Helix Ultra tips and tricks

[Audiogal]

Hi all, I thought I would start a thread for the Helix Ultra to share tips and tricks. As more and more people are getting delivery of their units i assume that some may have good tips and things to share that would benefit others.


I have two so far to share.

1. Subwoofer channels - If you want to use a DRC/URC controller to control the sub volume you will need to map and hook up the sub amps to channels 11 and or 12 only. You will get output on the other channels however you will not be able to control the level of the subs unless you connect to one or both of those channels. It does not matter if you use the regular or virtual channel mapping topology. It does not matter if you label say channel 8 with subwoofer 1, it will not control the channel. Subs need to be on the last two channels.

2. If you port over a preexisting helix configuration it will mostly port over well. Check the I/O mapping page, mine where still set to default, and any phase offset settings on a per channel basis. My maps from the Helix V8 ported over fine except for the noted things already mentioned. All the EQ curves and channels levels including T/A ported over fine for me.


I have had no issues with the latest PC software or Director control software, but I needed to use the latest software only.

The virtual channel mapping is pretty cool and will allow for some unique tuning and setup scenarios.

[nadams5755]

1. Subwoofer channels - If you want to use a DRC/URC controller to control the sub volume you will need to map and hook up the sub amps to channels 11 and or 12 only. You will get output on the other channels however you will not be able to control the level of the subs unless you connect to one or both of those channels. It does not matter if you use the regular or virtual channel mapping topology. It does not matter if you label say channel 8 with subwoofer 1, it will not control the channel. Subs need to be on the last two channels.

i thought last channels was a requirement for the director regardless of model?

[dumdum]

i thought last channels was a requirement for the director regardless of model?

It is but maybe she wasn’t aware of this and felt the need to share, which is all good

[Audiogal]

I played with the Autotune today and used only the Virtual channels.

I reset the Eq curve on all the output channels to flat.

I then went to the virtual channel
menu and selected left and auto eq’d, then right, both, and then the virtual sub channel. I could use the numeric pad (1) and (2) to totally turn on or off the whole left or right side as long as I was last on the Virtual channels menu screen before going to the RTA screen.

It worked really well. And was much simpler to navigate.

Using the virtual channel for slight panning adjustments to fine tune the center image worked great also.

The nice thing is if I want to now chase down a specific small frequency driver specific problem I can now go the driver specific output channel and adjust that channel without affecting the whole left or right side mix.

The one thing I could not figure out was how to mute the sub virtual channel using the keyboard only keys. I tried various combinations.

All in all, it worked great.

[dobslob]

I'll have to play with this, but it doesn't sound right. On my PRO MK2 I ran the Sub off of Channel G. I changed the configuration up on my new setup, and I'm not swapping that, but I do have an extra ULTRA on hand for Knowledgefest displays and I'll hook that up and test. If it is limited to two channels that would be a first for me.

[nadams5755]

maybe something fixed in newer director firmwares?

[JimmyDee]

Helix released a new software update:

https://www.caraudiojunkies.com/showthread.php?4097-New-Helix-DSP-Software-Release-4-61a

[Audiogal]

I'll have to play with this, but it doesn't sound right. On my PRO MK2 I ran the Sub off of Channel G. I changed the configuration up on my new setup, and I'm not swapping that, but I do have an extra ULTRA on hand for Knowledgefest displays and I'll hook that up and test. If it is limited to two channels that would be a first for me.

I am no expert obviously as I have had little overall product exposure, however when i ran into this feature and brought it up with the folks at MSC, they said that they ran into the same thing and that the Ultra was the first processor to have that limitation.

We figured it may be due to the virtual channel architecture. So that is all I have to go on. Either way it is not a show stopper or anything. It is just that the software allows a certain setup, somewhat miss-leading, but it does not allow control with the Director for sub volume unless the last two channels are mapped to the sub-woofer channels.

That is my back ground to why I posted it, as I ended up wasting time for something that was not obvious and the dealer ran into the same thing

All in all, I am still super positive about the Ultra and have really enjoyed playing with it and listening to it.

[dobslob]

I doubt it, it has always worked with any output channel labelled as Subwoofer.

I haven't had time to play with it today.

[SkizeR]

To mute the new extra channels you have to press Shift + 1/2

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