How presets are built, and what runs out
Blocks, paths, and the hard caps that stop you long before the processing meter looks full.
05 · 8 min
When it refuses to add a block, it is usually a fixed cap rather than a lack of processing power — and no amount of free DSP unlocks a cap.
Presets are chains of blocks
A preset is a set of blocks laid out in order: an input, some effects, an amp, a cab, an output. This device gives you four rows of eight positions.
Each block is one thing. An Amp+Cab block is an amp and its speaker in a single position, which is how you fit a complete rig into a small budget.
Two different ceilings
There are hard caps on particular kinds of block — how many amps, how many cabs, how many of the expensive polyphonic effects. These are fixed, and they bite while the processing meter still looks comfortable.
Separately, there is the actual processing budget, which depends on which models you chose rather than how many. Some amps cost far more than others.
Bypassing a block does not give its processing back. If you need room, delete it.
Helix 3.80 Owner's ManualWhat to change when it will not fit
In rough order of how much you get back for how little you give up:
- Make anything stereo into mono. A stereo block costs roughly twice its mono version, and into a single amp or a mono desk feed you were not hearing the stereo anyway.
- Swap a Legacy cab for the current IR-based one. The newer cabs cost dramatically less.
- Replace two amps with one amp into a Dual cab — most of the variation, a fraction of the cost.
- Use a snapshot instead of a second copy of the same block with different settings.
- Look for a “Simple” version of the effect. Fewer parameters, same job.
The detail
The full table of caps — and the six changes that buy back real space — is on the reference page.
Blocks, paths and DSP →