nothing but praise. The speaker emulations are nice, especially cream and greenback but I prefer LF Flat mode and run IR's or cabs in the helix. I am mostly high gain metal so finding anything as good as a good tube amp just isn't going to happen. The powercab is as close as I have come thus far. It's plenty loud enough and weighs 35 lbs. Other options I have heard are really good are Atomic, Mission Gemini 212 and Xitone but they are more expensive and I have not experienced them personally. Also Laney just released the LFR 112 and Seymour Duncan has the powerstage 170. Hope this helps.

New drivers and updater just released for helix and powercab so perhaps very soon indeed. I have both and would really like to ditch the midi cable. Better integration between the two is most likely high on the list. Some high gain improvements would be awesome as well. Helix gets better with each update and they keep coming so trend dictates the next will be yet another improvement. My gt100 had 1 update & gt8 none.

Device manager - Universal serial bus controllers - Right click the appropriate port and select properties. Select Power Management and untick Allow Computer To Turn Off. If you can not identify the exact port then do them all. I do this on all my desktops anyway. Power saving features in Windows are mostly beneficial to laptops. Empty ports will have power present but nothing drawing current so no power wasted. The program PortLaw mentioned above works well and will help you identify the exact port your helix is using if you are interested in narrowing it down to one. Also, sometimes drivers will associate with the first port used and will only work with that port thereafter. I haven't experienced this since XP but it happens. Good luck and enjoy your Helix.

This update sounds real exciting and I patiently await its release. To the engineers involved with this project, the improvements since launch have been vast and I thank you. Try not to feel pressured and just keep doing what you have been doing. The helix is already awesome and I predict it will become even more so based on you're efforts so far. To you lefties out there, take a look at Kiesel Guitars. Lots of lefty love over there and they build an awesome guitar as well. My brother is a southpaw and he's been getting the shaft on everything from baseball gloves to guitars his whole life. Being a lefty doesn't mean being left out. I play with a lefty that out shreds me all day,every day.

Well,the helix sounds pretty damn good through a good monitor.I took my helix and my 7 string kiesel vader to GC and sampled a few 12'' monitors they had like QSC,EV and Yamaha. All blew away my behringer but the electro-voice sounded a little better to me than the others. The Kiesel Lithium pick ups are the strangest and most difficult I have ever experienced but I kinda like them. These are the first pick ups I have ever owned that I actually have a use for the tone knob and respond to the volume really well. The RCF HD32a arrived a few days later and I must say I am very pleased with my purchase. I have it on a pole and at half volume the floor was shaking. The highs in my patches were already cut to 6k but now there between 3k and 5k. I do the cuts in either the cabs or IR's and my tone is amazing. The effects like dual pitch and twin harmony sounded horrible before. Now there awesome. I have to admit I felt a little cheated pissing away 1500 on a modeller that sounded inferior to the $400 one I already owned. I am glad I stuck it out. I hate tweaking, I just wanna play. In comparison to the other monitors I tried the RCF is is a little clearer and crisper to my ears . Not bashing the others,they sounded really good. Given what I had been experiencing with the cheaper monitor I was in awe at what I was hearing. If I had not already ordered the RCF I would have walked out with the EV. The QSC AND Yamaha were great too. I am not surprised when I see a thread entitled "helix sounds bad" or "my tone sucks". Not everyone knows what to do or already owns quality amps or monitors. That's why this forum is important. It is also important to understand how all this stuff works and to do the research. I am a lot farther along in understanding than I was but still have much to learn. Thanks to the forum and all that responded to my query. Now I'm gonna go PLAY.

The 712a is 700 and the 732a is 900. I just ordered the hd32a with the cover included for 900. My many months of research on powered monitors keeps bringing me back to the RCF. So many really good options like Yamaha, EV and QSC. I will post back when I have spent a little time with the HD32a and share my opinion. In the end it is just a matter of personal opinion I suppose.

The guys I jam with hear it better in the air as apposed to the floor. My ears agree with them. Seems to fill the room better. I purchased two as well. My son has the other along with the boss gt100. He will get mine for stereo use when I replace it. The boss is more subdued and doesn't push the behringer as much as the helix. Far less distorted for sure.

Thanks for the reply. I am considering a 10'' if its bassy enough for a guitar that likes to sing in the key of death. I was under the impression that the HD line is better than the 7 series which is why the HD32a is on my radar. 99 percent of the reviews I have seen are from DJ'S and that makes it difficult for me to choose the right monitor for my application. Great to hear from guitar players,and helix owners. Thanks again.

Nice how the top slides into the sub. I looked at this and the 12. Like window shopping at a Ferrari dealer with a pocket full of Toyota money though. Lowest price I've seen on the 8 is 1800 US. I appreciate your feedback. Is the 10'' monitor bassy enough for just guitar.

I am currently using a Behringer Eurolive B112W and it sounds pretty ruff with the helix. It sounds ok with my GT100 and GT8. I went cheap and am paying the price. I'm now ready to shell out the scratch for something much better. I have done a lot of online research on powered speakers and the RCF gets much praise. Very little on how it performs with guitar amp modelling other than the NX coax wedge the fractal guys seem to like. I pole mount so the NX connections would be at the top and that's a deal breaker for me. I am seriously considering the HD32a and would love to hear from helix users who have experience with RCF. I play mostly at home and jam with a loud drummer and a bass player. Just me and drummer-straight death metal. Bass player shows up and things become more blues and jazz. Drummer has a Roland pa I plug into and the helix sounds so much better than with the behringer. Music playback sounds bad through the behringer so I know its not my patch settings. My behringer just sucks.