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Home Studio Question


mhoward43
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Hey all,

 

I have the Helix as my audio interface in my home recording studio.  I have a Roland FA-06, Guitar, Bass, Vox as my needed inputs.  Right now I run one at time and am sick of unplugging.  Would I be able to run them all through Helix at once or do I need to get something like the Presonus Quantum?  (If I can run them all in, how would you do that)

 

Also I have an Presonus ADL600, Kush Electra EQ and a DBX 162SL Comp as my external hardware?  How would you incorporate those components into your single chain for recording?

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

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If it's just the unplugging that's bothering you, and not the single track at a time  limitation, you could continue to use Helix. I would connect your guitar to the Guitar In, your Roland FA-06 to Return1/2 (for stereo), your bass to Return 3, and your vox to Mic In. Then create separate presets for each of those inputs to have the full DSP processing power of Helix for each Input/device. Your workflow can continue as it currently is but instead of plugging and unplugging between recording different tracks you would just switch presets.

 

In any preset you can incorporate your external devices using then Send/Return 4 pair as an FX Loop. Connect your externals in series in the FX Loop. 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, silverhead said:

If it's just the unplugging that's bothering you, and not the single track at a time  limitation, you could continue to use Helix. I would connect your guitar to the Guitar In, your Roland FA-06 to Return1/2 (for stereo), your bass to Return 3, and your vox to Mic In. Then create separate presets for each of those inputs to have the full DSP processing power of Helix for each Input/device. Your workflow can continue as it currently is but instead of plugging and unplugging between recording different tracks you would just switch presets.

 

In any preset you can incorporate your external devices using then Send/Return 4 pair as an FX Loop. Connect your externals in series in the FX Loop. 

 

 

THIS^^^^^  Is pretty much how I have my Helix setup for recording.  I have my Electric guitar going into the guitar in, Voice microphone into Mic input, Bass and acoustic shared through Aux in, Casio Previa into return 1/2, roland TD-15k electronic drum kit in return 3/4.  I have presets setup for each and simply change to the preset for the track I'm recording, arm the track, and hit record.  Helix outputs go to my Yamaha HS7's and of course my headphone plugged into the headphone jack.  I leave everything plugged in and the only thing I change is moving the 1/4" plug from my bass guitar input to my acoustic guitar input depending on what I'm recording.  Far and away the simplest workflow I've ever had in my studio.

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8 hours ago, DunedinDragon said:

... roland TD-15k electronic drum kit in return 3/4. 

 

Just curious...I see you have your Roland TD-15k plugged into Helix 1/4" returns.  What drive you to do that vs USB to your computer?  Sound? Stability? Convenience?

 

I'm planning on unpacking my old Alesis DM10 set and USB to PC to trigger Superior Drummer 3 and would be interested in your experience too.  

 

Wondering if there are any PC USB setting or potential issues having Helix and DM10 drums both coming in on USB at the same time.

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10 hours ago, roscoe5 said:

 

Just curious...I see you have your Roland TD-15k plugged into Helix 1/4" returns.  What drive you to do that vs USB to your computer?  Sound? Stability? Convenience?

 

I'm planning on unpacking my old Alesis DM10 set and USB to PC to trigger Superior Drummer 3 and would be interested in your experience too.  

 

Wondering if there are any PC USB setting or potential issues having Helix and DM10 drums both coming in on USB at the same time.

 

Mostly it's the path of least resistance.  I didn't want to have to mess with the USB, plus I have the Evolution Expansion Pack loaded on the TD-15 which really gives me more than adequate kit options for getting realistic drum captures.  I don't always use the TD-15.  Sometimes it's just quicker and easier to put together a drum track using the tools included with my Addictive Drums plug-in, but when my drummer is available I'll go with the TD-15 setup.

 

Also I'm not always trying to put together a finished master recording as much as I am more often building demos of original material for the live band to work from in learning them.  When we record masters for the band I don't initially record through the Helix, but as a full band recording session at our practice space through a Zoom R16 multitrack recorder with the tracks later transferred into my DAW.  Post capture sessions are done by individual band members later through the Helix direct to the DAW at my home studio.

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Wow.  Nice workflows and logic.  Thanks for that info.

 

While I'm trying to setup more of a static home studio with multiple digital devices connected to PC via USB (Helix, e-drums, keyboard controller, etc.), you gave me some good ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 years later...
On 4/25/2018 at 6:51 PM, DunedinDragon said:

THIS^^^^^  Is pretty much how I have my Helix setup for recording.  I have my Electric guitar going into the guitar in, Voice microphone into Mic input, Bass and acoustic shared through Aux in, Casio Previa into return 1/2, roland TD-15k electronic drum kit in return 3/4.  I have presets setup for each and simply change to the preset for the track I'm recording, arm the track, and hit record.  Helix outputs go to my Yamaha HS7's and of course my headphone plugged into the headphone jack.  I leave everything plugged in and the only thing I change is moving the 1/4" plug from my bass guitar input to my acoustic guitar input depending on what I'm recording.  Far and away the simplest workflow I've ever had in my studio.

 

This was so useful for me. Thanks a lot. Been trying to figure out how to connect various things to my Helix rack and this gave me a very clear idea. I'm now adjusting my existing patches to make a separate path for my Boss Eband JS10 that I've plugged into the Helix Rack Returns 3 and 4 taking the output from the JS10's headphone output. I've connected my Helix XLR outputs to my Apogee Element 88 audio interface to record into Logic and I've also taken the 1/4th outputs of the Helix through a Y cable back into the JS10 input 1 so that I can record my jamming on the JS10 just on the fly without the computer though of course it doesn't give me multi track recording. (Photo below). 

 

My questions are as under: 

 

1. What I wanted to know is that If I didn't want to record/ switch on the computer but just wanted to play along to the backing tracks/ drum patterns on the JS10 through the Helix, what do I select as the output for the JS10 return block on the Helix and I suppose I'll have to make completely separate patches for that purpose than the patches I've made for USB recording through Helix?

 

2. I find that the best volume output for the JS10 through the Helix Rack comes from the Multi output option when I'm not using the computer. Somehow if I set the Return block of the JS10 to 1/4th outs, the volume seems lower. Am I doing something wrong on this? 

 

3. Should one use the AUX In to connect an Acoustic Guitar with a built in pickup or just use the Guitar In to connect the Acoustic Guitar? What would work better? 

 

4. If I connect my Roland FA-06 keyboard to the Returns 1 and 2 of the Helix Rack, can I use the same patches as the ones I've made for the Boss JS10 returns 3 and 4 and keep the FA-06 on a separate path so that I get the sound output from both the FA-06 and the JS10 into Logic or do I need to make separate patches for each instrument connected to the Helix Rack and record them one by one instead of all together on separate tracks? In other words would one master patch for all the connected equipment work so that I can record both the JS10 and the FA-06 into Logic at the same time.  

 

Just to explain what I have in mind in 4 above: Path 1 is the guitar effects path for my guitars with output set to USB1/2 or Multi; Path 2 would be the JS10 return block with the output set to USB 3/4. Path 3 would be the Roland FA-06 with the output set to USB 5/6. 

 

Is the above configuration a workable solution within a patch? 

 

FYI, For final recordings, I've created an Aggregate Device on my iMac with the Apogee Element and the Helix Rack and that works very well for me. Now I can also manage to record the drum patterns and backing tracks on the JS10 into Logic Pro X using the Aggregate Device inputs of the Helix Rack. So best of all worlds in a sense being able to use both the Apogee Element 88 and the Helix Rack as audio interfaces. 

 

Sometimes I also just record to Logic using only the Helix Rack as the audio interface but I somehow find that the Helix Rack XLR outs into instrument Inputs 1 and 2 of the Apogee Element and then recording into Logic using Inputs 1 and 2 of the Apogee give me a clearer sound for some reason. Not sure if that's just my imagination. Haha. 

JS10,_Helix_and_Apogee_Element_88_connection.jpg

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