How To Create A Great Sounding Tone - Setting Up And Using The 4 Cable Method

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In this episode of Creating A Great Sounding Tone, I take a look at how to properly setup the Helix to be used in 4 cable method with a real tube amplifier. This is one of the most requested topics and I am happy to finally be able to discuss it having gotten my hands on a real tube amp again :-) I really hope you enjoy the video and find it useful.
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[@merdenoms74]

I never thought of using a separate send and return for the different levels. Thanks for the tip!

[@Mr.X.-Riffs]

Thanks for the info. It really helped me Dial in my Fender deVille 4 10s Amp. Now I don't need the Power amp (really great amp) but this method saved me the the cost of needing that AMP. Again Thanks 👍

[@Ulli_Hof]

Even tough I already knew how this method works I have never ever seen such a good and logical explanation of the topic. Thank you very much in the name of all the ones new to this topic

[@mkbmkbmkb]

good stuff. Another option is to set the output block of Path A to the Send, and the input block of Path B to the Return. That way you can set up a noise gate on the inputs of both path A and path B without wasting blocks. Also makes it really easy to think about when path A is all driving the front of the amp and path B is all running through the loop

[@sjsphotog]

great tip/idea MKB

[@GP-mk5tj]

I would love to see a screenshot of that.

[@djkolcun]

I really like this idea - it leaves room to do more on either end of the loop - great tip!

[@lionhearttx7156]

I was thinking the same thing, glad hear someone confirm it’s possibility.

[@Bob-tp3nx]

This is my 3rd go round with owning Helix LT and thanks to Jason I finally found the missing ingredient that put it over the top for me. The combination of using separate send and return blocks along with running the volume knob all the way up has made my patches come alive like never before. Thank you Jason

[@davidmeatty5922]

This set up in my LT along with using the EXT and a Y cable to switch channels and activate the solo function in my Mesa 5:50 + is awesome!

[@matthewgould4464]

Brilliant Jason thank you for your time in doing this video really cleared things up

[@fabianvasquezjr8852]

thanks!! Jason it took a while and alot of cursing a few beers and diving behind my studio rack i got it hooked up to a PRS MT15 amp and it worked the first time!! alil noisy its running on clean channel it made me realize the power of the Helix and how many ways there are to hook shit up!! thanks again investing into quality cables and cable tester is a must.

[@jedininjaknight8733]

This was exactly what I needed to know, thanks for explaining the Send/Return Line/Instrument levels.

[@lionhearttx7156]

This video helped me clear up my understanding of the signal flow. Now I get it. Thank You.

[@TheJaymz0377]

This is the exact video I was looking for, thank you for posting

[@zurcyer]

Dude. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Been looking for a detailed video like this. I am new to the helix and it can be very intimidating at first. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

[@septiktone]

Seriously thanks mate! I had trouble getting good sound through the loop return - with IR. Went thru many tips online but your tips kicks ass. Sound huge just like the amp should.

[@DoveSimon]

Great explanation and demo. Thanks Jason!

[@rudybanegas204]

Thanks for this info

[@midijz]

Awesome explanation! Can't wait to try this out.

[@cwilson8083]

Thanks again for the great video Jason !

[@willgonzalez7856]

Great video and explanation! Very detailed!

[@akaboo69]

Just got me a fender practice amp that actually has alot of power. Tempted to try this on the clean with a drive pedal and see how it sounds as a stomp

[@GtrMan863]

Thanks great info

[@artytoney2057]

(Mr) jason been workin with the helix for about 9 months with a power cab and i finaly got around to 4 cable method with my 212 blackstar stage series combo and this video was so helpful , there is just no replacing a real tubed amp when just jamming around house or even practicing with band , tho power cab works fine , there is just something a lil more open sounding with reg amp , but thanks it would of took me forever to figure out how to run it correctly

[@dustinmulvey8021]

I'm new to helix and I have found your instruction video very helpful since I play through a tube amp as well (crate blue voodoo 120) but never tried the 4cm way of hooking it up.

[@ecpasos]

Perfect. Worked like a charm!!

[@Venemoth666]

Thank you🔥

[@ovationdave]

Good explanation, keep in mind if you have an amp with MIDI, you can also use a MIDI cable to switch channels on the amp (or other settings) to make snapshots that not only toggle on-off effects, but toggle on-off the effects loop altogether as well as other internal amp settings. Very flexible!

[@rickpearson7766]

Jason, I love that you don't race through things that you, as an experienced Helix user, would do quickly. You really consider the new to Helix user.....great teaching!

[@JasonSadites]

Thank you so much Rick :-)

[@janekrapid]

Great and very useful. Thank You very much.

[@mesaseany]

How do you disengage the master volume on the top of the helix

[@juanjeanpierre-metal]

Great video man! Just what i was looking for.. and so well explained. I will try this tomorrow, just i hope that it will sound as good as in this video :). Thanks very much for such valuable content!

[@xanderdemos670]

Stellar!! I am aiming to use my Helix with my Friedman BE-100 Deluxe and this is the key. Well done, Jason!

[@skydonut]

I use 4 cm and get a weird tone in delays and reverbs like it needs to kill dry ? Anyone have that before

[@spada60]

Great video very helpful

[@djlurch1049]

Great stuff, thank you

[@LucianoSilva-fi9fu]

Just Perfect! Thanks.

[@richjohnson6817]

Hey Jason, thanks for doing this. I'm a little late to the game with the Helix, but your information was spot on. I am using the Helix rack unit with a Mesa Boogie Triaxis. I just got it all to work today 2/25/24. Hope all is well with your playing and endeavors to make using the Helix easier. I appreciate all you did for those of us new to this. You Rock! Rich

[@JasonSadites]

Hey Rich, that is wonderful to hear :-) So glad it is working out for you! I appreciate the kind words! All the best!

[@GP-mk5tj]

Well that was certainly helpful I think I might try it that way.

[@asmundlunde7762]

Briliant. Very helpful. Thanks

[@mailman6161]

Gonna try this on my ac30

[@joskorivic]

Great video! I just got 2555x silver jubilee with matching 4x12, and I am using helix in this way too. It has endless sound options with helix! I just have to try some good IR to see how it goes.

[@a.l.1044]

Jason, you da best man.

[@rudolfbagusat9267]

This is very helpfull thnx

[@Jkaterchannel]

Great tutorial as always. Nice Yamaha guitar collection! The right one is a SA2200 if I recognise the horn shape.

[@scottpeters4401]

This is the best explanation of 4cm ever...I was using mine with my amp,but I was losing some dynamics and tone...in other words,my amp sounded different running thru the Helix than just on its own.....I am gonna try the separate send and return blocks and see if that fixes it.....Yours sounds very good...Thank you for this video....

[@TheDarthsteve316]

Had something similar, but only on my Mesa, not my Marshall. Just got finished jamming out for a bit after trying this and between the separate level on the return block, setting it at 100%, and also adjusting the level on the 1/4 block, it seemed to just completely open up. Helix felt kinda transparent in there, which it hadn't on that amp before. Something always felt choked or compressed somewhere. It's like a whole new tonal world just opened up. :-)

[@sid290784]

@@TheDarthsteve316 completely agree, Just setup the conventional 4cm and tried this, it sounds so much more natural and cleaner!

[@vaermont3866]

I combine the D20 with the Helix and must say this is incredible. The Helix pre amps sound much better if you run it through the real amp. very powerful and versatile set up. I run it in front of the amp and use the amp eq to further shape the Helix pre amp sound. I think you can reduce more of the digital harshness by doing so.

[@hawkeyepierce1020]

Says "something like that"....right after completely NAILING the Cliffs of Dover lick. Yeah Jason....something like that. Enjoying your content as always...envious of your playing (as always).

[@andrewbettis4247]

Right!? lol I'm scared to even start learning that song!

[@JasonSadites]

Haha....could have been a little cleaner 🤣

[@JasonSadites]

And thank you :-)

[@GP-mk5tj]

Thanks for all your help. Setting instrument level from send unit of the Helix to the front of the amp and using line to go to the back of the return to the amp, and from the amp send to back to the return 2 of the helix made a big difference in Improvement of the sound. So I tried a couple samples that I reconfigured some of your downloads and I also created a path to go to the front of the house going XLR out just in case I may need it in the future. I guess in some of the earlier patches you did have two volumes pedals and the speaker cab. What I did was move the speaker cab and got rid at least one of the volume pedals and created the path with the speaker emulation to the front of the house XRL. When you have the two volumes initially in your patch should I transfer those down to the separate path going out to the XRL to the front of the house? Would it change something if I erase one of them and just move one of them to create the path for the speaker cab?

[@michaelalandawson]

Very informative video, Jason. Thanks for taking the time to share this info. I'm not 100% sure of this, but at the point where you added the preamp to the signal path, if you would have also bypassed both the send and return blocks, your signal would basically be injected directly into the power amp section and bypassed any coloring of the Revv preamp. If I can put in a request, I'd like to see a video of using the Helix to switch channels on the Revv using the Ext Amp jack. Thanks!

[@cwilson8083]

hey dawson, Interesting question. I think he is still pushing the front of his real amp from the front with direct guitar out and the virtual amp is acting as an effect in the effects loop. Maybe ? either way, jason makes it sound awesome ! LOL

[@rickpearson7766]

Also (if I'm not repeating someone elses comment) using pathway 2 engages the other DSP chip accessing more horespower and spreading out the Helix processors workloads.

[@GuitarFuel]

Great video...can you tell me if you have a video about controlling your channels on your amp with the helix lt??

[@GuruzGT]

Hi Jason, thanks for your awesome videos! A question: shouldn't the dry thru in the send block be completely killed in this context?

[@andrewbettis4247]

I appreciate your point about line versus instrument level on the send and returns of the helix... Also just wondering if you used a helix cab block, could you also use your mastering level EQ and compression with 4CM like you do on all your normal helix presets(?)

[@mikepug1]

That was brilliant Jason, The exact problem I was having! I was dropping signal strength from my amp (possibly half the volume especially on clean). I'm going into a Marshall JVM410HJS and although the answer was not the same as yours, as you rightly said it gave me the place to look. For me it was 1/4 output (Line) Send/Return 1 (Line) Send/Return 2 (Instrument). This brought the level right back up. Another problem I have been having is the overall volume of preset patches, to the point the volume of the unit has been set to about 1/4. My answer I just found is to lower db level on the global EQ. I was wondering a. is that the best way to do it and b. how far should i lower the db vs unit volume to get the best tones ? I'm sure you cover this somewhere and I am going through all your videos (learning so much, very much appreciated what you are doing). I would appreciate your thoughts or point me to the correct video. Many thanks for your work.

[@alexbassi5484]

Hi Jason, I was just searching for some video with more details about the usage of this unit with the 4 m.c. Your contribute to this is really appreciated! You really did a very good job by going into these details! Most of the tutorials I found was about how to connect the cables and some basic internal routing to make it work, but not so much more about the levels of the I/Os, which are the most important thing to keep in mind when connecting these gears together. I guess from your words that you are satisfied with the tone "quality" you obtain from the whole system (helix + amp), right? When I say "tone quality" I mean the overall tone feel, dynamic and all other stuff you can hear when playing through this rig. The question is: do you hear any tone difference when playing with your straight amp, both in clean or dirty channel? (not talking about volume levels, but quite in terms of dynamic, response, frequencies and harmonics, etc..) Thanks again for your help! Alex B.

[@MileHighFan2Seven]

Great Video. Very useful information. You could also do amp channel switching with a TRS cable from the amp out on the Helix, correct? How would that look in Helix? would you assign the channels to a footswitch? Thank you for all your time and efforts and sharing with the guitar player community.

[@eddiejr540]

Dude...how in the hell did you figure all this stuff out...I been tweeking my stomp for 2 wks now and I cannot get one decent sound...I’m sure it’s totally operator error but this really answered alot of questions...thanks bro!!!!

[@flixsymmetry]

Great video. Copied it word for word into my EVH Iconic. Can’t get any sound to come out. Any suggestions? Messed with all the settings (volumes, etc.) Thanks!

[@MrJamesRose]

Man I love these videos, thank you Jason. I have such a bad ground loop hum - only when i connect and use my Helixs' EXT AMP to the footswitch channel of my Mesa combo amp. The regular mesa footswitch works fine. 4 cable method works fine. It's just the EXT AMP to footswitch input on the amp that's ruined everything. Do you have any suggestions for a ground loop hum? I bought an EBTECH hum destroyer - didn't work.

[@darrengill]

Great video Jason, some top tips BUT what about another vid for people with a single channel amp without an effects loop...any tips for having the whole string of overdrive, delays, reverbs straight into the input of the amp that would give the best possible sound. Cheers

[@scottsmith1187]

Jason such great videos mate, well done! I am running the four cable method into my Messa Boogie, exactly as in this video, but when I start creating really heavy distorions, it sounds terrible. I have all my amp settings on neutral but it still sounds bad. Any suggestions?

[@Marksmusic191]

Great video dude. Is there way that I can implement this with my stomp but I can actually use the stomp to channel switch my amp simultaneously with changing presets?

[@johnosborn1793]

Thanks Jason, I have a question. How would you connect the helix to a dt50 amp using the L6 link And also using the xlr and 1/4” outs using the 4 cable method, to get some cool stereo effects.

[@artytoney2057]

Mr Jason what if weve set a good bit of stuff up using a frfr speaker then decide to use a tube amp can you add the send and return blocks to presets to set those up for 4 cable setup if that makes sense

[@chrisyoung8062]

Jason, good video. I have a Revv D20 coming in a couple of days and plan on doing something similar but because I want to retain a stereo rig I will be I'll be using the XLR out of the D20 into the return on the Helix and then stereo wet effects will be placed after. Helix will be the last thing in the signal chain before FRFR speakers. Hope this works the way I expect it. BTW this question is off topic but what kind of guitar strap are you using?

[@thezooportugalbanda]

Nice Video, but if you are using 2 amps, one ( Mesa Boogie ) with Send/Return fx loop and a Second amp without fx loop ( Fender bronco 5w ) ?? How conect ? Regards from Portugal.

[@darrengill]

Hi Jason, as the Helix volume knob is now controlling the overall amp volume. Any tips on getting more volume out as when the Helix knob is on Max I’m unsure whether this would be adequate in our live rehearsal setting. Cheers

[@tomallen2639]

Great stuff Jason. What is a "titui renote" ?

[@artytoney2057]

I just want to say anyone new to helix should really consider Jason's preset bundles in line 6 marketplace, a quick way while your learning the unit to have awesome presets ready to go with snapshots and stomps , I've tried a few diff creators. Jason's def are best balanced and great sounding

[@chrischia4138]

Excellent video; learned a lot and the Helix finally works as I wanted it to. The levels using your method are much lower overall than the pre-sets so I have to effectively mute the other settings that I didn't set up this way. Is there a way to bring up the overall output level and volume to the amp? Thanks for the information

[@lespaul462]

if you are using the send/return block the way he described, on the return block turn the mix to 0%, that will open it up for you.

[@rootegg]

Is there a way to set up channel switching on the amp from the Helix? Thank you...

[@jimnewman4672]

Jason, Great video. I have one question though. To use a preamp in the Helix I am assuming that you will have to bypass the Send/Return block going into the front of the amp. If not you will have two "preamps" active at the same time. If you do bypass the preamp of the amp how would control the overall volume of the amp? You have bypassed your master volume for lack of a better term. That is exactly what I am dealing with. Any thoughts or am I just missing something? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Jim

[@luckmarkboy]

Jason, amazing video. One question: my amp has parallel and series send/return. How do I use? Thanks for sharing this video and great licks btw...You rock

[@lespaul462]

series has no blend, you use the mix of your effects to adjust how much you want. Parallel you set the effects to 100% wet, your amp should have a loop mix knob, use that to dial in how much h of your effects you want coming through.

[@LtCore]

Can you use Helix's built-in amp models to replace the pre-amp on a tube amp? Turn a Marshall tube amp into a Mesa Rectifier or AC30. I thought this could be done but I'm a Helix newbie. Thanks for any help!

[@oziresteixeira1719]

Valeu!

[@JasonSadites]

Thank you very kindly :-)

[@michaelwilsford7097]

I know I'm a little late to the dance here, but this is a great tutorial Jason. You should show external amp switching some time Unless you've already done it. I'm just starting to use the 4 cable method and I'm able to use my Blackstar amp and am really digging the tones I'm getting. Thanks for all of your help and I always like hearing your riffing when doing demos.

[@powerpup5000]

I just got a black star hat club 40 mk2 and set it up with my helix, can change all settings for channels and voicings with snapshots and instant lightning bolt, using amps external switching mode, helix takes care of all of that and effects plus I put a stomp box from the helix to us it in channel one for an added gain stage plus overdrives I didn’t realize till the other day about setting the to instrument levels and anything I used sounded like crap now they sound proper, hope you got yours running wicked good

[@NehirF]

Hi, how can we use this method with a distartion pedal, hx stomp and boss katana? I'm using hx stomp as pre-amp and boss katana as a power amp - speaker. I just want to add analog pedals to the signal chain. Thank you.

[@davidordonez8964]

Can I go from the 1/4 output from the helix, to a line level mixer to get the sound in FOH? Instead of outputting it from an amp

[@steveenglish1648]

Jason, Im having some issues setting up 4CM with with amp channel switching as well, its not midi, just atrs cable with clean, crunch and lead channels. Any info would be swell....

[@fikardam]

Can you put an amp instead preamp ? Im still learning this method, since I’m receiving my multifx board

[@leftymike5625]

I have the same set up, helix with the rev G 20. I get a groundloop hum with the USB connected to my Mac. Did you have the same issue? If so, how did you fix it. Thank you.

[@gkf9]

Does this work the same with the Helix effects into a tube amp?

[@robertlove7607]

When putting the Placater Preamp in, you placed it after the loop send to the clean preamp of the Revv. Could you just bypass the send and return block?

[@micharutkowski9447]

What amp do you use on this vid? Great tutorial. Greetings from Poland

[@Roland-Bach]

Hi Jason. I buyed a Catalyst to my Helix and can't find a video how to connect it best way to my helix. Can you make a video to that? A video to setup best the helix i'm nising too 🙂 Thanks for your very good videos. Great jobs. Roland

[@electricreligious]

At what point do you split the signal if you use two amps?

[@artytoney2057]

Mr jason have a question , im using a PRS MT15 which has a noisy effects loop , if I wanted to quiet the loop on my amp where would I use a noise gate, at beginning of my chain on Helix or would I put a hard gate in the chain where you put effects that your wanting to send through loop if that makes sense thank you

[@YouTube372a]

Do you have to add the send/return block to every single preset in order to get the 4 cable method to work?

[@muzerino]

So the real tube amp preamp (in the Send 1/Return 2) is still active and going into the front of the Helix preamp?

[@sergejk]

Hi Jason! Thanks for the informative video! Nice! I have a question though If i go only 2CM GUITAR -> Helix Guitar IN -> Helix Guitar Out -> Return of Hot Rod Deluxe (direct to power amp). What is more appropriate setting for 1/4 out? Line or Instrument? Thanks a lot! Brgds,S.

[@neilbrewer]

I'm also keen to clarify the optimal 1/4 output setting in 4CM. Is it variable like the returns? Great stuff Jason! Thanks Neil (Australia)

[@hawkeyepierce1020]

Line level needs to go into the Power Amp In (or whatever your amp calls it) on the amp. (I have the HRD as well, so you and I are the same, and I do EXACTLY what you're describing...2CM right to the Power Amp In). Think of it like this, normally you plug your guitar (instrument level) into the amp, the pre-amp in the HRD makes it Line level and sends it to the power amp section in the amp. If you are skipping the pre-amp in the HRD and sending the output of the Helix directly into the power amp section, it needs to be Line level. Making it instrument level won't hurt anything, but it wouldn't be full volume, and since the power tubes are being hit with a lower signal, they will respond differently. With the above scenario, you can add amp models in the Helix while still using the power tubes in the HRD. I've been able to get killer tones this way. Just remember NOT to put a Cab block in your chain. Since you're actually using the speaker in the HRD, no need to use a Cab block. Again, won't hurt anything, but may not sound great.

[@sjsphotog]

awesome tutorial Jason. I never had the luxury of owning a tube amp (only a digital amp) but this video will be very helpful for those that do use one and want to use their Helix w/ their favorite amp in the effects loop. Great tip abount the Line vs Instrument and the Send 1 Send 2 info. Loved the Eric Johnson riff there at the end. Even if you messed it up its a zillion times better than most everyone here could ever hope to play that so dont worry! :) Keep it up. Stay Safe and Stay At Home. Hopethis time of "confinement" brings much inspiration to you for writing new amazing songs for a new CD down to be released down the road. God Bless. BTW here's a great graphical routing diagram of the 4 CM using the Helix: killerrig.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/4CM-Helix.jpg

[@stephenfell4338]

Hi I want to purchase a now bunch of your presets but my HX EDIT Is full, can they be saved in a document folder then transferred to an HX Edit slot when needed? I also want your IRs how do I go about adding them to the presets from the IRS library? (Be a good video)

[@Rantila718]

I tried the 4 wire with my 100w EVH 5150III stealth and for some reason it sucked my tone...the gain from the amp was a lot less...I unplugged all the cables and plugged straight into the amp and it was crushing tone again....IDK what it is thats causing this.

[@electricreligious]

Why is the signal in the return block clipping when I do this?

[@lespaul462]

Hi Jason, great videos dude. I have a question maybe you can or can't answer but im gonna ask anyway. I have a Diezel VH-4 head, its midi capable. For the longest time I ran a TC-G system with it and loved it. I wanted to modernize, so I got a helix. Im running the 4CM and even doing the send and return blocks the way you are, much better than using the effects loop block so thank you very much for that piece of advice. The issue with helix im having is 2 things. 1st and most important, when I change amp channels via presets on Helix there is a slight drop out/click. Ive been all over the helix forums and haven't been able to find an answer. Also, my effects like delay and reverb don't spill over when I change presets. Any suggestions?

[@12Jsilva]

Have you found an answer to this? Im still learning how to do the 4cm on helix and evh5153S.

[@lespaul462]

Yes! You have to go to global settings and there is a menu option for spill over. You have to turn it on. It’s turned off by factory default settings because it uses a little extra DSP. I hope this helps you.

[@davidordonez8964]

They all need to be ts cables right? Sir

[@leftyz12]

Question: I usually stick the full amp (no cab) between the send and return. I find most of the preamps somewhat limited. Is it because I should be placing it after the send and return?

[@TheDarthsteve316]

If you use 4cm, you would _probably_ only want to use a preamp, because you'd ultimately be using the amp's power section. So you would run guitar -> helix -> any 'early' effects(compressor, boost, etc) and then either an active helix preamp OR active send and return block(s), since that is what 'captures' the amp's preamp. Then your fx loop effects, then the final output to the amp(which is in the amp's fx loop return), which goes to the power amp and then into a cab. So basically you either want the tube preamp(which is in the send/return blocks) or the helix preamp(which is its own block), but not both at the same time.

[@TheDarthsteve316]

Apologies. Just saw later in the video where he did the preamp block thing. There's nothing _wrong_ with doing it that way, where it's basically adding it like a preamp pedal. The way I was discussing earlier is more for almost using your amp like just a power amp or maybe even a 2, 3 channel amp, as you can use the existing preamp or replace it with Helix models. Sorry if there's any confusion!

[@leftyz12]

Which is kind of what I do...I’ll add the amp model as a third channel and assign the send, return and amp blocks to one footswitch so if I want access to my actual tube amp I can just turn off the model.

[@richardhutzler6327]

@@TheDarthsteve316 but aren't you still basically using 2 preamps, just changing the order? Is there a way to completely bypass the amp preamp and only use the HX preamp?

[@TheDarthsteve316]

@@richardhutzler6327 Yes, there is. It's just not the traditional 4CM setup (although you can set that up to toggle between a helix preamp and the amp preamp, just takes a bit of setup). If you want it always bypassed, then build your patch like this: 1) Guitar input into the helix 2) Whatever pedals you want in 'front'(comp, od/dist, wah, etc). No rules here. 3) Helix preamp. 4) Whatever post effects you want(typically modulations, but again, no real rules) 5) Output into your amp's Effects RETURN jack. This bypasses the amp preamp so you hit the poweramp directly. Note here - find out what your amp likes. My Marshall wants an instrument-level signal, my Mesa wants a line-level one. If your amp doesn't have an effects loop then yeah, it would be like stacking 2 pre's and that probably won't sound good outside of very specific situations lol(like finding a good crunch pre into a solid state clean).

[@chadbouterse8617]

I used the Helix in 4CM for a long time... the bummer of it is you dont get to use all the great amp sims in the Helix... I find it much better now to have a super clean tube amp with lots of headroom (my favorite is orange, second light weight option is the MT15), leave it on the clean channel with eq all at 12, the just go helix straight in with all the effects you want including an amp of your choice. Since you have an amp in the chain, anything after it will act like it was in the effects loop (ie delay, flanger, etc)... then you can set Presets for tons of different amp tones... and you get the growl and tone of an actual tube amp to go with the infinite versatility of the Helix!

[@GP-mk5tj]

Just turn off the sending and return and you should be able to use the helix amp simulations. That's what I do.

[@johnschober4008]

The only thing that still confuses me is that with a Helix preamp block in the Helix loop, you're still going through the amp pre-amp, guess it doesn't matter if it sounds good but if you want to use Helix pre-amps, is it better to just run straight into the amp return with a standard Helix chain?

[@darrenboatman7126]

To counter this I have the send block assigned to a foot switch and the pre amp assigned to the same foot switch. Shut the fx send block off, turn pre amp block on. Tap switch again and it does the opposite

[@johnschober4008]

@@darrenboatman7126 Recently worked this out with my HX Effects using two loops, one with amp pre amp, one with a pre-amp pedal. All works great but I'm going nuts with all the cables!...Helix LT on the way :D

[@claushillerupemborg7808]

hi Jason, thanks for your take on the 4 cm. One question: regarding settings on the volume knob, I was recommended to switch it off/set it to XLR in global settings, meaning having it on maximum all the time (I guess), and to avoid affecting the balance between Helix and the amp... (kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaaah5-MpK1jrLs ... at 4 minutes) What are your take on that and furthermore how to set the right balance / Unity gain...

[@12Jsilva]

Im confused on how to do this. Just recently got a tube amp with midi and trying to do a 4cm with helix and evh5153s

[@claushillerupemborg7808]

@@12Jsilva I have no experience using medi with the 4 cm... But the setup depends....You could start just running your helix into the return of your amp... in that way you only use the power amp of your tube amp and Helix as preamp and effect... Remember to remove cap sims or IRs from your preset... If you like the sound, all is good. This is the most simple way to use Helix with a tube amp. And you could choose only to use the preamp model of the Helix amp you choose...

[@12Jsilva]

@@claushillerupemborg7808 yeah but i like the gain of my evh a lot :) i just purchased a midi cable so im trying to learn how to utilize my helix better

[@Spitfireme123]

Anyone else try this exact same setup, helix 4 cable method with a Revv G20 and get a good amount of noise on the gain channels?

[@vaermont3866]

I see you also have to fight that anoying noise. Same problem with my MT15 when I connect the Helix to it. Buzzing, humming, ground loops....that's the problem of the analog world. But the amp models sound great together with a tube head power stage.

[@JasonSadites]

Actually this setup was not very noisy at all....only as I added a lot of gain which is quite normal. Other than that it is very quiet.

[@vaermont3866]

@@JasonSadites hmm ok, the hissing noise in the background reminds me of my own amp when plugging in the helix. without the helix it is by far not that noisy. But this doesn't have to be a problem of the helix. maybe its a problem in my home studio.

[@JasonSadites]

The only time in this setup that their was any hissing was when I went very high on the gain, other than that it was nice and quiet. Maybe a problem in your setup...