codamedia

You are using a fixed power amp and cabinet.... that means you need to turn off the cab modeling in the Helix. Cab/mic modeling into a real cab is NOT a good starting point. It may work when someone is really knowledgeable about what they are after, but the general rule is to turn it off! Relying on factory presets is futile at best, but the majority of those will have cabinets loaded. When creating presets just add a "preamp" or "amp"... do not add "amps+cab" When editing others presets, replace the "amp+cab" with a "preamp" or "amp". (If the preset has separate amp & cab blocks, just remove the cab block) NOTE: When doing presets without cabs, going direct or using headphones will not be a good idea.

Place two Deluxe Reverbs amps (without cabs) in parallel with each other. Have one block loaded with the normal channel, and the other loaded with the vib channel. Load the cabinet separately after the merge block so it is shared. Sure... that means the power amp is not shared but that's really not that important. There is a reason for that. On most real BF/SF Fenders the two channels are out of phase with each other.... that made them impractical to jump without modding one of the channels so it never was very common. Real Marshalls didn't have that same problem so the jumped sound became part of Marshall's history.

Use your imagination when setting things up... it's very flexible. You can change on/off states & parameters, just as you can with a standard footswitch. Keep in mind, parameters can only be changed by a single controller... eg: if a parameter is already adjusted by a snapshot, it can't be adjust again by the footswitch. If you get a footswitch with LED's... retaining LED status can be tricky between snapshots. The FS may look like it's on, but the new snap may have reloaded some settings/positions. I approached it differently. I bought a BOSS FS-6, then wired a 10K resistor across the R/S (ring/sleeve) of the TRS cable. This gave me one F/S that acts as a footswitch (I use it to toggle between stomp modes) and the other acts as a fixed expression pedal. The latter is my "boost"! It increases the output gain by 2.5db and subtlety adjust a few other parameters. Since I set my "EXP input" as global - the LED on the boss always stays lined up with the changes they make in the preset.

This is true if the footswitch gets it's power from the device/cable... Some third party footswitches (eg: The FS-6) use a battery for the LED's

Double check the presets on your Helix and make sure the input is set accordingly. That has caught me several times. For full Variax operation that needs to be set to "Variax" or "Multi".

FWIW... I use a BOSS FS-6 with my HX Stomp. Rock solid... doesn't budge!

Which Helix Native meter are you referring to... there are two which help in getting the gain staging accurate within the plugin. Adjust the level controls as needed to get the right values on the meters, don't just set them to 0 and hope for the best. I like to set my input level on Native around -18/-20... hard hits would push it to about -12. Set like this I find Native reacts similar to my LT with the same preset. Next, gain stage the plugin as you add/remove blocks) until the output meter is very similar. I'm not familiar with Main Stage so I don't know what your meter options are... but I can say that "Dbfs" will be very different from any "K metering" when referring to numbers only. I honestly don't care about getting a match in numbers here... I just make sure I'm not peaking anything. You are not mentioning what you use for an interface. If you have the option, set the input you use to "Instrument" or "High Impedance". That will load down your pickup in a more familiar way than LINE or a Mic Pre will.

There is nothing wrong with posting the request on ideascale, but that comment is a little extreme isn't it? I would think that all those people that do use the unit professionally would disagree with this! Whenever I see this argument I wonder how a guitar player cannot find 500ms to stop playing between songs, or even within a song if they ever "needed" to change a preset.

It could be many things... Have you worked with the sound tech about the problem? If the volume is changing in your "in-ears", then it's changing at the FOH as well, and in everyone else's mix. You would not be the only person to notice it. Is it your entire "in-ear mix" or just your "guitar" in the mix? You are not saying how the in-ear mix is provided. If it's from FOH... if a tech is playing with your trim/gain control at the console, it is going to affect your mix. This can also happen with dedicated monitor boards that don't have proper isolation splits. Here is something I've learned the hard way many years ago. If you are using the volume pedal, remember it is light sensitive. If light is creeping into the the Helix it will affect volume. I had the problem more with direct sunlight on festival stages, but I would think a venue with a bright light coming in from the wrong angle (periodically coming on/off) would also cause the problem. (note: I use an LT, I'm not sure if this problem exists with a full Helix or not).

FWIW... the entire focus feature drove me crazy. "Global > Footswitches > Stomp Select > OFF". Focus stays on the block I set it to when saved... crisis averted when something doesn't "look right" at an inopportune time. I know that does not solve your problem, I'm just saying that entire feature.... when toggling between two effects on one switch, never worked as I expected it to. I don't change anything on the fly so disabling the feature serves me well.

Not sure why that would seem weird? When MAC or Microsoft updates their OS they change things.... developers are forced to update/change along with them and are given "x amount of time" to do so. I've certainly seen my share of software drop dead with OS updates over the years. I doubt Line 6 is planning on abandoning HX Native and HX Edit on a MAC at this time. Open a support ticket with Line 6 and ask them if they are working on an update. I have a hunch they are quite aware of this.

I was actually wondering what "midi damper pedal" you had found since you had referenced midi values. The DP10 is just a two stage momentary.... that will not work with the Helix, and will only work with specific subset of gear, primarily certain Roland pieces. It really will give you the flexibility you are looking for. For a controlled sweep an EXP is required - the trick is merely to get it to return which (with that video) is much easier than I thought it would be.

IF you can find one, they are still fixed CC's, not sweeping. It would DROP the pitch, then return it - you will not have control (with foot) at how fast the pitch drops. If the effect you are using in the helix has a way to vary the drop speed, that is your only hope. I'd recommend buying a spring loaded expression pedal. Also hard to find, but that would give you the control you really require. Or, buy any cheap expression pedal and do this remarkably simple mod. (it doesn't have to be the expensive expression pedal in the video)

What damper pedal are you looking at? In my experience, the pedal itself does NOTHING.... the functionality is built into the keyboard or device. SUSTAIN and DAMPER pedals are simple ON/OFF momentary switches which won't do anything on a Helix - although it can be programmed to do something on an HX Stomp. If you wire a 10K resistor into the damper/sustain pedal... VOILA! The Helix comes alive using it as a 2nd (or 3rd) expression pedal with a fixed value! You just need to know what you want to control with it.

As stated above already... a real VOX gets it's dirt/drive/character from the power amp section... therefore the pre-amp alone will not give you that tone. Some amps get their character from the pre-amp, some from the power-amp, some from a combination of both. To complicate matters further, the "standard" speaker option is often another huge factor in an amps tone. EG: Place a bluebell/silverbell cabinet on a Fender Deluxe... the deluxe starts to sound surprisingly like a VOX.