tedulrich

As far as the linked diagram is concerned, I'm sure it's just an example. The only thing you could really do with a keyboard controller is parameter control with sliders and encoders, if the controller were so equipped. If it were a pure MIDI controller, and not USB, you could use Helix as an interface to pass the commands to a computer for soft synth control, though I'm not sure of too many controllers that aren't USB already. A lot of them are USB only in fact. My Minilogue synth is tied into my Helix, but more so to control the Minilogue with the Helix, rather than the opposite. The preset on Helix sends the program change for the Minilogue, and for some presets the footswitches are configured to send Note on/off messages similar to a bass pedal controller (at least until I get my hands on a PK-5 or MPC-130 at a decent price, and yes I am a Rush fan, lol). The Helix is also sending MIDI clock, but in the case of my rig, the clock is set by preset or tap tempo, then sent to a MOTU MIDI Timepiece, which then forwards its own clock signal to all my MIDI-capable gear connected to it. Whether I'm controlling accompaniment with the Helix or lead lines on the keys, the audio from the Minilogue passes through the Helix via the aux in jack for effects if necessary, then out with the rest of my signal. From time to time I've also used the Helix to change parameters on the Minilogue while I'm playing, whether it's a single shot with a footswitch, or a sweep with an expression pedal, but I prefer to do that with automation when I can. Either way, the Helix is better suited to controlling outboard MIDI gear, rather than trying to produce sounds from scratch using external MIDI controllers.

I use the SE215 as well and they work great, just as Peter said above. I have a slightly less nifty solution than the Rock On cable mentioned, simply a headphone extension cable wire tied to an instrument cable every 10". The only thing I'd considered adding is a belt pack amp so that I had a volume control on me, rather than on the floor.

I do it all the time with an EHX 8-Step Program into EXP3. The depth has to be set to "5" but it works just fine. Since the 8-Step doesn't output over MIDI, I also use the Helix to assign it via EXP3 to MIDI CCs to control outboard gear.

I picked up a used Diago Showman in great condition over the weekend. Works great.

I dunno about that, I feel like the Cartographer + Kinky Boost are pretty much the best thing that's happened to Helix, at least since the Archon model.

Hell, so far I'm happy with the new editor. Everything else is icing at this point. :lol:

To this I can attest, the Helix works GREAT with my desktop machine, an i7 Hackintosh on 10.11.6, but has never worked reliably on my mid-2008 MacBook that's thoroughly updated. It seems to work well on my wife's late-2011 MacBook Pro, but I can't get it away from her enough to know for sure. :lol: I do all my Helix firmware updates on the desktop, as it's the most reliable. I'm hoping the rackmount Hackintosh I'm building as an exclusive DAW machine will be just as lucky, or the 2.30 build fixes it altogether.

So, was part of this architecture rewrite to finally allow the Marshall models to be turned up to eleven, or are we finally just going to get a Nigel Tufnel signature amp model? :lol:

Honestly, while I have a myriad of cables in and out of my Helix, I only really deal with two "bundles" per se. Wireless would be nice, but I have other priorities. The main one goes back to my rack, and consists of an 8 way snake for the loops, aux in from my analogue synth, MIDI in/out, EXP3, CV out, USB and power. The miscellaneous cables are bound in split loom and the two are run side by side held together with cable ties every foot or so, and everything is colour coded for quick hookup, both on the Helix end and the patch panel on the front of my rack. The other is the extension cable for my in-ears, bound similarly to the instrument cable for my guitar. The only other connection that isn't part of these two bundles is the XLR outs to wherever I need to plug my output into, and the EXP2 connection to my secondary expression pedal that sits right next to the Helix itself.

Brilliant. I know a guy who does both IT and music, I need to hit him up for a handful. :D And upon reading that, coffee went through my nose.

This inspired me quite a bit over my past efforts, and I went right to blending a Soldano OD with a Hiwatt, both driven hard on the power amp side. The results were quite fantastic. I don't hard pan though, I like to let a little trickle over to each side to give the sound a sense of balance along with space. Great work, thanks for the inspiration!

Having been there and done that with a couple of different consumer product manufacturers, a lot of it has to do with two things: Distribution agreements and local regulations concerning product warranty. It may not be an inequality or lack of caring, but more so what the manufacturer can and cannot do in terms of their legal agreements for worldwide distribution. It's an exceedingly sticky web when it comes to distribution outside one's own country, unless the manufacturer is in China, where they don't have to care about anyone, foreign or domestic and just turn out cheap goods with no regard to longevity or aftersale service.

I've found that Goodwill or other thrift stores are great places to pick up IEC power cables on the cheap. I then cut them to the length needed and stick a new three prong Edison plug on the wall socket end - works wonders for tidying up wiring inside a rack. Once I order the secondary I/O panel for my rack, I'll be making another cable that's IEC on one end for the Helix and PowerCON on the other to plug into the rack without running a separate extension cord from the conditioner like I do now.

It's not for the faint of heart, but if you want to save some cash and control your specs, build your own desktop Mac. I've done it twice now with outstanding results, and I'll probably build a third machine in a rackmount case for recording and plugins. http://tonymacx86.com was an excellent resource.

The 12 string effect is really hard to nail, considering the unison lows and octave up highs on a real 12 string guitar. Plus there's the detune effect caused by the strings being struck out of perfect sync. The Mosaic mentioned above is close, but you're not going to get it out of the Helix unless you stick to specific sets of strings only, and even that is a stretch. Cheap used 12 string guitars pop up all the time at my local stores, but to me it's not worth the setup headaches. I'll just hold out until a G-1275 comes along and go full on budget-Lerxst and at least be able to look cool doing it. :lol: :lol:

Satch is one of the few that I've heard a harmonizer sound I like from. In particular it was 'Why?' from The Extremist, and going by interviews that was done with an old IPS 33B, which he still uses live exclusively for that song because nothing else can match it. For guitar, I like a few cents dialed in as a detune here and there, but I use a crappy old ART rack processor I picked up dirt cheap on a pawn shop trawl for that - I like the sound from that particular old piece of kit, and that's pretty much all I use that thing for. The Helix pitch shift works a lot better for me on synth, as it's already an "artificial" sound so to speak, and it seems to fit quite well in that application.

I use a 15" PA cabinet as my main (Alto TS215), but I also play synth and occasional bass guitar so I need the available low range. I can EQ it to the sound I want, balancing the main and compression drivers. That being said, I also have a pair of 10" two way wedges as my WDW outboards, but they were cheap and available so I couldn't say no. I ran just the 15" for a long time though.

From one in customer service to another, props Will, way to take ownership of the situation. B)

I wish it would though... I know it sounds redundant, but I like the idea of having a more expendable remote available for "high risk" situations, while still being able to utilize the better form factor of editing presets with the Helix on a stand. I kick myself for getting a floor unit rather than a rack unit sometimes, but honestly the level my rack sits at isn't ideal for heavy editing.

Not berating the OP here, but the thing I find amusing is this: I use to work in the commercial trucking industry, under a very premium brand. The level of manufacturer warranty support you (don't) get on a brand new $100,000-$200,000 piece of equipment is absolutely embarrassing for that kind of investment on the part of the customer. Perhaps my view is tainted by this experience, but I consider getting even the time of day from a manufacturer to be an absolute miracle, let alone the some of the stellar efforts I've seen out of Line 6. In this case, it was probably one of the rare times something slipped through the cracks. It sucks, but we're all human. Did you contact anyone else at Line 6 about the failure in the original agreement prior to posting? If it were me on Line 6's end, I'd want to know about the problem and make an attempt to recover the experience prior to it going on a public forum like this one where it's subject to getting blown out of proportion on both ends, by parties uninvolved. :)

Now that my Helix Floor is finally moving to the actual floor, and not on top of my rack (kicking myself for not buying a Helix Rack to begin with), I'm in the process of designing a floor board with a cable blind specifically for that concern. I just need to settle on how wide I'm going to make it.

Considering the Helix itself is an interface, why not just run the Helix straight into the DAW via USB and cut the MOTU out of the picture entirely? Also, if you're running the Helix entirely on factory presets, you're missing out. The beauty of the system is being able to build your sounds from the ground up, best suited to your equipment and playing style. The presets are just filler, save for the starter templates in Factory 2.

Indeed, as zooey mentioned, go to the block, press the action button, press the knob under 'copy block', then navigate to the desired preset, and press the action button again, this time selecting 'paste block'. As for the multitrack, it's sadly not complete and cuts off the last 30-60 seconds of each part of the song, and the 2112 suite was in a single file for each part. The source I got it from has been down a while, probably due to legality issues, but it was a pretty massive trove of obscure MOGG files, many of which were oddly truncated near the end like this one. If it helps though, someone did an isolated guitar compilation of the entire side and put it on YouTube, filling in the missing parts with pieces from All The World's a Stage. - Part 1, Overture through Presentation - Part 2, Oracle through Grand Finale

I listened to the original track, and I think I know what you're talking about. The delay goes across the stereo field in one direction, then the other. Since it's absent on the multitrack I have, I'm assuming it was added during post production. I tried using a multitap delay set to 0% feedback and panned across the field, but the results weren't that great and will only get you one way unless you reverse the values in a snapshot. Personally if I HAD to have that effect, I'd ditch the volume pedal and go with the momentary footswitch as noted above, but use a panning pedal to sweep the repeats. Since that requires an excessive amount of coordination, I'd just add a MIDI command to trigger a single pass of my expression sequencer that feeds the EXP3 input.

I'm working on 2112 right now. I've been running my setups wet/dry/wet lately, with a single main wedge carrying my mono main sound, and two smaller outboard wedges carrying my delays, modulation, and pitch effects. Based on listening to isolated guitar tracks over and over, I ended up running a very subtle 310ms tape delay on my main "dry" sound, with the mix down very low. My "wet" stereo path has the more prominent delay, 100% mix, still at 310ms, with a volume pedal inserted right before. Right before I hit the Am and G chords I roll in the pedal to bring in the delay, then cut it back for the following chords. I roll it back in again for the little solo part, rolling it back when I hit the held A chord right before going into the main riff. It takes a little practice to get the timing right and not cut off the "front" part of the delay, but it's what works best for me, especially considering my Helix lives on top of a rolling rack most of the time. It also keeps my footswitches free for snapshots, which you need a few of for that track.