Line 6 Helix

Cabicular

Vaiai said:

Cabicular said:

Vaiai said:

Ok, back to the Helix
I tried recording in Reaper last week - no problem - sound went in fine - but when I tried to playback I couldn't unless I unplugged the Helix and changed the output on my PC back to speakers - I am using the Helix specific driver. I was not using headphones tho - does it all work thru the phones? Just connected with USB btw - not using an interface.

Should be fine
you should be able to use USB 1\2 to return the signal unless you have changed your output block to exclude it

Should I be able to hear it on my PC or is it just in the headphones? When playing there was huge latency but in the manual it says to use headphones to ear it "live" - I presume I'd hear my backing track in there too?

When you say 'on your pc' I'm not clear what you mean
you should have a pair of monitor speakers plugged into the back of your Helix as it is now working as your audio interface. The most expensive soundblaster in history
you can also monitor via the headphones for zero latency monitoring (as in most audio interfaces)
Am I misunderstanding you?

stickyfiddle

Cabicular said:

stickyfiddle said:

Has anyone got a whammy working that doesn't sound shit? I didn't expect polyphonic Whammy V stuff but it's worse than the M9 model was.

Don't put it where you would normally put it in the chain
it works better later on (I don't know what your chain is but some of my patches have it after the amp ! )

Ok, will try that. All I really want is to get it sounding reasonable playing 2 strings together- it sounds like a ring mod if I play an open B and G with it first in the chain.

siremoon

stickyfiddle said:

Has anyone got a whammy working that doesn't sound shit? I didn't expect polyphonic Whammy V stuff but it's worse than the M9 model was.

On a more general point, the pitch shift on Helix is by a country mile the worst thing in the box imo.  It absolutely needs to be polyphonic because the current implementation sounds hideous on anything other than single notes.  It is just about the only thing on the Helix I have a problem with.  I hope it gets addressed soon but the only comments I've seen from Line 6 luminaries on the subject suggest it's not a high priority. 

stickyfiddle

siremoon said:

stickyfiddle said:

Has anyone got a whammy working that doesn't sound shit? I didn't expect polyphonic Whammy V stuff but it's worse than the M9 model was.

On a more general point, the pitch shift on Helix is by a country mile the worst thing in the box imo.  It absolutely needs to be polyphonic because the current implementation sounds hideous on anything other than single notes.  It is just about the only thing on the Helix I have a problem with.  I hope it gets addressed soon but the only comments I've seen from Line 6 luminaries on the subject suggest it's not a high priority. 

Yeah, it's the only thing I've found in there that's less good than my old pedals, which is a real shame. I don't need full polyphonic - I assume that'd eat DSP like crazy. Just the old Whammy 4 glitchy type pitch shift would be brilliant. The M9 version was ok iirc.  

Any ideas @Digital_Igloo ? 

robinbowes

siremoon said:

stickyfiddle said:

Has anyone got a whammy working that doesn't sound shit? I didn't expect polyphonic Whammy V stuff but it's worse than the M9 model was.

On a more general point, the pitch shift on Helix is by a country mile the worst thing in the box imo.  It absolutely needs to be polyphonic because the current implementation sounds hideous on anything other than single notes.  It is just about the only thing on the Helix I have a problem with.  I hope it gets addressed soon but the only comments I've seen from Line 6 luminaries on the subject suggest it's not a high priority. 

I've found the same.

Current plan is to put a POG2 on a tray in the rack and switch settings via MIDI.

R.

menamestom

stickyfiddle said:

siremoon said:

stickyfiddle said:

Has anyone got a whammy working that doesn't sound shit? I didn't expect polyphonic Whammy V stuff but it's worse than the M9 model was.

On a more general point, the pitch shift on Helix is by a country mile the worst thing in the box imo.  It absolutely needs to be polyphonic because the current implementation sounds hideous on anything other than single notes.  It is just about the only thing on the Helix I have a problem with.  I hope it gets addressed soon but the only comments I've seen from Line 6 luminaries on the subject suggest it's not a high priority. 

Yeah, it's the only thing I've found in there that's less good than my old pedals, which is a real shame. I don't need full polyphonic - I assume that'd eat DSP like crazy. 

I wonder if it does, the Micro POG has been out ages, so has the whammy.  I'm only guessing but you would think the Helix has easily enough processing power to cover an old Micro POG.  Perhaps it is a hardware thing, the way the guitar is sampled may be different for polyphonic pitch effects?  

Got my Micro POG on ebay, I'm going to miss it by the sound of it!   

stickyfiddle

menamestom said:

stickyfiddle said:

siremoon said:

stickyfiddle said:

Has anyone got a whammy working that doesn't sound shit? I didn't expect polyphonic Whammy V stuff but it's worse than the M9 model was.

On a more general point, the pitch shift on Helix is by a country mile the worst thing in the box imo.  It absolutely needs to be polyphonic because the current implementation sounds hideous on anything other than single notes.  It is just about the only thing on the Helix I have a problem with.  I hope it gets addressed soon but the only comments I've seen from Line 6 luminaries on the subject suggest it's not a high priority. 

Yeah, it's the only thing I've found in there that's less good than my old pedals, which is a real shame. I don't need full polyphonic - I assume that'd eat DSP like crazy. 

I wonder if it does, the Micro POG has been out ages, so has the whammy.  I'm only guessing but you would think the Helix has easily enough processing power to cover an old Micro POG.  Perhaps it is a hardware thing, the way the guitar is sampled may be different for polyphonic pitch effects?  

Got my Micro POG on ebay, I'm going to miss it by the sound of it!   

Yeah, possibly, but I don't know enough about digital stuff to be sure. Between the Nano POG and Ricochet you'd assume it's not a huge cost but the R&D to get the effect working nicely in the first place will take developer time, which L6 are obviously allocating somewhere else so far. 

At least with regular firmware updates it's reasonable to assume it's on the to-do list. 

And if we're giving @Digital_Igloo any other ideas... a decent multi-track (Deco/Mimic) and a Small Stone phaser please!

gibsongretschfan

i second the Small Stone!!

i think the idea with the crappy sounding Whammy is that they modelled that particular version (and yes it is the one that people tend to hanker over) with its faults and quirks and all

Polyphonic tracking will come for Helix I'm pretty sure. 

stickyfiddle

gibsongretschfan said:

i second the Small Stone!!

i think the idea with the crappy sounding Whammy is that they modelled that particular version (and yes it is the one that people tend to hanker over) with its faults and quirks and all

Polyphonic tracking will come for Helix I'm pretty sure. 

Not sure if you've had Whammys but they've never sounded like the modelled version. Both the Whammy 1 and 4 are a bit glitchy if you play to notes together, but it has character, and sort of flits between the two pitches. With the Helix model if you play e.g. a G and a B, it tries average those frequencies out and gives you an A-ish, still glitchy and not nice! 

Listen to the intro below for how it should sound: 

dindude

How are you getting on with the Helix generally @stickyfiddle ? Are you using it as an FX device into your badcat or are you also using the amp modelling?

stickyfiddle

dindude said:

How are you getting on with the Helix generally @stickyfiddle ? Are you using it as an FX device into your badcat or are you also using the amp modelling?

I haven't delved into the modelling side much so far, just a little bit through the factory presets. Into the Badcat it's great though (pitch shifting issues aside)

fretmeister

I've been playing with it a lot today. Tweaking some bought patches to suit my cab.

Made a lot of progress to the point where I'm considering abandoning or delaying going down the FRFR route.

Haven't played this much in a day for years. Fingers are actually sore  

gibsongretschfan

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/OS-ROCKER-32/combo-amps/orange-rocker-32-2-x10-combo?LGWCODE=OSROCKER32;56375;6335&gclid=CP779M7U0NMCFRMo0wodxAsAWA


Hmmmmmm.....

Drew_TNBD

gibsongretschfan said:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/OS-ROCKER-32/combo-amps/orange-rocker-32-2-x10-combo?LGWCODE=OSROCKER32;56375;6335&gclid=CP779M7U0NMCFRMo0wodxAsAWA


Hmmmmmm.....

That looks like a pretty awesome amp. There is almost certainly a way to do the whole stereo thing with a mono amp and the Helix, using amp and cab modelling and an extra output going to the PA.

gibsongretschfan

Drew_TNBD said:

gibsongretschfan said:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/OS-ROCKER-32/combo-amps/orange-rocker-32-2-x10-combo?LGWCODE=OSROCKER32;56375;6335&gclid=CP779M7U0NMCFRMo0wodxAsAWA


Hmmmmmm.....

That looks like a pretty awesome amp. There is almost certainly a way to do the whole stereo thing with a mono amp and the Helix, using amp and cab modelling and an extra output going to the PA.

Just using it as a compact valve stereo cab would justify the price. Shame there isn't some Celestion speakers in it. Could even run a two modelled amp dual setup live without things getting complicated and heavy

and obviously Helix can send it all FOH with IR's

trolley

I've just bought a Matrix GT1000.

The next bit is stick that into my Marshall 1936 - until I sell it & buy a NeoLight 2x12

sgosden

set up a bass patch inspired by one on here. 
bass in > compressor > split (A50) > B7K (real, not updated to 2.2 yet) > noise gate > ampeg w/810 
                                                       > Cali w/215 > chours > verb

switching in/out the B7K & chorus verb gave me two awesome sounds. Grindy & punchy, with some retained clean signal. and a nice cleaner sound!

Having neglected my bass practice recently. I now have bastard huge blisters on my picking fingers. worth it.

fretmeister

Drew_TNBD said:

gibsongretschfan said:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/OS-ROCKER-32/combo-amps/orange-rocker-32-2-x10-combo?LGWCODE=OSROCKER32;56375;6335&gclid=CP779M7U0NMCFRMo0wodxAsAWA


Hmmmmmm.....

That looks like a pretty awesome amp. There is almost certainly a way to do the whole stereo thing with a mono amp and the Helix, using amp and cab modelling and an extra output going to the PA.

I'm going to try that approach.

One side into power amp and my Zilla, and the other into a FRFR. Would have to be a hard left / right split though rather than a 75 / 25 sort of thing which I quite like.

vasselmeyer

Drew_TNBD said:

That looks like a pretty awesome amp. There is almost certainly a way to do the whole stereo thing with a mono amp and the Helix, using amp and cab modelling and an extra output going to the PA.

Actually,  I bet you could do wet/dry/wet with that setup and a PA. Wet left into the Orange and miced into the PA, dry centre direct through the PA, wet right into the Orange and again miced through the PA. That would sound MASSIVE.

guitarfishbay

vasselmeyer said:

Drew_TNBD said:

That looks like a pretty awesome amp. There is almost certainly a way to do the whole stereo thing with a mono amp and the Helix, using amp and cab modelling and an extra output going to the PA.

Actually,  I bet you could do wet/dry/wet with that setup and a PA. Wet left into the Orange and miced into the PA, dry centre direct through the PA, wet right into the Orange and again miced through the PA. That would sound MASSIVE.

Would it not have potential phase issues to mix a mic'd cab with IRs?