soundog

Hoping Fremen will update his latest preset collection with the 2 new amps. No, won't know if V1.6 is more CPU-friendly until I use it for awhile. Hope so.

Works the same on a Mac. Some Mac DAWs can use VSTs, but Logic uses only AU. Select the preferred format for your DAW and version. Floss.

I'm loving the new clean channel for the Lonestar ..... thanks for the addition! Lonestar CH2 take some getting used to because of the two Drive controls. After reading up on how the amp works, it becomes very flexible, and is one of my go-to amps these days.

Yes, I thought this might be implemented in 1.6.

AU installation working OK here...

@Jagman13: You're right .... the workaround I described doesn't seem to work with V1.6. But I just found another workaround which seems reliable and straightforward: If you open up and configure Logic's Smart Controls to learn the Helix Native Snapshot control, you'll find that Snapshots now appear as a selectable automation. Or you can use your new Smart Control to automate. If you've not used Smart Controls, I found a decent tutorial on youtube (there are plenty of others) .... the tutorial will jump to the good stuff, but rewind to the beginning if you want. You can just select Knob 1 if you want, select the Learn button so it turns red, go into the Helix plugin and toggle the Snapshots control, then turn off Learn in Smart Controls. If done correctly, your Knob control should now change snapshots AND you should also be able to select Snapshots in your automation selections Smart Controls. Let me know if it doesn't work for you. In the meantime, I sure hope Line 6 gets this bug fixed in the next release...

Yeah, that's a big bad bummer. It's listed now as a "Known Issue" in the new V1.6 release notes. See this thread (July 3 post, not the earlier ones) for the Smart Control workaround:

I sometimes use Helix Native without a DAW on my Mac using the menuBUS app, which hosts AU plug-ins and takes up very little memory. Low latency, too! There are likely similar hosting apps for PC...

...and over and over and over. [presses STOP button]

... this thread is destined to loop over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over

....I've played around with tweaking the Fremen presets with different IRs and amps, but was always happier in the end with his choices. I usually only tweak amp gain and eq, and FX block on/off/levels.

Helix Native negative - when tracking, Native is cpu hungry, so its challenging to get latency low enough when recording complex projects unless you monitor dry, through Floor, or through something like an Apollo with onboard DSP Helix Native positive - after your dry tracks are recorded its easier and simpler to tweak your Helix wet settings, presets, and do DAW automation. And no Floor setup required. But if you don't have decent DAW system horsepower, Native is still CPU hungry.

Looper complaints?! As many have said (and I agree) the Helix looper wasn't meant to be a performance looper. Get a good, dedicated looper with dedicated functions and buttons and jack it in. Then loop your head off.

The manual is referring to effects processing like distortion, reverb, delays, chorus, flange, etc. The "pure" guitar tone coming out of a Variax will work fine with a harmony device like the type TC Helicon makes (and others).

There is a vote for a better Helix vocal harmonizer on Line 6 IdeaScale if you want to vote for it: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Voicelive-type-vocal-processing/772456-23508#idea-tab-comments Think of snapshots this way..... You have a preset saved that includes multiple effects blocks. Within that preset, you can assign snapshots that specify which effects blocks are turned on or off, and what the settings are for those effects. In that way, a preset could be (for example) a song you are performing, with different snapshots for the verse, chorus, bridge, etc.

my bad. I used a dynamic with no power req'd. Good to know!

The LT doesn't have XLR mic input, but the Floor does, so works well for guitar + vocal. The preamp for the vocal input is pretty darned good. You can create a separate path for your vocal and guitar input/effects/output, and control them via foot switches or "snap shots" (single buttons to change multiple stomp box settings). If you are needing or used to a good vocal harmonizer (like a TC Helicon device), though, the Helix is not up to snuff, although it does some basics OK. But it has good vocal effects for delays, reverbs, chorus, etc). Another thing to note, the Helix has no phantom power available on the XLR input, so you need to use a dynamic mic that doesn't require phantom (or provide a dedicated phantom power box).

....totally agree with the "less is more" for acoustic guitar. And re: using acoustic guitar IRs, I dial this in just a little until I find the tone I like (usually about 30%). Whether IRs help or hinder depends mainly on the quality of your acoustic guitar pickup system and how you blend.

...there is a Pan block in your Volume/Pan effects group. Use it as needed to pan a track to center.

.... that's that's exactly exactly right right..Be Be sure sure to to not not listen listen to to any any software software monitoring monitoring from your DAW DAW!!

@PeterHamm is getting great tones, look at his preset configurations for ideas. Other ideas: - don't use any amps or cabinets on your guitar signal - the studio preamp is useful as your 1st block - use a 3Sigma acoustic guitar IR to get a little more wood in your tone - get your basic acoustic git tone perfected before adding any effects - add effects as needed (eg reverb, chorus, delay, etc) - the Timmy distortion works nice on acoustic guitar if needed for leads, etc - create a separate (and similar, but no IR) path for your vocal mic - you can use a small MIDI controller/mixer that has USB MIDI-out to control your mix without stooping down (for example, a Korg nanokontrol)

The Helix has 8 ins and 8 outs. You just need to hook it up correctly and spend some time perfecting your workflow. Look at this: http://i.imgur.com/TZVsulH.jpg Also look in your Templates setlist .... there is are some useful templates in there for this sort of application.

OK, thanks ... just did that.

Guess I'll have to live with it. Closest non-warranty repair center is over three hours away, and I imagine the cost of shipping both ways + the repair would be out of my budget.

Lately at gigs my trusty Variax Acoustic sometimes randomly toggles out my stored Alternate setting (red LED, alternative tuning saved) into Standard (green LED). I can usually toggle the selector in and out real quick to reset it, and it usually gets me through the song. But it happens at least once at about every gig. Is there a fix I could attempt myself? (I'm good with this sort of work, and have replaced some piezo in the past when needed). What should I look at or try first? Thanks.....