mdmayfield

I hate to be yet another wet blanket on this, but that's also not possible. The modeling depends on having 6 separate audio channels - one for each string. (The modeling as a whole, not just the alternate tunings. Each string must be processed differently due to pickup angle, etc.) The digital audio signal send on the VDI connection is mixed down to two mono channels: one for the Variax model and one for the magnetic pickups. (Under the hood it's an AES/EBU 2-channel digital audio stream, as per some info Line 6 released 10+ years ago for making custom wiring for wireless MIDI.) So there's no way to get at the 6 separate audio streams outside of the Variax electronics, and no way to send it 6 channels of per-string audio except through the strings themselves. Well... if you wanted to find a really experienced electrical engineer, you could create a crazy custom Frankensteinian system where a tap is taken off of each piezo pickup, one for each string, to be recorded separately... Then on playback, turn off the physical piezos and feed the recorded signal back into the Variax electronics. But that sounds like a nightmare of engineering complexity with level- and impedance-matching and other unforeseen horrors.

Thank you for the insight!

Thank you for describing your similar issue! - I only noticed this on the models; I didn't check the magnetic pickups - Magnetic pickups are stock in my JTV-69 (HSS) - This JTV had its wiring ("User Interface" as FC describes it) replaced a few years ago (under warranty) to fix a model knob switch issue - The volume pot has lately become scratchy/noisy in the typical analog way when running mag pickups through 1/4" jack - I haven't noticed any issues until yesterday with the models (I rarely use the magnetic pickups) I'm not an EE, but I have a few thoughts: - There must be some kind of "smoothing" with the way the modeling engine interprets the motion of the pots - The symptoms (slowly "coasting" to a stop, not reaching the endpoints) seem like they must involve that smoothing - i.e. Either the smoothing goes wrong somehow, or a scratchy pot's erratic voltage changes confuse it - If part or all of the smoothing is done in the analog domain, it must involve a capacitor --> I see there's a little tiny cap on the PCB for the volume pot --> Maybe a fleck of metal debris was shorting it or something Yes I would love to hear if psarkissian has experience with this issue... I bet someone with that kind of knowledge could say "Oh, that sounds like xyz is happening in such-and-such part of the process, so you probably just need to replace this."

Are you trying to do this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVnznLc6KNQ That shows what you describe being done on an HD500 with pretty good results. On the Helix I haven't tried exactly that, but the pitch shifting I've done sounds good. In one song I regularly use an octave-plus-3rd (10th) harmony, and the only drawback is that it sounds a little "chipmunk-y" (i.e. the pitch shifting algorithm has no formant correction). To compensate, I use a low pass (high cut) EQ on that path.

So.... I took apart my JTV-69 and sprayed some compressed air on the volume pot's PCB. Now it's working fine. I have no idea if the compressed air was what made a difference, or if there was some strange software thing going on, or what. - It probably wasn't software, at least within the JTV, since I tried unplugging and replugging the VDI - It consistently followed by blue JTV, and when I tried my sunburst one in the Helix it behaved properly, then switching back to the blue one, the blue one didn't work right again - Other than taking it apart, nothing else changed besides powering down the Helix and turning it back on So I have no clear explanation for why it didn't work, nor for why it works now. :-/ I will post any other updates to this thread, in case it helps someone in the future.

Here's a one-minute video demonstrating the strange behavior: https://youtu.be/lloyXGpVdFo

My JTV-69's volume knob has stopped being able to reach 0% or 100%, and it also takes extra time for the software to reflect the knob's actual position. If I hook it up to the computer with a MIDI monitor, I can see it happening. This guitar is well out of warranty, but I'm comfortable fixing it myself having built several Variax 300 and 500 transplants. Should I just order one of these? http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/240928-Line-6-50-02-0321 Or has anyone seen this behavior before and know how to fix it? Thanks, Matt

Yes, x 100. So many people underestimate just how insanely much usable dynamic range is available with modern equipment. I recorded a rehearsal in multitrack once where something went wrong with the kick drum channel, which ended up recording peaking at like -48dBFS. I figured it would be unusable noisy trash, but when mixing I checked the channel and boosted it by the necessary 40+ dB, and it was just fine - perfectly acceptable (very low) levels of noise. That lesson has really stuck with me, since it means that clipping ALWAYS sounds like total trash IMMEDIATELY... but low levels (when recording 24-bit on clean equipment) are EXTREMELY forgiving. So, in live sound, while -48dBFS peaks are much lower than you'd ever want, it goes to show that there's no need to bend over backwards trying to get "as hot an input as possible without clipping". In fact it's often self-defeating.

Yes it should, but the tricky part is getting it exactly the same. One way to calibrate your interface would be: 1. Connect a hardware Helix to the computer by USB 2. Set up an empty (blank) patch in the Helix 3. Connect a cable tester with tone generator to the Guitar In of the Helix 4. Use a DAW to measure the exact level of the test tone (in dBFS) coming into the computer via USB 5. Switch to the other audio interface on the computer 6. Connect the cable tester / tone generator to the other interface 7. Adjust the input gain of the new interface so the test tone exactly matches the level it was from the Helix That should at least get you within 1dB, or closer depending on your DAW's metering. In that case the tone should be extremely similar to the hardware Helix - best case, indistinguishable. The most likely difference I'd expect would be that the other interface's input might be a bit noisier than the Helix, which could become noticeable on high-gain patches, but most modern interfaces are clean enough that it's not usually an issue except in delicate/exposed parts with few or no other instruments playing.

I'm extraordinarily happy with the Helix, and don't see anything anybody has said here so far that I disagree with. My 2 cents would be to start with a "less is more" approach. Build some patches with NOTHING but an amp, and play around with just that one amp for a bit. Then add ONE pedal and get a sense of how to assign bypasses, etc. It's also an excellent audio interface and if you are into custom MIDI stuff you can assign pedals to MIDI notes or CC's, then have them trigger actions or scripts in Reaper or another DAW. That's what I'm doing to control click tracks + coordinated lights/video for a Pink Floyd tribute. No separate foot controller necessary!

Thank you very much for a well-reasoned, clear, and respectful argument. I still don't personally agree that the tuner is a problem because it works fine for me, but you make a lot of fair points. My preference would be that Line 6 put more R&D effort into things like convenience tweaks to the Looper (i.e. press Undo to cancel recording the first loop) and more advanced routing features (i.e. allow sending USB direct to Aux outputs, or mix Aux inputs to outputs, with no A or B path needed); but I could imagine a benefit for a decent number of people if they added a "time smoothing" option to the tuner.

You can also (no snapshots required) use a footswitch to toggle between two settings on an existing effect - like change a delay time between short and long without having to activate or bypass anything.

This whole thing stems from the way that vibrating guitar strings REALLY DO vary in pitch constantly within a few cents, and the small upper meter on the Helix tuner is zoomed in enough, and time-responsive enough, to accurately reveal the chaotic physics of the string. Other tuners - including the large lower meter on the Helix tuner - "blur" the overall pitch of the string in order to show a more slow-moving, but less detailed, display. If the small meter moving around is too distracting, see what it's like if you put something over the screen to hide the small meter from view. You might find that it works well to tune using only the big lower one, and can then get used to ignoring the small upper one.

It's not too likely that this had to do with the Helix specifically - in my experience, this sounds like microphonic pickups in your guitar, in which case this would have happened with any guitar rig at the same volume and with a similar tone. By microphonic I mean pickups that are not only picking up the strings' vibration magnetically (mostly lows and mids), but also airborne acoustic sound (including highs). That's what causes the annoying mic-like squeal instead of more musical guitar-ish feedback. Usually this is caused by loose coil windings in the pickup. The increased stage volume compared to your first gig would explain why it happened only on the second gig. If you have a rehearsal place where you can turn up without annoying neighbors or having the police arrive, the problem should be pretty easy to reproduce.

Another thing people sometimes forget is that software piracy is different from stealing. It's still bad, still dishonest, still illegal, but it's a different thing. With actual stealing of physical items, the seller is deprived of BOTH the money from the sale AND the actual item itself. With software piracy, the seller is POTENTIALLY (not necessarily) deprived of ONLY the money from the sale - they have infinite copies available to sell. More importantly, using restrictive copy protection indicates an attitude of fear and scarcity, and punishes paying customers while rewarding pirates. Leaving out the copy protection, and just not worrying about it (realizing that 1 pirated copy ≠1 lost sale), indicates an attitude of confidence and abundance, and it treats paying customers with respect. Look at REAPER, the DAW. They have 0 copy protection, and allow you to use the full-featured demo as long as you want. It's on the honor system. You can install it on any computer and immediately use all the features - and you can bet that I paid for it immediately. I'm SO happy with that company because they treat me with trust. I can copy my license to any computer I want to use it on, and they trust me. That's huge, and loyalty-inspiring. In contrast, Slate plugins are on iLok, and after paying hundreds of dollars for them, one day my iLok crapped out and all the sudden I couldn't use the software I paid for. iLok charged a bunch of money for a replacement. They treated me (a PAYING HONEST CUSTOMER) like dirt. If it had been cracked and I were using a cracked version, this NEVER would have happened. As a result, I am thoroughly disgusted with iLok and will never buy a product again that uses it. (How's that for lost sales?) So the companies have to weigh what makes them the most money and how they want to relate to their customers - treating the customers well and writing off some piracy (or shenanigans with returning hardware for a discount), vs. harming and disrespecting their paying customers, to ineffectively hold back *some* piracy (again, when many of those pirates would NOT have purchased the product anyway).

Take a page from REAPER and Steam, and don't punish honest paying customers with idiotic and obstructive copy protection. :wacko: I've been burned by iLok before and as much as I can help it I avoid products that use it.

No complaints here if that's added as an option, but personally I wouldn't end up using it. In case you find it interesting or helpful, this is because I always play in one of two modes of thinking - either: 1) There's a set list and every sound is pre-set exactly how I want it (usually one preset per song); or 2) It's off-the-cuff in a casual situation where people call out tunes and I'm dialing in sounds live as if through a traditional amp. If 1), then every preset involved is trying to duplicate a sound for a cover, so every sound has a Variax model deliberately chosen and "forced" inside the preset. If 2), then I'm just using one general preset anyway with a variety of pedals, and switching manually through the Variax models from the instrument, so it is never forced elsewhere anyway. I dunno if that's helpful food for thought, or if your use-case disqualifies those approaches, but that's what I imagine they were assuming when designing the "specific model vs. Don't Force" setup.

Yes, but only on OSes that don't already have a built-in driver for USB Class Compliant audio devices. For example, you don't need a driver for the Helix on macOS or Linux, because those have USB CC audio support built in, but you do need one on Windows. Last I saw, Android has some limited support for USB CC audio, but not very extensive. AFAICT that seems consistent with the idea that Android can *see* the Helix but can't actually *use* it, because of the limited built-in driver.

Android can probably see the Helix since its audio interface component is USB Class Compliant. My educated guess as to why it's not working on Android is that Helix uses a more advanced / less common part of the USB audio class standard which Android doesn't implement at this time.

Device-specific drivers are *not* always better than Class Compliant drivers. It's very possible that, for Mac system versions that *do* work properly with the Helix, the Class Compliant drivers really do have better performance and lower latency. The Helix Mac driver was only created because some specific versions of OSX / macOS didn't interact properly with the Helix. If those versions of OSX didn't have this incompatibility problem, Line 6 would never have even created a Mac driver, because the Helix is a Class Compliant device and is intended to work with the built-in CC drivers. I haven't kept up with the latest macOS versions, but I believe that these issues were resolved on the Apple side in recent macOS updates, so Helix should now work well in Class Compliant mode. Apple has a much larger driver development team than Line 6 and would have had the resources to put many more person-hours into testing and refining the CC drivers than Line 6 would have for the device-specific driver. If your version of macOS is not showing any major problems with them, I would suggest using the Class Compliant drivers.

So far as I've experienced, transparent A/D converters are pretty much a commodity nowadays, and the difference between low and high end has become smaller and smaller. If using the same outboard preamp, I'd be surprised if any of us could pass a level-matched blind ABX test comparing any two post-2012, over-$100 audio interfaces. Even preamps are a really subtle difference when compared to mic choice, mic positioning, room acoustics, mix choices, effects settings, etc., etc. The Helix converters are extremely low noise - I seem to remember hearing that they use a clever technique involving two converters on one signal at the same time to drop the noise floor several dB lower than usual. The Helix mic preamp is clean and neutral and I have no complaints about its sound quality. As others have mentioned above, latency (if using software monitoring) and number of ins/outs are the main things to consider in my opinion.

That's really interesting, and the first I've heard of it in context of the Helix. Where did you find that out?

"Unfortunately" = engineer thinking (want to analyze/debug to find a confirmed fix) instead of normal people thinking (just want the problem to go away). ;)

That is consistent with some of my experiences. Once I had a patch with a footswitch that changed the Variax model, and whenever I hit that footswitch *while simultaneously changing the Variax 5-way switch* the Helix consistently locked up. Unfortunately I cannot seem to reproduce the issue anymore after updating the firmware (thus rebuilding patches).

Do you mean you adjust the master volume many times a show/rehearsal, after each patch switch? That works, but personally I've found it much easier and more convenient to always leave Master Volume at maximum, and set the mixer or speakers the Helix is going into to an overall preferred volume. Then I save each patch with its overall level adjusted appropriately (either at the amp's Channel Volume, the Output block's Gain adjustment, or at the last effect block in the path). Sometimes it takes a couple of rehearsals or gigs to dial it in perfectly, but once it's dialed in it's "set and forget." Also, it's pretty easy to adjust the patch volume hands-free - that's where the foot edit mode is really useful.