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Line 6 HX Effects

#2,581
I have a random question. Does anyone know if the USB port on the HX Effects is powered? If you plugged in a device that need power via USB, does the HX supply that? I understand it may low voltage and/or current. Just curious... @Digital Igloo maybe?

I'm specifically thinking about this USB Bluetooth adapter to use with forScore on my iPad: Link Removed

Edit: the reason I'm interested in the PUC over something like the Yamaha unit is that the PUC could do MIDI over USB and therefore not use up both IN and OUT ports on the HX. I use the MIDI OUT on the the HX to control my Future Impact, so I don't want to sacrifice the OUT port.
 
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#2,583
I would be surprised if the HX USB port supports USB power.

It does seem that the PUK might support USB HOST, so it may/may not work.

A USB power inserter adapter might do the job

5VUSB.jpg
 
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#2,584
gregmon79 said:
Just a thought since the tap can be set from the Globals menu and it could possibly effect everything. Probably not it but it's a thought.
Click to expand...

Mystery solved: turns out - the high input level was causing the delay to turn into infinite feedback. Turned down the input, turned up the output, and voila, feedback controls were acting as they should again.
 
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#2,586
The HX FX continues to reveal new ways it can serve my needs.
TLDR I found a way to replace the Freeze (with true bypass loop) using the Three note Generator.

On the original Champagne Supernova, there is a sustained guitar feedback for the first two and the last verse. I would capture a pitched up, harmonized A in latch mode, and take it in and out with the bypass looper. I also had to bend down to adjust/mix the levels. It was a lot of wires and power cables for only one song, but it really worked well to sell it.

The first time I saw the Three Note Generator it struck my as a useless contrivance, and I never gave it a second look. For some reason, as I was exploring flangers in the HX FX (getting some subtle musical settings on the Gray Flange) I happened upon the 3 Note and started to explore. I set it with two high octaves of A with a little 5th thrown in. You can select osc waveforms for each note, and I can control the levels with the expression pedal, with individual max levels for each note. The dry plays at unity regardless of the 3 note levels. It’s perfect.
There are some stages where I have to downsize to just th HX FX. I used to have to abandon the Freeze for those gigs. Now I’ll have it covered. And it opens a spot for another device on the board.
The HX FX is like a pig, it just keeps on giving and giving.
 
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#2,587
jbybj said:
The HX FX continues to reveal new ways it can serve my needs.
TLDR I found a way to replace the Freeze (with true bypass loop) using the Three note Generator.

On the original Champagne Supernova, there is a sustained guitar feedback for the first two and the last verse. I would capture a pitched up, harmonized A in latch mode, and take it in and out with the bypass looper. I also had to bend down to adjust/mix the levels. It was a lot of wires and power cables for only one song, but it really worked well to sell it.

The first time I saw the Three Note Generator it struck my as a useless contrivance, and I never gave it a second look. For some reason, as I was exploring flangers in the HX FX (getting some subtle musical settings on the Gray Flange) I happened upon the 3 Note and started to explore. I set it with two high octaves of A with a little 5th thrown in. You can select osc waveforms for each note, and I can control the levels with the expression pedal, with individual max levels for each note. The dry plays at unity regardless of the 3 note levels. It’s perfect.
There are some stages where I have to downsize to just th HX FX. I used to have to abandon the Freeze for those gigs. Now I’ll have it covered. And it opens a spot for another device on the board.
The HX FX is like a pig, it just keeps on giving and giving.
Click to expand...

I'm curious about this - would you mind sharing some specific settings, and/or maybe a demo?
 
#2,588
been_effected said:
I'm curious about this - would you mind sharing some specific settings, and/or maybe a demo?
Click to expand...

729F14FE-65CF-4F33-A846-073E5214A077.jpeg

B8839AEA-CDA0-422C-A22E-E13E585C56A7.jpeg

Note 01
Shp=Saw Dn
Oct=4
Note=A
Lvl=0.0-1.5
Note 02
Shp=Square
Oct=5
Note=E
Lvl=0.0-0.8
Note 03
Shp=Triangle
Oct=6
Note=A
Lvl=0.0-2.5
Attack=500ms
Decay=3.000s
DryLvl=10.0
Level=0.0
The attack and decay effect the start and stop of the notes when engaged with the footswitch. The note levels follow the expression pedal. I'm pretty sure the glide is not involved with my settings, I left it at the default.

Invalid Link Removed
 
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#2,589
jbybj said:
The HX FX continues to reveal new ways it can serve my needs.
TLDR I found a way to replace the Freeze (with true bypass loop) using the Three note Generator.

On the original Champagne Supernova, there is a sustained guitar feedback for the first two and the last verse. I would capture a pitched up, harmonized A in latch mode, and take it in and out with the bypass looper. I also had to bend down to adjust/mix the levels. It was a lot of wires and power cables for only one song, but it really worked well to sell it.

The first time I saw the Three Note Generator it struck my as a useless contrivance, and I never gave it a second look. For some reason, as I was exploring flangers in the HX FX (getting some subtle musical settings on the Gray Flange) I happened upon the 3 Note and started to explore. I set it with two high octaves of A with a little 5th thrown in. You can select osc waveforms for each note, and I can control the levels with the expression pedal, with individual max levels for each note. The dry plays at unity regardless of the 3 note levels. It’s perfect.
There are some stages where I have to downsize to just th HX FX. I used to have to abandon the Freeze for those gigs. Now I’ll have it covered. And it opens a spot for another device on the board.
The HX FX is like a pig, it just keeps on giving and giving.
Click to expand...

This is awesome!!! I've been wanting this for a while. Thanks for sharing dude! Can't wait to get home and try this!
 
#2,590
jbybj said:
View attachment 3391161
View attachment 3391162
Note 01
Shp=Saw Dn
Oct=4
Note=A
Lvl=0.0-1.5
Note 02
Shp=Square
Oct=5
Note=E
Lvl=0.0-0.8
Note 03
Shp=Triangle
Oct=6
Note=A
Lvl=0.0-2.5
Attack=500ms
Decay=3.000s
DryLvl=10.0
Level=0.0
The attack and decay effect the start and stop of the notes when engaged with the footswitch. The note levels follow the expression pedal. I'm pretty sure the glide is not involved with my settings, I left it at the default.

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Cool! I'll have a play with this one when I get some spare time.
 
#2,593
I started by bringing up a blank patch and treating the HX as a virtual pedalboard. So I just put blocks down the same as I was building a real pedalboard. Personally I always use a noise gate, a distortion, a chorus and some eq. Nowadays I tend to add a parametric eq before the distortion as a boost as well, as I tend to get more solos in my band.
Then just refine, rethink, redo :)
 
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#2,594
One year after getting the HxFx, I still use it as a pedalboard in electric. My patches always have Bass Octaver, Simple Pitch (as a momentary 5th string), LA comp. And depends on the patch: Clawthorn or Teemah, 70 chorus, script phaser, reversed delay+ plate reverb, octave up with Simple Pitch or Pitch Ring Mod...
With my semihollowed, it has a magnetic and a piezo pickup, and I use the HxFx to mix and effects.
With the double bass as a mixer too, and eq.
Great tool!
 
#2,595
Chace90 said:
You're 100% correct. Each switch can only be assigned to send one MIDI command at a time. You would just have to be very deliberate in your planning with separate presets and utilizing the 6 "instant" commands that can be sent at preset recall.

It's unfortunate, Line 6 really tried to bill the HX as a do-it-all brain for a fully featured pedal board. For some that's true, but Line 6 seems to be operating under the assumption that most people are really only going to be using 0-1 MIDI pedals in conjunction with the HX. I guess cause they think most people will just use the HX to replace those other MIDI pedals they were using before? I don't know, I'm only speculating. I sort of think the MIDI stuff on the HX is an after thought.

Perhaps there's a reason they limited the HX to 1 MIDI command per switch, but I can't personally see why. I had a Boss ES8 previously, and while that thing was definitely overkill for my uses, it had some serious MIDI programming capabilities. Each switch could send many MIDI messages at once. I don't actually know what the limit was.
Click to expand...

I'd like to slightly amend this comment. I discovered today that you can change the instant MIDI commands per snapshot. HX can send 6 instant commands when you change presets, which that can be changed for each of the 4 snapshots on each preset. However, you can't change the type that each "instant" sends once you've chosen that. So if you have a program change as your first instant command, that can't be changed to a CC message, or other MIDI command. But you can change which program message/value it can send. That certainly makes it a bit more powerful as a MIDI command center.
 
#2,597
jbybj said:
Oooph. I joined the Helix Facebook group tonight. That lasted about an hour. I was reminded why I still only have two FB friends (wife and daughter), and don’t belong to any groups.
Click to expand...

What soured you? Just curious. I know for me, I just come here if I have HX/Helix questions or concerns. It's a lot more to the point and in most cases more helpful.

I barely go on FB. It's been that way for a while. There are a couple things I like but overall, I think the only reason I haven't deleted my account is because of music stuff.
 
#2,598
gregmon79 said:
What soured you? Just curious. I know for me, I just come here if I have HX/Helix questions or concerns. It's a lot more to the point and in most cases more helpful.

I barely go on FB. It's been that way for a while. There are a couple things I like but overall, I think the only reason I haven't deleted my account is because of music stuff.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I didn't give it much of a chance. First and foremost, I feel like FB is not a good format for asking questions and collecting responses. Each post with it's own comments, makes it hard to follow a thread, because there is no real thread, not like in the way that a forum like TB offers.
Then, if I read 30 posts, and browsed portions of each posts comments, I did not encounter one single entry that I had the least bit of interest in. As a comparison, maybe one in ten of the posts I read on TB, (admittedly I don't get involved in but a few threads) sparks a reaction in me, interest, surprise, appreciation, a little chortle, something that makes me feel like it was worth the calories expended to get there.
Again, based on a very short exposure, I got the distinct impression that the group is exclusively guitar players, and mostly young guitar players. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with being young. I don't think I'm any "smarter" than I was 40 years ago, but I definitely have acquired more data. I just wasn't feeling the pull to get involved.
 
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