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I bought my Stomp and I absolutely love it. I wanted to integrate it with my Voodoo labs PX8+ and I started to do some research and found so much back and forth on this topic and still a lot of confusion. So I thought I’d list out some details here that I hope will clarify the Stomps capabilities: The Documentation on midi is confusing: Yes, yes it can be, but like most of Line 6 documentation there are hidden gems (like look at the Stomp manual and the ‘Reserved’ MIDI command section - very last entry. It’s prettt funny). Also, they don’t always list everything you need to know, but there are some not-so-obvious things listed I’ll explain next: Can you program MIDI on the Stomp: Typical Engineering answer ‘it depends’. What is programmable I’ve found so far is that you can ADD blocks forSend/Return with Mono or (Stereo options) of Send Left&Right (Send L/R), Receive Left &Right (Receive L/R), and FX Send&Receive ( FX S/R) for MIDI devices. Each connection has the capability to Bypass (as you would think Bypass an effect), Dry Thru (think n terms of how much of a dry signal), and Send (how you want to send your signal). There are also additional options on the return side and FX Loop. This is all CC based control structures. This is where CC controls can be programmed for these blocks that will be sent AND also the CC number will be received if the Stomp is Setup. Is that it?: Of course not! You can also tweak individual effects within the presets or individual effects or amps with MIDI CC controls - however, you should k ow what your doing here as they existing functions are already defined for ‘standard operations’ (I.e. Footswitch 1&2, etc). And if your really good at MIDI programming I’m sure there are ways to manipulate these functions (I, however, am not). Well, my MIDI function has presets that require PC controls: Yup - you can send PC messages also. In the documentation where MIDI is described, it discusses under preset and snapshot recalls, in the Play View, you’ll see the PC and associated CC controls for that preset and snapshot. Here’s where you’ll need a MIDI receiving device that is either programmable or has a ‘Learn’ mode (which is how I got my PX8+ to work). The PC and CC controls are sent automatically (unless you change the Global Settings to do otherwise). To program my PX8+, I setup my presets, put it into learn mode (see PX8+ documentation), selected the patch, then associated the PC and CC commands to my preset. It takes some time to do this. So is there anything like the HX FX MIDI? Nope. Like most things Stomp, there are always some sacrifices made for the smaller form factor. So MIDI doesn’t have the easier Controller programming function you have with The full blown Helix and Helix FX boards. I hope this help help everyone understand what’s available a little more. Ultimately, you’ll have to get creative to try to program some MIDI functions working in the framework Line 6 has given us with Stomp, but most things can be done creatively with the MIDI interface. It’s more flexible than I thought, but does take some trial and error to work through. I’m sure an entire manual could be created on MIDI programming with Stomp. I hope this helps. And remember to backup your pedal BEFORE you start testing how to get your MIDI functions to work correctly - just sayin....

Background. I owned a full helix floor. A lot I loved about it, but the size was just too much to be useful and I worried about all those morning parts. Sold it. When the HX Effects came out I thought it was the perfect solution, it's pretty great, but I really missed the amp and cab sims side, and really really missed the headphone jack (one thing I loved about the helix was how great things sounded through headphones, as well as allowing me to play when the kids were in bed I firmly believe the better the tone, the more creativity gets encouraged in those small windows most of us have to play...and well be creative). I also missed the audio interface side of things. Roll on a few months and the stomp was released I initially saw the price tag, and the limited number of blocks and foot switches and thought, zero interest. Recently I got a really nice gist token to sweetwater from work so, well, thought I'd give the stomp a try. A week in, it's just truly won me over. Headphone and USB interface back. What I thought was a block limitation, is absolutely not an issue. It makes me think how bizarre I approached the full helix and HX Effects, the choices were 1. Build one monster preset and just map the blocks to foots switches, use it like a single pedal board for shows. 2. Build a preset for every song, use blocks for the sake of using blocks when in reality most songs don't need that much signal altering or changes. Option 1 was like having a Ferrari you never took out of first gear, Option 2 was like having a Ferrari that you'd changed into third gear while still in the driveway. Different for different folks, but the six blocks on Stomp just simplifies everything, five or so presets gets me through an entire set (I try to keep a consistency in my tone for tracks we do, keep the bands sound somewhat constant). It's absolutely the perfect solution, really is. Wish I'd had this years ago

Hey - First time poster. I recently got a Helix (love it so far) and while creating patches, I thought it would be nice to have a one page resource for what the blocks are modeling. I tried creating one that kept the theme of the Helix overview cheat sheet available from Line 6. Link: Google Drive PDF I use it all the time now as I'm getting to learn all the Line 6 names and what they are modeling. Thought maybe someone else might benefit from something like this. Cheers.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've updated the link -- it is now split into 3 pages. I've increased the font sizes for readability. The first page contains the Amps and Cabs followed by Effects on page 2 and finally Legacy Effects on page 3.

Thanks for posting! As a 2 year Helix Floor owner, I am enjoying reading your experiences as I await my HX Stomp. Keep the positive posts coming!

I don't know for certain, but I would think that if you had a back up "Helix for your Helix"... it will be a heck of a lot more accurate than if you have a backup "Twin for your Twin" or backup "Tube Screamer for your Tube Screamer". (insert any pedal for pedal, amp for amp in those statements)

It's kind of an instinctual reaction for me at this point, but if I remember right you press the "action" and "page" button simultaneously. Not quite as easy as tapping a button, but it works in most applications.

I have been listening to Youtube videos in my office about various units and will most likely go with the Helix. Yes, the cost of it is not that big of deal for me. Most everyone seems to prefer the Fractal system for sound quality but I and my son are not ones who want to spend a lot of time tinkering with things to get it to sound good and it appears the Fractal requires a lot of time. Headrush also seems to be a good sounding unit so I am checking out videos on that one today too. Someone further suggested a Boss GT-1000 but I have researched that and it seems that most everyone prefers other units over that one. I don't like that the HX Effects has no display. All of this is a tough decision for me because the Mesa Boogie Mark IV was such a big part of my youth in the 80's when I used to play in bands. It is such a classic amp with sentimental value. I used to be a hardcore analog pedal guy also but that was 20 or more years ago when all digital stuff was junk. But, when listening to current analog v. digital effects videos I almost always get it wrong and cannot tell the difference. It seems that most pros can't tell the difference either. So, unless someone recommends another brand of unit to check out I will probably get the Helix and use it for the effects only now through the Mesa. Once we have it relatively mastered I can then think about FRFR cabinets. This plan would also give me time to wean myself from the Mesa although with an amp that good I can't imagine it will ever be completely retired.

Thanks for the feedback. This is something I keep debating getting into mostly because I love the Stomp and there's a desire to squeeze every last drop out of it. At the same time though, I find that it's original design is actually pretty well thought out. So much so that I find myself asking what I would truly need the Midi for. The big obvious takeaways are that you can make the largely worthless looper suddenly pretty flexible (as I understand it, with the midi you can have it be a multi button looper instead of the dopey single button) and to switch presets faster. Currently I attach a dual footswitch to the Stomp and set the footswitch to control snapshots. I then put core stomp buttons on the FS1 and FS2, leaving the FS3 for tuning and delay timing. Then I can do drastic changes with the dual footswitch, but subtle changes with the FS1 and FS2. It works great! Switching presets though is still a lollipop. Come to think of it maybe I should do the FS4 and FS5 for core stomp boxes and use FS1, FS2, and FS3 for snapshots because then I can change presets. Of course then I lose the tap tuner/delay easy access but that's used a lot less often . . . Hmmmm . . . back to dreaming of a midi controller.

Yeah, but black is way cooler. Ya gotta admit that!

I adore my Variax. I seriously don't get the people who complain about the sound. In my experience, the people who rag on that aspect have usually never heard them. The unwashed heathens I play to seem to love how it sounds. Now, complaints about reliability are something else. It's a complicated instrument to be sure, but I have to say my Variax had some issues and Line 6 totally took care of me.