Helix DSP.3 help thread

[jtrosky]

This "EQ Band AutoSort" feature looks interesting.. This might change a bit how I approach driver vs sides vs overall system EQ. Not sure yet how that will look. I've approached it in a few different methods. One being all Parametric using the lower (left side bands) for individual driver EQ, then using bands above that on the right side for grouped driver EQ for things like whole left side or whole right side, etc. Appears that won't be the way to do it with EQ Band Autosort. Something to ponder.

This almost supports or rather promotes simply JUST individual driver EQ, then make it match up and sum together with phase, then if there's a band here that needs a tweak, do that by grouping the two and finding a common band location "somewhere" that's unused between both drivers. Now I'm seeing why John Kiser has been such a proponent for input and output separate EQ's. Typically if summation in crossover regions isn't spot on, there's a phase issue to address with TA as opposed to EQ so really EQ should be the last resort when you begin summing drivers only after verifying time arrival and phase between those drivers. Sorry.. Off on a tangent there. I guess point being, I've found when I do my best to make the drivers match a desired target including crossover slopes throughout the audible region the driver is playing, the less of any other EQ I've needed once I've eliminated phase problems with TA between drivers.

Yeah, originally, I was excited to see this "AutoSort" option since I typically just EQ the individual drivers really well - and don't normally need to use bands for the "whole side" - typically, the "whole side" just "works out" if the individual drivers are EQ'd really well (from what I've seen). I probably use more PEQ bands for each driver this way, but it's just how I've done it and it works for me. However, the autosort function doesn't quite work as expected (see my earlier post on the subject), so I probably won't use it in it's current state. Personally, I'd rather be able to "grab and move" bands around manually so that if I need to add another PEQ band, I just just "move" it to keep the bands "in order". Unfortunately, if I want them to be in order right now, I have to manually re-do them all - or re-do them in REW and then reimport them (which is what I've been doing).

everything always saves as a file..

Ok, thanks. I wish there was a way to simply save a tune to a DSP "slot" without also writing it to a file. If you load a tune from a file, it's kind of silly to have to save it back to that same file just to save the tune to the DSP - it just presents a chance to accidently overwrite the wrong file when you go to save it - without any real "benefit" (that I can see).

Based on the documentation (the DSP "magazines" they produced), it looks like there used to be separate "Save" and "Store DSP" buttons instead of the single "Save&Store" button. To me, that setup made more sense because then *I* can choose where I want to save the tune - to the DSP or the computer.

Oh well - not a big deal - like I said, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

[Babs]

This new rev seems buggie.
Beta version b is already out.


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[jtrosky]

Yeah, I've found that Helix is better at hardware than software. :-) Even with the previous stable release, I've run into a few bugs that seem very obvious to me... Nothing major, just little stuff. Just could use a little more "polish" when it comes to the details.

I think I'll wait until this last release moves to "Stable" before installing it. Nothing really new for the DSP.3 that is worth the potential for new bugs, IMO.

[dobslob]

I'm not sure what they changed this time, I'll have to go through it all today. I haven't found anything yet and chances are I won't find anything because there have been no discussions on any issues, it will likely be a small compatibility thing with one specific setup.

[jtrosky]

I'm not sure what they changed this time, I'll have to go through it all today. I haven't found anything yet and chances are I won't find anything because there have been no discussions on any issues, it will likely be a small compatibility thing with one specific setup.

Doug - should we report potential bugs and/or what we think are software issues to you or directly to Audiotec-Fischer?

Thank you.

[dobslob]

To me is fine. I give them regular reports.

[Babs]

To me is fine. I give them regular reports.

I didn't get as far as reporting, but just swapped back to 4.52a, but I think there's a lot of "little" stuff.. RTA screen doesn't remember sizing so it won't stay put when you X out to go back to main.. There might be a trick for that so I dunno. My process has been to overlay it in such a way I can access the sliders on Main EQ section below it and X out of it if I need to get to other stuff such as crossovers or select a different driver etc. But a larger issue I found is I don't think it's true to polarity selection sometimes.. I think it had some of my drivers out of polarity though I had intentionally flipped back to normal polarity.. I'll do that a bit during ear work with TA (yeah yeah I know distance measurement yadda yadda)

[jtrosky]

I have, on multiple occasions now, found my Helix wifi adapter still up and running long after the car and other equipment has shut off. I haven't yet figured out the circumstances that cause this to happen yet (but it's always after loading a new tune and/or "messing" with some settings). Has anyone else had this happen?

My amps and the Helix itself are not up and running when this happens - just the Helix wifi adapter (which is powered from the same power wires as the Helix itself).

The only way to "fix" it is to remove power completely at the battery and reconnect it. Then it's fine from that point on. Simply removing the Wifi connector from the Helix and reconnecting it does not solve the issue.

When in this "situation" you cannot actually connect to the Helix DSP with the PC-Tool software via wifi, even when the DSP itself is powered up (the title bar just alternates between "Connected" and "Disconnected" quickly and repeatedly and you can't make it to the DSP connection screen at all).

I've had this happen twice now.

Doug - the firmware for the wifi adapter on the AF website appears much older than the version actually on my wifi adapter (according to the version number). Do you know what the latest version is and how I can obtain it? Can't remember the version on mine off-hand, but I'll check it when I go back to the car again.

Thanks.

[jtrosky]

Ok, so I finally checked and my wifi adapter was actually running 1.0.04 firmware (originally, I thought it was 1.04, which is why I thought it was newer than was posted online). So... I went and downloaded the latest wifi firmware (v1.02). However, doing that forced me to to update the ACO firmware in the DSP.3 itself. So I went and did that (which must be done via a wired connection and resets *everything*). However, then I had to use the latest beta DSP PC-Tool (apparently, can't use the "stable" DSP PC-Tool with the new ACO firmware). So then I tried using the new beta software. However, then I couldn't get any sound from the device if I selected "Wifi Only" setup in the PC-Tool (instead of Wifi + URC.3, for example). Only way I got sound was to turn off wifi control completely or select Wifi + URC.3 (I don't have a URC.3 or director - just the wifi adapter). <sigh>

So I figured, OK, let's go back to where I started. Went to previous ACO firmware and went back to the current 'stable' PC-Tool software. Still same problem - wifi control doesn't work properly (can't use the wifi app at all) - and I only get sound if I select Wifi + URC.3 setup in the PC-Tool software.

So now I guess I have to reverting to an older wifi firmware (back to 1.01, I guess).

Man, that did NOT go as planned... Thought it would be a simple upgrade to upgrade the wifi control firmware. I had no idea simply updating the wifi control firmware to the current version posted on the AF website would send me down this "you have to upgrade everything and use beta software" path - nothing like that was mentioned on the firmware download page... Was NOT a good experience.

I'm *hoping* that reverting the wifi control firmware back to 1.01 will get me back to where I started where everything actually works again. Only reason I want to update the wifi firmware is to hopefully avoid the issue mentioned in the previous post. Unfortunately, no release notes for the 1.02 firmware....

[jtrosky]

Ok, back to 1.01 wifi control firmware and all is right with the world again....

With the 1.02 wifi control firmware, even when using the new beta PC-Tool software, the wifi app kept telling me that wifi control was not enabled in the PC-Tool app, even though it was (and I re-saved to DSP). Might only be an issue with the wifi control only setup (may work fine with wifi + URC.3 or wifi+director?).

So if you don't want to use the beta PC-Tool software, do NOT upgrade to version 1.02 of the wifi control frimware!!! Man, what a pain in the rear that was!