Running vocals, guitar and AUX + multitrack recording?

[MilanMaru]

Hi guys, I'm trying to set up a preset where I have the following:

 

Mic + Reverb + EQ + Compression
Guitar - Reverb / Octave / Drive / AutoWah / Chorus / Volume Boost / Looper

AUX - Gain 

 

Is it possible to create this as a preset? I wouldn't really know where to start as my guitar preset takes up two paths. 

 

Is it also possible to do multitrack recording on the Helix so that I get the Mic, Guitar and AUX separately into a DAW?

 

Thank you!

 

Milan

[silverhead]

You don’t mention which Helix device you have but I assume it’s one with the dual DSP chips (Floor, Rack, or LT). If so, yes you can do that. Look in the factory Templates setlist for a sample preset. There’s at least one preset that shows 4 different inputs and processing paths. You can collapse two of these into a parallel path for your guitar and assign Mic and Aux to the other two inputs. At the outputs select different USB channels and then use these channels as inputs to your multiple DAW tracks for recording. You will still have to fit your processing demands into the overall DSP limit of the Helix.

[theElevators]

On the Helix Floor, you have a microphone input jack which is XLR, that has phantom power for it (you can enable it in the global settings).  You need phantom power if you have a condenser microphone, otherwise it simply doesn't produce any sound. 

 

For the regular passive microphone (SM-58, etc), you can just run the mic into one of your inputs such as Return 1, 2, etc.  So if you have a Helix LT and a mic that doesn't need juice, you are all set to go.  You can buy an XLR-to-1/4" cable, which will connect your microphone to the Helix's Return jack.  Or you can even buy an adapter from XLR to 1/4".

 

On the Helix you have 2 paths by default: one for each DSP chip.  So if you need 2 sources, you can configure one path for guitar, the other for microphone.  If you have a smaller device like Stomp XL, you can also have 2 paths, but you will be sharing one DSP between both paths, so the number of blocks will be limited, and will be 1/2 of what's possible on the Helix LT (roughly).

 

To create a preset with multiple inputs, you can easily do that by following tutorials available online, including a little video I made 4 years ago.  For each path, you can choose whether the resulting signal comes out of all outputs, or only specific ones, such as Send 1. 

https://youtu.be/Dqq930qz6ks?si=TKEPqZZnjCPzRF7S

 

Although the Helix allows you to process multiple things at the same time, I wound up not doing it for live performances.  It's best to leave this sort of stuff to the sound guy.  But it's nice to know that this is perfectly possible, and maybe for small coffee shop gigs, this can be useful.  Just not for professional stages, because it's a good idea to let the sound guy control the mic, so it doesn't feed back, so it's EQ'ed properly.  Guitar sound is less finicky as the microphone, which potentially does weird things on each stage you play.  So a preset that you dialed in at home may need to be tweaked for the live environment, including during the show. 

 

Also, I do use the various inputs on the Helix when I record things in my home studio, for example recording vocals, trumpet, violin with my condenser microphone.  I don't even own a sound interface, so the Helix takes care of all my recording needs!