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Complete Noob In Need Of Help!!


Cozzavillain
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Hi all,

 

Firstly, major major noob when it comes to digital gear here, so please forgive my complete and utter ignorance.

 

In my youth, I played in heavy metal bands that ended up doing a fair amount of gigging (low key!) and my amp of choice was a Marshall 1/2 stack with a 5150 head. I had 2 pedals, tuner and a noise gate, but that was it - pure chug, simple set up - easy for an idiot like me.
 

Since then, I sold all my gear (bar my guitars!) and kept a small practice amp that just died. 

 

Fast forward to today and I’ve just purchased a Helix floor model. Great I thought, I don’t even need an amp, I’ll just plug it into my iMac via USB and away I go. Clearly, I was mistaken as this hasn’t worked. I have no external speakers, just my iMac internal speakers but was hoping this would be sufficient. 
 

I really want to keep the Helix, I had a good hour long play on it in the shop and love the idea of it, but I don’t want to have to invest in more gear to play it... am I being massively unrealistic?

 

I do feel genuinely stupid, but can anyone suggest an easy way for me to get playing, preferably without having to outlay yet more cash?

 

Apologies for my ignorance, but any help would be amazing!

 

Thanks,

 

G

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1 hour ago, Cozzavillain said:

I really want to keep the Helix, I had a good hour long play on it in the shop and love the idea of it, but I don’t want to have to invest in more gear to play it... am I being massively unrealistic?

 

Yes.

 

1 hour ago, Cozzavillain said:

can anyone suggest an easy way for me to get playing, preferably without having to outlay yet more cash?

 

Headphones. Or, if you have a stereo system with line inputs, use that. My "office" rig is a bookshelf system - Sony MHC EC909IP - 6x6x10. Sounds great! Obviously not a gigging system, but loads better than your laptop speakers!

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Thanks for the quick response.

 

Would a cheap pair of monitors be sufficient, or will I also need to also get Logic or something? (Sorry again, this is my first foray into the wonderful world of modulation!).

 

I will never gig, so it’s just about getting it set up for my music room really and relaxing.

 

I know the helix is pro level kit, so I wasn’t expecting it to be mega easy to get sorted, but liked this over a single combo amp.

 

Can you use wireless headphones? I’ve got some Bose QC35s somewhere. 
 

Thanks,

 

G

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Any decent set of 5" or better studio monitors will work (smaller sacrifices bass), just connect them direct from the HX Outs. My "Studio" rig is a pair of Rokit6 monitors. Lots of people use the Yamaha HS series monitors. 

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Your headphones work via Bluetooth and they're useless in this case, causing too much latency (delay). Besides, the Helix doesn't work as a Bluetooth transmitter.

If you really want to have some fun with the Helix, you need a decent monitoring solution, headphones being your most affordable bet. In case money is an issue (well, it always is, isn't it...), you could check out those from Superlux. Most excellent value for money, the HD 681 comes in at around 20-30 bucks - and yes, while not excellent, they're *way* better than what the price might suggest. I have a pair of them as spares and IMO they're almost up to headphones around 5-10 x the price (I actually sometimes use them instead of others occasionally because they're pretty nice to wear).

If you want at least more or less decent monitor speakers for a decent price, you might want to check out the Tannoy Reveal 402 or 502 (around 200 a pair), the often recommended JBL LSR 305 or maybe the IK Multimedia iLouds, the latter being extremely well suited for small spaces.
Personally, I'd rather go for monitor speakers in the first place and grab some cheaper headphones for those situations when silent operation is key. If I had to wear headphones all the time, it'd drive me nuts.

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Hi,

 

Thank you - I’ve come to terms with the fact that I need to buy some monitors, so I’ve just bought some Mackie CR4-Xs. I read a load of articles on cheap, but acceptable monitors and these seemed to do ok.

 

I note these are only 4” speakers, is that going to be completely awful? They were compared with 5” models and seemed ok?

 

Looking forward to getting them (today! - Amazon Prime rocks!) and having a good play with the Helix! 
 

thanks, 

 

G

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I’m so sorry to ask yet more stupid questions, but my speakers arrived today and I can’t for the life of me get these damned things connected to the Helix. As above, I bought a set of Mackie CR4-X to play the Helix through in a bedroom setup.

 

The CR4s do not appear to come with a cable capable of attaching them to the Helix which is now getting extremely frustrating. What I got with them is a straight 1/8 to 1/8 and a 1/8 to RED/White connections which I can’t seem to plug either end of into the helix.. 

 

Am I missing the 1/8 Input? Or does it not have one and I’m therefore screwed?

 

I’m pulling my hair out as I’m now in a £1,500 hole and can’t get the damned thing connected!! All I wanted was to play without an amp, but now regret it horribly!

 

Any assistance would be so gratefully received - again, sorry for being such a mega noob!! Got to start somewhere I guess :( 

 

Thanks,

 

G

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You'll need a pair of balanced 1/4" cables. Plain old guitar cables will also work. You can also get (best solution in terms of future flexibility) a pair of XLR to 1/4" TRS cables.

That last option would allow you to send an additional signal to a guitar amp but, since you don't plan ever to gig, it's not really necessary.

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