Rewolf48

Do you means this one? http://wiki.grahamenglish.net/index.php/File:Variaxguitarreference.pdf (not my site, just first match on google) I don't think it is an official L6 thing, just put together by a user

No, in the UK we have things like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Line-6-POD-HD500X/dp/B00DXGMU0Q/ref=sr_1_2 Yep - that is really an Amazon page with an HD500X priced at £714.14, :wacko: but at least it includes free shipping! The more normal price is on a related item link at £419. The best UK price I can see is also £359 which after VAT is deducted it is $470 (US) at current rates.

I thought you could go higher using a 12 string model and disabling the lower string of the pair giving an octave, and then using virtual capo to move it up - you can certainly do altered tuning Nashville variations (6 string with higher strings from a 12 string set)

That will be because you have been lucky; contrary to popular belief Macs are not immune to infection: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/widespread-computer-virus-indicates-mac-users-no-longer-safe/ http://www.pcworld.com/article/2843772/apple-security-checks-may-miss-iworm-malware.html

Don't forget that the software has to cope with a wide range of string gauges, playing styles and manufacturing tolerances - it is only to be expected that it will include some sort of dynamic compression before modelling. The global settings apply before this stage, so the trick is to get the level when that compression is minimised for your specific guitar, set-up and playing style without going too low in level and killing the resonating string on the sitar for example. When I did this I was down at -7db on the lower 4 strings and -4db on the top 2. Then I upgraded the firmware and at didn't sound good at all. So if you do a firmware upgrade you need to reset the global string levels back to 100% and then calibrate them again. I really wish that when connected to Workbench HD there was an auto calibrate procedure that allowed you to strum the strings as hard as you would normally do when playing loudly and for the software automatically adjust the level for each string to that point where compression is minimised.

Page 9.12 of http://line6.com/data/6/0a06434dfb244f7b7f489af64/application/pdf/POD%20HD500%20Advanced%20Guide%20v2.0%20-%20English%20%28%20Rev%20A%20%29.pdf

You asked for ANY way.. and I haven't tried this you understand. but: MIDI CC 062 (value 64-127) triggers "Play Once" for the Looper If you have a "something" that syncs to your incoming midi clock, and which emits CC 062 (value 64-127) once for every phrase, then the Looper would appear to be synced - at least it would restart with the correct timing at the start of every phrase. Most DAW could act as something - with a MIDI track just containing the CC event set to loop. It should be possible to set the DAW to Loop triggered by the HD500 record and end and relying on the quantize functionality of the DAW to round the DAW loop to the incoming midi clock. The downside is that the set-up is so complicated that you might as well have just got as separate and more advanced looper device!

This may be obvious, but you might have far too much gain in the patch, so turn down the amp or distortion gain. If you programmed the patch at a bedroom volume level to feel like it sustains forever, then when you ramp up to gig volume you will have far too much and it will feed back with the slightest trigger. If you really listen to most high gain guitar sounds you will hear subtle changes in tone that indicate they are nowhere near as high gain as they appear. Set up your patches at full gig level and start with a low gain increasing it until you get the feel/sustain that you need, but not so much that you can't control feedback by simply damping the strings or turning down the volume knob a bit

Nothing to stop that, but it would be better if you used a PA monitor speaker rather than 2x12

You work for line-6? ;)

HD500X patches may not load onto an HD500

What Talwilkins said. One switch turns off/on the amp sim (bypass volume set to zero) and turn on/off the FX Loop (will send out signal), switch it off and the two are reversed - amp sim becomes active and fx loop send is cut. You don't need a second amp model, just the overdrive and FX loop.

If I understand you correctly, you have a volume/level parameter being controlled by Exp2, and are using CC2 to vary the value of Exp2 and nothing happens, unless you plug an expression pedal in to the HD500 when it works as expected for both the pedal and MIDI control. I haven't had a chance to test this, but it appears to be a fault in the HD firmware to me - you should be able to control Exp2 over MIDI without having a pedal connected. Has anybody else seen this?

FX Loop can be placed anywhere in the signal chain, it will be Stereo output onto the path that is is placed on, but it will be forced to mono if you place a mono effect after it, amd it will loose half the stereo signal (only L or R side) if placed before the mixer and the A or B path is panned to hard Left or Right. I have used a setup with a Yamaha Motif going into the HD500 for a few years now (as I play guitar and a bit of keyboards) - I place the FX Loop as the very last effect. It should be set to Mix of 50% which will mix the HD500 signal and FX Loop Return (left and right) at equal volume; it doesn't matter if the FX Loop is switched on or not because that only controls the FX Send. Set up this way it is possible to have both sources playing at the same time in stereo - I sometimes for example play a rich droning sound from the keyboard using a MIDI Note ON triggered by an HD500 switch while playing guitar at the same time. Obviously you need to duplicate the FX Loop set-up on every patch that you need both sources but I haven't noticed any significant drop in signal while switching HD500 patches.

If you have a Media Player that will respond to MIDI events (I know WinAmp has plugins that can do this or DAWs such as Reaper can be configured for this) then you will need to connect the HD500 MIDI out to a MIDI interface on the laptop (HD500 doesn't do MIDI over USD :(). Then it is just a case of configuration - typically Note On messages or Continuous Controller messages will control the Media Player, so you just need to go to the MIDI assign screen on the HD500 (Apendix B of Advanced Guide http://line6.com/data/6/0a06434dfb244f7b7f489af64/application/pdf/POD%20HD500%20Advanced%20Guide%20v2.0%20-%20English%20(%20Rev%20A%20).pdf) and set switches to send the right sort of message. Make sure that you use a different MIDI channel to the HD500 Global MIDI channel to avoid unexpected messages being received.

Well I don't have an 89F, but going from the information on these two web pages http://uk.line6.com/jtv-89/features and http://uk.line6.com/jtv-89f/features the list of alternate tunings are identical: Model. Access the alternate tunings you created using Variax Workbench™, Line 6′s virtual guitar workbench software. Standard (E A D G B E). By far the most popular tuning on a 6-string guitar. Drop D (D A D G B E). The low E string is dropped down a full step from Standard tuning. This popular tuning has been used by bands and artists such as Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Pantera and even The Beatles on "Dear Prudence." 1/2 Down (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb). Each string is tuned down one half step compared to Standard tuning. Some of the greatest guitarists of all time, including Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, played almost exclusively 1/2 Down. Drop Db (Db Ab Db Gb Bb Eb). Compared to Drop D, every string is dropped an additional half step. This tuning was made famous by Eddie Van Halen on the 1981 song, "Unchained,†and popularized by bands such as Nirvana on their In Utero album, Evanescence, Linkin Park, System of a Down and more. 1 Down (D G C F A D). This tuning is one full step down from Standard, and used by artists and bands including Elliot Smith, John Fogerty and Shadows Fall. You can also find it on Nirvana's "Come as You Are," "Lithium" and "Drain You," as well as Metallica’s "Sad but True" and "Devil's Dance.†Drop C (C G C F A D). Drop C is like a standard D tuning, with a dropped C for a more brutal sound. It’s popular with a wide variety of rock and metal bands including Carcass, Metallica, System of a Down and more. m3 DOWN (Db Gb B E Ab Db). Compared to Standard tuning, all the strings are tuned down by three half steps. This tuning can be found on songs by Black Sabbath and others. Drop B (B F# B E G# C#). This tuning is one and one half steps down from Drop D, and has been used by heavy metal bands such as Slayer, Slipknot and Tool. M3 Down (C F Bb Eb G C). This tuning is a major third lower than Standard tuning. You can find it on “No One Knows†and other Queens of the Stone Age tracks, as well as songs by The Misfits and more. Drop Bb (Bb F Bb Eb G C). Two full steps down from Drop D, this tuning is used by artists including Static-X, Bring Me the Horizon, Spineshank and Sevendust. Baritone (B E A D F# B). This tuning is popular with a variety of hard rock and metal bands, from the Foo Fighters to Carcass. I agree that this is not the same as the 59/69, but I have never heard that the 89 and 89F were different in firmware. Perhaps you need to get Line 6 to update their advertising and documentation? ;)

Ideascale: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Nylon-String-in-Tyler-Variax-update/491047-23508

89F and 89 are identical firmware

You could always take the M20D and give the sound man a line out from that, then you get whatever processing (eq probably) you normally have and he only needs to mix you like a keyboard player

Technically... the HD300 and HD400 do have MIDI; but it is only MIDI over USB so you would need an intermediate device to convert. I did skim the manual, saw the MIDI section and thought I had the details covered, but I will concede that unless you also add a device like this http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/usb-host.shtml (or a laptop) then it is more trouble than it is worth.

What about an HD300 in the FX - loop? Cheaper than M13 or even M9 and will give you Amp model as well for double amp without DSP Limit, Or an HD400 can give you 4CM between the units for both pre and post effects! Or HDPro via SPDIF for minimum AD/DA conversions

Steinberg is also a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha, same as Line 6 http://www.steinberg.net/en/company/aboutsteinberg.html

On a MIDI controller that is solely Patch Changes (such as the ancient but still working Roland FC-50 that I have) the last selected patch will have the LED lit. Which I think is what you are after. More modern programmable ones such as the Behringer FCB1010 the controller has the concept of a switch state that the LED reflects independent on anything that might have been triggered by it, so what it does is up to you and how you programmed it. The lights on the HD relate to the state of the first FX/Amp controlled by the Switch - so if it switches On/Off a Compressor and at the same time Off/On a Distortion, then if the Compressor is first in the chain then it will follow the compressor state but if the Distortion is first then it follows that. So you can control to an extent when the lights come on by juggling the order of Effects around. None of this relates to the MIDI output... if you want lights to change state then the switch has to also change an FX on the HD (even if that effect does nothing), but I cannot think of any way to get the HD lights to mimic the behaviour of the FC-50.

We L6 (User Forums) won't know until L6 makes an official announcement. L6 obviously know, but L6 employees will never post anything more than the vaguest hints because it is commercially sensitive Beta Testers who are testing it will also know (if it exists), but they will post no more than the L6 employees, and normally less because they have a gagging clause in the beta test agreement... and if you were testing such a device you wouldn't want to ruin that position would you. In fact the only chance I can see of getting any information is if somebody attends the "Open House" and happens to see something that they were not supposed to see... but even that information will be highly suspect; I mean would you know the difference between an HD500 prototype and an HD2000 prototype? It is very unlikely to have any useful markings on it!

Yes