ramirezdan

Well..."guidelines",then?

 

I've still yet to see any Norwegian death metal bands with a tuba on stage... ;)

I'm guessing there's a miscommunication here. I've played in many venues that just can't or won't accommodate line level signals. In those cases, I just plug into direct boxes(supplied by the venue) and the engineer can deal with them like they're mic signals. 

No biggee, though I do cringe a bit seeing Behringer in my chain at the crappier places.

I have been using an NYC pedalboards pedalhead to hold my Helix, Shure GLX-D wireless receiver, Boss RV-6, and Digitech Polara. 

 

Had it for 4+ months now playing out 3-4 nights per week, it's great. Set the board down, lid lifts off, 2 XLRs to FOH, done. 

 

Coiled up 1/4" is just the backup to my wireless, lives in the case permanently. 

Gigrig power integrates nicely with the helix because the Generator takes IEC power as well so I just bought a 1 to 2 IEC splitter thing. 

 

Looks pretty great. Thanks!

I bought a Pedaltrain Novo32 with hardcase thinking it would fit the Helix. Whoops. It's not tall enough because the board is angled and the Helix is quite tall. 

Does anyone have a recommendation on a board and case(can be soft) combo that will fit the height of the Helix?

I recognize this will end up very big, so another option might be to put the H9s on their own little mini board. 

Hey guys, I just had a question for anyone here who is a midi guru... I want to run my helix with Ableton... but the way I wanna run it is  that each patch triggers a song ( 1A=Song 1, 1B=Song 2, 1C=Song 3, etc) and then when I hit the mode button I have access to my effects with a few options for Ableton (Stop, Bridge, Forward etc )... can you guys let me know if I'm swinging for the stars or if this is actually achievable 

Knowing the flexibility of both Ableton and the Helix, you should find something that works, but expect to work around some stuff, possibly on both ends. 

I have a SUPER complex Ableton Live set that I control with the Helix. The Helix is randomly going silent on me, so I can't trust it live, but I'm hoping I can figure that out. 

When you initialize a patch, that can send a midi message to Live. That gets your song going. This gives you access to all the stomps. They can control Live or the Helix. If you press the MODE button, you get into snapshots. These can't control Live(I don't think), but you can control the ON/OFF states of the Helix's effects. 

This one is killing me. I'm on the older firmware v2.01. Usually it doesn't happen while I'm playing, but occasionally, the Helix will just be totally silent. Eventually I'll remember that I've got this weird bug in the system and if I nudge the expression pedal, I'll get sound again. 

I do have a volume block at the end of the chain assigned to the pedal. At this point, I can't trust this pedal live because it literally cuts out completely while I'm playing. 

I've seen some chatter in the forum about this, but I haven't been able to find it, or find a solution for it. 

I skimmed the thread and saw one other person ask this question, but I'm not sure if it's been answered. 

Who is this beta driver for? I'm using the 2.01 editor and firmware. Either the Helix is a class compliant core audio device, or one of those things installed a driver. If one of those things installed a driver, is this beta driver a newer version?

I ask because I play live with Ableton and would love to use the onboard soundcard. I previously used a FirefaceUFX, but was burglarized so I'm making do with a MOTU Traveler for the time being. The RME was rock solid. I'd trust the MOTU, though it's not rock solid. I like the features of the Helix's audio interface, but I just don't trust it. The Helix seems flakier than the MOTU, but I'd love to be able to trust it live. 

I'm happy to use it, but I don't want to downgrade to a beta if I'm already using a stable release.

Snapshots much to my surprise dont offer as much flexibility as i hoped. You can really only turn unwanted/wanted fx off and on. You cant automate levels, or remove/add fx, so i wouldnt be surprised if you were asking it to do more than its capable of. I dont know for sure, just giving you a heads up.

Imagine a real pedalboard in the real world. That's your preset. The snapshot is a preset of the knob settings and FX ON/OFF state.

Well said. Can't add much to that. The reason I play guitar is because of what a guitar is and sounds like. Experiment all you want but if you want to make music that sounds like a synth rather than a guitar, then play a synth.

A tremolo picked guitar with reverb and delay sounds a lot like a string synth, but is so much more dynamic from a playing perspective than a keyboard.

I love vintage tones, but vintage riffs aren't for me. Which is fine. I'm not claiming superiority. For all I know, I'll be playing 2001 sounds in 2040.

Seems like just a load of EQ matrix filters. I would be satisfied with an amp without a cab but the Helix does not do that. I was integrating my GSP1101 as there are some clean tube models on there I just love. Loop out to the GSP 1101 grab the clean tube amp model w NO cab set on "direct", sounds amazing coming back through the Helix in front of the Helix main amp model. Ever try to use a Helix amp without a cab or how thin the preamp models are? 

Why is there no "direct" option on the Helix instead of all this fuss about IRs and mics. They all change the sound drastically, I just do not get why we have to do this using the IR or whatever the Helix has.

When I play an amp through my std guitar cab they all sound great and you EQ the particular amp to taste. My speakers do not color the hell out of the sound and there is no mic to completely alter the entire thing. I do not like the sound of cheap green low wattage speakers or the sound of hollow box cabs with no sense of dampening of standing waves. So why would I want an IR of such a cab?

I have used speaker line taps like the Radial JBX instead of trying to mic amps to send to the PA or DAW. The Helix has great XLR but there is all that coloring matrix going on. Sorry but the whole IR "shmow" seems to be the wet dream of recording hobbyist who want the sounds of old cabs and low efficient speakers using all sorts of mics that completely change the entire sound. What difference does it make about the amp if it can be completely rendered a crap fest by merely using a IR/hybrid and a weird mic? I thought all this modeling was trying to attain the feel, sound and response of a real amp. As long as you have a great IR apparently it does not matter a rat's a s s about the amp model. 

Seems just all EQ and filtering to me. Someone asked if all the Helix cab things are not just the same filter block tweaking EQ with added mic filter blocks to change the tones thinking you are dealing with different cab IRs. To me the musical question of the day is: are recording hobbyists sending us down the wrong road focused on recording rather than if a modeler can replace a real amp playing live??? 

It seems very easy to get caught up in the virtual illusion of the Helix world, one I am using this amp wit this cab and this wonderful mic, no you really are not. 

I'm confused. If you don't like the cabs, why are you using them? I don't use the amps or cabs and just go into the front of an amp.

Buying Helix just for FX is ignoring 90% of what the unit can do. If that's allyou need, you can spend FAR less money, and be perfectly happy.

Maybe. I don't use the Helix's amps or cabs, but I do use the effects. I wouldn't have bothered, but the scribble strips put this thing into a category that's super duper unique. 

I've been wanting to use the preamps, but haven't had much luck getting them to match my actual amps(Tremoverb, AC15, Twin).

Many thanks, I knew there had to be a way to increase the USB output level, although to raise it to an acceptable record level (just prior to clipping in Cubase) I had to raise the output level +13.0dB, seems a lot.

 

Would raising the level this much effect the quality of the original sound providing I keep within the clipping range of Cubase ?

I needed +20dB to get decent signal(-10 peak or so) to my DAW. Seemed excessive, but perhaps I'm missing an input gain stage somewhere. 

I've noticed with mine that if I leave my rig for a little while (like long enough for the Mac to "sleep"), when I come back the Editor says No Helix connected so I'm wondering if it's something to do with the computer going to sleep...not sure if I've ever had it happen while I'm using it...don't think I have as I very often do my switching via the app when I'm at my recording desk rather than using the actual Helix.

That's been my experience too. I've got my Helix in my office and during downtime I mess around with assignments in the editor. Pretty often when I return to the app after being away for a while it will have disconnected.

That said, I've been actively using my machine(with the editor in the background) for a while, so I don't think it's as simple as sleep. Maybe an app priority thing. 

If I put my software tester hat on, I'd blame Mac's "App Nap" feature.

You can disable that feature. If the "bug" goes away, they'll at least have more info on fixing it(or bugging Apple to fix an issue they'll never fix).

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!

Enjoy. I'd probably have the Fractal too if it had scribble strips. That's easily my #1 feature since I control other gear with my footpedal. I'm done forever with tape or muscle memory.

The lack of input and output meters is baffling. I plug a Les Paul, a Schecter Baritone, a Music Man bass, a Moog Minitaur, and Nord Lead 2x into the Helix simultaneously and they're all wildly different in levels. It would be really nice to have a little help here.

Never... ever...

 

ever...

 

Upgrade to a new OS right away.

 

Never.

El Capitan was a disaster for audio hardware/software. I'm still on Yosemite because of it.

Unless you're dying for Siri on your desktop or iCloud integration, there's no reason to be a guinea pig here.

In case anyone else is running into this. Here's how I semi-figured it out. 

Drag all the "Wet" blocks down so you get that little white circle. Change it to Split A/B. Where the A and B chains merge, click on the Merge Mixer and assign EXP2 to both A and B level. Then reverse the Min and Max settings for either path. This means you're 100% dry on one side, and 100% wet on the other. I suppose I could assign FS1 with the same assignments, but a wet/dry controller seems pretty nice too. Will have to try both ways to see which I prefer.

I'm controlling Ableton Live with 9 of my stomps. These do nothing but send midi messages to Live. I'm reserving the 10th footswitch as an FX ON/OFF switch that controls the Helix's internal FX. I'm using snapshots to pick my guitar(or synth) sound. 

I've got a long serial set of blocks and was happily assigning Footswitch 1 to their bypass state when it became greyed out for the 8th effect. Since Footswitch one is already sending a midi command, it appears I've run into the "Each footswitch can have up to 8 assignments" limitation mentioned in the manual.

So, short of reducing my blocks to 7 or fewer for my snapshots. Can anyone suggest a workaround? I basically need Footswitch 1 to send a clean DI signal when OFF, and a wet chain when ON. Bonus points for being able to adjust the wet/dry mix with EXP2.

You mention 10 buttons being accessible. I see this in the Helix editor, but can't figure out how to use footswitch 1 and 7. They appear to be the "Bank Up" and "Bank Down" buttons. Just curious what mode enables them. I feel like I'll have a pretty good handle on things once I get that understood.

Found it. For anyone else interested, the 10 switches(vs. 8 default) is found under "Global Settings". I've mostly been using the editor and as far as I can tell, the editor doesn't have these "Global Settings".

If you stay within one preset you should be able to use up to 10 MIDI many functions from stomps 1-5 and 7-11 while in stomp box mode. Then if you want to switch to snapshot mode you could use up to 8 snapshots for different FX. E.g. Snap 1 might be your clean compressor only and snap 2 might turn off the compressor and turn on the delay, snap 3 might be the same as 2, but with more mix on the delay, etc. etc. Then press the mode button to go back to your MIDI stomps. There are multiple ways to set up preset/snap/stomp in global options. This thing is deep and it might take you a while to figure out which is best for you. Bottom line is this seems totally doable as long as you stick to 8 or 10 midi functions in one preset. Once you start jumping to different presets just so you can change some midi function in Live, then I think it will become cumbersome and a dedicated midi controller may be better, but that's just me.

Cool. I tried to use snapshots for the MIDI commands, but the scribblestrips are per preset, not per snapshot, so looks like snapshots won't work for me. 

That said, I now understand how I can use them. All 8 snapshots would contain my 8 Live commands, then I could assign various FX settings to each snapshot using the devices in the preset. e.g., clean, dirty, clean + delay, dirty + delay, etc.

You mention 10 buttons being accessible. I see this in the Helix editor, but can't figure out how to use footswitch 1 and 7. They appear to be the "Bank Up" and "Bank Down" buttons. Just curious what mode enables them. I feel like I'll have a pretty good handle on things once I get that understood.

Once I get this figured out, I'll post some Tremoverb/Rectoverb mic'd clips vs. the Helix. That's my stereo amp setup. I wasn't able to get anywhere close in my headphone attempts last night using previously recorded DI signals, so I'm excited to see where I end up. 

>I'd love to have another bank of 8 to control the looper and maybe another bank of 8 to use plugin FX, but for the time being, let's assume I just need those 8 messages.

 

If I understand what you are asking correctly, Another thing to consider is that there is an audio dropout (very small but it's there) between presets so you might not want to switch to another preset (your term bank) just the have differrent MIDI functions while letting a chord ring out. No audio drop outs if staying within the same preset.

Thanks. Your picture is super close to what I'm trying to do.

I've got a preset working great to control Ableton Live, but it's just a dry DI tone routed to my amp. That's actually fine for my current rig, but for me to keep the Helix, I'll need it to function as a multi-FX pedal too.

I basically need to be able to control Live(works great in a preset with the mode button pushed) while simultaneously getting FX on my DI signal. I don't need to access the Live buttons and the FX stomp switches simultaneously, but I do need to be able to change my guitar sound with my feet, and control Live with my feet. 

It might be that I have to live within one preset to be able to control Live with Helix's multiFX. 

I found the snapshots feature in the editor and started to fill snapshot 2 with MIDI mappings for the looper in Ableton Live. Unfortunately, it looks like the scribble strips retain the same names for all of the snapshots, so that ended up being a dead end. 

I also notice that if I hold MODE I get switch access to some stomp effects. This might be the place where I can access the FX in my Ableton Live preset. 

i.e., assign the midi notes to the 8 switches when you click "mode". access FX switches by holding "mode".

Thanks for the response. I totally recognize that I'm not Line6's target market. The biggest draw to me is the scribble strips + midi commands, next is the effects. If I ever use the amp and cab simulation for anything other than headphone jamming, that's a bonus. 

You mentioned pathA and pathB. If the Helix can do what I want, I suspect the solution is to put all midi controlling on pathB and FX on pathA. For my purposes, I need multiple presets to be completely independant of eachother. 

I filed a support ticket, but was basically told to read the manual in order to understand the unit. I ended up ordering a Helix and am now in the process of figuring out if it will work for me.

I use two amps live and control Ableton Live with a floor pedal. The scribble strips in the Helix are outrageously ideal for me, but I'm struggling figuring out if I can actually get the Helix to do what I want it to do.

It looks pretty trivial to program the Helix to send midi notes which allow me to control Live.

e.g., Live Preset

1. Scene Up
2. Scene Down
3. Scene Launch
4. Clip Record
5. Select Amp1
6. Select Amp2
7. Select Moog
8. Select Nord

With those 8 midi note mappings, I'm able to control Live to the extent I need. I'd love to have another bank of 8 to control the looper and maybe another bank of 8 to use plugin FX, but for the time being, let's assume I just need those 8 messages.

The part I'm struggling with is whether or not I'll be able to make use of the Helix's preamps and FX(don't need power amp or cab simulation since I'll always be playing with two tube amps).

The question I still don't have an answer to is this:

Can I pick a preset that includes FX and preamp then later, while still using that previous FX and preamp preset, use that Live Preset above *without* blowing out the previous FX and preamp sounds?

Hope that made sense.