ronballllllls

On 11/7/2017 at 1:59 PM, ramirezdan said:

I'm trying to figure out this answer.

 

To those saying latency doesn't matter because there's direct monitoring... Some of us use the DAW's effects and loop tracks using the DAW. The only way that works is to monitor through the software. Works great with a real interface, and actually, worked fine for me too with the Helix.

 

I just wish I could route stuff in the DAW without using block paths in the Helix. It sucks losing a block path simply to get a click out to headphones. 

From my own experience trying to record midi drums and vocals (using plugins in DAW; Reaper), the latency with Helix falls short. Some of my vocal tracks have 5-10 plugins and the latency makes it unusable. I have to use my old Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 2nd Gen for vocals. It hinders my workflow.  

I'm looking at upgrading to a Focusrite Clarett 4PRE at the moment. With that, I'd be able to leave the Helix plugged into 2 inputs for stereo guitar and bass tracks as well as my mic and e-drums (midi). It sounds high-maintenance, but I when I'm writing and/or recording, I expect to pick an instrument and go rather than fiddle with cables and settings.

EDIT: ended up going the with Focusrite Clarett 2PRE. Found one used for $275. My wife helped me realize unplugging/plugging cables isn't worth $400+ lol she's right. 

36 minutes ago, soundog said:

Convenience. Economics. One is a guitar stomp modeler and one is a recording interface. ;-)

 

I (and I imagine many Helix users) already have a separate audio interface connected to their computer/DAW. Those are easier to use for mic/instrument/monitor level setting and patching (except for doing the Helix reamp stuff). Audio quality? That's debatable — I haven't seen any shootouts or done any spec comparisons.

I see. I have the Helix Rack version so it was more convenient for me to just use the Helix as my interface. 

I'm curious why people are using a separate audio interface with the Helix instead of using the Helix as the interface.

Could someone explain the benefits? I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 collecting dust since I got my Helix a year ago.

I got a really great pop punk tone by accident yesterday while trying to get a crunch tone. The signal chain:

• LA compressor
• 808 Screamer
  • Gain: 5-6
  • Tone: 6
  • Level 8
• US Double Nrm
  • Gain 9.5
  • Bass 4.5
  • Mid 6
  • Treble 7
  • Presence 7
• IR
• Reverb
  • Plate
    • Mix 15%

Really great with single coil/split humbuckers. Wouldn't recommend for leads/riffs

I haven't tried those steps to restore the volume but yeah I was in the middle of tracking guitars for a project and I updated the firmware. My new tracks were a few dB quieter than before. Since I also recorded my DI, it was easy enough to reamp but now I'm worried I'll have to reamp for my other songs for this project.

8 hours ago, HonestOpinion said:

I'm on 2.60 firmware on the Helix and I am getting sporadic "Timeout..." error dialog boxes when trying to save with the 2.6 editor. I have never seen these prior to this version of the editor. Anyone else getting these errors?

Yes after a while of being on, the Helix somehow disconnects from Hx Edit. Clicking “Reconnect” doesn’t work, only turning the Helix off/on

i also noticed the Placater dirty amp has lower output. I was in the middle of recording before the update and new tracks were a few dB quieter. It was easy enough to reamp (always record your DI!)

Have you made any progress on this tone?

Based on their latest track "G.O.A.T.", they use a mid-gain amp with a gain set up almost to break-up, middle pickup positions, and a girth-ey amount of bass. I'd say try a signal chain as follows: compressor to taste --> overdrive pedal (TS808 is my favorite) with minimal gain, tone and level around 7-9 -> a mid-gain amp like the Solo Crunch or any of the Brits with gain around 2-4-ish, bass adjusted to get the right amount of resonance, mid and treble to taste (probably around 6), presence around 7-8, master vol at 5 but adjust it to get more break up (then dial back gain) -> cab IR personal preference and probably the most important tone shaping part of the chain -> reverb plate mix around 15%.

Alternatively, you could try a dual amp patch with a really clean amp like the US Double Nrm and a mid-gain amp.

I've spent close to 6 months working on metal tones. I started out using the Line 6 Elektrik but found it was way too gain-ey. Then I moved onto the Peavey Panama which I used for maybe 3 months but found it too scooped. I've settled on the Friedman and haven't looked back. To me, it's the perfect high gain amp since I like brit style crunch. Also, it's the amp model that Periphery used on P3. I found the tone I like by turning the gain way down to about 2, boosting mids, treble, presence to around 7, playing a tube screamer OD infront with gain=0, tone and level around 8.5, and some notch EQ'ing with like 3 parametric EQ's at the end of the chain.

Love your content Jon!

Right. My post was made prior to the Timmy being available on Helix

Lol my bad, I didn't see the original date of the post.

The overdrive selection is somewhat limited. I'd like to see a Timmy added. With the quality of the amps and ability to assign parameters to a FS, you really don't need overdrives like you might in a traditional rig, but they are still fun. Other than that, I'd like to see them continue to expand the amp selection. I'd like a Dumble or Fuchs. The current line of amps are wonderful. This is unlike most units I've owned where I could only find a couple of amps that I liked. I am actually using 12 of the amps right now. I could easily be using another 4 or 5, butI just haven't taken the time to dial up the patches. 

The "Teemah!" overdrive is based on the Paul Cochrane Timmy Overdrive

So after weeks of waiting for a Darkglass Alpha Omega to be in stock on sweetwater, I FINALLY got my hands on one. Within 30-60 minutes I was able to dial in a really crunchy dirty bass tone that I was pretty happy with. I left my initial impressions in a reddit post on r/bass.

 

Finally got my unit after a few weeks of it being out of stock on Sweetwater. I've been slowly upgrading my cheap Ibanez GSR-205 and have replaced the pickups with Nordstrand Big Singles and that really improved the tone. But, I found the treble still lacking and the built-in preamp sounds like lollipop.. I was struggling for the last few months to dial in a tone with what I had available but still found it lacking. Then I decided to give the Darkglass Alpha Omega a shot.

Wow, my clean tones are now beautiful and velvety smooth. There is sooooo much customization of the tone as well due to the multiple blending options of the type of distortion and level. One of my favorite dirty bass tones come from Periphery's song Absolomb and I was able to get a tone pretty close to the album version without shelling out for a Dingwall.

https://soundcloud.com/ron_foreman/absolomb-bass-test-darkglass-alpha-omega

 

My favorite clean tone has been from Dashboard Confessional's song "Reason to Believe" and the tone I got is pretty close.

https://soundcloud.com/ron_foreman/reason-to-believe-clean-bass-test-darkglass-alpha-omega

I typical use is to use a light drive on the bass in a mix for heavier stuff so my Blend knob would be primarily on the clean side.

Overall, I'm very happy with the Alpha Omega. The only thing I have to get used to is the low-end saturation. To me, just about any low-end saturation sounds flubby but I've found ways to mitigate it using a mixture of the different distortions on the pedal as well as the boost switches.

Some glamour shots: https://imgur.com/a/A6mLh

My signal chain was bass > Alpha Omega > Helix {noise gate > LA Compressor > Woody Blue > IR }

I didn't find out about the Obsidian 7000 until yesterday, and can't believe I didn't notice the naming pun (Darkglass = Obsidian; 7000 = 7k) lol. I've had my Helix Rack unit for about 4 weeks now but due to work and school, haven't been able to sit with it for hours on end.

When I wanted to get a preamp/drive bass pedal, the B7k was the other contender based on its universal acclaim and usage by a lot of my favorite bassists. So, for lollipops and giggles I wanted to see if I can get AS GOOD of a tone with all Helix and the Obsidian 7000.

....Yes.....a thousand times yes. I got a BETTER tone (in my opinion). In my initial impressions of the Alpha Omega, I noted how the low-end saturation bothered me. It sounds really loose and flubby to my ears. The switches on the Alpha Omega are binary for their boosts compared to the B7k which has 3 way toggle (On-Off-Cut). 

The blend control on the Obsidian 7000 is more fine grained compared to the Alpha Omega. I prefer this because even adjusting the blend on the Alpha Omega brings up that dreaded (to me) low-end saturation.

I haven't had time to record some A-B comparisons, but I can if anyone would like.

All in all, I'm sending back the Alpha Omega because I'm able to get a bass tone I like and have been searching for with the Helix. I lollipop love this thing.

This is a bug with the Mesa Amp models (Mk IV I believe). If you have bass set at 0, you get this phenomenon.

Thank you, I am using the Mk IV with the bass turned way down. Hope to see this fixed with the next patch!

known issue. On some mesa amps, especially if bass is turned down. I guess a fix should come in next update?

Ahh thank you. Yes I have the bass turned almost completely down. Glad to hear I’m not the only one! I was worried my unit was defective

mesa amp?

Yes. Have you experienced this too? Or is it a known issue?

I’ve noticed on a couple occasions that my input volume is dramatically reduced after not changing any preset settings. I’ll Start playing again and it’s as if my guitars volume knob is at 2 (when it’s at 10). I do have input gate toggled.

The problem goes away when switching to a different preset, then switching back.

I've been into hi-fi audio for about 5 years and got my endgame set of headphones about a year ago. Audeze LCD-XC closed back https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-xc. Sold a pair of used Audeze LCD-2's for the same price I bought them ($700) then found this pair for $1100 so net cost for these was about $400 (at least that was my reasoning lol wife didn't seem to buy it)

The stock cab/IR models on Helix are very good, but like everything else, some players prefer 3rd party IRs. Yes, IRs are wav files.  24 bit, 48 kHz, 1024/2048 sample IRs are compatible with Helix. 

Thanks!

I'd suggest you start with the Helix cabs and explore them fully before buying IRs.  A lot of forum users love the cabs and I can say that I learned a ton about mics and their placement and the effect on sound using the Helix cabs before switching to IRs.  You obviously know very little, if anything (and this should sound condescending) about the Helix or IRs, so why complicate things further by buying IRs you don't actually have a reason to buy yet.  Get the Helix and get some understanding of it first and use the cabs.  Helix is the greatest musical device I've ever bought (I've been a guitar player for 50 years so I've bought a lot!) and I love it and it's easy to use.  BUT - there are so many "knobs" you can turn that it's easy to spend too much time doing that instead of making music.  Adding a pack of IRs into that mix raises the number of parameters to an even higher level for a newbie.  Of course this is just one more opinion!  Congrats on having a Helix on the way!

I've had some experience with mic placement on cabs via BiasFX but I didn't want to buy their Professional Tier to have the ability to load custom IRs.

Hi everyone,

Just ordered a Helix Rack from Sweetwater that will be here in a few days, and I can't wait to fire that thing up! I've read that the stock IRs are not so great and people have suggested added their own custom IRs they've bought from third-parties. I've heard a demo of some ML Sound Labs IRs that Fractal Audio sells through their store. 

If I wanted to buy an IR pack from ML Sound Labs (through Fractal Audio), would I be able to use them with my Helix? I have 0 experience with IRs, but I've read that they're mostly like .wav files but couldn't confirm from their site.

Thanks