vanderbilly Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Greetings! New to the forum but not to the Helix or Line6 products. So I have a weird audio problem that's driving me insane. Here is my equipment list: Helix Floor running 3.01 iMac running Catalina 10.15.7 Logic Pro 10.6.1 M-Audio reference monitors (direct XLR to the Helix) I'm using the Helix as the audio interface and was using a Focusrite Scarlett Studio, but had the same issue with the Focusrite. The issue is there is no audio if the USB cable is connected to my iMac (unless I do a few tweaks to each patch, please read on). "Without" connecting the USB cable to my Mac. 1. If I plug headphones into my Helix, it works fine. 2. If I plug my Helix into an amp, it works fine. "With" connecting the USB cable to my Mac. 1. If I plug headphones into my Helix, I get no audio 2. If I plug my Helix into an amp, I get no audio 3. When I monitor a track in Logic via my reference monitors, internal speakers or headphones, I get no audio This is driving me mad and I finally discovered that if through HD Edit or the manual buttons on the Helix, I turn off or delete the volume pedal within an actual patch, I get audio! Also if I set the "minimum position" to anything above 0, within an actual patch, audio works fine. (see screenshots). So I checked the global settings and made sure everything was reset to default factory settings, still no audio. Reset all patches, to default factory settings, still no audio. To recap, when my Helix is plugged into my iMac, there is no audio unless I turn off or delete the volume pedal within an actual patch. I thought maybe my Mac was jacked up so I reset what can be reset on a mac, no luck. I'm suspecting this is some global setting because it affects almost every patch. There are a few patches that work without disabling the volume pedal, but I can't see any difference between those few that work and the ones that do not in their respective settings. Discovered workarounds are.. 1. Disable volume pedal manually on every patch. 2. Increase "minimum position" to anything above 0 on every patch. 3. Rinse off my Helix in the sink. What I want to happen: 1. Helix works without having to change each patch to disable or delete the volume pedal. I suppose I can do those changes manually but it would be time consuming and then it will not work when a USB cable is not connected to the Helix!? Also Yes I tried a various USB cables and USB ports. Has anyone else seen this issue or have an idea of what I'm overlooking? My guess is it's so simple I'll want to punch myself in the face when I learn the fix. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Does the Volume pedal Position parameter go to zero on the Helix when you plug in the USB cable? To me it seems like the Logic is sending a rogue CC message to the Helix for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datacommando Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 1 hour ago, vanderbilly said: I'm using the Helix as the audio interface and was using a Focusrite Scarlett Studio, but had the same issue with the Focusrite. Hi. Well, if this statement is correct, it cannot be your Helix. I would begin to suspect something else, maybe a setting inside Logic Pro? Check out what “phil_m” suggested in his post above. To clarify, my configuration is almost the same as yours, Helix floor via USB to Logic Pro X 10.4, on 32GB 5k Retina running High Sierra,Tannoy Reveal monitors connected to Helix XLR. I haven’t encountered any of the issues you mention. Hope this helps/makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderbilly Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 1 hour ago, phil_m said: Does the Volume pedal Position parameter go to zero on the Helix when you plug in the USB cable? To me it seems like the Logic is sending a rogue CC message to the Helix for some reason. Hi and thanks for the quick replies. Just tried plugging the USB cable in and out (over and over) and it has no effect on the volume pedal position parameter level. Something else I just discovered is that when I toggle the actual volume floor pedal up and down, I get audio. But only while I'm moving the pedal and the instant I stop moving it, I lose audio again. I can even see the volume pedal position parameter levels go up and down from [0%] to [100%] as I move it. But again, it always resets to [0%] the instant I stop moving it and I lose all audio. Grr.. To help me troubleshoot I assigned a foot switch to the volume (on the patch I'm testing with) so I can turn it off and on more easily. I obviously lose the access to HD Edit when I unplug the USB cable and would have to spend a lot of time on the floor to turn the volume parameter off and on over and over for testing. Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 55 minutes ago, vanderbilly said: Hi and thanks for the quick replies. Just tried plugging the USB cable in and out (over and over) and it has no effect on the volume pedal position parameter level. Something else I just discovered is that when I toggle the actual volume floor pedal up and down, I get audio. But only while I'm moving the pedal and the instant I stop moving it, I lose audio again. I can even see the volume pedal position parameter levels go up and down from [0%] to [100%] as I move it. But again, it always resets to [0%] the instant I stop moving it and I lose all audio. Grr.. These seem to be contradictory statements... So the Position parameter isn't changing to zero when you plug the USB cable in, but after you stop moving the pedal, it drops to zero? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderbilly Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 1 hour ago, phil_m said: These seem to be contradictory statements... So the Position parameter isn't changing to zero when you plug the USB cable in, but after you stop moving the pedal, it drops to zero? Sorry I could have been more terse. When the USB cable is not plugged into my Mac, the Position parameter works fine and is at 100%... if the foot pedal is fully pressed down. It works as it should and the % changes as I move the pedal up and down. The instant I plug in the USB cable, it drops to 0%. But again, I can see the volume pedal position parameter levels go up and down from [0%] to [100%] as I move the pedal and even hear some audio as I change the volume. But then it always resets to [0%] the instant I stop moving the pedal, followed by a complete loss of audio. Oddly, if I put my Mac to sleep then the audio works fine, even if the USB cable is plugged in. Awake it from sleep and it goes back to 0%. I suspect this has to be something on the mac side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 5 minutes ago, vanderbilly said: Sorry I could have been more terse. When the USB cable is not plugged into my Mac, the Position parameter works fine and is at 100%... if the foot pedal is fully pressed down. It works as it should and the % changes as I move the pedal up and down. The instant I plug in the USB cable, it drops to 0%. But again, I can see the volume pedal position parameter levels go up and down from [0%] to [100%] as I move the pedal and even hear some audio as I change the volume. But then it always resets to [0%] the instant I stop moving the pedal, followed by a complete loss of audio. Oddly, if I put my Mac to sleep then the audio works fine, even if the USB cable is plugged in. Awake it from sleep and it goes back to 0%. I suspect this has to be something on the mac side. On the Helix, try going to Global Settings>MIDI/Tempo>MIDI Over USB and setting it to Off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderbilly Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 BOOM! That was it! Thank you so much for helping me. Can you please explain why that caused this issue? I'm guessing the midi routing via USB (even though not in use) caused some clash with audio out via USB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 25 minutes ago, vanderbilly said: BOOM! That was it! Thank you so much for helping me. Can you please explain why that caused this issue? I'm guessing the midi routing via USB (even though not in use) caused some clash with audio out via USB? Well, I mentioned in my first reply above. It seems Logic is sending the MIDI CC associated with the expression pedal. Do you have the full Helix? Is the scribble strip above the onboard pedal displaying a percentage when this happen? I don't remember if that happens in response to receiving the CC associated with it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderbilly Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 That's right, scribble strip above the pedal shows the percentage and yes, I have the full Helix. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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