theElevators

I have a lot of experience with the live sound mix and my OG Helix. If you want to "cut" through the mix, there are several ingredients and lack thereof to achieve that. So number one: reverb sounds good at home, sounds good when you record your guitar directly, but live it buries you and make your playing unintelligible. If you have any type of hall reverb, it should be lowered to a minimum, or removed. Concert spaces have natural reverb, so you really do not need any, except for special effects, or for that drippy reverb sound that surf music requires. Instead of reverb, I use subtle ping-pong delay that bounces a few times left/right, but does not cover up the initial attach of the note/chord. There are also "ducking" reverbs that let the note ring out, before applying. Also for regular reverb, the "pre-delay" parameter is very useful to be able to hear the initial attack of the note, without which it becomes a mess. For live concerts, there's a separate independent mix done on purpose--to represent what it sounds like in the venue, by adding all the reverb, etc back to the sound. And I stress, it's an independent mix from the actual FOH sound mix. If a concert is broadcast on TV, there are 2 sound mixers working independently of each other. So while reverb sounds good and can make your playing sound smoother and better, for live use it's not to be overused. I've listened to board mixes of my live concerts where I played and the guitar doesn't necessarily sound great direct. But that's the whole point--your guitar's sound needs to work for the venue's acoustics, not to sound great as a concert recording. I've also reviewed concert footage that people have posted from their phones, and confirm that that it sounded great with plenty of ambiance. Number two: for solos my approach that has worked for me is always boosting the 2K frequency with an equalizer in my chain. Turning up the volume does not work due to limiters, and whatever else the sound system has. When I needed to really cut through the horns and all that stuff, I boosted it by 10 db for the solo snapshot. Nowadays I go from 2 to about 6 db. Some songs need a deafeningly-loud solo, some don't. So I play by ear. Also depends on the pickups that I use. Single coils already sound pretty glassy, so further EQ-ing is going to sound extremely piercing if overdone. You should not have too much of that 2K frequency, as it is known to be headache-inducing. And when boosting this frequency you will definitely be heard. In my old band I didn't constantly noodle all over the place, I had a few concise solos and that's when it was used. Also I've used it for clean lead lines as well, think "Day Tripper" by the Beatles. That's all 2K, but it's not constantly hitting you over the head, I'd never strum chords with that sound....

Aside from a few bugs that were known (for example the glitch delay behaving differently), all your presets should be exactly the same before/after each update. I have 100's of presets and none of them sounded any different. The only big change was the "oversampling" update introduced in firmware version 3.10. I guess it technically is a sound difference, since it is an improvement to the overall sound--but not that you need to go and re-adjust anything. It just sounded marginally better :) The only thing that could have changed is global settings. But if you follow the firmware update procedure, you should always back up your Helix, upgrade, then reset to factory settings, and then restore from the backup.

If you cannot get the basic stomp assignment figured out without frustrating yourself, sell the Helix and use pedals and a real amp--problem solved! Or pay somebody to do it for you. Plenty of rock stars that have techs setting their sounds for them. The training manual is well-written. The YouTube videos that were given to you are very well-made and lots of people are able to follow them. If you think otherwise and require special re-explanation of what is stated in the resources, the Helix is not for you. I personally am not overly technical, but have a computer science background. I was able to figure out the Helix in about 2 weeks. Not all of it at once, but the basics. I've asked several questions on this forum that were very unique to my use case, and got my answers each time. I was never a user of an all-in-one processor prior to the Helix, but figured out the approach that worked for me and continue to use it regularly.

I use both. Same identical sound if you use the same settings. amp and cab = amp block + cab block. I figured out that I can run a compressor between the amp and cab, and I do that sometimes. So that's the only time I will use 2 separate blocks, when I need to put something in the middle. The compressor to me is not suitable for every situation. But sometimes it really makes fast playing a lot easier, for all the shreddy solos, or really fast aggressive palm muting. It also makes clean solos sound like they are supposed to--compressed, bold, not whimpy. When placing the compressor there, I always turn down the ripple of my amp, otherwise there's a low frequency hum that appears. However at the same time the compressor adds a certain amount of "harshness" and depending on the signal chain can even make my preset develop certain artifacts, such as pops. So I use this trick sparingly.

I created a crazy preset, and wanted to share how it works. I'm able to add auto-harmonized synths to my playing. I seem to remember there was a forum specifically for these things, but cannot find it. Here you go.

Even on the Helix Floor, the scribble strips are hard to see in direct sunlight. That's why I have always preferred the virtual scribble strips of the Helix LT when playing outdoors. On a dark stage the Helix Floor is king. It could be a very simple software update to also include virtual scribble strips on the Stadium XL. (I don't own the Stadium)

I have sent Helix for a repair of an LED light. It was returned to me within 2 weeks. But I did have to escalate it due to other reasons. If the Helix is 2 weeks old, then it's a problem, and you should return in for a refund. Otherwise, if everything is structurally sound, then all is needed is lithium grease and tightening a few screws. I've greased my pedal 5 years ago and not a peep to this day. All it takes is taking the back off, and adding a generous amount of grease. I didn't have to disassemble anything, but I did have to tighten the screws of the "claw" that attaches to the actual pedal mechanism. On my Helix, those screws were loose, so the pedal started getting crooked, and was scraping against the side and also was getting loosened from that. Some people say lithium grease is bad for plastic.. in my case no issues.

I tried a few IRs early on, and never used them again. One time I played around with an acoustic guitar IR... Ultimately never used this, and continued to use cabs that are in the Helix. Didn't stop me from recording guitar on "hit" records... by hit records, I mean 8 million views on YouTube. IRs are overrated... They might have been relevant 10 years ago, when the stock cabs were limited. But even stock cabs are a collection of various IRs... just with a virtual representation of how you place your microphone on a specific cab. Each time you move your virtual microphone, you get a different IR... so it's just 100's of different IRs under the hood behind these stock cabs. And an IR typically is used in the context of how a guitar cab sounds when mic'ed. But there can be IRs for other things, like how specific rooms, how an archtop guitar sound, etc. All that is unnecessary IMHO. And especially, don't waste your money purchasing snake oil IRs... good luck!

try using balanced cables, same result? You can buy adapters to convert balanced 1/4" jacks to xlr, then connect with cables to the mixer.

Check and play around with the effects loops volume settings. It can be driving the rest of your chain too much, hence change of sound, especially with drive pedals. So experiment with different signal levels. Otherwise, yes, I can confirm that the effects loops are not "true bypass", and they can introduce all sorts of noise. Tone Master Pro has 2 analog "fuzz friendly" effects loop, but Helix doesn't have such a thing. For example, I tried rolling off the volume knob on the guitar, and it sounded noisy and hissy when my distortion pedal was in the loop, but fine when it was before the processor. Helix has a ton of stuff, so there really is no reason to use external pedals, IMO. Helix has everything, and you can tweak things and A/B them so you can sell your physical pedals. There are a few exceptions, such as some of those really esoteric glitchy time-based pedals, but the whole point of using the Helix is to ditch your existing physical pedals/wah/amp, etc. It's most likely already there. Anyway, to check the volume level of effects loops: Press MENU Go to Global Settings Navigate to Ins/Outs Find: Send/Return Type

Try factory presets to make sure it's not user error. Helix is not stopping you from diming everything and creating unusable presets.

Then sell it and try something that is easier. I know some people who are computer programmers cannot wrap their heads around this tech. Or go back to pedal boards.

In the real pedal world, "Fuzz "tone sucking" (volume/treble loss) often results from impedance mismatches, particularly when vintage-style Fuzzes (like Fuzz Faces) are placed after buffered pedals or active pickups." Also in the real world, the Fuzz pedal sucks tone whether it's on or off, they are not true-bypass. In your case, you have a digital emulation of any pedal you want. HX One has capacity to run exactly one block. Digital pedals in an analog signal chain do not have any "impedance" and tone-sucking behavior, because they are digital devices. They can suck tone on their own though to an extent, but they will do it consistently regardless of what effect you are running. Just because you are running Fuzz on your HX One, doesn't mean that it will magically recreate the physical properties of an analog Fuzz Face and affect other pedals. In the Helix world, they replicate the "tone sucking" behavior, if you have a virtual signal chain. Helix recreates those nuances when you have more than one block in your preset. But it does it weirdly: only the first block in the virtual chain affects how the rest of the chain sounds in terms of its virtual impedance, if you set the impedance setting on your preset to "auto". So if you have a wah, followed by 10 Fuzz pedals -- no tone sucking. But one bypassed Fuzz pedal followed by 10 wahs -- it will suck the tone. However, you can override this behavior by dialing in an explicit impedance value of your entire preset, then it stops behaving like it would in the real world. Regarding how to set the impedance on your HX device: My advice is to just set it to auto. Auto take the first block's impedance and uses that. For most effects it's 1M ohm. Changing the impedance to a specific value between HX presets is a very bad idea, since it results in loud pops when changing presets. (For the record, I don't have HX One, and cannot confirm what it does when you bypass your Fuzz block, you would need to test it out. ) I also recommend just using your ears. Digital doesn't always behave like analog, and sometimes not at all. Add a Fuzz in your HX One. Bypass it in one preset, compare it with a blank preset. If you start messing around with impedance, it may introduce weird harshness and resonant frequencies. The difference in sound is there, but not that significant, mostly just becoming unpleasant. One more piece of info: as a Helix user, I want all my presets to sound consistent. All my presets are based around the same 'core' sound. So if I wanted to add a Fuzz solo in one of my presets, I need the core sound to remain unchanged. If I added the Fuzz in the beginning of the chain, I know that it would affect my tone for the whole preset very slightly (not something I want). Therefore, I can either change the impedance of the preset to be the same value as other presets (1M ohm), or make sure that the Fuzz is placed second in line after the wah pedal, which I know has the correct impedance of (1M ohm). But I would never change the impedance setting between the presets, because of the horrible noise glitch that will happen when switching presets! See my old video of me messing around with the impedance. There are also lots of threads on this topic. In summary, set it to "auto", and forget about it IMO :)

This is not carbon. This is just the black foam rubber getting grated and creating this dust. It's more severe on the Floor (because there are more foam ribber parts for the snapshot screens). So when the foam is brand-new, it creates this dust from all the vibrations, pressing on the footswitches. Eventually, the foam stops being brand-new and becomes more gooey, and the problem is less severe, or it just stops. Somehow the tactile switches attract that dust. (that's my theory anyway). Or it could just be the plungers deteriorating, hence the black powder, since they are black plastic parts. But once you clean it with DeoxIT, the problem goes away for a while. That's why I think they should use this stuff at the factory to prevent the initial issue.

Press BOTH the “MODE” and “TAP” footswitches together This toggles between: Preset Mode (scrolling presets) Snapshot Mode (Snapshot 1/2/3, etc.) I think this is what you did.

Try a different cable. Otherwise, open up a support ticket. Otherwise, you can still use your Helix, using the return 1/2 jacks instead of an input. It can work with the tuner as well.

Do you use any stomp buttons at all or purely snapshots? I would just clear the bypass assignment for the amp/blocks entirely. Then assign the bypass to snapshot only. Then select snapshot 1, turn things on/off as needed, save. Then go to snapshot 2, do the same and save. Sometimes the bypass assignments get confused when you have multiple things controlling what is on/off.

Also there's a lazy method that I've used as well -- use at your own risk. I've started doing this, and it works for me. Prop up the Helix so that the buttons are perpendicular to the floor. Apply liquid deoxIT to each of the buttons, around 3 applications. Wait an hour: the liquid will eventually reach the actuators/microswitches. Press the buttons a few times. Flip the Helix upside-down, again propping it so that the buttons are perpendicular to the floor. The excess DeoxIT will ooze out. Vacuum each button, wiping the leftover DeoxIT until it's dry.

The micro switches under the metal buttons are cheap and will stop being reliable after about a year of regular gigging use. If you are handy with electronics, open it up and clean out all of your switches whenever this starts happening. No need to re-solder a new microswitch. The procedure is very simple, in essence: locate the micro switches, and apply liquid DeoxIT to them, and press them a few times. I like liquid (not spray) DeoxIT, because it's only one drop, nothing gets sprayed in the process, you don't need to be careful where you spray, etc. The switches to me became as smooth as butter after the cleaning. watch a video on how it's done. https://youtu.be/WONiwe0vjH0 Helix is built like your typical Chinese gadget (Kemper floor is no different): looks solid from the outside, but inside is all microscopic PCB stuff with cheap components. In particular, the little button plungers are not held by anything, if you flip the unit upside-down they will all fall and you will not find them. you need a big table with a towel for this job -- can't do it on your lap. I use Tupperware / bowls / shot glasses to store all the parts, like screws/bolts/nuts. Sort all your screws by height, etc. Take a picture of what's inside before you start taking things apart -- that way will know how it used to be. A tablet is very useful for these. When I cleaned micro switches on the Helix LT, I did not have to take apart any ribbons, remove any glue, etc.

Pod HD 500 is way more limited and complicated at the same time than the Helix! I tried helping a friend dial in sounds on it, and it was very difficult, especially on the unit itself. Helix is way more user-friendly. Snapshots are presets within presets, plain and simple--the octopus picture really explains what it is. You can save what each of your blocks do when you select a specific snapshot: what is on/off, and the various settings of blocks are, if you wish to change them. I only use snapshots for all my sound changes, never use any effects individually (aka stomp mode). In the band where I played, there were lots of sudden changes from loud lead with delay to dry low-gain sound. With snapshots, it's a breeze. With pedals, I'd have to turn on/off 3-4 pedals at once. Plus with snapshots you can also have different tap tempo saved, so your delays can have extreme exaggerated spillover effect when you turn off your lead sounds, for example. I actively use all such tricks to glue different parts of the song together. With 8 different snapshots within each song, you have more than enough different sounds to cover each song, given you save each song as an individual preset. Love it.

I really like the sound and feel of a compressor between the amp and cab. It just makes everything easier to play, the notes just fly off the fingerboard. But the downside is that it amplified some amp buzzing, and constant droning, which I had to adjust on the amp, the "hum" level, etc. Once I figured this trick out, it just became so much better, I wish I had discovered it earlier!

It's all the same to dial down your hot guitar. I just like the separate volume block, because it's easier to see what it's doing. And easy to copy/paste it. Guitar pad = input level = using a volume block. But guitar pad is fixed of course, so you can't adjust it. Also my point is that I have used volume cut not just in the very beginning (input), but also right before the envelope filter, for example.... and other parts of the chain. Helix in my experience was VERY difficult to dial in for my needs in the beginning. So much so, that I was getting very frustrated! Took me several weeks to recreate my "signature" sound. And then I was tweaking still.... The feel was also very "hard", like I needed to be very articulate, and the notes would not come out as easy as on a tube amp. Then I added a compressor after some time, and that solved that issue! Now of course, it's been years since I figured out all the tricky sounds. It took me many iterations of reviewing concert board mixes, etc. Now I can say that I'm very happy how my presets sound and most importantly feel.

Yes, I have been using the "volume cut" approach in various parts of the signal chain to achieve acceptable results. In my experience, the envelope filters are pretty much unusable, unless I significantly lower the volume of the signal .... using a volume pedal block that is fixed at a very very low percentage. For example: I needed to do a simple funky clean auto-wah sound, and that took me many many iterations. I wound up achieving the needed results by using the volume cut and adding... reverb BEFORE the envelope filter. Only then it started behaving as auto-wah should! Also, every preset that I build nowadays has another fixed volume pedal block in the very beginning of the chain, again to be able to dial in exactly the right level so my preset works with that specific guitar. I have figured out how much to cut the signal, and if I need to use a different guitar, just go and adjust that first volume cut as needed. So in summary, I can confirm that the Helix is EXTREMELY sensitive to the output levels. In the real guitar pedal/tube amp world, it's not the same. When I had my pedalboard, I was frequently swapping guitars with minimal adjustment. Also I had a Boss MS-3 little processor for effects only, and a lot of effects were a lot easier to dial in. The same envelope filter sound was set up in one go! Some people solve these sensitivities by using a compressor/limiter in the beginning of the chain on the Helix, so it behaves more like the real world gear...

The signal is very weak then. You can try to boost the dry signal when you route it....

Pretty sure you need to press the "R" on both tracks, like you have on the upper one.