boboTheGeek

It definitely throws a ton of time sig data if you leave that configured to do so. If you're running a tight ship [DAW wise] you might not want all that clutter potentially getting in the way of your clean midi stuff. to take it even further.. it would also be cool to see if anyone has had success controlling stage lights with midi out. I think that's a thing right? perfect for a small band in a bar kind of thing

I was attempting to use the 5 pin connector because I was assuming that there might be some trickery needed to "route" midi through the laptop. However, I didn't disconnect the USB from Helix (mainly because I want to be able to use it plugged) I can try unplugging to troubleshoot. To the best of my knowledge, I've had the base channel correct and set to 5 pin (usb off) but have also had USB connected there since it's USB powered. Has anyone had any success with being able to use an external controller to modify Helix params on the go???? I've done a few days worth of searching and haven't even really seen anyone doing that. I have seen plenty of people controlling stuff like other pedals from the Helix. Thanks!

Hi, I did some searching and didn't seem to find anything to help with the following... Trying to use my Novation Impulse Midi Controller keyboard as a "convenient" way to adjust parameters like gain or volume. when I go into controller assign and configure the the CC that I have the keyboard dial set to, nothing happens. when I open my DAW, I can see the messages are showing up properly. I have tried switching between USB and MIDI cables. I've also tried the "learn" function. It seems like the MIDI messages aren't being recognized by the helix for some reason. Help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure there are some amazing things possible but I'm having difficulty just scratching the surface with Midi. thanks, Rob

It's interesting to see all the comments about setting high and low cut to keep things under control. I also like to balance the low cut with my mic selection and distance. Pulling a darker sounding mic a few inches out will naturally take care of high and low frequencies while allowing me to increase the early reflections to get a little bit of extra room/cab character in there if I'm feeling like I need a little more "naturalness" [is that a new word, no biggie] when I'm trying to tame the drive of an amp that's sounding flabby or muffled I'll focus on reducing the incoming signal (maybe turn on the pad or decrease input impedance [z]) and also dial back the bass by the amp EQ or tube screamer (tightens low end)(or whatever drive gives you that control). Crank up the gain/signal and add a boat load of bass if you want a Fuzz type sound (and don't feel like using a fuzz pedal). :)

From my time playing with tube circuitry and reading points like "[bias setting will] virtually change the value of the cathode bias resistor in a cathode bias amp" it brings up a picture in my head of what's supposedly happening to the guitar signal. I can't completely hear if my theory is correct but maybe someone can chime in. The gain stages in the amp (in real life) aren't limitless and those limits are what creates the distortion of the signal (this distortion is a large part of what Helix wants to model obviously). If you imagine a sine wave (representing a simplified guitar signal) the peaks of that sign wave will get clipped by the limit of the gain stage [e.g. overdrive]. In tube amps, the shape of that clipping depends on the a number of factors like the type of tube AND it's bias. Shifting the sign wave "up" (by adjusting the bias respective to the min and max possible in a gain stage) means that the top peaks get clipped more. Shifting the sign wave "down" means the bottom troughs get clipped more. A bias set "in the middle" should have equal clipping on the top and bottom of the wave. In tubes, the the clipping of the sign wave tops has a different characteristic (changes the sign wave in a different way) than when it clips the bottom of the wave. Normally biasing "hot" in a preamp tube is supposed to give a warmer/smoother distortion and biasing cold gives a crispier (more like fuzz) distortion to the signal. Biasing in the middle gets you both.