erabjohns Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I've had a Helix Rack for a while now and I've been kicking around the idea of adding the Helix Control. Last night, the idea dawned on me to just spend the extra $100 and get the HX Effects. I know it's overkill, but I figure I can run most of the effects I want through the HXFX, save on the DSP in the Rack. Since the HXFX can send/receive MIDI commands, I assume I can do things like toggle blocks on the Rack on/off, right? Is there something that I'm clearly missing, or would this work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilrahi Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 It does seem like this might be possible. I don't own the Helix Rack, and I don't own the HX Effects. From a quick glance it looks like the HX Effects is a more limited midi controller. I found this nice video by Line 6 and towards the last half of the video it discusses what midi commands HX Effects can send. I would compare that with the type of commands you need the Helix Rack to receive, and if they overlap well, you''re probably golden. Reviewing the HX Effects manual for the available midi commands would probably be a good place to check too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erabjohns Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 5 minutes ago, Kilrahi said: It does seem like this might be possible. I don't own the Helix Rack, and I don't own the HX Effects. From a quick glance it looks like the HX Effects is a more limited midi controller. I found this nice video by Line 6 and towards the last half of the video it discusses what midi commands HX Effects can send. I would compare that with the type of commands you need the Helix Rack to receive, and if they overlap well, you''re probably golden. Reviewing the HX Effects manual for the available midi commands would probably be a good place to check too. Cool. I didn't see this video before. I'm a total noob when it comes to midi so I should probably do a little homework before jumping in. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 There's a $200 difference between the Control and HX Effects, not $100... But, anyway, yes, you could control the Rack with the HX Effects, but it would require quite a bit of dedication to get everything programmed. With the Control everything is automatic, plus, you still have the capacitive touch functionality for assigning blocks in the Rack to footswitches. I get that you get the extra DSP with the Effects, but, really, the DSP limit has almost never been an issue for me with the Helix. I mean, MIDI is great, and I personally do a lot with it, but if you've not used it a lot before, I don't know if this would be a good way to start. The fact is you'd have to program every single control point using the HX Effects as controller. It could become very tedious, very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 47 minutes ago, Kilrahi said: It does seem like this might be possible. I don't own the Helix Rack, and I don't own the HX Effects. From a quick glance it looks like the HX Effects is a more limited midi controller. The HX Effects is only more limited as a MIDI controller than the Helix, other than the fact that it simply has fewer footswitches. The Command Center functionality is pretty much identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erabjohns Posted February 15, 2019 Author Share Posted February 15, 2019 I appreciate the insight. The MIDI controls are more of an interest than a key reason to go this route. Mainly, I just want to turn effects on/off and I figure this will allow that to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilrahi Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 20 minutes ago, erabjohns said: I appreciate the insight. The MIDI controls are more of an interest than a key reason to go this route. Mainly, I just want to turn effects on/off and I figure this will allow that to happen. It will allow you to do that, but I think Phil's larger point should be carefully considered. The Helix Rack Control was specifically designed and programmed for this and largely operates like a dream in contrast to the HX Effects which would take a great deal of time and programming and probably will never work as smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 IMO: The Helix Control would be a better fit for the Helix Rack... but YMMV. If an expression pedal w/toe switch (extremely useful for wah effects) has any importance to you, then the Helix Control will win the battle. The HX Effects cannot recognize an external toe switch at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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