sheehanje

I recently acquired a Blackstar HT Stage 60 MKII that I've become quite enamored with. I was wondering if there was a way to use Helix Native... I want to: A) Use the Effects in the Loop, using the outs and ins of my Focusrite 18i20 B) Use another in/out on the Focusrite to be able to put overdrives in front of the amp C) Use The DI Output and use it as a block in Helix Native For A&B - I will mic the amp. For C, I will use the emulated output as the amp. The Blackstar also has a USB interface - where I can bring 4 channels in, one raw (good for reamping) -- from the advert: USB connector allows for sending up to 4 channels of the guitar signal, dry, preamp out and stereo emulated out -- so there are applications there I may want to use. I surprisingly like this amp way more than I thought I would - even more then some of the Mesa Boogies I've had over the years. I had one of their older amps, and it was decent, but it seems like they are just putting their own unique stamp on things with the MKII series, and I want to utilize it. I doubt Helix will model one of their amps, because well... Blackstar is doing their own thing capturing different amp feels... I'd really like to know how to get this into my DAW and utilize it with Helix Native. Heck, I might even dust of my Surface Pro 3 tablet and built a portable rig... Yes, I know I can just use Helix Floor, but that I've paired with FRFR's at rehearsal and use it for it's own thing...

Funny that this thread is still going. I ended up ditching all my amps for two Stagesource L3T's and have been getting great results. My last two shows have been a single L3T setup as a monitor, then XLR to FOH. Keeping getting a lot of comments at how good it sounds. I sort of miss my amps, but I definitely don't miss tube rolls and microphonic squeal suddenly in the middle of a set. Good lasting tubes are getting harder to come by these days, and I'm of the opinion now that modelling is the best way to preserve tube amp sound. It's only a matter of time before more tube factories go offline, driving up the price and driving down the quality yet again.

What FRFR speaker are you using in this video?

I used Helix 4CM to a Mesa JP-2C. I had noise in certain places (drummers house) and not others. I was able to reduce it by getting a furman power conditioner and plugging everything into it, I ran a power extension chord from the furman to my helix in a snake with the rest of the cables (3 instrument cables and 1 midi cable). Seemed to help quite a bit. The other thing I did was to slowly build my patch. Starting with a simple noise gate, wah and overdrive to dial in the front end. Then slowly adding to the FX loop. Not only did it help get my gain levels proper, but it also helped me build a usable patch. Once that was done, then I started building my snapshots to change channels and effects, keeping my initial snapshot as a blueprint. Now I'm all Helix with two stagesource l3t's - but I got the itch to get an amp again after playing through a used single rectifier my local village music store just got in. There is something powerful about the simplicity of guitar --- chord --- amp -- cabinet.

If you think the Metal crowd is rowdy, try a punk or hardcore crowd. We play mostly metal but get billed with a lot of those bands because we are on the fringes of it. Everything can have an issue. My helix floor locked up yesterday for no apparent reason during boot up. Restarting fixed it. I've had tube amps get microphonic squeal during the middle of sets. I've had beer spilled on my M13 which shorted out the jack. Nothing is 100% foolproof - but the basic rule is the less in the chain the less that can go wrong. Good luck with testing and performance, let us know how it goes!

To be fair - that list is of anyone using any line 6 product. Few of them are using Helix. A lot of them are using Line 6 relay wireless products or delay units. One thing you have to remember, Helix came on the scene late. A lot of artists were already entrenched in one of the other newer generation modellers with Helix came out. I think what Helix has done is offered on par modelling at price points that guys like myself could afford. Weekend warriors, cover band artists, etc. With that said, there are artists taking the Helix out to big venues and playing live with it with great results. A lot of them have already been mentioned and the list is growing. Fact is, Helix is a viable piece of equipment in a live environment, whether it's used 4CM or by itself for modelling the whole signal chain to the front end. It finally convinced me to ditch my tube amps, after using it about a year in front of a few different Mesa amps. I have a streamlined setup that is easier then any modern setup I've used. My bass player is probably the biggest skeptic I know - but he says he doesn't know the difference between my Helix (with Stage Source L3T's) and my amp. Simple as that. It works, sounds good, and is easy.

First off - yes, you can use Native and a PC or Laptop for live performance. There is nothing stopping you. Helix rack, floor or LT simplifies things, but I've successfully run live with other VST products. Even doing the whole band through a DAW monitored through a PA (Superior Drummer triggered via a electric drum kit, VST's for Vocals, Bass, keyboards and Guitar). Was an experiment at the time, and this was about 5 or 6 years ago. It worked. It did take quite a bit of uplift and testing before the show though. In a twist, I recently used the Helix Floor as an interface to record the whole band for writing sessions, so while it wasn't a Native plugin, I had a laptop with DAW and was running the drums electric again. That worked great and I didn't have to unmount my recording interface from my studio desk to record the band at my drummers house. Right now, until I get a Helix LT to backup my Helix Floor, I will use native as an emergency backup rig. If you want to try this, don't let others discourage you. Test it. Test it again. and again..... Here are some tips: SSD in the PC or Laptop helps mitigate vibration and magnetic issues. I use a Surface 3 Pro tablet/laptop now - works great. Interface - you want to get as little latency as you can. If I were still going live, I'd probably use a full laptop or PC with a firewire or thunderbolt interface. Chipsets matter too, you get what you pay for in that regard. RAM and CPU Processing Power - again, this helps latency and from glitching. I recommend a newer generation chipset with 8GB RAM. OS Tweaking - there are plenty of guides for using Windows, Linux or Mac as a DAW for studio - same thing applies live. You don't want updates to kick off in the middle of a show. Cabling - have everything labeled clearly. Under the dim lights of the local venue with 20 minutes to setup, this becomes essential Bring a flashlight - see above Make sure you have a sturdy stand for your laptop. This is the one reason I wouldn't use this setup these days - I play to some very rowdy crowds in small venues. Have a backup plan. Again: Testing, testing, testing. There are some rewards to these kinds of setups. Like live recording and using other VSTs/Plugins to go with Helix Native. As far as debunking some of the things said here: Price --- most people wanting to use Helix Native already have a DAW setup. I don't think most people that would want to do this would want to build a system from scratch just for live playing. They probably already have most of the components. Live tweaking - I don't think I've used my Helix Floor once to tweak in the middle of a set. I haven't needed to. I guess it's a nice option to have, but tweaking from a laptop is very easy - and if you are following the testing, testing, testing suggestion, most of the tweaking is done before the show. Good luck and happy jamming.

I've been here before, but revisiting this right before a show I have on Friday. I'm using Helix with 2 StageSource L3T's. I've never used them at a show before, and have only used them in rehearsal for 2 practices. I have 2, but I'm pretty sure I'm just going to use one. Two at practice were either too much volume, or not cutting the mix on lower volume - could be my patch, but with one L3T I got some better balance with the band. What's confusing to me though - in Reference PA mode, is it splitting my Helix for stereo, or is one speaker handling low end and the other high end? If the later is the case, would Electric Guitar mode be better, as from what I understand it acts more like a 2X12 in that mode and I'm getting both speakers engaged at that point? Right now I'm using IR's with an 80hz cut on low, and 7kHz cut on high frequencies. In electric guitar mode I know that there is an automatic cut applied. Does anyone know at what frequencies? My goal with one L3T is to have both speakers engaged at all times. I've had this problem where if the crossover is activating it sounds great when pumping the whole band through, but with just one guitar going through it sounds uneven to me depending on what I'm playing. Anyone one with good sound advice using an L3T or pair of L3T's in a live setting? I will be also plugged into FoH, but this particular venue has bad monitors - so I'm relying on the L3T on the backline to provide a decent guitar sound for myself and the rest of the band.

Did you try a different input? Aux or one of the returns?

Kind of ridiculous - if you really need a Guitar processing VST, there are plenty out there. If you want something fully compatible with the Helix line, then you are just going to have to wait a bit longer like everyone else. I would rather they sort out any issues then release early and be plagued with problems. Good quality control is hard to come by these days.

That is appealing - especially seeing that tubes degrade over time. Plus the fact I can eventually buy an LT and have the same exact tones for a backup if my main Helix goes down. I've had identical model and year of tube heads and they have variation of sound. When I sold my last tube amp, I gave the guy a bunch of tubes I had in a storage bin, a few sets of matched power amp tubes and a bunch of preamp tubes. It was the first moment that I thought, maybe getting rid of this thing isn't so bad after all.

I sold my last tube amp - mostly because I needed money for emergency dental work for one of my kids. It was between selling my last tube amp (a great one too, JP-2C) - or selling my helix setup (helix with 2 L3T's). I had been using Helix 4CM with the JP-2C. It worked great, and I hated to break that setup up, but when it came down to between the two, the Helix affords me a lot more versatility and now that I'm full time on it for modelling amps and cabs, I've been more impressed with it and there is a lot less regret in selling the JP-2C. The true test is going to be live - we don't gig again until September. If it goes well, I'll stick with this setup - if not, I may be investing into an amp again when finances permit.