jshoenfelt Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I am testing a Helix in my church and noticed a fair amount of noise in the xlr output. I am running the Helix on a UPS and I am not sure if this could be the cause. I am also told that if there is phantom power present, it could be the cause also. Any other ideas? Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachdanan0121 Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I have seen a few topics on this, and most have usually turned out to have phantom power somewhere along the signal chain. Either at the Helix, Mixing Board, PA-Interface, other audio interfaces etc. If I were having this problem, this would be the first thing I would try, and track down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital_Igloo Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Yep. Make sure whatever you have Helix's XLR outputs plugged into has phantom power turned off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lungho Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I just got my Helix last week and I can confirm that phantom power on with anything connecting to the left XLR will cause excessive noise. Same thing happened to me when I first plugged in. However, when I was troubleshooting, phantom power didn't seem to affect the right XLR. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornerstonetom Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 From what I've read in other posts related to this, everything can be set as it's supposed to be and there's still noise for whatever reason. The work-around is taking the 1/4" outs into a DI box and then going into the board. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLondon Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Yep! Been here - done it! My church sound man and I went nuts trying to figure it out. So here ya go. In Global, set whatever line out you are using to send your signal to FOH to "mic". AND most definitely turn off phantom power in the Helix. If you've still got noise then I guess pray. But only as a last resort of course (grin). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownNote71 Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Happened at my church as well. Was working fine for a practice & a service, then halfway through the next practice, the sound guy turned on phantom power while troubleshooting some piano mic noise, and it was awful. At the time, I unplugged the Helix and went back to a real amp. I haven't played again with the Helix at church because I've been mainly playing bass lately, but when I go back to guitar I'll definitely insist on them turning off phantom power on my inputs. It was dead silent before that. ...and I'll still carry around a DI in my Helix bag just in case... but really there's no excuse to NEED to have phantom power on in any modern console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpdennis Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 From what I've read in other posts related to this, everything can be set as it's supposed to be and there's still noise for whatever reason. The work-around is taking the 1/4" outs into a DI box and then going into the board. The XLR noise issue was going on last night at the first show I've used the Helix. What we found was the far electrical duplex was no bueno. So, since we are now predominately an all modeling equipment group of musicians, we ran a single electrical line to the stage and viola ... muy bueno! Yep! Been here - done it! My church sound man and I went nuts trying to figure it out. So here ya go. In Global, set whatever line out you are using to send your signal to FOH to "mic". AND most definitely turn off phantom power in the Helix. If you've still got noise then I guess pray. But only as a last resort of course (grin). My church has a special panel for musical equipment. This Easter I will find out if it does the same thing as running all the equipment from one plug, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlin Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I am another church guitar player with noisy Helix XLR woes. For me at least, this is not a phantom power issue. My church uses a Midas Verona 560 pro board with individual phantom power switches on each channel. Phantom power is turned off for me, yet I still get loud hiss with the Helix XLR outputs. On the very off-chance the board is sending phantom power even though it says it isn't, I went ahead and bought one of the phantom power blockers mentioned in earlier XLR hiss threads on this forum (Sescom SES-IL-PPB XLR). I still get loud hiss even with the blocker in place. To recap my findings: Hiss even with XLR phantom power blocker installed Hiss regardless of Line or Mic level output Hiss regardless of ground lift setting on the Helix Hiss even when volume is turned all the way down, simply having the Helix on creates noise My only recourse so far has been to abandon XLR and use a DI box with the 1/4" outs. Something ain't right about this Helix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 I am another church guitar player with noisy Helix XLR woes. For me at least, this is not a phantom power issue. My church uses a Midas Verona 560 pro board with individual phantom power switches on each channel. Phantom power is turned off for me, yet I still get loud hiss with the Helix XLR outputs. On the very off-chance the board is sending phantom power even though it says it isn't, I went ahead and bought one of the phantom power blockers mentioned in earlier XLR hiss threads on this forum (Sescom SES-IL-PPB XLR). I still get loud hiss even with the blocker in place. To recap my findings: Hiss even with XLR phantom power blocker installed Hiss regardless of Line or Mic level output Hiss even when volume is turned all the way down, simply having the Helix on creates noise My only recourse so far has been to abandon XLR and use a DI box with the 1/4" outs. Something ain't right about this Helix. Did you try multiple channels on the board, and/or have you tried it with any other mixers? Been using my Helix at church for quite a while now with the XLR out and haven't had any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlin Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Did you try multiple channels on the board, and/or have you tried it with any other mixers? Been using my Helix at church for quite a while now with the XLR out and haven't had any issues. I have not used other channels, just the one labeled for electric guitar. That's something I can probably work with the sound man to test out between our six services on Easter weekend. As for other mixers, no. There's just the one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joepeggio Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Have you tried to transformer isolate the xlrs? Like what an ART DTI does. In my rehearsals I get a nasty noise. ART DTI solved it. Ground loop. I don't think phantom blockers isolate the signal / ground. Bonus: the ART also blocks phantom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkinder Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Have you tried to transformer isolate the xlrs? Like what an ART DTI does. In my rehearsals I get a nasty noise. ART DTI solved it. Ground loop. I don't think phantom blockers isolate the signal / ground. Bonus: the ART also blocks phantom. I'm no expert on this stuff by any means, but after reading a number of posts about the XLR issues folks are having I decided to mess around with my Helix/Gemini 2 setup, which is using the XLR outs, and found grounding has a LOT to do with noise or no noise....simply hitting the ground lift button on the Helix created all kinds of noise, off it was dead silent. Have some known grounding issues in our house that I've got around with various methods with other gear over the years. Reversed some of those to see what would happen with the Helix and presto, noise...put them back in place, no noise. Wondering if it's not so much the XLR's but rather grounding issues folks are experiencing? Sure looks like that in my simple setup. Food for thought at least....good luck everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshoenfelt Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 It was definately a phantom power issue, and apparently the output is much higher than my HD500, nice and quiet now. Thanks everyone for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evicbailey Posted July 2, 2023 Share Posted July 2, 2023 I just got my Helix LT last month. I purchased it specifically to get rid of the horrific buzz I get from all my other LIne 6 products. At home it was perfect. Brought it to church and it was the same horrific buzz I get from all the other products. I did accidentally discover that it's only on the XLR outputs. I use the 1/4" and I fine. Something is not right with these Line 6 products. I'll know more after church this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 On 7/2/2023 at 11:20 AM, evicbailey said: I just got my Helix LT last month. I purchased it specifically to get rid of the horrific buzz I get from all my other LIne 6 products. At home it was perfect. Brought it to church and it was the same horrific buzz I get from all the other products. I did accidentally discover that it's only on the XLR outputs. I use the 1/4" and I fine. Something is not right with these Line 6 products. I'll know more after church this evening. Likely caused by phantom power coming from the mixer. Phantom power won’t damage the Helix, but it will make it sound bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evicbailey Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 Just plugged straight into a Powered speaker alone? No guitar, no cable? Helix to XLR to Speaker. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. To an Amp, Buzzzzzzzzzz From the 1/4" to anything, clean! Crystal! Nada! Only guitar! ????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theElevators Posted July 5, 2023 Share Posted July 5, 2023 Try ground lift Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brue58ski Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 Not sure if this even applies but are you also hooked up to something via your Helix's USB port at the same time? I've found that creates noise. If you are connected to anything via USB, unplug it and see if that solves it. Try the ground lift as was suggested before. One other thing that occurs to me, I've occasionally run across a situation where the XLR cables were wired differently. Very rare but it has happened. Are you using the same XLR cables for everything? If so, that's another thing you might try i.e. a different XLR cable. You may have already done that. Otherwise, I'm stumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmalle Posted July 6, 2023 Share Posted July 6, 2023 On 7/5/2023 at 10:00 PM, evicbailey said: Just plugged straight into a Powered speaker alone? No guitar, no cable? Helix to XLR to Speaker. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. To an Amp, Buzzzzzzzzzz From the 1/4" to anything, clean! Crystal! Nada! Only guitar! ????? How do you connect to the amp with XLR? XLR -> TRS adapter? Is the ground lift switched on on your Helix? Is this the buzz you're getting?: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.