Motto85

This is my big one: Copy/paste of SETTINGS--specifically speaking of amp/cab models. You know when you have something dialed up in a single cab block and saved it as your user default, then you go to a dual cab block and now have to start fresh from the beginning. I hate that. When you select a dual cab, it should always go to the user defined settings you saved for the single cab block, and if not, be able to paste those settings so you don't have to redial it in from scratch. As this pertains to amp models, this is useful when you want to use the model as it exists in real life, so it'd be great to be able to copy/paste settings you saved on one channel of a model, then port them to the other channel. Time saver. Melding two blocks together: You know how you have an amp dialed in with a certain pedal block, or a cab block you always use certain EQ settings with? I'd love to be able to call up the cab I dialed-in and it be immediately melded with the EQ block I set for it. Boss BD-2, Clean channel of Mahadeva and German Xtra, Vintage mode from Ch2 of the Rectifier. Hell, port in those old Pod Farm models. There's a lot of really good Line 6 Original models, not to mention those modeled from real amps that got skipped over in the HD500 and Helix era. Connor 50, Spinal Puppet, Chemical X, Mood, and a ton of others. My main complaint with the og Helix will always be how it doesn't allow you to use Snapshots in a way that makes sense for switching between a clean amp model and a dirty one. You have to load on two different amp models, which kills processing power. If you need a pitch effect or synth for that preset, you're screwed.

I have to side with this. Black Lion is not some new fly-by-night company. Those mods they did in the mid 2000s were well-known for being worth it. As for the Helix, I bet there's GOT to be some components that are not quite as good as they could be, because whenever I play through my interface with a J-FET input, route that out to my cab, and then jump back to *insert any modeler*, the J-FET interface to the cab wins. It ACTUALLY feels like I'm playing an amp: not close enough or kinda...it IS that feel and my speakers respond back the way an amp is supposed to even at low volumes. So SOMETHING is missing, even though I love the crap out of the Helix...there has to be a reason why the amps don't quite feel like Pod Farm 2.5 on my Evo interface and out to a cab.

And?

I was playing around with Purge on Pod Farm 2.0 and I'm 95% convinced it's an idealized Diezel amp, probably a Herbert. Obviously the knob style on the app eludes to Diezel, but the texture of the gain is SOOOO Diezel with how the low-end gets compressed--just short of being fuzzy, almost like an octave pedal is set at a very low mix percent. That's pretty much the Diezel sound---take a JCM 800, and make it THICK!

The Epic is actually based on a Soldano.

I just hadn't seen it yet, my bad. But I'm not getting mic signal from channel 7 though--I always thought that was designated as the unaffected DI guitar signal, and my own use seems to cosign with that.

Just wanted to also add that the output of the clean signal comes from channel 8 if you're recording. I haven't seen anyone talk about this on any of the forums yet.

Definitely am upgrading to the Stadium XL, I'm just going to wait a little while to jump onboard. My og Helix is so well dialed-in that I'm not even that concerned with Agoura...my primary reason for getting the Stadium is for processing power in regards to using Snapshots. And then of course, there's Showcase. In fact, I can honestly, genuinely say that there is nothing--NOTHING--Fractal, QC, Kemper, etc have anything to offer that's genuinely better than what I've got dialed into my Helix. Trust that I've tried several times: I had an Axe Fx III and returned it. I've spent all kinds of money buying and a/b'ing tube heads against the Helix, and my Helix patches have gotten to a point now that everything else out there has stopped mattering in terms of feel, sound, etc....including the Stadium even. So all I care about is having more processing power to get Snapshots to be useable in my case. My FM9t sold earlier today, so I'm setting those funds aside for my Stadium XL and I'll sell the og Helix this summer when I'm ready to switch over. I'm still having mad fun with my og Helix and still feel like it's hiding a lot more things I've yet to discover.

I have two tricks that never fail, both have probably been mentioned: 1) Never dial "blind". Have some kind of reference to compare against. What I use is one of my drum programs--I'll just let it play a groove and start dialing along to it. All I'm looking for is roughly the same sonic fidelity/clarity. From there, dialing in the amp gets significantly easier and the decisions I make become more trustworthy and keep me from coming back days later only to realize my tone was too dark or doesn't have the kind of texture I want the tone to have. I think we've all been there many times, especially with modelers: you love your tone one day, then the next, you call up that patch and go "wtf was I thinking?!" and end up in this endless cycle of tweaking. Having a reference track to which you are dialing takes a LOT of unnecessary guesswork out. Just make sure there's no mastering chain on the bus, otherwise you're gonna be too bright when it comes time to put all that stuff on. 2) Dial in your patches pretty loud, even in headphones (which I recommend because you want to hear intimate details like texture...not just of the amp, but your effects too). The obvious reason is the Fletcher-Munson curve, which is accentuated at low volumes, and you're mainly hearing the high and lows, so you end up compensating in the wrong direction. Setting this stuff up loud helps you hear how much low and highs you TRULY need, especially in a live or recording context. One warning though: don't be at it for an hour, obviously you'll damage your hearing. Maybe 10 minutes tops and then walk away and give your ears a rest for a couple hours if you haven't finished. Honestly, that doesn't happen often though because once you tweak your modeler using these 2 steps, it goes by pretty quick. You simply are making better decisions because you can hear everything in intimate detail. These two tricks have never let me down.

It's based on an SLO-100 lead channel--it's got that flavor 100%. I actually prefer Epic over the actual Solo Lead model.

Having the same issue---I just simply restarted the Helix (didn't factory reset, just a cold off/on) with the expression all the way down and it's returned to normal function. My issue now is the squeaking. This is my second floor Helix (third Helix if you count my rack version). When I first bought this one about two months ago, like the other, I had to loosen the expression to be JUST comfortable enough to get a smooth sweep (especially while heeling back down), but that seemed to cause it to squeak with this one. So it definitely needs some kind of lubrication this time around. But as far as the 0-100% thing, the reset pretty much did the trick. I'm not stressing too much as long as it's hitting that 100%, since I use whammy and wah effects. You NEED the top end of that sweep more than anything with stuff like that.

Dude, this one. I set mine right to the point where the sound "opens" up. For the wah (Conductor Wah) on this particular preset, the mix is at 58%. Game Changer! My gain isn't being sucked out (as usual with wahs, even in real life) and the response fights you back less.

So 3-cable method (not counting the required speaker cable to the Captor's red input) Guitar to Helix, Helix send 1 to guitar amp input, Line Dry of the Captor to Helix return 1...then bring up the send/return block and choose FX Loop 1 and put your cab/IR block behind it and route your effects as you would normally. It worked for me. Got the amp's output from the Captor working perfectly and effects all behave the way they should be!

Truth. I wasn't seeing anything directly trying to solve the issue, so I had to add in some of my findings with that situation.

I know of a few solutions: 1) matching the "USB in 1/2 Trim" to whatever you're playing/monitoring. It's in the hamburger menu under Ins/Outs. 2) Lower the output of the preset so it's matching the output of your DAW. You end up with a lower signal/waveform but your monitoring will match and also the recording quality SEEMS to be a bit more articulate. 3) setting your preset's output volume higher, then going back and matching the "USB in 1/2 Trim" to it. For some reason, option 2 seems to sound slightly better in terms of sonic quality. Not sure why that might be other than maybe the volume of the ouput causing it to lose some definition at 0dB?