codamedia

If you are not comfortable, take it to an electronics tech. If you have a Line 6 service tech in the area that is best... if not, any electronics tech can take a look. I'd be starting at the power supply area... it would be separate from the main board(s). The visual of the entire machine never hurts. If you smell something... then something is likely burnt so you should be able to find it. If it's in the power supply it's usually a fairly easy fix.... if it's on one of the boards, not so much.

The stocks cabs are a series of IR's.... so changing the mics, or their positions would be loading new IR's. Selecting the same snapshot is doing a full reset on that snapshot. It is still probably unloading/loading the right IR. Makes sense. If the assignments still exist, it is still loading/unloading that IR in the background even if the block is bypassed. If you have DSP available... reposition some blocks and load a couple different cab blocks. Turning them on/off as needed "shouldn't" create a gap... it's just the initial loading that does. That may require some juggling... as I think you can only get 1 stereo cab block on each path... but I'm not positive about that.

So you are changing the mic selection in snapshots? That makes sense as that would be unloading, then loading a new IR. I am still using IR blocks in my live presets and I swap IR's in snapshots and it also produced a tiny gap.... but I would expect as such.

I would run two EQ's on this one.... First a corrective EQ to lower/tame the high end. Cut highs until it sounds more natural. Get the tone as close to "right" as possible before applying anything else. Then I would put it through the Studio Pre, then a light compression (Studio Comp or Rochester), then through a secondary EQ for further tone shaping if required. Finally... season it with a little reverb to your liking.

You are not missing anything.... @rd2rk was right in his initial response. There are no "external footswitch inputs" on the Floor or LT. The STOMP and STOMP XL were released later, and L6 added the external footswitch input option to those. I have yet to see a firmware update add it to the larger units. (by now I suspect it's because the initial design did not allow for it) The floor has two additional EXP inputs, and the LT has one additional EXP input. I have a latching footswitch that I wired a 10K resistor across. This turns the footswitch into a "heel down / toe down" expression pedal. I connect that to EXP 2 on my LT and it opens a world of assignments... but is still limited to what an EXP can be assigned to.

I don't have my rig here to walk you through the steps, but YES - you can switch models on the Variax via snapshots. I don't own a Power Cab so I don't know about that. In the Helix PRESET, locate the VARIAX settings. Make sure the "MODEL" is assigned to Snapshot control (you need to see brackets around it) and save the model with each snapshot. Tuning also applies per snapshot if you want it to.

I'd go with a JTM45 and push it with a mild fuzz as needed. I can't suggest a particular fuzz as I don't use them myself.

Excellent.... I know you questioned me, but that is exactly what I wanted you to do... it's part of troubleshooting! If the VARIAX tuning knob works fine when using the 1/4" cable then the guitar itself is stable. That means the problem would the communication between the Helix and Variax... or the Helix itself. If that solved your problem... there is no muddle. The helix is a computer... sometimes something can become corrupt and a reset is needed. I would not worry about this at all unless it returns quickly and/or repeatedly.

Have you determined if this is a Helix issue or a Variax issue? That's the first step! If using the VDI cable, remove it for now and just use a 1/4". Go through your requires presets on the Variax, and determine if the guitar is STABLE on it's own! What Variax model are you using? If the guitar is stable... then it may be helix settings. DId you do an update recently... if so, did you restore your global settings? The Helix > Variax can get really unpredictable if the snapshot options are not set as expected. Recall vs discard behaviors are very different from each other.

HX Edit is probably an older version. When you open HX Edit and you are connected to the hardware, the screen shows the HARDWARE version number. To see the version number of HX Edit you need to go to "Help > About HX Edit" Then it pops up a window showing the HX Edit version.... it needs to be equal, or greater than the hardware version. If you have updated HX Edit and the new amps/effects are not showing up... then the opposite has happened. You didn't update the hardware!

If you never use your tap/tempo for anything, including tuning...... you could create a midi loop and program the button with a midi send. Setup a cable between the MIDI IN & OUT, carefully set the channels to avoid unwanted midi messaging, then discretely set the tap tempo button to send the "preset up" message back to the helix. This change is NOT GLOBAL on the button... you need to program it in every preset! I repurposed my tap tempo for a while via midi, it worked fine but it wasn't worth it because you had to program it on every preset. Also... even though your tuner could be accessed, it will always trigger the MIDI action as well. I don't need confusion on stage!

The volume pedal block has an option for "linear" and "audio/log" taper. Try both settings to see if that helps. Der Lautstärkepedalblock verfügt über eine Option für „lineare“ und „Audio/Log“-Verjüngung. Probieren Sie beide Einstellungen aus, um zu sehen, ob das hilft.

That defeats most of the original intent of the tube screamer. (just sayin) There is no shortage of pedals based on TS circuits out there that have already done this, and one of those may already be added to the Helix. It's not something I've dug into simply because I have no interest, but I know many people are.

Not sure about where you are, but where I live I can pickup a used Windows 10 laptop for dirt cheap and could be used for a lot more than just HX edit.... moving forward you may find you will need it more and more. Even then... Microsoft moves the goal posts even further on Oct 14th 2025 when they drop support for Windows 10. NOTE: I'm not suggesting you move your stable studio setup to a cheap windows 10 laptop... I'm suggesting you use it for the things your old machine isn't allow to do anymore.

You are correct... the HX Effects is not an interface and cannot be used as one. To record it you need an interface... simply plug the outputs of the HX Effects into the inputs on the interface.