Helix Talk

[MirrorProfiles]

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

Yep, sag (and the other “deep” controls) don’t have any effect on it, unfortunately. The effect of sag is quite different - this is more like a zippy noise

 

[avanzzzi]

Yep, sag (and the other “deep” controls) don’t have any effect on it, unfortunately. The effect of sag is quite different - this is more like a zippy noise

If you let a note, say E, ring, you can still hear it underneath the sound, less noticeably, taking more time to complete the "sweep"

Edit.: I'm going to take a wild guess here, but it might be something internal in the calculations related to intensity. So when a note decay faster than expected, the sweep still follows its initial path to the end, where we can hear it. This effect reminds me a bit of a phaser, but it changes in pitch and length (not intensity) based on input.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Somewhere; @mbenigni

 

[Achilles]

I’ve compared to real amps, doesn’t happen at all here.

Physics man!

 

[mbenigni]

is this what the infamous squirrel thing was about? I thought it got dealt with ages ago?

When Line 6 increased the oversampling rate, a lot of people claimed the matter was resolved; others claimed it was "improved". It's worth noting that many others never thought it was a problem in the first place: they either didn't hear the artifacts at all, or they thought the artifacts were equivalent to what you'd hear on the actual amps. I was very staunchly in the "this sounds wrong" camp, and I personally didn't think the oversampling had any impact (though it did make the Helix sound better in other ways.)

Luckily, I've found a workaround that removes these "squirrelly bits" altogether:

-Be sure the Helix volume knob is set to max.
-Use a pre-amp EQ to apply a slight boost with low Q at approx. 1KHz.
-Turn BiasX all the way down, and bring Bias up slightly (amount varies with different amps.)
-Bring the Master volume down to 0.1, Presence to 1.
-Add a steep notch filter post-amp at approx. 2KHz.
-Add 3 LA2A compressors in series at the end of the chain, set to Stun. (This is the "glue".)
-Unplug all of the cables from the back of the Helix.
-Plug in your Quad Cortex.



Seriously, though - I've come to accept that I might be wrong about all of this. 10 zillion people can't be wrong, and I've only owned a few of these amps IRL anyway.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

When Line 6 increased the oversampling rate, a lot of people claimed the matter was resolved; others claimed it was "improved". It's worth noting that many others never thought it was a problem in the first place: they either didn't hear the artifacts at all, or they thought the artifacts were equivalent to what you'd hear on the actual amps. I was very staunchly in the "this sounds wrong" camp, and I personally didn't think the oversampling had any impact (though it did make the Helix sound better in other ways.)

Luckily, I've found a workaround that removes these "squirrelly bits" altogether:

-Be sure the Helix volume knob is set to max.
-Use a pre-amp EQ to apply a slight boost with low Q at approx. 1KHz.
-Turn BiasX all the way down, and bring Bias up slightly (amount varies with different amps.)
-Bring the Master volume down to 0.1, Presence to 1.
-Add a steep notch filter post-amp at approx. 2KHz.
-Add 3 LA2A compressors in series at the end of the chain, set to Stun. (This is the "glue".)
-Unplug all of the cables from the back of the Helix.
-Plug in your Quad Cortex.



Seriously, though - I've come to accept that I might be wrong about all of this. 10 zillion people can't be wrong, and I've only owned a few of these amps IRL anyway.

Ha that gave me a good chuckle!

I think you had it right from day 1 tbh. If it was worse than this before then it must have been REALLY distracting - I can imagine the likelihood is that oversampling helped in other ways but it didn’t really help whatever this nasty noise is (and perhaps even more brute force CPU strength wouldn’t help either).

I’m inclined to say most people who claim it isn’t an issue either have compromised listening environments, are listening for the wrong thing, or have no accurate reference point of what to expect from a model. I’ve seen some comments with this noise that are along the lines of “maybe the real amp does it too?”.

My solution to it has been somewhat similar, it’s not something that can be dialled out. The worst part is I can’t unhear it and it makes me not want to use any of the Line 6 amp sims now.

It’s a bit like finding a pube in your pizza - you could be enjoying it perfectly well but once you know it’s there, you’re spitting it out and leaving the rest.

 

[sashimi]

You guys couldn’t just let me enjoy my pizza

 

[the-trooper]

-Be sure the Helix volume knob is set to max.
-Use a pre-amp EQ to apply a slight boost with low Q at approx. 1KHz.
-Turn BiasX all the way down, and bring Bias up slightly (amount varies with different amps.)
-Bring the Master volume down to 0.1, Presence to 1.
-Add a steep notch filter post-amp at approx. 2KHz.
-Add 3 LA2A compressors in series at the end of the chain, set to Stun. (This is the "glue".)

Channeling your inner Sadites.

 

[JCW308]

The oversampling update fixed the squirrely bits for me on both Helix and HX Stomp XL.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

The oversampling update fixed the squirrely bits for me on both Helix and HX Stomp XL.

Do you think this is something different then?

Helix Noise

 

[mbenigni]

Channeling your inner Sadites.

"Boil it in milk." -JiveTurkey

 

[the swede]

Hey Jason, how should I setup my Stomp?

“Well… I’ll tell you what to do with 7 blocks, then you can add an amp/cab block ok!”

 

[JiveTurkey]

Deep controls in the HX stuff are gross

 

[CakeEater]

Deep controls in the HX stuff are gross

I've found Bias adds a nice smooth fullness on amps at the verge of break-up. Bias X always seems better at 5 though.

 

[avanzzzi]

My solution to it has been somewhat similar, it’s not something that can be dialled out.

I'm doing my best to isolate or remove it, but it doesn't seem possible. As much as I love using my HX and Native, this issue has always bothered me somehow because it stacks up and affects the final sound. For the first time, I'm starting to think that the underlying amp model technology needs improvements to be considered accurate in today's standards.

 

[sashimi]

I’m trying to recreate this in helix native, but it’s difficult for me. I definitely hear it in your clips, and I do hear it when I copy your amp settings, but it seems more subtle than in your clips. I pretty much never play with that much amp gain, I usually play with a clean/ish amp and add a distortion block for dirt. I play single coil strat pickups. It seems like I have to turn the amp gain up way higher than I normally ever would, and palm mute on a low E string note to get it to make this noise. So not something that would normally happen for me. But maybe the inaudible artifacts will stack up and or augment other sounds in a mix..

Is this the ‘helix can’t do high gain’ thing people are always complaining about?

I am not totally convinced this is a problem for me yet but I am now aware of the pube in the pizza and not sure if I can finish it either way, who knows how many pubes I have already swallowed.

 

[ispunk]

You guys couldn’t just let me enjoy my pizza

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I’m trying to recreate this in helix native, but it’s difficult for me. I definitely hear it in your clips, and I do hear it when I copy your amp settings, but it seems more subtle than in your clips. I pretty much never play with that much amp gain, I usually play with a clean/ish amp and add a distortion block for dirt. I play single coil strat pickups. It seems like I have to turn the amp gain up way higher than I normally ever would, and palm mute on a low E string note to get it to make this noise. So not something that would normally happen for me. But maybe the inaudible artifacts will stack up and or augment other sounds in a mix..

Is this the ‘helix can’t do high gain’ thing people are always complaining about?

I am not totally convinced this is a problem for me yet but I am now aware of the pube in the pizza and not sure if I can finish it either way, who knows how many pubes I have already swallowed.

I think Helix can do high gain quite well, it’s just this sound is always there. I can hear it on midgain tones, and stuff where pedals are used as well - with higher gain it’s exaggerated, so for the clips I thought I’d highlight it with tones and playing that bring it out more rather than using something subtle. For cleaner tones and bass it probably won’t show itself too much.

But yeah, I think it’s not really to do with high gain so much as the underlying modelling.

 

[the swede]

I think Helix can do high gain quite well, it’s just this sound is always there. I can hear it on midgain tones, and stuff where pedals are used as well - with higher gain it’s exaggerated, so for the clips I thought I’d highlight it with tones and playing that bring it out more rather than using something subtle. For cleaner tones and bass it probably won’t show itself too much.

But yeah, I think it’s not really to do with high gain so much as the underlying modelling.

what about the "in house" amps?
They're not from real amps, but made in the same program/software.

 

[sashimi]

I wonder if this is only a quality of the amp models themselves, or any distortion? How about the distortion blocks if used into an amp or another modeling pedal? HX effects?