codamedia

That is what happens when you "touch and hold" a footswitch for a couple seconds. If you are not doing that... try turning off the "capacitive swtiches" in the global settings to see if the problem goes away. If it does - then the capacitive switches are over reacting and triggering when they shouldn't. I've seen this happen in different environments... I tend to turn those on when editing the machine, but turn them back off for gigs. I hate it when they trigger unexpectedly.

The Helix Loop is not part of the amp emulation, it is it's own separate block. It can be placed before an amp block, or after an amp block - but it does not separate the PRE/Power section of an amp model.... if that is what you are asking. Are you looking to just get the "power amp model" of an amp on a Helix? If so, those are not available as separate blocks, they are only part of the "amp model" and "amp/cab model".

USB 3 has been a buggy rollout in the industry... now years in the making and still not perfected. With a USB 3 device there are no issues (or very few issues), but there are countless USB 2 devices that fail to work reliably in a USB 3 port and the HD500(x) is a USB 2 device. I suspect it will work fine if you connect it to a USB 2 port... that is where I would start anyway. good luck

As far as I know, the screen color cannot be changed for snapshots as they do with the stomps. I believe the LED rings can be changed but I tend to stay with defaults so I've never tried.

Here is a list of options for Variax inputs that will still work with the 300 and Workbench... XT Live X3 Live X3 Pro HD 500 (NOT the 300, 400 or 500x) HD Pro (Not the HD Pro X) IMO... If it is not going to a stage I'd look at finding a used X3 Pro if I were you.

Where are you located? If in the US, open a support ticket, return the unit to L6 and they'll send you a screened/good unit. If you are not in the US (like me) it's much more convoluted... my back and forth between L6 and my store/supplier for months had good intentions but got me nowhere with the problem. I ended up swapping it out and upgrading to a Helix LT. Adapters? Again, where are you located? My HX Effects power supply looked like the picture below.... 9vDC, 3amp. Very clunky, but I never worried about it's durability.

IMO... the LT has something over it's big brother. I find the re-purpose of the main screen much nicer than scribble strips... not to mention there are less screens to screw up! EG: The LT screen (in performance view) is far easier to read than scribble strips on a bright sunny stage! As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong)... the Helix floor does not get performance view as an option on the screen.

^^^ this ^^^ Or, in preferences you can set the "bank up/down" to operate as "preset up/down".... Or. you can set set "bank up/down" to operate as "snapshot up/down" and leave the preset page in tact. Lot of options... find one that works for you.

That's the test.... I'm glad somebody else posted it :) Every single HX Effects (newer serial number and older serial numbers) I have tested in my local store exhibited a 10db - 12db increase in white noise with this test... which is unacceptable in my opinion. The Helix LT they had in the store did NOT do this....

The same reverb sounds.... no! Great reverb sounds.... yes! You can use the same principle as the video with the HD500 to create a parallel path for the reverb (and extras) and through some tweaking you can get some great tones. However, the Helix has reverb models that are not available in the HD500.... yes, the Helix has all the HD500 reverbs as well, but the HD500 does not have the Helix reverbs. Also important to note is the horsepower of the Helix... it can do a lot more than the HD500 can, and has a lot more effect blocks than the HD500 does. To get the same lush reverbs you may use up all of the horsepower on the HD500 while the Helix is just idling and has plenty of power left for the other tasks.

I think you need to figure out if it is a computer issue, an HD500x issue, or a USB (communication) issue. Take the time to program the unit directly. Do not connect USB, just play and program the unit itself. Don't do this for 5 minutes.... do it for a few days. If the unit is freezing... you have found your problem. Time for service If the unit works as it should, move on. Open HD Edit in OFFLINE mode and make some patches. If Edit is freezing, you have a computer issue. Not necessarily HD Edit, it could be your computer or a computer component on it's way out. If Edit works as it should, move on If you go this far, I'm thinking it's a communication error. It could be the computer, it could be the USB Cable, it could be the HD500x. Try a different cable Try different ports... not just one, but many different ports If you have a lot of USB devices connected... remove the unnecessary ones to make sure they are not interfering Do you have a 2nd computer you can try? Desktop, laptop, doesn't matter. Do you know anyone with an HD500 or 500x? If so, get them to bring it over and try it? Do you have another Line 6 device you can hook up to the computer? If so, try communicating with that. Good luck... this stuff can be a real pain.

He's a great player... fabulous tones. Sounds like a VIBE or ROTARY subtly set and fairly quick... Most lay those effects on thick (even Doyle), but not this solo.

The stomp is designed to go head to head with the extremely popular Eventide H9... and it has the goods to do that... with some extras. It does't matter what a Helix user believes is enough or not.... the Helix user is not the intended market.

When you say "turn on the Freqout pedal".... do you mean turn on the LOOP that includes that pedal.... if so, welcome to the club of noticing this... it's not the pedal! Or do you mean the LOOP is always on and you are manually engaging the pedal which adds the noise.... if so, then my post may not apply! I just finished going round and round with L6 support about LOOPS/RETURNS prior to a distortion block on the HX Effects. If you try to use a LOOP (or a RETURN) prior to "certain" distortion blocks it can be very noisy.... like somebody turning on a tap. They insist that this is normal, but I have never owned a product with an effects loop that does this... including my old X3 and HD500. It's not a DB or two which I would consider normal, it's 10+db in noise increase. It's not the pedal in the loop... it's not the loop... and it's not the distortion block you use. It's a combination of Loop/Return followed by certain Distortion blocks. As you have found, the solution is to put distortion blocks ahead of the Loop... or try changing the distortion block used... they don't all react to the loop in the same way. It's not a solution, but it is a work around.

If you are an HX Effects owner, this update is extremely important. IMO... I couldn't care less about new features until the bugs are corrected and this update seems to have delivered!

Thanks for the input everyone... you have confirmed my notions on how it all operated. I am very familiar with all of this. I currently have a very modular rig. At times I run direct into my amp with my HX Effects and a few extras... but other times I go direct to FOH (monitors, FRFR, etc... etc..) with a combination of my HD500 and HX Effects. I'm very comfortable with any style of setup and have the necessary amp / speaker setups to accommodate each.

The Helix LT is $1500 here in Canada, just $500 less than the full blown Helix and still double the price of an HX Effects or HX Stomp. Just because a handfull of I/O's have been removed doesn't make the unit any less powerful than it's big brother.... I would still consider it a flagship. Not to mention, it is pretty much the same size and weight as a Helix which is a problem for some users. This is something I fully understand.... but they could have if they wanted to :) (eg: TRS Returns like the sends are done would have provided the necessary real estate) I'm not stupid... I know that L6 has a plan and a VDI port was likely discussed several times in R&D meetings. I just find it odd that a company doesn't provide more options for one of their own products. Not including a VDI port on the Stomp or Effects won't hurt those product sales, but it certainly doesn't generate any Variax interest or sales!

I'm looking at moving from an HX Effects to the Helix LT .... Can anyone who owns a HELIX LT or someone who is quite familiar with it please confirm if I have the concept correct regarding the screen views and modes. 1: Performance View displays what is on the footswitches... essentially taking the place of the scribble strips on the Big Helix. Is this correct? 2: If I setup the preset view to display snapshots instead.... does the mode toggle between snapshot mode (view) and stomp mode (view)? 3: If setup this way... can I assign the "up/down" switches to patches rather than banks? 4: Alternatively.... if I leave the "up/down" set to banks, will touching one of those momentarily bring up the "patches" on the switches/screen... returning to snapshot mode (view) after choosing a new preset. Please refrain from telling me to get the full Helix :) The Scribble Strips mean nothing to me on my HX Effects and I don't need the additional I/O. Besides, here in Canada, it's a $650 difference for those features I don't require.

That's good to hear... I was wondering about that. For me this is very similar to how I program the HX Effects... 95% on the unit, then I use the editor for mass naming updates only.

This is a fabulous looking product, but once again LINE 6 loyalists that have bought into the Variax products still have ZERO options other than the flagship models if they want to take full advantage of their guitars features. The lack of a VDI port is very disappointing.

M-Audio EX-P... it's the equivalent build of an EV-5 at a fraction of the price with more features. 1: Set it to M-Audio Mode 2: Jumper the 1K resistor in the unit... just put a wire across the resistor. This is ONLY required if you want to allow the pedal to reach a "0 state".... but since you want to use the MIN setting, you most likely won't need to do it. Although that pedal works with it's minimum value.... why? Effectively, you are now limiting the expression pedals range... which completely defeats the purpose of the MIN/MAX values you can customize in each and every preset. You are forever fixed with the MIN setting on the expression pedal and will NEVER reach a true minimum regardless of your settings on the HX. This can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration when you are attempting to reach a value "lower" than the pedals min state is set for. The only reason I can possibly think of is that you want to change the min values on the fly without editing the unit. There is yet another caveat. This will all work when you have the EXP input set to global mode, but if you are set to preset or snapshot mode it will become even more unpredictable since changing presets (or snapshots if set that way) will take on an initial value until you move the pedal... which could jump dramatically.

Global settings > Switches > Stomp Mode The previous owner must have changed this to 4 button mode.... you will want to set it back to the default settings which is 6 buttons in stomp mode.

If you want to keep the stomp as a full I/O you will need to use the loop(s) and those will take up blocks which will limit your options. If you want to retain as many blocks as possible from the Stomp, you will need to begin the chain with your EM drive, then end the chain with the El Capistan and Big Sky... putting the stomp between them. There is no limit to how many external pedals you chain up... it's just a matter of whether or not you can place them in your preferred location in the chain without running out of blocks.

A 20K cut does not mean everything above 20K is removed and every below it remains... There are a number of ways cuts are implemented... the most common is a slope. Without knowing the details of the cut (or putting it on an analyzer) one can only guess. (two different EQ's can have two completely different slopes) Let's assume a 12db cut at 20K for these examples. If the cut begins at 2/3's of an octave, the slope will begin around 12K until it reaches the full 12db cut at 20K (2/3 octave slope is very common) It the cut begins at 1 octave, the slope will begin around 10K If the cut begins at 2 octaves, the slope will begin around 5k At 20 years old you are not likely to hear a full 20K... 16k is more realistic. BUT... if you understand how the slope works, you will definitely hear the high end beginning to roll off because it's likely starting at 12K. If it's a 2 octave slope, even the oldest and most tired ears will notice the roll off beginning at 5K. Summary: You need to know 3 numbers to know what is happening with a filter. 1: The frequency 2: The amount of cut 3: The slope ratio. When you don't know one or more of these numbers it really does become a matter of "twist the knobs until it sound good" :) There is nothing wrong with that, you don't need to know what spices were used for something to taste good :)

My understanding is that the TRS provides two independent sends... one on the TIP the other on the RING. I think you can tie them as a "stereo" send if you choose, or run them individually as part of "loop 1" and "loop2" or "send 1" and "send 2". I'm sure they would have liked to have provided 2 1/4" outs for the sends, but they are packing a lot of stuff into this little package and using a TRS gave them the ability to keep it to one jack.