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I understand the design motivation for limiting HX Stomp to 6 blocks: Keeping the UI elegant, simple and easy to use Focus on adding a stomp box in an existing pedalboard to compliment an existing setup with HX capabilities Consistency between the number of blocks and DSP capacity Anticipating future blocks that may utilize significantly more DSP resources Limited number of foot switches to control blocks Essentially this means HX Stomp is intended to provide Helix capabilities, with minimum footprint, to existing pedalboard and amp setups, not to be all things Helix in a tiny box. I get that, and these are all good design decisions, although these design decisions also sound appropriate for HX Effects. But let's look at how HX Stomp might be used in a gigging situation by itself to see if 6 blocks is enough. This might be for rehearsal, as a backup to Helix, as a convenient fly rig, or just because something so small is so useful. Consider a typical guitar signal chain that uses front and back of the amp effects (| means or): Input > Wah > Compressor > Drive > Overdrive > UniVibe | Phasor | Flanger | etc. > Amp > Cab | IR > Chorus > Delay > Reverb > Output This it my typical gigging Helix patch. I use 10 Stomp mode and pretty much stick with the same patch all night, using snapshots for open tunings, acoustic, and Leslie. This is 10 blocks, and clearly requires more foot switches than HX Stomp can provide. If you need patches like this or more complicated, you need Helix or Helix LT. Trimming this down to 8 blocks, we get something like: Input > Wah > Compressor > Overdrive > UniVibe | Phasor | Flanger | etc. > Amp+Cab > Chorus > Delay > Reverb > Output If you leave the Drive, Amp+Cab, Delay and Reverb on all the time, and you have a Line6 Mission pedal (if you don't, get one, it makes HX Stomp is a lot more useful), then you need foot switches to control Wah, Overdrive, UniVib, and Chorus. If you configure FS3 in global settings for Stomp, then you have the four foot switches you need. This seems like an ideal setup for HX Stomp by itself and is something I would be happy to gig with. To trim this down to 6 blocks, we get something like: Input > Wah > Drive > Amp+Cab > Chorus > Delay > Reverb > Output This is still pretty good, but looses the front of the amp modulation effect, something I use quite a bit. The work around is to create a patch template that covers the common blocks, then create a different preset for each front of the amp effect you need. That can work since you generally only need one of these at a time. But it means creating and maintaining a lot of patches that differ in only one block, and the potential need to change presets in the middle of a song to get different front of the amp effects. This is probably not practical. So I vote for 8 blocks, full Helix Path 1 capability, and let us users deal with balancing blocks and DSP capacity, just like we do with Helix. Two more blocks is actually a lot of additional flexibility without much additional complexity. This said, I'm pretty happy with HX Stomp just as it is and would highly recommend one as an entry point into the Helix ecosystem, as a Helix backup, or as a stomp box to add Helix blocks to an existing rig.

I don't know, if this has been described somewhere else, but I thought I'd share it. I wanted to use my Line6 HX Stomp with an existing volume pedal (Boss FV-500-L) and a momentary footswitch. To use the expression output of the volume pedal alone with the HX, no modifications are required, just make sure you use a TRS (stereo) cable (mono - TS - won't work). If you want to use an additional footswitch (which will show up as FS5 (!) in the HX) you need to get hold of the ring and the sleve of the TRS cable and connect a momentary footswitch. I found the easiest way to do it was to add a mono (TS) jack to the volume pedal and connect it to the jack PCB as shown. Don't be irritated by the dc jack I also added to the pedal: I added a buffer to the pedal as well, but the mod for the HX is completely passive / does not require power.

Just wanted top let you all know that this patch (and IR) should be in the Line 6 Marketplace section tomorrow for all Helix and HX Stomp users. Thank you so much for your continued support.

You can tone shape to your hearts desire. Why not try the demo and see if it fits your needs?

Native by itself can get you there. Native working with other plugins can take you into crazy territory.

Absolutely, Partev; I am in no way suggesting hardware modification (or software modification for that matter), and I do appreciate that use cases like communicating via USB through a virtualized hardware layer does add an extra layer of risk. So perhaps I should have prefaced my suggestion with, "while fairly safe, don't expect Line 6 to come running if things go wrong", which is a completely understandable position, as per my comments in previous posts. That said, as per the previous couple posts, there's no harm in letting you guys know that the firmware might be short a function or two in the class-compliant spec. If the knowledge base and documentation indicate it's class-compliant, it's not unreasonable to ask your team if they would be able to find time to make it meet the spec in a future firmware update, time permitting.

Perhaps I'm mistaken; I'll try to remember to try it on my own machine and see if the results are the same. Except that it's not written in Sanskrit. It's stating in plain English that the driver is having trouble retrieving the sample rate from the device, information that could passed on to Line 6's development staff that might indicate there's a bug in their class-compliant implementation (which the link in zolko60's post actually confirms) - which IS something they might actually be willing and have time to fix. The vast majority of contributors to this post has been civil, thoughtful, and respectful during this post, and if anything has potentially uncovered something that could legitimately improve Line 6's product and help it fulfill some people's needs. I would suggest that if that's not of interest to you, please leave it to the people that do want to continue that discussion. (though admittedly zolko60's cheekiness actually provided us with ammo as a result :) )

(BEWARE IT IS A JOKE) All you nedd to do is to write a quirk, put the following lines into quirk-table.h and recompiled. :D :D :D /* * Line6 devices */ { USB_DEVICE(0x2466, 0x8003), .driver_info = (unsigned long) & (const struct snd_usb_audio_quirk) { .vendor_name = "Line6", .product_name = "Helix", .ifnum = QUIRK_ANY_INTERFACE, .type = QUIRK_COMPOSITE, .data = "" (const struct snd_usb_audio_quirk[]) { { .ifnum = 0, .type = QUIRK_AUDIO_STANDARD_MIXER }, { .ifnum = 1, .type = QUIRK_AUDIO_FIXED_ENDPOINT, .data = "" (const struct audioformat) { .formats = SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S24_3LE, .channels = 2, .iface = 1, .altsetting = 1, .altset_idx = 1, .attributes = 0, .endpoint = 0x02, .ep_attr = 0x05, .maxpacksize = 0x002a, .rates = SNDRV_PCM_RATE_CONTINUOUS, .rate_min = 48000, .rate_max = 48000 } }, { .ifnum = 2, .type = QUIRK_AUDIO_FIXED_ENDPOINT, .data = "" (const struct audioformat) { .formats = SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S24_3LE, .channels = 4, .iface = 2, .altsetting = 1, .altset_idx = 1, .attributes = 0, .endpoint = 0x86, .ep_attr = 0x05, .maxpacksize = 0x0054, .rates = SNDRV_PCM_RATE_CONTINUOUS, .rate_min = 48000, .rate_max = 48000 } }, { .ifnum = 3, .type = QUIRK_MIDI_STANDARD_INTERFACE }, { .ifnum = -1 } } } }, https://www.spinics.net/linux/fedora/alsa-user/msg10927.html

Perfect! This illustrates my point very nicely, lol. Anybody who genuinely thinks that Everyday Joe Computer User can decipher any of that, much less be willing to trade their Macbook for a system that will require them to parse through reams of gibberish just to play guitar...is out of their mind. It might as well be written in sanskrit.

Nobody is suggesting a plugin and a laptop is an equal or better way to tour the world. If this is how you read our posts about Native, you have taken them out of context. We are talking about the SOFTWARE and any limitations related to that. Native does not have the 6 block limit that the Stomp has, nor does it have a 9 block / no amp limit that the HX Effects has. You get 32 blocks and 2 stereo paths to work with... just like it's hardware big brothers! I will also reiterate... I agree with you that L6 should offer Stomp and Effects users some sort of discount on Native... proportionate to the discount LT, Floor and RACK users receive. If someone has invested in the HX Line... I believe they should get a better price on Native than someone that is just buying another plugin for their studio.

I doubt it was unintentional, either. HXFX integrates with a normal guitar rig and offers more switching, but no amp models. So if you want amp models and adequate switching, you need get the LT. HXStomp IS a guitar rig with amp modeling, but limited FX blocks and switching, so if you need more blocks or switching, you need to get the LT. So they've covered a few specific use cases people were asking about at a lower price, but with limited functionality to drive people on the fence towards a more full-featured product. Smart, if you ask me, other than they have to wait a few months to get my money for the LT since the Stomp is just a little too limited for me to justify the cost for a B rig.

Okay, moving past the OS fights and getting back to the OP's point... No, Line 6 will almost certainly not be supporting Linux. Things like desktop apps, games, etc., have enough cross-platform libraries and frameworks to allow developers to "write once, run anywhere", for the most part. But when you're talking hardware that needs drivers, those layers are so drastically different that it doubles the work. Yes, companies like Intel, NVidia, etc., do make that effort, but Line 6 doesn't have that level of resources. One could argue that they could let the open source community handle it, but the legal work and supplying technical details would be almost as much work. As someone who enjoys using Linux OSes at home, I do feel your frustration. What I can tell you - though not ideal - is that the USB extensions for VirtualBox work well enough that having Helix connect to HX Edit running in a Windows virtual machine has posed no problem. Pretty sure I ran the last firmware update through that as well and had no issue. Likewise, Workbench works fine through the USB extensions, and I would suspect Powercab's editor as well. Yes, it does mean you'd still have to run Windows, but you would have the benefit of Ubuntu for your day-to-day use and only use Windows for HX Edit. As far as audio interfacing goes, if I recall correctly, Helix is a class-compliant USB audio device. Because there are class-compliant USB audio drivers in Linux, that means its ins and outs should be recognized if you plug it in. Windows in VirtualBox for patch editing/updating on your PC, native audio device in LInux for recording. Not perfect, but it could be worse.

The thing is the Stomp and the HX Effects both cost Line 6 the same to make, and there are few hardware differences on the Stomp related to amp modeling functionality that would most likely raise the cost when added to an HX Effect style housing. I'm thinking mainly of the variable input impedance, the master volume functionality and the headphone out. Those may all be relatively minor things, but maybe they add $50 - $100 more to total cost... If the device becomes $700, would people still want it or, or would they just decide to go with the LT for a little more?

Why? For the same reason that McDonald's doesn't have garden slugs in an deer-tick cream sauce, or chilled ostrich brains on the dollar menu....

Well, in the personal computer market, Linux represents 2-3% of users... I'm sure it's simply a matter of not being able to justify the cost of investing resources into such a small number of users. It's the same reason Line 6 doesn't currently make left-handed Variaxes.

Elektrik, Badonk, Epic, 2204 Mod, Doom, Fatality are all high-gain metal/hard rock amps. Litigator and Cartographer is a medium gain clean to crunch amps. Since they're "originals" the way I understand it is that they're not really based directly on real amp models with the exception of the 2204 Mod, which is a modded Marshall 2204. Elektrik was a "mistake" in the 5150 model from the HD series, but everyone wanted it back after they "fixed" it in a firmware update. Badonk, Fatality, and Doom all sound, to me, like Rectifier or 5150 flavors. Litigator and Cartographer, as I understand it, are based off custom amp circuits designed by Ben Adrian (one of L6's amp modeling engineers) of his own amp and one he kinda of "made up" from different parts of other amp models.

Yeah, here you go: Just search my username, robertgoddard or you can search for 2Drive2Delay

I am struggling with the 6 block limitation. I also found out that the stomp doesn't do so well as an audio interface if you are using native or other vsts (round trip latency is fairly high). My guess is that they will sell tons of these initially but there will be universal pressure to increase the block limit. Source audio managed to squeeze 2 dsp chips into their ventris reverb pedal. My guess is that a 2nd stomp pedal will be released in the future. This is the footprint that people want. It just needs more processing power.