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I love the Helix, but I have had trouble getting a warm, rich, clean sound, and a recent discovery maybe hints at a problem. I have tinkered endlessly, reading forums for advice, trying user presets, etc. I have experimented with hi/low cuts and those are definitely important. I'm using a ribbon mic and adding quite a lot of reverb, and I have compression setup per Jason Sadites and other advice. I have long noticed that adding certain blocks including delays causes the sound to get unexpectedly tinny, shrill, harsh, digital. It seems to change the background/ambiance of the tone. It is subtle, but I eventually started avoiding delays, sadly. Recently I noticed something else which was really surprising. I bought a recorder pedal (TC Wiretap) which simply takes in a signal and records when you stomp. I added a "send" block to my clean preset and bingo, the sound degradation issue that I get with delays appeared. It really seems to affect the reverb and ambiance of the sound, and adds a digital harshness. With a single coil strat, I'm really relying on the reverb to warm/thicken up the sound, so the overall effect is not good. I tried bypassing the send block, which had no effect. I tried physically removing the patch cable sending the signal to the recorder pedal, and even that had no effect. I then deleted the block from my preset entirely, and that did it - the sound went back to normal. It's subtle, but who wants to add "just a little" tinny digital harsh edge to their guitar tone?! I had thought that delays just do something to the tone that I don't like. But a send block?! That should have no effect on the sound whatsoever, especially if the cable isn't plugged in! (eliminating grounding issues, etc.) And much more importantly, I'm now wondering if all the advice I've received from this forum over the past year for how to thicken up my tone (delays, reverb, pitch shifters, etc.) has been counteracted by this issue, because when I try these blocks, it often layers in this sound quality problem. Other setup details: Firmware 2.8, but this issue has stayed constant through several firmware updates over the past year. American Elite Strat with neck pickup for warmth, Yamaha HS7 studio monitors or headphones for playback. The sound quality issues are most noticeable with headphones. (could this be only a headphone-related problem somehow?) Thanks in advance for advice. I've tried to figure this out on my own and just can't. Also, any other tips related to adding thickness/warmth to a single coil strat are much appreciated. Joel

Hi, What kind of quality (and usability) can I expect from the Helix? As an audio interface, would it compare, in terms of sound quality, to a RME or Focusrite Clarett? My guess is, that guitar-wise it would but microphone-wise it would be behind a 'real' interface (more noise, more latency). Can you prove me wrong? When it comes to handling, switching between different outputs (i.e. 2 sets of active speakers); is that easy and quick? Can the volume be adjusted really quickly? P.S. My idea is to replace a RME Babyface Pro with a Helix.