On the subject of cranking things up...

[PeterJH]

I've been putting together a collection of my favourite patches in the Helix for release and they're sounding pretty good. I did however want to get an idea what they would sound like plugged directly into a big PA at very high volume.

I booked some time at a music store here in SA and used their PA room for a few hours. I plugged into a double JBL VX900 system consisting of twin 18's and twin VX900 tops. We set the channels flat, global eq off and went for it.

 

The idea was to get great tone which was accurate and transparent straight from the Helix. We managed to achieve this fairly easily as my patches that were created in the studio came across quite well in a "front of house" scenario.

 

I was completely blown away. We ran a camera to try and record some of it but the levels were very loud and the camera mic battled. I did manage to keep some of the footage and put together a short clip to demonstrate my patch called "Plexi Crunch". It's not a mild crunch. It's more like a Plexi on steroids.

 

The audio is straight from the PA and no processing was applied.

 

Cheers

 

Peter.

 

[jbuhajla]

Judging by the smiles on your faces towards the end of the clip, Helix sounds pretty good straight through a big PA at big volumes. 

[PeterJH]

Judging by the smiles on your faces towards the end of the clip, Helix sounds pretty good straight through a big PA at big volumes.

 

Yes, I couldn't stop smiling after the session. It's quite something to hear a wall of Marshalls coming from a modeler plugged straight into a desk.

 

I've never had the opportunity to hear the Helix cranked to such high levels. I wanted to completely eliminate any trace of Fletcher Munson effects and hear what the Helix could do with no limits as far as levels are concerned.

 

This thing delivers in spades...

[AlexKenivel]

Cool! My metal band is loud as shit thanks to our drummer and his giant cymbals so I usually need to get my presets to translate well at hair raising levels, and it has never been a problem besides all the hearing loss.

[amsdenj]

Keep in mind that our perception is that louder is better even when it isn't - its an evolution thing. That's why you don't mix at loud levels (as well as to protect your ears). Something that sounds good at low levels will almost always sound better at higher levels. But the reverse is not true: something that sounds good loud won't necessarily sound good at low levels.

 

Something similar happens with headphones. Something that sounds good on speakers will likely sound good in headphones. But something that sounds good in headphones won't necessarily sound good on speakers. This is why its risky to mix with headphones without a lot of good references and post-mix verification on other systems.

[robbieb61]

I got my Helix back in Oct. of 2015 and used it at a live gig that very week.
It was a gig on world famous Fremont Street here in Vegas on a concert P.A. and I went straight to the mixer board out of the Helix and heard myself through my floor monitor (we all had separate monitor mixes of course).

We were one of three bands that night (us and another band opening for a national act).

And even though I only had my Helix a few days, and the Helix didn't yet have some of the great amp models it has now...I was able to use the Cali Rectifier model (we play classic rock).  And the soundman came up to me after the show and told me that I had the best guitar sound out front of any other guitarist that evening. 
And the guitar players in the other bands were using Marshall stacks. :)

[erniedenov]

I've been putting together a collection of my favourite patches in the Helix for release and they're sounding pretty good. I did however want to get an idea what they would sound like plugged directly into a big PA at very high volume.

I booked some time at a music store here in SA and used their PA room for a few hours. I plugged into a double JBL VX900 system consisting of twin 18's and twin VX900 tops. We set the channels flat, global eq off and went for it.

 

The idea was to get great tone which was accurate and transparent straight from the Helix. We managed to achieve this fairly easily as my patches that were created in the studio came across quite well in a "front of house" scenario.

 

I was completely blown away. We ran a camera to try and record some of it but the levels were very loud and the camera mic battled. I did manage to keep some of the footage and put together a short clip to demonstrate my patch called "Plexi Crunch". It's not a mild crunch. It's more like a Plexi on steroids.

 

The audio is straight from the PA and no processing was applied.

 

Cheers

 

Peter.

 

 

It sounds exactly like I would want a gained up Les Paul to sound. That was great; thanks for sharing!

 

I got my Helix back in Oct. of 2015 and used it at a live gig that very week.

It was a gig on world famous Fremont Street here in Vegas on a concert P.A. and I went straight to the mixer board out of the Helix and heard myself through my floor monitor (we all had separate monitor mixes of course).

 

We were one of three bands that night (us and another band opening for a national act).

 

I wonder if that was "The Fremont Street Experience?" I play at that once a year with the band I tour with. I didn't have a Marshall stack though; I use a rented Mesa Triple Rectifier half stack with that band. To tell the truth, I'm a little squeamish about flying around with my Helix, especially after having two suitcases smashed by TSA in the last 3 years. My Line 6 M13 survived, but of course that unit was 1/3rd the price of the Helix.

 

Who was the headliner? Just wondering if it was us.

[robbieb61]

Yep, that's it. I just call it Fremont Street. lol
And damn it...now I can't remember the name of the band. They were doing an album release deal that night...it was a new up and coming band which is why I can't remember off the top of my head. :(

I think you could probably take the helix as a carry on if you have the line 6 helix backpack. 
I have that and it would fit as a carry on I'm pretty sure...though I have not flown with it.

[erniedenov]

Yep, that's it. I just call it Fremont Street. lol

And damn it...now I can't remember the name of the band. They were doing an album release deal that night...it was a new up and coming band which is why I can't remember off the top of my head. :(

 

I think you could probably take the helix as a carry on if you have the line 6 helix backpack. 

I have that and it would fit as a carry on I'm pretty sure...though I have not flown with it.

 

Okay, that wasn't us. We're a cover band led by a reasonably well known actor; he's the bass player.

 

I do have the Helix backpack. Trouble is that it won't fit under a seat and my other carry-on is my guitar. 

[robbieb61]

Didn't think of the guitar....
Next time you come to Vegas, pm me ahead of time. If I'm not playing you could use my Helix for the gig. Just load your presets in from your laptop and then delete them after the gig. 
I've got plenty of empty user slots. :)

[erniedenov]

Didn't think of the guitar....

Next time you come to Vegas, pm me ahead of time. If I'm not playing you could use my Helix for the gig. Just load your presets in from your laptop and then delete them after the gig. 

I've got plenty of empty user slots. :)

 

Thanks for your kind offer; I appreciate it! I don't have a laptop anymore. In my Line 6 Vetta days, I used to ask for a backlined Vetta and I would load my patches into it; I had a laptop then. The problem was that 75% of those rented Vettas had issues. There was a problem with the knobs they were using and the vibration of the amp would do stuff like make the volume knob turn up on it's own. Thank god Line 6 used high grade components in the Helix!

 

I think I'd need some quality time with our soundman to get Helix working with that band. I did bring it once, but we were having noise issues that we couldn't figure out before we ran out of time. That was a good while back, before I started using the input noise gate though.

 

I'm starting to ramble; think I'll go now. Once again, thanks!

[robbieb61]

Anytime brother.

[HonestOpinion]

...

I do have the Helix backpack. Trouble is that it won't fit under a seat and my other carry-on is my guitar. 

 

It has probably been mentioned but I have to wonder how the new proposed airline laws regulating laptops are going to impact carrying things like a Helix on a flight in anything other than cargo?

[Lachdanan0121]

It has probably been mentioned but I have to wonder how the new proposed airline laws regulating laptops are going to impact carrying things like a Helix on a flight in anything other than cargo?

Good question as all this blindly increasing of security has normal people quite inconvenienced.

[twpmeister]

I've been putting together a collection of my favourite patches in the Helix for release and they're sounding pretty good. I did however want to get an idea what they would sound like plugged directly into a big PA at very high volume.

I booked some time at a music store here in SA and used their PA room for a few hours. I plugged into a double JBL VX900 system consisting of twin 18's and twin VX900 tops. We set the channels flat, global eq off and went for it.

 

The idea was to get great tone which was accurate and transparent straight from the Helix. We managed to achieve this fairly easily as my patches that were created in the studio came across quite well in a "front of house" scenario.

 

I was completely blown away. We ran a camera to try and record some of it but the levels were very loud and the camera mic battled. I did manage to keep some of the footage and put together a short clip to demonstrate my patch called "Plexi Crunch". It's not a mild crunch. It's more like a Plexi on steroids.

 

The audio is straight from the PA and no processing was applied.

 

Cheers

 

Peter.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX6MQzIAv0A

Hi Peter how's progress on this? I remember seeing something about buying your album and receiving the patches free- can you point me in the right direction? Always happy to try reasonably priced patch packs.

[PeterJH]

Hi Peter how's progress on this? I remember seeing something about buying your album and receiving the patches free- can you point me in the right direction? Always happy to try reasonably priced patch packs.

Yep, nearly there. The demo video is just about done and i'm almost done getting the website up to date. A couple more days and it'll all be uploaded.

 

Thanks for the interest.

 

Cheers.