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Hi there! I got myself a Powercab 212 recently and I'm trying to build some patches from scratch. My setup is either ES335 or LP, both equipped with PAF ––> Helix ––L6-L––> PC212. Helix Volume is at 11, all output levels are set to 0dB and Line-Level where possible. Powercab speakers are also set to 0dB. When I do some heavy strumming with no blocks active, it is impossible to get the PC input yellow. When I raise the Helix output block to +20dB I can clip the PC to yellow. When I add the max. +6dB raise to the PC-input, I can clip it to red with very hard strumming only. My guitars have a very low output (335 is a tad below 7K), but nonetheless this seems not right to me. How is it with your Helix-PC-combos? Any advice how I should set my gains here? Dev

HELLO! So a few months ago my DT50 212 combo died. I mean super died. There's no more parts left for this tone monster of an amp... I LOVED that amp! What I really loved about it was I could daisy chain it to my DT50 head sitting on my 4x12 via the L6 link. So I could get a great stereo field separation from my HD500x or Helix going to a daisy chained DT50 combo 212 which fed into my DT50 head 4x12. So instead of buying another DT50 combo to replace the dead one - I got the power cab 212+. Admittedly, it's pretty nice on it's own or with the Helix. What I cannot seem to do is get these two amps (DT50 head and Powercab 212+) to daisy chain to each other by the L6 link. Doesn't matter which order - - the furthest in the chain never gets signal. Any ideas on this? Or is there no hope of having the PC212+ be able to do what my old DT50 combo used to be able to do... unless I get another powercab (ugh). Page 23 & 24 of the manual describe how to daisy chain Powercabs.. but nothing else. So I'm thinking I know my answer. :( but was reaching out for some hope. Lemme know your thoughts and thanks all!

Hey guys, I've been playing the helix for a couple years now and I'm considering getting the power cab. Everyone seems to agree it's a more enjoyable/inspiring experience than the floor board alone. I'm curious if the sound that you send to FOH is also better. I know it's got the same mic emulation as the Cab Blocks in the helix. Does it sound any different or better? Thanks!

Hey all, I experienced some confusion and frustration on the gig last night with my Powercab, and haven’t been able to find a clear answer since. I’m hoping this ever-knowledgeable community can help me sort it out. I’ll try to keep it brief: In the past, I’ve used my Helix (floor) into Powercab+, all analog (XLR to amp) >> Powercab XLR > FOH. All processing was done inside the Helix and I was using Helix cab sims/mics within the Helix, and sending that signal FRFR to Powercab (using Powercab as stage monitor and sending XLR to FOH, sans mic’ing). Everything has been great, always sounds great coming out of FOH. This time, different gig..different needs.. Decided to use 3rd party IR’s and store them in the Powercab (needed to free up processing space, plus figured.. ‘why not’) Setup was Guitar > Helix > (XLR into) Powercab > XLR > FOH. Same deal, just 3rd party IR’s and stored in the Cab. Helix was doing amp sim and effects, but cab IR was on the Powercab. Much to my dismay, at soundcheck.. everything sounded great on stage, but FOH was getting no IR/Cab sim from the Powercab XLR out. This brings me to my question, which I can’t find clearly stated in the manual or anywhere else: Does the Powercab 112+ send the signal of internally stored User IR-processed audio out via XLR?! Empirical (and embarrassing) evidence from last nights show tells me it does not, which to me is baffling and should really be much more clearly stated (Yes I realize I should and could have fully tested this ahead of time, I just assumed whatever was coming out of the speaker would go out the XLR, which had been my experience doing all of the sim’ing internally on the Helix and sending it into the cab FRFR). I don’t understand why you would store IRs, process incoming audio through the IRs.. but not send that processed audio out via XLR. That was my experience, but I can’t find any definitive answer.. is it a setting? Just the way it is? Helix amp sim > User IR in Powercab > all good out the front, no good out the back. I feel like that just can’t be right.. but it’s definitely what I was getting. The quick fix was to dial in the same IR locally on the Helix and use one of my XLR outs (from Helix) straight to FOH, the other to the cab. However in my embarrassed frustration, I failed to appreciate that put me in 2x IR mode on stage.. not a huge deal (and of course avoidable had I been thinking clearly). What was worse, again due to soundcheck timing and frustration.. I forgot to SAVE the patch with IR dialed on the Helix.. powered down.. turned back on at set time.. Needless to say, the first song didn’t sound good.. at all. Fortunately, the sound guy was quick to drop some EQ, but that screechy un-IR’d sound is going to live in my memory for quite awhile. If anyone can definitely help me answer this, I’d be truly grateful. I’m about to set everything up with an XLR out to my board to see what’s what, I suppose I already know.. but I guess I’m trying to find out if there IS a way to get the IR’d audio out via XLR, or if that feature is just intended for ‘in the room’ use and an FOH IR use must come from the Helix directly. Again, to me that sounds just super-wrong. What’s the purpose, to allow you to get the tone you want stored inside the Powercab, but not be able to gig with it.. I just don’t get it (yet :) ) So much for keeping it brief I guess, sorry for the novel. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thx - Steve

Hi all Just updated my Helix to 2.8 and Powercab to 2.0... been awaiting this update since I first bought helix... even sold my DT50 as I expected no helix dt50 connection would happen.... just to see it does now... nonetheless i am more than happy with my powercab plus. Now I have been a user of PODs since 2.0 and always have striven to get the max out of the amazing hardware Line 6 puts up.. and after all these years waiting to control my amp (DT50 112 before and now powercab plus 112) i get into a conundrum: Helix only allows powercab settings BY PRESET. With the advent of snapshots Line 6 did a HUGE, HUMONGOUS step that made a lot of us super happy... specially JTV Variax users like me... finally without any problems I could play acoustic and a banjo and an electric guitar IN THE SAME PRESET! But here is where it gets interesting... with powercab allowing only PER PRESET settings... I cannot change powercab presets PER Snapshot.... Yes i could do it all in the helix and use a FRFR for the preset but I didn't buy the PC Plus for that I bought it so I could use IRs and allow more power to be used in the helix.... I have looked but so far I can only see changing the powercab preset is not possible using snapshots... Any ideas?

Greetings Thrill Seekers (with a tip of the hat to TE) My MusicMan guitar has a stereo output with one channel sending the mag pickups and the other sending the piezo pickup. Switching lets you send one or both signals. I have set up a preset so that the mags are coming into the Guitar input on 1A and the piezo is coming in the Aux input on 2A. Both chains go out as Digital using the L6 Link to my new PC 212+. It's great to be able to go from acoustic to searing lead tones with just a flip of a guitar toggle switch and nothing else. What I would like to do is send the mag tones to the PC's #1 amp and Vintage speaker, and the piezo tones to the #2 amp and FRFR speaker. Seems simple enough, however I can't get the Helix to accept two different PC settings at the same time. For instance, when I set the one first digital output block and speaker #1 to vintage, and then set then set the second output block to FRFR, the setting for the top block gets written over and I have two FRFR channels. This seems to be the case with both Helix Edit and the Helix device itself. Helix 2.80.0 PC 2.00.1 I feel like I must be doing something wrong since the 212+ is advertised as having a dual mode where you can split outputs like I want. I imagine there are MIDI-based workarounds but I don't want to go there yet. Is there something I need to set up on the PC? Any help would be appreciated! Mike

Hey Guys, How do you power your Line 6 Helix modeler for Live use with a cabinet ? What is the best solution you've came across while doing your research ? Please share your experience and your perfect setup solution to make the Helix sound has legit as possible. (Amp feel and response, amp in the room feel etc.) So far I've tried many possibilities : - Tube amp Fx loop (power amp in) - Powered monitor such as EV ELX 112P - Line 6 Powercab + - Boss Waza tube expander to power a passive guitar cab with classic celestion speakers. Cheers,

Just curious what happens with Line 6 Link and 4 PowerCabs? With 2, it automatically splits the signal into stereo right? If I added a 3rd, does the third get one side? Or does it flip to mono on that one? If added a 4th, does it Go back to stereo? I’m betting no one has done this, and it’s more of a thought experiment. Just thought it’d be interesting to know. I’m trying my bass through my 212 PowerCabs right now, and noticed after my most recent show (using guitar) that I’m getting some rattling in on of the PowerCabs at certain frequencies. Gonna have to crack it open and tape things down I guess. So I set up both of my 212 cabs with my bass and the rattle goes away because I’m turning the Helix volume down to compensate for twice the power. The low end out of two is improved a bit. And obviously the more speakers and power, the better it would handle even more lows. So imagine 4? Have a nice stack of PowerCabs on either side of stage, and maybe 2 more on top for guitar... #drool

I have been using my Helix Floor as an audio interface for Cubase. It generally works great. The Cubase stereo tracks come into the Hx via USB 1/2 and I use the XLR outs to feed my active studio monitor. I can send the guitar output of my Presets to USB 5/6 and the Mic input to USB 3/4. It even lets me reamp by sending a dry guitar part back into the Hx via USB 7. So far, so good. Yesterday my PowerCab 212+ showed up. I'm feeding the PowerCab via the L6 Link using an ordinary XLR cable. Sounds great - I LOVE this amp. But all is not good in paradise: The Cubase tracks coming into the Hx are feeding my active monitors via the XLRs as usual, and now also playing (very loudly) on the PowerCab via the L6 Link. Cubase is just sending tracks via ASIO Helix and USB 1/2. It doesn't see hardware past that, so I can't "switch off" the PowerCab from the DAW Does anyone have advice on how to change the routing so that the PowerCab doesn't see the DAW? Or maybe know how to configure the L6 Link port? Thanks mucho in advance, Mike

Hello, As many others I bought a Helix (couple of months ago) with mainly two purposes: - to use as an all-in-one-unit for practising at home. Unfortunately I need to use headphones as there's no space to practice/possibility with my studio monitors (which are basically collecting dust at the moment) - to use at gigs using the presets I made (with headphones ;-)) and going direct into the mixer via XLR Fyi, this is purely a hobby with the occasional gig, just for fun. I had my first " Helix-direct-gig" couple of weeks ago and the sound guy sent a mix to the floor monitors (the mix also having the other instruments and vocals). It sounded bad (extremely harsh) and more importantly I was having a lot of difficulty hearing what I was playing. The FOH was quite good soundwise, so it was not really a preset issue but rather a monitor issue. Also, I assumed I would have a dedicated monitor with only guitar, but will never make that assumption again ... why the sound was so harsh is still a mystery to me. Anyway, now I'm looking at an FRFR or other solution that still gives me sufficient stage volume and reasonable sound. Plenty of options ...... " FX-only" presets I have tried; It works, but requires me to bring a seperate amp that in turn needs to be mic-ed. Or, I would nee to create patches with seperate outs on XLR and line. All possible, but complexity is what I want to avoid. In a hunt for a cheap solution I bought myself a Behringer 207MP3 monitor unit, but I will probably return that very soon; It works, gives me sufficient volume and my own "monitor mix" , but quality wise just not what I hoped for. And so I'm now saving up for more dedicated tools like the Line 6 Powercab. Here's where I get lost a bit, because the Powercab seems to be much more than an FRFR cabinet. Actually I see lots of people saying that this product really starts to shine once you use the built in cabinet/ speaker models. This is where I get confused, because to me that means that the purpose of the Helix gets lost as I would have a setup with an amplifier in one device (the Helix) and the cab model in another (the powercab). Essentially it would link the Powercab and the Helix which for my purpose would again create more complexity than needed. Also I wonder why there would be a difference in sound between a cabinet modeled in the Helix and a cabinet modeled in the Powercab. Doesn't make too much sense to me yet ... aren't these the exact same models? I haven't made up my mind yet and I do find the Powercab appealing (visually, technically), but for my purpose a cheaper FRFR solution may work better (e.g. Headrush, Alto). No worries, I won't ask for advice here, plenty of threads about that :-) But I do wonder if anyone figured out this alleged difference in cab model issue. Any other comments welcome of course, I may be overlooking something. Again I'm looking for simple flexibility (which was the main reason for buying the Helix). Thanks so much !!

I used to like the sound of my helix thru headphones. Since i got the Powercab, it sounds so good, I'm left chasing that sound in quiet time. And i feel my headphones are decent cause they sound like i hear it thru my bx5a monitors. I can't get a crisp sound. It seems muddy no matter how i adjust. Any Ideas?

Hello guys, i have a little question for powercab users. Is Powercab just a cabinet and needs a preamp like a pedalboard or some other pedal doing this function, or is it possible to connect the guitar directly from the guitar jack? Thanks in advance

I’m looking to pair a powered speaker with my Helix. I currently play through a Blackstar Ht Club 40 and it performs very well for me. I’m trying to leave potential technical issues in the dust as much as possible. Applications will be Rehearsals and live playing. Ranges of music are between progressive dashes of jazz/rock/metal. I’m playing a Reverend Descent Baritone :)

After connecting a MIDI cable from my Helix to my Powercab 112 Plus, I noticed that whenever I changed to a new preset on the Helix, the Powercab would change to its preset with the same number. Very cool! Turns out this is expected behavior according to the manuals, using MIDI Program Change messages. The Helix manual says: "When navigating Presets from the Helix hardware (PRESETS encoder, preset footswitches, PRESET ^ / PRESET down, etc.), Helix automatically transmits a MIDI Program Change message corresponding to the selected preset." The Powercab manual says: "The Powercab 112 Plus active guitar speaker system responds to traditional MIDI Program Change messages from an external MIDI device (or from MIDI software via USB) and will recall presets 000-127 accordingly." In my own Helix setlist, I have each preset displayed with a three-digit number (000-127) rather than numbers and letters (01A-32D). For each Helix preset with a modeled cab, I have set the same-numbered Powercab preset to Flat FRFR. For each Helix preset with an amp only and no cab, I have set the same-numbered Powercab preset to a speaker model that I like with that amp. In a very short time, I have set up several Helix and Powercab presets which automatically change together every time I select a new Helix preset. Super cool!

Directed at those in the know, obviously, but with the upcoming L6 Link integration with PowerCab+ and the DT25/50, I'm curious as to whether we'll be able to mix the two? i.e. DT25 gets left signal, PowerCab+ gets right signal? I suspect the answer is probably yes considering that I believe something similar was possible back in the HD500/DT/StageSource era, but a definitive answer would be awesome.

I seem to run out of headroom at times since 2.80.Ive started using the digital Aes XLR line 6 link to twin Powrcars +'s. Will increasing the dB digital out global setting give me more volume and if so will it bring distortion?

Simply can you link a powercab 112 with a stagesource 3lt

Just bought a PC+. What are the recommendations to break-in the speaker? Is it needed? How many hours?

Hi I ask myself what would be better for me, a new Powercab or my good old stagesource l3t. I am using HELIX. Is there someone who has already compared? Profett

Hi all,  Since a month I own the Helix Floor + Powercab 112 plus (and the Relay G10S). A great compact setup! I'm impressed by its versatility, all options and ease of use. Before I had a traditional setup: Custom Audio tube pre-amp, mesa 20/20 power amp, TC G-system, Mesa cabinet. Top class sound, but I was tyred of carrying it around... So I made the big switch to modeling. As said I am very impressed, however I am struggling to get my basic sounds right (for which I'm reaching out for help): clean, crunch, rock and high-gain. I know my traditional tube setup is quite a benchmark, but still hoping to get my sounds close to what I'm used to. I kind of miss that punchy/crispy sound, especially when I play with my (rock) band my sound has no clear definition (missing the 'balls'). I really want my setup to work and don't want to give up as I am convinced about the benefits of the Helix. So I was thinking: - to keep tweaking till it's right (it must be me) - try a tube combo amp instead of the powercab - lower my expectations - get help through this forum :-) I go for the last option as I know there are so many happy and experienced Helix users out there. So, here is my question: did any of you go through the same process with satisfying results in the end? Any tips how to get that great basic authentic sound right (which I appreciate is a vague question)? See my current setup/ settings below. Thanks a lot for sharing any experience/advice! Much appreciated! Main guitar: Fender Strat with single pick ups Powercab: Vintage ( sounds most pleasing to me for the few amps I use from clean to high gain) Clean: Solo Lead Clean (amp only, no cab from Helix) Crunch: clean channel above + Screamer Overdrive: Mandarín 80 (amp only, no cab from Helix) Lead: Placater Dirty (amp only, no cab from Helix) On top of above amps (on which I made minor tweaks to most pleasing sound), I experimented by adding EQs, compressors and effects.

I'm planning pretty far ahead here (10-12 months) to buy a powercab plus. I like using cables in cable looms to make one big cable running in between things, so I want to run a l6 link cable and a long iec cable together. I know that generally it can cause interference to run data or audio cables next to power cables but has anyone tried this and have issues? Or are aes or l6 link cables pretty resistant to interference?

I use a Helix floor and recently bought a Powercab plus for gigging. I like it, however, in my home setup, I use a pair of Yamaha HS8's and have usually built 'thick' guitar patches where I will pan one path hard right and the other hard left and add a 45ms delay on one and perhaps add two diff cabs (one with more bottom and one with more top) to each path. Another trick I sometimes do is add a slight pitch shift on the paths...say +6 cents on one path and -6 cents on the other. All in an effort to thicken that sound. This as I am sure you can appreciate, doesn't translate to one PC+. For the single PC+ I have rebuilt these patches by just using one path and panning it centre. Sounds great, but just not 'full' like I am used to. Not many people talk about using PC+ as a pair and not sure if this is the right way to go (including if playing live) as so many 'experts' online frown at a stereo guitar rig (although, what I described isn't stereo in the traditional sense with ping pong effects and drastic differences between left and right channel, just some tricks to fatten the sound. Any input you have on this would be soooooooo appreciated re: going PC+ times 2!!!

I recenty bought a Helix and tweaked some sounds at home using an QSC 10.2 My first live gig (HELIX went straight into PA + return from monitor ) was a bit disappointing. Maybe my sounds weren't that good (or the monitor or its EQ was bad). Anyway, it did not sound like what I prepared at home at all. Maybe on a Powercab I could prepare the sounds better at home. But - maybe a silly question - how do you amplify a powercab on stage? Do you then put a mike in front of it ?

Hi, Was hoping to get some thoughts from people on amplification solutions for the Helix and I've narrowed my options down to either a Powercab Plus (possibly two to run stereo, but that could be overkill) or get a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 700 and run through my current speaker cabs. I know that the Powercab Plus will give me more versatility with the different speaker models, but I'm also interested in the SD Powerstage with my current 212 cabs to save some space, as well as keeping things simple because I'm not sure I need all of the flexibility of the PC+. Is there anyone here with experience with either one of these (or both) that could help me out? That is, make a good case for either solution with sounds being the primary focus, and not think too much about the cost. Thx. B.O.G

A few days ago somebody smashed out my window out in AZ and stole all of my gear from my trunk. Now, being that I’m 17, I rely heavily on modeling products to cut down on costs, but I still won’t have the funds for years to replace any of the equipment that was stolen. The idiot was able to get away with my Helix, Powercab 112 Plus, JTV-89F, and a few other miscellaneous items, but I was wondering if there’s some warranty that can cover products that were bought not directly from Line 6? They were all bought used and from pawnshops. Also is there some form of security meaure that prevents the Helix from connecting to another Line 6 account or some form of lock out precaution? I ended up creating a GoFundMe in the meantime to help fund the replacement items, but so far no one wants to donate or share the link since I’m not a 5 year old cancer patient. I’ll include the link just in case of some miracle happens from the guitar world. Thanks in Advanced, JB