Helix Talk

[CakeEater]

Here’s why that’s not ideal, from @benadrian himself:

“Generally, I like to match the level of the amp models to unity gain. I'll bypass the amp model, play the guitar and get a good idea of how loud I am. Then I'll engage the amp model and adjust the channel volume to match the bypassed level. I generally find that it makes the whole preset operate in a more pleasant way to me. Of course, this means my presets can be a lot quieter than other people's presets. For me, I just turn the other presets down and save them like that. I've never had a situation where my helix couldn't be loud enough by either turning up a power amp, a channel input gain on a mixer, or the big knob on the front of the Helix.”

The reason he does this is because many of the modeled effects expect instrument level input, and pushing some effects up front can cause strange (like their real world counterparts) behavior.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. What's interesting for my own use-case though is that I don't use any compressors or drive pedals, and put my choruses, delays and reverbs before my amps which tends to work better for ambient/P&W/Shoegaze sounds. I'd imagine that mitigates the effects-input-level issue described here.

 

[dronerstone]

I'm a late bloomer, but I today hooked up the Helix Floor to the fx return of my LAB Series L5 for the first time.

I took a blank preset, went through the amp models and although the cab has its fair share of sonic impact, most of the sounds were glorious!

Couldn't resist adding a Fuzz Face, Vox wah and spring reverb...

PS: My "kitchen sink" band preset sounded stellar as well, but I got that dialed in already, which is why I wanted to start from scratch and get to know a few of the amps in the room.

 

[kartikg3]

I'm a late bloomer, but I today hooked up the Helix Floor to the fx return of my LAB Series L5 for the first time.

I took a blank preset, went through the amp models and although the cab has its fair share of sonic impact, most of the sounds were glorious!

Couldn't resist adding a Fuzz Face, Vox wah and spring reverb...

PS: My "kitchen sink" band preset sounded stellar as well, but I got that dialed in already, which is why I wanted to start from scratch and get to know a few of the amps in the room.

The Helix is really something when plugged into the power amp and heard through a real cab. The details of the amp models really shine through! To me the differences between a real tube amp and the models become physically indescribable. The feel controls also really shine through with each param change.

 

[kartikg3]

Spent some time getting the feelers for these amp models through my 1x8 cab today:

Line 6 Clarillon
Line 6 Kinetic
Brit 2203
Brit Trem Brt
Brit Plexi Brt

Pairing these with low-ish gains on the Teemah and Heir Apparent models, stacked and on their own, with neck single coils and bridge humbuckers alike, with a touch of legacy 63' spring on the front of the amp sometimes, or a transistor tape delay with subtle settings for some air and ambience of and when needed.

Such beautiful tones, these amps!

 

[Lysander]

Spent some time getting the feelers for these amp models through my 1x8 cab today

Surprised to see how little love Kinetic seems to have gotten after 3.70 released. Loving that model myself.

 

[dronerstone]

I'm a late bloomer, but I today hooked up the Helix Floor to the fx return of my LAB Series L5 for the first time.

I took a blank preset, went through the amp models and although the cab has its fair share of sonic impact, most of the sounds were glorious!

Couldn't resist adding a Fuzz Face, Vox wah and spring reverb...

PS: My "kitchen sink" band preset sounded stellar as well, but I got that dialed in already, which is why I wanted to start from scratch and get to know a few of the amps in the room.

Just as expected, band rehearsal on Friday was a blast!!!

Epi LP Modern > Helix Floor > Katana mk2 Head (power amp return) > Katana 2x12" Cab (with the back cover removed)

My bandmates can be very picky (two brothers, almost virtuoso-level, their father is a classical cellist in a renowned orchestra), but they sure liked what they heard.

According to them, the only difference is that my sound had slightly more clarity and cut than before, the rest was "as nice as usual" without any big changes.

 

[kartikg3]

Spent an hour playing through the US Dripman Nrm, with a slightly more than EOB tone, vanilla, and paired with a TS808 model in front, alternating with the Zendrive model in a low gain setting, paired with some room reverb, playing through my SS Poweramp+1x8 cab. Smooth blues lead land! What an awesome amp model! Brings the pedals out beautiful up front! I havent enjoyed the sound of a TS808 this much in a long time!

 

[dronerstone]

Spent an hour playing through the US Dripman Nrm, with a slightly more than EOB tone, vanilla, and paired with a TS808 model in front, alternating with the Zendrive model in a low gain setting, paired with some room reverb, playing through my SS Poweramp+1x8 cab. Smooth blues lead land! What an awesome amp model! Brings the pedals out beautiful up front! I havent enjoyed the sound of a TS808 this much in a long time!

Yessss!!! Sounds awesome!

TS and Fender are always a good combo, especially if they're modeled as beautifully as the Dripman.

 

[kartikg3]

I've always struggled to find good use of the EQD Plumes model (Pillars), I think I finally did. Gain at around 4.5, tone and level to taste, with the clipping mode set to 2 (which is the all-open mode I believe) in front of a PV Vitriol Crunch mildly distorting, send the model in searing fire-breathing rage, chunky, clear and saturated!

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, I'd like to have an icon informing me about the global EQ's on/off status on the HX Stomp. There's enough space on the screen.

 

[vino_buono]

Fwiw, I'd like to have an icon informing me about the global EQ's on/off status on the HX Stomp. There's enough space on the screen.

Yes! It’s a pity that there’s no shortcut to turn it on/off from the main screen (at least as far as I know). It would help to at least know if it is active.

 

[Digital Igloo]

Helix/HX 3.71 is now available. Go get it.

Just additional bug fixes:

• When running sufficient level into a Reverb > Dynamic Bloom block, audio clipping could occur—FIXED
• The mono version of Reverb > Nonlinear exhibits a less-smooth decay than the stereo version, which is especially noticeable on percussive material. It also affects the stereo version if merged to a mono path or when utilizing a mono output—FIXED
• When choosing the 30 Dynamic microphone at a distance of 7.0 ~ 11.75, Cab > WhoWatt Cab exhibits abnormal treble resonance—FIXED
• Delay > Tesselator could exhibit unexpected behavior in 3.70—FIXED
• Adjusting the Delay > Glitch Delay block's Time parameter could sometimes result in muted audio or other unexpected audio behavior—FIXED
• Adjusting the IR > Dual block's Delay parameter could sometimes result in graphical anomalies—FIXED
• Helix Native (Windows VST/AAX) only: Switching from certain reverb types to others (for example, from Hot Springs to Shimmer or Glitz to Shimmer) can result in DSP loss—FIXED
• Other minor fixes and improvements

Note: There is currently no 3.71 for HX One (it's forthcoming) or HX Edit (as it's unneeded).

 

[Sascha Franck]

It’s a pity that there’s no shortcut to turn it on/off from the main screen (at least as far as I know)

Yeah, it'd be cool to have that as well, just as on the bigger versions.

 

[MindCrime]

Helix/HX 3.71 is now available. Go get it.

Just additional bug fixes:

• When running sufficient level into a Reverb > Dynamic Bloom block, audio clipping could occur—FIXED
• The mono version of Reverb > Nonlinear exhibits a less-smooth decay than the stereo version, which is especially noticeable on percussive material. It also affects the stereo version if merged to a mono path or when utilizing a mono output—FIXED
• When choosing the 30 Dynamic microphone at a distance of 7.0 ~ 11.75, Cab > WhoWatt Cab exhibits abnormal treble resonance—FIXED
• Delay > Tesselator could exhibit unexpected behavior in 3.70—FIXED
• Adjusting the Delay > Glitch Delay block's Time parameter could sometimes result in muted audio or other unexpected audio behavior—FIXED
• Adjusting the IR > Dual block's Delay parameter could sometimes result in graphical anomalies—FIXED
• Helix Native (Windows VST/AAX) only: Switching from certain reverb types to others (for example, from Hot Springs to Shimmer or Glitz to Shimmer) can result in DSP loss—FIXED
• Other minor fixes and improvements

Note: There is currently no 3.71 for HX One (it's forthcoming) or HX Edit (as it's unneeded).

And the hits just keep coming ! Thank you Line 6 and @Digital Igloo

 

[kartikg3]

Has anyone started using the "Auto" value for the delay parameter in the cab blocks?

I just turned it on, and fudged around with different mic distances and mic mixes. Learning a lot on how mic distance affects tone IRL, and how when different mics are mixed like this phase differences etc. affect the tone.

 

[dronerstone]

Has anyone started using the "Auto" value for the delay parameter in the cab blocks?

I just turned it on, and fudged around with different mic distances and mic mixes. Learning a lot on how mic distance affects tone IRL, and how when different mics are mixed like this phase differences etc. affect the tone.

I'm a Helix Floor noob, in my third week at this point, but I keep using the auto setting and have been slightly panning dual cabs, followed by a sprinkle of Legacy Tile reverb, and I like what I hear. Ymmv tho

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, I want Line 6 to hire this dude and port his delay to the Helix.
Or just have @laxu kidnap him (Deelay guy is from Finland, too).
Seriously, given ease of use and wicked results you can get from a delay, this has got to be the one with the best fiddle-around-to-performance ratio by far.
In case you're into plugin usage, make sure to give it a testrun.

Deelay | Free Versatile Delay Plugin

Deelay packs loads of features in a simple, minimalistic interface. Explore five distinct delay modes, and 100 factory presets.

sixthsample.com

 

[norminal]

When running sufficient level into a Reverb > Dynamic Bloom block, audio clipping could occur—FIXED

I’m still on 3.70, but this is intermittently occurring with other “Dynamic” reverbs. If I save the preset, switch to another and back, it sometimes goes away. Is this related to the issue with the “Bloom?”

 

[Orvillain]

Fwiw, I want Line 6 to hire this dude and port his delay to the Helix.
Or just have @laxu kidnap him (Deelay guy is from Finland, too).
Seriously, given ease of use and wicked results you can get from a delay, this has got to be the one with the best fiddle-around-to-performance ratio by far.
In case you're into plugin usage, make sure to give it a testrun.

Deelay | Free Versatile Delay Plugin

Deelay packs loads of features in a simple, minimalistic interface. Explore five distinct delay modes, and 100 factory presets.

sixthsample.com

Why?

 

[Orvillain]

I'd really like for Helix to allow me to customize every single switch function in both preset and stomp modes. I'd also like to be able to do the Fractal thing of having 8 layouts, which can always be accessible by pressing two switches at once. I'd like more snapshots too.