ozbadman

Just to clarify terms, line level refers to voltage (amplitude), as does mic level.

Line level is in the 1V region, and Mic level is in the 0.001V region. Much, much lower voltage than line level.

So, SNR (signal to noise ratio) is a much bigger problem for mic levels. Balanced outputs (XLR) reject noise better than unbalanced outputs (1/4 inch), so it is much more important to use XLRs for mic level outputs. But, it is fine, and actually better, to use XLRs (balanced) for either mic or line level.

DI boxes are used to change the impedance for a variety of reasons. Usually to make it a low impedance output into a high impedance input.

I doubt they'll be making any hardware changes. Line 6 has responded. Their response is "don't use the XLR outs on channels with phantom power".

It wasn't really a proper response. So that leads me to believe they L6 knows this is a mistake on somebody's part. Even a reply saying they will note it in the manual would have been something. But it also suggests that the next hardware revision may have this fixed.

I'm sure there will be another hardware release, there always is after initial manufacturing finds minor problems, but whether they will just slip it quietly into the next minor board revision, or whether it will be fixed in HELIX-2, or not at all, only Line 6 can tell us.

If they didn't see it as a problem, they would have given us a reply, but they are visibly absent from this thread. Indeed, the only good information we have received was from the call to support, which filled in some of the concerns.

Due to initial conceptual legacy and software development + ownership the company has been taken court and lost the cases hence the new variax standard is locked at HD and at Yamaha hands now .

What? Never heard of this. Sounds like rubbish to me.

Although I'm full aware of software manipulating is illegal it was done  for personal preferences sake since there is no other alternative. Soon I will be posting a link for those interested in loading both worlds ( I call it BHD).

Who said it was illegal? As long as you don't sell it or give it to anyone else, you can do what you like. The posting of the modified software, not that would be illegal due to copyright restrictions.

Thanks for validating, although not really a surprise.  I find it interesting that more users aren't that upset about this.  I'm even more disappointed about  how Line 6 has handled this, or not in my opinion.  But not surprising given the expense to offer customer's a fix would be huge.  I'm sure we will see this fixed in future models or production runs if it hasn't already been addressed.  But they have left us first adopters out in the cold.  This will conclude my run as a early adopter for their products.  Has this been fixed in the floor model manual as a warning? Or is this thread I started handling that awareness for them.

 

Disappointed as the Helix is otherwise a great product. 

And given L6 has given no response here and is in hiding, how will we know what model of the hardware it has been fixed in???? C'mon Yamaha, you can do better than this.

I don't think so, but a piezo direct is normally pretty harsh and at a minimum, has to be EQ'd to sound OK.

Maybe any they get between now and March are already assigned to existing orders?

Hey guys,

I'm completely green to Line 6 and for the most part the digital modeling world.  I have been playing through a Mark V:25 / 1x12 Boogie Thiele cab for the past 2 years but wanted a "one stop shop" for gigging in regards to hauling gear and setting everything up.

 

I received my Helix this past Tuesday and ran direclty into my Presonus Eris 4.5 studio monitors and the sound was mediocre at best.  I sampled many of the presets, downloaded many patches, and found that most of the distorted and OD tones were very harsh.  

I then tried running through the front of my Mark V:25, and the sound quality improved, but still nowhere near what I expected, nor what I have heard through watching numerous demos online.  

 

Today I borrowed a friends EHX 44 Magnum and ran from the Helix > EXH 44 Mag> Boogie Thiele cab > Great Success !!! (for the most part). The cleans are absolutely brilliant.  I went back through many clean presets and made a few patches of my own and couldn't believe how responsive and "real" the tones feel.  The only issue I still face is experiencing slight harshness to the overdriven amps and pedals, such as the OCD and Minotaur. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions to bring out more warmth to the aforementioned tones ? (beyond adjusting basic eq.. bass/treble/mid/presence). Sorry to be long winded, but this piece of gear is unbelievable in terms of editing and possibilities; just looking to get the best out of it can.

 

I should mention my main guitar is a Dean Zelinsky private reserve Strettavita.. SH-4 JB / SH-1 Neck...

 

Thanks !!

It's worth asking, what version of the firmware are you running?

I have news, 2 retailers have stated that Yamaha have now shipped all of the orders to the uk and that they are now in the uk going through customs, so in the uk we should have news early next week :) and maybe a delivery by the end of next week.

 

Getting real excited now!

As a UK resident, you should know better than using the Americanism "real excited". But I am glad you are getting really excited. Sorry. I know I am tilting at windmills here, but I am surprised that one has made it across the pond. I hope you have your Helix soon.

I have no idea what the 'presence' knob/parameter does on the Essex A30 model. Can someone please explain it to me? I used to own an AC30 and there was never a presence knob on the amp. Thanks!

It's part of the EQing of a signal.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/what-is-the-difference-between-treble-and-presence.1160761/

I don't have a HELIX, so I don't know if this is possible, but maybe this could work (you would have to be careful).

Switch 1: toggles amp 1 and amp 2.

Switch 2: toggles amp 2 and amp 3.

Switch 3: toggles amp 3 and amp 4.

Switch 4: toggles amp 4 and amp 1.

So, for example, we start with amp 1 ON. Then:

a) press SW1. amp1 goes off. amp2 goes on. Then:

b) press SW2. amp2 goes off. amp3 goes on. Then:

c) press SW3. amp3 goes off. amp4 goes on. Then:

d) press SW4. amp4 goes off. amp1 goes on.

and we are back to the beginning.

Possible? I don't know. Useful? I also don't know.

I used a Les Paul and a Tele in the video. The Helix was plugged directly into the desk and I used the built in speaker cabs. No IRs used.

Hi Peter. The IR thing seems to cause confusion for a lot of people. The "built-in speaker cabs" are IRs. So as not to add to the confusion, your statement above should really say "I used the built in speaker cabs (IRs). No 3rd party speaker cabs (IRs) were used".

But if something was causing Helix to crash while updating its internal memory, say a faulty unit or turning the power off, then this might cause Helix to be unable to boot.

It should never be able to be put in a state that cannot be recovered. This is pretty standard stuff on all sorts of devices these days. If it truly can get into a bricked state, they need to fix their boot loader. This should be impossible unless the hardware is faulty, and by that I mean blown up chips. Turning the power off during an update should never brick the unit.

What gets my hopes up is that with Helix L6 now seems to be aiming more for the high-end, so a higher-end Variax would be a natural. And Yamaha makes very nice guitars when they want to. Maybe they'd even rev the modeling guts of the Variax...

The variax2 electronics seems to add about US$600-700 to the base guitar, so the question becomes, what price are people prepared to pay for a guitar with variax guts? If you compare it to say, a US$1300 standard strat, that means a really good quality Variax is starting at about US$1900. That's getting pretty high-end. If you want to compete with the standard strat price point, that means you need a guitar that's worth about $500-600. Hence, the Korean built mid-range JTVs. They may replace the JTVs with another Yamaha guitar at some point, but higher-end guitars are not going to sell the variax guts as much as say, a variax standard which I'm sure is an OK guitar, without being great, but without breaking the bank either, and getting more Variaxes into the wild.

NO.....

you can have your preferences... but the JTV is better...

your preferences do not determine whats better.... (nor do mine.... i rather liked my old 600)

the improvements in the electronics and capabilities alone make this a fact.

that does not take away from the equal fact that older variax guitars are good as well...

and all things being what they are, made in japan guitars are known as quality instruments.... no doubt.

NO....

you can have your preferences... but the 700 is a higher quality instrument (instrument only, not comparing the improved electronics)....

I agree with you on the electronics of the JTV. Obviously better, but some people may prefer the sounds of the old variaxes.

But, the 600 is not the 700. I think you have not tried a 700. The 700 is a USA PRS quality guitar (not the Korean SE quality). The 600 is not in the same league as the 700. The 700 was a Japanese quality instrument. PRS aesthetic, no e-string problems, no QC problems, no horrible James Tyler headstock or Jaguar style control knob. No binding or finish blemishes (unlike my 59). You should try a 700 before you say the JTVs are better than the old variaxes. The JTV electronics is better, and the JTV build may be better than the 600 (I have not tried a 600), but it is not better than the 700 build. I have three 700s, and all are beautifully crafted instruments.

there's absolutely NOTHING better about the older variax.... NOTHING....

there may simply be some things that some prefer.... but that doesn't make them better....

everything about the JTV's are better by design.

you can have and keep your preferences... but make no mistake....

Let's be clear, this is your OPINION, not facts.

There may be things that some people prefer about the JTVs ...but that doesn't make them better.....

There are many things better about the 700. Build quality, aesthetics, playability, and overall design. Yes, the 700 was better BY DESIGN, and by Japanese hands. Much better in fact.

You can have and keep your preferences, but there is a reason the 700s were more expensive than the JTVS, and a reason they were made in Japan... make no mistake....

MY GUESS:

1.)  Bad tubes

2.)  Broken unit  (i.e. needs servicing)

 

 

Any advice?.....

Is it hum or fizz?

hum:

1. earth loop

2. bad insulation

fizz:

1. bad grounding on your guitar

2. bad cable

plus your ideas.

To try to isolate the problem I would (maybe you have already done this):

1. try another cable

2. try another guitar

3. try nothing plugged in and turn the amp up. See if the buzz is still there with no input signal

I can almost guarantee there is nothing they can do,with software for that issue. It would take a circuit redesign to fix this issue . In years past I have seen this occur on things like high end Mocs, certain rack units like effects etc. so I doubt it can be addressed.Especially since it is not really their issue and is easily resolved by turning phantom power off for the channel. I have on,y heard recently of boards with no way to,turn off phantom power on individual channels or blocks of channels. I find that ludicrous and at first didn't believe it but multiple people have said this so I guess it is so. There are transformers you can buy to put on these board inputs that should do the trick but they probably are not real cheap. You could try the 1/4 inch outputs also. Another alternative though not a preferred work around would be to go into your channel insert but this also bypasses the channel preamp. This is not preferred but I do not think inserts carry phantom power. I truly hope there is a firmware fix but I highly doubt it.

I agree with you, but the point is L6 should respond. The way I see it there are 3 possibilities:

1) A firmware fix can solve it. Not very likely, but possible I guess.

2) L6 sees it as a problem and will mod the hardware. That either means later model HELIXes will be different to current models, or L6 would need to offer a warranty fix.

3) L6 doesn't see it as a problem and will not fix it. In this case, they should at least note it in the manual so everyone is aware of the issue going forward, instead of hair-tearing-out and possibly ruining gigs while people try to track down the issue on-site.

Although these threads are not the official place to note these things to L6, the fact is, they eventually do read them, as do we, and I am sure they are aware of the concern over the issue. The silence to me, is somewhat telling. Hopefully they will respond at some point so everyone knows where L6 stands. Even "we're not going to change the hardware, but we will note it in the manual so everyone knows what it might be when they get fizz with a HELIX on a gig".

There's no phantom power on the XLR outs, only on the XLR mic input. I think the defect you are referring to is the loss of audio output from the XLR outputs which hopefull is address by the first bullet item above.

No. He's referring to the thread talking about fizz created when phantom power from a board is applied to the XLR outs. Line 6 has been mostly silent on the issue.

http://line6.com/support/topic/17205-xlr-hiss-phantom-power-and-helix/

gentleman....you are all my hero.

 

Global EQ on

high freq brought back to 3 Khz and the fizzyness and harshness dissapeared!!!!!

Using the headphones and heard a huge imrovement on my rock tones. wow. And I adjusted just one (!) parameter.

Going to try it this afternoon with my l2m.

 

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also load 1.4.2, and make sure you reset the presets. There was a bug that had the SM57 on every preset, and that apparently sounded very harsh..

Perhaps, we'll see but I wouldn't be surprised if the Knowledge Base item is all we'll ever get on this one as I think this hiss problem is not solvable by software update...

At the very least, it should be in the manual so when people are at gigs they know what to do.

But still.................................  <_<

Yeah, I agree brainbug. It looks like a design flaw to me, and L6 is now in damage control, mostly by not talking about this problem too much. If they have no plans to fix the hardware, they need to update the manuals to specifically note this issue. Maybe they do plan to fix it, but don't want to tell people not to buy Helixes now. Either way, L6 needs to tell customers what they are planning to do, since if they do change the hardware, they will have to offer a warranty fix for existing units or lollipop off a whole lot of early adopters. And if they don't plan to change the hardware, they need to update the manuals ASAP to highlight this issue. So, what are your plans L6/Yamaha?

GC has put a hold on my account for that amount every week since I ordered. 

Ahh. Gotcha.

This is the reality of things. Retailers and companies like L6 need to accept and understand that. I don't appreciate spending money and having no idea whats happening to it for months on end. The last time GC had horrible communication with me regarding orders and customer service, it ended up costing them $500 in gift cards. Messing with my money is like messing with my emotions, man. haha

A lot of the online companies don't actually charge you anything until the order is about to be shipped to you, so there's nothing actually tied up, except emotions.

FWIW, Fractal Audio has often had long delays and a waiting list on new products. It doesn't seem to upset people quite so much. I am guessing that it is because they are seen as a much smaller company, and customers make allowances for them. Or maybe they handle customer expectations better through the use of their waiting list? Perhaps this is an opportunity for Line 6 to learn something from Fractal. Not that this helps anyone who is jonesing for their Helix right now.

really...great...have you got a link...? i´m on 1.04.1... 

It's a bit invisible, but the release notes on Oct 30 for v1.03 say:

"Improvements made to the factory preset bundle"

It was made clearer in this thread that this included the SM57 on all presets fix, which contributed a lot to people saying "the presets suck".

So, if you have >= v1.03, and they still suck, it's a different problem.