PeterHamm

Change to mic level for those and see if it sounds better. It does for me to my FRFR. You will get the most out of ANY piece of gear running it's output at max volume without clipping. Always. But if there's a line mic mismatch, that will not help.

I had already divested myself of everything except a Strobostomp 2 (needed for setting intonation on BFTS guitars), but since I got Helix, I've added a Mel9 and a POG2. They'll never model a Mel9 I bet, and a POG2 is probably so resource-heavy that I'd end up wanting an external one anyway. For the ambient stuff I often need for worship, the combo of those two in addition to the Helix is just extraordinary.

This. So. much. this. Plus, it's fun to get the firmware update message and find out you have a new amp you DREAMED of having in the box that you didn't know was coming (Matchless anyone?) Thankfully, this seems, at this point, to be the main thrust of these updates. I will say this, though. I've used some beta builds in the past few months that had bugs that y'all never saw, and they were STILL solid enough to gig with, and I did. So... there's that...

That's how I would expect it to behave, logically speaking. I hate to say this... but... Save up for Control. Using the rack without it is, imho, miserable. At least two Line 6ers are on record as saying they wished they could have packaged it so you CAN'T get the Rack without Control. Not only what it does now, but what new features are to come will be tightly integrated with Control. It will just frustrate you long-term.

If you are going to go to FOH direct, you really want a trustworthy FRFR monitor to use for monitoring and for making patches. If you are going to mic that guitar cabinet, get one of the aforementioned power amps.

I also use VERY few patches. When I first got Helix, I made 4 or more patches for each guitar. As I learned its workflow, I realized I didn't need that. Now, maybe only two.

I am sure they are working hard on this. There are a couple things (don't recall now) that I find either wanting on the Editor or just so much easier on the unit that I wouldn't ordinarily bother trying on the Editor. With the rack, it doesn't matter, because I can sit up at the unit without bending over all the time (although I have to if I want to use the touch sensitive footswitches, of course...)

Me, too. I just coil up the extra.

They had removed the thing where if you hold a certain button combination you get a video of Eric Klein laughing at you... I hope they put that back in...

Nope, to be honest, the only way I know is what I read here. I don't know about dates for release. They've never told me anything until a day or two, sometimes only hours, before actually releasing it. And occasionally, we've only had the software for a couple days (like the firmware that had the Matchless) before it went live. As far as telling people, let's say for instance that the next firmware update included MIDI note tracking (for the record, I'm reasonably sure this will never be part of Helix, so that's why I used this example). From a marketing perspective, splashing it out there is way more of a "WOW" moment than announcing it ahead of time.

automate patch changes? You can't automate tempo remotely yet. It doesn't see the incoming tempo.

+1,000,000. Of course, as a beta tester, I agreed to a certain amount of instability 6 months ago, but... I will offer this. Even though I am often running a beta FW, I haven't had to roll back to a previous version for my church's weekend services at all. So even the stuff that is buggier than y'all see is stable enough for my "real-job work".

You don't want them to make promises they can't keep, and you don't want them to rush it. Anybody who says they know when it's coming doesn't know or is violating an NDA. Anybody who knows something is under NDA or has the good sense (or job responsibility) to keep their mouths shut. They have said they want to have the next FW update out by summer NAMM.

This is not something that needs to be re-engineered. The 25' VDI cable from Line 6 works fantastically and is only 30 bucks.

Well, remember that the Rack and Floor share an architecture, so you see all that extra space...? It doesn't exist on Control. There's that, too. It would be extra characters that you can't see on Control. That wouldn't be so great. One more thing, you need to see that name at a glance. If it's too long, it takes too long to sort through preset names between songs during a show.

I have found devices with XLR outputs to be problematic for decades, except mics, mixers and snakes. I have found that using a 1/4" output through a decent DI (mine is a 40-year old IMP3) is very stable, sounds just as good, and gives me impedance adjustments and ground lift possibilities with just a flick of a switch. Never used the XLR outs in POD HD 500 either. I'd use them in the studio definitely, but there are too many unpredictable things live.

for the record, the unbalanced 1/4" output through a DI to the board sounds IDENTICAL to my ears to the XLR output.

The best solution is always one that sounds a lot like the PA you'll be playing through.

I've heard from more than one person that the Dragster is all snake oil, though... jus' throwin' that out there.

You have to ask, though, if one of the built-in fuzzes won't just work better. This is a limitation of every modeler I've encountered that has a loop, but really only with fuzz (which I don't use anyway).

Stick with setlist and individual patches. Please. The bundle is a waste of time, because if you re-set all your globals each time, the factory patches change anyway and your bundle is worthless.

Best clean boost I've found is the Klon with the Gain all the way down.

first time most (all?) of us ever heard what we're trying to imitate...

Again, I don't use fuzz regularly, but in my experience, nothing but an actual cable will do. but, I also dislike wireless for electric guitar anyway. a Lot.

And even if you are careful about impedance and try different things... don't necessarily expect fuzz to work quite right. Then again, I never use fuzz anyway...