Help needed with Signal chain

[JimDiGritz]

I've been using the Helix (Floor) for a good 18 months and am loving it.

 

However today I had a bit of a revelation that made me reconsider my signal chain, however it's also left me needing some help.

 

Firstly let me explain the use case:

 

I work from home on my PC, and have a decent Studio Monitor and Monitor Headphones. My requirement is purely to play at 'bedroom' levels, particularly with backing tracks (eg YouTube). I get an hour or so a day between work to jump into a jam track or practice. Most of my use is on headphones however if I get some family free time I'll crank up the Monitors.

 

My setup for the past year or so has been:

 

Helix 3/4" out Stereo (2 x Mono) into BEHRINGER XENYX 502 Mixer

PC Audio out Stereo to (2 x Mono) 3/4" into BEHRINGER XENYX 502 Mixer

 

BEHRINGER out #1 3/4" Stereo (2 x MONO) into Mackie Stereo Monitors

BEHRINGER out #2 3/4" Stereo into Headphones

 

This allows me to switch and Mix volume between PC Audio and Helix on either (or both!) Monitors and Headphones.

 

Works perfectly... 

 

EXCEPT

 

I've had the nagging feeling that my HELIX is a little muddy compared to the examples online (I appreciate nothing is exactly comparable, but...), so I plugged my Headphones DIRECTLY into the HELIX Headphones Out and... WOW! Crystal clear and bright.

 

Now what?

 

I can't achieve the above flexibility if I use the Headphone Out, but there must be a way to do this... 

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions... how are you managing PC audio and Helix audio??

[silverhead]

Why not leave your Behringer out of the setup and use Helix as the PC sound card? Connect your PC to Helix via USB - your PC should immediately start routing its audio output over USB to Helix but you may have to manually configure your PC's Sound settings to use Helix as its sound card. Connect your Helix main outputs to your monitors and use the Helix headphone jack. All audio from both Helix the presets and your PC will be heard through the monitors/headphones.

 

Of course you'll need to have the Line 6 driver installed on your PC but you likely already have that if you've ever used HX Edit or Line 6 Updater.

[cruisinon2]

There's really no need for the mixer at all, for either the headphones or your monitors. Helix is a fully functional interface... just connect everything directly. The mixer, even if you're running it flat, may still color the sound to some extent. Easiest solution is to just ditch it... you already know that you prefer the results.

[JimDiGritz]

1 minute ago, silverhead said:

Why not leave your Behringer out of the setup and use Helix as the sound card? Connect your PC to Helix via USB. Connect your Helix main outputs to your monitors and use the Helix headphone jack.

 

Thanks Silverhead.

 

I bought the mixer because I really don't want to have to leave my Helix on 20hrs a day to function as my Soundcard when I only play guitar for an hour or so...

 

I was trying to avoid lot's of switching given that I play in 10 mins chunks throughout the day!

[DunedinDragon]

35 minutes ago, JimDiGritz said:

 

Thanks Silverhead.

 

I bought the mixer because I really don't want to have to leave my Helix on 20hrs a day to function as my Soundcard when I only play guitar for an hour or so...

 

I was trying to avoid lot's of switching given that I play in 10 mins chunks throughout the day!

 

I use my Helix as my only audio interface to my PC and only turn it on if I want audio.  My PC stays on 24/7.  Many times, such as right now, my Helix is turned off because I'm not doing anything with audio.  If I were to come across a video or something I wanted to watch, I just turn on the Helix with my power conditioner which also powers my studio monitors.  The benefit is that I can also have my electronic keyboard plugged into it at the same time as well as a mic, and a bass guitar.  I think it's a very simple setup and enabled with the flip of a switch.

 

[JimDiGritz]

1 minute ago, DunedinDragon said:

 

I use my Helix as my only audio interface to my PC and only turn it on if I want audio.  Many times, such as right now, my Helix is turned off because I'm not doing anything with audio.  If I were to come across a video or something I wanted to watch, I just turn on the Helix with my power conditioner which also powers my studio monitor.  The benefit is that I can also have my electronic keyboard plugged into it at the same time as well as a mic, and a bass guitar.  I think it's a very simple setup and enabled with the flip of a switch.

 

Thanks Dunedin, sadly my job and use of PC means I'm using Audio on it 12+ hours a day (from Video Editing, Conference calls to a little evening Gaming)... the Helix is a very expensive soundcard...

 

I'm torn between either having 100% quality sound from my Helix or the Zero hassle of the Mixer... 

 

 

[DunedinDragon]

It could be the pre-amps in the Behringer that just aren't up to snuff, or it could simply be that you haven't gain staged the channel adequately where the Helix is coming in.  But having a mixer is no different that what many of us do when playing live.  In your case I'd send the Helix via direct XLR into two different channels and gain stage both of them very precisely and see if you can't get a better sound.

[rd2rk]

2 hours ago, DunedinDragon said:

It could be the pre-amps in the Behringer that just aren't up to snuff, or it could simply be that you haven't gain staged the channel adequately where the Helix is coming in.  But having a mixer is no different that what many of us do when playing live.  In your case I'd send the Helix via direct XLR into two different channels and gain stage both of them very precisely and see if you can't get a better sound.

 

Unfortunately, the 502 only has 1 XLR input, so he'd be stuck with mono.

 

5 hours ago, JimDiGritz said:

 

Thanks Silverhead.

 

I bought the mixer because I really don't want to have to leave my Helix on 20hrs a day to function as my Soundcard when I only play guitar for an hour or so...

 

I was trying to avoid lot's of switching given that I play in 10 mins chunks throughout the day!

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but it's always been my understanding that the most "wear" that occurs in an electronic device is the result of turning it ON/OFF, as the components are continually being subjected to heating/cooling cycles. Therefore, barring external factors (direct sun, lightning), it's better to just leave them on unless they're not being used at all for a long period of time.

 

So, using the Helix as soundcard, you have the same flexibility - use the big knob for the speakers, dialed down if you're only using headphones - and the headphone knob for those.

[cruisinon2]

4 hours ago, rd2rk said:

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but it's always been my understanding that the most "wear" that occurs in an electronic device is the result of turning it ON/OFF, as the components are continually being subjected to heating/cooling cycles. Therefore, barring external factors (direct sun, lightning), it's better to just leave them on unless they're not being used at all for a long period of time.

 

So, using the Helix as soundcard, you have the same flexibility - use the big knob for the speakers, dialed down if you're only using headphones - and the headphone knob for those.

 

Who knows? I can't imagine being constantly on and hot is any better for a device's longevity, but honestly I have no idea...I turn stuff off when I'm done with it, always have.

 

What I do know is everything craps the bed eventually, no matter who's book of wisdom you're following. Sometimes before you're ready for it, and sometimes loooong after you thought it would. The other thing you can bank on is this... with the pace of technology being what it is, the odds are you'll lose interest in Helix in favor of whatever comes along to replace it, long before it dies on you. There was nothing wrong with my POD HD...I just wanted a Helix, lol. 

[JimDiGritz]

Thanks guys, I think that on reflection I'm gonna stick with my setup as is, but when I get more than a 5 min session I'll swap headphones to the output and use the Helix as a soundcard.

 

rd2rk is right, the XLR in is for a Mono mic on my 502 - I naively assumed that the 3/4" jacks wouldn't color the sound, but it's very noticeable. I am using decent quality short (1m) cables. 

 

Thanks anyway!