Helix Stadium Native
Helix Stadium Native
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Favorites

About Favorites

Scrolling through a seemingly never-ending list of Amps, Cabs, Clones, and Effects can be a slog, but it doesn’t have to be. Helix Stadium Native lets you curate your favorite models from any category and organize them however you want. What’s more, Favorites can remember all your meticulously dialed-in settings, as well as the block’s bypass state, automation and MIDI controller assignments, and the Snapshot Control switch states for parameters. Favorites appear at the very top of the Model List, so your favorite Distortion, Amp, Cab, Clone, Modulation, Delay, Reverb, etc., are found simply by clicking on this category.

Tip: Favorites saved and exported from Helix Stadium devices (.hsf files) and from the original Helix Native plugin and Helix/HX family devices (.fav files) can be used in Helix Stadium Native. See the Preset Compatibility section for additional details.

Tip: In addition to adding blocks as Favorites, you can also set any model’s parameters to your preferred values and save them as the user default values for each time you load the model. See Creating User Default Settings.

Note: Input, Output, Split, and Merge-type blocks cannot be added as Favorites.

Adding a Favorite

  1. Dial in any Amp, Cab, Clone, or Effect block exactly how you like it.

    • If you want the block to automatically load bypassed, bypass the block before adding it as a Favorite.

    • Also, feel free to create automation or MIDI Control assignments for any of its parameters, and enable the Snapshot Control for any parameters as desired. Favorites can store and recall all of these. See the Automation/Controller Panel and Snapshots sections for details.

  2. Right-click on the block to open its Action Panel (shown below) and tap Add to Favorites…

    • Alternatively, you can use the Focus View’s Add to Favorites sidebar button to launch the Add Favorites dialog.

Adding a Favorite.png
Adding a Delay as a Favorite

  1. Configure the sidebar options in the Add to Favorites dialog as desired. By default, the Favorite uses the block type as its name, or you can click in the Name field at the top and enter a custom name, as shown above. Once folders are added, you can move your saved Favorites between folders to organize them as desired using the Manage Favorites window. See the Importing and Managing Favorites section below.

    • New Folder: Optionally, if you want to add the Favorite to a new folder, click New Folder Sidebar button.png to create and name the folder.

    • Toggle the sidebar options “On” to choose which you want stored with the Favorite (if any):

      • MIDI Assigns: Retains all the block’s MIDI Control parameter assignments.

      • Snapshot Assigns: Remembers which parameters are enabled for Snapshot Control.*

*Note: Favorites don’t store and recall the actual parameter values for all 8 snapshots, only that the parameters are snapshot-enabled.

Parameter Automation assignments are not stored or recalled with Favorites.

  1. Save your Favorite using one of the options:

    • Overwrite button Select an existing Favorite in the dialog, then click to overwrite it with the current Favorite and its settings.

    • Save New button Saves as a new Favorite file to the list. Note that if you already have subfolders created, click to select a folder first, then click Save New to save your Favorite into it.

    • Cancel button.png Click to exit the dialog without saving the Favorite.

Using Favorites

Once you’ve added Favorites, they appear in the Model List - Favorites category and can be added, moved, copied, and edited like any Amp, Cab, or Effect. Note that when a Favorite is selected and added to the preset, its name appears at the top of the Edit Panel with a white star to indicate it as a Favorite, as shown below.

Delay Favorite Selected.png
A Delay Favorite is added to the preset

Favorites' parameters, assignments, and snapshots can all continue to be edited via the Edit and Automation/Control Panels. To save changes to the Favorite file, right-click the Favorite block, select Add to Favorites, and use the Overwrite function to update the Favorite file in your library with your new settings.

Importing and Managing Favorites

When the Model List > Favorites category is selected, click the the Manage Favorites button button to open the Manage Favorites dialog, as shown below. Here, you can import Favorites and manage your Favorites library.

Manage Favorites Window.png
The Manage Favorites dialog

  • To reorder Favorites within the dialog, simply click and drag them up or down in the list as desired.

  • Click the Close button The Close Dialog button at the top right of the dialog to exit.

  • Search Favorites Enter a model name, brand, effect type, etc., to filter the list of Favorites shown in the dialog.

  • Back Button Click to go back to the parent folder of the current folder you are viewing in the dialog.

  • Folder Select menu Expand the menu to select the folder’s contents that you want ot view in the dialog. (Note that you can add subfolders using the New Folder button.)

  • List-Columns View button Click the left button to view the dialog contents in a List view; click the right button to view the contents in a column view, with folders in the left column and their contents in the right column.

  • Add Folder button Create and name a custom subfolder in the plugin’s Favorites library to categorize your added Favorites. Within the Manage dialog, click and drag your Favorites to move them between your subfolders.

  • Delete Favorites button.png Select one or more Favorites in the dialog, then click to permanently delete them from the library.

  • Rename Favorites button.png Select a Favorite in the dialog, then click to rename it.

  • Export Favorites button.png Select one or more Favorites in the dialog and click to export them to a folder on your computer. Your exported plugin Favorites can then be imported into Helix Stadium devices using the free Helix Stadium application.* See the Helix Stadium Owner’s Manual for details.

  • Import Favorites button Helix Stadium Native supports importing Favorites files created with Helix Stadium hardware (.hls files) and those exported from original Helix/HX hardware and the Helix Native plugin (.fav files).* Note that you’ll need to use the Export features in the Helix Stadium app, HX Edit app, and Helix Native plugin to first export the desired Favorite files to your computer. Then, click the Import Favorites button button, browse to your exported Favorite files, and load them into the Helix Stadium Native plugin’s library.*

*Note: For Favorites (.hsf files) created in the Helix Stadium Native plugin, their saved MIDI and Snapshot Control type assignments are retained on export and import into the Helix Stadium Native plugin.

For all Favorites created on Helix Stadium hardware (.hsf files) and on original Helix/HX devices or Helix Native (.fav files), all assignments are discarded and not available when the Favorite is imported into the Helix Stadium Native plugin.

For the Helix Stadium Native Intro version: It is possible to import Favorites created from the Full Helix Stadium Native version, Stadium device, or the original Helix Native plugin, which could reference Amp/Cab/Effect models not included in the Intro version. Once imported, these types of Favorites will display an error indicating that they are only supported by the Full plugin version.