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File > Project Settings > MIDI... Uncheck Control Change 7/10 controls Volume/Pan of channel strip objects.

I use two EON610s for live gigging and run stereo. I have to back off the high end a little as those speakers can be a bit bright and harsh. But overall they sound fine, are quite light and seem pretty reliable. Good value for the money.

I have found that sometimes the VDI cable doesn't snug all the way in. The Variax powers and works, but I had problems setting the models and alt tunings. If I make sure the cable is plugged all the way in, then no problems. It takes a bigger push then you might think.

Helix Native noise is likely because you are sitting close to your computer with a guitar with single coil pickups. Computer put out a lot of noise. Moving away might significantly reduce the noise.

It might be the headphones. Try using monitor speakers.

I use the VDI cable with Helix to get full control of the Variax. I haven't had any problems with my JTV-69S playing outdoor gigs at high or low temperatures. We do a number of outdoor club gigs each year where the outside temp is in the low 90s in the evening. We also did an outside gig at the end of March where the temp got into the low 40s. No problem with JTV or Helix in either case. I did have some neck stability problems with my Variax Standard in really hot, humid conditions. Might be that slightly thinner neck.

I'm just guessing, so this could be way off. There are three major components to a Variax: the physical guitar and pickups, the Variax hardware and the models. I'm ignoring the power supply for this discussion. The physical guitars span a range from the old Variax 1.x 300, 500 and 700 models to the JTV models, to the Variax Standard and the Variax Shuriken. This is a reasonably wide range of instrument selections, quality levels and styles. Its not clear further innovation here would significantly increase the Variax marketplace. So I'd expect this to be slow changing. The Variax 2.0 hardware addresses some of the DSP limitations that resulted in compromises in the Variax 1.0 features and model resolution. Its hard to know what DSP headroom remains for future features and models, but it possible that the current hardware is no longer a bottleneck for at least some level of innovation. That might mean there's little demand for hardware innovation at this time. So that leaves the models. We don't know how the models are created, but I suspect it has to do with capturing impulse responses of the guitar bodies, magnetic pickups and piezo pickups, and then phase aligning and combining these in algorighms that can efficiently convert the output of the piezo pickups into the sound of the modeled guitar. I'd guess accurately capturing this information in a repeatable way with available select instruments is somewhat costly and time consuming. There may also be limitations to the process that cannot easily be addressed in order to provide more accurate or improved models. These limitations could involve the ability to get accurate, consistent samples, availability of instruments to model, and algorithm limitations to provide sufficient processing speed to avoid latency. So innovation and change here may be difficult too. So where does that leave us? Well first I think it leaves us with a pretty fantastic choice in gigging instrument. I have a 67 Les Paul and an early 90's Strat Deluxe with Tom Anderson pickups. These are really nice instruments. But my gigging instrument of choice is my JTV-69S. Its light, easy to play, sounds great, provides the flexibility I need to be able to do things other bands can't do, etc. But looking beyond this, I hope Line6 eventually opens up the Variax technology to third parties for customization. This would mean providing the hardware for 3rd party purchase and installation into other guitars, and opening up the software for custom guitar models. Making the hardware available would be easy enough, but that could result in fragmentation of the Variax market and reduced higher margin instrument sales for Line6. Opening up the software would require exposing Line6 Intellectual Property to at least the 3rd party vendors and that's a significant market exposure. So these innovations maybe won't happen too soon if at all. Bottom line, I'm enjoying what Variax currently is and I'm not too worried about future enhancements.

This was also very useful: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/band-geek/id882131842?mt=2&i=1000373031890

If you do use the multi-input for the tuner, make sure the volume controls are turned all the way down on instruments you aren't using. Note also that if you're using a Variax, be aware that if the modeling switch is engaged, switching to a patch may turn the guitar volume all the way up. This can cause feedback if the guitar is on a stand and not being played. This has happened to me twice. Make sure all guitars sitting on stands are turned all the way down and will stay that way when you change patches.

Good digital coax cables are often expensive, stiff and short. Otherwise you can get a lot of dither and digital errors. You'll also need to match the Helix with whatever the PA provides for digital input: bit rate and depth - that may not always be possible and is one more place where things can go wrong during setup. Also the coax RCA jacks aren't really gig hardened for cables that are going be stepped on, moved around, plugged in and unplugged often, etc. They're more appropriate for fixed, stable installations. I'm not sure what your application is, but it might be that you want your vocal mic, electric guitar and acoustic all running into Helix (no problem) so that you can use the Helix Headphone output as your local personal monitor mix. Then you need three to five (depending on what needs to be stereo) separate outputs to individual channels in the PA for the FOH mix. This could work if you use the two XLR outputs, one for vocal and one for either guitar. I'm assuming you don't need both instruments at the same time. Different patches would control what goes out the guitar XLR output. The other option is to try to get a personal monitor mix from the PA. Most modern digital mixers make this pretty easy, and you can often control your own mix with your phone.

Also if your amp is in another room, you'll have a hard time making adjustments and might be living with compromises a lot of the time. You're going to need a monitor in any case.

My approach to used gear was that if I could get something a bit nicer than what I could afford new, and was willing and able to work on it if there were issues, then I'd go for used gear. Not sure that applies to Helix.

Actually you could use snapshots or a footswitch to change the key/scale mode if there were only a few in the song.

I don't disagree at all. I'm just saying don't let this issue stop you from using the tuner, warts and all.

Note that the dual harmony relies on you telling it what the key and scale mode is, it is not able to react to chords that shift the scale mode. For example, say you have a song like Back in the USSR, and you want to harmonize that relatively simple lead. That C chord is going to give you problems because it shifts the mode. You need an intelligent harmonized to deal with these situations.

Helix is an excellent audio interface, and the addition of Helix Native at a good price will be a real plus for guitar recording. But where Helix really shines is live gigging because of the simplicity, flexibility, reliability, and ease of use. There are lots of other less expensive options for recording. I still mostly use a good audio interface (Focusrite Saffire Pro 40) and S-Gear for recording, never Helix. When Helix Native becomes available, I'll add that with S-Gear for additional guitar recording options. The biggest revealation for me was understanding the impact of mic choice, placement and hi and low cut on cab and IR models in order to warm up the tone. I highly recommend reading the manual, multiple times to get the most out of Helix. Treat Helix (and Variax) models just like you would a real amp. Choose the patches that fit the song. For IRs, start with IRs of speakers you know and like, or those used by performers you like. That is, start with the music and song, and pick the technology that helps you get there. Learn from professional experiences with traditional guitars, amps and cabinets. I would recommend recording a dry input (USB 7 by default) and the Helix stereo output (USB 1/2 by default). This helps you commit to a tone turning tracking while at the same time providing the dry track for re-amping if something just didn't fit into the mix as you expected. Note that re-amping won't solve all problems because the tone you are monitoring while playing will inpact what you play. Also consider putting some sound in the room while recording guitar so the guitar itself can interact with the speakers. I've gone all digital with recording. No external pedals. Gain stage everything carefully, leaving plenty of headroom on the DAW channel input, mix busses and the master bus. Leave the final volume leveling to the mastering phase. See the recommendation above about having some sound in the room for the guitar to hear. But this is really a mix question. One rarely mixes in solo because your listeners can never do that, and changes that make something sound great in solo might not sound good at all in the mix. Typical issues are too much in the low mids, and overly wet effects. Re-amping is a good solution to these issues if you tracked with too much bass and too many effects. Note that many post-amp effects can be done in the DAW, not in Helix while tracking. A TS212 (or two) is an excellent option for live stage volume, but probably not a great choice for a mix monitor.

You need to be using WorkbenchHD, not Workbench (which is for the older Variax models). Helix will allow your JTV to interface with WorkbenchHD, to customize guitar models. But it does not yet support Variax firmware upgrade, you need to still use the old WorkbenchHD USB interface to do that with Line6 Monkey.

There is nothing really unique about a JTV paired with Helix other than one provides a host of guitar models while the other provides a host of amp models. Pairing a particular guitar model with a particular amp model wouldn't really be that different than doing the same thing with traditional guitars and amps. Perhaps the best approach would be to start with the music instead of the technology. Pick some music styles, artists and songs that you like. Listen and try to understand what it is you like about their playing and tone. Then go to YouTube and lookup the artist and song. Try to find a video of them playing that song. Look at the instrument they are playing, and the amp they are using. Look at what pickup they are using, where they are playing on the guitar neck and the shape of the chords they are using (the same note sounds different when played in different positions on the guitar). Go search for a rig rundown for the artist and see their approach to their equipment. Then use you JTV and helix to create patches that attempt to reproduce their setups. You'll find its not that hard to get pretty close. And by all means, have fun!

An older Variax (300) is a reasonable choice if it has the power adapter and workbench USB interface. The old models have their own unique tone, and some people like them. Its a low investment to experiment and see if guitar modeling is for you.

I use an external A/B footswitch to use two (actually three including Variax through VDI) guitars into Helix. I never play, or am in a situation where more than one gets played at a time. There are occasions where there's a guitar and bass into Helix at the same time during rehearsals, but the bass is active and is using the Aux input.

A less jumpy tuner is not necessarily a more accurate tuner. Guitar strings don't necessarily vibrate at exactly one frequency. There's lots of things that can make the tuning vary by a small amount, including the vibration of the string itself. Tuners that provide damping make it easier to more quickly zero in on what appears to be in tune, but the string is still jumping around, you just aren't seeing it. The Helix tuner could use a bit more damping, but you can do that pretty well with your eyes. I personally don't have any trouble getting my guitars quickly in tune with the Helix tuner. I simply apply my own damping judgment based on the situation the guitar is in, state of the strings, etc.

IEMs are a great way to control what you ear as well as how much. They can be the difference between saving and loosing your hearing. Here's a fiew quick points to consider. IEMs mixes should be designed to help you play and save your ears. They're not an effective means of mixing FOH while you're playing. Almost everyone attempting this will mix their own instrument/vocal too loud. There are three general choices for what you can monitor. 1. Your own hardware mix: use a small PA mixer or Helix with your own mic and instruments and use the headphone output to monitor that mix. 2. Take a stereo feed off the FOH using a simple headphone amp. Or 3. if your mixer has the capability (and most digital mixers do), create your own sub mix containing whatever parts of the band you need. The best option is 3, your own specific mix. FOH may not provide enough of your own instrument, or too much of everything else. Your own hardware mix may leave you too isolated. IEMs are like singing with your fingers in your ears, you get a lot of head sound. If you're playing and singing, make sure you have enough drums in your mix so you don't loose the beat while your singing. Stereo monitor mix sounds great, but try mono too, you might like it better and it might be easier to play along with. Be careful about the IEM levels. If the level is too hot, IEMs can do more damage to your ears faster than stage volume without them. I like to start with the headphone volume all the way down and I play part of the first song listening to just the bleed - the IEMs are just expensive ear plugs. Then I slowly turn the headphone volume up until the IEM output adds to the bleed, providing the missing high end definition. This produces the minimum IEM level. If your ears are ringing after a gig, the levels are too high and continued exposure may damage your ears. If you're using IEMs and stage amps, or at least acoustic drums, remember that FOH isn't the only thing the audience hears. Stage volume is getting mixed with FOH to provide what the audience experiences. This could be insignificant in arenas, or very significant in small clubs where people on the dance floor mostly only hear stage volume. You have to account for this when mixing the band, or in capturing recordings for the purpose of assessing what the band is actually delivering. The hardest situation to deal with is when you have a mix of monitoring approaches in the same band. In my band, myself and the bass player were the first to adopt digital amps, no stage amp, and IEMs. The other guitar player is using a stage amp and floor wedge as a monitor. We play a lot of small clubs, and our stage volume was unbalanced. So I added a couple of EON610s for my stage amp, and the bass player brought back his amp. Now only the keys has no stage amp. We keep the stage volume as low as possible, just enough to fill in the dance floor, and provide some physical interaction with our instruments. This is a compromise that adds some complexity to setup and mixing. But its the best we can do as not everyone is comfortable with IEMs.

Oops, iOS spell checker got me. Happens all the time.

I have a Tremolux style cabinet with two Eminence Beta 10-CX 10" coaxial speakers and ASD:1001 drivers for the high end. I drive that with a Hafler Transnova p3000 power amp. It sound pretty good but its a bit directional. But lately I've been using just a pair of JBL EON610s because the PA rack fits on it and I can reduce the band's footprint quite a bit by combining my backline with the PA (which I run). The computer sits on top of that. Very convenient and sounds great.

The cabinet an IR blocks both have low-pass/high-cut filters you can use for that. You can incorporate changes in high-cut with a drive switch, or link increases in drive with increases in high-cut on a pedal. I would note that S-Gear has Hi Cut in the power amp section that works similarly to sag. The harder you push the power amp, the more hi cut you get. With this you can set the drive into the amp to get the level of clipping you want. Turn the guitar volume down and the hi cut goes away giving you a nice clean shimmer. Turn the guitar volume up and you get more hi cut with nice warm clipping in the power amp. I hope some future amp model provides this feature in Helix. Now I'm thinking about adding a pedal controller that increases gain and high-cut at the same time to simulate this manually. I'd use the pedal instead of the guitar volume control to get pretty much the same effect. Hummm....