Help connecting up some iloud Studio Monitors up to my Helix Rack ?

[MarkeG]

Have a Helix Rack some iloud Studio Monitors an old Fender G-Dec-3 15 modeling amp and a PC.
Want to be able to stream tracks off my PC to the ilouds play my guitar along with it running it through the Helix and the Fender and have it all come out the ilouds ?

 

Below are some pictures and links to all the components not really sure what my best options are for connecting it all up ?

My particular Fender amp is smaller one and only has Guitar in AUX in and Guitar peddle in on the back the front is exactly the same as the one in the below manual
 

https://www.fmicassets.com/…/OM_leg_gtramp_GDEC_3_Owners_Ma…

http://noaudiophile.com/…/IK_Multimedia_IloudMM_Controls.jpg

https://www.bettermusic.com.au/medi…/…/helix_rack_back_2.jpg

 

[silverhead]

2 minutes ago, MarkeG said:

......
Want to be able to stream tracks off my PC to the ilouds play my guitar along with it running it through the Helix and the Fender and have it all come out the ilouds ?

 

...

 

 

Not clear what you mean by this. Where/how does the Fender come into this? The Fender and Helix are different devices that do similar things; you typically wouldn't use both at the same time.

 

You can connect your ilouds to the Helix outputs, either 1/4' or XLR. Connect Helix to your computer via usb and make sure your computer uses Helix as its audio device for recording and playback. Connect your guitar to Helix Guitar Input and you will hear both your guitar and the backing tracks through the ilouds.

 

Explain what you mean by wanting the Fender to come out the ilouds. Your Fender has its own speaker/cab.

[MarkeG]

Just got the ilouds yesterday before that i was streaming backing  tracks from my pc through the Helix to some Headphones or out the 1/4 Outs on the Helix to my Fender modeling amp at the same time  playing the tracks  from my pc out of some cheap logitech pc speakers. 

Anyways the Fender has some nice modeling features that adds to the Helix I've kind of gotten use to manually dialing in the amps different modes on the fly with the Fender sitting right next to me.

So what I was hoping to do was just bypass the amps  speaker but at the same time keep the Fender modeling features and see if I can run the sounds all together out the ilouds if that makes sense ? 

[mileskb]

What I would do is set the Fender aside for a moment, just while you get everything else hooked up.

Hook the Helix up to the PC and plug the powered speakers in the helix as well...   

 

Make sure as was mentioned the Helix is the PC's audio device.   You should now be able to play back from the PC or play your guitar, all coming through the powered speakers.

 

Now... just add the Fender into one of the loops on the Helix via the line in and line outs on the Fender.   

 

Now you have it all.

[silverhead]

I'm not sure there's any way to bypass the Fender amp speaker like theOP wants to do, short of physically disconnecting it. Also, the OP has the '15' model of the amp; seems only the '30' model has the Line Outs. 

 

Short answer: leave the Fender behind and learn to love Helix. There are far better sounds in there than you're likely to get from the Fender, although there will be a learning curve.

 

EDIT: Be careful with the volume levels. I looked briefly at the iloud monitors jpg. I can't tell how large the speaker is but if less then 6"  I think Helix could blow them up pretty easily. To get the best out of Helix you should consider upgrading your monitors.

[mileskb]

19 minutes ago, silverhead said:

I'm not sure there's any way to bypass the Fender amp speaker like theOP wants to do, short of physically disconnecting it. Also, the OP has the '15' model of the amp; seems only the '30' model has the Line Outs. 

 

Short answer: leave the Fender behind and learn to love Helix. There are far better sounds in there than you're likely to get from the Fender, although there will be a learning curve.

 

EDIT: Be careful with the volume levels. I looked briefly at the iloud monitors jpg. I can't tell how large the speaker is but if less then 6"  I think Helix could blow them up pretty easily. To get the best out of Helix you should consider upgrading your monitors.

 

To mute the amp speakers he need only plug something into the headphone jack.   I agree that he should be able to get tones he likes from the Helix, but that wasn't what he asked.

 

FWIW.. the iLoud speakers are designed to be studio monitors.  I haven't used them, but they look really good on paper.  Certainly enough for a home studio.

 

 

[silverhead]

Right - I had missed the headphones jack. Thanks.

 

Several years ago I was happy with a pair of 5" studio monitors until my Pod X3 Live blew one up. Just a warning about levels......

[MarkeG]

Thanks for the replies

Still not sure exactly on how to hook this all up and I'm pretty sure I'll need to grab some custom cabling so need to know exactly what I'll need to buy 

First do i still  hook the speakers out the from the helix out or do i need to come off the amps headphone jack ??? 

If I'm coming out the Helix where exactly am I best to come out from most likely I'll need to grab some R/L 1/4 out the Helix to 1/8 in on the Speakers unfortunately all inputs on the iLouds are 1/8 

 

On a side note the fender is also connected to the PC via USB and pops up as a sound device when turned on. The fender also has its own Fender Fuse app and would be an added bonus to be able to run it along side Helix Edit app 

 

 

 

[mileskb]

1.  Two 1/4" to RCA from Helix Left and Right out to iLoud

2.  Helix connected to PC via USB, select Helix as default audio.

 

Guitar to Guitar in on Helix. and you should be able to play along with tracks, record, whatever.. all coming out the iLoud

 

3.  Send 1 out of Helix to the rear "guitar in" on Fender ( 1/4" > 1/4" )

4.  Line Outs of Fender to Return 1 and 2 on Helix.  (Two 1/4" > 1/4")

5.  Plug a dummy jack into the headphone jack of the Fender to mute the speaker.

 

Use send and return or loop blocks on Helix to add Fender to the path of choice.  

 

 

 

 

[silverhead]

4 hours ago, mileskb said:

. ..

4.  Line Outs of Fender to Return 1 and 2 on Helix.  (Two 1/4" > 1/4")

...... 

 

The manual (provided in OP link) says these Line Outs are only available on the Fender G-Dec-3 30 model; the OP has the 15 model. Perhaps he could connect the headphone jack on the amp to a Helix Return pair, using an adapter cable that has a 1/8" stereo minijack to a L/R 1/4"  pair. Experiment with the Helix Global Settings > Ins/Outs (page 2) setting for the chosen Send/Return pair level: Instrument vs. Line.

[MarkeG]

Thanks again for the help

Heres some front and back pics so where we at with this what would be the final solution ?

Wanta know exactly what I'm doing and what cables need to get ?

I don't know if this matters but remember the Amp has USB sound  also ?

 

[mileskb]

 

Sorry make that:

4. Headphone out (front of Fender)  to Return 1 and 2 on Helix.  (1/8" stereo to >  two 1/4" ) 

5.  #4 eliminates the need for the dummy plug.

 

Don't bother with the USB from the Fender as an Audio device.  Select the Helix.  You can use the USB to the Fender to change settings with the software etc.. but for Audio, select the Helix.  This is likely not the "only" setup (the one I described) but it is the simplest that I believe gives the most flexibility.  

[MarkeG]

Is there any downside going to the 1/8 TRS on the iLoud instead of the Left and Right and does it matter if any of these cables are  balanced or unbalanced?

The cable going from the amps headphones to the returns on the Helix does it have to be stereo or can it be TRS ?

 

 

[mileskb]

This post edited to correct mistake..

 

1.  Two 1/4" to RCA from Helix Left and Right out to iLoud

2.  Helix connected to PC via USB, select Helix as default audio.

 

Guitar to Guitar in on Helix. and you should be able to play along with tracks, record, whatever.. all coming out the iLoud

 

3.  Send 1 out of Helix to the rear "guitar in" on Fender ( 1/4" > 1/4" )

4.  Headphone Out of Fender to Return 1 and 2 on Helix.  (1/8" TRS (stereo) to RCA left and right).

 

[MarkeG]

Right that would be the easiest simplest way to go  one 1/8" TRS male cable out from the amps headphone to the 1/8" TRS in on the iLouds  done deal 

Is it possible the iLouds  can't deal with 2 sound sources coming in at the same time one from the PC Sound card the other from the amp ?

 

 

 

[Rewolf48]

I found that I got ground loop hum if I connected my Helix Floor to the iLouds using 1/4 to rca or stereo jack to stereo jack. What worked perfectly was Headphone out from helix into the rca or 1/4 to stereo jack. So I just got a 6 and 15 foot pair of headphone to rca cables and a jack adapter and run from the headphone out from the Helix. Short for laptop only, long for Helix.

Works perfectly for sensible volumes, and if I need loud then I use xlr output to a pair of L2t or PA.

The other option to remember is that the iLouds have Bluetooth always on so you can feed phone or tablet or computer to them directly without a cable being mixed with the wired connection.

They are really great little speakers and kick out much more than you would expect, and are very portable.

[MarkeG]

I literally just walked in with a 1/8  cable hooking up the iLouds going out from my amp's headphone to the TRS-in on the Ilouds and the first thing I noticed was nasty hum 

Could you explain your hook up again not exactly sure what your saying ?

[Rewolf48]

I found that:

1/8 to 1/8 cable (with 1/4 adaptor) gave nasty hum

1/4 to rca (*2) gave nasty hum

In both cases it sounds like a ground loop.

But if I used the supplied 1/8 to rca cable there was no noise. So I bought a more suitable length cable for my needs, specifically this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LM2Y2WC and with a headphone 1/4 to 1/8 adaptor I plug the 1/8 end into the Helix Headphone output and the RCA into the iLouds.

It sounds great and I use the headphone volume control on the Helix to control the playback volume of computer sound via USB to Helix mixed with guitar.

I can play Helix alone without booting the computer, and if I want to play along with music on my phone or iPad I can use Bluetooth on the iLoud as well as the cable from Helix

[mileskb]

Sorry... I may have confused things so I edited my above post... and here is it again below..  This is what I recommend..   The ONLY thing connected to the iLouds is the HELIX.

 

1.  Two 1/4" to RCA from Helix Left and Right out to iLoud   (this is the ONLY thing connected to the iLouds)

2.  Helix connected to PC via USB, select Helix as default audio. (this is only so you can record on the PC or playback from the PC)

 

Guitar to Guitar in on Helix. and you should be able to play along with tracks, record, whatever.. all coming out the iLouds.   (no need to boot PC)

 

The following two hookups enable you to put the fender into one of the paths.  The Fender is hooked to the HELIX only.

3.  Send 1 out of Helix to the rear "guitar in" on Fender ( 1/4" > 1/4" )  

4.  Headphone Out of Fender to Return 1 and 2 on Helix.  (1/8" TRS (stereo) to RCA left and right).

 

The possibilities are endless at this point.  You could have the guitar (remember it's plugged into the Helix) used the helix effects on one path and split the signal to the fender and return the fender signal to the other path and even add more stuff there...  or or or or or or or...

 

 

It's late, but I think I have it right this time.