Helix Talk

[James Freeman]

I wish the Stomp had a digital SPDIF output.
The super low noise guitar input is very useful with all guitar plugins but the huge usb latency not so much, I already have a low latency audio interface with SPDIF input.

Heck, I would buy just the super low noise guitar input in a small box with SPDIF and Optical outputs to use with other interfaces, worth it.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Give me a SPDIF tonex, in Mooer pedal size

 

[laxu]

I wish the Stomp had a digital SPDIF output.
The super low noise guitar input is very useful with all guitar plugins but the huge usb latency not so much, I already have a low latency audio interface with SPDIF input.

Heck, I would buy just the super low noise guitar input in a small box with SPDIF and Optical outputs to use with other interfaces, worth it.

I'm annoyed that a lot of audio interfaces don't come with SPDIF I/O nowadays until you get to the pricier stuff. It's one of the reasons why I've stuck with the humble Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 2nd gen.

MIDI is similarly often left out on anything more compact and affordable.

 

[ispunk]

HELIX 4.0 Stomp SPDIF Dongle Update

 

[vino_buono]

I remember reading that the latency incurred by Helix also depends on the preset used. Does anyone know more about this? E.g. if a preset with a lot of blocks adds more latency than one with few blocks, and if blocks add latency also when they are bypassed? (Not that I figure the difference would be significant, but out of curiosity...)

 

[Lele]

I remember reading that the latency incurred by Helix also depends on the preset used. Does anyone know more about this? E.g. if a preset with a lot of blocks adds more latency than one with few blocks, and if blocks add latency also when they are bypassed? (Not that I figure the difference would be significant, but out of curiosity...)

I know a different thing about the latency with the Helix: if you use two paths there is more latency than with just one path (that is if you use two DSPs instead of one) even with the same effect blocks. I think it's logical, and it's also a latency that you can measure but imho you can't feel it when you play, because it's anyway very very low. For sure some blocks will add more latency but in this case I think that, except for the amp blocks, it will be barely measurable.
No modern (hi-end) modeler has ever given me the impression to play with a latency problem.

 

[vino_buono]

I know a different thing about the latency with the Helix: if you use two paths there is more latency than with just one path (that is if you use two DSPs instead of one) even with the same effect blocks. I think it's logical, and it's also a latency that you can measure but imho you can't feel it when you play, because it's anyway very very low. For sure some blocks will add more latency but in this case I think that, except for the amp blocks, it will be barely measurable.
No modern (hi-end) modeler has ever given me the impression to play with a latency problem.

That’s interesting. I remember reading that the Stomp (which has 1 path only) has lower latency than the LT/Floor, but not by much. Not sure that the LT using just one path is equivalent to the Stomp latency-wise, though.

Fully agree that those 2-3 ms are imperceptible. I am more concerned when you add a couple of FX loops plus wireless plus digital effects…

 

[laxu]

Fully agree that those 2-3 ms are imperceptible. I am more concerned when you add a couple of FX loops plus wireless plus digital effects…

I've used the Helix Floor in full 7 cable method to run into two amps in stereo. To me the latency was a non issue in that scenario. Whether wireless would put it over the top I can't say, didn't have one at the time.

 

[HotRats]

I'm back to 4cm with the helix floor and latency is definitely not a issue.

The floor is actually a wonderful machine for this application.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I've run my Relay G10 into my Floor with my Stomp in the loop with no latency issues to speak of.

 

[Perrymusica]

Hello, if it helps someone, I can filter among 10,100 Helix presets in a search by FX block, amp, cab.... For example, I needed presets that contain the sansamp or the Obsidian 7000, since I am not a bassist and I do not I know a lot about heavy bass chains. If anyone is interested, send me a message and as soon as you have time I will send you the presets that contain the amp, effect, cab... that you need. Hug!
(image is illustrative)

 

[Digital Igloo]

That’s interesting. I remember reading that the Stomp (which has 1 path only) has lower latency than the LT/Floor, but not by much. Not sure that the LT using just one path is equivalent to the Stomp latency-wise, though.

Fully agree that those 2-3 ms are imperceptible. I am more concerned when you add a couple of FX loops plus wireless plus digital effects…

There's always a bit more latency when hopping from DSP to DSP. What's odd is all the products that tout their multiple cores, which just exacerbates the issue. MIPS being equal, fewer, faster cores is always better than more cores.

 

[JiveTurkey]

HX Beast confirmed.

 

[pipelineaudio]

I wanted to find out just how much latency was present between the Poly Capo modes so I set up two paths and measured....

no matter which mode, the first recognizable peak happened at about 86 samples after the clean signal.

There was still a large difference in sound between the modes for when the note really appeared to happen, but it was interesting that the real first peak was always at the same time. Playing the two signals together had a much different doppler shift type of tone between the different settings.

Its funny that those peaks pretty much line up, but you can definitely feel a difference when playing between the modes

 

[Lysander]

I wanted to find out just how much latency was present between the Poly Capo modes so I set up two paths and measured....

no matter which mode, the first recognizable peak happened at about 86 samples after the clean signal.

Isn't that pretty much working as intended though? Pitch shifting is impossible without signal history, so latency is inherent to the effect.

My guess is that changing modes affects only how that buffer is processed.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Given the way it feels to play i would have expected the distance to the first peak to change, the way older shifter algos used to do it

 

[Sascha Franck]

Pitch shifting is impossible without signal history

Couldn't you say the same about pretty much any digital processing?
Besides, at least in DAW land, many plugins manage to do their job within the set buffersize (which is as well allowing for "signal history"), so that could as well be the case in HX hardware land. I just suspect the CPU demands of the Poly Capo to be so high it just needs some additional buffers (again the same as in DAW land).

 

[Lysander]

Couldn't you say the same about pretty much any digital processing?

No, i'm not talking about computational latency. You need an audio buffer to do pitch shifting; it's not something that can be optimized around.

In fact, the bigger that buffer (and the latency) becomes, the more accurate your pitch shifter is.

 

[pipelineaudio]

But its not latency in the way we usually thing about it, as the event still happens at the same time, or at least starts there

 

[Sascha Franck]

You need an audio buffer to do pitch shifting; it's not something that can be optimized around.

So, how comes quite some plugins manage to do pitch shifting within the set buffer range?