theElevators

Phew! Hey gang: So I started noticing the dreaded FS flakiness on my Helix. I don't know if this is considered "normal", but if I press a foot switch very SLOWLY, the switch does not occur. This is happening on the Helix Floor. I think I seem to remember that on my Helix LT, there were some times where the switch did not occur right away, but that problem seemingly went away. I took liquid DeoxIT and applied it to all the foot switches, and rotated the buttons as if to clean the contacts. I don't think it helped the problem. So any suggestions, besides opening a ticket with Line 6, etc? PS: and of course as with all these problems, now all my foot switches are again working fine. Maybe DeoxIT helped after pressing them multiple times... FML thanks, d.

Well, you will see brackets around all your parameters that can change in snapshots. Also you will see a list of things that can be changed in snapshots by going to "Bypass/control assign" section of your HX Edit. There you will se a list of all the parameters that are controlled by snapshots. So if a block has a parameter in that list, then that block is what you are looking for.

In my case, my Helix is connected to the monitors via 1/4" outs. The USB cable is connected to the laptop. Music can be played on the computer, and you will hear it through the Helix, coming out of the monitors. On your Mac, once you connect the Helix with the USB, you can select audio input/output and Helix will be available. So basically Helix becomes an external sound card for the Mac. I also have my monitors connected to the computer. Then I have a switch where I can select the input source for the monitors. I have a very simple a/b box with variable volume control for that. Basically I can combine the Helix sound with what's coming out of the commuter with this little a/b box/mixer. But this way, I don't even need to bother with the USB cable, and can mix the 2 signals however I want.

Instead, try this legacy effect. I place it after the amp/cab. The best thing about this block is that it doesn't need to be "reset" between notes. This setting works for me for distorted sound, for long-ish notes.

I added it as the 2nd last thing in the chain. The last block is a delay. But again, please check how it sounds in mono for you -- meaning you have a stereo preset where you add this effect to, but check how your entire rig sounds in mono. I always check all my presets in mono and instereo, to make sure, that should I ever need to play a gig where there is no option for stereo, the balance would not be screwed up. I ran the stereo block with default settings, except I turned down the "SLOP' to 0 or 1. I did an A/B test: added the stereo block, and enabled/disabled it, when I had: a) 2 monitors connected to the Helix, enabling/disabling the block had no noticeable volume jumps. Pretty much just made the sound "wider" and in stereo. b) Left only the left/mono monitor connected. When the same stereo block was engaged, the perceived volume dropped by around 5 db. So somehow this block is behaving differently when the rig is in mono vs. stereo. I suspect that the 2 stereo channels when mixed down cancel each other out in mono, due to phasing.

If you have 1/2 the power of a Helix, you will need to learn to make certain compromises. You can consolidate things, and get rid of blocks you can replace with something else. Rather than using a distortion pedal, and an EQ pedal, you can change the settings on the amplifier block--that way you just saved some DSP. Every parameter of a block is assignable to snapshots. That means that when you change your snapshot, you can conjure different sounds out of the same amp block. The best thing is that one amp block can produce many different sounds, e.g. clean, clean lead, dirty, dirty lead. You can change the parameters of any bock in the snapshots, in our example, you can change the gain, volume, and lows/mids/highs of the amp within the same preset, for different snapshots.

Modulation / Double Take. This is supposed to sound like 2 guitar tracks for the same track, or 3 or 4, etc. I like the way it sounds, but there's a caveat: with stereo doubler, when you mix down to mono, there are phasing issues! To the point of the sound losing decibels.

I just added "double take" in stereo to my chain, and that made the acoustic sound more 3d and sustain-y. I think I'm happy now.

Unrelated to your question, but I struggled with the auto-swell block. It's quite awful in my experience. I needed to have loud volume swells on long notes without using a volume pedal, or volume knob. Auto-swell just was too finicky and unreliable. The main issue is that no matter what I did it just would not release the note properly, and it would get sort-of stuck, unless I made sure to really mute the first note with my hand before playing the second one. I tried every single combination of the settings, and nothing worked as I needed it to. What I found works extremely well instead is delay/Legacy/Auto-volume Echo. Somebody from this forum suggested that actually. Here are the settings that I use. I place this block after the the amp/cab.

I never use noise gate... but the one that is "built in" into the input block with default settings works flawlessly. Give it a try. I use single coils, but never ever had a reason to use the noise gate to date.... I use Burns TriSonic, maybe they are not as noisy as what you have.

I practice at home and at home I have 2 studio monitors plugged into left and right. Every once in a while I check whether the bug comes back by leaving only left/mono plugged in and rebooting my Helix. After a few days/weeks the issue resurfaces. If I do a system restore, it goes away. The problem is clearly with my Global Settings that I have, and those are pretty standard and nothing out of the ordinary. If this were a hardware problem, then this problem would always be there. However, the problem only comes back after a week when I recreate my specific Global Settings and simply use my Helix like people normally do. So let's please stop referring to it as a mechanical problem -- it clearly is not. Unless well.... a mechanical problem somehow corrupts my Global Settings ... it still would be a software bug. 2 Helixes I own, one was brand-new, Line 6 support recreated it a few years back. So bug bug bug. I bet you a lot of people have the same exact issue, they just don't know they have it. Heck, I only realized it 17!! songs into my set that I was only hearing my left side on stage at a gig. And only because of the prominent ping-pong delay that was simply not there.

What I keep saying is that unless I have a 12" speaker cab, everything else feels wimpy, doesn't move enough air and sounds like a wedge monitor IMHO. 12" speaker is the way to go. I got a Headrush 108 FRFR -- It's great for rehearsals, everything is right there, but still doesn't feel "traditional". It's so powerful that I've used it for bass, and it's always in the the trunk of my car. However.... It's boomy, which can be compensated by putting it on a stand, also very directional, just like your wedge monitor. You can be in a situation where one second it's loud, and then you walk away and don't hear anything. Recently I started using a 12" speaker from whatever backline amp I get, and I power it with Mooer Baby Bomb. I previously sold my guitar amp, and wound up buying an Orange 112. Mooer Baby Bomb + 112 sounds awesome, plenty loud for a bar gig, and feels traditional. Here's a sample of what my cover band sounds like with it. Helix => Baby Bomb => 112 that's it. https://youtu.be/PznAmj7q3Mk (hear it live) https://youtu.be/l51UjdT02js (me reviewing Baby Bomb)

Hey guys. Does anybody have any pointers regarding getting a nice and balanced acoustic sound out of a Helix? I'm attaching my preset. This preset is intended for the Bridge Humbucker sound, medium output (on the Les Paul, the volume knob would be on around 4). I am still struggling with the wild inconsistencies when I switch between 2 almost identical guitars. Any compressors, or something that could help me? Zaebali!.hlx Basically the acoustic sound should be suitable for rhythm strumming. I can never find a happy medium: it's either too boomy/bassy or piercing without any sustain and hollow sounding. Thanks in advance, d.

I bought an LT lightly used. Everything works. I have had 2 issues: 1. The expression pedal was squeaky. I greased it and that addressed that issue. There were many complaints in the past where the expression pedal broke. That was limited to a particular year/production run. 2. One of the plastic color rings around one of the buttons cracked for me. I used eye glass repair glue and that seems to be holding fine. The plastic ring/washer is held in place from underneath, so even if it cracks and breaks in two, the button will still work. Otherwise, Helix (Floor or LT) is more than capable of doing everything other processors do. Some weak points IMO are: 1. defaults for modulations and filters are very bad. For some reason, adding an envelope filter on a Boss processor was very easy and everything just worked out of the box. On the Helix, there are a lot of "useless" parameters that make it very difficult to dial in the sound that you want. 2. some effects in particular filters are very very finicky, but if you are patient, you can dial them in right. Same for "auto fade-in" effect. I wound up using "Auto-Volume Echo" with feedback turned off and that accomplished what I needed. 3. acoustic simulator is amazing, but also very finicky and unforgiving if you use dial in your sound with one guitar, and try to run acoustic sim with another guitar. The EQ can be completely different, and the volume discrepancies can be huge. So there you have it. A TON of different options, all the sounds are there, but getting to them can be time-consuming.

There are different output levels: Microphone, instrument, line. If Microphone is not enough, try "Instrument", etc in Global Settings. It could be that your preset is too low in volume. Try out some factory presets. I personally have my 1/4" set at Instrument level. My normal audio level is where I have the volume knob at 3 o'clock.

You need to recreate your preset from scratch. But good news, nearly all things are exactly the same between the two units: same blocks, same parameters. The only thing is that you don't have parallel loops, so if you for example had a preset with the delay in parallel, you would need to add it in series and as a result your mix parameter will need to be set totally differently.

Why people don't thousands of users have this problem? - Because these people do not use the same exact global settings as me, e.g. output level of XLR is microphone, etc. Most people do not take advantage of stereo signal chain. Some people are unaware that they are outputting only one side -- it's not always obvious that that is the case unless you have an exaggerated ping-pong delay. What's their latest explanation? - Line 6 can no longer replicate this issue. Translation: they do not have time to try to replicate a bug for over a week. I wound up getting a simple adapter: 2 1/4" male to 1 1/4" female and after this latest failed experiment I've accepted that this is how it will be. --- P.S.: this reminds me of the Catch-22 b.s. I had to deal with when my iPhone's Apple Pay stopped working one day. Apple said it's T-mobile to blame, T-mobile said it's Apple. Tried restoring from my backup on 2 phones and it never worked. After wasting several hours of my life, going to the Apple Store, calling T-mobile, I said "f.... this!" and just used a physical credit card, as I do to this day.

Back to square one. I explained that Line 6 replicated it. I replicated it on 2 Helixes I own consistently after a week. One of the Helixes was brand new when I restored the backup and developed the same problem after a week. Reset solves it for a week and then it comes back. It's a software bug. If you restore my backup and use the Helix you will also have it. I work with clinical trials, with big shot companies like bayer, jnj, moderna, etc, I investigate and fix various bugs constantly. If I say "sorry, can't see any issue locally, ticket closed", I'll be fired.

NO.

You can get a nice sustain-y sound with a compressor, so yes, that's a good idea if you want your notes to be long. Like think "All Along The Watchtower" Hendrix lead sound--that to me sounds like an guitar + compressor + amp.

Just FYI, I restored my Helix to factory settings, then I recreated my global settings from scratch. Sure enough, the bug resurfaced after about a week of normal use. By normal use I mean turning the Helix on/off, backing up and restoring, and reordering presets.

OK, so then that makes it even easier. If your signal goes to the talk box, mute your entire sound coming out of the Helix, no need to have a "return" block at all. Because you want your guitar sound to come either (a) out of your Helix outputs.... or .... (b) into the talk box tube, into your mouth, etc Here's my proposed signal chain: guitar -> distortion -> send 1 -> amp/cab-> volume pedal at 0% -> Helix output(multi) connect send 1 to the talk box The send block simply sends the signal to any source, and does not interrupt the signal chain. Basically, you can have a send block without a return in your chain, if it makes sense. so you need 2 settings in 2 snapshots: (1) talk box solo send 1 is on, and the rest of your chain is muted with the volume pedal on. When the volume pedal at 0% is on, it mutes the sound. Helix is not producing any sound, all you hear is your talk box. Signal goes to the talk box, captured by the microphone, Helix is muted (2) regular guitar sound send 1 bypassed, and the rest of your chain is un-muted, with volume pedal bypassed. When the volume pedal at 0% is bypassed, the sound is not muted. Signal does not go to the talk box, Helix's outputs have sound. Volume pedal at 0% = your sound is muted. So bypass the volume pedal = no sound. You can also mute your Helix by using the last output block, assigning the output level parameter to snapshots, and set it at 0 in your snapshot (1). On the Helix you can accomplish the same thing with multiple methods. If you are confused, first learn about assigning parameters of block to snapshots, and learn how you can save states of your blocks in each snapshot. You can save whether blocks are on or bypassed in specific snapshots. You can also change for example "mix" parameters of your reverb in specific snapshots. Practice with snapshots -- it's the best way to accomplish sound switches.

I think it's best if you make use of the effects loops for the talk box. Always leave the talk box/microphone on. When you need to have your voice talk box solo, you can have a dedicated snapshot for it. I think your signal chain can be like this (see attached 3 screenshots). On this forum, the screenshots are all jammed into one picture, so just click on the screenshot below and scroll through them individually. 1. So about the signal chain, you send the signal to the "send". That goes to your talk box". Then after the talk box microphone, the signal will be connected to "return". 2. Basically, you have a split A/B. You can assign the "route to" parameter to snapshots, this means that you can control how much "a" and how much "b" you will have in your resulting signal. When you take the talk box solo, all your signal goes to "b". When you play regular guitar, it goes to "a". 3. Then you have the "merge" where both paths are combining their outputs. In order to not have extraneous microphone noise that you don't need, you can assign the "Mix" parameter of the return block to the snapshots again. Mix out the signal from the return block, otherwise you will have microphone sound in your final mix. At 0, there's nothing coming through. So basically there you go. Use the send/return blocks to connect your talk box. And use the split/merge to control where the signal goes. Something like that.

That's a crazy idea! Love it! But IMO, the onboard tuner is a nice thing to have, so even though I personally don't ever use the tap tempo functionality, the "coarse" tuner is great and I don't intend on sacrificing it.

Well, I use the tap-tempo button only for its tuner functionality, never to change the tap tempo of the preset/snapshots. As for the mode button, I use it to switch between snapshots and pedalboard mode. In pedalboard, I have recreated the same exact snapshot layout, EXCEPT up/down buttons aren't assigned. I love snapshots, the only problem is that the A-buttons are too dangerously close to the up/down buttons. Normally I don't even use my A-snapshots, they are redundant. When all 8 snapshots have to be used, then I can press the mode button: now up/down buttons are not working and I am free to use my A-snapshots without fear. Here's a weird thing about disabling up/down buttons in command center. On LT it's not possible, while it is possible on the Floor. However, if you set this up the way you described on the floor, take that backup and restore it on the Helix, then up/down buttons are not working in pedalboard mode, as they should. https://youtu.be/UTQ8wJaXZnc