Lelik

I think this choice is more flexible, but there is an important point to consider, specially if you try to build your ideal EQ curve in a DAW with other VST plugins. The "Q" factor of Helix eq blocks is (much) wider than what you get with the same value on most (or any) EQ plugins. I mean that even with Q=10 you will affect a larger bandwidth, similar to Q=3 on EQ plugins. If I remember well when I tested it, in the Helix eq block Q=10 is about half octave bandwidth (instead of about 1/7 octave like with other EQ plugins I have).

I'd add that positioning the monitors properly is almost as important as the monitor itself. Ideally you should decouple them from the desktop, and put the tweeters at ear height. Then, listening as close as the speaker design allows helps: it reduces room interference to you ears (specially about low frequencies).

Very badly is too much. I agree that it's far from perfect (specially because after many updates it still doesn't detect the note when it is between two semitones, I mean when you're out of tune a lot), but I can use it and don't need anything else. Imho the best free IRs still available in the web are these: https://valhallir.at/shop/v2-teaserpack/ but you'll need anyway low and high cuts (very narrow limits if you use them live or in a loud band context; imho for example 100Hz / 4.5kHz aren't extreme in that context) The Helix stock cabs and mics are anyway usable too. If you don't play metal, my favorite "general" Helix sim is: 2x12 Match G25 with Shure SM7 mic (short distance about 2", and the same hi/lo cuts mentioned above). Or you can try the typical speakers and mics you are used to. And I don't agree about complex chains being necessary, even if like anything, if you want to fine-tune your tone, you may appreciate the possibilities that Helix can offer. My (rock music) complex chains generally have: - noise gate on in the input block (very low threshold, between 74-80 dB, it depends on my different guitars) - low/high cut block (some 120-160 Hz, only low cut) - a compressor (if any), with mix at 60-70% - one or two OD blocks (mainly Teemah, Dhyana, Minotaur, KWB) - modulation fx blocks (if any, mainly: Harmonic Tremolo, Ubiquitous Vibe, Deluxe Phaser) - the amp block (my favorite: Litigator, German Mahadeva, Archetype Clean, but I try also others sometimes just to change a little my tone) - the IR block (mostly just one far field IR, not available any longer in the web) or the stock Helix cab/mic mentioned earlier - delay (mainly Transistor Tape or Ducked Delay) - reverb (mostly legacy Plate or Glitz, very light mix about 15-20%) - Tile reverb: I turn it on only when I use headphones, because it helps to simulate a nice ambiance and with the above stuff, I get the best tones I have ever had in my last 30 years, and I enjoy a lot my beloved Helix!

Define usable... ;) (just kidding, but I didn't like those mid scooped IRs at all) I can speak about myself: 10 IRs slots are enough imho to play live, to get more consistent tones (when just 1 or 2 IRs are the typical situation). Maybe in a recording studio you may need (many) more, but in that case you can manage them by a PC or directly in your daw.

I like the V-Tron among the recent legacy effetcs. Even if it is not as extreme as the talkbox at all, imho it is very musical in a band mix.

Everybody has written very helpful information. I just want to add that in live music, I generally use only the plate reverb, with a very low mix, and anyway I use aggressive tone cuts (of the reverb) around 200Hz and 3kHz; in my opinion it is much better this way to avoid any harsh sound, and it also reduces the muddiness and confusion that the reverb can add on top of the natural reverb of the place where you play.

And that's the very important point that DunedinDragon was stressing. The Alto TS308 speaker has very good specs, but it doesn't have any bass adjustment that you'd need when you use the speaker on the floor as a wedge (unlike your placement on a stand). And it's a pity. On the contrary it has a "contour" switch boosting the highs and lows (a kind of the "loudness" switch we had in the old hi-fi systems), that is not useful for a guitar modeler use.

Most users would be ready to swear that, specially after the firmware 2.0, the tones of the existing amp sims improved. I think that Line6 has never confirmed that kind of change anyway. I have to say that in my case my favorite amp sims, and the ones I use regularly, were added later (Litigator, Archon clean, Cartographer), so I may say that Line6 improved the implementation of the amp sims after releasing the Helix hardware and its first firmware, but it could be accidental, too.

I agree with the remarks above, and I don't like how Helix handles the panning, either. In my case, I use some "synth" tones, and I made the decision to edit all my patches again to split the traditional guitar tone from the synth tone. I put the mono guitar tones on one channel (left) and the mono sinthy tones on the other channel (right). When I played at the rehearsal room, I found out that the volume was much lower and now I have to put the volume knob at the maximum level; I don't like it at all, because I don't have any chance to increase the volume a little more if/when I need it. I should re-program all of my patches to increase the volume, but then I should test each patch again in a live situation, because I don't think there is a safe/automatic way to increase the volume so that every patch keeps the same relative loudness. I'm disappointed about this point, even if I love my Helix a lot.

I'd say that it depends a lot on the volume and on the type of sound. Clean tones doesn't necessarily need a severe high cut, unlike hi-gain tones, because the fizz content is smaller. Nevertheless, I prefer to have the same IR (and the same hi-/lo-cuts) that I use both for clean tones, and medium-high distorted tones. And then the loudness is very important. Playing at gig level (that is live & loud) imho any hi-cut higher than about 6.5 kHz will give rather bad and fizzy tones, specially with a lot of overdrive. Obviously the same severe high-cut may be a little dull if you use headphones or studio/home monitors, even if now I'm getting used to that tone, and I like it.

The Grid Slammer pedal circuit is almost exactly the same as... TS9! Well, to be honest, the diodes arrangement is similar to Timmy, so there is a little change. In view of this, I suppose that it would add too little to the diversity of simulations. There are, on the contrary, interesting and original OD pedal circuits that are not covered at all in the Helix at present, such as: Zendrive, Boss OD-3, Subdecay Liquid Sunshine, Crowther Cake Overdrive, EHX Hot Tubes, Skreddy Screwdriver, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Barber Gain Changer, Ibanez MT-10, Emma Reezafratzitz. These, imho, would add a great value to the Helix, specially when it is used as a multi-fx pedalboard with a real guitar amp.

I'd suggest the Cartographer. Adjusting the gain levels you can get both very good cleans and distortion tones. Or the Litigator. Both amp sims work well with the guitar volume knob to get cleaner tones, without getting muddy. Or I also propose the wonderful Archon clean + an od pedal; I specially love the Timmy (sim) with it.

You're welcome, and I'm happy that you enjoy playing with it. Bon musique!

It's an original IR that I made (with a real Classic Lead 80 + e906). It isn't a commercial IR with some mods. But then, as I wrote, I made a lot (or even more) of post equalization. I mainly went to the rehearsal room (several different sessions), playing at high volume with backing tracks and using some different Helix patches (with my favorite amps: Archon Clean, Litigator and DC-30 with and without OD effects), and tweaked my IR till I was happy with the result, unconcerned about keeping the starting tone.

Playing at gig volume level, after trying the stock cabs (maybe not enough) I haven't been very happy with them, because (just imho) I needed also a lot of additional equalization. So at the end, for me, it's easier to try and find some good IRs for my use. I'd suggest to try some excellent free IRs that you can find here for example: https://valhallir.at/en/shop/valhallir-at-teaserbox/ At the end I bought some of these, and the Wolverine are great, including the ones in the free samples. For me their IRs are some of the best on the market. Unfortunately, at present https://www.cabir.eu/en doesn't offer any free sample anymore. They also have some excellent IRs; I love their "Orange" library and the mixes included with it. And for sure also https://www.ownhammer.com has very good IRs, but the free samples they have are - imho - slightly worse than most of their paid files, and I got many of them. I bought some 3SigmaAudio IRs, too, but I didn't like them because imho they were too mid-scooped and therefore not suitable at high volume level. I got the UK Custom and another one I don't remember now. Ymmv. What's more in each pack there are too few files that are someway too similar each other. For the same reason (mid-scooped) I didn't like the free Line6 Allure pack. You see: I went down the rabbit hole and spent even too much money on IR files! Currently anyway I'm using mainly (or even only) my own IR file. If you like, you can download it here: http://ge.tt/1MT9wem2 It comes from a Celestion Classic Lead 80 with a Sennheiser e906 mic, but then I tweaked it a lot (with equalization, hi- and lo-pass filters, etc.) so that at the end it is probably rather far from the standard speaker and mic. I gave this IR to a friend of mine who was struggling to find a good live tone, and he was very happy with it, too. I use it with clean tones and low/medium/high-medium distortion (no metal) tones.

I had the Helix LT and it wasn't nice to move it. At the end I always grabbed it from the expression pedal, and I'm afraid it wasn't a very "safe" way. Now I have the Helix floor, and thanks to its rounded shape on the sides, it's much easier and natural to lift it up for me.

I tried with the synth/pitch effects (legacy and newer ones) but I could not get anything very useful and tuneful. My target is to play the lead violin of Bittersweet Symphony (the Verve). I don't care to get a real violin sound, I'd just like something at least slightly different from a distorted guitar tone. If you have any suggestion (also about Custom tones that I could download) I will appreciate a lot!

Thanks a lot for this information! By the way it worked with my registered Helix Floor, and I got Native, too!!!

Thanks for your information. But if I understand well you're using both XLR and 1/4" outputs in stereo, so I'm sure in that case there's no problem. On the contrary I'd use the XLR outputs (stereo) but with only one 1/4" channel (left mono) and what I don't know is if the XLR and 1/4" outputs are completely independent so that using one of them in mono works when you use the other in stereo.

I can't try quickly because I don't have cables and devices available, so I try to ask here. My target is to make my patches this way: when I have some "synth" tones or "oscillators", I'd like to send the guitar tone to one channel (let's say "right") and the synth tone to the opposite channel (left for example). And then from Helix I'd use both XLR outputs (L and R) to go into the mixer with two separate channels so that they can mix the two sounds more properly (and anyway panning both centrally). But at the same time, I'd like to have a stereo-to-mono summing in the left 1/4" output connected to my own monitor so that I can hear all the sounds coming from my Helix through my single mono monitor. Does it work this way? Or if I use both the XLR right and left "stereo" outputs, the 1/4" output is not mono anymore (or even viceversa)? And if it works as I hope, do I have a problem of different volume if I edit one patch with the guitar tone panned 100% to just one channel vs the same fx chain panned to the centre?

I'd suggest to consider the Floor version because it is more robust that the LT, even if Line6 is very efficient in assisting any user (abroad too) when a problem arises. However it is not water proof... Snapshots are a very practical and powerful tool to overcome the lag changing presets. You can consider that in one preset you can also place more than one amp (it depends on the "weight" of the other effects, but I have some presets with even 4 different amp models!) so that it means that the snapshots could really replace the need to use some different presets. I agree anyway that changing presets during a song is not recommended, because the change is very noticeable: it's not only a matter of silent gap (that is very short), but the fact is that the "loading" of the new patch is slow, so that - specially in case of complex presets - it seems like you start playing an analog/tube amp while it is still turning on, with a slow start and then the sound/tone changes slowly till it reaches the proper and expected settings.

The DS-1 has a circuit that is rather different from the other OD models in the Helix. One important characteristic of the DS-1 is that it cuts (a lot) the mid frequencies; there is a big void between 300Hz and 1000Hz, that is very similar to the typical mid scooped tone of the Big Muff. But since the Big Muff has a different distortion voice, maybe with the Helix you could get closer to the DS-1 using the SD9 (Hedgehog) and with an additonal eq to cut the mid frequencies I mentioned (and you could try to place this equalizer before or after the OD effect to hear what you prefer; I'd even suggest to try it before the od stompbox with a more aggressive cut).

Thank you very much for your helpful information! It was pretty simple, but - I don't know why - I didn't think about it, because I'm used to the "knob hold-down" only when I assign something to a switch or to a snapshot. PS: ops, I see now that I have two different profiles here in this forum and I thanked from the other one. Well, it doesn't matter. Thank you anyway!

Thanks! It's a very interesting and practical information. Much better than the usual explanation I already read many times without understanding the effects. Even if I could not put together such a good understanding, I can say that mostly on my presets, I prefer: high master volume, low sag, medium or low bias, and high bias-X. And I mainly use the Soldano crunch, the Litigator, the DC-30 and the Archon Clean; I still have to try the latest amp sims (added with 2.30 fw). I mean everything at loud volume (practice room or live). With headphones or low volume monitors, it could be different.

You're just beginners.... :P I tweaked with many many changes an amp model (at loud volume), I noted that the changes of many parameters didn't affect a lot the sound, but you know: when the volume is loud some differences are just subtle. After a while I finally saved the preset, because I thought I had found a good version. And at that moment, I realized that I was tweaking the second amp model in my preset and it was in bypass mode...