lawrence_Arps

On 10/21/2023 at 4:59 PM, rd2rk said:

 

We must be talking about different things because before I posted that I looked to be sure.

On the board it's knob 6 and then knob 5. In HX Edit>Command Center>Bank/Program it's the 5th parameter between PROGRAM and the NAME field.

@rd2rk  Bank/Programme is about sending MIDI patch changes, it doesn't change the Helix Preset (unless you have a Midi cable from out to in)>
The function is labeled HX Preset.  There are no customisable functions - strangely i would have expected at least the standard red led...

On 10/21/2023 at 2:30 PM, rd2rk said:

The CUSTOMIZE button (6) leads to the NAMING dialog which includes the SWITCH LED parameter (5) which allows you to set the color.

hi - its not available if you set the switch to select a preset.

SOLVED!
In each preset I removed the command setting (preset change) from the relevant switch and replaced it with a bypass for the amp - which is always on so the switch lights up when I select the patch. genius!

Just have to avoid hitting the switch twice!!

Setting up a custom layout in command centre.  Everything works as expected except preset changes do not have led functions. The preset buttons work and change the presets, but do not light up.  Any thoughts anybody?

go to globals/footswitches and select 8 presets.

On 6/27/2022 at 9:24 AM, rd2rk said:

 

I don't think that we're talking about the same (or even related) issues.

 

The post that you quoted was related to an issue where if you use L6 Link from Helix to select a Powercab Mode wherein the HF Driver should be OFF (all modes except Flat/FRFR and UserIR) the HF Driver would not (consistently) turn OFF, rather it would remain in the state invoked by the PC Preset. I call it a bug (and I'm not alone in this) because if the Helix REMOTE setting is set to PRESET that should override the Powercab's Preset. It almost seems as though the Powercab's tiny brain can't decide who's in charge - it's preset or the Helix L6 Link settings!

 

This has nothing at all to do with Preset NAMES. The only thing that can change a preset's NAME is if the user goes in and manually changes it.

Well, I suppose a very technically adept person could write some fancy script to do it, but that's a whole 'nother subject!

I had heard of this - but I thought it was only on the 2 x 12 version.

On 3/1/2021 at 10:43 AM, rd2rk said:

I think it's a bug, in that, if you're controlling the Powercab from the Helix, the settings should be divorced from the Powercab Presets.

At present, you can shut off Helix control when using PC Presets via MIDI, but not the other way around.

I am hopeful of a Powercab update that addresses this and some other bugs when using two PCs.

Hopefully, the update will include an improved version of Powercab Edit, and a MUCH better manual!

Its interesting you see this as a bug.

This behaviour is the same on any two midi devices .  If you edit a parameter that parameter will change but the patch will not change its name.  As an example, if I have a mixer patch and connect a MIDI controller I can change parameters in the mixer from the controller but the patch will not change (and devices vary as to whether they remember those changes on power up).  Unless you save the Patch, the changes will be lost.

In that mixer example the Patch name might be "All Muted", and the mute parameter active for all channels.  On the controller I can unmute channels, but the name of the Patch will still say "All Muted".

I dont see this as a bug.

I do however have a PC Patch labelled "Helix Control" so I know where the "Master" controls are.

On 6/2/2022 at 7:05 AM, z3albw1rr said:

Because we "new school" players understand that turning the amount of drive down by lowering your volume LOWERS THE VOLUME too. This is especially true in lower gain settings. This is a mantra I hear repeated all the time "I just use my volume knob as a drive knob". Well, any time I've ever seen anyone who does this at less than ultra high gain settings, their volume is all over the place (though admittedly, it's going to depend on many factors and may almost work in some cases, but not work very well at all in others).

 

It's absolutely fine for genres where this is kind of typical - old school music for example :-)

 

But not everyone wants or needs to do it that way.

 

And here's something very important: even if you set it up to control the volume and drive with a pedal, you can STILL use you volume knob on top of that. So it's actually the best of both the old school and new school approaches.

 

Best

well said.
I am another who tires of this "Use Your Guitar Volume" mantra.  Its a method that only works in very limited circumstances.  It assumes that cleaner sounds should be quieter. It assumes that you want less compression as well as less drive....lets not even start on tone.
Old school players did this because they had no choice.
The electric players of 50 - 30 years ago were pushing at the limits of technology.  They were brave trailblazers using the latest technology and making do with limited capability from their equipment.  If it so happens that your entire performance repertoire is based on trying to faithfully reproduce the music and tones from a couple of generations back then fine go ahead - its a free world after all - but dont think that its a viable solution for more modern expectations.

@elbe5050 its explained fully on page 49 of the manual

https://line6.com/data/6/0a020a3f18374611d5dffd3a45/application/pdf/Helix LT 3.0 Owner's Manual - Rev D - English .pdf

On 5/12/2022 at 4:32 AM, soundog said:

Also worth a mention, be careful with the input level setting in Native. It's easy to overdrive the plugin. Use -8dB or -12dB on peaks, and make up for it at the output end.

no need to make this gain up. Peaks of -12dBFS or even lower are fine or even advisable..

On 5/2/2022 at 9:12 AM, MGW-Alberta said:

It's definitely an interesting video ... but .... he refers to 1 KHz as being midrange when in actuality it is the beginning of the highs on a guitar.  That may not make sense to you if you don't understand how logarithms work but it is still true nevertheless.  1 KHz is roughly a 1st string at the 20th or 21st fret.  An open 6th string (E) is roughly 80 Hz.  Then he keeps jumping up the frequencies higher and higher and for some reason implying things should get worse as they get higher when in fact they naturally get better, not worse due to the time interval being so minuscule as to be unnoticeable to the human ear.  It's the lower frequencies where the stair steps should be most noticeable but he skips those frequencies altogether and that is unfortunate because those are the frequencies we need to know about.  In reality, he's addressing the harmonics of a typical guitar and those get better as they get higher despite his alluding to the contrary.  The fundamentals on a guitar are at or below 1 KHz.

Open E (6th) - 82.4 Hz

Open A (5th) -  110.0 Hz

Open D (4th) - 146.8 Hz

Open G (3rd) - 196.0 Hz

Open B (2nd) - 246.9 Hz

Open E (1st) - 329.3 Hz

 

20th fret, E (1st) - 987.8 Hz - still ever so slightly below 1KHz.

 

His conclusions are interesting but he did not apply them to the fundamentals of a guitar.  I'm no mad scientist but I do know the difference between fundamentals and harmonics.  

 

Also, the reality is ... if you've been playing in a rock band for a number of years you very likely have permanent hearing loss and you are probably legally deaf at frequencies over 10 or 12 KHz so 20 KHz really has little to no meaning for a working guitarist.

So you are missing key info here.

To reproduce any frequency accurately you need a sample rate twice the frequency.  So, to reprocuce a 80Hz low E fundamental you only need a sample rate of 160Hz.  

Of course the TONE of your Low E string is defined by the harmonic series above the fundamental, so:(rounding the figure for simplicity)

80Hz, 160Hz, 240Hz, 320Hz, 400Hz, 480 Hz 560Hz....by this point the level of the harmonics is pretty low but not non-existent.

If we do this to an E at the 12 fret of the high string we have a fundamental at around 680, so the harmonic series is:

680 Hz, 1260 Hz, 2040 Hz,2720 Hz, 3400 Hz, 4080 Hz, 4760 Hz. Again - very quiet at this point. (note this is why most guitar speakers drop of sharply over 4 K)

It is the relative volume of each harmonic in the series that gives TONE.  There is an argument that the sample rate needed for guitar might be as low as 12K...and many of the early reverbs had this and professionals were very happy with them. The early Analog (as a BBD) delays topped out at 4K frequency range which fits with this well.

Modern digital devices sample at 44.1K or higher...which means a frequency of 22K can be accurately converted.

Now we cantr forget Bit Rate...and this is where those very low volume upper harmonics can get lost....the 12K sample rate reverbs of the eighties were originally 8 bit.  CDs are 16....modern devices can be 24 or 32....recording tech as high as 196.

Bottom line...early digital had limitations we could hear.   Modern digital - no way.

@rthirdeye

Your post is not 100% clear.  You say you are changing channels on your amp.  This would not change anything in the FX chain. The amp channel would change but everything else in your Helix would stay exactly the same.

It sounds to me like what you are actually doing is changing patch.  ie, one patch has the amp on o

channel 1 and the other patch has the amp on channel 2.  In this case all the settings in Helix could change.

You do not have to change patch to change your amp channel.  You could set this up as a switch, or as a snapshot.

Neither of these requires the spillover feature (which limits you to one chain).  Not saying this is bad...I like the spillover approach as I don't usually use more than 8 blocks at a time.

 

your issue is similar to that of those who use the floor and have wah on 1 and vol on 2.

My answer is usually that every Vol/Wah pedal in history has the same "Issue".  Once you go toe down with the vol to switch on the wah, the vol is at max.

Ive worked with this for the first 20 off years of playing before going to modelers back in the nineties.  My solo vol (actually all my patches/snapshots) are designed to have the pedal full toe down.  I only use the pedal when I need to reduce vol for some reason.  So, switching to wah is not an issue.

Before I had separate rhythm patches or snapshots the only time I had to think about this was when using wah in a rhythm sound - in that case I would turn down on the guitar.

I know this is unpopular (I have no understanding of why) but here goes...

All of these functions (like assigning a parameter change to a footswitch) are clearly explained in the manual.

RTFM

I am not saying dont use the forum for help with tricky things etc...but learn the basics first.  Its much faster to look up a function in the manual than it is to post a question and wait for a reply.

which Marshall?   at what settings?   In the room or through monitors?  at what volume?

Lots of variables here.

@johnnyvlee
To actually answer your question:

for sustain you need a fast attack ( less than 10ms) and a slow release (more than 100ms - perhaps as long as 1 second). Threshold will depend on the situation but I would look for about 6dB - 10dB of gain reduction on the meter.  Maybe more if you need it.
You will need to make up the level by raising the compressor output level.

10 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

Fwiw, how comes, Line 6 still isn't able to come up with some even remotely decent default settings for whatever blocks? I mean, just select an empty patch and insert the new Ventoux amp as an amp/cab block. It sounds mediocre at best - but I'd go as far as to say horrible. A sound I would *never* ever use. And that's true for basically all amp blocks. Check the 11 "Brit" labeled ones. It's as if they were having a little "let's see whom of us manages to sound the worst" contest. With all of them winning.

Given that I can adjust pretty much all amps to sound at least somewhat useful, also given that these settings seem to work rather well throughout using a number of different guitars, I fail to understand why Line 6 has never adressed this - very wellknown! - issue.

Sure, I do of course know about user defaults, and quite obviously, I'm using them. But when someone interested in a modeler checks out the unit in a shop, it's all factory defaults. I still remember this moment myself, tried a Helix for the first time in 2016 I think. Brandnew, in a local shop. People were already raving about it online. And there I was, discovering 100% horrible sounding amp defaults and factory presets.

Oh yeah, sure, Mr. Klein will chime in, telling us how much all presets suck (ok, in fact, he won't chime in because their own company forums is the very place the Line 6 staff avoids like the plague) - and that's true. But there's still a huge difference between presets and presets made to get the worst out of each amp model - the latter being what we find in the Helix.

 

Just wondering.

for the sake of a balanced discussion:

we all have different monitoring and preferences.  My experience differs greatly from yours. I did the same thing and was able to find ways of playing in that tone that seemed entirely appropriate.   I find the same with all the main amps presets.
None of them are exactly some tone I've heard in my head but they are all usable.  I do not doubt that I could record an album using only the factory presets...
That said my current ventoux patch has the gain up a tad and the mid up a lot.....

There is a strong sense of diminishing returns - not just in improvements to modelling but in the size of the market.

Nearly every request that comes up for something to be added to Helix (and I suspect every other modeler) is for some very tiny extreme group of users - not the 1% but the 0.0001%.

yes, there are at least 10 people who absolutely need to be able to tempo sync their modulations via usb to a flying boomerang that is wirelessly linked to a midi lighting system that triggers optical sensors to run a modular synth running a midified voltage controlled Theremin.  But is it worth including that feature in a mass produced product?

Reading the various posts here and TGP its obvious that the widespread adoption of Helix is creating a weird phenomena where people with no experience in amplifiers, speakers, pedals, or any form of multi FX are now buying Helix because its the thing to do.  Hence we see the average quality of questions falling from "I cant get my  footswitch with two controllers and three bypasses assigned to show the right led setting", to very crazy stuff like "I hit the mode button and all my patches disappeared what should I do?". or worse "I wish it was possible to change settings by hitting a footswitch".

I am prepared to bet that 95% of helix users have never adjusted a setting for sag or bias or impedance or headroom or early reflections or mic distance etc. 

I am one of the people that would enjoy a more complex machine but I just dont see the market for one.  I can imagine a firmware version with LESS complexity for basic users.....

I think you are confusing PRESETS with PARAMETERS.

I am guessing based on your posts, but I think you are turning the PC edit knob and scrolling through the presets and not scrolling through the list of available speakers.  The 6 IRs are saved in presets.
In helix you can choose which mode the PC is in - Speaker model or IR.  There are only 13 speaker models.  The IRs that are loaded into PRESETS 14 - 19 could be selected from the IR menu.
always remember that if you edit PC from Helix you are editing at the PARAMETER level and not editing the PATCH.  This means whatever the active patch in PC is labelled will not change even if the Helix tells it to change a PARAMETER.

eg, If the PC patch is called "Vintage" the helix might be telling it to load the Cream speaker.  The Patch name on the PC will still show Vintage.
 

20 hours ago, mattbarden said:

See and to me that seems really low for channel volume. Since you say it's with your overdriven tones, what all are you running in front of the amp? I'm curious to know what your gain staging looks like. I think the only time I've ever even had to turn down the default channel volume was on one model, I forget which one, but it was because I was running 2 IRs in parallel back then.

Interesting huh!
My highest Chan vol is always set by my cleanest tone...In general I try to keep close to unity across the board - so the level with all blocks bypassed is the same as the patch - at least for rhtyhm patches or snapshots.  Solo ones run about 6db higher. Output meter is running about 75%

I do all my leveling at the amp and I dont really use overdrives or other boosts - If I need more gain I turn the Gain up - and if I need gobs of gain i choose an amp that has that - my most overdriven tone at the moment is using the Bogner (German Mahadeva).

is the Das Benzin a quiet amp?  that Chan vol seems very high even with a low gain setting and the master down to 6.    Most of my Overdriven amp tones end up with the Chan vol down around 4-5 but I've never used that amp.

1 hour ago, zappazapper said:

 

Isn't that the whole reason for using a different guitar?

yes...THIS!

Why would you want them to sound the same???

On 11/3/2021 at 4:15 PM, jakebronson said:

. What I have figured out is my assumption that the amp models would be dialed in relatively close to the actual amps. They are not.

see the thing is, they are.  If you had the actual amp used by Line 6 to create the model, and played it (using a load) through the same speaker emulation on the PC I bet you could not tell them apart in a blind A/B.

There is nothing muddy or muffled sounding about a helix/PC combo set up correctly - not a criticism as this may take a while to get right.

If you read all the posts on here and TGP then you will see that:

roughly 20% of people swear the Helix is far far to bright

roughly 20 % of people swear the Helix is far too dull and muffled

and about 50% seem to be trying to make helix sound EXACTLY like a particular amp they either own or used to...I dont mean the same make and model  - I mean a specific individual amp - which of course is impossible as all amps vary....especially older ones.

For transparency sake I should point out I made those numbers up....but you get the idea.

2 hours ago, zappazapper said:

Well then our ears must work like cardioid microphones, because if I play music through a set of earbuds and stand 10 feet away from them, all I can hear is the cymbals, but somehow the further I jam them in my ear, the more bass content they seem to produce.

firstly - not arguing what works for you - just the science of psychoacoustics.

Ear buds are designed to pump energy into a very small closed space...maybe 1 Milliliter.   That same amount of energy pumped into a whole room....its no wonder you cant hear the bass!

18 hours ago, zappazapper said:

I actually boost low frequencies for my solo boost. The logic is that I'm not necessarily trying to make it sound louder, but closer, and so I'm using the same concept as the proximity effect in microphones, where the closer you get to the mic, the more bass content it has. Cali Q block with 80 Hz set to +6 and 240 Hz set to +3. Seems to work.

Hi Zappazapper

The proximity effect is not a psychoacoustic effect.

The increase in bass response that happens on a cardiod microphone is a function of the mic design and not  related to the way the human brain perceives sound.

The key psychoacoustic effects for distance are pre-delay  and high frequency content.

Pre-delay is the time difference between hearing the direct sound from the source, and any reflections or reverb from the environment.  In simple terms, the closer your ear is to the source the shorter the pre-delay.  In a large space say a singer in the middle of the room 40 feet from the wall  and a listener standing 5 feet away from the singer  , the direct sound will take about 5 milliseconds to arrive and the reflection a bit over 60 ms giving a pre-delay of 55ms.  If the listener moves further into the room say 30ft from the singer, the direct sound will take around 30ms, making the predelay only 30ms.....(this is all a bit simplified but that's the basic idea).  To use this in practice, (assuming you use a reverb on your patches) make the Rhythm patch predelay short a(0 - 15 ms) and the solo predelay long (50 - 100ms).  This will create an illusion that the solo is happening closer to the listener.

The psycho acoustic effect of high freq content is determined by the amount of absorption done by the air between the source and the listener and is not as useful in this content.  Generally the further away the source is the less high Freq - so this suggests  Rhythm tones from be less bright than solos....in modern music thats not always the case.

If you want an intimate sound, go for very long pre-delay and lots of very high freq content , but not too loud(like a mother whispering to the baby in her arms - I'm being serious here as the brain builds models based on experience).