rwandering
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Everything posted by rwandering
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I'm going to guess you found it by now -- but in case you haven't. Navigate here: https://line6.com/software/index.html Select the Powercab from the Choose Hardware dropdown. Select your OS Click "Go". Scroll down until you find it; it is there.
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I have never once had an issue with the Helix firmware updates; but then, I have always waited at least a few days before attempting it. That probably has more to do with my schedule than wisdom, to be honest, but it has worked out well for me.
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Yeah, what @datacommando said; but if you are only going to FOH, you don't need the Walrus at all: 1. Use a TRS cable to balanced XLR 2. Plug it into LEFT/Mono 3. Set the output on the HX Stomp to line out. That is what I do to connect my HX Stomp to my PowerCab (which can run as a PA of sorts).
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Sorry to be dense, but what is your goal in using this box? Getting a clean signal from your guitar into a recording console? Or sending your HX Stomp output to both a guitar amplifier and a PA? Regardless, you don't need a TRS cable, it doesn't look like the Canvas supports balanced 1/4" connections (and certainly not stereo).
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Not for me; and not really familiar with the competition in this space. I don't really get it though. Don't people think "I need a gain pedal" or "I need reverb". And then, flexibility in that need is great, but "I need a pedal that can only do one of those two things at a time" seems like a recipe for "no, I actually need that in two different pedals". I would understand this more if it cost $199 and came in varieties focused on a specific family. So you buy the gain one and the reverb one and put them on the same pedal board.
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I do like the idea that the Fender has physical EQ knobs . . .
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I use a PC 112+ almost exclusively and am pretty happy with it. I don't think it necessarily needs improvements, but there are bug(s) that rd2rk and others have been vocal about and it is beyond me why Line 6 hasn't addressed them. In terms of a "new and improved" future version, who knows? Due to the way Line 6 supports the PC, it can't be a money maker. I suspect they think of it as a useful or necessary piece of a complete modelling offering. I don't think it is going away, but -- barring bugs -- maybe they think it is good enough. I mean, most people are using guitar amps or a straight PA anyway. And with the latter case, does a "good" PA become dated? (that is not a rhetorical question, I don't know the answer). And, is there even a big market for this niche?
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Edit: realized this was a "busking with a full helix" -- yikes. Yeah, you need a larger battery. I don't busk, but I did want something that was self powered. The drivers for the additional two pedals: 1) I wanted extra buttons (could have gotten an HX Stomp XL, but want to detach the stomp for travel) 2) wanted the tuner, because the HX Stomp tuner isn't good enough (while my Helix LT tuner is comparable to the StroboStomp HD, which I cannot fully rationalize). It all runs on CIOKS 4; and if I want I can plug the whole thing into a USB-C cable to the wall. edit: that's a Pedal Train Nano, and this lasts at least 5 hours on a full charge.
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If you need the room, then yeah, do what you say. But if you have room, I think it is helpful to have something that is clearly related to volume. For example, I sometimes use a volume block to change the volume between snapshots. The existence of the volume block reminds me that I have an adjustment at a glance. Not super important, but still helpful. From the perspective of a Helix (Floor/Rack/LT), there are many more available slots, so it is a bit easier to use my strategy universally.
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You seem to understand the issue completely, and it is most definitely an issue with the levels expected on your amp. Some amps do have a switch to select between line level and instrument level in their return loop, but I'm guessing yours does not. I think in your case you may be able to do this, though. Glancing at the Keeley, it looks like it supports external pedals to control it (hopefully for bypass). If that is the case, you may be able to: 1. Use both of the HX loops for your 4CM. 2. Put the Healy inline on your amp send or return. 3. Control its activation (through one of the Pedal jacks) from your preset. There are a lot of "maybes" in there, but if my assumption about the Keeley is right, I think it will work.
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Well yes, and for clarity (I hope), in 4CM you have this: 1. Guitar (cable 1). 2.(Potential for) effects before your physical amplifier's pre-amp. 3. The pre-amp of your physical amplifier (cable 2) 4. The send from your physical amplifier's effects loop (post pre-amp, before power amp) (cable 3) 5. (Potential for) effects before the physical amplifier's power amp. 5. The return to your physical amplifier's effects loop (cable 4). 6. Your physical amplifier's power-amp. So the amp's preamp is inside, but the power amp is not. So yes, you can do this, but you don't have a power amp on the XLR output. You may at least want to add a gain block before the cab or increase the volume on the output. And to be clear -- you can do a lot of things with the Helix and some might not seem "right", but may sound great! P.S. Hoping "may PRS" doesn't mean you may get a PRS.
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No, you can't have an amp on and off, but if I am understanding what the OP asks, it can be done. There are multiple ways, but what I think is the simplest: Dedicate Path 1 to your effects / and your send/return for 4CM. Path 1's output is Path 2 Path 2 splits into a/b 2a's output is your amplifier's return (note I think 2a needs some block, like a 100% volume at leaste). 2b has your selected amp (or amp/cab) and other effects you might want. It's output is XLR.
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I am definitely not having this problem.
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I'm going through a similar issue where I have things sounding great in my home, but will likely have to use a different amp on a stage. And . . . I think that's just how it is. I don't think you can't expect that dialing in one amp means anything when you switch to another amp. If you intend to use that other amp, you'll have to spend the time making it sound good. Or bring your own amp in, which likely won't sound the same either due to room acoustics, but it may be a closer starting point.
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I don't have a Floor (or Rack) so I can't test this, but I'm not sure I would want to. The output of your mic-pre is line level, and shouldn't be put back into another mic-pre. Unless the Helix supports treating the XLR input as line-level, I would not think you would get good results. You *should* use a return (set to line level). For my own recording, I use my Helix LT into a mixer/interface, along with onboard/offboard mic pres. I find everything -- even reamping -- easier treating the Helix LT like an analog device. And the quality is great. BTW: my point about re-amping is that with analog inputs/outputs, unity is very easy to achieve versus when recording from USB where the Helix drops the volume level to create headroom.
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The answer is no, yes (if I interpret the question correctly), no, no, and yes. The Helix LT has more I/O, DSP, more blocks, more paths, more presets (storage), more snapshots per preset, but all of the same effects, amps, etc. A really helpful place to see the differences between them is in Line6's own comparison chart. Line_6_Processor_Comparison_Chart.pdf (line6.com) I have both (though I wish I had the floor, not the LT). The only reason that I have the HX Stomp is that it is more portable and can be battery operated. For example, I can bring it onstage for an Open Mic (easily). I can put it in a suitcase if travelling (noting I carry a travel guitar in those cases). I can bring it into a small practice room where the Helix LT may just seem to big.
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I have a Helix LT and am testing out a HX Stomp for portability. This isn't really specific to HX Stomp, and applies to Helix more broadly. I'm normally plugged into a Powercab 112+; sounds great. This is with the output being set to Line level. I went to an open mic last night with practically zero opportunity for sound check. Instead of a clean tone, it had a bit of distortion. The place is mostly an acoustic venue, and I don't think they were really familiar with amp modelers. But they are super cool, and we talked in advance about how to set it up. They had a Radial J48 on stage. I removed the J48 from the signal chain, going from the HX Stomp to the upstream cable (the female XLR that had been plugged into the J48). Again, still set at line-level. Now, I suspect that upstream from this (at the desk), they were really expecting an instrument level signal, not line-level. Would that be the cause? It seems obvious to me now, but I didn't have the chance to diagnose but I'd like to learn from it to avoid it in the future.
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I agree that you need a mixer to do it right, but a buffered split could work. You just want to make sure the device supports line-level (and pedals generally are expecting instrument-level).
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Yeah; agreed. I bought one of these to try with an HX Stomp and it works great. I have a battery that I use for travelling with a laptop, and with my tests I think I can get 8 hours of power off of it. That said, I know the question is for a replacement power supply; perhaps contact Line 6 directly?
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I generally use a Peterson Stomp HD in front of my Helix. Just because I like the interface, like it "always on", and like an always available on/off switch. When I have used the tuner in the Helix, I use the strobe mode. Mostly because I'm used to that way of tuning. Jason Sadites has a video that compares the Helix strobe to a Peterson and it comes across as very favorable to the Helix.
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When you wire 4CM, you can do both things you are describing: bypass your preamp and use an HX preamp (or amp) in the amp effects loop; and, use your amps preamp and use (or ignore) the effects loop. With a Helix Floor/LT, you can even do both at the same time! edit: actually, if the latter is possible (both at once) it would take some tricky routing, but who wouldn't want to do that anyway?
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I cannot imagine how this would make any difference whatsoever. In both cases you would have the choice of what to put before the amp, and what to put into your amp's effects loop. In both cases, the effects themselves should be identical, running on the same platform with the same outcome. I can see advantages to the HX Effects (cost, size) for that use case, but not better "performance".
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I imagine you could do this. But it would take some effort. I think you could build a custom circuit that switches between two RJ-45s and house it in a pedal/stomp. It would have 3 RJ-45s in it, and depending on the latching position of the pedal switch, "route" one of the two Controls inputs to the Rack. Now this all depends on whether the Rack unit would allow this kind of switching without requiring some kind of reset.
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My experience with this is that the dry track sent to the DAW is at a lower DB than the original guitar input to the Helix. This is assuming you are recording using the Helix as an interface (versus analog outputs). I think this is actually the case for all USB recording, and so it may be apparent depending on how you are monitoring. My opinion is that this reduction does matter; in my perfect world reamping wouldn't require the step of matching the output of your reamped signal to its original DB (unless of course, you do want to adjust that aspect. That said, you have to do this when using conventional DI recording and reamping techniques. To simplify my recording setup, I stopped using Helix as an interface altogether and record from XLR outputs with the dry signal coming from a Send as the first block. This technique eliminates the gain reduction; however, I still need to make sure that if I reamp, that the output signal is at unity. This still allows me to adjust that up or down to change the reamping sound. Note this technique does mean that any noise gate on the input block is "printed" in the raw signal. That hasn't been an issue for me.
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Thanks, guys, for the responses. Yeah, I am halfway there either way. I would either buy a 212 and sell my 112+ or get a second 112+; however, space is a little bit of an issue. I may just experiment a bit with my studio monitors at this point and then see. I'm on a trip now so won't be able to dig into this for another week.