davidb7170

Great Job!!

+1, DI that's the general method I used. Worked for me.

I've mentioned this before -- I found the harshness is due to my PA/Monitor speaker I use for stage volume was full range, but not flat response. The patches (even the demo patches) sounded good in the headphones, but not good through the speaker. Turns out the PA speaker has a midrange - vocal response "hump". I used the global EQ to find it and found I needed to cut about 8 dB at 3 kHz, and used a Q value of about 1.7 to get it to sound like the headphones. Now this is for my speaker, and I believe it could be different frequency and magic dB level cut for other brands & models. Once I did that, the harsh fizzy tones were vastly reduced, and I'm a happy camper - my JTV's sound much better, too. Side note - to help the JTV models out further, I found the Helix speaker & mic model and placement helps tons as well. They are a lot more natural sounding with the Global EQ and Helix amp/speaker/mic model tweaks I've done... Ideally, a spectrum analyzer could be used for the EQ speaker adjustment, but I just tweaked and compared to what I wanted. I made no other changes in low cut, low frequency, high frequency or high cut. I also assigned the Global EQ only to my 1/4" output line level send to my stage amplifier for that speaker. I do not have any EQ on the mic-level XLR send(s) to the FOH. So far the sound folks love the sound of my send to them. Dave

Umm... Don't think so.... I loaded Helix FW 1.06.0 with the prior Line6 Updater version 1.04, and it worked fine. Helix FW 1.06.0 was released 01/26/16, and the Updater Version 1.07 was released 02/02/16 -- I believe I updated the Helix prior to 02/02. It might be necessary for future FW updates, though. I am running Win8.1 64-Bit, so don't know if that's a factor... I did update to the Helix App Version 1.03 before backing up my Set lists for the firmware update -- that one was released the same day as the new Firmware and was necessary for the process. The Helix Rack FW 1.06.2 was released the same day as the Updater version 1.07 -- the Updater update was to support the newer hardware (Helix Rack, Firehawk 1500, and the new wireless), I believe. The process went smooth for me, though, I did have the Helix App trigger my antivirus -- was not digitally signed properly by Line 6, and I installed it anyway (didn't like to, but I did). I downloaded the Updater version 1.07 a day or so ago, and IT also triggered my antivirus - saying it is not digitally signed by Line 6! C'mon guys -- get'er done right!! Digitally sign the new stuff so it doesn't give us heartburn, alright? I have not yet installed the new Installer, probably this weekend. Will probably uninstall 1.04 first -- makes sense, and won't hurt to do that. Just not looking forward to the nerve-wracking prospect of having warnings going off when I install version 1.07.... Dave

Yup, just downloaded the Line6 Update 1.07 installer -- shown as corrupt or invalid due to not being properly digitally signed.... sigh.... Dave

Same here -- Win8.1, but with the latest Helix App preparing for doing the 1.06.0 FW update. The FW update was fine with the installer that was current until this new one. Have not tried to install the new installer just out, yet. First time I ran into that with L6 software.... Was a bit alarmed, but like you swallowed hard and did it anyway, and it worked.... Would rather not have to go through that, though. Dave

Another piece of the puzzle is where you may be in respect to broadcast towers. I used to locate & remedy RFI (radio frequency interference) for my utility, and have run into some pretty heavy signal strengths in near proximity to AM, FM, and TV transmitters. I had FM radio coming out on a (in my opinion) cheap phone in my house (my wife likes how it looks retro.... ). I solved that one by installing a DSL phone filter (for digital DSL lines the phone co's provide). Anyway if you're close to a tower, the high RF energy can beat in on quite a few electronics... With digital TV now, the typical RFI issues have diminished. some of the biggest RFI hash producers are light dimmers and PC's, routers, etc., but your problem is radio coming out of electronics (that aren't radios). The 3 to 2 prong adapters are NOT a good idea. You may want to get one of those plug in socket checkers with the LED lights that tell you if your socket (or wiring) is right. It will show if the hot and neutral are reversed, or if your ground (the 3rd wire) is connected properly. If is messed up, get an electrician to trace it out and correct it. They're available at most hardware stores. Problematic grounding is the source of a lot of troubles. Another 2 cents thrown into the pot.... Dave

I also have that in my 69S springs, and I do believe it is to keep the springs from ringing. Dave

One additional note - I've also been fighting the tonality of both my 2010 59 & 2012 69S for quite some time, finding not problems with the low E so much as the D, G, & B strings being plunky. I am a user of the mags probably 80 - 90% of the time, because they sound so good to me - the dynamics & tone. I have messed with the individual string volumes on a per model basis, and with different cap and pot values in HD Workbench, but never quite got it there to compete with the mags. The ones I did not have trouble with are the acoustics, never noticed the plunky-ness with those. I do set up EQ & compression, etc with the acoustics and have gotten some very good patches with those, but they do not have an amp model on my HD500(X) or now on my Helix -- very happy with those. I found the plunky problem on my clean amp patches - super clean Fender models, etc. - the mags sound great, but the JTV electric models, not so much. 2 things I found - 1) I use my Global EQ to flatten the response of my PA/Monitor speaker I use -- found it to be Full Range, but NOT Flat Response - it has a midrange vocal emphasis. I cut the 1/4" outs only to my Quilter Tone Block 200 amp & Yorkville Speaker at 3 kHz to -8dB with Q = 1.7, to compensate for the midrange vocal emphasis. 2) I found the amp model microphone to have a big influence on the plunky attack of the JTV models, and found the Speaker Cabs' normal mic set up - especially the 57 to make the plunky-ness stand out. I tried other mic models and have had very good results with the ribbon 121 and the 414 condenser for very clean patches. The distortion and overdrive amp patches I have don't really seem to have the plunky JTV model string issues in my set up, maybe they just get masked by the distortion or compression going on. Mic placement also influences the affect of the mics on the problem. In short, the problem in my set up at least has more than one culprit. Not all issues are just to do with the guitar. Anyway, thought I'd throw this out there, too. Dave

Well sort of... I have a few patches where I have used one path for my acoustic model with my favorite acoustic setup -- compressor, EQ's, reverb, and delay for the JTV model, with the input set to Variax Model only, then the other path set to my JTV mags only, and set a switch to mute one path and un-mute the other path, using a gain block. I switch between the mags and the model within the same path, and set the Variax path to choose the appropriate model and tuning. I could see setting 2 inputs to the same amp model on a path, using a switching scheme to opt for the mags or model for 2 contrasting electrics as well. But to change between 2 different models in the same patch, no... You'd need 2 different patches at this point. I love the sound of my mags on both my 59 and my 69S, though I set up 2 groups of similar patches due to the level and tone differences between the mags of the 2 JTV's so I can switch from one to the other if I break a string, or between sets if I just want to play one or the other. Dave

Just throwing this out there.... In the shop isn't really a great place to be impressed with anything. Guitar Center, and most other music stores have so many shredders right next to you, that you can't really hear what's going on with what you're trying out, and the typical sales people don't often know enough about a new tech piece of gear to be much help. If you plug this thing into what ever guitar amp they have there at the moment, it probably won't sound to great. At the very least, if you're going to limit it to an in-store demo, plug some decent head phones into it instead, then try the stock patches... I got mine, and found I had to flatten the response of my speaker with the Global EQ to try to get closer to what I was hearing through the headphones before it made me smile. I had to live with it for a bit before the light came on. My culprit was my speaker -- found it was full range, but not flat response -- made all the difference in the world for me. My 2 cent's worth. Dave

I had a few sounds that I wanted to duplicate, and did find it pretty useful to fire up my HD500(X) editing program and load in my setlist from the backup without the unit hooked up. I do have the model packs on the 500(X), but did not yet have them in use in my preferred patches, so I looked at the values and FX I had set up. It got me to my acoustic 6 and 12 string models sounding good pretty quickly on my Helix -- I had downloaded, then evolved a patch quite a while ago that got me going in the right direction on my HD -- EQ's light chorus, Hall, etc. -- loved the sound of it. Then set it up with the same or equivalent stuff on the Helix, really sped up the process. THEN, I added the second path and put in my favorite electric amp (the bassman) - copied and pasted from my Helix patch for that amp, and assigned the acoustic line to the JTV acoustic model, and assigned the JTV mags to the 2nd path, and the gain fx in front of both, toggled the 2 gains so one turned on when the other turned off, and boom! did away with the need for setting my acoustic patches beside the electric patch. Very handy for songs where I'm playing acoustic rhythm then switch to electric for a lead, etc. The Helix 2-path use has cut down the number of different patches I need by quite a bit. I have done some Distortion/clean patches with differing amounts of distortion variations for songs such as ZZ Top's LaGrange, etc. JCM with a bassman for dist/clean toggle. I didn't really make use of the dual path capability of the HD - I suppose you could do SOME of the same, but the Helix was really very easy to do it, has much more horsepower -- the graphic UI was very useful to keep my head on straight when I did those... Wish they'd have included the "/" symbol in the character assignments, probably something to do with computers not liking those in patch names... Dave

Some of the preset names came from discussions and jokes in the Gear Page Helix thread. Not at Launch was what Digital Igloo would reply to questions on Helix features, etc. Another was someone mentioned they didn't want wishy washy presets - a Chalise of Meh was born.... Dave

I'm a bit surprised you had harshness through studio monitors... I would expect those to be truly FRFR - full range, flat response, or at least pretty close. Most on the forums here are getting quite good results with FRFR. I use a good quality Yorkville PA/Monitor speaker, and found it to be full range, but not flat response - I was surprised at that. I found the high gain amps to be quite harsh through it, but when I put on headphones, the factory presets sounded very good, not at all that harsh, as my stage monitor speaker did. I fought that with my HD500 & 500X, as well. I could adjust it out, but never "got" why anyone would use some of the stock amps models, going "WHAT were they thinking?"... ANYWAY, I used my Global EQ to seek out where the harshness was coming from, and found it to be the response of my speaker -- PA speakers (now that I thought about it) are typically designed to emphasize the vocals with a midrange boost or "bump" - and guitar speakers typically also are midrange heavy, and roll off above 5 or 6 kHz. When you model an amp/speaker combination, your model also has an emphasis on the mid range frequencies like the amp that was used to model, so if you use guitar speakers or midrange emphasizing PA speakers, you will get a double dose of those midrange frequencies. As I said, I used my headphones to compare to my speaker, and swept the midrange frequencies with the global EQ, and the Q factor pretty high until I found the offending frequencies -- found that my speaker has a peak at around 3 kHz, so I cut it and set my Q factor until the speaker sounded like my headphones (or as close as possible). Not scientific, but it works. Ideally, a reference microphone and frequency analyzer would be great, but I just kept at it until it pleased me. One good thing about the Helix as opposed to the HD500(X) is the Global EQ can be assigned to the XLR, the 1/4", or both (default). The Global EQ on the 500(X) is a relatively recent development (early this year), but affects all outputs (not assignable). I set the Helix Global EQ to cut 8 dB at 3 kHz with a Q = 1.7 and to only affect the 1/4" outputs that I run at line level to my stage amp (Quilter Tone Block 200 & my Yorkvile speaker), and left the XLR's flat, and at mic level to the FOH soundman's board. It took the harshness out and I hear on stage what the PA system and audience hear. The frequency adjustments are likely to be specific to different speakers and cabs etc. that people use. I need to add that I use the Helix with my JTV 69S & 59, and make use of the JTV's acoustic models, so need to try for FRFR for the acoustics to sound good. If you don't use acoustics, but only electrics, the reduced frequency response of a guitar cab will be acceptable to most folks, but you might want to EQ it towards a more flat response to get the different tonalities of the different flavors of amp/speaker modeling going on in the Helix - they're really quite good. Not all are my cup of meat, but they don't leave me wondering "why would anyone like this sound?" for some of the models anymore.... Once you get the base sounds knocked, then play with the settings of the OD's and distortions to fit your tastes, same with the amps' tone controls - there's quite a bit of adjustability in there. Anyway, that's my experience with it. As usual YMMV. I'm amazed how many different variations of equipment people use, but there's quite a few that don't seem to get that each variation makes for different needs to adjust what you're using for it to sound good, and each person's definition of "good" is probably different, as well. Definitely a moving target. Some of the amps in the modeled assortment are actually harsh sounding as well, and I wouldn't choose them in an actual amp, either... My 2 cents' worth... Dave

Got mine yesterday. Love it. Nice sturdy construction. The Helix fits well in it. Snug, but I feel it will become less stiff as I use it. The material became more pliable when it warmed up from being outside on my stoop. Dave

Just got mine last night and really like it. Yeah, I don't know how many muggers are really going to know what a helix is..... or Line 6 for that matter. In using L6 gear for over 10 years, I've never seen another in use around me, and most folks can't tell one guitar from another. I think if someone came after you, they're likely to know what a guitar is... Dave

I have my tracking number for my Helix backpack from Sweetwater, saw the charge hit my credit card today, went to their site and saw my tracking number. Oddly, haven't gotten the usual email from them..... FedEx claims delivery by end of business tomorrow. Hope they're right. Dave

I've run mostly mono out to FOH, without issues both with analog and digital snakes. I set my XLR output to mic level and only control the 1/4" outs to my stage monitor amp with the volume knob for stage level adjustments. Clipping may be due to too hot signal at line level to the FOH board. Always with the ground lift engaged. I play mostly smaller bar types of venues. Dave P.S. great work on your patches.

3 gigs, so far, and countless hours playing it, no general freezes. Seems I've had a freeze shortly after a FW update, but don't recall the details, think it was early on in the FW life of the unit. I've had mine since the end of October. I explored it for probably a month or more before I took it gigging -- needed to get used to it, set up my go to patches. I've been amazed with the descriptions of people waiting for it, getting it on a Friday, and gigging it on Saturday. Way too soon for me, it's not that plug & play in my opinion. I just recently set up a set list as a test bench, with a stock fx set, then reproduced it with each of the available amps to see how they played & sounded. Once I got my Global EQ set for my speaker, I've been very pleasantly surprised with the different models. Some are definitely not my cup of meat, but I can get decent sounds out of all of them. I need to revisit my 500(X) with the global EQ adjustment I've learned, as there were many amps that I was going "what the @#*& were they thinking? How would ANYONE think this sounds good?" Well, once you get your speaker closer to FRFR, it all makes more sense.... Dave

One clarification, if you have the input Z set to Auto, then yes, the first FX or amp, etc. in the signal chain is supposed to determine the input Z for a guitar plugged into the 1/4" guitar input -- supposedly like the HD series worked, so you're right in that. I cannot attest to this, as I did not try this setting with my traditional guitars. No effect at all on the VDI input, as we've discussed. Dave

No, it actually is an input Z. It does change the tonality of a guitar plugged into the 1/4" guitar input, but not the aux in. It is useful for taming thin sounding pickups and reducing hum and noise from old pickups that have a lower impedance. Better impedance matching on those really warms up the sound of some guitars. My 1973 Tele Deluxe (full range humbuckers), and Gretsch Country Gent really benefit from it, and the P90's on my Special have the noise reduced by lowering the Z as well. I've messed with it with those guitars in particular... Dave

Yeah, I noticed the input Z adjustment was gone on a per preset basis too. I was surprised by it. I liked the ability to tame some tones on my traditional guitars with it, but as I gig with my 2 JTV's, and use the VDI exclusively to power and control those, it is not as big a deal for user like me. I would actually like for them to emulate the input Z for the VDI input. You can get some fine tuning of guitar tones with it, and warm up a guitar signal that can be a bit "sterile" and too trebly at times. I have several vintage guitars that benefit from the adjustment of input Z's, and can actually quiet down some hum with it, as well - very useful. Would be nice to set some presets for use with my '73 Fender Tele Deluxe, some for my Special with P90's, and then some for my '65 Gretsch Country Gent, without having to find it in the globals all the time.... The HD 500(X) you could do it for the patch if you wanted it and not mess with other patch sounds. Would be good for a musician who uses more than 1 guitar at a gig (gee, who would do such a thing...), if they each needed a certain Z setting to sound good, just hit the patches for this guitar or that guitar. Like I said, I gig with my JTV's via the VDI, so it isn't a huge deal for me, but found it odd they had it by preset on the HD's, then global on the Helix... Odd from a design standpoint, is all.... Dunno if they can change that with an update. Same for editing with Workbench on the Helix. It's such a core function, odd that they did not think of it, even when they included the VDI Variax port. If the Helix did not have the VDI, I would have never considered it -- would have stuck with my 500 & 500X. I really do love the Helix, but think they need to address some core issues that have long been the design path of the POD series, then just apparently forgotten on the Helix. they had some of this with the 500X development from the 500, as well... Dave

Also, a big variable is the amplification and speaker you are using will color your sound greatly. I use a very good amp with a PA/monitor speaker that is full range but found out it is not flat response. Found this out with my Helix, and it applied to my 500 and 500X. The speaker has a vocal midrange peak at about 3 kHz. I compared headphones versus the speaker and found if I used the global EQ to cut the midrange set at 3 kHz by -8 dB and a Q value of 1.7, the harshness went away. Your specific speaker may have a different value that is the "magic" frequency that it peaks at. Just something else to try. I found this with my Helix, and it works well with my 500X as well. Dave Again - I mis-typed 3 kHz not 30 kHz....

Well the good news is that they say they won't charge the payment until they ship.... I've found this true for SW, so fingers crossed... I've not had a notification on my VISA yet from them.... Good Luck!! :) Dave

Yup - mine stays in the last display state I left it in, without a specific save. Both my 500& 500X have always been this way, through all FW revisions, etc. Just adding to the points of data, here. Dave