amsdenj

Turning down the hum and ripple in the amp model might clean it up a little. Also try using less gain, i.e., the minimum amount of gain required for the song.

You can't using HX Stomp directly into an app like JamKazam. You could try SonoBus instead. Another option is to use a DAW as your digital mixer and capture the output of the DAW into the input of JamKazam. SonoBus is a lot easier for this because it can be used as a plugin directly in your DAW. I'd recommend using a different patch for jamming on-line. Or use a Dual Cab block in stead of two IR blocks above.

I have never tried a Kemper so I don't have any experience with profilers. I've seen the videos on how well Quad Cortex does profiling - its pretty impressive. I'm not sure I understand how profiling works. I suppose if I used a guitar amp as a clean or edge of breakup platform for a pedalboard, and I generally set the amp exactly the same way, then a profile with real or digital pedals in front of it makes sense. But a profile is a snapshot of a particular set of amp settings. Gain/drive and tone controls that are layered on top of a profile change the profile, but not necessarily the same way that similar changes on the amp would. The profile is a fixed snapshot. If you make any significant changes in the amp's settings, you'd need to create another profile. This is why I prefer inside out models like Helix vs. outside in profiles like Kemper. Quad Cortex of course provides both and that's an attractive feature. I'd be interested to hear what other's experiences on using profiles vs. modeled amps.

I've done it when traveling with just a guitar and needed something capture ideas or loops for practicing on my phone. But I don't think I'd ever do it live or in a recording except for maybe an odd effect.

It's likely no one but you will notice your stereo, unless you're playing mostly solo. But if it sounds better to you, and makes you feel better, its likely to make you play better. I use a Powercab 212 for exactly that purpose. There are other ways to stereo widen including using small amounts of pitch shifting and very short delays. But almost anything you do is likely to have some phase effect that you might or might not like. Stereo widening seems to sound nicer and have less apparently negative phasing effects when using headphones. This is probably because the sounds are mixing in your head, not the air. This can be useful with IEMs to give some space to your monitor mix.

Regarding gain staging, its useful to note that a typical double coil pickup into the Helix guitar input set at 1M impedance with no blocks in Helix, and the output set to 0dB will pretty closely drive the output level to 0dB. I suspect this was an intentional design point. This means that anything that creates additional accumulation of gain may drive Helix output into clipping. Gain staging is most critical at the inputs and outputs where the analog to digital conversions are taking place since that's where the headroom limits exist. You don't need to worry as much about clipping within the Helix signal path, of course depending on the model (some are designed to clip). There's likely plenty of headroom in the algorithms. Its the starting level (guitar) and accumulation through the blocks to the output that matters. Keeping blocks at close to unity gain is one simple, possibly convenient, way of avoiding gain buildup that you have to correct at the output to avoid clipping. There are lots of other ways that can achieve the same result. Just make sure you're not clipping the input with an overly active guitar or pedal, and not pushing the output over 0dB. What goes on in-between is whatever sounds good to you.

Note that the Variax magnetic pickup signals are digitized in the guitar and sent as digital signals on the VDI cable. What this means is that the Helix auto impedance for the guitar input has no effect on Variax. There's a few models, like the Arbitrator Fuzz doesn't work well with Variax and VDI.

Start by using Helix like you would a traditional pedalboard and amp. Then start exploring Google and youtube to find other options.

I think you mean TRS - Tip Ring Sleeve. The manual explains what the expression pedal/foot switch options are.

Don't give up playing live too quick. I'm going to keep doing it until I drop. I just need a lighter guitar and amp, and JTV-69S and Helix provide that. Life's a process, not an end result. Music and the gear that goes with it has contributed a lot of joy in my life. I've had to give up a lot in the last few years. Running was the big one in 2020 - had to get hip replacement and they say no running. I'm not in any hurry to give up playing live with the band.

Good video. We need these and associated documentation for all Line6 amps and effects.

I use snapshots when I need to change a lot of things for a specific purpose - usually to change Variax to an open tuning or acoustic model in the middle of an otherwise typical electric guitar tone. Otherwise I use stomp mode because it allows me to control combinations of effects live buy just pressing footswitches - just like a traditional pedalboard. For example, I have stacked drive pedals that I like to control individually, not in snapshots. This allows me to tailor the level of distortion in flexible ways depending on the situation and what I might like to play at the moment. It's nice to have both options and pick the one that works best for any given situation.

I wonder what are the technology limitations that prevent a Variax upgrade. Could be modeling skills - lost resources and intellectual knowledge. Could be processor speed limitations. But it could also be limitations of the overall process of capturing guitar bodies and pickups. It might be that Line6 has taken this technology to its logical limit, and simply adding more processing power isn't going to improve the models. The limitation might be in the capture approach itself. That said, I make very good use of my Variax JTV-69S. Its the guitar I play the most at home, and (when we had gigs) the one that got played most in gigs. There's lots of reasons for that, including the models. But to me, Variax still has a lot of value.

Princess has become my goto amp too, pushing out Litigator and Derailed Ingrid. I still like Litigator, but the Princess sounds and feels a bit more "real" to me, whatever that means. Princess has too much bass for my taste. But I can get a really good sound out of it and it takes pedals well.

I can verify that HX Edit 3.01 did not fix the Big Sur connection timeout problem. However, if HX edit retains window focus, the timeout does not occur. So with limitations, its still useful and works for me.

The Kemper and now the Quad Cortex profiling capability is a great feature to have. But a profile is a snapshot of a particular sound. Yes, the Kemper and Quad Cortex provide additional gain and tone controls - but these are layered on top of the snapshot, they're not modeling the actual controls of the captured amp. I'm not saying this is bad, its just what it is. Given that we often set a guitar amp at particular settings and don't change it that often, a snapshot might not be that limiting. But I personally prefer the Helix approach of modeling the amp from the inside out instead of the profile outside in. Its essentially building the amp, but from digital rather than analog components. Quad Cortex seems to do a very good job of accurately capturing a particular tone snapshot Let's even stipulate that it would do a better job of capturing a specific amp and settings than a similar amp model in Helix could produce. That's great. But Helix give me the whole amp, not just a snapshot that can be tailored a bit. Ultimately both are useful. So I recommend adding a Quad Cortex to your Helix effects loop along with your HX Stomp and HX Effects!

I think the XL is a great idea and if I didn't already have an HX Stomp, I would probably get one. HX Stomp, Pod Go and now HX Stomp XL have a fair amount of overlap and might start fragmenting Line6's own market. But given the Helix software architecture, and their ability to design and implement hardware devices, perhaps this is an easy way to broaden market appeal. Its often a delicate balance. For me, HX Stomp + MeloAudio MIDI Commander + optional HX Effects provide a more flexible solution. I can for example use the MeloAudio MIDI Commander for other purposes, including with Helix, in the studio, or with computer based amp modelers such as S-Gear. Anyway, its great to have options. I'm really glad I have an HX Stomp.

I use HX Effects with Helix in the effects loop. I also have settings with HX Stomp as a backup to Helix, but haven't had to use that live yet. HX Stomp standalone is also pretty useful with just some added MIDI control.

Not sure if you saw my response in the Helix forum. Helix Cab models and most IRs are models of speakers in a particular cabinet configuration (including open or closed back) and a microphone. Powercab speaker models are EQ curves layered on Flat mode, LF Flat voicing. Then the speaker is in a 1x12 or 2x12 ported cabinet, no microphone and no other cabinet simulation. So the same speaker in a Helix 4x12 Cab block won't sound the same as that speaker model in Powercab because the cabinet is entirely different. Think of Powercab as a powered guitar speaker in a 1x12 or 2x12 closed back, ported cabinet that has a few additional features: you can easily swap the speaker, can use it as a FRFR if you need that for acoustic, vocal or keyboard instruments, and can run IRs if you need that. To find equivalent Helix cab blocks or IRs, look for the same speaker in the same cabinet configuration with a pretty neutral mic. That might get you close.

I use my HX Effects to extend either Helix or HX Stomp, but got it originally to use with my old tube amp. That amp is currently in storage and hasn't seen a gig in close to 30 years. If I were doing a traditional pedalboard, I'd use HX Stomp for the size and flexibility. See

How are your ears? If you’ve been playing rock in a band for year, you probably have hearing loss, like many of us. For me, if the volume is down, I don’t hear the high end. If I just turn the level in the speaker or headphones up, then there’s the highs! Its just my ears don’t hear the highs at even moderately low volumes. Be sure to protect your ears by keeping levels under 90dB for long periods of time, and use IEMs as much as possible. I wish I had.

Read the post above carefully. Logic Pro only sends MIDI messages to plugins in Software Instrument tracks, not Audio tracks. You need to use a side chain input to get audio input into a Software Instrument track, and you need to use a buss on that track to send the audio output of Helix Native to an audio track for recording. The Software Instrument track only records MIDI messages, not audio.

I might try making a knob

I reported this issue in my Beta testing. I thought it was reported as fixed. The work around is to delete the amp block and add it directly, not from Favorites. User defaults should be retained.

The Powercab speaker models aren't the same kind of models as the Cab blocks in Helix. We don't know the details of how the Powercab speakers are modeled, but I suspect they start with the LF Flat base, and then add simple EQ curves to modify that frequency response to duplicate that of the modeled speaker. This would be easy to do because no IR is needed since the LF Flat speaker is already a guitar speaker in a cabinet in a room. We also don't know what's coming out of the XLR outputs in speaker mode. But I'd guess these are IRs of the modeled speaker in a 1 or 2x12 ported cabinet - which is what Powercab is. So they wouldn't necessarily correspond to any Helix cab block, although there may be some that would be close. If you picked a cab block with the same speaker in a similar cabinet (closed back, ported), then they should sound pretty similar to the XLR outputs. Fine tune from there.