JazzInc

Actually, on my system there is a clear difference of adding the studio preamp, giving it a richer, thicker and smoother tone. However, I have found the putting it right after the amp sounds even better, and it takes some of the fizz away when you do any type of overdrive or pedals.

 

As for putting any time based pedals after the amp, but before the speaker, that's almost the same as putting it in the effects loop of an amp. Putting these sort of things before the amp and also before something like a tube screamer affects the way the tube screamer and amp work together

 

Did you use the Redwirez mixIR2 software to do that?

Yes!

Jazzinc- I'd really be interested to now where you got the IR you used in your preset. Thanks!

Thanks. I actually made it myself mixing a bunch of IRs from redwirez. My favorite is the last one I posted with a bit of room mic mixed in. Feels very much like an amp in the room and works on many patches

BTW, Digital_Igloo, is there a sort of Digital clipping indicator on the Helix? I'm used to that from my AxeFx. Now I set up a screaming Tweed patch with LP and it sounds good through the L2t but awful through my in-ears.

 

• Assign all three blocks (both Tube Screamers and the Mic Pre) to the same footswitch.
• Touch the switch repeatedly to select the first Tube Screamer (or use the joystick).
• Press the BYPASS button. Now pressing the footswitch will toggle the enable/bypass state of all three blocks.

I think I've found sort of a pattern. Helix froze up on me half a dozen times over the past couple of days, and invariably I was in pedal edit mode when it happened. To be fair, building and tweaking my patches, I spent quite a bit of time there, but it seems more than a coincidence.

 

Another bug is that when I change impulse response patches, the toe switch gets assigned as a controller for the IR, so whenever I tweak a patch with a different IR, as soon as I hit the wah pedal, my IR gets bypassed until I fix it and save it and then it goes away until I do a different IR.

Here is the link to the taylor IR.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1XgNa5vH3j1ZkVoTFJLQ241WTg/view

Here is the link to the taylor IR.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1XgNa5vH3j1ZkVoTFJLQ241WTg/view

That is correct. I use a customized patch on the Variax. I take the 12 string dreadnought and take off the six octave strings.

I have found using a good blend of my Redwirez IRs into the 2048 mono IR on helix makes a lot of difference. 

 

Try it for yourself:

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/MU67-Web121-noEQ-Room20.wav

 

I made it for this patch. Put it in IR position 15 on your Helix for it to work properly:

http://www.familieas...eRevTwoRock.hlx

 

NOTE ON SOME COMPUTERS, IT WILL SAVE THE PRESET WITH THE EXTENSION .HLX.TXT. JUST DELETE THE .TXT PART AND YOU'RE DONE

For those of you who want to hear it: I recorded the my new Variax Standard with upgraded Don Mare SuperSport pickups into the Helix (VDI input) using this patch with the last of the IRs I posted straight into Logic Pro on my Macbook. No editing! I have posted both the soundcloud and the original uncompressed wav. During the take, I switch from the magnetic Don Mare pickups to the Variax Firebird neck humbucker and Variax Les Paul Humbucker back to magnetics. I think it all sounds very impressive even though the playing is sloppy. This thing is addictive like nothing else was for me before. And I never got such a convincing recording of my electric guitar and amp without actually micing up my best Two Rock. Never got this far with my AxeFx2. 

 

I look forward to your feedback. Please keep in mind these are raw direct recordings with no post processing or EQing like you would do on an actual recording. 

 

https://soundcloud.com/joost-assink/line-6-helix-two-rock-cleanish-from-variax-standard

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/HelixTwoRockCleanish.wav

 

And just for fun, here is a rough, unedited, un-eqed recording of my Variax Standard through VDI into my Line 6 Helix, straight into Logic Pro, no effects, no editing. I used a Taylor 314e Impulse Response that is floating around the net:

 

https://soundcloud.com/joost-assink/line-6-helix-acoustic-patch-using-variax-standard-with-taylor314ce-ir

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/HelixAcoustic.wav

For those of you who want to hear it: I recorded the my new Variax Standard with upgraded Don Mare SuperSport pickups into the Helix (VDI input) using this patch with the last of the IRs I posted straight into Logic Pro on my Macbook. No editing! I have posted both the soundcloud and the original uncompressed wav. During the take, I switch from the magnetic Don Mare pickups to the Variax Firebird neck humbucker and Variax Les Paul Humbucker back to magnetics. I think it all sounds very impressive even though the playing is sloppy. This thing is addictive like nothing else was for me before. And I never got such a convincing recording of my electric guitar and amp without actually micing up my best Two Rock. Never got this far with my AxeFx2. 

 

I look forward to your feedback. Please keep in mind these are raw direct recordings with no post processing or EQing like you would do on an actual recording. 

 

https://soundcloud.com/joost-assink/line-6-helix-two-rock-cleanish-from-variax-standard

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/HelixTwoRockCleanish.wav

 

And just for fun, here is a rough, unedited, un-eqed recording of my Variax Standard through VDI into my Line 6 Helix, straight into Logic Pro, no effects, no editing. I used a Taylor 314e Impulse Response that is floating around the net:

 

https://soundcloud.com/joost-assink/line-6-helix-acoustic-patch-using-variax-standard-with-taylor314ce-ir

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/HelixAcoustic.wav

If you want more air and room, try this IR:

There is no MP3 attached. That WAV file is the impulse response file you need to make the patchwork. Use the Helix software application to upload the patch in the impulse response file, make sure you put it in position 15.

Ok, I've been REALLY enjoying Helix and after two days with it, I have found some killer tones. I do not regret selling my Axe. I want to share with you my favourite Fender/Two Rock clean I've made. A good IR really makes a lot of difference. So if you load this preset. Please make sure you also download the IR below and put it in position 15 of your IR presets.

Get a fender strat and tell me what you think!! Sounds great on my Focal professional monitors. Right click and download as:

NOTE ON SOME COMPUTERS, IT WILL SAVE THE PRESET AS .HLX.TXT. JUST DELETE THE .TXT PART AND YOU'RE DONE

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/FenderDeluxeRevTwoRock.hlx

http://www.familieassink.com/documents/JOOSTALNICO-G12M-R121-U67.wav

You rock Digital Igloo!! This is one powerful machine!!!

Yes. 8 TEMPLATES > 02C TwoTones A-B has it set up, ready to go, with spillover delay and reverb. If you'd prefer to smoothly blend between paths with the expression pedal, select 8 TEMPLATE > 02D Two Tones Blend.

OK, I have a sort of advanced question. BTW, I am thoroughly enjoying spending hours behind my helix, and the foot editing is a game changer! Even more so than the other stuff in the interface.

 

Anyway, in my fender bassman patch I have a tube screamer on for my bluesy sound. However, I have found that if you combine the tube screamer with a tube mic pre set to line level, you also get a great sound. So, I've set up a second tube screamer with the exact same settings on a 'multiple' button together with that tube preamp. So I have a separate tube screamer for my basic blues sound in the other tube screamer to come on with the studio tube pre.

 

My question is, how can I turn off my basic tube screamer when I hit the 'multiple' switch. Or, how can I turn off The first tube screamer when I am activating the second on the multiple button?

Yes, that did it! I was doing everything on path one, because I read about the dynamic DSP, figuring moving it to a different path would make no difference. It made all the difference. Now I can have everything I need in a single present. Thanks! Now this is working I have no regrets about selling my ace fx 2!

 

Helix has roughly 2.45x the DSP horsepower of HD500X (2.75x that of HD500), but because the models are a lot more DSP-intensive, in practice, you're looking at getting about 40-50% more blocks than HD500X (50-60% more than HD500). But it's not that simple. The input blocks have noise gates, a lot of models have high and low cut filters, and because of the HX engine, one typically requires a lot fewer blocks to get the sound they want.

 

I've mentioned this plenty of times before, but if one tries to use 4 amps, they probably won't have enough DSP for more than a couple of effects maybe. Whereas if you use no amps, cabs, or IRs, you might get 32 effects, as long as they aren't all reverbs, pitch-shifters, and other DSP-intensive models.

 

A lot of people also seem to forget about Path 2. That's half your horsepower!

 

Page 19 of the Owner's Manual has tips and tricks on getting the most out of Helix's DSP.

Correct. We do this on purpose, in case this happens:

 

• Open the Customize screen for a Simple Delay block. See "Simple Delay" as the default label.
• Think "Oh, that's kinda cool. I can customize stuff. Maybe later," and close the window by pressing Knob 6 (OK) instead of Knob 1 (Cancel).
• Change the delay model to Mod/Chorus Echo. The big screen reads the new model but the scribble strip still reads "Simple Delay." WHA?!

Now if you accidentally press Knob 6 (OK) without changing anything, Helix knows you probably didn't want to change the label, and doesn't apply anything.

What's scary is that Helix is chock full of intelligent rules like this. It's an INSANE amount of work to get things to just work the way a user might expect. The easier something is to use, the harder it is to develop.

I just got to my helix. I am very excited, probably one of the very first in Europe. Mostly it delivers on its promise. It is very easy to edit and the tones are definitely there. Even some of the factory patches work for me which is a first for me.

 

However, here's my question, digital igloo, I seem to run out of DSP very fast where it was never a problem with me before on other platforms. Even if I just want to add an impulse response to one of the fender factory patches, the 2048 is grayed out, and other factory patches, I cannot even add an impulse response without deleting one of the other effects. I've never even come close to 10 effects, let alone the 32, so what am I doing wrong?

I started a thread, but maybe it's better to post it in the FAQ, so moderators, you can delete the thread if you want. So here's my questions

 

Best Way to connect Helix, Digital or Analog: Sound Quality and Latency (with Variax and L2t)

 

Yes. Helix has no output modes, by design. Some people will split their cabs to separate outputs so that connecting to FRFR vs. power amp+cabs is as simple as hooking up a different output.

 

1M causes the least amount of confusion. That's the only reason we chose to default to it. Personally, I choose Auto as well.

 

We already know how this might be able to work in the future; add it to IdeaScale so we can vote it up!  :)

@Digital_Igloo

Ok, so here's my setup: Variax Standard (with upgraded Don Mare pickups and custom neck), Helix (incoming), Line 6 L2t.

 

TO HELIX:

I wonder whether to use the Variax VDI or analog connection (because the convertors and the dynamic range in Helix) to connect to Helix?

 

FROM HELIX:

And should I use the L6 Digital Link to the L2t or Analog? Again, to use the convertors of the Helix and to have the control of my mixer input on the L2t.

 

In short, going all digital from variax to L2t means less conversion, but then I don't use the AD/DA quality and dynamic range from Helix.

 

Going all analog would leverage that, but also mean more conversion steps.

 

So which would give me best sound quality and lowest latency?

With my Firehawk, I hear a difference between the VDI and analog cable (less hifi in the latter), and overall, I also notice latency with the firehawk and variax, especially on the acoustic models somehow.

OK, thanks. That makes more sense, because it sounded very realistic, so some of it must've been the original acoustic guitar coming through. I would sure love to hear your best take on the Variax acoustics into the helix

Phil, is that Fly me to the moon really done with an acoustic IR?! And your Variax? What setting and patch?

You bet Geeman.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1XgNa5vH3j1ZkVoTFJLQ241WTg/view

Great! Thanks Darryl. Can you maybe share your patch as well? What do you have in the signal chain? Also, what acoustic model are you using on the Variax? I have a Variax standard with the helix incoming this week.