Helix Talk

[Sleezy E]

narf

 

[the-trooper]

I’ll allow it as long as that modular expression allows you to connect another one to it, the pedals can be attached to either side of the hardware, and you offer two models: one long throw exp/vol and one that has the throw of a vintage wah.

D

And has a coffee maker.

 

[the swede]

Modular expression pedal must not be allowed before cup holder!!!

 

[ragingplatypi]

Boss beat them to it…

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Anyone know what's up with this weird artifact that Helix does. It sounds like a filter sweep over the decay - I can often hear it in various amp models to different degrees. Drives me nuts because I don't hear it in real amps or other modellers and it makes me think something is wrong:

Helix Noise

Settings here, but its pretty easy to reproduce if you listen out for it. Guessing its aliasing artifacts?

View attachment 26323

EDIT: Another clear example with the newer 2203 model:

HX Noise_2.wav

Just been testing this against some real amps and Fractal. Helix has these ripply blue lines in the decay which the real amps, Fractal, NDSP etc dont.

vs

or

 

[ragingplatypi]

Just been testing this against some real amps and Fractal. Helix has these ripply blue lines in the decay which the real amps, Fractal, NDSP etc dont.


View attachment 26365

vs


View attachment 26366

or

View attachment 26367

I seriously thought you were posting photos of a sunset on the water for a moment there.

 

[ispunk]

 

[MirrorProfiles]

View attachment 26369

 

[CakeEater]

Just been testing this against some real amps and Fractal. Helix has these ripply blue lines in the decay which the real amps, Fractal, NDSP etc dont.


View attachment 26365

vs


View attachment 26366

or

View attachment 26367

When people talk about Helix vs. Fractal, or NAM when it comes to sound, feel, or dynamics, I’d imagine these are the kind of nebulous artefacts they're actually hearing. Clearly there's room for improvement somewhere here. A v2 of the underlying amp engine, in the same way that we saw for the cabs, would be absolutely great if it's manageable on the existing hardware.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

When people talk about Helix vs. Fractal, or NAM when it comes to sound, feel, or dynamics, I’d imagine these are the kind of nebulous artefacts they're actually hearing. Clearly there's room for improvement somewhere here. A v2 of the underlying amp engine, in the same way that we saw for the cabs, would be absolutely great if it's manageable on the existing hardware.

I agree - I think more often than not, those kinds of artefacts can be hard to expose or isolate, but our ears know something is up. A bit like listening to MP3’s for a while, and then switch to lossless - our brain stops trying to work out “what’s wrong?”. I think this particular sound though, isn’t very subtle - it’s basically always there and pokes through quite obviously when you know what to look for.

As to whether it can be fixed on current DSP, I have no idea. My guess is that it exists as part of some compromise, where the trade off would be another more obvious artefact. I’d also guess that while brute forcing more CPU cycles may help (or reduce the need) for these noises, a more novel approach to reducing them may work just as effectively. Curious to know what it is though, I’m having a hard time unlearning it now

 

[I S]

I believe it when DI and the other L6’ers say that the models behave exactly like the actual amps, warts, blemishes, and all. Perhaps all those weird artifacts, which I know the SLO100 amp block has loads of, is just the weird things the amps actually do but rarely do we hear them so isolated, as opposed to in a live or in-mix context. But what do I know. I just know the Helix has been my greatest learning tool I’ve ever purchased for myself as a guitar player.

 

[TubeStack]

I seriously thought you were posting photos of a sunset on the water for a moment there.

Would make a cool album cover!

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I believe it when DI and the other L6’ers say that the models behave exactly like the actual amps, warts, blemishes, and all. Perhaps all those weird artifacts, which I know the SLO100 amp block has loads of, is just the weird things the amps actually do but rarely do we hear them so isolated, as opposed to in a live or in-mix context. But what do I know. I just know the Helix has been my greatest learning tool I’ve ever purchased for myself as a guitar player.

I’ve compared to real amps, doesn’t happen at all here. Digital artefacts that no would would miss if they’re cleaned up

 

[CakeEater]

But what do I know. I just know the Helix has been my greatest learning tool I’ve ever purchased for myself as a guitar player.

Oh don't get me wrong, I love my Helix and I use it every day. There’s just room for improvement here and I hope that's something that they can do. If it’s a hardware limitation, then I’m sure the next generation will have it fixed.

 

[sashimi]

Anyone else having problems with Helix Native in most current versions of Logic and mac os sonoma?

It's crashing every time I try to open it

No, working fine on latest of both. Amplitube 5, otoh, dead in the water. Won’t launch as a standalone, Logic flags it as unstable. Fresh install as of today.

Following up on this, if anyone else encounters this problem, after trying to reinstall helix native and rescanning plugins in logic 5 times with no luck, I found a solution on the line 6 forum. There is a hidden folder that needs to be deleted as well:

Please look for and delete the following files:
/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Line 6/Helix Native.aaxplugin
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Helix Native.component
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/Line 6/Helix Native.vst
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/Line 6/Helix Native.vst3

Delete the following folders:
Folder 1:
/Library/Application Support/Line 6/Helix Native/
Folder 2:
~/Library/Application Support/Line 6/Helix Native/ - this folder is hidden by default. In Finder, from "Home" view, press Command/Shift/and Period to display the ~/Library folder. It will appear grayed out but able to navigate within it.

Once completed, download and install the latest version of Helix Native. When you relaunch your DAW and access the Helix Native plugin, you may ore may not be prompted to log in and authorize.

Now everything works again, back to the squirrels

 

[James Freeman]

There’s just room for improvement here and I hope that's something that they can do. If it’s a hardware limitation, then I’m sure the next generation will have it fixed.

I think something is holding their new generation back, I don't believe a company so successful with plenty of experience and knowledge stretching a decade old tech for so long without a reason.
No, I don't buy with a calendar, I have plenty of real amps and other modelers to compare the actual sound with, and it is my personal opinion that the amp modeling tech (or approach in general) is past its heyday.
The effects are timeless though, which is why I still own Line 6 gear.

 

[pipelineaudio]

When people talk about Helix vs. Fractal, or NAM when it comes to sound, feel, or dynamics, I’d imagine these are the kind of nebulous artefacts they're actually hearing.

I think maybe 0.01% of people making this claim maybe

99.9% can't distinguish an amp from a modeler in an ABX test

A significant number believe that two files that null sound different

A significant number believe that "tonewood" affects electric guitar tone

A significant number believe that two mic pre's that measure the same sound different

 

[Elf]

I think something is holding their new generation back, I don't believe a company so successful with plenty of experience and knowledge stretching a decade old tech for so long without a reason.
No, I don't buy with a calendar, I have plenty of real amps and other modelers to compare the actual sound with, and it is my personal opinion that the amp modeling tech (or approach in general) is past its heyday.
The effects are timeless though, which is why I still own Line 6 gear.

This makes sense to me, holding their next gen amp modeling stuff for a Helix II, same reasons I will never sell the HX Stomp.

 

[I S]

My guess has been that several years ago L6/Yamaha were willing to go down the custom DSP silicon route, since they’re big enough and with enough MI products to warrant it, with which they’ll gain competitive advantages. But it’s a wild wild guess

 

[HomespunEffects]

Anyone know what's up with this weird artifact that Helix does. It sounds like a filter sweep over the decay - I can often hear it in various amp models to different degrees. Drives me nuts because I don't hear it in real amps or other modellers and it makes me think something is wrong:

Helix Noise

Settings here, but its pretty easy to reproduce if you listen out for it. Guessing its aliasing artifacts?

View attachment 26323

EDIT: Another clear example with the newer 2203 model:

HX Noise_2.wav

Does it happen when you pull the sag down to about 2?