Line 6 Helix

firepaulmusic

So if I remove all of the feet including the two under the treadle it'll be ok? The treadle definitely won't fall to bits? I want to fix it to my pedalboard with Velcro.....

Teetonetal

Nearly always the ac15 model. With pedals doing the dirt.

Cabicular

firepaulmusic said:

So if I remove all of the feet including the two under the treadle it'll be ok? The treadle definitely won't fall to bits? I want to fix it to my pedalboard with Velcro.....

Probably but I would recommend just getting some dual lock Velcro instead and removing the front feet
its tall enough to stick very securely 

sgosden

2204 Mod & match ch1 are the go to amps for me.
then the 2204 and Dr Z are also good.

John_A

Just had a first serious play with the bass amps, been doing some recording.  The Pearce BC-1 is fantastic!

FarleyUK

Been using MixIR2 to combine the 3Sigma IRs (they've just released updated versions BTW - sound great!). Tend to use 1a and 1b and combine them into a single IR, and have had great results.

Currently using the Friedman 4x12 IR with 2 G25s and 2 v30s - sounds very nice indeed!

gibsongretschfan

A post I found interesting from another forum:


Hey all

Another Helix revelation ... this one is BIG one ... for me at least.

Hi - Lo Cuts in the CAB / IR Blocks ... a much better way

Quick background:- being a regular Axe user  -and using the same IR's in my Axe and Helix - the very first thing I noticed when doing my Helix Cab Hi / Lo cuts was that the "slopes" in the Helix are much flatter than the "industry" standard -6db / -12db / -24db EQ slopes used in, say, speaker crossovers etc.... the Hi / Lo Cut Cab EQ Slopes in the Axe too are selectable at either -6db or -12db .... and they are consistent across all their EFX where eq slopes are selectable.

I posted about this in some detail in the Helix forum at the time.

So whats the big deal you say ... ? .... well .... the "flatter" slopes in the Helix [Ive no idea how they are tappered] mean that for example, to roll-off the high's in an IR, you end up having to "cut" much further to get rid of the highs .... but then you also start "eating into" the good freq's you dont want to lose.

For example, if I take the same IR - put in in the Axe and Helix - set up two similar amps and tones .... the Axe invariably only needs hi/lo cuts of approx: 80hz <-> 8000hz .... however the Helix needs cuts of around 110hz <-> 5000hz ..... so far I have "compensated" for this with EQ in the Helix, but is not an ideal solution.

***********************
The Solution
- add your IR's / Cab's of choice as ususal
- set the Hi / Lo cuts totally OFF
- immedialty after the Cabs / IR's insert a " EQ Low and High Cut " Block (go to EQ -> Mono -> Low and High Cut )
- leave the Level at 0db
- do your Cab / IR high / low cuts in this block
***********************

Result

- your hi / lo cuts will be a lot less drasticthan those you would have made in the Cab / IR block ... and you will notice significantly less freq loss of the good freq's you want to keep

- I have no idea what the "taper" of the Hi / Lo Cut slopes are in this EQ block are, but they are WAY more musical than the EQ slopes in the Cab / IR blocks ... and they feel VERY similar if not identical to the -12db hi / lo eq slopes in the Axe Cab Block

My Real World Test

I had an extensive live reheasals session today and tested out 2 versions of my DC30 and Plexi patchs

My "regular" patchs have IR cuts in the range of 110hz <-> 5000hz .. these are live rock and roll CLR presets

I then used the exact same patchs with the above "trick" ie: turning off the hi / lo cuts in the IR blocks and inserting the EQ block after the IR blocks as above and I set it to my Axe "stock range" of 80hz <-> 8000hz

The differnece was huge ......big time !! .... much fuller tones with noticalby less high-end- harshness and less-low-end-flub-wobble and way more "good" freq's un-touched.

The only downside to this approach is if you dont have a spare block to use and/or CPU headroom .... however I dont think this would likely be an issue for %99.99 of users.

As I posted back then in the L6 Helix forum ..... hopefully in a future FW, the Cab / IR and all other EQ slopes will be matched and selectable to either -6d or -12db

In the meantime, this works beautifully and is just a "musically correct" as the Axe Cab block hi lo eq slopes.

Hope this helps others 

Ben

Cabicular

I've done this by accident 
I just found it easier to copy and past an Eq block than to adjust it every time I changed cabs
probably one of the reasons I have always really like the way the Helix aoinds

TimmyO

I think the same guy posted about it on the FB group - It's not as revolutionary as he seems to think - I've used both approaches on different patches, both work, just differently in different patches. It seemed (to me) a bit odd to suggest that realising a hi-cut block could be used to cut highs was some sort of second coming lol  

gibsongretschfan

TimmyO said:

I think the same guy posted about it on the FB group - It's not as revolutionary as he seems to think - I've used both approaches on different patches, both work, just differently in different patches. It seemed (to me) a bit odd to suggest that realising a hi-cut block could be used to cut highs was some sort of second coming lol  

What I think he was getting at is the perception that Helix is harsher in the top end than its competitors. Hence why it seems to largely perform poorly in head to head comparisons and why lots of people have been left with headscratching moments as to why Helix seems to sound brighter than other modellers even with the same IR's.

gibsongretschfan

Cabicular said:

I've done this by accident 
I just found it easier to copy and past an Eq block than to adjust it every time I changed cabs
probably one of the reasons I have always really like the way the Helix aoinds

Could be. however you still have your hi-cut lower than most? Is it still around 4.4k?

Drew_TNBD

gibsongretschfan said:

Hence why it seems to largely perform poorly in head to head comparisons

Is that true?? I thought it fared very well in comparisons. It certainly did in the one I made:

Cabicular

gibsongretschfan said:

Cabicular said:

I've done this by accident 
I just found it easier to copy and past an Eq block than to adjust it every time I changed cabs
probably one of the reasons I have always really like the way the Helix aoinds

Could be. however you still have your hi-cut lower than most? Is it still around 4.4k?

Yes any higher and it gets pretty toppy

Cabicular

Course that's just me and the way I set everything up I guess
There are probably better tones.

Sporky

Drew_TNBD said:

gibsongretschfan said:

Hence why it seems to largely perform poorly in head to head comparisons

Is that true?? I thought it fared very well in comparisons. It certainly did in the one I made:

I think it's become a "thing" to say that the Helix has a great interface but doesn't sound quite as good.

I suspect far more people have said it than have spent serious time with both the Helix and whatever it is they're saying sounds better.

gibsongretschfan

Drew_TNBD said:

gibsongretschfan said:

Hence why it seems to largely perform poorly in head to head comparisons

Is that true?? I thought it fared very well in comparisons. It certainly did in the one I made:

Hey I've owned Helix for 18 months now so I obviously don't agree! But there does seem to be a general perception that the Axe is smoother in the top end and that larger hi-cuts need to be used to "compensate" when perhaps it's just due to the reduction curve used in the IR hi-lo cut section

Drew_TNBD

I dunno... I barely ever used the high and low cuts on the Axe, and likewise with the Helix. I do everything on the amp block, or I insert an EQ. Just used to working that way I guess.

TimmyO

A problem with believing internet-received-wisdom is that everyone's opinions seem equal (even those who don't respond to thinking the EQ is wrong on their sound by using EQ to alter it)

Line 6 gear is more affordable and FAR more available (wander into a guitar ship rather than have to seek it out online) than the competitors, so far more clueless keyboard warriors own it. 

(ok, I'm being a bit harsh, but you get the drift) 

guitarfishbay

Drew_TNBD said:

I dunno... I barely ever used the high and low cuts on the Axe, and likewise with the Helix. I do everything on the amp block, or I insert an EQ. Just used to working that way I guess.

Same.

I didn't use high or low cuts in those Axe FX clips in Drew's video, so it's a non factor in that comparison.

Also, complaints about harsh high end often indicates static resonance(s), IME.  And in that scenario a filter could be a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut anyway - removing all high end because there's a problem at one frequency.

This is different to using filters to control the bandwidth of a sound, which is a good (and generally the intended) use of them.  If that also gets rid of the resonances then great.  It's not the only way to do it though.

The problem is, you don't know what a person's skill level, experience, usage scenario, or knowledge level is on a typical internet post.  People have their bias in both directions too.

hubobulous

Without being a dimwit about it, I'd at least find it useful to see a balanced chat about the relative merits of the approaches. I understand the concepts of hi/low cuts obviously, but have no experience in having to use them before now. Would be interested to hear why people do what they do.