Oh boy. I'm in a mess. I have been trying to plug in my HELIX in three different FOHs of three different bands now ... and it ALWAYS sounded like perfect lollipop. I always had to kick out the Helix and go by classical tube amp in the end, I never succeeded to get a decent sound, no matter, if those sounds were of my own programming or factory presets or even Jason Sadites presets. And the PAs were very different from each other, there was one huge one from the late 70ies, one compact one from the 90ies and one very new Dynacord powermixer. The problems were very different, but could in no case be solved, no matter, what I tried. On one PA (70ies) the Helix sounded damp, no dynamics, like some badly adjusted, old transistor amp, and on the Dynacord it sounds dull with some strange frequencies and some clipping, although input gain is set very low and there is no clipping on my headphones or studio monitors at home. I have no FRFR yet and I won't buy one, unless I am convinced, that going with a HELIX into FOH really will get me a great sound and not laughter from my band mates. But I am far from being convinced after all my bad experiences. Friend of mine has a Kemper, just plugs in, sounds great from the start. Forget Fletcher Munson, it just works! Furthermore, on no PA did I get adequate pressure like with my tube amps. Only volume ... Did I buy the wrong gadget???
Or am I just too stupid to check out, how this connection can be performed satisfactorily? I found out some problems such as phantom power and how to avoid them, but no overall solutions. So I would be VERY thankful for some instuctions on how to dial in the perfect XLR output signal. I know that the problem IS HELIX based, because the keyboard sound as they should. A Kemper sounds as it should. But not the Helix. There are so many possibilities that maybe I just lack the correct combination of settings to get it done ...
So, if anyone could help me with a list of settings (such as: Should the XLR output better be on MIC or LINE? I tried both, but there is obviously more to think about ...). How need the global settings be set? How to balance frequencies on the mixing console on one hand and on general EQ on the other hand? How should I set the large global volume wheel?
I love the Helix, it is quite easy to use and gets me the results, I want, when doing recording (USB connection), but live ... as I said, it's a mess and a drag.