Fraser92 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Help with Helix and studio monitor setup I recently got my HS5 studio monitors and have connected them to my helix floor with the 1/4” to 1/4” cables. In the global preferences on helix I’ve set the 1/4” setting to Line and the level knob on the back of the monitors in the centre position which is +4dB. My main usage is to use Helix as an audio interface to record. I’ve been watching YouTube videos and reading the line 6 forums but I’m having a bit of trouble understanding some things. - The big volume knob on the Helix and Unity gain I see a lot of people saying that they turn this knob up fully and leave it there? Do I need to do this for my setup? Will it affect my tones in any way if I don’t do this? - Calibrating studio monitors for loudness with pink noise and SPL app for mixing purposes When I was looking into this one what I seen people doing was using the level control on the back of their monitors to achieve the desired SPL but this has me confused. My understanding from Helix manual was that going from 1/4” to 1/4” on the studio monitors would need a setting of Line level in global settings. Also the setting for Line level on my monitors is the +4dB one, so if I use the level knobs on the monitors to calibrate won’t that mess things up? Why can’t I calibrate the SPL with the Helix volume knob instead? I apologise if this is a bit of a word salad, but I am new to this stuff and just trying my best to learn. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 The BIG KNOB The BIG KNOB up full is 0db - neither boosted nor cut. That level control is in the digital realm BEFORE the DA converter. I researched this a bit and found some stuff on high-end stereo/audiophile sites. The answer has to do with a lot of mumbo jumbo tech speak that amounts to this - if you reduce the level from 0db in the digital realm it does something which might cause your dog to not approve of your tone, but you likely won't hear it. The real reason to lock your BIG KNOB - disabling it in Global Settings by assigning it to an unused output - has to do with preventing accidental output level changes in live performance. If you have it set low and FOH sets your levels based on that and somebody kicks it, or you drag your cable over it and it suddenly goes to 10 the FOH tech will NOT be happy. If it's controlling your STAGE level your bandmates will not be happy. In either case, if it goes to zero in the middle of your big solo, that's gonna suck. Calibrating your monitors My KRK Rokit6 manual says leave it on 10 and adjust your levels at the source. Works for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I have pretty much the same setup as you except with HS7 monitors. In my global settings I disable the big volume knob which effectively makes it on full all the time. I do it that way for two reasons: 1) that's how I use it when I play live and I control my volume levels solely within my presets using the amp model channel volume and/or the level of the output block so my signal strength is always consistent preset to preset going into the mixing board or in this case going to the speakers and 2) I just hate messing with that knob because it's too easy to get bumped and moved. In my studio setup I leave my speakers set to noon just as you describe as that's unity and I control my volume based on the volume control of my PC or more likely the volume levels of my DAW when using it. Your tones are going to be fine regardless because they're controlled by the preset. All the big knob does is convert the digital signal within the modeling environment to an analog output signal to your speakers. The work of your tone is being done in the preset. If you're recording that really doesn't matter because you should be sending your recorded tone to your DAW via the USB connection so it's all a digital signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraser92 Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 On 3/24/2024 at 8:34 AM, DunedinDragon said: I have pretty much the same setup as you except with HS7 monitors. In my global settings I disable the big volume knob which effectively makes it on full all the time. I do it that way for two reasons: 1) that's how I use it when I play live and I control my volume levels solely within my presets using the amp model channel volume and/or the level of the output block so my signal strength is always consistent preset to preset going into the mixing board or in this case going to the speakers and 2) I just hate messing with that knob because it's too easy to get bumped and moved. In my studio setup I leave my speakers set to noon just as you describe as that's unity and I control my volume based on the volume control of my PC or more likely the volume levels of my DAW when using it. Your tones are going to be fine regardless because they're controlled by the preset. All the big knob does is convert the digital signal within the modeling environment to an analog output signal to your speakers. The work of your tone is being done in the preset. If you're recording that really doesn't matter because you should be sending your recorded tone to your DAW via the USB connection so it's all a digital signal. I’ve disabled the big knob but then when I try to turn the volume down using the controls on my PC it seems to not have any effect on volume? I either have to turn the level down a lot in the output block or master fader in DAW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 On 3/25/2024 at 11:33 AM, Fraser92 said: I’ve disabled the big knob but then when I try to turn the volume down using the controls on my PC it seems to not have any effect on volume? I either have to turn the level down a lot in the output block or master fader in DAW During RECORDING/MIXING it is not important to disable the BIG KNOB. As I said, that is mostly a PERFORMANCE preference. In Helix Global Settings>Ins/Outs set "VOLUME KNOB CONTROLS" to whichever Outputs your speakers are connected to (NOT MULTI!). In your DAW set the TRACK INPUT/INPUT ECHO switch (different DAWS call it different things) to OFF. During RECORDING you'll hear the Helix with DIRECT (ZERO LATENCY) monitoring. You control the playback level of any pre-recorded tracks from your DAW with the TRACK levels in the DAW. The BIG KNOB does not affect RECORDING LEVEL. During PLAYBACK/MIXING you are not PLAYING, so the BIG KNOB simply controls the Output Level of the MIX, which is controlled with the TRACK LEVEL controls. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraser92 Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 On 3/25/2024 at 7:56 PM, rd2rk said: During RECORDING/MIXING it is not important to disable the BIG KNOB. As I said, that is mostly a PERFORMANCE preference. In Helix Global Settings>Ins/Outs set "VOLUME KNOB CONTROLS" to whichever Outputs your speakers are connected to (NOT MULTI!). In your DAW set the TRACK INPUT/INPUT ECHO switch (different DAWS call it different things) to OFF. During RECORDING you'll hear the Helix with DIRECT (ZERO LATENCY) monitoring. You control the playback level of any pre-recorded tracks from your DAW with the TRACK levels in the DAW. The BIG KNOB does not affect RECORDING LEVEL. During PLAYBACK/MIXING you are not PLAYING, so the BIG KNOB simply controls the Output Level of the MIX, which is controlled with the TRACK LEVEL controls. Right okay, I think I’m getting it now. Thanks for your help. Appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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