My Helix Is Near!!

[Timmsie95]

Just got an email that my Line 6 Helix Rack and Control are in! Going out the door now to pick it up, will update in a couple hours.
:blob7: :headbang: :hello2: arty07: :cool01:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Sweet!

 

[Timmsie95]

So after a long, two hour headache of trying to update the firmware, i finally got the chance to play with it for a few hours.

The problem with the firmware upstate was my Mac has USB 3.0 ports, and for some reason, the helix doesn't like them when it comes to updating. So i went against what Line 6 said, and plugged into a USB hub (actually a gaming keyboard with two powered USB ports) and viola! It worked.

I've now programmed my "main" high gain tone, and a nice airy clean tone with some chorus and delay.

I'm so happy with my purchase, and it sounds amazing! I haven't even scratched the surface if what this thing can do... :hello2:

 

[Axkoa]

That's awesome man. So how much quicker was it than what they said it would be? I can't wait to hear some tones out of that beast.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Man, reading this makes me a little misty, thinking about my Helix, sitting at home all by itself, neglected, while I'm out of town working...

The first thing I did with mine after unboxing it was to recreate my existing amp-and-pedalboard rig, that was a pretty good exercise. It was a week before I realized there was a firmware update, some excellent new goodies in that one! Glad you've got it, and hope you're having a blast!

 

[Timmsie95]

Sorry, as you might expect, I've been a bit distracted today  :laughing7:

It came about two or three weeks sooner than I expected jt to, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Yeah, my first preset basically recreates my dual rectifier. Pretty simple setup, just a tubescreamer in front with gain on 0, tone at 5, and level at 10. Gain on the amp around 6.5, and a bump in the mids. With a tad bit of spring reverb after. Using the built in cali 4x12 v30 cab with an sm57 1" away.

It sounds perfect...

I also tried a stereo rig with a 5150 and a rectifier, but i actually preferred the mono one. It just feels like home to me.

10/10, would reccomend!!

On a side note, I got a new thunderbolt harddrive to record to, so I was transferring my logic files over to it to free up some space on my computer, and found about a dozen unfinished, or rough, projects that me and my friend did, that we will probaby re record. So there will be many tones coming from this thing, indeed!  :glasses10: :icon_biggrin:

 

[Fat Pete]

Jealous! :glasses10:

How's the patch change speed - any noticeable gap/dropout?

 

[Timmsie95]

When you change patches, theres a slight gap, but I don't mind, because I can change so much within one patch, that patch changes are almost unnecessary within a song. I think it's similar to "scenes", in the fractal world.

I am having one little issue with my monitors that I'd like to see if anyone could help me with..

So every once in a while, I start to hear a high chirp coming from the monitors, and it gets louder and louder. But as soon as i turn one of them off, it stops.. I've tried the ground lift switch on the helix, and that doesn't help. I tried plugging them into different outlets, but it still happens. I am connecting them via XLR, if that matters...the weird thing to me, is that it stops as soon as I turn off one of my monitors. They are about 18-24 inches apart from eachother, so i don't think it's to do with the proximity to eachother..

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! :sad1:

 

[Timmsie95]

I THINK I fixed it..

I'm fairly sure that the issue was that they were near a set-top box and tv. I moved them away from the set top box, and it seems to have stopped, but only time will tell...

 

[Timmsie95]

I spoke too soon...
The problem persists.

 

[Cagey]

I have a set of Klipsch speakers for one of my computers that used to be able to hear my cellphone being polled. Made a chirping noise like you describe. That was a Motorola Raz'r phone. With my current phone (an LG smartphone, I don't know the model), the speakers don't pick up anything.

Makes no sense, but there it is.

 

[Timmsie95]

Turns out, I think it was the set-top box after all.
I moved to a different room, and it seems to have stopped. (Fingers crossed)
The set top box is a TiVo Mini, which connects to the main TiVo with wifi, and there's some other wireless thing going on there. So I think it was the problem.
I just have to sit next to them and wait to see if it happens again.

 

[Timmsie95]

(Yeah it happened again... the problem persists...)

In other news, I did a revised version of the song I did for the Long & McQuade contest, using the helix for guitar and bass, and Superior Drummer 2 for drums.
I'm quite happy with the result!
https://soundcloud.com/behold-the-underdogs/winning-riff-take-2

Now if only I could get my monitors to stop chirping...

 

[Axl12]

I've never seen one of these in the wild.
This  thread needs pictures  :blob7:

 

[mayfly]

Now if only I could get my monitors to stop chirping...

It's picking up RF hash from a nearby cell phone. 

Things to check:  does it do it when the speakers are not connected to anything?
Does it do it with helix/guitar attached?
Does it do it with just helix attached?
does it do it with helix into headphones?

if the answer is no to the first question and yes to the rest, then it's the helix. 

Once we've found the root cause we can work on trying to fix it.

 

[Timmsie95]

Now if only I could get my monitors to stop chirping...

It's picking up RF hash from a nearby cell phone. 

Things to check:  does it do it when the speakers are not connected to anything?
Does it do it with helix/guitar attached?
Does it do it with just helix attached?
does it do it with helix into headphones?

if the answer is no to the first question and yes to the rest, then it's the helix. 

Once we've found the root cause we can work on trying to fix it.

It's definitely the speaker, becayse it only happens when the speaker is attached. I think it might be defective, but I'm notbsure. I'm going to call to see if i can replace it tomorrow. I have an extended warranty on it.

 

[stratamania]

When you say it happens when the second speaker is attached, does it happen with only that second speaker attached ?

If yes you may conclude its the speaker but if not then it must be something else.

Also worth trying different speakers or even the same ones in a completely different environment.

By the way the Helix is not able to do scenes in the same way as a Fractal device.  Though gaps between presets will still be down to the instantiation of different models of amps etc. Once those things are loaded changing there on and off state within a preset is straightforward without gaps.

 

[bagman67]

Try another speaker cable?  Maybe the shielding ain't so good.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Now if only I could get my monitors to stop chirping...

It's picking up RF hash from a nearby cell phone. 

Based just on the info presented here, I'm inclined to agree. I've long since resorted to setting the cell phone down across the room when I'm playing because otherwise you get the occasional alien communications coming through the amp. My old car stereo was the same way, I always knew something was coming through about 10 seconds before it did because of the bleeps and bloops...

By the way the Helix is not able to do scenes in the same way as a Fractal device.  Though gaps between presets will still be down to the instantiation of different models of amps etc. Once those things are loaded changing there on and off state within a preset is straightforward without gaps.

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think the comparison to Fractal's "Scenes" was more a way of describing the switching lag than actually comparing the feature set. Helix has a bit of a gap when switching between presets, but within a preset blocks can be toggled on/off and parameters changed via footswitch assignment seamlessly. Like "Scenes" allows you to make changes within the preset instantaneously.

 

[stratamania]

@Verne it probably is what he meant. Which is why I wrote the second sentence that you quoted. However the first sentence is accurate the Helix can not do Scenes as a fractal can, I believe it is a requested feature on Ideascale. 

But it might be worth Timmsie joining the L6 forum if he hasn't already and seeing if any other users have had similar experiences.