Helix Floor FX-loop questions: are they buffered?

[msingh95]

So, I'm trying to set up a "side board" with about 4 effects so that I can have the Helix use them when I'd like.

 

First I thought to connect the 4 pedals directly into the helix, but I had a 8 channel pedalbaord patch bay laying around I thought I could use to keep the wires clean and have an easier time switching out pedals if I'd like. link: https://www.loop-master.com/pedalboard-patch-p-364.html

 

So, thinking of using the patch bay, I thought I'd need a snake. So I bought a 6ft, 8 channel 1/4 inch snake (8 instrument cables all bundled together in a nice neat large guage wrap), and I wanted to set up a side board with 8 pedals. link: https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-8-Channel-Snake-26AWG-Cable/dp/B00IACBENW/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=1%2F4+inch+ts+snake&qid=1600800873&sr=8-4

 

Are the fx loops on the Helix Buffered? would I be getting signal loss / high frequency damping by using that much cable between my pedals? I was going to use an 8 channel in/out utility pedal thing I had lying around to streamline the ins/outs of my side board so I didn't have to make so many long cable runs. Would it be better to just make a bunch of 1 foot patch cables and go right into the helix? I figured having the ins/outs connected by a snake would give me better flexibility of changing out pedals and their positions since they'd only be wired to my loop-master 8-way ins/out thing. 

 

I guess the only way to find out is by trying, but I'm hoping someone with more experience regarding this could help out. Would I be losing a lot of quality using the snake and then patching my pedals using moogami wire I have laying around? I'll be making the cables and soldering myself, so I'd rather just do it right the first time rather than have to make the cables twice or something. I have to use specific right angle or straight angle plugs which I'd have to buy. I have the wire already.

[SaschaFranck]

4 hours ago, msingh95 said:

Are the fx loops on the Helix Buffered?

 

Yes. From the moment your signal hits the Helix, it's a buffered, low impedance signal all throughout.

And fwiw, I think you could go for pretty cheap cables because of that. I did some tests with patch cables in the past, comparing super expensive ones to pretty much the cheapest available, once the signal was buffered, I couldn't tell a difference anymore. Maybe there will be a greater difference when using longer cable runs, but as soon as you're using more or less decent quality, you should be just fine.

[msingh95]

3 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Yes. From the moment your signal hits the Helix, it's a buffered, low impedance signal all throughout.

And fwiw, I think you could go for pretty cheap cables because of that. I did some tests with patch cables in the past, comparing super expensive ones to pretty much the cheapest available, once the signal was buffered, I couldn't tell a difference anymore. Maybe there will be a greater difference when using longer cable runs, but as soon as you're using more or less decent quality, you should be just fine.

 

 

Thanks! that's what I was hoping for. Although I have my pedals all wired with the moogami cable I like, or the EVO solderless I like, most my signal with my real pedalboard is buffered (minus the fuzzes), and yea I've done that test too. As long as the helix fx loops are buffers, I should be okay. It's just 6 feet of a snake, and then probably some inches after that for the pedals to reach the patch bay, just about 6 inches max