katerlouis

I bought the Helix back in 2017 after playing in a cover band for a few months. What has drawn me into this was the flexibility of it, the ease of use / great usability and the reputation of great sound quality. I tried Spider V before but was never happy, because I was a noob then as well and I was pretty much never satisfied. With the Helix I noticed a significant improvement already, although I still couldn't really get close to how Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, ACDC etc. sounds.

A lot has changed since then, including my standards and requirement. I no longer want to recreate what I am playing, but find my own way, style and sound of playing it. Even better would be: Find a tone that grabs me so much, that I can't stop playing and eventually inspires me to work on original music.

I have a bit of a GAS problem, so while I obviously have looked left, right and center for other devices with way less options, direct controls, no need for presets, snapshots etc. – then again... I do have the Helix and have made some pretty crazy (for me at least) things happen with it in terms of nerdy configurations including external gear, loopers, midi going in and out, extra paddels seemlessly transitioning between signal paths to blend some stuff in. So why not keep what I have and learn to use it. 

So I gave it another shot with the 3.6 update. And the biggest strengths of the Helix again became detremental to my tone creation. Just by going through all the new factory presets, I got lost... my untrained ear couldn't hear any nuances anymore; all the comparing fatigued me and sucked out the fun of playing. 

I believe (or hope) that if I have one thing with a lot fewer options, but very good base quality, that I will learn to hear details, get a feel for what the limited options I have actually do and finally tame that beast and learn to use all the things I learn to my advantage.

Right now I feel like learning to cook without knowing anything about the ingredients or what goes well together. It feels vital to understand how things influence each other but that sooo hard to learn when each block has multiple pages of settings. 

I've watched countless tutorials on tone creation, recipes, templates, best practices... but in the end this all felt like chores and just work that lead no where– Like I'm running in circles. Now I feel like this approach was destined to fail all along. So much comes down to taste and understanding your guitar, your pick, your playing style... lots of good tips in those videos, but highly subjective and in the end gotten me nowhere.

On 8/23/2023 at 7:33 PM, datacommando said:

That’s something we probably don’t have to think about, because those nice folks at Line 6 released the POD Go three years ago. All the Helix tone, at half the price and simplified interface.

Interesting. I would've thought that the quality of sounds on POD is not as good as on Helix. I'm gonna look into that option.

On 8/23/2023 at 7:33 PM, datacommando said:

After your 2-3 year break, it maybe time to put your learning head on.

But How? I would love nothing more than to see the Matrix; both knowing what I want and how to get there.

I had a similar "crisis" in terms of guitars. For said cover band I wanted to buy my first "proper guitar" – When I tried the Chapman ML3 Bea (Rabea Massads first signature model) I was just mesmerized; the neck humbucker to this day gives me goosebumps. 

I feel that learning would come easier with limited options and a more hands on interface (actual knobs with out flicking through pages, dealing with a joystick)

This got a bit off-topic; I appreciate your help and do understand that things should stay Helix related. Because I do want to give it another shot, maybe you have some practical tips on simplifying things.

I really wish to find the blue pill inside the Helix and enter the Matrix.

But if you have other specific recommendations in mind, I'd be up for that as well. 

I haven't really been playing guitar the last 2-3 years; my Helix is on 3.0.1 - with 3.6 out, there is so fricking much new... that I'm simply overwhelmed. I kinda have been before as well and never really "got my sound" on it; I'm a noob and absolutely not good at dialing in sound. But the sheer amount of options and combinations always hindered me. I always got stuck in AB testing a bazillion configurations. Unfortunately the Helix makes this very easy to do with momentary snapshots and so on. 

You might say: well then the Helix just isn't for you. But... why couldn't it? The devs have put so much work into it over the years. The stuff it has and can do has probably tripled since 2017. 

What would you guys think about a slim, trimmed down user interface? Just select your amp and choose between a few effects in predefined slots. No fiddling around with cabs, mics and mic placements. I'd love to let experts choose tried and true combinations that just sound good out of the box. 

Or maybe not even a new UI, but just really good "new factory presets" - I've never really got a factory preset that sounded good.

Only 2 or 3 patches really "spoke to me" over the years; that feeling where you just wanted to noodle a bit and all of a sudden its 4 hours later and you still can't let go, because that sound just grabs me.

Thrilled to hear your thoughts. And please be gentle- I'm just a dude who's trying to find his sound and get back into guitar playing.

Is there a way to pay Line6 for this update? I mean it. I've been on Helix since v1.8 and have gotten free updates over the years with features, amps, effects worth at least 2 new products. I really want to support that.

Any news on this one?

I have a patch where I can blend 2 paths with a volume block up front. EXP1 controls the block on path 1 from 0-100, and on path 2 from 100-0; u get the idea.

Now when I want to tweak amp settings with my feet, by longpressing MODE, changes with the pedal effect the parameter I want to tweak, but also change the volume blocks assigned to EXP1, which makes changing the amp parameter useless.

I can't remember having encountered that behavior in 2.71, but am not sure, because I don't tweak settings by foot THAT often.

Is that a bug?

Or is it intended?

SOLVED – Line6 support came to the rescue:

apparently iOS lets you longpress the button which would usually hide the keyboard. By long pressing the software keyboard shows and continues to show whenever you focus a text input again. GREAT!

Here's an image coming from the Line6 support showing what to do 8)

https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/LOgiuBx6

Oh boy, so you're saying there's no way to get my iOS software keyboard working right now? That's such a bummer- I really like the new amps... but even more importantly, the quality of life changes in this update are a true blessing. Joystick rotation won't change blocks; snapshot bypass (!); snapshot reselect; swap UP/DOWN switches.

But without my software keyboard .. it's unusable

Can confirm a quieter output via usb to my iPad Pro 2018. the incoming audio from iPad is so much louder than my guitar sound. and my headphone volume knob is also on noon now, which was unbearable loud on 2.71

The ability to send keyboard commands from Helix to the Host is great.

Unfortunately my iPad Pro 2018  (when connected via USB) interprets this as if a physical keyboard is connected and won‘t show the software keyboard any longer. 

This is a deal breaking issue for me. i need to use the Helix and still have my software keyboard.

please tell me there is a way to work around that or at least disable the keyboard functionality in Helix. Couldn‘t find it in global settings.

ouchy 

Hey Line6,

for the last couple of months there was quite some fuzz (pun intended) about when the update will finally arrive and why on earth you even dared to give us an ETA when you couldn't- bla bla bla

I won't deny to have had similar feelings - you can't change your feelings, but how you act on them, you can... And I guess I speak for quite a few people when I say this anger and frustration about how things went down is just another proof of how much this community cares and how passionate we feel about these products; how we just couldn't wait to get these immense changes. And .. this is basically .. a good thing? I guess?! 

Anyways-

My Helix is almost 2 years old now and over that time period I .. practically got a new Helix in features on top, without.. well, paying anything. 

You are certainly not in an easy business and the competition doesn't sleep, which makes the effort and love you put into seemingly minor details even more impressive. I don't know how many other companies drop a bombshell like that with so many quality of life changes for free- and I don't care. I cannot remember being that satisfied still with an investment that big after that much time.

You work your butts off, and it shows.

You guys are awesome!

Without going into the whole sound debate, which I am heavily underqualified to take part in anyways, I truly believe the Line6 Helix Floor is objectively the most intuitive, most flexible, most fun to use and sexiest guitar processor out there. 

And you just made it even better- immensely better; .. yet again- 

Since this is not nearly said enough, nor thought enough I fear

for all of that,

I Thank You.

louis

PS: Exiciting times lie ahead of us, ladies and gentlemen :) - Hopefully I'll have my third Helix in 2 more years 8)

6 hours ago, datacommando said:

O.K. you have a Helix and you want to add a mic and a synth - what’s the problem? Helix certainly has enough ins and out to cope. My Helix replaced my Focusrite Saffire as an interface three and a half years back - FireWire was no longer any good to me.

Two reasons: Reason 1: I fiddle around with a lot of patches (haven't found my tone yet), preparing each patch for mic and op-1 is bothersome and 2. sometimes not possible, because I've used up all 4 paths.

If I'm missing something here and theres a nice and convenient way to just plug it in and it works, please enlighten me :).

Maybe there is a way to globally route AUX into master out without going through the whole patch, because I obviously don't want the OP-1 to get distorted, delay, reverb etc.

Oh, theres a 3rd reason! When the Helix goes into the iPad via USB and Headphones in Helix' headphone out, I hear the guitar sound from the Helix AND the monitoring / incoming sound from the Quantiloop app. When I now disable the monitoring it is a real pain to get Quantiloops output volume to match the Helix volume. When the Helix is connected to the iPad, the volume rockers don't do anything (just like on macOS, so it's a Helix thing, I guess?) - the only way is to level audio from iPad seems to be Helix' global settings, which is no fun because the discrepancy between Helix "internal" volume and the iPad volume seems to depend on the situation (using spotify, youtube, remix hd live, garageband, anytune etc.) :'(

Quote

Your audio is only converted to analog when it leaves the digital domain. As long as it travels back and forth via the Helix USB it remains digital plus you have all 8 channels of audio and full MIDI communication. You would have a pointless AD/DA conversion going on if you use the inputs on the Clarett 2, although it does have an Optical connection on the rear panel. 

Sorry if I wasn't clear; that's exactly what I meant. Going over USB keeps the signal digital, but when I want to use an audio interface for said reasons AND can't get the optical / SPDIF / AES/EBU / ADAT / xyzerioerjiklas way to work, then I'd have unnecessary D/A-A/D conversion, which I'd like to avoid. That's why I am asking 

9 hours ago, zolko60 said:

Clarett probably has Toslink input switchable between SPDIF and ADAT protocols. There are some SPDIF RCA to SPDIF optical converters on the market. In case of LT you would need AES/EBU to SPDIF optical. 

Unfortunately I understand only roughly 20% of what you're saying there :D - When SPDIF and AES/EBU can only cover 2 signals, how does Focusrite get the remaining 6 inputs into the interface? (It says 10ins and 4outs)

Do you mean a converter like this?

Well that would certainly be annoying and overkill :D

Please forgive the probably trivial questions, but I am a sound rookie.

Quick background:

I love my iPad Pro 11'' and use Helix as an audio interface over USB-C into the iPad and loop with the app "Quantiloop" (hiiiighly recommended, reaaally) – I control record/play/stop etc. with MIDI from the Helix (command center, sending notes from footstomps, nice!) – Using the Helix as an interface has it's quirks, which I won't go into now, because now that I want to add a microphone and the pocket synthesizer op-1 to the mix, I probably have to go through an audio interface anyways.

But, as far as I understand: When I use Helix line out to the interface, my audio is converted to an analog signal, and then converted back again to a digital signal from the interface to the iPad. That feels like I should avoid that, if possible. Plus: I'd lose the different outputs (usb1+2, 3+4 ... etc.)

Researching on how to to chain interfaces I stumbled upon many things, like ADAT, S/PDIF, AES/EBU etc. pp. 

Apparently the Helix can send it's audio digitally. Great! There was some discussion if this was only for L6-Link devices; but according to @phil_m the L6 Link connector also works with AES/EBU. 

Now. I am considering this particular interface from Focusrite, the Clarett 2Pre USB: https://focusrite.com/usb-c-audio-interface/clarett-usb/clarett-2pre-usb

It claims to have 10 inputs, alhtough there are only 2 physical inputs. So the rest comes in through ADAT. 

So, to the questions:

1. How would you connect the Helix via ADAT (oh boy, how I probably misused that abbreviation :D) to the Clarett? What cable Would you use etc.?
2. What exactly gets send over there? Only the main output? Or all 4 usb stereo outputs? Or something else entirely?
3. Could the Clarett level the incoming audio somehow or does the leveling have to happening inside the Helix? Does the `Main` Output volume knob affect it?
4. How would the signal be available in DAWs and other software? The usual `USB 1+2` etc.?

Bonus Question:

5. What I also like about this interface is that it can be powered via USB-C (if my iPad gives enough juice for that is another question, let's just assume it does) – does powering through USB still work when using the digital inputs?

Really appreciate if you could go in detail on the capabilities and even more importantly: the quirks and caveats that await me.

Thanks!

Louis

Another suggestion on my reddit post is rooted in this forum :D

https://line6.com/support/topic/20120-controlling-ableton-with-helix/

Apparently you can use Note-send for that;

I will look into that later.

Maybe you want to take a look at that @phil_m?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ableton/comments/an11xx/please_help_understanding_midi_controls_in/

I have (and had) set up Ableton like the commenter explained there; but still Helix' CC toggle doesn't react to a change with the mouse.

No, I haven't used the Helix for other Software on my Macbook yet- but if I would, there might be interferences with your suggested solution. But I assume the Helix will support modifier keys aswell (CMD, ALT, SHIFT etc.)- so surely there will be a key configuration which won't collide with any other software. It's not like everything is listening to MIDI :D 

The Important part is, that Ableton does not have to be up front in order to receive the command from Helix. But it sounds like this would work then, though- 

I've asked the same question on Abletons Subreddit; apparently Ableton is capable of telling the Helix to switch it's toggl. I'll tell you when I got it worked out :)

Until then, I'll try to narrow down why Quantiloop is triggering the longpress on my MIDI CC commands :D

3 hours ago, phil_m said:

 

The new QWERTY functionality that's coming to the Command Center in the 2.8 firmware sounds like it will do what you're talking about.

So you are suggesting to map the HELIX footstomp to "F" on the keyboard for instance, and then map Ableton to press Session Record on "F"? :D 

What if I have Guitar Pro open at the same time? I doubt that the Helix would still fire the F to Ableton, but instead fire it to Guitar Pro, right? :D

I still have a hard time getting my head around this. 

If I understand you guys correctly the main issue you are fighting it recreating a momentary toggle, where releasing sets a function back to zero.

But how about this usecase:

in Ableton Lives Session View you press this button to activate overdub, for instance. I mapped this to a MIDI CC command coming from the Helix.

But with MIDI CC you still need to set a value higher than 63 to switch it on and a value less than or equal to 63 to switch it off. Helix MIDI CC only fires one value, so I either make 2 stomps to switch on and off, or I do a toggle, which kinda makes sense, since the function in Ableton literally is a toggle. 

Buuut, if you go the toggle route, the Helix toggle doesn't react to when the switch gets pressed by the mouse, for instance. And vice versa, of course, when you switch the Function on via mouse and want to deactivate it via Helix. So you always have to keep the two in sync, which is not very practical.

There must be a way to say via MIDI "just press this button, like a mouse would do, and don't care about any values"

Or is there a way to let Ableton tell the Helix to change its toggle status whenever the function is changed from other sources than the Helix?

I apologize if this isn't the right place for these kind of questions. The search didn't reveal a collecting thread or something like this.

The tone Rabea plays here is absolutely amazing- the Helix has almost too many options for me so that I have no idea how to start on getting this tone. 

As far as I can tell the UniversalAudio OX-Box serves as the cab simulation and goes straight into the computer, but I'm not sure. 

The tone gets even nicer when he switches to the bridge pickup at 5:48

Thanks!

I have his signature guitar, the ML3 Bea 25.5'' :)

I'd appreciate if you could give me hints on where to start.

Thank

This might sound silly, but please hear me out first :D

I use Quantiloop on my iPad Pro as a Looper (insanely good, check it out!) and control it with the Helix footswitches using MIDI CC. Great! 

The Helix is connected to the iPad via USB (works great with a USB-A to USB-C adapter, nice!) and I have headphones plugged into the "headphones" jack.

The issue is, that I hear both the Helix AND the monitor of Quantiloop, which feels very odd. Even if I somehow muted the input monitoring in Quantiloop, I still have weird volume differences in what the Helix puts out to my headphones and what iPad gives into the Helix. This doesn't only happen with the iPad, with my PC and MacBook aswell. Playing with Ableton, Logic or just playing along to Spotify is always a fiddling. Changing the volume on the iPad / MacBook also isn't possible. It is fixed once the Helix is connected to them.

You could change the volume of Spotify itself, for instance, or youtube etc.

Or you could change the LEVEL of the MULTI-output block in Helix. But the levels are adjusted to the my live-setup etc. Don't like to mess with them and changing back could be forgotten.

Another workaround is changing the output block from "MULTI" to "USB 1+2", but would require changing patches I normally want to use with MULTI-out. Again: not so convenient and "easy to forget switching back" 

I'd appreciate if you shed some more light on how this workflow is intended and how you deal with these issues. Do you just use a separate audio interface and mix from there? 

Please shed a bit more light on the matter :)

Louis

PS: If you have a better idea for the title, please shoot!

I'm glad to see this topic is discussed so intensively right when I am going into controlling different devices with the Helix, myself! I also want to use the Helix with a looper, but am still figuring out if my new iPad Pro can handle the job, before I give the RC-505 a shot. 

Anyhow.. when I tried out an Ableton workflow, I had a similar, if not the same issue. Being new to MIDI I figured I did a mistake. But today I tried to configure a great iOS looping app (Quantiloop) via MIDI and discovered the following:

I had the footswitch assigned to MIDI CC #80 value 127 – the app can "learn" the foot switch, like Ableton and others can. (Great! Haven't seen this very often in the iOS world so far) – It

Also: the app has assignments for "longpress" and "double tap" aswell– and whenever I tapped the switch once, the "longpress" action would be triggered right after it. 

It is hard for me to wrap my head around these things. My question now is, if the apps interpretation of the footswitch, saying its "latching", just confirms the issue discussed in this thread or is there something else I get wrong?

like @The_Elf, I'd say this is a bug. 

offtopic: 

@tobmiy – if you are an iOS user, I highly suggest checking out the app "Quantiloop" – Researching loopers myself and having a clear vision of what I need and how I want to control it, Quantiloop has a feature I haven't seen in any other soft- and/or hardware solution. You can record a loop and the app then calculates the TEMPO AND THE BARS you just played. I had deep conversations with Power-Ableton-Users about this and they all said this would be practically impossible / highly unreliable if attempted. In my few hours playing around with Quantiloop now.. it was 100% reliable! – Again: you just play your thing, .. and everything after that will be quantized to the tempo you just played! So Amazing!

Okay, now I have seem to confused the situation even more. Sorry for that! One last try: 

Forget about the video. This video just got me inspired to control the Helix with a MiDI controller in the first place. 

I do not want to control HX edit remotely. I want to control the "actual Helix interface" remotely. Imagine it this way: I want to rip out the knobs, joystick, bypass action and pages buttons and put them on my desk or a stand, while the footstomps ans cables etc remain on the floor. I do NOT need a display on my desk! looking down on the Helix is fine for me. All I want is navigating, arranging the blocks and adjust parameters via knobs, while standing.

I hope things are clear now!

Sorry again for the confusion.

Thanks!

If I read you correctly, your explanation recreates the scenario illustrated in this video, right? 

Binding a knob to a specific parameter of a specific block is a cool option, but not what I'm looking for. I mainly want to have the Helix still at my feet, but not having to bow down all the time I want change settings via the rotaries or insert / delete / move blocks. Having those "general" controls on the desk or on a stand would make trying out many different things way easier. So I'd bascially like to rip outthe joystick, the 6 rotaries, the bypass and action button and put them on a table ;)

From what I've seen in the manual, that is currently not possible.

I am just starting to get into MIDI and therefore don't quite understand if this would be possible via a firmware update; But in my mind it should be possible to block a few more CC# for these controls. I mean.. "Joystick right" is just one command, right? So my layman eyes don't see why giving access to these commands via MIDI shouldn't be possible.

For a midi controller I also found the nanoKontrol 2, or maybe this: https://www.thomann.de/de/native_instruments_traktor_kontrol_x1_mkii.htm

Are you sure a USB Host is required? The manual says on page 51:

Midi over USB: When on, Helix receives and transmits MIDI data via USB in the same capacity as its MIDI jacks.

The korg for example sends MIDI over mini USB, and the Helix receives MIDI over USB-B. I found a cable for that, so I figured it works? 8)

TL;DR:

I want an external controller to mimic the controls surrounding the display (the 6 parameter knobs, the big joystick-twisty-knob, the bypass and action buttons and so on) - any Ideas?

(Inspired by this video)

I absolutely love the Helix and just don't stop learning new and exciting things about this incredible piece of gear. Yeah, the "software" sounds great, but the whole experience with the hardware, the unit itself, is why I would choose Helix over AXE FX or Kemper anytime. Ironic negative point: the Helix gets so much right, that my imagination goes crazy and often hits a wall like: "Nice! But how cool would it be if it could go this one step further and do this and that and yadaydada"

The new HX Edit is great, but I find myself editing patches on the unit itself way more often than on my computer. I seem to prefer knobs and dials over dragging sliders with my trackpad; and setting up foot switches is also faster on the unit with the capacitive foot stomps.

So... you all know what comes next... I either have the unit on my desk and press the muddy foot stomps by hand (eeewwh!) or embrace the backpain with an moany exhale (come on! you know this weird sound people make when they become older and try to tie their shoes!) everytime I bow down to Hail the Tone. 

Yes, I know about the edit mode and it's freakin awesome-... for finetuning an already set up patch. But inserting, deleting or moving blocks is just impossible.

Changing a blocks parameters with an external MIDI controller using Helix command center could be a workaround, but it's quite tedious to set up, limits your external controller to only these specific parameters and inserting, deleting or moving blocks is impossible. 

Maybe MIDI is an option?

The manual (this is a link) says on page 57, that Helix is able to listen to external MIDI and has CC# reserved for specific global settings. Cool! 

But apparently it doesn't offer CC# for the main controls? Please correct me if I'm wrong! (Oh man, how I hope I'm wrong here...)

If not, I ask you to protect me from looking like a fool on ideaScale and tell me if you think this is even possible to implement via firmware update.

Yeah, I hear you! Maybe a Helix Rack + foot controller would be better for me. But.. then again.. naaaah- Helix Control lacks the expression pedal and the great portability aspect is gone aswell.

Thanks!

Louis 

On 8/16/2017 at 2:43 AM, Cody_smith said:

Yeah it is just standard 4CM. If you just want the preamp sounds into a power amp with out using the physical amps preamp you don't need to do 4CM, you could just go guitar to helix to power amp (effect loop return). Helix can act as the foot switch for amp channel changing if the amp uses 1/4 jacks for controlling it.

How exactly does the Helix switch channels on amps via a 1/4 jack?

What exactly do you mean with note tracking?

And the question stands: How much does the quality differ between the two? The higher tension still was an argument for better quality.