wnxwakko

Assuming your only using the HD500 and Helix I would think you could get it to work. Helix as the master in sync clock options HD500 as slave and if your going out analog only after that. If you are chaining this with an audio interface essentially trying to SPDIF three devices then it will never work. You can't daisy chain SPDIF and that is just the way it is for any device which Line 6 has no control over. Would require a wordclock device in the mix to manage more than 2 devices and those are pricey but I am not sure if that is what you are doing in this case. Another thing to consider is the samplerate must be set identical on both devices, 44.1, 48 or 96.

Not familiar with the saffire but a quick search would say otherwise, http://global.focusrite.com/answerbase/how-do-i-use-the-spdif-inputs-and-outputs-on-the-saffire-or-scarlett

Clock timing is out of sync. On your audio interface you most likely need to change the clock source to the Helix vs having the audio interface as the master. Not sure what interface you have but for me the Presonus studio, I change the clock source from FireStudio - Master to FireStudio SPDIF, otherwise clicks will occur. Then restart your DAW after making the change if you are using one, otherwise if not you should be good as is.

For those who may complain that there are not enough cabs, let me point out that even other modelers that support cab IR's didn't have enough either. However it doesn't matter because there are plenty of 3rd party cabs out there many of which are more impressive that what comes with the Helix. Same has been the case with the AXE FX and Kemper and in fact most of those users turn to one of these most popular sites for cab variety and rarely use the stock cabs. These three below combined offer thousands and thousands of cab IR's, more than you probably know what to do with. http://www.ownhammer.com/ http://www.redwirez.com/ http://www.thecabfactory.com/ Do not discount the power of the cab and what you may not realize is that importing of cabs are one of the most powerful features added to the Helix which impacts overall tone. The most influence on your quality of tone will come from the cab and less from the amps. Amps will drive some of the tone and most so be more about gain breakup. When you realize this and start trying out 3 party IR's, your going to be blown away with your sound. I think this should be considered in overall reviews in how these cab IR's can take you to another level with the Helix. That's my 2 cents.

Personally I feel this is how these modelers will rank for the next year on quality and versatility. The Helix does make a huge step forward from the POD days. 1. Axe FX II 2. Helix 3. Kemper 4. POD HD 5. Eleven Rack 6. Everything else (Fender, Peavey, etc.) I think the most recent AXE FX firmware has pushed them forward in huge leaps compared to the past which will keep them at the top. Kemper has always been the device best to compare apples to apples to AXE FX but falls short in alot of cases and then comparing either with POD was more Apples to Oranges. While many die hard Axe FX users will remain loyal and those seeking pure and more precise tube amp modeling with seek out Axe FX, I feel that those considering a Kemper are more likely to get a Helix and be completely satisfied by their decision. Helix is easier to obtain price wise and what you get is substantial plus line 6 has always excelled with effects over everyone else. Kemper and Fractal may respond with a floor model that is equal or close to the Helix which could change the game again. Until then I think Helix moves to the #2 spot and they should be proud to get there. Whether they evolve it to get to #1 remains unseen and hopefully this isn't just a one hit single with only 1 FW update per year as we've seen with the POD which unfortunately would cause them to fall down the list in a year.

Again, Line 6 falls short and firmware updates should add more amps/cabs/effects on a regular basis. I am not saying they should change existing amps/cabs unless there is a bug so not to change your sound. What they should be doing is building on it and adding more amps/cabs/effects with each update. Monthly updates to keep adding all the configuration options people want. Line 6 stopped adding more a year ago, they haven expanded any options. Out of the 5 updates they provided since 2011, only 2 added anything new. Spider IV and POD X3 had only 1 update adding anything new and for the both of which I own and used. So to get anything new I had to buy yet another piece of equipment, POD HD which follows the same path. Maybe, just maybe they will add one more thing new to the POD HD, however seeing its aging now, most likely POD HD X is where the next update will be and might even be exclusive to that forcing everyone to buy yet more equipment. Each song might require a different amp/cab combination and so options are important. I don't spend hours tweaking my settings. I dial something up that sounds good in about 10 minutes, mixing/matching two amps and two different cabs and whatever effects I'm after. Record my song, then reamp via SPDIF in/out and make the necessary adjustments to make it sit well in the mix. If you want to reamp and maintain the best quality sound with almost no latency, you need both the In and the Out of SPDIF. The POD 500 doesn't give you that, so it requires the POD HD PRO which again, I've been comparing to. When I was looking to buy the POD HD Pro, I did alot of research. POD HD Pro = Single Processor / 25 Amps / 16 cabs / 2 chains, 8 effect blocks Eleven Rack = Single Processor / 26 Amps / 15 cabs / 1 chain, I believe its 11 effect blocks AXE FX II = Dual Processor / 94 Amps / 132 Cabs / 4 chains, 48 effect blocks I hope Line 6 reads posts like this and maybe it will trigger a discussion to improve on their strategy so more affordable gear can be released and lower prices. I would love to spend less money for a POD if it could deliver the versatility. If Line 6 would bring the device up to a decent par, I would trade in for it. Even if they released a new POD HD PROX with 10 new amps, I would be skeptical based on the track record with Spider and X3 but it would be a start. If they expanded the block chain and boosted the processors to handle it, I would buy in.

Line 6 should be pushing firmware updates once a month, but instead they are slowing steering loyal users to other products IMO. I've had Line 6 amps for several years but was disappointed with them all overtime because the updates never came, features they could easily add never happened, new sounds were never added which seemed to defeat the whole purpose of having a digital amp that let you update it. Why make an amp you can update with new stuff if your not going to update it. Last firmware update was a year ago for the POD and quite frankly that is sad. Line 6 should get with the program. Their guitars are probably nice, but that means being locked into equipment that's not going to be updated often. Line 6 is a bigger company and are more than capable of hiring say 3-5 good people on a team that do nothing but focus on modeling more amps/cabs/effects and pushing POD updates. Charge a little more for the equipment and they will get it if they did this. POD's are great for live playing, recording they are ok in a few genre categories but are limited in amp/cab/effect options and routing capabilities. The band "Yes" may be using the POD, but they are more outdated themselves than the POD so not a great example. In a recording situation which I am as a studio musician, the controller board isn't something I require and just for the record, the POD HD Pro doesn't come one either which I was making my comparison to. I would love to see Line 6 refocus themselves on their POD's because if they did, I think they could take over. Sadly they stopped short.

I still come here because I have other Line 6 equipment. I just cant help myself when I see these kinds of posts. Believe me, I don't work for them, everything I've said is true and I'm just a new fan of them. My points are that maybe others will see the light. I honestly didn't even know about AXE FX II until I read it in another post in this forum, so I thank this forum for that insight.

I remember wishing for all of this. I wanted to get the POD HD PRO. I even ordered when it was on back order and then I realized, Line 6 has no interest in putting any programmers into these. They are sold as is with no upgrades in sight. So I saved a bit more and bought the AXE FX II for a major price. Made in the USA it says on the back, not China and the sound will blow your mind. Dual processor, firmware updates weekly, more amps, cabs and configuration possibilities than the Line 6, Eleven and whatever else is out there combined. Yup expensive but it was so worth it I don't regress missing meals to pay for it.

Well its been real, its been fun as short lived as I was here. I canceled my POD HD PRO that was on back order with Guitar Center for the last several weeks with a future date so far out that it just didn't sit well with me. During this time and it was a lot of time, I watched lots of videos and read many reviews and the delay and lack of stock gave me time to reconsider my purchase in every respect. I took the plunge, sold my first born and just now ordered an Axe FX II which I will have in hand later this week. If Line 6 had kept the stock up or at least let us know about what and when we could expect the new release if that's even happening, I would have bought a new POD. I'll guess Ill be hanging out at the Fractal forums very soon.

I don't know who invented patience, but whoever it was never gave me any ;) 5 weeks on backorder so far, now this change, no clue if the PRO will be upgrade soon because Line 6 wont tell us anything and if I have to wait months I don't know if I will be able to keep this cash in my pants. I'm stir crazy and the doc said if I don't snap out if it, he might have to sedate me. I've even gone to an extreme of rationalizing if I sold my first born, ate Ramen noodles for a month, I might just order the Axe FX II and be broke and happy. LOL.

Any idea if there will be an upgraded POD HD PRO as well? I'm still sitting on a backorder of that and have been considering canceling the order given this possibility.

So my backorder of the POD HD PRO was just pushed out another month making this a total of 2 months backordered. It was, Order Now! Expected to ship 07-09-2013 Now its, Order Now! Expected to ship 08-07-2013 It is very upsetting that GC and MF wont get this in for so long. They give the nice 15% discounts so not looking to pay full price in a few other places who do have it in stock. I am hoping this is because a new version is coming soon because if its not I wont be happy to have waited this long. I guess we shall see. Eleven Rack is starting to look good now.

My opinion is the reason why people buy the POD HD, Eleven, Axe-Fx II for recording scenarios is to relieve pressure on the PC running the DAW. Digitech, Roland, Boss, Fender and Peavey have hardware modeling however I'm not interested in playing music of the past decades so those are out. Fact is even with power PC builds, stacking effects with multiple tracks eventually creates CPU problems or latency issues that we don't want especially if you start adding in synthesizer forget about keeping optimized without jumping through hoops which just kills my creativity. It doesn't matter how good of a software VST modeler a company makes, I wont use it primarily because of those reasons. So unless Ampltube or Revalver come out with a decent hardware modeler or average PC's get twice as powerful in a hurry, its not going to overtake these current products. Now the real competition would be the company that creates the hardware modeler that can match these others out of the box and allow you to install any VST you want continuing in additional to keep that separation from the PC. Now there is the Receptor which accomplishes this feat somewhat, however its $2000 not including the cost of your VST's to load into it. That puts it out of the mainstream price range. So we end up back to the Eleven Rack and POD HD as the only products within the mainstream budget. Of course this is my opinion and maybe I'm in the minority.

Could be that the page is not being indexed in the search database intentionally based on site settings or MF is playing a cruel practical joke and rolling over in their chairs pointing and laughing.

I wonder if this also means there will be a POD HD PROX as well? I have a POD HD PRO on backorder currently and perhaps I should just cancel that? Might save me the trouble of returning it within 30 days anyway if they issue a new release of the Pro. I certainly hope they do.