Helix 3.7: The Freeman Update

[SillyOctpuss]

This model is under the bass amps right?

Yeah, it's really good. I'm digging the new 2x15 cab too.

 

[Bob Zaod]

All that said, I do agree that music gear in general is haunted by a lot of consumerism and gear-chasing over actually learning gear you have and playing. And a lot of people encourage it and push narratives that you have to buy x to achieve y sound, even when you can probably get close enough with the z you already have. It's definitely a problem, and I don't want to downplay that at all.

My specific "problems" are too much time alone without the band here, and having the gear to accomplish any sound or effect that I can ever want. That causes me to try and perfect sounds and effects and I can end up dialing a single patch for 3 hours even though I had a perfect one in 5 minutes.

 

[JiveTurkey]

My specific "problems" are too much time alone without the band here, and having the gear to accomplish any sound or effect that I can ever want. That causes me to try and perfect sounds and effects and I can end up dialing a single patch for 3 hours even though I had a perfect one in 5 minutes.

Sweet baby Jesus all of this right here.

 

[synthpenguin]

My specific "problems" are too much time alone without the band here, and having the gear to accomplish any sound or effect that I can ever want. That causes me to try and perfect sounds and effects and I can end up dialing a single patch for 3 hours even though I had a perfect one in 5 minutes.

Try some timed exercises where you have to make (or copy) a certain sound, commit to it, and record a riff with it in <30 minutes (or 20 minutes or 15 minutes). It can be a fun exercise and also, when you listen back, give some perspective. I used to do this sort of thing a lot with synths and such, and always got better results than tweaking a patch or drum sound or whatever for hours. And had more fun too! :)

 

[Bob Zaod]

Try some timed exercises where you have to make (or copy) a certain sound, commit to it, and record a riff with it in <30 minutes (or 20 minutes or 15 minutes). It can be a fun exercise and also, when you listen back, give some perspective. I used to do this sort of thing a lot with synths and such, and always got better results than tweaking a patch or drum sound or whatever for hours. And had more fun too! :)

I tried to dive into the world of Synth programming. I still have nightmares about it.

 

[pipelineaudio]

It doesn't have to be an audio host, it could simply receive tuner data (detected pitch values) from the Helix. Afaik this is how Fractal's tuner works in Axe-Edit.

Yup, and compressor and gate action and overall levels....(talking about this led to a ban at TGP so be careful)

 

[synthpenguin]

I tried to dive into the world of Synth programming. I still have nightmares about it.

haha it's one of those things that suddenly becomes relatively easy once you understand how to approach making sounds.

Here's a very cool interactive tutorial that covers general (subtractive) synth programming principles in your web browser: https://learningsynths.ableton.com/

Even if you're not super interested, it's very fun to play with. Though maybe skip to the "Envelopes" chapter ( https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/envelopes/change-over-time ) since you're no doubt familiar with basic concepts like pitch and amplitude lol.

It also has a fun "playground" section where you can manipulate the patch of a synth in your browser with lots of visual aid: https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/playground

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Had a slammed week so only just had a chance to check out 3.7.

- Scrolling in Helix Native is FINALLY nice again. Used to drive me nuts with how jumpy it was. Glad its fixed, wish we could have quicker small fixes for stuff like this.
- Brit 2203 is excellent. Stock settings aren't to my taste really but it sounds very similar to my amp. It weirdly sounds different to what I associate with Line 6 - probably because that modded 2204 has been in their locker so long, but also the sound of the modelling feels crisp and fast in the top end without some of the stuff I hear in older models. Very nice stuff. Below 2.4 is absolutely the sweet spot for the tones I like.
- cabs..... its growing into quite the collection. I feel like the Greenbacks are very much of the vintage ilk and an EVH 4x12 would go very nicely with an amp model (just saying). 1960TV with some nice sounding m25's as well as a better sounding AV/BV cab would be killer. I also wouldn't say no to newer Celestions like H75's and m65's. G12-65 would also be an awesome one, especially with amps like the new 2203 and Placater. I'd take the worst Celestion over the best Eminence/Fane/JBL/WGS/Scumback whatever else is out there. soz not soz. Cabs should get the same attention+demand as amps, especially as more and more of the classic circuits get added to the collection. Cabs are where its at.
- new reverbs seem cool, fills some gaps and cool creative stuff which Helix excels at. Probably won't use them but always welcome to have creative original options designed for guitars here.
- Helix has low key become a bass processing monster. I dont think anything comes close on the market, they sound awesome and it covers so much ground. The bass stuff alone makes Helix Native a bargain IMO.
- Oblivion surprised me. Cool boosted/modded Marshall type tones. Better than the other high gain modded Marshall "orignal" options in there. I never liked Badonk either so this one is a nice addition.
- Vitriol Crunch doesn't do the weird broken farty thing any more. Sounds WAY BETTER, a little surprised people dont talk about this amp as its as much the 5150 sound as the Red channel is. Cool high gain amp to jam on, lots of tonal versatility while still being simple to dial in. This is like a new amp model to me in 3.7 because it was totally buggered before.

and finally

@Digital Igloo is Metallurgy going to get any updates? would love the Vitriol Crunch fixes to be corrected here too, but it would also be nice to see these gets some love and attention. Hopefully that side of things isn't overlooked, it doesn't really feel like a priority to me and I feel like theres a lot of room for Line 6 to push into in that realm

 

[eggpl@nt]

Vitriol Crunch doesn't do the weird broken farty thing any more. Sounds WAY BETTER, a little surprised people dont talk about this amp as its as much the 5150 sound as the Red channel is. Cool high gain amp to jam on, lots of tonal versatility while still being simple to dial in. This is like a new amp model to me in 3.7 because it was totally buggered before.

I'm gonna sound like a luddite, but to me, the Invective models have a confusing number of gain controls--pre, post, master, and channel. Pre is obvious, and I guess Master is what controls the power amp saturation (or lack thereof). Post and Channel, then, seem redundant to me?

I understand why those are on the physical amp (and therefore on the Helix model), but I look at all those controls and think--I'll just use something else.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I'm gonna sound like a luddite, but to me, the Invective models have a confusing number of gain controls--pre, post, master, and channel. Pre is obvious, and I guess Master is what controls the power amp saturation (or lack thereof). Post and Channel, then, seem redundant to me?

I understand why those are on the physical amp (and therefore on the Helix model), but I look at all those controls and think--I'll just use something else.

totally get that, tbh even on the actual amp they are redundant and confusing to me.

Just set post gain fairly high and don’t think about it too much unless you want to experiment with variations of a 5150 tone. I seem to recall around 8 should match a stock 5150.

The main master volume sounds best between 2 and 3 to me.

I actually quite like the post gain control, only because it’s a kind of bad design that affects the tone and just offers something different. Think of it like a channel master

 

[Bob Zaod]

haha it's one of those things that suddenly becomes relatively easy once you understand how to approach making sounds.

Here's a very cool interactive tutorial that covers general (subtractive) synth programming principles in your web browser: https://learningsynths.ableton.com/

Even if you're not super interested, it's very fun to play with. Though maybe skip to the "Envelopes" chapter ( https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/envelopes/change-over-time ) since you're no doubt familiar with basic concepts like pitch and amplitude lol.

It also has a fun "playground" section where you can manipulate the patch of a synth in your browser with lots of visual aid: https://learningsynths.ableton.com/en/playground

Thanks for those. I am currently learning how to play keys. I have been able to move around with basic chords for awhile now, using my left hand mostly for bass notes and octaves, but I am trying to take the next step. Currently I am just using a Yamaha keyboard with built in sounds but I'd love to be able to create my own some day. I plan to get a good synth with weighted keys and all that.

 

[Baba]

Question: I forget, what happens if you DON'T do a factory reset on your HX device?

I always do one, but I just updated to 3.70, and I'm doing the factory reset now, but before I did that, everything was fine, 3.70 was loaded, and my presets were still there, etc.

 

[Lysander]

I always do one, but I just updated to 3.70, and I'm doing the factory reset now, but before I did that, everything was fine, 3.70 was loaded, and my presets were still there, etc.

Nothing will stop functioning, but presets might not work correctly unless you upload them again to the device.

After updating to 3.70, both my Helix and HX Stomp showed all presets as empty (!!!). Reloading them through HX Edit fixed it right away.

 

[Baba]

Nothing will stop functioning, but presets might not work correctly unless you upload them again to the device.

After updating to 3.70, both my Helix and HX Stomp showed all presets as empty (!!!). Reloading them through HX Edit fixed it right away.

Weird. Mine have always showed up, but, I still follow the instructions to the letter anyway.

 

[James Freeman]

Question: I forget, what happens if you DON'T do a factory reset on your HX device?

Nothing, in my experience so far.

 

[Baba]

Okay, my verdict:

I just strummed a few chords with the same IR for each new model, so, I will only comment on the new 2203, because I think the IR I use, (YA M20 mix 4), is probably best/only suited for the 2203 out of all of the new amps:

The 2203 is REALLY nice. Seems to be a good "correction" for the 2204. It feels good, cleans up wonderfully, and sounds great.

It's not for me though. I mean, it could be, if I needed THAT tone for a track, and as much as I grew up in the 80's, so you'd think it would be right up my alley, I play with more gain than that, and while I threw a few of the requisite pedals in front of it, it didn't get me into the "Placater with saturation switch on, for Love Shack" territory.

I could definitely use it, and it IS my tone, but I also need a great deal heavier than it gets, even with pedals, and my presets are way too complicated to have 3 amp models, (I need a pristine clean as well), in them.

Again, not a knock at ALL, it sounds GREAT, and kudos to Line 6, it's just not where I am anymore, that's all.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Okay, my verdict:

I just strummed a few chords with the same IR for each new model, so, I will only comment on the new 2203, because I think the IR I use, (YA M20 mix 4), is probably best/only suited for the 2203 out of all of the new amps:

The 2203 is REALLY nice. Seems to be a good "correction" for the 2204. It feels good, cleans up wonderfully, and sounds great.

It's not for me though. I mean, it could be, if I needed THAT tone for a track, and as much as I grew up in the 80's, so you'd think it would be right up my alley, I play with more gain than that, and while I threw a few of the requisite pedals in front of it, it didn't get me into the "Placater with saturation switch on, for Love Shack" territory.

I could definitely use it, and it IS my tone, but I also need a great deal heavier than it gets, even with pedals, and my presets are way too complicated to have 3 amp models, (I need a pristine clean as well), in them.

Again, not a knock at ALL, it sounds GREAT, and kudos to Line 6, it's just not where I am anymore, that's all.

 

[EOengineer]

Finally had a few to checkout the new 2203 and feedbacker and have been sitting on tossing my impressions into the pool.

The feedbacker is useful for my application of feedback - primarily with long sustained notes. That model is it’s own little instrument though, so I’m expecting to have to invest some time to learn it. I think momentary switching is going to help a lot.

The 2203 is killer, sounds and feels just like my Ceriatone 2204, in fact I noticed as I was saving the preset I was building that I ended up using knob settings nearly identical to my 2204. Through the Marshall 75w Celestion cab you could probably convince me it’s my 2204 and 1960a with a mic on it.

It’s hard not to appreciate how much variety the Helix offers, but this is all I need. It’s the sound and it’s awesome to have it here where I can finally authentically replicate my physical rig for direct use.

The other amps are exciting and I’m hoping to dig into those soon. The bassman has me very interested.

 

[Digital Igloo]

Question: I forget, what happens if you DON'T do a factory reset on your HX device?

Basically, Helix/HX has changed a lot over its tenure. A factory reset—along with a backup/restore—just ensures all the changes we've made under the hood (many of which aren't mentioned in the release notes) don't adversely affect user presets.

 

[Deadpan]

Digging in and the 2203 and Oblivion are indeed great!