true bypass?

[laserlevelhub]

I have one question about the Helix.  Is the Line 6 Helix a TRUE BYPASS unit like the M13?

[donkelley]

I wouldn't say it really works like that.  Not sure you can actually bypass the entire unit in one go, at least not with the HELIX which is what you asked about.

 

To understand that, you have to understand what true bypass actually means.  True bypass means there is a hardwired direct connection from input to output when you bypass an effect pedal.  It is generally considered the opposite of buffered, which means there is a circuit in place on the input that ensures the electrical properties of the input remain ideal for a passive guitar or bass, whether or not the effect is in operation.

 

The input on the Helix is designed to be either automatically, or manually if you prefer, set to run at a certain input impedance, so it works ideally with whatever you connect to it (typically a guitar or bass, but there's no limitation). For example, if you connect a passive piezo instrument to the input, you might want to set the helix input up differently.  Active instrument?  Then you don't need to worry about the input impedance so much.  What about an old Fender rhoads electric piano?  It's all part of a circuit, and you need to understand what you're doing to set it up ideally.

 

That very lightly touches on the input of the helix, and should suggest to you that buffered versus hard wired ("true bypass") aren't really part of the picture with the helix.

 

Then, within the helix, you can place models of pedals chosen from a library of hundreds.  Each of those models accurately recreates the electrical properties of the actual pedal, in a rather shockingly amazing bit of software engineering from Line6. 

 

So an ancient, famous fuzz pedal that wasn't buffered originally and actually had somewhat bizarre input impedance properties will still behave that way within the helix. Hence why the Auto mode on the input of the helix is such a great thing.  It can work just like your non buffered fuzz pedal, and work with your guitar how it would work in real life, more or less.  That is several steps further in "wow" value than simply making this either a buffered or non-buffered question.

 

The DRAWBACK to this is the same as the drawback to using the real fuzz pedal with your guitar in real life, without a buffered pedal before it.  It is a tone killer, in many cases.  Buffers can be a GOOD THING with certain circuits, which was understood well in the 70s and 80s, but wasn't understood well in the 60s.

 

So the helix correctly emulates the good, AND BAD, effects of unbuffered pedals.

 

Bypass on the pedal works the same way in the helix.  That same pedal, unbuffered, can cause tone suck when turned off, unless you put a buffered pedal ahead of it in your chain.

 

If you want true bypass, it is all software, but the bypass can/is 100% ... you don't get any line6-caused electrical or tone changes when you bypass each pedal.  The only effects you get are the actual pedal's effects when they are bypassed, for better or worse.

 

The entire helix is generally expected to be used also as an amp/cab modeler... and as a result, asking if the Helix is true bypass is sort of not a realistic use case, I would think.  Who would expect to hit a switch and bypass their entire rig, and just send their raw guitar cable in the PA?  I mean, you could, and the helix would let you... but yuck :-).  To bypass the entire pedal, there is a bypass button, and you can probably program a foot switch to do that for you, at least I wouldn't be surprised.  But it's normally an always-on thing, just like your amp, and you turn on/off stomp pedals within it using the floor buttons (as well as changing presets, snapshots, etc).

 

I hope that helps.  It's a complex topic, and I also hope that I got it all right in my very high level (I.E. simple, lacking-detail) summary.

[PierM]

On 8/14/2020 at 2:16 PM, laserlevelhub said:

I have one question about the Helix.  Is the Line 6 Helix a TRUE BYPASS unit like the M13?

 

No. Even with all block bypassed, you have DSP bypass, aka ADA Conversion, which adds its own noise floor and stuff.

 

HX Stomp has DSP or True Bypass.