deadlocked Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Yeah, my original thinking wasn't so much the ghastly 'fails at the worst possible time' but more the gut wrenching feeling of components no longer functioning as expected. I did however put quite a bit of thought into a proper backup plan for myself. Didn't want to carry a HD or the likes to every gig, or even set up a few stomps etc and hope if I had to use them in a flash that all settings on them would be as I expected. So after a lot of trial and error here's what I run. I have an A\B switch (use the excellent MXR 196), my guitar runs into it and output A goes to the helix. I have my iPad mounted on my mic stand (for a few songs I use it for chord charts, memory aint what it used to be). Running from it I have an IK Powerbridge (so I don't rely on iPad battery) and that feeds into an IK Multimedia iRig HD 2 (which uses thunderbolt connection so digital quality, it's actually really nice). I use an IK blueboard that's mapped to four 'favorite' presets in IOS Amplitube that are get out of jail really, Clean tone, Vibe\Chorus tone, Overdriven tone and heavier Distortion. Now don't get me wrong, I am no IK fanboy, I think they time again find ways to extract as much money as they can from customers, but their stuff is quality especially on the hardware front. I have practiced many many times quickly kicking over from one rig to the next. Worst case for me is if I am in an overdriven part of a song and have to kick over to the clean sound, but just a tap away from getting the right favorite in place. It's not transparent, but it's also not sitting there for anything more than 15 seconds before being back up and running. I could pretty much do the gig on the Amplitube and I doubte anyone would be too upset, and the thoughts of even a reboot of the Helix not getting me back up and running bothers me (as anyone who has ever felt like a tool for more than 5 minutes on a stage while the band proceed and you fiddle with gear and get nowhere). Thing I like is that iPad and accessories I mentioned all add next to no weight or space requirements to what I need to carry, and truth be known I am spending more and more time sitting outside my studio and practicing parts using Amplitube and accessories. Had a really nice multitrack function and can downspeed but pitch keep iTunes library songs. just my 2 cents. I also have an IPAD loaded, JIC my Helix decides to go from Hero to Zero in 6 secs and we have to part ways for weeks. I put BIAS FX, BIAS AMP, JamUp Pro and Mobile POD on the IPAD. I asked my wife once whether she could hear much of a difference between the IPAD and the Helix and she said I sounded like "me" on both.. To this day, I'm not sure whether that was a good or a bad thing, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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