sheehanje

Let me know how they work out for you. I actually just got home from work and I'm putting the L3T's through their paces in reference mode - think I'm getting really close - they sound absolutely monstrous. My wife even questioned whether I actually sold my tube amp or not lol.

They do - because the M20D does and I think the POD HD500X also has that capability.

Allow Helix to control StageSource Speaker Mode Very simple request here - allow the Helix to select what speaker mode StageSource series speakers are in. This has a few benefits for those of us who use StageSource speakers a variety of ways - Electric Guitar mode is great for on stage backline amp when not using a cab simulator. Reference PA is great when trying to get the FOH sound through them or when using Helix to pump more than just guitar sound through it. Monitor mode is great for just what it says. It would be nice to make patches for specific applications and make sure the StageSource is in the right mode as needed. I did this as a single feature request - there are others to bring Helix into better integration with StageSource and L6 Link enabled equipment. Would only make sense that interoperability would be a priority for Line 6 between their own equipment. Would definitely make more sales for people looking for an all in one solution. Link to IdealScale: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/idea-v2/902174

I thought the same thing - but it gives me more of the feel I'm used to. I'm sure it's more just user learning curve then anything. But I wonder if I would've been better off with the L2 series, a firehawk or mission engineering. When I first envisioned the L3T's - I was planning on eventually building out a full PA eventually - but I've curbed that idea due to.... well.... due to my wife putting her foot down lol. I guess 25K in guitar equipment the past 3 years has been a little excessive for a weekend warrior. My goal is to make what I have work by any means necessary - whether it's considered "standard usage" or not. The thing with this stuff, and why I kept it over my tube amp, is the variety of options you have with it. Yes, right now the Electric Guitar mode "feels" right to me - but I'm not limited by that, and there are plenty of spots to store a multitude of patches. I just wish I had the ability with L6 Link to change the mode of the speakers at any givien time. For something that I really need that amp right next to me feel (think Dead Boys, or Misfits covers) I do better with the setup I described, where raw tone and feedback are just as important with the amp as it is with the guitar playing. On other stuff, especially more heavily processed sounds like Rush or <insert late 70's - 80's metal band here> I can get more out of modelling cab's/mic combinations. So, yes, Helix/L3T's give a lot of versatility - but I want to be able to change all that on the fly. I believe POD500 series has this integration where you can change modes. Without that, I'm going to have to find a way for Reference PA mode to do the whole job. EQ'ing will only get me so far because like I said, in that mode I feel I'm not getting the full power from the L3T when just pushing guitar into it something I don't think the L2 suffers from because it only has 1 10" speaker.

If you need to wash it for any reason - take foam out - wash - dry. - put foam padding back in. At least that's the purpose of removable padding on my motorcycle gear.

Sold my Mesa JP-2C. Hard decision, but decided to keep my 2 L3T's and Helix due to versatility and less cost of maintenance. Now that I'm only gigging sparingly I decided to part with portions of my live setup. I'm all in on the Helix now - before it was mainly used in 4CM to the JP-2C. With that said - I've had mixed results with the L3T's so far. Pushing the band through them, I get pretty good results. Pushing just guitar, or guitar and vocals - I'm not too happy with reference PA mode. I don't seem to get enough "punch" out of them. I believe the problem is crossover, and that in Reference mode, at useable guitar frequencies I'm only getting 1 of the 10" speakers engaged. Or the system is getting engaged inconsistently - where if I'm playing more bass heavy rhythms I'm getting both speakers engaged, but when I'm not only the one 10" is doing the work. I was fooling around with monitor mode - and it's ok. But what really gets me close to what I'm used to (and I've been playing over 25 years with a traditional tube amp on stage that is mic'd to front of house) - is setting the L3T's in electric guitar mode and doing away with a IR or Cab block. I get sounds closed to what I'm used to for my high gain "channels". I also figured out for FOH I can just put a cab on path 1B or 2B, kill the split path, then change the output to XLR. I realized FOH will sound different then on stage, but again, that's what I'm used to - and what I prefer. The FOH mix is for the engineer to figure out, the stage mix is for me to figure out. My problem now is when I want to setup a patch with multiple "channels". One thing I found I do like is the speakers set in reference PA when using clean channels - and setting up nice stereo effects with modelled cabinets. The problem I have here is I can't change the speakers from electric guitar mode to reference mode when using the Helix. It's got to be one or the other. So I'm stuck between two worlds here, and it's a bit frustrating. So - I'm now thinking, I'm going to try and just get everything working in reference PA mode. Has anyone else had issues with high gain sounds being uneven in PA mode? Like I said, if bass and drums are pumping through with the guitar, it sounds killer, when it's just guitar, I don't seem to be getting full power out of the unit. Is there anyway to deal with this at a patch level? Also - anyone dealing with 2 L3T's - how do you do your stage setup? Do you use them both vertical, horizontal, a mix between the two? In any case, I know I can make this work - I'm just trying to get some ideas from other peoples experience. I don't intend to pole mount these. The venues I am playing have limited stage space, so pole mounting will take up valuable real estate.

Even though you want to insult - I'll give you personal experience on a particular manufacturer forum I had - I was having a problem with a $3000 guitar - and I wasn't sure if it was a manufacturing defect or I was just missing something. Guitars I bought in the 80's and 90's were different, simple, easily user serviceable. Some newer guitars these days have a lot more electronics, integrated circuits, etc. I visited the forums looking for some advice and tips to maybe remedy it myself before sending it back on a long trip to a different coast. I got the condescending type response, very much like yours. I didn't let it bother me, because you know, everyone has their 2 cents these days on user forums. However, I also got a response from one the the manufacture representatives stating that I shouldn't post problems with the equipment on the forum. I ended up selling that guitar back for a replacement. I kept noticing the same thing on these forums - that any issues posted were met with a suppression by the manufacturers representatives -- and on top of that, the community would jump to the defense of the manufacture and belittle anyone having issues with the equipment. It was unnerving. I've used a lot of equipment - mesa, line 6, PRS, gibson, marshall, blackstar, ART, etc. etc. etc. Most of these communities are great - but I've found a few that the community is steered and moderated heavily by the manufacturer and the slightest criticism of a product or feature is met with harsh insult. It turns me off. I don't give a crap if a piece of guitar gear can cook me breakfast in the morning - if the manufacturer is going to go through that trouble to steer vitriol at simple user questions it speaks to how they will support their product and maybe even to the quality control issues they may have. So choose whatever gear you want. For me, as not only a part time musician, but IT professional, the level of support a vendor is going to provide and the way they handle input from their user base speaks volumes to me. There is plenty of gear that will do what I need it to. Having resources to help me when things go wrong is definitely a selling point to me.

It may seem funny - but as a community we should be more tolerant of new users, despite their typing style. It was a legitimate question. I say this because one of my criteria selecting gear is how the community is. I've found some great ones (everythingsg.com) and some horrid ones - Ernie Ball Music Man forums. When I needed to sell a piece of gear, I kept my SG and sold my Majesty. This may sound crazy to some, but having a good community around is worth it's weight in gold. With that said, the Line 6 forums have been great so far - mostly helpful and experienced help. Yes, there are the handful of "I'm going to ask a jilted question, then blast whatever response I get" and "I'm going to respond to your inquiry not to be helpful, but to show how much I know and you don't" types on here - but for the most part the Helix community is pretty tight-knit and willing to assist. So I cringe when I see attacks like this one. I know it's not a down right bashing, but a more subtle one - but it's not helpful and a simple "It would be easier to read your post if you use proper capitalization and punctuation." response would be more on point. I digress though - and, yes, you can use Helix LT as an audio interface. The full Helix has more in and out routing, and allows you to track more instruments at once, but Helix LT will definitely play well as an audio interface and track by track type recorder.

Thanks- I will look into it. I've only used helix either as a recording interface or 4cm into an amp so far. So all new territory for me.

I owned a Mark V, and more recently a JP-2C. I just sold the JP-2C - as I'm now confident in my Helix going through 2 StageSource L3T's. I'm not having issue with high gain tone at all. While I'm not using the preamp models, I use a full amp model without cabinet emulation (I found using StageSource in Electric Guitar mode gets me closest to a real amp sound on stage). I do use a TS808 modeler in front of the Cali IV model - I've always used one with the JP-2C, even though it has more gain on tap then I ever need. Something about slamming the input still opens up the amp more then I can do even if I dime the gain (which I don't). I've actually found the Mark IV sound in the Helix closer to a Mark IIC+ -- which is fine with me, and hence my decision to sell off the JP-2C. I've given up on the "this model needs to act exactly like the actual amp" and has adopted a "make it work even if it isn't real world correct". Once I got over that barrier, the Helix became a lot more useful. The only stumbling block I am having now is making the Helix behave like a 2 or 3 channel amp - once I add a second amp in the mix, everything else I try to add gets dimmed out. I assume because I'm hitting some DSP limit? It didn't happen in older firmware - and there is probably a workaround for it as I have patches that have way more then what I'm trying to accomplish. I would never have 2 amps running simultaneously in a patch, so it's a patch editor problem rather than an applied DSP issue. Anyways, I digress. I'm not sure if the Mark IV model has less gain then the actual Mark IV model they used to build it with. Gotta remember that there are a lot of variations in Mesa Amps under a particular line, and even model. The Mark V and it's offspring also have the ultra high gain "Extreme" mode, switchable simulcast, pentode/triode switching, etc. It's basically 9 amps in one - but even more if you consider all the variation in wattage and tube settings you can achieve. The Mark V to me was hours and hours of fiddling before I found useable tones - and no way to save those if I wanted to try something different. I'm getting to be an old fart, and while I still like fiddling and tweaking, Helix just simplifies that for me. I can't believe I moved into the modelling world after a 25+ year love affair with tube amps. But, like I said, once I threw out what I thought I knew - and just started dialing in the sound with my ears (and not how I thought things should look), things worked out for me.

My 2 cents - pun intended. I'm using Helix for live shows with my amp, for recording the whole band at rehearsal, in my home studio for scratch recording work. It does just about everything great, and keeps getting better. Except for the tuner. It gives me anxiety. It kicks up some OCD in me I never knew I had. Helix works so well for everything else, that I was blaming the tuners on my guitars, the environment, my brain and even a ghost for interfering with my tuning with Helix. I now carry a snark around with me. Which gives me another sort of anxiety, because I can never remember which gig bag/guitar case I left it in last. Line6, yes, work on new fx, cabs, amps, etc. But for the love of all things guitar, make the tuner better. Helix is my be all end all pedal board/modeler/recording interface for so many things. Give it a little love for guys like me. Then maybe I can see my therapist less often.

Helix never ceases to amaze me... So I got my patch setup for recording the band tomorrow - I semi-tested it. Setup is simple, Helix to Laptop loaded with Reaper and Superior Drummer Guitar to guitar in --- Goes to USB1/2 Bass to aux in Goes to USB3/4 Vocals to mic in Goes to USB5/6 The drummer is using his electric kit, which goes to midi in on the helix - I tested with a midi keyboard - so it's just a matter of replacing the keyboard with his drums then mapping them to superior drummer Then I use the L6 Link to 2 Stagesource L3T speakers... I setup 3 paths on the helix. The bass with compression, amp and cab. Vocals with some reverb. The guitar is a little more complex - but still easy - I just use snapshots to control clean, rhythm, lead. I can't get as fancy as I could because the other paths are used for bass and vocals, but I usually keep things pretty simple anyway. So the Helix patch is saved, and the Reaper template is already made. We should be up and going in 30 - 45 minutes. Once the drummer is mapped, the whole setup is about 10 minutes for subsequent practices. Crazy. This saves me having to bring my Focusrite and also saves me a ton of cabling. Can't wait until we try it out tomorrow.

I'm thinking about Helix Native too. I know this is off topic from my OP - but does anyone know if the Helix needs to be plugged in for Helix Native? That's how it was with Pod Farm and my Pod XT - kind of defeated the usefulness of it.

I hated the Mark IV patch at first for high gain stuff - it took a lot of tweaking. But I've dialed it in pretty good. I have a Mesa JP-2C that I love, and use for rehearsal and live settings - but I've been looking to get close with the Helix for home recording and practice to save wear and tear on my tubes. It's not quite the same, but I've worked at it a while and finally got a great sounding Mark IV patch. I'm similar - I do use a slight amount of delay on my rhythms - more to round out the sound then for sustain you need for leads - and it works well. One thing with Helix - you sometimes have to think outside the box. Like I mentioned above - the Mark IV patch I've been working on took a while to get there and I've had to do things that I wouldn't normally do with a traditional amp signal chain. Like adding some eq in the effects loop, even with the Mark IV modeled 5 band EQ. I also use 2 very different IR's in a dual cab setup, both from Ownhammer - but one is a Mesa 4X12 rectifier, and another is an Orange 4X12 - I played with the different mics and placements quite a bit to arrive where I am. Like I said, not stuff I would do in a conventional analog world, but the great thing about helix is you can really experiment with just the cost of the unit and a few IR's. In the real world, this type of tweaking would cost many thousands. There is a great patch on CustomTone called Metallica (EMG). I wasn't too thrilled when I first downloaded it (probably because the user who made it is using different output speakers and guitars) , but sounded closer to what I wanted then a bunch of other patches. It gave me some great ideas for my own patch - and fiddling with it got me some good results. Another thing, find a decent base tone with a patch, then save that patch, then again to another spot and you can experiment without destroying the base patch... rinse... repeat... It won't take you long to get where you want to go. Finally - the old adage is true - you dial in tone with your ears, not eyes. With Helix, it really goes further in trying things you normally wouldn't then listening to the results. It seems limitless, and it is, but it doesn't have to be a lesson in agony. I've now got live patches for my traditional tube amp in 4CM, as well as patches for about 5 different genre's of music, heavy metal included.

Yeah - I've done that but I need to change windows scaling to 100% when I do that - then it requires a logoff and login to adjust. Definitely an inconvenience to anyone that runs multiple apps at the same time and uses their computer as a swiss army knife. I'm thinking about digging one of my old monitors out that's just 1920X1080 and running a dual head setup.

I'll give the registry edits a try - but is Helix Editor java based? I'd actually like to try those registry entries at work to fix a few of our older java apps that get squeezed when I login remotely from home.

I take it the registry settings are app specific and nothing to do with the canned Windows registry entries?

Anyone using Helix editor with a 4K monitor. I have a 24" 4K monitor, which is on the small side for 4K, but works well with mostly every other program but with Helix Editor it doesn't seem to use Windows font scaling. I can barely read anything. Is there any workaround for this or something that maybe needs to go into idealscale?

Focusrite is the 18i20 - I was trying to avoid a full recording setup - this is just for scratch recording to keep an "idea repository".... I actually hate acting the part of recording engineer when doing practice - been there, done that... Whenever I use SPDIF on helix to focusrite I get shocked. A ground problem somewhere - but I never really took the time to troubleshoot. I just talked to my drummer - we may try an all electric setup. I just don't know if I'm using the helix only, or maybe the focusrite. Was thinking of bringing the drummers electric kit in via midi in to trigger Superior Drummer - then ditching the amps - creating a path for guitar and one for bass. The only issue I see is according to the original documentation - it recommends Bass be used in Aux with active pickups - my bass player doesn't do active pickups. Not sure if this is still the case. I could use the Stagesource L3T's as "monitors". Sometimes there are too many options!

It's very similar to your issue - but I've never had a black screen. Usually all output stops working, but the screen and all buttons respond. I've tried to switch outputs when it happens but doesn't work.

Mine is the floor version.

Mine has recently been losing all output sound after sitting for a while while on. I haven't pinpointed it, but helix was something I could leave on all the time - but now I notice I need to reboot it after it's been on for a good amount of time. It hasn't effected a gig or practice yet - it's usually after a good 3 or 4 hours - but behavior I've never noticed before. Started with 2.20 (and carried over to 2.21).

I've been thinking of ways to use the Line 6 Helix to record my bands practice sessions now that we are going back into writing mode. I've thought about picking up a Zoom field recorder - but maybe I can figure out a way to do the same thing with the Helix. Right now I run helix 4CM to my Mesa JP-2C for practice and shows. I just haven't seemed to be able to match that sound with the helix through Stagesource speakers (I have 2 L3T's). I do use the full modeling capability for home recording - but live and rehearsal I want to keep using 4CM. My 4CM uses up Guitar In, Send/Return 1, and Send 2 - I don't use the 1/4" out because I like to disable use of the volume control when using with an amp. So that presents challenges for recording the band. I don't need anything fancy - just something that I can go back over ideas that we've hashed out at rehearsal. Arrangement is simple, Drums, Bass, Singer, Guitar. I could get away with just a couple room mic's - but Helix only has 1 XLR with a mic preamp. So I am thinking, recording the guitar signal dry - then I can reamp it when home - bringing the singer in to the mic preamp, and then doing a run from bass straight in, then back out to his amp. But that leaves the drums... Not sure how I could bring them in. I guess I could bring my focusrite interface, but trying to get everything done through helix. I could also just simply do the single microphone and record the whole band with just that - but in my experience, having 2 setup with some kind of stereo field always works better. What would my options be for adding a second microphone? It would be ideal for me to just have the helix as my primary recording interface, I can then just bring my surface tablet and have a compact setup in a limited space.

I think I spoke too soon, lol. Just rehearsed with the band today and it was really hard getting my patches to sit in the mix well. I know it's just a matter of adjustments - especially low cut seeing it was sounding pretty flubby. The one plus is it sounded and felt like a real amp - just not as good as the JP-2C yet...

Sounds GREAT through FRFR. Finally pulled the trigger on a pair of L3T's. I have a Mesa Boogie JP-2C that is now collecting dust.