DugT

Thank you, rd2rk! I'm looking into this. With my Helix floor I can just play guitar without involving my computer which is very easy. If I get an audio interface, I need it to get one with two (stereo) XLR outputs for my two studio monitors.

If I have Helix Native, can I plug my guitar into a sound card and plug my guitar into the sound card and output from the sound card to my studio monitors? I have a Helix floor and use my desktop computer to edit. If I understand this thread correctly, I could get a sound card and sell my Helix Floor. Is that correct? I only play at home.

Using the Looper is great for my purposes. I can tweak all the settings while the looper is playing back the music. However, I have a question. When I play it sounds much better than the looper playing back. Why is that? Am I probably as bad as the recording? The live sound is more full and good whereas in the recording it seems my errors are much more conspicuous. By the way, the output is stereo through two good powered studio monitors. Maybe, when I am playing, I am too busy to hear the flaws.

I have a Helix Floor and I figured out right away that the 6 Switch Looper is best and maybe the easiest to use.

That worked! I've become so accustomed to getting tips and tutorials from youtube and other posts, I forgot about the manual. It explained the looper well and I got it working. Thanks for the help!

That makes perfect sense. Before replying about the looper method, I thought I should try it. Now for the embarrassing part. I can't figure out how to get the looper to start or stop recording. According to my looking into this, I should assign the looper to a stomp switch but that isn't working. Maybe I switched that ability off in Global Settings. I looked in Global Settings and haven't found a way to fix it. Any ideas?

That sounds easy. But, if with VST I can't record and then use Native to change amps, how would it be different than just using Helix Edit?

Using Native to switch amps and other effects to fine tune a tone sounds quick and easy way to compare tones. However, is learning to use a DAW worth the trouble just to use Native? Based on what I've read, all DAWs are difficult and time consuming to learn. I've used Audacity a little and it was a PITA and never sounded good. I'm just a living room player but I do use Helix Edit on my PC.

I knew, or at least suspected, it is a great value. To tell you the truth, I think $20 isn't much money to most Helix owners. I was only concerned that I might be overwhelmed by all of the presets and the 320 page book because of my relative inexperience. I was afraid I'd spend hours being overwhelmed by all of it before I realized my time would be better spent learning more Helix or effects basics. Anyway, I downloaded the Multi-Pass Delay file above and the explanation was excellent. Sold. Thank you for the explanation. It sounds like I should start by using presets, maybe a couple of them per day, and use the book as more of a reference book.

How would you define Intermediate? I'm not sure I'm there yet. The six presets I made and use are fairly simple and each one is for a different type of music, acoustic, jazz, rock, etc., but I have stereo output to two studio monitors. I've had my Helix for 3 years and my tone adjustments have steadily improved my tone as my knowledge and ears improve. I'm fairly new to electric guitars and I have no experience with the myriad of pedals and amps except what I've learned from using a helix and reading about effects and amps.

By computer monitors we mean the visual display or LCD connected to the computer, not the speakers connected to anything.

My trackball is a Logitech M570 and I believe it is a quality trackball. I used it for several months before switching back to a mouse. The mouse is so much faster for me. I can move a mouse with my arm and hand much faster than I can spin a trackball with my thumb and with a mouse I can get it precisely on target faster too. An advantage of a trackball is they need less real estate but a mouse needs less than a square foot. That isn't a problem. A trackball is ergonomically better regarding carpel tunnel but I don't use a mouse enough for that to be a concern. Trackballs are all thumb so maybe my thumb doesn't have trackball DNA.

I tried a track ball and mice are faster and easier for me. I just realized that my Helix is close enough to my desktop computer to connect it to a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse for editing Helix presets even though it is several feet away. My gaming monitor and keyboard will still be connected to the computer too. My computer can work with 3 monitors at the same time. When I don't want to edit Helix resets I will just turn off the Helix monitor. Multiple mice and keyboards can be connected to a computer simultaneously so that will be ok too.

I connected my Microsoft Surface tablet to the Helix to try a touchscreen interface and it sucked. I think a 20" or 22" 1080p monitor will work well.

Thanks for the input! Your setup is very impressive. You said you used an old gaming notebook. My notebook that died is a ten year old Alienware M18X. Other than that, we are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I just play at home and prefer to use a computer to interface with my Helix. I should get Helix Native for fine tuning tones but I'm not into recording, (I don't even know how to.) so I haven't taken that step toward being able to use Native. I just want to know what monitor works well ergonomically for editing tones. My 18" notebook worked ok but I suspect a bigger screen would be better and the only disadvantage of a touchscreen is cost. But, if the controls are too small for a finger unless I use a huge screen, I shouldn't get a touchscreen.