Signal chain loses connection

[TimsonVomDach]

Hey guys,

 

could need some help. At first let me explain the setup.

 

Signal chain:

Notebook (Windows 11) with show setup in Reaper -> USB-cable - Helix 1 -> MIDI-cable ->

Helix 2 -> MIDI-cable -> Doremidi MIDI to DMX translator -> DMX-cable -> lights and fog

machine
 

In the Reaper project we have our click and backing tracks and MIDI-signals to change our Helix presets and snapshots and also to control the lights and the fog machine. Everything is set to a different channel. Helix 1 has its own, Helix 2 has its own and every part of the light show has its own channel.
 

On Helix 1 there a three buttons set up to hit play and pause or to jump between the songs within the Reaper project. The buttons are set separately within every snapshot of our bass player to make sure he has the controls no matter which sound he’s using.

Basically this setup runs pretty smooth but from time to time we have the problem that when

we start the show then after a few moments Helix 1 does not receive any signal from Reaper

anymore. It is to be seen on TAP LED which normally turns blue and flashes in the rhythm of

the show but then just flashes in red and just in the Tempo which is set on the Helix itself and

of course our presets and snapshots won’t change anymore and also the light show doesn’t

work anymore. Also controlling the show via Helix 1 (play/pause/change song) isn’t possible in this state. The Helix itself runs normally and you can switch between sounds as you please but the connection to the notebook is obviously lost though reaper doesn’t state that the device can’t be found.

Close Reaper, restart Helix 1, start Reaper again and everything runs again as it should. Can somebody explain this behavior to me?

 

Windows Updates are made, Reaper is up to date, both Helix are up to date and the used

cables are pretty fresh.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Cheers
Tim

[PaulTBaker]

Wow, what a setup!  Sounds like the new Helix show stuff was made for you:)  Good luck with your issue.

[kduck]

Simple question, but how long is your USB cable?  have you tried a different USB cable?  That's a lot of MIDI thru connections, have you considered a dedicated MIDI hub/splitter?

[Schmalle]

Investigate that stuff with a tool like MIDIView.

 

FInd out what Helix1 (and maybe Helix2 via a second USB connection) actually receives and sends via MIDI.

[TimsonVomDach]

On 7/31/2025 at 9:20 PM, kduck said:

Simple question, but how long is your USB cable?  have you tried a different USB cable?  That's a lot of MIDI thru connections, have you considered a dedicated MIDI hub/splitter?

It's 5 meters. We looked it up. Should be the maximum length without any loss of signals. We indeed have a spare cable which we will try now.

Would have been obvious. We got in a little bit of a tunnel vision over the time i guess^^ Thanks for the hint!

 

And no we did not think about that yet. Thanks as well!

But do you really think that this losen up the situation? In the first step all MIDI commands have to go out via the same USB cable to reach the splitter or the other way round if commands come from the Helix.

[TimsonVomDach]

On 8/1/2025 at 10:52 AM, Schmalle said:

Investigate that stuff with a tool like MIDIView.

 

FInd out what Helix1 (and maybe Helix2 via a second USB connection) actually receives and sends via MIDI.

Thank you very much. As I'm still learning things about MIDI related stuff I really didn't know that this is a thing. I will definitely check that out. Should bring a lot more light into the MIDI darkness ;-)

[kduck]

On 8/1/2025 at 1:15 PM, TimsonVomDach said:

But do you really think that this losen up the situation? In the first step all MIDI commands have to go out via the same USB cable to reach the splitter or the other way round if commands come from the Helix.

Not sure if it would solve the issue or not, and I'm not a fan of throwing money at a problem :)  You could try backing up both Helix units and then restore the Helix 1 backup onto Helix 2 (and Hx2 backup to Hx 1) to see if it is a hardware issue on the Helix 1 USB port.