The Blocks

Input

Each preset can have up to four Input blocks (one or two per path).

All input blocks have a dedicated noise gate. Threshold and Decay parameters are grayed out unless the Input Gate parameter is turned on:

Input > Multi and Input > Guitar blocks have an additional Guitar In-Z parameter. Helix has an impedance circuit on its Guitar Input that affects tone a nd feel by loading your guitar's pickups as they would by an effect pedal or amplifier. A lower value will typically result in some high frequency attenuation, lower gain, and an overall "softer" feel. A higher value provides full frequency response, higher gain, and an overall "tighter" feel.

Multi and Variax input blocks have additional pages for Variax parameters:

Output

Each preset can have up to four Output blocks (one or two per path).

All output blocks display Knob 1 (Pan) and Knob 2 (Level):

L6 LINK Output

Alternatively, the digital XLR connector can be used for L6 LINK output (use of a 110Ω XLR cable is recommended). L6 LINK provides easy digital audio connectivity between Helix and Line 6 StageSource speakers and/or DT-Series amplifiers. Two StageSource speakers or DT amps can also be connected in series via L6 LINK and your stereo Helix signal is intelligently split, with the left channel going to the first StageSource/DT and the right channel to the second. If you have one StageSource/DT connected, the Helix output is collapsed to mono and fed to the StageSource/DT.

Connecting an L6 LINK device to Helix automatically disables S/PDIF out and routes audio out the digital XLR connector - no adjustments of the Global Settings > Ins/Outs > Digital Audio or Sample Rate options are necessary.

Effects

Many Helix effects blocks can be either mono or stereo. Stereo effects display after the model name.

Select an effects block and turn the joystick to change its model.

Distortion Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Dynamics Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

EQ Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Modulation Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Delay Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Reverb Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Pitch/Synth Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Filter Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Wah Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Volume/Pan Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Looper Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Using the 1 Switch Looper:

• Add a Looper > 1 Switch Looper block to your preset and assign it to a stomp footswitch. (Adding a 1 Switch Looper to HX Effects from Stomp view automatically assigns it to the selected footswitch.)
• Press the 1 Switch Looper switch. The LED lights red, indicating the loop is recording.
• Press the 1 Switch Looper switch again. The LED lights green, indicating the loop is playing back.
• Press the 1 Switch Looper switch again. The LED lights amber, indicating the loop is in overdub mode. Subsequent presses of the switch toggle between play and overdub mode.
• While the 1 Switch Looper is in play or overdub mode, press and hold the switch for 1 second. The most recent recording is undone. Holding the switch again will redo the recording. On Helix, Helix Rack/Control, and HX Effects, "UNDO" or "REDO" briefly appears on the scribble strip. On Helix LT, "UNDO" or "REDO" briefly appears in Performance view.
• Quickly double-press the 1 Switch Looper switch. Playback/recording stops and the LED lights white, indicating a loop is in memory.
• While Looper playback/recording is stopped, press and hold the switch. The recording is deleted and the LED lights dim white.

Amp+Cab

Amp+Cab blocks are convenient in that when you select an Amp model, its matching Cab model is automatically loaded.

To change the amp model in an Amp+Cab block, press < PAGE until the amp icon is white and turn the joystick.To change the cab model, press PAGE > until the cab icon is white and turn the joystick.

The first page of Amp+Cab parameters is called the tonestack, and represents the knobs you would see on the real amp's panel:

Amp Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Tonestack and deeper amp parameters found on subsequent pages may differ depending on the amp model selected.

Amp

Amp blocks are identical to Amp+Cab blocks, except they contain no matched cab model.

Preamp

We've also included a complete set of Preamp versions of each Amp model, which provide the tone of just the preamp stage of the amp—recommended when feeding Helix into an external amplifier (either via 1/4" to your traditional amp or via L6 LINK to a Line 6 DT25 or DT50).

Preamp blocks require less DSP than a full Amp block.

Cab

There are two subcategories of Cab blocks—Single and Dual. Not surprisingly, dual Cabs take twice as much DSP as single Cabs.

To change the first cab model in a Cab > Dual block, press < PAGE until the left cab icon is white and turn the joystick. To change the second cab, press PAGE > until the right cab icon is white and turn the joystick.

Cab Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Mic Models

Go to the Models page to see all available models.

Cab Settings

Impulse Response (IR)

Impulse Responses are mathematical functions representing the sonic measurements of specific audio systems (for Helix, speaker cabinet and microphone combinations). Helix can load and store up to 128 custom or third-party IRs at a time.

Loading Custom IRs

Loading custom impulse responses requires connecting to the Helix application in your Mac® or Windows® computer. The Helix application is available as a free download from line6.com/software.

1. Connect Helix to your computer via USB and open the Helix application. 2. Click the Impulses tab. 3. Drag one or more IR files from the desktop or any Finder window directly into the Helix app's Impulses list.

The Helix app updates the Helix hardware's IR list automatically. Helix can load and store up to 128 IRs at a time. 48kHz, 16-bit, mono, .WAV type IRs of up to 2,048 samples are natively supported. But the Helix app allows you to import IR. WAV files of different sample rate, bit depth, length and stereo format, and the app will convert these attributes automatically before sending to the Helix hardware.

• Go to the Helix app's Preferences to set the preferred behavior for importing Stereo WAV IRs - there you can choose to import the left or right channel data of the file, or a mix of both channels for the Helix (mono) IR.
• The imported IR is automatically shortened (or lengthened) to 2,048 samples. You may optionally choose a 1,024-sample version from the model list to save DSP, which fades out the IR halfway through.

Impulse Response Settings

Send/Return

Each of the Helix four sends and returns can be used independently, or used together as an FX loop.

FX loops let you dynamically insert your favorite external stompboxes (or rack effects) into any location in your tone.

Send Settings

Return Settings

FX Loop Settings

Looper

Helix can add one mono or stereo Looper block per preset.

The Looper can exist anywhere on either Path 1 or Path 2. Also see "Looper Footswitch Mode".

Looper Settings

Split

A Split block appears any time a parallel path is created, but is visible only when selected:

Helix has three different types of Split blocks:

Y

• Both the left and right sides of the signal are sent evenly to Paths A (upper) and B (lower). By default, a Split > Y appears any time a parallel path is created. There are no settings to adjust.

A/B

• The signal can be sent in different amounts to Paths A (upper) and B (lower). Crossover Treble frequencies are sent to Path A (upper) and bass frequencies are sent to Path B (lower).

Split > A/B Settings

Split > Crossover Settings

Merge

A Merge > Mixer block appears any time a parallel path is created, but is visible only when selected: