Helix Floor as Audio Interface

[localhero]

I am using the Helix as an Audio Interface after my 'trusty'!!! A & H Firewire desk no longer wanted to communicate with my DAW.

Firstly I cant seem to record from the pc or Internet directly into my daw for some reason,any ideas why?(eg you tube to Cakewalk).

Secondly am I able to record from an cassette player (2 ins r and l) as my dad recently passed and im trying to record onto pc his live recordings?

Many Thanks.

[DunedinDragon]

My guess is you don't have the appropriate driver selected in Cakewalk.  I use Sonar Platinum but it's probably close to the same on regular Cakewalk.  Under the Edit menu select Preferences.  In the Audio category with Devices selected you should have ASIO Helix Input 1-2 through ASIO Helix Input 7-8 listed there for both Input and Output drivers.  If not, then select the Audio and MIDI setup under Utilities and it will walk you through getting the right device driver in place.

Again, things may be different for you depending on the version of Cakewalk you have.  But the concept is the same.  Configure the appropriate ASIO driver and all should be well.

[localhero]

Thanks for replying.I use Sonar Platinum as well and I have selected all inputs and outputs to helix.I can record guitars in no problem but not anything from internet?

[DunedinDragon]

3 hours ago, localhero said:

Thanks for replying.I use Sonar Platinum as well and I have selected all inputs and outputs to helix.I can record guitars in no problem but not anything from internet?

That's not really a function of the Helix.  As an output device the Helix is simply playing the music and is no different than any sound card.  From the internet it's simply streaming the bits being directed to the Helix as an audio output device.  If you want to capture the sound it still needs to be downloaded as an .MP3 or .WAV file to the PC either directly or via some capture utility that's out there.  From there you can simply import it into Sonar as a stereo track and do whatever you want with it.  You don't have to play it to capture it.  It's just digital bits.

[localhero]

1 hour ago, DunedinDragon said:

That's not really a function of the Helix.  As an output device the Helix is simply playing the music and is no different than any sound card.  From the internet it's simply streaming the bits being directed to the Helix as an audio output device.  If you want to capture the sound it still needs to be downloaded as an .MP3 or .WAV file to the PC either directly or via some capture utility that's out there.  From there you can simply import it into Sonar as a stereo track and do whatever you want with it.  You don't have to play it to capture it.  It's just digital bits.

Thanks for that.I used to be able to do it via firewire into the desk and back to the daw but now thats u/s i was hoping the helix would do the same.I find it handy for pinching parts off solos on you tubea nd playing back in Transcribe.

I normally just drag and drop audio files in to Sonar anyway (wav/mp3s etc) if i want to edit or use as reference tracks,and yep the helix plays everything but i cant understand why it cant record in sonar as its going through the same interface(helix) as all my instruments and they record(although it does take a bit of mixing to get the levels right!

As someone once sang,'There must be a way'!!!

[DunedinDragon]

1 hour ago, localhero said:

Thanks for that.I used to be able to do it via firewire into the desk and back to the daw but now thats u/s i was hoping the helix would do the same.I find it handy for pinching parts off solos on you tubea nd playing back in Transcribe.

I normally just drag and drop audio files in to Sonar anyway (wav/mp3s etc) if i want to edit or use as reference tracks,and yep the helix plays everything but i cant understand why it cant record in sonar as its going through the same interface(helix) as all my instruments and they record(although it does take a bit of mixing to get the levels right!

As someone once sang,'There must be a way'!!!

Oh I'm sure if you wanted to put together some spaghetti wiring to take the output from the Helix and route it back into an input through one of the signal chains you could come up with something if you wanted to tinker with it to get the i/o levelled out so the signal wouldn't get degraded or over saturated.  You could pretend it's 1979 and you're making copies of cassette tapes!!!  But it's probably not going to be as accurate, clean or as easy as simply importing and editing a digital copy of the music.

[localhero]

lol understood loud and clear.Thank you so much for your help with this 

[HeathDaddy]

On 3/16/2018 at 8:50 AM, DunedinDragon said:

My guess is you don't have the appropriate driver selected in Cakewalk.  I use Sonar Platinum but it's probably close to the same on regular Cakewalk.  Under the Edit menu select Preferences.  In the Audio category with Devices selected you should have ASIO Helix Input 1-2 through ASIO Helix Input 7-8 listed there for both Input and Output drivers.  If not, then select the Audio and MIDI setup under Utilities and it will walk you through getting the right device driver in place.

Again, things may be different for you depending on the version of Cakewalk you have.  But the concept is the same.  Configure the appropriate ASIO driver and all should be well.

Is there a cheat sheet handy of which physical jacks are for each of the ASIO Helix 1-2, 3-4,...(etc) input AND outputs?

I could wire it all up and figure it out, but I'm wondering if anyone has it listed.  I searched...couldn't find it. 

Also, I'm assuming the Headphone output is the same ASIO 1-2 as the XLR outs and can't be separated.  True?  I have a headphone send created in Sonar but it looks like the same feed as the XLRs.  I could just use the 1/4" outputs for monitoring into my speakers instead of the XLRs, but I'd like to use the XLRs for obvious reasons.  My second thought was to keep monitoring through the XLRs and create a send to a pair of 1/4", but then I'd need a headphone amp.  Kinda seems silly to need a headphone amp when the Helix already has one in it.  

Thanks!

[DunedinDragon]

 

For those that are "Helix manual challenged"  .....page 53

[HeathDaddy]

On 3/17/2018 at 12:01 PM, DunedinDragon said:

 

For those that are "Helix manual challenged"  .....page 53

yeah, I saw it, and that didn't answer the question.  Thanks for the snarky comment though.  I'm surprised you went through all the trouble to screen shot the page and make a comment if you didn't plan on helping.  It would have been easier on your part and actually helpful to explain it.

 

To anyone who cares;

 

I went through all options and it's just not going to behave like a traditional sound card.  There are no default audio outputs.  Your DAW will see all sets of outputs but routing Bus/Aux outputs in your DAW won't send it to any specific output jacks.  You'll need to create a patch on the Helix to tell it where you want the sends from your DAW to go.  Unfortunately, this means if you're working in your DAW using your favorite patch, you'll need to record with in and THEN switch to the patch with the assigned outputs so you can route the signals as you wish.  You can try and squeeze in that information on your favorite patch, but if you're like me, your favorite patch is already maxed out on DSP.  

 

This will of course be a limitation of you planned on doing some quick recordings with other musicians, as you won't be able to send them a separate monitor send.  The Helix is a strong enough product on its own, so I'm not shocked that using it as a sound card would have limitations. 

 

As far as my headphone question goes, I don't see any way to use them separately.  This of course means you'd need a headphone amp if you wanted to setup a routing you'd need to create a patch in the Helix to a set of outputs, run them to a headphone amp and proceed.  Thus, keeping your XLRs/headphone combo for studio monitors (for example).

 

For future reference I promise to read all comments in the forum carefully to understand the questions, and respond with information that will actually help.  If I have nothing positive to contribute, I'll just keep my mouth shut.  As evidenced above, posting pix of the manual and inserting comments about being "manually challenged" is meant for nothing but insulting others.  I read plenty.  The information I needed wasn't in there. Perhaps instead of "reading the manual", perhaps you could "read the question".   

 

Is there something about doing that that makes people feel super smart or insanely accomplished???  I don't get it.