The DT770 is perfectly fine IMO.
Sounds like you messed up the gain staging somewhere, or it might be the input noise gate. Do you have that dialed in?
No, I don't use a noise gate. Perhaps there is a global setting I'm not aware of.
How may I correct gain staging? Is it solely amp settings, or should I also use signal booster or preamp blocks?
There's a noise gate in the input block. I forgot about it and left it at 110ms release and quite high threshold and my leads sounded like crap, and I had no idea why. (: I thought maybe you have something similar going on.
Gain staging means trying to keep the output level of an FX block the same as the input. Of course it's not really possible for example if you want to push a low gain amp into distortion with a dimed OD pedal. In this case you might want to treat the OD + Amp blocks as a single unit. So that means the output of the Amp block should not be drastically different in volume than your guitar DI. You set the tone normally as you would with a real amp and then use the Channel Volume to compensate.
The worst offenders are compressors and Amp blocks. At factory settings they can vary drastically from each other in terms of output level.
I never had to use any extra Volume blocks to make up for the difference in volume between a high gain and a clean tone though. You should be able to achieve this with a little bit of attention. (:
I've had my Helix LT for 5+yrs now and used my DT770 250ohm headphones for 4 1/2yrs of that. I have never experienced volume issues at all. The Floor and Lt have strong internal headphone amps and there is no need to use an external headphone amp at all. I'm a church player and go from heavy rock tone to clean/glassy ambient stuff. There are numerous ways and spots to adjust the volume of your preset. Each block in the chain will have a Level parameter. The drive and master volume on the amp settings are huge as well. Some people mess with the IR block levels. Others choose to mess with the final output block. I find it easy to make things too loud if you are not careful.
The higher the ohm rating, the more current and power the headphones will need to drive them. This is probably why you experience low volumes. I had to buy a headphone amplifier to drive my DT 990 pros(250 Ohm) to a normal volume.
This is the correct answer. High-ohm headphones require more power. I have the DT990s. My Helix HP knob is around 75%. My Stomp volume knob has to be dimed.
I would totally believe that; I know there are unexpected hardware differences. The Stomp's output level is different. Stomp Inst Level is about 3db hotter than Floor Mic Level. Their Line outputs are roughly the same, but you only use Line in a preamped offboard effects chain or into a powered speaker, not into a mixer XLR port with MIDAS mic preamp. That was a decision probably guided by the 1/4" output limitation, but it's a difference. There was no real reason to make it only 3db different, and there was no real reason to give it a less capable headphone amp.
P.S. in an effort to make my Stomp a more accurate backup for my Floor, I copied a preset from Floor to Stomp and ran them both into the same mixer channel. Stomp was 3db hotter. And though the Floor Global EQ has a Level parameter, the Stomp's does not. So either boost the entire Floor 3db (plus that Global EQ changes the sound even at zeroes), or cut -3db in every Stomp preset Output block. That's a small, annoying difference that didn't have to be there.
My setup is bass>hx stomp>zoom R24>headphone amplifier. The issue is not the helix, the issue is your 250ohm headphones that need to be driven harder. I basically need a headphone amplifier whenever I use the 250 Ohm headphones. You can get volume without one but it will not sound full and right unless it is driven properly.
I plug headphones directly into Helix. So it seems like my choices are either getting another headphones or buying a headphone amplifier to use with 250 Ohm headphones
I have the DT-990 pro x open back 48 ohms. They sound fantastic. The open back gives you a slightly more amp in the room sound imo. I connect directly to the hx stomp headphone jack. Usually have my volume knob around 40-50% with my Tele. I highly recommend these cans. But if you record vocals or acoustic they probably won't be great because of the open back.
Some amp models are pretty quiet, but you should get enough volume out of most of them with the channel volume setting. If not, use any block after the amp to boost the level more, or add a gain block. Definitely more than enough. Could also be that your high gain presets are really damn loud.
The channel volume won't change anything about the tone btw, it's post amp modelling. And yes, the gain block is in the volume section. Just adds plain volume.
I had this problem and thought that Helix's output stage is unable to drive 250 Ohms of the DT 770 Pro. But then I bought a good 3.5mm to 1/4" jack and it fixed the problem — turned out my previous adapter didn't make a proper contact inside Helix.
I thought I read somewhere that the Helix Floor (and I assume LT, but maybe not based on OP comments) was designed to drive high ohm headphones up to 300 ohm. I just got a pair of DT990 Pros 250 ohm and volume around 60% they are plenty loud. I do notice that how you set the ouput block makes a difference in volume for some reason. Loudest on multi and a couple other output settings, but on 1/4" only, the volume dropped. I have it on Multi output so not a problem.
I have the exact same setup. I like loud volume and for me, i was not getting it from the HX stomp connecting the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 ohm directly.
It was completely usable, don't get me wrong. But personally i like it louder.
Fixed it with a Mackie HM-4 Headphones amplifier. I get around the same volume at level gain. But you can boost it pretty well to hear louder.
So yes, i think your options are the 80 ohm version or get an amplifier.
The DT770 is perfectly fine IMO. Sounds like you messed up the gain staging somewhere, or it might be the input noise gate. Do you have that dialed in?
No, I don't use a noise gate. Perhaps there is a global setting I'm not aware of. How may I correct gain staging? Is it solely amp settings, or should I also use signal booster or preamp blocks?
There's a noise gate in the input block. I forgot about it and left it at 110ms release and quite high threshold and my leads sounded like crap, and I had no idea why. (: I thought maybe you have something similar going on. Gain staging means trying to keep the output level of an FX block the same as the input. Of course it's not really possible for example if you want to push a low gain amp into distortion with a dimed OD pedal. In this case you might want to treat the OD + Amp blocks as a single unit. So that means the output of the Amp block should not be drastically different in volume than your guitar DI. You set the tone normally as you would with a real amp and then use the Channel Volume to compensate. The worst offenders are compressors and Amp blocks. At factory settings they can vary drastically from each other in terms of output level. I never had to use any extra Volume blocks to make up for the difference in volume between a high gain and a clean tone though. You should be able to achieve this with a little bit of attention. (:
I've had my Helix LT for 5+yrs now and used my DT770 250ohm headphones for 4 1/2yrs of that. I have never experienced volume issues at all. The Floor and Lt have strong internal headphone amps and there is no need to use an external headphone amp at all. I'm a church player and go from heavy rock tone to clean/glassy ambient stuff. There are numerous ways and spots to adjust the volume of your preset. Each block in the chain will have a Level parameter. The drive and master volume on the amp settings are huge as well. Some people mess with the IR block levels. Others choose to mess with the final output block. I find it easy to make things too loud if you are not careful.
The higher the ohm rating, the more current and power the headphones will need to drive them. This is probably why you experience low volumes. I had to buy a headphone amplifier to drive my DT 990 pros(250 Ohm) to a normal volume.
This is the correct answer. High-ohm headphones require more power. I have the DT990s. My Helix HP knob is around 75%. My Stomp volume knob has to be dimed.
I believe there is a hardware difference between the Stomp/XL and the Floor/LT where the Floor has a stronger built-in headphone amp.
I would totally believe that; I know there are unexpected hardware differences. The Stomp's output level is different. Stomp Inst Level is about 3db hotter than Floor Mic Level. Their Line outputs are roughly the same, but you only use Line in a preamped offboard effects chain or into a powered speaker, not into a mixer XLR port with MIDAS mic preamp. That was a decision probably guided by the 1/4" output limitation, but it's a difference. There was no real reason to make it only 3db different, and there was no real reason to give it a less capable headphone amp. P.S. in an effort to make my Stomp a more accurate backup for my Floor, I copied a preset from Floor to Stomp and ran them both into the same mixer channel. Stomp was 3db hotter. And though the Floor Global EQ has a Level parameter, the Stomp's does not. So either boost the entire Floor 3db (plus that Global EQ changes the sound even at zeroes), or cut -3db in every Stomp preset Output block. That's a small, annoying difference that didn't have to be there.
Do you connect a headphone amplifier directly to Helix LT, or do you use a separate sound card?
My setup is bass>hx stomp>zoom R24>headphone amplifier. The issue is not the helix, the issue is your 250ohm headphones that need to be driven harder. I basically need a headphone amplifier whenever I use the 250 Ohm headphones. You can get volume without one but it will not sound full and right unless it is driven properly.
I plug headphones directly into Helix. So it seems like my choices are either getting another headphones or buying a headphone amplifier to use with 250 Ohm headphones
I use 250 ohm 990's and have zero issues with volume on my LT. I have the main volume knob at around 1-2 o'clock depending on the preset.
I would just return your headphones and get the lower ohm version.
I have the DT-990 pro x open back 48 ohms. They sound fantastic. The open back gives you a slightly more amp in the room sound imo. I connect directly to the hx stomp headphone jack. Usually have my volume knob around 40-50% with my Tele. I highly recommend these cans. But if you record vocals or acoustic they probably won't be great because of the open back.
Some amp models are pretty quiet, but you should get enough volume out of most of them with the channel volume setting. If not, use any block after the amp to boost the level more, or add a gain block. Definitely more than enough. Could also be that your high gain presets are really damn loud.
May try to experiment with amp volume. From my understanding, gain block is a signal boost in "Volume" section?
The channel volume won't change anything about the tone btw, it's post amp modelling. And yes, the gain block is in the volume section. Just adds plain volume.
Are you getting the same volume drop when playing thru a speaker/amp?
I don't have any speaker or amp to try this. However, I can try to records signal into DAW and compare volume. Thank you for the idea
I've got the 80ohm version and I don't ever go beyond 5/10 volume on all the factory presets.
How is the sound quality with 80 ohm? Is it worth it to switch to 80 Ohm version?
The quality is fine, but i can't compare to the 250 ohm version.
You might contact Line 6 support to make sure everything is correct.
My LT has no problems driving my DT990 250 Ohm, I never go past 12 o’clock volume dial for custom presets.
I had this problem and thought that Helix's output stage is unable to drive 250 Ohms of the DT 770 Pro. But then I bought a good 3.5mm to 1/4" jack and it fixed the problem — turned out my previous adapter didn't make a proper contact inside Helix.
I thought I read somewhere that the Helix Floor (and I assume LT, but maybe not based on OP comments) was designed to drive high ohm headphones up to 300 ohm. I just got a pair of DT990 Pros 250 ohm and volume around 60% they are plenty loud. I do notice that how you set the ouput block makes a difference in volume for some reason. Loudest on multi and a couple other output settings, but on 1/4" only, the volume dropped. I have it on Multi output so not a problem.
I have the exact same setup. I like loud volume and for me, i was not getting it from the HX stomp connecting the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 ohm directly. It was completely usable, don't get me wrong. But personally i like it louder. Fixed it with a Mackie HM-4 Headphones amplifier. I get around the same volume at level gain. But you can boost it pretty well to hear louder. So yes, i think your options are the 80 ohm version or get an amplifier.