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Ender699

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  1. Hi guys, thanks for all your help, but in the end I could not live with the Helix and brought it back. I now commited treason and got myself an AX8 instead :-) There is no way that unit even comes close to the editing ease of the Helix, you definitely need a computer to edit presets and such. Having said that, the easily accesible master AMP settings on the AX8 make up for some of that, as once a good sound is achieved those are usually the settings that are further modified (e.g. drive, master volume and level). I find the amps and cabs to be slightly better, more real and more reactive with my PRS electric (thats really subjective though). For the acoustic, the better quality of some of the effects (reverbs, delays, tremolo) really makes a difference. Also, being able to use some longer impulse responses (> 2048 samples) should be interesting when using instrument body IR's. I have not run into clipping problems as I can easily check the input levels (on the tuner), and I can monitor any clipping on the fx and output buses. Happy so far ... Keep on picking!
  2. Hi, I posted somewhere else in the forums about the poor sound quality I got (spec. the reverbs) with my acoustic, but as it turns out the story behind it is one of metering and clipping. I found out that setting the output volume above 70% created most of my quality problems. That is odd because with volume at 90% when metering the Helix XLR outputs with a mixer and an RTA at the output I left a healthy -6 db margin with respect to line level (at +4 dBu) by setting the Helix gain appropriately. However, this gave noise, sizzling, and clear clipping artefacts. Can someone explain this when the output is NOT EVEN REACHING line level? Instead I now boosted my input with a volume/gain block, keep all my effects at 0dB and keep the output volume at 70% or lower. The quality is much, much better. There is no graduation on the Volume control, I suppose it is the professional "70% = 0 dB"? METERING is really missing on the Helix, or at least a clip indicator for input/output. Would have avoided much grief. Note that when using the AUX input with an acoustic with active pickups this requires some major gain in a Volume block (+10dB), AND a preamp with level set at 10! This is not really normal ... As Jamin suggested it it much better to use a effect return at instrument level, the impedance and sensitivity of the AUX is too low (output impedance of my acoustic is rated at 3.5 KOhm), ideally it should be switchable like the returns / guitar in.
  3. I have been playing for several hours my my Helix to try and get a decent acoustic sound (Eastman AC420 with an LR Bags M80 pickup). Unfortunately the reverbs let the Helix down badly, not even coming close to what my TC Helicon Voicelive3 can achieve (which costs about a 3rd of the Helix). To test this I had a look at all the pre and post EQ and preamp settings in the Voicelive Bodyres presets and recreated this as closely as possible in the Helix. The sound is generally pretty close, but the Helix is exhibiting very annoying artefacts, metallic ringings and thumps for some notes, some quite dead sounds for other notes. Its just not consistent. The Voicelive uses the Helix send 1 after just a Volume block and I A/B the outputs on my mixer that feeds into a Behringer DEQ for room compensation (also tried without, same problem) and Mackie MR5 monitors to compare them so the whole chain is completely equal. I also tried an Avian Skylark guitar with a B-band pickup, same problems ... I also noticed very strange changes in sound and levels when adding blocks that are bypassed. Theoretically these should not affect the sound, but they do sometimes do this very noticeably. E.g. the sound changed drastically when I added a cab that I bypassed, compared to the preset without the cab. Sometimes this even happens when adding a block to another path! Is my unit defective? Also, when assigning a controller the lower parameter part of the screen gets garbled up, but this doesn't affect functionality. All in all very disappointing, for a unit that is otherwise an absolute joy to use (except for input block gain settings)! I will probably return the unit and try to get a Ax8. EDIT: Kept on playing and trying and discovered some stuff that increased quality and maybe useful. I found out that setting the output volume above 70% created most of my quality problems. That is odd because with volume at 90% when metering the Helix XLR outputs with a mixer and an RTA at the output I left a healthy -6 db margin with respect to line level (at +4 dBu). However, this gave noise, sizzling, and clear clipping artefacts. Can someone explain this when the output is NOT EVEN REACHING line level? Instead I now boosted my input with a volume/gain block, keep all my effects at 0dB and keep the output volume at 70% or lower. The quality is much, much better. There is no graduation on the Volume control, I suppose it is the professional "70% = 0 dB"? Like I said in other posts: METERING is really missing on the Helix, or at least a clip indicator for any processing chain. Would have avoided much grief. Also, some of the effects parameters should be better explained, I know have a more or less correct Hall reverb for the acoustic after much experimentation. Still some way to go with regards to the TC Electronic Hall of Fame though ...
  4. Hi, thanks for the input guys. amsdenj: I had come to a similar conclusion, setting block levels so that the sound is the same with it on and off. Output level metering was achieved on my Tascam mixing table. Assuming the 'line level' definition is the same as on the Tascam (i.e. professional audio a +4dbU = 1.23 V RMS), I should meter on the mixer just under the red with volume at 100% on the Helix. At this point I know the output stages of the Helix are OK. If the intermediate blocks are all Ok (volume with = without) then that just leaves the input itself (before the ADC and the first digital block). Listening with a very good headphone to my acoustic guitar with a B-band pickup system I was quite tricky to get a proper sound from the Helix, being either clipped or noisy. The sound from the guitar and aux was quite different which is a surprise to me for an active pickup (admittingly the B-band still gives a quite low-level signal, even below a hot humbucker. Impedance should be much less critical though ...) spikey: you are right for an electric guitar amp regarding metering: not required. But Helix aspires to be so much more and should allow easy connection of about anything ... Anyway, I will continue to investigate, play with the guitar impedance and also try the effect returns ...
  5. Hi, just got my Helix after much pondering about getting a Fractal AX8. Guess what clinched it for me was the ease of use and connectivity, and the routing possibilities. First impressions are of great sound compared to the VoiceLive 3, definitely a step (or 2) up.. Ease of use was fantastic, most things didn't require the manual and I was editing straight away. Build is fine (some knobs could be tighter), looks solid. Great screen, avoids having to use a computer all the time. Routing possibilities are endless, just what I wanted However, I quickly noticed something baffling: there is no input level metering and no clip indicator unless I am mistaken. That is something I really don't understand on a device that costs and positions itself so highly. Also, the manual contains no technical information about the input and outputs levels (dBu, dbFs) like the manual of the Tascam DP32 does. Basically flying a bit blind here, and that's a shame for such a good product. As an example, matching 2 acoustic guitars with active pickups or an electric and an active acoustic on the main and aux inputs was a fiddly affair, and I still don't know if it's actually correctly done. Any suggestions on how to achieve this easily and get a correct SNR are appreciated. It would be much better if the Volume/Gain block would have a level indicator screen of the current input, and I upvoted this in the IdeaScale lists in this forum. VoiceLive has an automatic gain wizard for setting up inputs, that could be another avenue ... Generally, I feel the Helix has great potential for acoustic guitars (it's already better than my VoiceLive 3), but it really needs some extra blocks to achieve greatness: - some acoustic preamps or amps - some acoustic cabinets - more comprehensive EQ, with better display - support for longer IR's (I believe the AX8 goes to 8192 samples on the same DSP chips) Some effects could stand a little improvement too, I had some strange dropouts on delays/reverbs (maybe an overactive noise gate, still investigating) If some of these features come through and the support and customer feedback is good (Fractal has a great reputation for that, Line6 less so) then I will definitely keep the Helix, it really does so many things very well ... The metering is absolutely essential though (or some easy solution as too how to solve input level problems),and I would really have to consider sending my unit back without it .... Gear: - PRS 513 electric - Avian Skylark fan fret acoustic - Eastman 412 acoustic - Tascam DP32 multitracker/mixer - Mackie MR5 monitors - Rivera R30-12 - TC electronic VoiceLive 3 - Behringer DEQ2496 for room compensation and output compression.
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