waymda

This is where compression is can be your friend. Either in the form of amp compression through working the output tubes (real or virtual) harder so the pre-tubes get over driven by the guitar changing grittiness and tone whilst the output tubes help maintain perceived volume. Or using a compression tool before outputs (post the amp). My preference is the rochester comp using the knee and mix to allow unprocessed signal through along with processed to 'smooth' the volume differential. That said, when guitarists use the guitar volume pot, it is also often in combo with dynamic changes in the material so the volume change is less noticable in the mix, and typically set up the max volume/tone to sit best with solos. But there are no hard and fast rules.

Through to where? the point it hits a digital desk? the point it gets recorded digitally? the point post analog desk (yikes) it hits a speaker array with digital processing? the point it becomes a mp3, flac, etc? etc etc If you're concerned about how much you 'dropped' on a head and cab, why cheap out on the effects and go digital at all? The marketting department (for each of the products) wins, yet again. Like PT Barnum said "There's a musician born every minute".

To the $$$$ issue/concern they cost me (in Australia with substantial issues with what we pay for musical gear) : less than my Helix about the same as one of my variaxes less than my other guitars less than my 2 x PC+ less than any reasonable quality foldback solution less than one of my FoH mid/top boxes (ignore subs) significantly less than a single QSC 10.2 or 12.2 cabs that seem to be the benchmark in this and other forums significantly less than any quality valve amp And the sound quality/comfort etc outcome is amazing, and they are how I hear my vox, my guitar, the rest of the band, in a 3 pieace where I'm lead singer and fidelity makes stage work, just work - not hard work. Why guitarists, more than any other musican, appear to scrimp on IEMs then complain about them not working for them is beyond me. Especially when I consider the esorteric crap we/they will spend substantial $ on. (point to point amps, vintage pedals, modern re-issues of same, pretty lumps of wood with metal that makes noise) On fit - absolutely custom IEMs are not even in the same league as generics from a comfort perspective, and the ones referenced are silicon (softish) which are a substantial step above hard shells from a comfort/fit/seal perspective. And yes that translates into $, but see above. To hearing and protecting it - I have bilateral otosclerosis with up to 75db defeat from normal (yes thats a lot), which means a) it protected my hearing to an extent when I played very very loud with real amps b) I need stuff real loud to hear it 'normal'. High quality IEMs allow anyone to reduce the overall volume whilst increaing fidelity reducing nearve damage. IEMs that remove the need for hearing aids whilst onstage (I need them in the real world) and protect the fundementals (ie nerve damage) by allowing me not to drive as loud as ambient are worth the $. I would suggest that anything that saves people with undamaged, or even damaged, hearing from the horror that is constant tinitus is in the same league. Apologies for the rant - but being cheap in this space is just that, and I just don't get it. But then I don't understand threads about "whats the cheapest case I can get for my Helix?" for much the same reason.

The Pete Thorne review is below. I have used IEMs for at least 5 years, starting with 1964 fully molded IEMs and fully sealed. Whilst it meant I could hear myself without deafening anyone elser the sound was always a compromise, very isolating, and never quite sounded right. I tried many things to improve it like 1 in 1 out, EQ for the IEM mix, etc etc. Long story short, I have owned the ASI system for the last 2 years and couldn't be happier. I started with the generic IEMs and moved to the molded inserts and then to fully molded IEMs for a better seal. Being able to EQ the IEM send myself with the body pack (differently for each ear) and control how much ambient sound I get is amazing. I can run completely monitorless for vocals and guitar, or use my PC+s for onstage monitoring and for the band and hear the blend in the IEMs. Best of both worlds. By way of context, I've gone from ALWAYS beng told to turn down, to being asked to turn-up to get a better stage blend. When I can afford them (pretend I can) I'll upgrade to the triple driver version they have recently released, but for now the dual driver is great. Concur on the don't EQ your patches for your monitors (IEM or otherwise).

Not mentioned above is that using Native allows you to get around any processor limitations in the hardware - ie create larger more CPU intensive patches. Likely assumed you're aware of that.

Because it's easier to complain to a forum, that could care less, than actually take action thats entirely within ones control - nothing new here. I mean, why wouldn't you if your profile shows you wiht 3 producs and 1500+ posts. By that point your seriously invested in the whinge fest, and get a great endorphin kick everytime your posts create action. Its what keeps the twit-verse and face-bork in business.

Whilst this is true - final balancing can reall only be done by ear - meter's can help get more consistent in the first place (much closer than no initial metering), and ensure you haven't started with your softest or loudest patch as the comparative point. If you reference no metering at any point you run the risk of creating consistently too hot (or cold) levels for your patches. Metering also helps provide an objective measure (our ears are subjective) and, when leveling a lot pf patches, helps with ear fatigue (listening too long) and our own flawed memories/perception of volume. Moving between patches and only leveling by ear will reult in needing to do it a large number of times to fine tune it - our ears and minds simply aren't as perfrect as we like to think an play lots of trick on us. I say this having learnt the hard way balancing an active set of 100+ patches over a long time (with many many more having moved in and out of the set). You may also need ot use more tools than the amp channel volume - other effects cabs etc all change the gain and perceived volume so matching volume adjustments at the end of the chain with a gain block or on the output block is easier and more consistent.

As a 2 x PC+ user the downside of the approach your considering (for me) was the workflow became a lot more complex, and difficult to get levels right and know how it would sound FoH. It required monitoring out the back of the cabs via the XLR to check signal levels, and the PC+ does not sound identical to FoH or other FRFR outputs so it means checking both sources to find the compromise. As a result I returned to all processing in the Helix so I can easily monitor levels, and sounds across sources, and I accept that the PC+ is where I compromise on tone. That is, is the PC+ good enough whilst FoH is what I want the audience to hear? In simple terms it just got too damned hard to create and manage patches and not woth the effort. I had similar issue when I tried using a pair of DT25s for more amp in the room sound on stage - it was even more complex to get 'right' :)

Keep it as simple as possible - if for no other reason than to make ease toruble shooting easier. I use the yamaha bluetoon midi (MD-BT01) to conect to an ipad or android tablet tablet and use bandhelper to display lyrics and change patches on the Helix. The patches and snapshots control my variax model and tuning, and in limited cases initial volume settings on the variax. That allows me to troubleshoot variax control issues purely via the Helix and patch control issues between the tablet and Helix. But I don't want or need multiway control. My use of midi has been scant, so simple issues like moving from the tablet to the ipad, with the same software and finding patches weren't changing on the helix took quite a while to troubleshoot. Mainly as I only touch midi as required and have to relearn things. It took me ages to realise I had made a setting in the setlist view I use on the tablet to allow it to send midi changes, and that the ipad had to have its view set up independently (even though it looked like the same view to me). If you're more confident with midi and use it regularly, clearly your expeience will be different.

Another thing to consider is how to train your ears/mind for how sounds in your headphones will translate to PA or other reproduction systems. If you already record material that may be easier as you can hear sounds you know across mediums. If not, getting a few tracks that you know inside and out that you can critically listen to on different systems to hear what sounds thin, full, or pokes out or hides (yes very technical terms) will help you understand building patches that translate. What you'll be learning is what frequencies are emphasised or suppressed - but thinking about it as how the instruments sound rather than knowing frequency ranges will help. If you can find some isolated guitar tracks for songs you like (there are some on youtube) that may also help you 'get' what the Helix is doing. As far as I can tell there are no shortcuts or super easy ways to relearn what you've heard for ages coming from amps and cabs. I suspect most of us here that are happy with our Helix have gone through this transition.

I used to have 1 set list as a library for al changes and maintenance of patches, and copy from there to each upcoming gig setlist using HX Edit. I reserved one setlist for testing/building new patches. I have cleared the factort setlists to make space and make facotry reset/rebuilds quicker, I only restore the Library and Test/build setlists. I started using this approach with a HD500x after trashing a few good patches by not managing them well enough and having a single master list that I moved the order of patches. However, I now only maintain the Library and use an app to control patch changes via bluetooth. As I sing as well, having lyrics, even as prompts is necessary so I have a tablet with the app in front of me. As well as the set lists for the night, there is a final catch-all set list on the app with everything else in alpha order so we can do requests super quick. Find the song in that set and bang, lyrics and the patch.

I use the same setup to change guitars and tuning and other variax paramteres within patches using snapshots with no gap/delay. Do you have multiple patches this happens on or just one? If one consider rebuilding from scratch. If multiple, consider checking all hardware connections first (eg new variax cable) before looking at software issues. On the cable, I've recently had one get flakey which was giving me intermittent dropouts and loss of variax control, and when wiggled it produced crazy feedback. At first I thought it was the guitar but tested across multiple to determine it was the cable. The cable is about 10 years old - so not super concerned with their reliability.

Helix as (power) attenuator = BANG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_attenuator_(guitar) You are attenuating the input levels. Its an apples and oranges comparison to 'real attenuators' and will sound substantially different (what ever the lowered level input source). You will not be getting output stage distortion which is the intent of (power) attenuators and why they are used to allow the amp to work harder with lowered volume.

Not a LT user but a full Helix user, and love the scribble strips etc, and moved from a HD500x. No comparison on sound and 'feel' - I was sold when I demoed it in a store and haven't looked back. I have tried a LT and considering one for a back-up, and TBH I really didn't like the expression pedal feel. The throw is short and just felt hmmm wrong to me. If you can, I would suggest trying before buying. I'm also an 'old' dude :).

If you use Exp 1 for one assignment and Exp 2 for the other you can swap between them with snapshots - and should be able to set the fixed parameters where you want them. I'm assuming helix and onboard exp here, and nowhere near my gear to provide a more detailed explanation - I just know I have a patch that does something similar.

I definately hear a difference with bias in terms of when an amp breaks up and how, and I often set hum at zero (I have no need for atrifical/modelled noise in my amps, and couldn't get rid of noise for a while until I discovered this). The rest - hmmm not so much for me but for a god demo of them - see Mr S

My thought is that a heap of opinions from other people about their fav combos seems pretty futile in terms of understanding what works for you. Even more so when there's nothing to guide anyone on the sort of tones/material you're into. I'd have thoght whatching demos on YouTube and hearing what floats your boat would be a better starting point. Jason Sadites has a tone of dialing in videos that demo a range of combinations.

OK - there's a few things in you post and I'll try to untangle what I think you're asking. First - managing patches. Build a library of patches using one of the setlists and do all editing in that library. Name the setlists so you don't get confused (eg 'library', 'live', 'testing', etc) Assuming your set lists are pre-determined each week, copy the required patches in the required order to another setlist and use that setlist to move through the patches. This could be done on the unit on the day even. You will need to set your footswitches in a way that works for you. For me this is Stomp/Snap - with the ability to move up and down through presets using the far left switches, and a set of stomps along the top row and snapshots along the bottom. See page 66 of the manual. Another way is to navigate your library using a midi controller - I use an app called BandHelper and use blutooth midi on a tablet with a Yamaha wireless midi dongle to move between songs in my library. Takes a while to set-up but is amazing once done. When I first started using modelling I used the library method above and made/overwrote a performance setlist each gig. You should also learn about snapshots so you know how to change 'things' within patches for parts of your song - eg into, verse, chous, solo as a bais example. You can make changes ranging from things being turned on or off, through paramter changes. Yes this is complx at first, however you've moved away from stomp boxes and amps to something closer to a full programable rig that holds those things inside it. It will take time, but it gets easier. If you learn it you will find it very hard to go back to stomp boxes - unless you were already using a programmable rig. I would suggest watching some of Jason Sadites basic how to youtube videos https://www.youtube.com/c/JasonSadites These would be good starters

Production line bottle opener, accidently dropped in? [nope no idea]

Sorry only just saw this reply - yes use "Custom' on every patch to force to the tuning you want - even if its standard tuning.

Remeber to use the Stereo drop down in HX Edit or Stereo path to effects on the unit to select - its easy to overlook/forget and accidently drop in a mono version. I'be broken many a stereo patch this way with a mono effect near the end.

Sounds like you've sorted this out. As a long time variax and Helix user I will confirm you can do almost anything you could think of using patches and snapshots. Rather than saving tunings in the Variax save them in the Helix and let the Variax just manage the bassline sounds - it helps your workflows be easier. I have patches that swap between accoustic, and 3 different electrics and tunings for each to do rythym, lead, slide parts. As you've found, making sure there's not mag 'leakage' unless you want it. The other tip is make evey patch force tuning. Although the release notes etc say otherwise the Helix/Variax combo does not return to the previous tuning when you change patches - you must force or you retain the previous tuning. Make a Template with the globals and basic setting you want - it will make a huge difference (eg each string's tuning managed by snaps in a template will save you six right clicks when you want to enable it - not much but a bit meh). Without knowing your OS I will say I have found Edit and Workbench very stable, but they have been unstable with some USB ports and some cables. I have one brand new cable that refused to connect. I use win 10.

Its in the back passage, dig deeper.

You mention 2 amps - so maybe as well as turning them on and off, add a change to channel volume (zero to hero and vice versa) and see if that removes the noise. If each change is added sequentially to the patch and read back that way (and no idea if it is) there may already be an order of precedance that can be managed through creation - never tested it but worth a try.

Below the bell-shaped capital with volutes, two rows of acanthus leaves and elaborate cornice. But only if corinthian. I knew my art history study would be useful one day.