Helix Floor/LT/HX/Stomp/PodGo owners' Club - Tips, Ideas & Patches

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Yep, pretty well how I use it.  I like the paths thing because I have a distortion which is pitch dependant, in that the bass goes through a soft overdrive and the treble goes to a harsher distortion. On one pedal though.  I do like you can overload whatever pedals you want.

It seems that no matter what Helix you get, you can pretty much be out of it anything you want (apart from synth of course).

 

[Woodinblack]

22 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

It seems that no matter what Helix you get, you can pretty much be out of it anything you want (apart from synth of course).

Yeh, if it had a sample playback and a SY-1 built in it would be ideal!

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Yeh, if it had a sample playback and a SY-1 built in it would be ideal!

SY-1mkii of course 😁

[BigRedX]

Really don't get the obsession with having to have an amp and speaker sim. 

I use hardly any amp or speaker sims in my patches and mostly when I do it is used as an effect - one of the amp sims has a distortion sound that suits my basses and playing style better than most of the distortion pedal sims. The rest of the time I just use one of the EQ modules instead. Far more versatile IME.

[dave_bass5]

1 minute ago, BigRedX said:

Really don't get the obsession with having to have an amp and speaker sim. 

I use hardly any amp or speaker sims in my patches and mostly when I do it is used as an effect - one of the amp sims has a distortion sound that suits my basses and playing style better than most of the distortion pedal sims. The rest of the time I just use one of the EQ modules instead. Far more versatile IME.

Agree with you, but based on how,I use the Helix. 
Was keen to have them, but found they just complicated things and as I already had an amp and cab that I had chosen to use, it seemed wrong (for me) to go and change all that. That’s why when I went and got the HFX I wasn’t bothered about the amps. This was supposed to replace my Stomp but I hung on to it for reasons I’ve already stated. 

I get that it’s possible to get the vibe of, say a SVT, or GK800 in a small package though. I have used the GK800 in to the power stage of my Fender and it does give me the vibe of having a GK head.
I do like the amp/cabs for headphone practice, and recording direct though. 
 

[LukeFRC]

31 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Really don't get the obsession with having to have an amp and speaker sim. 

I use hardly any amp or speaker sims in my patches and mostly when I do it is used as an effect - one of the amp sims has a distortion sound that suits my basses and playing style better than most of the distortion pedal sims. The rest of the time I just use one of the EQ modules instead. Far more versatile IME.

For a church setting with amateur PA tech with varied ability it means I can send a signal that sounds and feels like a miced bass rig - the sound signature of a cab often help it sit in the mix exactly where you expect it to with less effort from them. From experience sending a modern bass with a wide range signal going from 20hz to 20khz can give them all sort of problems

[molan]

22 hours ago, Al Krow said:

The competition is already on it: https://neuraldsp.com/quad-cortex

Line 6 may be needing to respond sooner than we think! 

I've been watching this one closely. Price doesn't really bother me but I'd like to see how good the 'neural capture' is. I have Jule, Demeter, ATS etc amps plus some pre-amp pedals that I'd love to sample & capture without the size and design of the Kemper.

I have to admit that I bought the Stomp specifically to see how I'd get on with one whilst waiting for the Quad-Cortex to come out

[Al Krow]

The Quad Cortex does look like a super cool piece of kit!

I appreciate not a consideration for you on this, but I do think that pricing and ease of use plays a big part in our effects buying decisions and some pedals, whilst incredible pieces of engineering, don't seem to make it into the mainstream because they are considered overly boutique e.g Chase Bliss.

If the QC comes down to Helix LT pricing, it will definitely require Line 6 to up their game. But Fractal and Kemper have left plenty of "space" for Helix and Helix in turn plenty of space for Zoom.

[BigRedX]

35 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

For a church setting with amateur PA tech with varied ability it means I can send a signal that sounds and feels like a miced bass rig - the sound signature of a cab often help it sit in the mix exactly where you expect it to with less effort from them. From experience sending a modern bass with a wide range signal going from 20hz to 20khz can give them all sort of problems

But bass amps and cabs are just devices with a pre-set EQ curve (based on the design) and some adjustment of this at the amp.

In an ideal world all an amp and speaker set up would do would be to take the input signal and make it louder without changing it in any other way. Amps and cabs only have "a sound" because originally it was close to impossible to build a system that provided the required volume levels without additional colouration of the sound. We've only become used to these sounds and seek them out after the fact. 

Using a just good EQ module on my Helix I can get a far better and more versatile sound (to my ears) than any amp and speaker modules can achieve.

[krispn]

...And other people like to use amp and cabs sims. Looks like everyone is happy!

[dave_bass5]

16 minutes ago, krispn said:

 Looks like everyone is happy!

If that were true Off Topic wouldn’t exist 😂

[Osiris]

52 minutes ago, krispn said:

...And other people like to use amp and cabs sims. Looks like everyone is happy!

Exactly, I probably only only use 5% of what my Stomp is capable of, including amp and cab modelling as well as EQ's mimicking speaker profiles. There's a ton of stuff in there that I don't use but it's good to know it's there should I ever want it. 

[Frank Blank]

4 minutes ago, Osiris said:

Exactly, I probably only only use 5% of what my Stomp is capable of, including amp and cab modelling as well as EQ's mimicking speaker profiles. There's a ton of stuff in there that I don't use but it's good to know it's there should I ever want it. 

Me too. I almost exclusively use amp and cab modelling with ridiculously small, subtle adjustments, about the only effect I use is compression. I do go into an FRFR speaker but this is mainly because I want the sound coming from the speaker to be as close to the sound of the bass played acoustically as I can, the Stomp (paradoxically) is there to bring the final amplified sound back to that original acoustic sound.

[Woodinblack]

Well, that is the LT updated to 2.91. Can't say I notice a difference, still has a million and one things to select, although I guess now it has a million and two!

Might as well drag the HX FX in and do that too.

[acidbass]

Guys, almost sold on the HX Stomp as an all-in-one live solution, however I have one question before I click buy!

I want to run two seperate outputs to our PA system. Both will be largely the same (amp model, effected etc) however one will be used as part of my IEM mix and the other straight to FOH. My reason for doing this is that the soundman can then EQ one signal to suit FOH and I can tweak the other signal to suit my in ears, both channels will run seperately.

Can this be done? Hope I’ve explained it clearly enough!

[Osiris]

I was doing something similar where I was running the same signal to FOH and my IEM's, a dual mono output as I don't use any stereo effects. There was a subtle additional EQ curve added at the desk but otherwise the signals were effectively the same and this worked really well for me.

I think there might be a way to route the signal how you want, however have a read through the Stomp manual first to be sure, you can download it from the Line 6 website and it's very clearly written. If I understand what you're trying to do correctly, you might be able to build a single signal path and then split the signal into 2 (one for each output) at the end, and maybe put an additional EQ block on one of them. 

[JamieMillsBass]

So I pulled the trigger on the stomp.  Still getting my head round it, but very impressed so far with what it can do.

However, this morning I tried to use it as an audio interface.  Worked fine - the mac picked it up no problem.  But when I'm actually playing I'm getting loads of crackles, pops and 'interference'.  

Anyone experienced this before? might save me from going down the google rabbit hole when I'm supposed to be working from home.

 

[fretmeister]

I discovered the "No Amp Bass DI" model that for some reason is in the Distortion list.

 

It's a bit quiet so I added a gain block after it - it's lovely. Tweak of the mids, P bass with some foam, and I'm right there for "Sitting on the dock of the bay"

[Apeneck Sweeney]

7 hours ago, acidbass said:

Guys, almost sold on the HX Stomp as an all-in-one live solution, however I have one question before I click buy!

I want to run two seperate outputs to our PA system. Both will be largely the same (amp model, effected etc) however one will be used as part of my IEM mix and the other straight to FOH. My reason for doing this is that the soundman can then EQ one signal to suit FOH and I can tweak the other signal to suit my in ears, both channels will run seperately.

Can this be done? Hope I’ve explained it clearly enough!

If you don't need a third signal without speaker sim to go to your amp then you could have a send block just before your 'IEM tweaking' EQ which goes from the send out to your PA. Then use the (L/Main) out to your IEMs. You could maybe do similar by putting a left/right splitter before the eq and use the stereos outs, sending the side without eq to pa and the side with to your IEMs.

I used the first method for sending effects +amp+speaker sim to PA and just effects to my amp. 

[dave_bass5]

32 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I discovered the "No Amp Bass DI" model that for some reason is in the Distortion list.

 

It's a bit quiet so I added a gain block after it - it's lovely. Tweak of the mids, P bass with some foam, and I'm right there for "Sitting on the dock of the bay"

That’s what I use a lot of the time instead of an Amp sim. It’s the BDDI so designed to do the same job. I used to have it as always on in my HFX as well. 
I cant say I noticed it being quoted though, unless you are running it without the drive on. Seems to match the real thing which I also have. 

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, JamieMillsBass said:

So I pulled the trigger on the stomp.  Still getting my head round it, but very impressed so far with what it can do.

However, this morning I tried to use it as an audio interface.  Worked fine - the mac picked it up no problem.  But when I'm actually playing I'm getting loads of crackles, pops and 'interference'.  

Anyone experienced this before? might save me from going down the google rabbit hole when I'm supposed to be working from home.

 

I dont have a mac, but ive heard this on my windows PC with some devices. Normally down to latency. Do you have it set for a very short time? 

The other cause has been when using something plugged in to the mains and going through USB as well. Zoom comes to mind here. Obviously this cant be the cause here though. 
Is this with the recorded audio or just everything? Not hearing it through the headphones when recording?

Edited April 27, 2020 by dave_bass5

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, JamieMillsBass said:

So I pulled the trigger on the stomp.  Still getting my head round it, but very impressed so far with what it can do.

However, this morning I tried to use it as an audio interface.  Worked fine - the mac picked it up no problem.  But when I'm actually playing I'm getting loads of crackles, pops and 'interference'.  

Anyone experienced this before? might save me from going down the google rabbit hole when I'm supposed to be working from home.

Could be a digital clocking problem. You need one device to be the master clock (normally your computer) and all the other devices sync'd to that. Have a look at your Audio MIDI setup Utility on the Mac and see what it says there.

[NickD]

1 hour ago, JamieMillsBass said:

So I pulled the trigger on the stomp.  Still getting my head round it, but very impressed so far with what it can do.

However, this morning I tried to use it as an audio interface.  Worked fine - the mac picked it up no problem.  But when I'm actually playing I'm getting loads of crackles, pops and 'interference'.  

Anyone experienced this before? might save me from going down the google rabbit hole when I'm supposed to be working from home.

 

I get the same (with an LT) whether going direct or going through a standalone interface, basically if it's hooked up to the computer in any way I get lots of background whine, buzz and rhythmic static. I found that if I unplug the charger from the laptop it all falls silent. Luckily I've got decent battery life, but I tend to tolerate it for practice and sorting sounds out, then pop the charging cable out for recording takes.

[Al Krow]

10 minutes ago, NickD said:

I get the same (with an LT) whether going direct or going through a standalone interface, basically if it's hooked up to the computer in any way I get lots of background whine, buzz and rhythmic static. I found that if I unplug the charger from the laptop it all falls silent. Luckily I've got decent battery life, but I tend to tolerate it for practice and sorting sounds out, then pop the charging cable out for recording takes.

Oh dear this doesn't sound good! And from what you're saying it seems to be classic non isolated PSU related noise.

Is it only happening when you're using the Helix as an audio interface to your laptop / PC and not when in Helix Edit?

Bit concerned by your comment that it occurs when "going direct or going through a standalone interface" i.e. are you finding this to still be the case if you're going via a separate interface (e.g. a Focusrite)?

FWIW I've not noticed this with mine when going via my Focusrite into my PC but then I'm taking a DI output from my VT Bass DI which is at the end of my chain. However the Stomp already has a balanced output, I believe, and the LT has XLR outputs which I presume are also balanced, so it shouldn't be related to that. So maybe it's the Focusrite that is screening out the noise?

[NickD]

I use a Steinberg UR22, which even with a 10 pedal board has always been pretty much silent. The helix is pretty noisy through that, that is to say that there's a lot of noise, it's not really that loud, I can zone it out after a while if I'm concentrating. That's mostly just whine and hum. The static sounds particularly are increased tenfold when I plug the Helix in via its usb cable. As I said, take the power supply out of the laptop and it all goes away, and it's only necessary to unplug it at the laptop end, I can leave it plugged into the mains, that's fine. 

Despite having a workaround it's still a bit irritating, if only for planting the seeds of doubt for if I were to encounter similar on a gig.