soundog

...rock on, brothers & sisters.

There are so many variables its good to focus on some "stripped down" settings and presets you can rely and build upon. Start simple. Maybe start with a simple patch for clean, one for crunch, one for high-gain. > Experiment with your guitar volume and tone settings along with a chosen amp/cab choice to learn how the volume, tone, gain settings inter-react. > Create some stripped-down presets using just amp and cabinet (or IR). > Afterwards, copy a stripped-down preset to a blank preset, and use it to build more elaborate presets by adding FX blocks, snapshots etc.

Yes, -12dB PEAK levels going into Native works best. Adjust your audio interface levels accordingly. I usually like to record my waveforms a little hotter (while avoiding digital clipping), so I adjust Native input gain and play a loudest passage to set the input gain so the meter hits no higher than -12.

Priceless information in this thread. Thanks all!

within Helix Native (pull down menu near bottom right) assign a controller knob (variable) or switch (toggle) to any of the Helix block parameters, and then control those via DAW automation (depends on your DAW, so however you assign automation controls in Pro Tools).

I would rather eat an averaged soup than an outlier.

...also try sticking a piece of foam right behind the nut. my variax piezos were picking up some string harmonics and I was hearing those in recordings. gotta track em down and mute the little buggers or they'll drive you mad.

This is so great and useful ... thanks for sharing it with the community. Can't wait to dig into it.

Can't Helix Native be hosted by an app like MainStage, so you could then assign Native block parameters, mutes, etc to MIDI CC's, then use a MIDI foot controller to do the same thing a Helix Floor unit would do?

+1 @Nos402 If you're a songwriter like myself with minimal knowledge of amps, its helpful to know which amp/cab to try when working on a specific type or genre of song, and just want a "sound."

Helix Native doesn't do "patch changes" via program change commands (at least to my knowledge). But, as @kdog sez above, you can assign a controller knob (variable) or switch (toggle) to any of the Helix block parameters, and then control those via DAW automation (depends on your DAW, I reckon, but it works great in Logic Pro). Usually if you are using completely different Helix presets for different guitar tracks, you would use separate instances of Helix Native. You could always do something crazy like create dual paths in a single preset, with each path having a different amp, cab, and fx chain, and then automate a split to toggle between them. That would be crazy, though, and may cause twitching or hives. Also, Helix Snapshots are not yet supported in Helix Native but are expected in a future update. That will be nice. read this fellows thread, also, about using a SoftStep controller to edit Native: http://line6.com/support/topic/29975-helix-native-–-editing-with-a-foot-controller/ You can buy used SoftStep pedals for cheap, and they are effective.

Similarly, I've been using the following workflow using Helix Native, simulating how I'd record and commit guitar tracks if using a real amp and mic(s). 1) For a given guitar track, use a mono instance of Native, paying close attention to EQ, levels, and amp settings to get the tone needed for the track. Only use Helix Native effects that a guitarist would typically use before the amp when recording a track to mono (e.g. distortion pedal, wah). 3) When I like how it sits in the mix, I commit and render the mono track to audio (saving the original raw track if needed later for some reason). 4) Remove the Helix plug-in and raw recording, starting fresh with the "amped" guitar track. 4) Add plug-ins to the track as I would for an amped guitar track (e.g. EQ, compression, stereo effects such as delay and reverb). One advantage (other than CPU savings) is to avoid tweaking and changing Helix presets later .... commit and move on. I use this same method for virtual instruments to speed up workflow and save CPUs when mixing.

@rayttk - First you gotta buy a good two-channel audio interface for your computer. You will be able to plug your mic and guitar into it for high-quality tracks. There are lots of good affordable interfaces ... read reviews. Buying used will save you a lot of money as long as the used interface is in decent shape. Learn how to hook it up and use it. Learn Reaper, use the forum to ask questions. Watch youtube videos .... its a great way to learn how to use a DAW, interfaces and plug-ins. Helix Native? Record your raw guitar tracks with Reapers buffer size as low as it can handle without crackling noises, use software monitoring to listen while you record. Tweak your guitar tones afterwards, adjust your buffer size as you add more tracks or virtual instruments. Rinse and repeat.

Mac users are artists and creatives, who push things to the limit. So — we are encountering the issues. Kidding...

Yep, running on Logic Pro X under Sierra, and am having to to freeze tracks. Hopefully Line 6 will work on CPU efficiency after getting V1 out the door. Great piece of software otherwise. Snapshot support would be nice to maintain compatibility with my hardware presets.

Its working great for me using Logic. Follow manual instructions for Helix to assign parameter to a knob or switch first, then use your DAW automation as usual. Not sure about Tracktion.

The best of both worlds. Not to mention automation of all the Native parameters!

If your main focus is using Helix as a guitar pedal, you may be just as happy to cable it to your computer via USB for recording. There are advantages to this method, my favorite being that you have zero latency (lag) in what you're hearing through your Helix while you track guitar parts. A second advantage comes into play if your computer is already bogging down a bit when you record with certain plug-ins — Helix Native certainly won't improve that situation. There are pros and cons on both sides of the fence, you'll have to weight them. I'd experiment with using your pedal, then download a Native trial and experiment with that. Then you can make a good decision.

I spent a little time yesterday running some non-guitar (vocal, harp, sax, drum and keyboard) tracks through Helix Native. To do so, use Helix as your first plug-in on the track, preferably a Mono to Stereo instance (if your track is mono). Start with a blank Helix preset with no blocks. Adjust your in and out gain to give you equal audible levels when you toggle bypass (I use -16 dB input level). Then, insert a single Helix block into your path to play around with. You can chain blocks together after you get a sense of how each effects the sound. Since the blocks were primarily designed for guitars, not all of them seemed useful with certain instruments. But I was surprised with how effective and useful some of them were, especially if you don't have a lot of effects plug-ins (Sound Toys, etc). For example: - a lot of the Modulations and Delays were quite useful, especially stereo versions - I was hoping for some good rotary (Leslie) effects, but was disappointed (except for distorted versions on Hammond B-3 sounds). Rotary effects are difficult to replicate on vocals (Melda makes the best rotary plug-in I've found). - pitch-based effects are pretty limited (you end up with chipmunk and Frankenstein on vocals, for example). I wish Line 6 would add some vocal-friendly pitch shifting (like those found in TC Helicon pedals). - distortion (from either pedal or amp blocks) might be useful on some instruments (even vocals) for really specific effects. At least there's a lot of variety to play with. - the reverbs are hit and miss, but some far-out verbs (like Particle Verb) are nice to have in your tool box - wah pedals are useful for certain applications, especially keyboards - get familiar with how to automate parameters for even more fun. Helix Native has great support for assigning parameter automation

Great ... I'll look forward to it!

Nice job, thanks. My Spanish is dusty, but I ended up watching the whole vid with subtitles and thought it was a great summary, especially for new users.

Well, that was weird.

I usually just use the amp and cabinet or IR to get the tones I want, and then use subsequent sends for any needed other reverb, delay, or effects. (unless there are specific Helix guitar effects I want). If I'm using Helix on more than one track, I normally freeze the track when I have the tone where I want it, but I do that with any virtual instrument since its easy to freeze/unfreeze in Logic if needed and I need to keep my buffer small. So far I haven't had any problems with CPU load when using Native (on a i7 4.0 GHz Late 2015 iMac).

Yeah, I had to spend some time tweaking the multiple EQ setting, and the amp preamp/gain levels, but after I got everything dialed info my guitar I'm now using these as much as my Freman and Delaune patches. The block configuration is different than most other patches I have, so I had to figure out how stuff was being routed. Hope they work out for you...

I just finished reading the review of Helix Native in the 11/17 Mix magazine, and one of their main gripes was the lack of a tuner, calling it "inconvenient." Me? I would prefer Line 6 focus on adding Snapshots and Send/Return blocks (for virtual audio routing), unless adding a tuner is trivial. I just use the built-in Tuner button in Logic Pro X, like always.