amsdenj

I use the VDI cable with my JTV-69S and Helix all the time. Yes, I do think it's a little brighter than the 1/4" output, but that's probably because VDI is digital from the guitar to Helix and therefore doesn't have the high end drop from cable capacitance. I compensate by turning the presence down a little, or adjust the high cut on the IR. That is, I don't really care that the VDI and 1/4" sound different. I just adjust to produce the tone I need, just like you would with any gear. I'm not hung up on things being the same.

Fender amps have quite a bit of mid scoop. The bass and treble controls are all boost, turn them all the way down and turn the middle all the way up and you have a mostly flat tone. That's how you can get rid of that mid scoop - keep bass and treble down, keep mid up. But that still won't provide bass and treble rolloff, the mid control really just sets the flat set-point above which the base and treble controls can boost. This is why Tube Screamers work well with Fender amps. They provide an actual mid boost that helps compliment the mid scoop of the amp.

Depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Putting boost before distortion lets the boost help shape the saturation and sustain from the distortion. Putting boost after distortion provides a volume boost, but doesn't otherwise change the tone (assuming its going into a clean amp - otherwise its just part of a multi-part gain staging).

I have some footswitches that act up a little once in a while, mostly with multiple activations on a single press. These can get dirty with a lot of use. But they are self cleaning if you just press straight up and down a few times. This usually fixes the problem. My Helix has gotten a lot of club use in the last 3 years and its never had any problems in live use. I’ve come to really trust it, but I do have backup - Helix Native in the computer that runs our PA, or HX Stomp.

Try this: https://jimamsden.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/using-helix-as-an-effects-pedal-board/

Variax models, volume, tone, and string tunings are all parameters of the input block. Like any other parameter, these can be assigned to controllers: buttons, expression pedals, snapshots, MIDI messages, etc. So for example, you can use a footswitch to control the tuning of the B string to create a B-bender effect. I addition, Variax volume and tone can be used as controllers for other Helix parameters. The Variax is a fantastic gigging concept. If Line6 did two things, it would be much better: 1) allow the creation of a Variax model that exposes the raw piezo pickups so we can leverage instrument IRs in Helix with Variax and 2) create HX versions of the models with more instrument choices to improve the quality and variety of instruments available.

In theory, an IR could turn an acoustic guitar into a banjo. However, variation the source (guitar construction, pickups, etc.) don't provide a standard acoustic guitar tone that the IR could use as a consistent source. So in practice, this would be difficult. A Variax is your best option.

There is no input gain adjustment on HX Stomp, and no pad switch as on Helix. However, the HX Stomp input is designed to take a pretty wide range of guitar outputs without clipping. If you have a guitar with really hot active pickups, this might be a problem. But its likely a typical double-coil pickup with typical output specs isn't going to need a pad on HX Stomp.

The advantage of IRs is that you can have a completely different IR for mic position and distance. Helix cab models appear to have no support for mic position and appear to emulate mic distance by modifying a single IR with EQ. But moving the mic to cap, cap-edge, cone, cone-edge can have a huge impact on the tone. Helix cabs seem to be pretty bright, perhaps because they used a cap IR in order to get the most high end, and then rely on high-cuts to adjust. This is not the same as cap-edge or cone mic positions, or off axis. The cab models also have early reflections which add some room to the tone. Redwirez has IRs for room mics which you can use mixIR to blend with other IRs to get a similar effect. It's really all about the tone you need. IRs provide a lot of flexibility, but at the cost of constructing and auditioning a lot of different choices, many of which make pretty subtle differences. If you can get a tone you like using Helix cab models, then don't fret too much about what you might be missing from some optimized IR. Focus instead on playing more. That said, I use IRs for all my patches as I simply prefer them over the cab models.

This is supported in recent Helix versions, except for Variax firmware updates. That still requires the VDI interface.

You could also consider JamOrigin's MIDI Guitar 2 which does not require any hardware on the guitar.

Here's a picture of the patch and how to set the A/B split to separate the L and R inputs: You can drag the merge block down to create a separate output, but you can't drag the split block down to create a separate input.

If I remember right, this doesn't work on HX Stomp. Rather its has a L/R Input that feeds the stereo path. When you move a block down to path B, you can move the split block to the beginning and the merge block to the end of the path. Then you adjust the A/B split volumes to control which input goes to with path. I use this to run guitar and mandolin into HX stomp at the same time.

If you have Helix and HX Stomp, then you can have two HX Edit windows open at the same time and can use one of them as the source for copying you template blocks into your target without having to switch patches. Helix and Helix Native will work this way too.

I use DAW or Orban Loudness Meter over USB. You can also use a dB meter on your phone with your FRFR. Works great and is very simple and easy to use.