Line 6 Helix Tips: Dual Amp Routing

[@williamnichols6253]

I just saw your DSP allocation chart and watched your DSP allocation video... I can't believe you did all that. That's varsity level nerding-out. Especially since you were smiling the whole time like some kid when a grownup asks him about his hand-built model Millenium Falcon. I thought before the video was over you were going to build an Estes rocket and crash a Magic the Gathering convention. Thanks so much it's so helpful!

[@bvesco]

Oh man, I’ve built a model of the Falcon as well as Estes rocket kits. You totally nailed it! 😂

[@polysemia183]

Hands down the most directly informative video I've ever seen on YT.

[@cable1722]

Old video. Still super helpful. Thank you.

[@78tag]

After re-viewing this post from five years ago, just for the heck of it, I realize that I didn't mention the great call on your part to use a zoomed view of what you were doing. Thanks again.

[@jerryreff67]

This is probably the most comprehensive helper video for the Helix that I have seen. Nice job Ben!

[@MichealClair]

Taught this old session man a thing or three... Thank you Ben! this was a godsend

[@MartinBergnerGuitar]

Finally someone who does in depth helix guides and knows what he's doing... you sir, are a legend!

[@masonpickel7931]

I'm so happy that I found this video. I just started feeling comfortable enough with my unit (got it about a month ago) to start making my own presets and I was starting to go crazy because all of my stereo presets sounded horrible. Great information here!

[@KaiDown]

Can't believe I missed this video, Terence Weyenberg put me onto it and it's consolidated my main patch an awful lot, now I've got loads more DSP available

[@Matthew-ez4ze]

Once again, this trick for utilizing all the DSP power has been incredibly helpful in my creation of new and unique sounds. Thanks for figuring this out Ben! It's one of the best secrets about the Helix - now onto digging into the new 2.80 update!

[@seantyler]

Thanks so much for this man. Just got my LT 3 days ago and I've been running it into Vox AC 15 and using it as a pedalboard because I don't have a FRFR speaker or recording software yet. Just got some killer headphones and plugged it in and made a dual amp set up with a DR Z and AC 30. It's unreal sounding. I would have never figured that out if it wasn't for your video. Keep it up Ben.

[@kilswitchengaged]

Thanks Ben. I never realized that you have to turn the input to the 2a and 2b to none. That one setting change has made the Helix sound so much better. I kept hearing some weird sounds overtones and it sounds really amazing now. Thanks for making the video!

[@bvesco]

Don R , glad to hear it helped!

[@bazaxe]

This is the concept I just cannot grasp. One day the penny will drop :-)

[@MarkDenovich]

Excellent tutorial. You didn’t just show how, but you explained why you do what you do... that was the most illuminating part of the video.

[@spsanders69]

Very cool. Had my helix for about 2 years and have used dual amps a lot. Never thought about this routing setup. Will definitely look into it. Thanks!

[@carlossalazar3177]

Great video totally informative. I’ve used the preamp of the same amp to “fill in” the sound. Anxious to try this on my Helix Rack.

[@steelstringer]

Thank you for this! It has saved me so much time playing with the parametric eq, which causes the amps to sound unnatural (as you mention here). For a live setting, I am attaching a 1x12 cab to one amp (Fender) and a 4x12 to the other (Vox). Very nice tone. Big and present in the room.

[@chrisminor6362]

Great video Ben. I've had my Helix for a month or so. I never understood this type of routing. Totally get it now. This is good if you're using 2 ams or not. Superb my friend.

[@ccdon4953]

WOW great explanation, just bought a helix, what a amazing pedal, looking forward to watching the rest of your videos, thank you

[@78tag]

Thanks for this quick video. You did go thru some of it with some assumptions that we are all up to speed with Helix Editor. I followed along, pausing and replaying as needed. I got lost several times, switched between the pedal board controls and the Editor screen ( and of course bounced between the you tube screen and the Editor screen multiple times ) and ended up with the final result. I like your lack of explanation (this is not a criticism by the way) on some of the steps that made me go thru some heavy calisthenics and some head scratching that I obviously needed to get to a little higher level of comfort with the Helix controls. This exercise might give me a better understanding of some of the presets I don't presently use because I haven't been able to make sense of the logic in their set ups. The only part of my version of your preset that doesn't match is the two gain blocks in front of the amps that turn them on and off. When I use the foot switch 2 to "mute" the amp in path 1B the block turns (highlites) on and off with the muting but in path 2A, foot switch 8 mutes the amp block like it should but the gain block stays on (highlited) in both the on and off settings. Just thought that was odd?? Thanks again for forcing me to think a little for myself here. I will have to go to some more of your productions - liked and subscribed now. TW

[@bvesco]

Thanks for the feedback. For the issue with switch 2 muting the amp, it is turning the block on/off (light and dark) instead of muting because you assigned the switch to bypass. On the editor, highlight that block, go to the "bypass" tab at the bottom, and clear the assignment from switch 2. Good luck!

[@bazaxe]

I thought I was alone on this being new to the Helix. I need to understand how the routing actually works as it is displayed is not obvious to me at least.

[@scottishgraeme6653]

This is really helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to make these vids. It’s very much appreciated!

[@tool14me]

Thanks for this! Clear and easy to understand. Also works great. My new go to setup for clean/dirty for songs. Works perfect with snapshots for one or all on.

[@brandtfarmer]

Nice video! You answered several routing question I had. Thank you!

[@axnyslie]

Thank you sir. I just upgraded to a Helix Rack from a POD HD Pro. I didn't how to to setup dual amps your video was very helpful.

[@amarja71]

Hi, great video. Does anyone know how this setup can be altered slightly to have each amp panning either L or R? eg Matchelss to Left, JTM to the right. I also want to try and use stereo delays that pan L & R

[@bvesco]

You can pan at the merge block of path 2!

[@cardp17]

I intend to use a single (L) output to the power amp input on my Katana. How does that affect the dual amp tone you created here? Great video, but wish there had been some discussion of output routing.

[@bvesco]

@cardp17, the dual amp routing doesn't affect the output routing in any way. If you want all signal going out a mono out you can just make a mono tone. If you want panning, you can pan them in the conventional way at the mixer block or the output block.

[@matthewjohn8688]

Fantastic video and a major help to a lot of us I’m sure!

[@bvesco]

Matthew John , sweet! I’m glad it helped and thanks for taking the time to comment and offer your support.

[@SjaakShirly6559]

Great video! A revelation for me. I was wondering...you uses dual amps. Can you play this preset too when you only have one (mono) 1/4" cable out from the Helix to a simple power amp? I own a Boss Katana Mk2 50 which has a power amp in (mono). Is the goal just the sound of two amps together and not for stereo? Thanks in advance!

[@bvesco]

@Sjaak Strik, yes, you can use this in mono. The main goal is to have two amps blended. You can do stereo or mono.

[@SjaakShirly6559]

@@bvesco many thanks.

[@jmendi55]

Excellent explanations

[@AaronHallett]

I want to know if you can set one amp to come out Left and the other Right? Put maybe a 10 millisecond delay on one side and you’ll have a true stereo rig. I could do it with the Pod X3 Live and the PodHD 500. I just don’t see anyone doing it with this. I can’t stand it when there’s one guitar player and the sound is mono. It wimpifies the sound so much.

[@bvesco]

Aaron Hallett , definitely can do that. There are many ways but one simple way is to pan at the merge block. Put the delay right after whichever amp you want.

[@AaronHallett]

Ben Vesco ok cool. Thanks. Like I said, nobody seems to do it and I just didn’t know. It’s going to be a bit before I buy one, but that’s a feature I just got used to. It makes my sound so much larger than other guys going mono.

[@robertkarena4571]

Hi Ben. Thank you for making vid and clueing us all in. It's aging well. I followed all the steps and got it sounding great but I can't get path 1 on the left side only and path 2 on the right side only in my headphones. The gain blocks before the amps are working fine muting the amps. I tried pulling the merge block down at the end of path 2 then panned the now 2 outs hard L and R but still getting sound on both sides. What do you think Ben? Evan when I run it stereo through the PA I'm still picking up both amps through the supposedly L side only strip. Easy fix is panning of course but in my mind, you shouldn't have to. I have the LT by the way. Cheers mate.

[@bvesco]

Absolutely essential that you have only mono blocks after the mixer block. If you did that and still getting sound out of both sides then something might be wrong _after_ Helix. Make sure your Helix is going into two mixer channels and those two mixer channels are panned hard.

[@stephenarnold267]

This is amazing and quite useful information. Thanks!

[@RandyDoddMusic]

thank you somebody actually explained the routing

[@oscarmejia6408]

Thanks for the helpful video! I'm running into some issues though. Are all the blocks mono? I'm using headphones directly connected into my Helix "Phones" input and I am not able to experience the full left amp isolation completely through my left ear. It still sounds mono. Any help?

[@bvesco]

@Oscar Mejia, if you want to use stereo panning with isolated left and right signals then you absolutely MUST use only stereo blocks _after_ the panning is done.

[@sjsphotog]

Ben do you still use this method for your basic tones/patches now that 2.80 is out?

[@bvesco]

For dual amp setups, this is definitely still my go-to routing.

[@sjsphotog]

@@bvesco Thanks.

[@AngelMartinez-qs3cf]

Hey this is great. I learned alot. Do you know how to assign a snapshot to a bllock in a preset without switching presets?

[@bvesco]

Angel Martinez, here’s a video about snapshots. It’s part 2. You might want to watch part 1 first. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6fUY2qLjb5_mc0

[@FlorianBauer]

I like this template very much! Is there a way to toggle between the two gain blocks so that I need only one footswitch to switch between the amps?

[@bvesco]

Yes. Assign the same switch to both gain blocks. Then use the "Bypass" button on Helix to change one to off while one is on. Then pressing that one switch will toggle them both.

[@bvesco]

Also, if you're interested in that style of channel-switching amps where they aren't both on at the same time, check out this other multi-amp routing video I made: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaTOY4d8l8qkjqM

[@FlorianBauer]

Thank you!! I edited my template following the other video, as I don't intend to blend amps. I now have a full "two channel" amp in my patch that is switchable with only one footswitch and a bunch of effects that go either in front or after the amps. I control the effects either in stomp-mode or per snapshots. great setup!!

[@wendyorozco]

how are u outputting? summed to mono? stereo?

[@bvesco]

I always output to summed mono for live performance. You can set it up panned, mono, or whatever you want.

[@alanforsyth6979]

Hey Ben! Just watching your video.. great stuff!!! And yeah you can just upload your final signal chain to Line 6's Custom Tone page? Please it would save me a ton of time. Thanks for the video! And I bought your Badmotorfinger patch. AWESOME!

[@bazaxe]

I got lost very soon as I couldn't see what was going on below in the Helix Edit. As a noobie I need to get involved with stuff like this, but I can see this is aimed at users that have played around with it before. Thought I'd leave a comment as I have lots to grasp, thanks anyway.

[@bvesco]

If you are on facebook, be sure to join the Helix Family user group (ORIGINAL) where there are now over 12,000 members and everyone is happy to help figure things out. Thanks for stopping by!

[@justinTime077]

I agree. Drove me fucking nuts.

[@bishopbros]

I remember seeing a video somewhere on here where a guy had some presets that handled all the drop tunings for him. He didn't have to bring over 4 guitars to a gig that handled all the drop tunings for him for all the different songs in his set. Do you know how to make those presets or be able to point me in the right direction? If anyone in the comment section know how to do it please let me know.

[@bvesco]

Check in the big facebook group for Helix. Over 14,000 members there and people are always talking about how to do this. I don't prefer it myself as I feel it sounds too warbly. Basically you put a simple pitch block with 100% mix and tune it to whatever you want.

[@jeffwinick8859]

I'm sure this is a dumb question, but does this work for an HX stomp? I don't see the "multi" out option in HX edit to switch to a path A or B on HX edit. But I only have the stomp...

[@bvesco]

No, this is only for Helix, Helix LT, Helix Rack. Basically, it works because it splits the two amps across the two internal DSP chips. Since HX Stomp has only one chip, there’s no benefit.

[@jeffwinick8859]

@@bvesco 10-4... thanks for clarifying! Time to start saving up my $ for the helix :D

[@steelstringer]

Ben, is there a way to use this type of routing for a 3 amp blend, or am I getting greedy now? I want to mix two dirty amps with a clean/chorusy amp.

[@bvesco]

You can, yes. It is all about getting creative with the routing to make sure it does what you want. I have a few patches that use four amps together.

[@steelstringer]

Ben Vesco The only way I have been able to do it is by putting a guitar input on both paths(1 and 2). But I have read that this causes an unprocessed guitar signal that sounds strange. I would like to route it similar to what you explain in this video. Any advice? Thanks!

[@nickysolista515]

Ben, great vid! Having one problem though, after putting in the amps (one clean with distortion pedal and the second one clean) I’m getting some weird ‘plucking’ sound overtone on the distorted amp (when I use a different patch/Routing works fine). Any idea why this would be?I’m pretty sure I’ve followed all the steps.

[@bvesco]

nicky solista I am having a hard time visualizing what you mean. Can you post a video sample of what is happening or something?

[@nickysolista515]

Ben Vesco I suppose as a disclaimer I should say I’m using a Variax, if that makes a difference. I’ll try record something. Where should I send? Interestingly when I change the first split block to A/B and route signal differently problem goes away. So I’m using your channel switching patch from Another of your KZbin vids with great success. Once again, excellent videos you have!

[@sjsphotog]

I got a little confused on when you added the overdrive pedal and wasnt sure if you did the controller assign on the Drive pedal or those 2 Gain pedals after the amp as we couldnt see your HX Edit settings for the controller assign page so I wasnt able to recreate it 100% exactly yet. Im 95% there but got stuck at that point. cant you share the controller assign settings in text here or elsewhere? thanks

[@micahcraft8393]

The first split block on path 1a before both amps, is it a split AB or Y ?????????

[@bvesco]

It's a Y with equal signal sent to both sides.

[@cast390]

I followed this to the letter,@ 5:02 I do not have all those parameters on screen all I see in my editor( the latest ver.) is a gain parameter.Thats it nothing else,And yes its set for gain not vol pedal.Also shutting one amp off is a clean sound playing with the other dirty amp not completely off like you have here. 2A and 2B say none as you explained.

[@bvesco]

At 5:02 you need to click on "Controller Assign" at the bottom of the editor to see that screen. For the other problems, it will be easier if we can exchange screenshots and have a deeper discussion. Are you on facebook? Try posting on this thread facebook.com/vescomusic/posts/1294535887300413 or visit us in the Line 6 Helix user group ORIGINAL.

[@cast390]

Thanks for you reply,I dont have a facebook account.I did follow what you said about the controller assingment but not all the parameteres are there.Some of them are on the Bypass Assign and Some are on the Controller Assign.

[@cast390]

I got it,Dont know what I did but it works,I hate being so green...

[@bvesco]

Keep at it. With more experience, it will all start to make more sense. So you got all your questions answered now?

[@cast390]

Yea Im good thanks,would you know how to assign the same setup but use only 1 footswitch to switch between the amps? That would suit me better.

[@jeffadunn]

I am not able to do what you did from 2:15-2:20. I'm pulling my hair trying to figure it out haha.

[@jeffadunn]

I literally figured it out 2 minutes after I commented, haha. Thanks!

[@bvesco]

@@jeffadunn , oh nice, glad you are up and running!

[@jesseknorr9052]

Very informative! but why no Cabs!?

[@MarkRoskoGuitar]

He's using A&C amo and cab blocks

[@risonbison7207]

Does this work with a wet dry wet setting?

[@bvesco]

Yes. Under this routing, one amp would be the dry amp and the other would be the stereo wet.

[@indianrockstrat]

I'd like to incorporate your ideas into some of the worship tutorial patches that I bought where I'm running out of DSP on Dual amp patches when I try to add my favorite parallel combination of an IR and a parametric EQ so I'm wondering how much DSP all those gain blocks use up?

[@bvesco]

You can see how much DSP each block uses up on my site at benvesco.com/store/helix-dsp-allocations/ where those are in percentage of *one* DSP. In other words, you get 100% on the top two lines (1A & 1B) and 100% on the bottom two lines (2A & 2B).

[@thedysfunctionaros3338]

Couldn't you save using the gain blocks by just assigning the master volume of each amp to footswitches? I might be missing something as total newb to Helix! Either way I'm using your routing!

[@bvesco]

Yes, you could do that, but I like being able to tweak the amp parameters freely. If you have them already programmed to a button then it takes much longer to make tweaks to them.

[@thedysfunctionaros3338]

Good point! Built a patch using your routing - thanks so much for posting! Starting to get my head round it all now :)

[@RayMancha]

Thank you! Your video was very helpful! I subscribed to your channel! Have a great day!

[@Twistedstar0320]

Edit: I'm changing my question. How do I get it to change the gain blocks before the amps per snapshot? so I can just press snapshot 4 and go right into lets say... a distortion lead from the clean snapshot 1?

[@bvesco]

Them Bones, press the knob like a button and it will turn white and have [ ] around it. Then it will be controlled by snapshots!

[@DanDelVecchio]

Is it possible to run 3 Amps? If so can anybody explain to me how to do that

[@bvesco]

Dan DelVecchio, yes it can do three or even four amps at once but will really start to struggle with having enough power left for effects.

[@samainslie1015]

Hi. What's a gain block? Sorry for noob question... cheers!

[@bvesco]

A gain block is one of the blue blocks that just controls gain.

[@samainslie1015]

Cheers, I thought it was some kind of Gain blocker? Makes sense now! lol

[@DanSZiegler]

Great video! Thanks so much, Ben! :-D

[@davidlynk210]

Thanks man... cheers

[@thebrunoserge]

Thank you for this video! But... after setting this routing up on Helix Native, I can't hear Amp 2 (Path 2A). If I turn down the volume pedal before Amp 1 (going into Path 2B) I don't hear Amp 2 at all :(

[@bvesco]

Bruno Serge , Native works the same way as Helix floor. Try staring from scratch and follow the directions meticulously.

[@thebrunoserge]

Thanks so much Ben! Never mind, it was a bad impulse response I was using, that for some reason was muting the sound. Thank you! Great video

[@michaeldasilva5844]

great tip!

[@mhm.guitar]

I don't understand that part where you put the Minimum Value to -120.0 dB and the Maximum Value to 0.0dB. I don't have that. How can I make my HX Edit show those parameters?

[@bvesco]

There's tab in HX Edit named "BYPASS/CONTROLLER ASSIGN" and they're in there.

[@ThomasFarrow]

Thank you!!! :)

[@bbcocktailessentials22]

I can't seem to figure out how to bypass amp #1 by pressing on amp #2's footswitch? Please help!

[@bvesco]

Bb: Cocktail Essentials, this video is how to keep both amps on at the same time. Sounds like you are more interested in channel switching. That’s in this other vid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaTOY4d8l8qkjqM

[@erpece]

Cool vid. Instead of using 2 volume blocks in both paths for amp switching, I simply 'switch' amps with the balance of the split. It's there anyway, so why not use that and save 2 block spaces in both paths...

[@bvesco]

erpece, I’ve always got plenty of room to spare. I like the two block approach because it gives me three options. Amp 1 alone, amp 2 alone, or both together. It’s great for tweaking. But it’s good to find what works for you!

[@erpece]

@@bvesco You could have those three options with the just the split... Even assign the split balance to an expression pedal for seamless blending at the touch of your foot.

[@bvesco]

​@@erpece, I need the ability to toggle between all three options irrespective of what snapshot I'm on. There is literally no way to accomplish that with the split block. It's ok if you don't need that. Do it however works for you. But I have to do it the way that works for me. So many options and appeals to different styles and workflows. Helix is great that way.

[@jeffsteele23]

Great video- thank you! Question, where do you access the screen that your using to set the levels on the gain blocks assigned to foot switches? I only see a single adjustment for gain

[@bvesco]

jeff steele , in HX Edit software there’s a different tab to click on to show these. I don’t remember how to get to that screen on the unit because I always use the software to edit.

[@galberger5279]

When you assign the gain block to a controller ( exp pedal 1 ect...) You get the option to change the values

[@funkyboss007]

Brilliant

[@stepitupandgo67]

thanx this was very informative...how on earth did you figure this out??...maybe you actually read the manual...haha

[@bvesco]

I'm always looking for ways to push the envelope!

[@zeropointzeroband]

Bless You!!!!! ;-)

[@justinTime077]

boy you are chipper!

[@dotnetdave4356]

Background music is too distracting.

[@bvesco]

@dotNetDave, thanks for the feedback. I stopped putting background music on my vids.

[@vocalskulpcha]

BIGGGGGESTTTT HELPPPPPPPPPP

[@joeemenaker]

Keep in mind that you're taking advice from a guy who has a Floyd trem and a non-locking nut (and also uses a 7-string, because... FOMO or something). Other than that, good intro on how to balance the computing load between the two DSPs. You sure you don't want to put another three or four volume blocks in there, though?