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Line 6 have just released a big upgrade to the Helix range (including Native), having played around with the all new cab engine, this is a significant upgrade !

https://line6.com/support/page/kb/effec ... tes-r1003/

There are some interesting new amp models and pedals as well!

Free upgrade for all owners of Helix pedals/software.

Regards

Gary

Thanks Gary , I have a Helix Stomp will check it out !

Hi Roger,

I certainly thought it was worth bringing this to peoples attention. You perhaps need to be aware of the following notes in the above when doing this:

Updating Helix/HX Hardware in the link above it says the following:

"Helix Floor/Rack/LT only: Halfway through the update to 3.50, Helix's LCD reads "Boot Failure. Entered Update Mode!" THIS IS NORMAL. Breathe deep, everything is fine. You're almost there."

Then there is a nothing to see box indicating that you will get "Boot failure. entered update mode"

"HX Edit will display a message indicating the device must be reset. Click resume and wait for the second part of the update to complete."

My understanding is that they have made significant changes to the core engine, which makes it more efficient and uses less resources, they also say it can take 30 minutes or more to run.

It’s stated that the cabs use 66 to 80% percent less DSP resources, the dual cabs have parameters that you can change on both speakers independently by clicking each of them, so you can have different mic’s, position, distance and mic angle using one dual cab.

Gary

Gary,

The update went fine thanks , always best to get latest updates. Not much extra in there for Shads , but obv more efficient engine updates and dsp use improved. Worthwile.

Hi Roger,

I use the Essex A15 modelling for Shadows and experimenting with the new 2x12 Blue Bell cab, I’m still tweaking the amp settings, so far so good.

I came across this Jason Sadites YouTube video on balancing drive against master volume, I knew pretty much how this worked, but it really describes it well and has encouraged me to play around with these in combination with mic’s and placement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCIK-qsHv9Q

I actually thought the old stock cabs were pretty good, but I think I like the subtle differences in the new ones?

Gary

Yeah , that stuff I already understood regarding master / channel volume controls. There is a difference to be found with power amp tube saturation and preamp tube saturation and different results they bring to the sound. A little bit of drive though is often a good thing, as it saturates and plumps up the sound nicely. As you go towards crunch tones and more into rock territory , you start to leave Shads style sounds, although they are not pristine clean and are often saturated and compressed somewhat. I used the Essex 30 mostly and it is a fairly faithful reproduction of the AC30 TB sound. I use the 2 x 12 bluebell too. The EQ and compression options are very good too.

Interesting…. I normally keep the drive down fairly low (around 1-2.5) for the Shadows tone and push the master to get power amp saturation, if I may ask Roger, where do you set your drive?

Probably about 9-10 O'Clock typically on the modern Vox amps and on the Helix I think was around 1. Master full on. Bit more gain for the AC15 early tunes. The tone stack works like the early AC30TB too.

Thanks Roger, that’s pretty much where I’ve found the sweet spot to be, from your comment I thought you may be setting the drive higher than this and rolling back the master to compensate.