JoLeFo Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 For live use i connect the XLRs to the FOH and I use the 1/4" outs for my QSC k10 for monitoring. I've discovered the need for a separate volume control/knob for my monitors without affecting the P.A. / FOH level. In the "Global settings" it seems that I can route the volume knob to only XLR outs - that works fine. The 1/4" outs then hits full output to my monitors without any way for controlling the volume output from the Helix. Routing the Phones to 1/4" nothing happens to the 174" out levels. I've tried to route the other way around (Volume knob only controlling the 1/4"). The XLR outs are then on full output volume and can't be controlled by the Phones knob, even when this knob is routed to "XLR". It seems that only the Volume knob is "working". Phones volume knob seems stuck to controlling only the phones stereo 1/4" output. Anyone had any experience on how to route the Volume knob to "master" L/R XLR outs and the Phones vol knob to the "master" L/R 1/4" outs? Im running FW version 2.30.0 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 The Global settings control what signal goes to which physical output. The VOLUME knob can be set to control the level of any and all signals to any and all outputs EXCEPT Phones. When you assign a signal to the PHONES knob, that is the signal that comes out of the PHYSICAL Phones output. At home, I'm using the 1/4" out in 4 cable mode with my tube amp to set up presets for that configuration. I send the PHYSICAL XLR out to my powered speaker (across the room) to monitor presets for that configuration, with VOLUME KNOB CONTROLS set to XLR only. I send the same XLR signal to the PHONES output (HEADPHONES MONITOR), which goes to the board - in this case the board is the Focusrite interface to my DAW. The point is, if you need to set separate levels for monitors and FOH, one of those signals needs to come from the PHYSICAL Phones jack in order for it to be controlled by the Phones knob. If you want to use the PHYSICAL XLR Outs for FOH, set VOLUME KNOB CONTROLS to XLR. Then use the PHYSICAL Phones Out for your monitor. If your Presets' Output is set to Multi, it shouldn't matter whether you set HEADPHONES MONITOR to XLR or 1/4". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicLaw Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 The Phones volume knob is a dedicated analog control for the 1/4" Headphones output jack. The Headphones jack may be used to feed personal monitor(s) should you wish, if you feel Helix's Main XLR and 1/4" Outputs do not suit your needs. The Global Settings > I/O > Headphones Monitor selection allows you to select which of Helix's Main Outputs you wish to hear from the Headphones jack. I do not know that this has changed in fw 2.30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLeFo Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 Thanx for quick reply guys! The xlr and 1/4» outs suits me perfectly good as they both are balanced outputs. The phones output is not quite suited for connecting live monitors though. I can’t quite see why i would need to have the choise to monitor the xlr vs the 1/4» physical outs through my headphones. Having the option to seperate the XLRs through the main volume knob to FOH and the balanced 1/4» outs through the phones’ volume knob to stage monitors (or the other way around) would make far more sense in an live D.I. to FOH enviroment though. At least the way i use the Helix. I thought maby there was a bug making assignment of the «phones» knob to the 1/4» outs impossible 🤨 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 "I thought maby there was a bug making assignment of the «phones» knob to the 1/4» outs impossible " You can't assign the Phones KNOB to the PHYSICAL 1/4" outs. You CAN assign the signal that you've assigned to 1/4" outs in your preset to the PHYSICAL Phones out jack, which level is set by the Phones KNOB. That would allow you to, for instance, assign different EQs and/or cabs to the FOH (XLRs and VOLUME KNOB) than to the 1/4" outs (Phones out and Phones Knob). "The phones output is not quite suited for connecting live monitors though" Why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLeFo Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 "The phones output is not quite suited for connecting live monitors though" Why not? Because the phones output is for a stereo jack. I would need a splitter for sending out l/r-signal to my two K10s, making this output like the already present two 1/4’’ output jacks at the back of the Helix. Unbalancet line out that would be then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 I think this conversation is getting wrapped around the axle because it started off with a somewhat faulty idea of how to fix a problem. First off, it's important to understand the control over the signal you send out the XLR to the FOH is pretty much irrelevant given that the mixing board has complete control over how much signal it receives via the gain or trim knob on that channel. As long as you're sending a non-clipped signal in a form the board is set to receive, that signal can be gain staged at the board to an apporopriate signal level. And the typical signal most boards are prepared to use on XLR inputs is Mic level, although line level is also acceptable in some cases. So the easiest way to fix your problem is to configure your system so that the Master knob on the Helix only controls the 1/4" out, and the Master does NOT control the XLR out and the XLR output is set to Mic level. Then you can dial in whatever volume you want for your stage monitor and the signal being sent to the board will be a consistent Mic level signal that only has to be gain staged once during sound checks to the level the sound man wants. That is actually the most important purpose of soundchecks.and if your sound man doesn't understand how to do that you've got a LOT bigger problems awaiting you for that gig. As long as all of your presets/snapshots have been normalized to have the same relative volume and you're not adjusting the Master output for different levels on presets/snapshots, this configuration will work fine/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLeFo Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 Think youre spot on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joepeggio Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 FTI.. the 1/4 outs are unbalanced. But I never have had any noise issues. I like dragon's answer too. Full sig to FOH and volume knob to monitor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 DunedinDragon nailed it. As for the balanced/unbalanced thing, unless your monitors are more than 20' away, noise won't be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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