soundog

If you would be president today, then I kick myself for not getting in touch with you back then. I'm so sorry. Sad. :(

It was the broken Boost knob from your Electro-Harmonix pedal.

I think that may be why I used to watch Monty Python, now that I think about it.

Why do people feel compelled to participate in this thread?

Running fine on Logic Pro X here. Did you try increasing your Audio buffer size to see if anything changes?

You'll need to find your own system that works for you, and be really mindful when you edit a preset on either device. There are lots of opportunities for overwriting something you didn't want to overwrite. I think I would just keep one master folder on my computer, and be sure to always save to it and restore from it. These days I'm using Native for songwriting and recording, and Floor for performing. Completely different presets. But I back both up to computer in separate folders.

Its probably always best to save the original unprocessed guitar track, try to save your Helix preset so you can recall it later (its all a bit confusing now, eh wot?), and bounce your Helix-processed track down to a separate audio track. I've been bitten too many times using virtual instruments, expecting everything to load up "the way it used to be"

I own some of Glenn's and Fremen's presets, both which make extensive use of Snapshots. They're great not only as a learning tool, but for experts who are too busy to spend a lot of time tweaking. Those guys put a lot of time and effort into their stuff. Snapshot support pretty please. :)

Agreed .... it can be quite confusing. I found its a good idea to experiment with the "save preset" options to see what happens .... its not straightforward, and there is some inter-dependency. I recommend saving a copy of your song's associated helix .hlx presets when you package or archive your DAW recording, in the same folder. Just to be safe, and in case you change your preset bundles down the road.

I would imagine that Line 6 will be adding snapshot support. The sooner the better! I've used my Helix Floor for recording via USB through Logic Pro since the Helix came out, and always use Snapshots to do subtle changes to tones for different parts of the song. Very easy to do via MIDI commands, and very effective. Snapshots would be VERY useful and versatile in Native!

This plug-in is freakin' awesome. :D I finally feel like I can put away all of my other plug-ins and hardware in the quest to get good electric/acoustic/bass guitar tones in my home studio. And that's all I have to say about that. except we need snapshot support

@phil — so true. If you need knob or fader controls, I've found the tangible feedback of a MIDI controller with real faders and knobs is much better during live performance than using an iPad running MIDI control apps. I can grab a physical control and tweak it quickly while playing; with an iPad, you have to keep your eyes on where your finger is. Big difference. If you really need to control your Helix with knobs and faders while you're performing (and don't want to bend over like a plumber), a small inexpensive MIDI controller (Korg, Akai, Behringer, Novation, etc) can be mounted on a mic stand and cabled to the Helix.

Excellent and useful preset ..... thanks much!

You have to have both attached .... the lightning cable charges the ipad, usb carries the data.

This is the most foolproof and stable method I've found. I avoid bluetooth when possible, due to connection and lag issues. And, yes, the Helix shows up in Set List Maker as expected when using the CCK. I have my iPad mounted at a 45 degree angel, in landscape mode, but not on a mic stand, so the cables are not an issue for me. I don't know if using an lightning extension would work or whether impedance might be a problem — you'd have to try it or perhaps try another forum. Otherwise you could wrap your lightning/charging cable and a thin USB cable together, perhaps with some black tubing so it doesn't show.

I use this with Set List Maker to send MIDI from my iPad mini. Works a treat, and charges your iPad too! http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0W2AM/A/lightning-to-usb-3-camera-adapter

If you need a looper that slaves to external MIDI clock, the Boomerang III does it and does it flawlessly. Also obeys start and stop commands.

Very nice patch, Peter, thanks for sharing. It will come in handy for certain recordings. I especially like the use of particle 'verb and octo. I agree re: the 3 Sigma acoustic IRs; they're the best I've used and the only ones I consider using for recording as an alternative to mic'ing.

Very helpful, Stratotron — thanks very much. :)

Latency is a concern, for sure. I don't like recording with anything more than 8-10 ms, especially when fingerpicking or playing fast leads. I, too, will be using a floor unit along (since I already own one) with the plug-in. For @htimst, it might be best to try a demo of the native plug in and see how it works out in his DAW setup, and see how the latency is, subjectively. If its all good, why not just buy the plug-in and save some bucks? If not, I'd get the floor unit + plug-in.

I bought a Helix floor unit entirely for studio use. My logic was that I didn't want to buy the additional controller (for Rack), and I was also thinking the resale market would be bigger than the Rack unit if I ever wanted to sell it. I have the unit set up on a low table so I don't have to bend over to jack stuff in or out, or to do some editing. Most editing, though, I do from the software editor. It works out great and I love it. I think if I was new to the market, I would wait and buy the native plug-in (if the user reviews are positive, and I expect them to be) You can always try a demo to be sure its for you. But, if you think you might ever want to play some guitar at a gig or jam session, get the hardware + plug-in.

Good tips, y'all. Thanks! :)

I tried using the Helix as a "mixer" with DSP, but gave up. That's not a fault of the Helix, as thats not its intended use. In my case, I wanted to use 4 inputs (vocal, guitar, sax, and harp) and be able to mix them, and apply effects to each. The problem is (as silverhead alludes to) is that you cant maintain your current mix levels when you change presets. It would be nice if the Helix had a setting that would allow you to "pass" parameters between presets or to maintain constant "mix" levels, but that's asking for a corner case feature beyond its intended use. Its hard to get to a "one device fits all" solution. I tried the other route" using a TC Helicon device that had guitar and vocal processing. The vocal processing was awesome, but the guitar processing sucked. And it only provided two separate channels. The best results I had were when I created a separate Helix path (4) for each instrument (each with its own physical input and output and effects blocks), and then sent the outputs to a small mixer for basic level setting. If your only doing two paths/channels, that should be achievable. Regarding noise, I never encountered any, and feel that the mic pre on the Helix is pretty darned good if you have the levels correct.

Thanks @chubbyjerk. I get all that, but its worth a reminder, right? And I have high hope (faith?) that it will sound peachy keen. My wallet is at the ready.

@johnonguitar: Let's have some tolerance.