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Recording Guitar... Helix Native or Helix Floor?


thseeker
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Hopefully I'm not repeating another post but I have the Helix Floor and Helix Native using Logic Pro X. 

Wanting to record my guitar but not loving the distortion ton I'm getting. 

Trying to determine if it would be better to run my Amps, Cabs, IRs with Native and just record "dry or effects within gain" with the Helix Floor. 

Almost like re-amping but using the floor for effects. 

 

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Rather than thinking of using Native to potentially address unwanted distortion, I suggest it might be better to address the distortion itself. Your comments suggest that your recorded sound is different from what you are hearing without recording. That shouldn’t be.the case and is worth more investigation.

 

I suspect there’s a gain staging issue in your preset. How are you monitoring your recording vs. just playing? Different speakers? Are you using Helix as the audio interface? Give us more information about your setup and perhaps attach a preset that you use when this is happening.

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On 1/9/2025 at 3:12 AM, thseeker said:

Hopefully I'm not repeating another post but I have the Helix Floor and Helix Native using Logic Pro X. 

Wanting to record my guitar but not loving the distortion ton I'm getting. 

Trying to determine if it would be better to run my Amps, Cabs, IRs with Native and just record "dry or effects within gain" with the Helix Floor. 

Almost like re-amping but using the floor for effects. 

 

Hi,


I use my Helix Floor, Helix Native and Logic Pro on an almost daily basis and have to say that I have not experienced any audio distortion, other than that produced by the specific blocks in Helix. Also my Kali Audio IN-8 2nd wave monitors are connected to the XLR sockets of the Helix to provide zero latency. I have been working with this system since buying my Helix in 2015 and adding Native when it was later released.
 

I usually record the processed audio from the Helix into a stereo channel on USB 1&2, and also a DI dry signal on another channel set to USB 7. The DI can then be used to re-amp the part after the fact (eg: if the processed audio has too much reverb it can be corrected).

 

Recording your signal at the correct level will help to avoid any distorted audio, as noted by @silverhead in the post above, you may need to check your gain staging. Overdriving inputs on digital is a bad thing and best avoided. A little more info about your set up may help.

 

Recently, there were several discussions on YouTube about how some people have been using audio plug-ins incorrectly. See linked video below. This is generally the main reason that there may be a difference between the software and hardware audio output.

 

Suffice to say that Helix Native software is the same as the firmware in the hardware unit, and the audio reproduction should be identical. The only things missing from Native are the physical hardware components, such as SEND/RETURN and the Looper. There should be no change whatsoever in the replayed tone.

 

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

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Apologies all, when I said distortion I meant using an actual amp or preamp in a block for my distortion, not that I am getting distortion from the helix or Helix Native. 
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On 1/9/2025 at 9:14 AM, silverhead said:

Rather than thinking of using Native to potentially address unwanted distortion, I suggest it might be better to address the distortion itself. Your comments suggest that your recorded sound is different from what you are hearing without recording. That shouldn’t be.the case and is worth more investigation.

 

I suspect there’s a gain staging issue in your preset. How are you monitoring your recording vs. just playing? Different speakers? Are you using Helix as the audio interface? Give us more information about your setup and perhaps attach a preset that you use when this is happening.

 

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On 1/9/2025 at 12:09 PM, datacommando said:

I use my Helix Floor, Helix Native and Logic Pro on an almost daily basis and have to say that I have not experienced any audio distortion, other than that produced by the specific blocks in Helix. Also my Kali Audio IN-8 2nd wave monitors are connected to the XLR sockets of the Helix to provide zero latency. I have been working with this system since buying my Helix in 2015 and adding Native when it was later released.

This is actually my exact setup except so that's helpful. 

 

Apologies as I think my question wasn't clear. I'm not getting audio distortion from any source, I'm asking if it makes any sense to use my Helix Floor for my effects, except my distortion tone and use Helix Native for my amp/distortion tones, IRs, and/or cabs. 
My thought behind this is I'd basically be using Helix Native almost as a separate amp, in theory almost like "reamping" where I'd be able to change my distortion tone after I've recorded but it still keeps my delays/reverbs, etc... 

This may be a stupid idea but wanted to see what people's thoughts are. 

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On 1/10/2025 at 2:59 AM, thseeker said:

My thought behind this is I'd basically be using Helix Native almost as a separate amp, in theory almost like "reamping" where I'd be able to change my distortion tone after I've recorded but it still keeps my delays/reverbs, etc... 


Hi, 

 

Ah, ha… now it begins to make sense.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, when I record into Logic, I capture the stereo processed audio with all the effects from my Helix over USB 1&2. At the same time, I also record the totally dry mono signal onto another track over USB 7. This means that if you’re unhappy with the amount of overdrive, or distortion, or whatever else in your processed signal, you can simply insert an instance of HX Native into the Direct Injected dry channel and re-amp as many times as you wish. You can take that same performance and play it back though lots of different presets making modifications to the Amp, Cab, Mic choice, etc until you achieve your tonal nirvana. I sometimes duplicate the dry signal and reprocess the audio through several instances of HX Native simultaneously.
 

HX Native and the firmware in your Helix (providing they are on the same revision number) will sound identical, and all your presets can be exchanged back and forth between Native and the Floor box seamlessly. Using Native for re-amp duties means it can all remain inside you Mac, and you can continue to monitor it all from the Helix without having to reconfigure anything.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

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Thanks for clarifying. I’m afraid I don’t see the point in what you’re considering. What’s the actual benefit? Simply record your dry tone and apply Helix Native as desired. You retain the flexibility to adjust your delays, reverbs, etc. as well as adjusting the distortion. Why not retain that flexibility rather than discard it by baking those FX into the recorded tone? You might even find it sounds better to reposition the time-based FX like delay, chorus, and reverb to post-amp in the Helix Native preset. Your suggestion requires them to be in the pre-amp position.

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