kelldammit

i really like the ability to move the mic placement on the speakers.  If the helix at least gave the option to move the mic placement horizontally across the speaker, that'd be HUGE, i think.

Otherwise, i almost certainly won't buy one, though i am academically interested. Its improvements seem mostly incremental, though design-wise, the QC seems a bit confused (at least at this early stage).

It seems primarily geared for desktop use (as the touchscreen and rotary switches would imply), so...why the stompbox form factor and footswitches?

In floor mode, neither ventilation slits nor touchscreens tend to react well to errant moisture, and the lack of scribble strips or even color coded LEDs for the footswitches (from what i could tell in the video) just make it seem half-baked for that purpose,.

To be fair, it's early days, and further development in the firmware, app, and desktop editor will no doubt improve some aspects. It'll definitely be interesting to see how it develops as more units get into the wild, and people start using it in all the various ways that they're bound to!
 

On 1/12/2018 at 11:00 AM, jbright44 said:

I know this is probably an incendiary topic to start with on a Variax forum.  So, I'll say I get that.  The Variax is something that has always peaked my interest and now that I've had a Helix for about 1.5 years now, I'm beginning to get more an more interested in it. The thing that's got me hesitating at this point is one thing: Inability to upgrade electronics.

 

I got a PRS custom 24 in '92 (sadly, sold it later). Virtually every aspect of that guitar has changed since.  I got mine for $1500. It'll cost me $4k to buy a new one.
Which is fine...except...it only does PRS sounds. Yes, for my 50th, I'm replacing my prs custom 24 out of love. It truly is a fantastic instrument.
That said, when confronted with buying a practical recording guitar a year or so ago, i got a variax for $1100 instead...which does acoustics, and all sorts of other guitar models. is it perfect? naah. It is good enough to fool most?  sure.

When my variax finally craps out...i'll replace it, too, and still be ahead of the game for the price of the dozens of guitars it emulates.
The technology will change.  Thankfully, a new variax probably won't cost half of what a single new PRS, Les Paul, or Strat does or will, and will do so much more.

Just try one, see if you dig it, and go from there!  if you have a helix, get the special cable, and it's even cooler.

it's out now, and you guys...still?  really?  Change of topic:  bash each others' taste in the new amp sims instead!

Give us the whys and hows...if you're gonna go at it, make this interesting for everyone else, please.

Fave new sim?  Settings (provided patch)?  Why?  What don't you like?

Go!

Worked as advertised here.  It does take a little while, but it went just as described in the instructions.

So far, all seems well with both the Helix and Native!

well then, hey, let's derail.  variax headstocks clearly do not work so well with the fender twin model.
i've found my overall tone to be less "helix-ish".  you?

whoah, guys. this isn't even a released update.  people are being silly.  it's okay. not an apology for anyone, but if you've ever dealt with software update cycles...err....you know how it goes.  no need to get at each others' throats about it.  all good yeah?

From GS:
"Almost all of the guitars on Broken were done using the ZOOM 9030amp simulator/guitar processor. Trent said that in several interviews and if you've ever heard one it's obvious.</snip>"
 

There's a start...an amp sim not as savvy as the helix.  Maybe try comp into high gain amp (no cab), eq, comp and room verb to fake it?

So, we need support (or incessant bitching) for/about an update that hasn't happened?
Lighten up. People are having fun. Community bonding is a bad thing?
The update happens when it happens, just like with any other software. 
When it comes, pay attention to THOSE threads, and ignore these that are months ahead of time.  It's not life or death, i'm pretty sure.

8 minutes ago, spikey said:

 

Now, why would we ever want to get our skirts dirty for no reason? ; )

seriously?  twisting our knickers is quite a PITA, frankly.  the dangly bits make it so much more so.  well, maybe not PITA, but it still smarts.

game show hosts work similarly, yes?  i've always wondered where they were bred and such.  or just how they came to be?

Hehe..."quiet" being relative (single coils pups vs buckers).

Mebbe try a boost at the start of your chain to kick the amp in the face a bit. Or, depending on amp, a distortion box (tube screamer or the like) might work better.  Add just a little grit if you want, but mostly just boost to hit the amp input harder.

Maybe try that with the brit plexi brt amp model (and or a 20/25w greenback cab) or the other suggestions above.

Strats can be pretty raucous.

How do you mean "fast forward"?  Play back at a higher pitch, or literally just skip through the source files?

On 7/12/2019 at 5:44 AM, THE7thHAND said:

Is it so that you can record four signals dry simultaniously at 192khz and as soon as you use the DSP effects it gets rendered down to 48khz?

My understanding from Digital Igloo's post is that if the interface is set to 192khz, and you use DSP fx, they'd get upconverted to 192khz post-processing (since the helix processes at 48k).  So you'd get a 192khz audio stream of the 48khz processed signal.  Plus whatever latency is incurred by the SRC involved in that process.
So, as he said, the only benefit there would be for timestretch/pitch correction in your DAW later (due to more interpolation points), or perhaps pushing up the Nyquist freq to avoid aliasing if you're using crap processing further down the line.

You'd mentioned liking the sound, but what are you playing this stuff back on?  I'm only aware of 192khz being used for label archiving of masters...i'm not sure i've heard of any playback medium that supports 192khz beyond compressed formats?
 

I do similar with the floor, into an RME Babyface.  1 channel = direct guitar (recorded), the other channel is effected guitar, for monitoring only.  Helix Native takes it from there.

I'm also settting it up to do 4-wire with my little vox av-30, mostly for family jams over the holidays, but i wouldn't be averse to using it for recordings, in parallel to the direct dry, should i so decide.

Also, I mostly use a JTV89F variax for guitar stuff, so it gets powered by the helix.  It's nice not having to worry that the battery will crap out while i'm in the middle of something.

An ibanez bass is also sometimes involved, but with the helix, my radial jdi and j48 are now in their boxes on the shelf.

The thing i probably like the most, though, is that i can dump out an mp3 of stuff in progress onto my phone, and work out sounds/parts on the helix without the computer being involved.  It's a really cool box.

I'm looking to deal with Ty Tabor's guitar tone from "Out of the Silent Planet". i know he used some gibson combo amp that he refused to name so that he could still find 'em cheap in pawn shops.

Anyone had any luck replicating this sound?  i know it's a fat strat and there's some chorus on there...but the amp?