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For those that have both the FREMEN and the GDL Boutique pack - for blues/carlton/ford type solo sounds and rhythm guitar parts. plus cleans - are these presets still worth getting ? are they better than the Fremen blues ones ?

yes the key reason i mentioned this app was really the Volume control issue - being able to control the iPad/iPhone volume when connected over USB, because for some reason iOS or USB standard disables the volume control buttons on your iPad or iPhone when plugging into a class compliant device like the HELIX - when using Apple Camera Kit etc... Its great that L6 added an option to tweak the volume of incoming audio on USB 1/2 in release 2.0 but it is fiddly to have to switch to the global page to have to do this all the time. Apps like ANYTUNE get over this problem. Still means the volume controls on the iDevice remain disabled - but nothing we can do about that it seems. Its an Apple or USB thing.... :(

SERIOUSLY ??? If thats truly the case - just try playing your guitar through any IR WITHOUT any other block in the preset, amp or effect - and see how things sound and react to your playing.

Use iPhone/iPad via USB with HELIX? Up to now i've used slow-downer app Capo to jam to backing tracks. *But* only way to adjust volume is via USB 1/2 Trim knob in Global settings. Capo - like other iOS apps ***including iTunes/Apple Music!!!*** doesnt have an independent volume when using Camera Kit. I've pressed the Capo developer on this via email but to no avail. ----But ... tonight discovered iOS app ANYTUNE which **does** have an independent volume control. This is SOOO much easier and convenient than constantly going to that Global settings page for USB 1/2 Trim. It also appears to be much more supported & feature rich than Capo. http://anytune.us/products/anytune-for-ios/

Just another reason why I ******LOVE****** Ableton - and of course - my HELIX :)

Exactly - thats how I got my BX8 Carbons' they were unwanted customer returns. As new.... for £200 the pair :)

I have to say - i'm LOVING my M-Audio BX8 Carbon monitors. compared with the PA i use before they are especially good when playing JTV Acoustic and Archtop models. Brings out all the subtleties much better. And i've also been playing the JTV 59 Les Paul model - but transposed down an octave to become a bass. Sounds almost Fender Precision-ish. Even though those actually use single coils. But does mean I need to get a PA that is similarly flat and sounding... or use separate sets of presets. Or..... L6 could introduce a multiple Global EQ PRESETS feature - to compensate for several different playing situations..... I'd say going 8" makes a lot of difference from 6 or especially 5". Even though I believe they share the same circuitry inside. My take-home - is the bigger the woofer the more guitarists are likely to get the THUMP and "air" thing. Just be prepared to move the monitors away from walls - plus that big they're no longer really "Near-field"

Yes I'd like to know whether its still better to use this driver. on macOS Sierra

< I can't get a usable clean tone out of it.> One tip - Try the Fremen patches. I've been surprised how much i can get on with them considering i'm primarily a clean jazzy person not HM or High Gain. ​Tonight - after spending a bit of time converting most of the Fremen into snapshots i've spent some time with the Fremen clean presets jamming to jazz blues backing tracks and loving it. What i really like is how he seems to have balanced the volume and tone ACROSS the six strings. ​As a part resort try them .

This is something to bear in mind and i've reported it to Line6 as a bug/problem I've been enjoying working thru the presets and came to Pull Me Under. i've been using the HELIX Mac 1.0 USB driver for a while now with no problems. I was playing backing tracks via iTunes from my 2011 iMac ( El Capitan latest ) into the HELIX via USB. All was fine until I selected the preset Pull Me Under - which must be using a lot of DSP power. When using the preset by itself - no issues. but as soon as i tried playing a track o iTunes along with it - got lots of noise and crackles. Switching to a different patch ( a Fremen one ) made all the crackles go away.

i've been using the HELIX Mac 1.0 USB driver for a while now with no problems. Except today - when I was trying out my new Fremen HELIX patches. I was playing backing tracks via iTunes from my 2011 iMac ( El Capitan latest ) into the HELIX via USB. All was fine until I selected the Fremen - preset Pull Me Under - which must be using a lot of DSP power. When using the preset by itself - no issues. but as soon as i tried playing a track o iTunes along with it - got lots of noise and crackles. Switching to a different patch ( a Fremen one ) made all the crackles go away.

i've been using the HELIX Mac USB driver for a while now with no problems. Except today - when I was trying out my new Fremen HELIX patches. Was playing backing tracks via iTunes from my 2011 iMac ( El Capitan latest ) into the HELIX via USB. All was fine until I selected the Fremen - preset Pull Me Under - which must be using a lot of DSP power. When using the preset by itself - no issues. but as soon as i tried playing a track o iTunes along with it - got lots of noise and crackles. Switching to a different patch ( a Fremen one ) made all the crackles go away.

Probably so. But given L6's long experience with DSP and effects plus the weight of Yamaha behind it - there really isn't any good reason why L6 cannot also come up with DSP algorithms and leader-in-field secret sauce of their own :) They could for example work hard on top notch algorithms - then sell a unit similar to the H9 or Stymons - **and** use the same algorithms in their top-end products - namely the HELIX :) It might mean hiring some pro-engineer who has long experience in reverbs etc - one who worked for the old leaders in the field for example - and then making their own killer product. Now if only Yamaha owned Harmon we could get some of the Lexicon stuff ... one can daydream :)

<You want Strymon, Eventide, Electro Harmonix FX - simple - buy them and stick them in the Helix loops like many other user on this forum have already done.> Not so simple if you're looking for the simplest least hassle setup for gigging, concerning setup and teardown. For practical purposes the less pedals and cables the better. Simplicity. Less clutter. Les to go wrong. Less to lug around. Point made ? < Why would Line 6 bother with third party involvement!> ​clearly if it can be helped all the better. But HELIX is premium high-end product and one with so much potential. The main one clearly being convenience and simplicity - and versatility. ​Put simply if it can be done in the HELIX without plugging in a box externally - all the better.

Just been playing with the snapshot presets. Cleans are great ( i'm primarily a clean dude ) But is there any chance Thiboult - that in the future you can add more snapshots to the collection ? for the Mesa IV , DivBy13 , Fenders, and Dr Z ?

FWIW I predict that we will *first* see the HELIX being used by the big name pro's and bands merely as replacements for huge pedal boards - not amp replacements. That bit will be the last to fall "resistance" and tube-bias ( pun ) wise. But there are so many benefits from using the HELIX merely to replace pedals - and once Line 6 starts to include a much wider and high quality range of effects - for example matching what the Eventides and Strymons can do ( since they - delay and reverb wise - are simply DSP chips inside for the most part anyway ) then more and more big-names will be seen with the HELIX. Once people start buying the HELIX because **ONLY** the HELIX has a so-and-so "Must-have" great sounding effect - the tide will turn. And theres no reason why not. Because there are TWO high end DSPs in there - and if a guitarist is *NOT* using the HELIX as an amp sim at all then all the spare DSP power can be harnessed to produce - for example a top-notch reverb algorithm with all the spare horsepower ! Or of course L6 could choose to either licence algorithms from Strymon etc or allow Strymon and Eventide to make money by starting a 3rd party effect "Shop". I think many guitarists would be willing even to pay a high premium - maybe even 2/3 of the cost of an actual hardware H9 or Big Sky - simply because of the enormous advantage of having it inside a HELIX. Then once big names get hooked on the HELIX as a pedal board replacement then gradually some will start to consider no longer using their real amps and cabs too !! - the practicalities of this are for all to see - once the doubt about sound and tone is removed.

Lets face it - it looks cool and is fantastic to have real amps to play on stage - a real Hammond, a real Steinway grand on stage - if you can afford the roadies and touring expenses. And the hassle. Since others are taking care of the hassle - the lugging ! The top notch guys can do this - and afford to - mostly. Cos they have ROADIES and a tour budget. The rest ? Nord, Korg, Yamaha, and more and more .... modellers. Given time. But I take the question in the spirit meant. He's just curious. Nothing wrong with that. Lets face it - since the beginning of time electric - museo's have always been curious about what gear the stars and legends use. So no need to shoot him down with "don't care" type posts. FWIW I saw one being used at Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees recent tour stuff. But early days ! Tide hasn't turned yet.

But what about this ?: <Next I'm going to work on a smaller pack for Variax users. My JTV 89 models has been customized to death, that should be fun !> Is this going to be a HELIX preset pack dedicated for JTV guitars culled and adapted from the Big 175 pack - or just a pack of workbench settings for the JTV ?

Just to totally clarify things - Are you issuing a *seperate* patch set JUST for JTV? or is the intent just to include it all in the Big 175 pack as an addendum ( which you already have done ) ? And were you meaning HELIX presets for the JTV or specifically just a Variax Workbench Custom pack for the JTV itself ? or both ? Am just wondering whether to wait or just buy the BIG pack and get everything later...

I've come across quite a few good ones. In fact might end up using more of them than the presets i've actually purchased. Inevitably one will end up doing tweaks but thats fine too. But main problem to me is the normalisation thing. They come at wildly different output volume levels. Plus as others have said - the impulse-response thing is a pain and put-off. Maybe L6 could add a filter to exclude those using IRs when searching.

It was Stephen Gibb - Barry Gibbs son. http://www.stcgibb.com

So so true !

Judging by the sounds of those new demo videos i was not impressed at all by the tones coming from that amp. Chad informs me the modelling is from the Pod X3 level product - so not even HD. I'll pass. Seems they're keeping the Spider name for Pod V1 level modelling - Firehawk for HD level models - and I guess all HELIX model products will from now on have HELIX in the name ? would make sense to me anyway. So a HELIX head and cabinet would be mega cool. For those with a bad back - its better to not carry combos ( the Firehawk- like Fender Twin - weighs a ton ) but have the amp in one unit and the cabinet just being the speakers - as a separate unit. To put in the boot of a car etc etc.

Indeed, on the "imo overrated" thing. I guess i'm in an unusual situation but as someone who only played "amp in the room" where the amp was set totally clean - no overdrive or distortion - and *then* with modellers - chiefly HD 500 and now HELIX - got to really discovering and playing about with overdriven sounds - where the "amp" power-stage could be maxed out in a way most of us could never do with 50W+ amps in the home - and have thus gone **straight** into a stereo FRFR PA or Studio monitors - I think one can very quickly get used to just playing guitar and hearing it - much more like it will sound in a "final mix". I suppose it helps me that I hardly ever used to just play guitar solo - alone but instead have always preferred to improvise along to backing tracks or band In a box - and thus the "Guitar-in-mix" thing is more my natural mode. But to cut a long story short - I think its a good idea to just forget about striving for "amp-in-a-room" and just get used to - and really enjoy - "amp-in-a-mix". After all - isn't that how most want their stuff to end up ? being heard thru a good PA sound system by a 200+ audience - or in iTunes, CD or vinyl ? I do of course - get it - that those who've played and love to play in tiny venues where they get to hear mainly the sound of their own amp *directly* - through the air - rather than by means of a monitor of some kind - might miss how that sounds and feels. But really that - great though the sound can be in such venues - is something only limited to tiny venues such as small rooms in bars or pubs. Some of the best gigs i've heard have been in such places - jazz or blues jam sessions etc - but is it really convenient for the guitar player ? getting the balance of instruments right in such tiny gigs - where - say the only instrument going through the PA might be the vocals or a horn instrument - can be really hard. And arguably sub-optimal.

If you're still working on a pack for JTV Variax users i'd love for there to be a preset ( with snapshots ) for each most commonly used acoustic guitar too - J200, D20, 12 string etc Maybe one for the arch top too ? which I think might benefit from an IR WITHOUT an amp at-all i the chain ( the tone for the JTV arch top is quite subtle and much gets lost when put through some tube amps