PeterHamm

I have. They never belly ache about tuning. They just do it and get on.

Or maybe some are musicians or players... and some are just measurebaters... (just kidding... sorta...)

Simple. Use mono FX whenever possible. Learn to use both paths, 1 and 2. Don't expect to be able to use 4 amps and loads of FX. You should be fine.

I tested when I first got it and found that if you use the same settings, the amp + appropriate cab and teh amp+cab are identical, and the latter, to me, is not worth messing with.

Wow, this morning, my buddy and I both used our Helices in Church. We were both in tune with the rest of the band... Wow... how did THAT happen... B)

Dan Burgess makes exactly what you want. http://this1smyne.com/shop/me-mini-expression-pedal/

Fortunately, it's not a bug, it's simply a lack of a feature.

If I understand it correctly, from least to most... Single Cab -> Imported IR -> Dual Cab

Try the built in cabs as DUAL cabs before spending money... Jus' sayin'... and ribbon mics? OH yeah...

OP. Your idea is simply brilliant. Try it and let us know how it goes!

I found that the simplest thing was just to dime the level and use a DI box. The difference in sound between a short guitar cable from the 1/4" output to a DI Box to an XLR cable... and using the XLR outputs... is nil as far as I can hear, and the whole thing behaves more predictably. ymmv of course, but that's what I've found to work.

I can't IMAGINE using the rack without Control. If there is ANY way you can swing getting one, I would. It will work totally seamlessly in ways that make your whole workflow a LOT easier.

I answered a post on the fb forum and thought it would be useful here. Tips I've learned form using Helix for 4 and a half months. 1. Separate your amp and cab... every time... so you can put delays "in the loop" if you want. The Z Amp + a Z Cab, for instance, sounds the same as a Z Amp+Cab. There is no advantage to NOT separating the cab. And the spring verb and opto trem and imho the delays sound better between the amp and the cab. 2. Try dual cabs and ribbon mics. Make one close and one further away. I like it way better than third party IRs myself. 3. Run delays in parallel, not series. You might like that better. 4. Figure out how your pedal board works for you and set it the same basic way on every single patch. EVERY ONE! 5. Don't use Pitch FX after the amp. It won't track well. 6. Try the Matchless. Thank me later. 7. 10-footswitch mode. Seriously. 8. Get an extra EXPedal. Or two... 9. Set a footswitch so that it goes between clean and dirty versions of the same amp. Voila, two patches in one. For extra fun, have one cabinet for clean and one for dirty. Also, you might want the delay mix different on clean vs. dirty. 10. You probably don't need "ambiance" reverb, because the room you play in (if you're live) is probably verb-ey enough, so save the horsepower Special FX verb is another story. 11. Name your patches something that tells you, at a glance, what's in them. For instance, one of mine is T_MZ4_Uv_Mel9. That's a patch for my tele into a Matchless with both a Z and a 4x10 cab, Univibe, and Mel9 in one of the loops. I don't list the delays because I have similar delays on every patch, same with special FX verb. 12. Mess with the Leslies (especially the Fender and the 145) but make sure you turn the amp cab OFF when using the Leslie effect. Bonus: make a footswitch available to change speed from fast to slow and back. Got some useful tips? Add them!

I have a rack. I love it. unless you know, and I mean KNOW... for sure... the reasons you need or want the rack... ...get the floor. You save money and get the same functionality plus a built-in expression pedal.

heck, you could probably do both at the same time! I do two voice on almost every patch!

Dial back the IR or eliminate it with Variax acoustics. A bunch of guys have found that those models don't need and might sound worse with acoustic IRs.

everything in one preset. One I just made that I will probably use a LOT gives me... acoustic, with or without 2 different delays... and electric where I can go clean, crunch (change amp and delay parameters), more crunch (Timmy), and add delay (which is less prominent when I go crunch). AND I have another signal chain with my Mel9 in it if I want to add some synth-ey goodness... AND I have a footswitch that makes the electric signal full wet on particle verb (and some octo) so that I can have a HUGE synth, either behind the acoustic or by itself.

Matchless is, to me, great for everything from really clean to really gain-ey. I use Ch 1 or Jump mostly (Jump gets from totally clean ch 1 to full on gain ch 2 and both at the same time.) https://pietrosquared.wordpress.com/helix-2-voice-guitar/ The third video down. There are links in the article to patches. That patch has a signal chain for acoustic guitar (at the same time) you can either delete or just ignore.

Here's what we DO know, btw... Frank has posted that pic of the "Amp Modeling in Progress" sign on the door at L6 a number of times since the last new amps (Matchless) appeared. So... there's SOMETHING in the pipeline. What and when? We don't know. And I can tell you that we beta guys don't find out much before you all do. We had the Matchless only a few days before y'all (and now it's practically the only amp I use anymore...)

What you want to do is going to be super easy. There are a BUNCH of ways to do it, including L6 Link to the DT amp. You will, obviously, HAVE to use a VDI cable, not a standard guitar cable, to go from Variax to Helix.

I suspect it would be way more than 500. They'd have to include features broad enough to widen the appeal as much as possible... MIDI controllers like this are a niche market, keeping final cost to the customer up... I think it's a GREAT idea. But maybe not in L6's wheelhouse. If they ended up making it for 700 or 800 bucks, I wonder how many would sell...

If you MUST have those amps, then it's the wrong product for you. It's not like the Kemper where you can download new amps (maybe that's the way you should go). It's more like the Fractal in that you have to wait for the company to make the amp for it. That said, I would bet some of those amps that are "no use to you" might get the tones you are looking for.

Wow, I REALLY don't think so. All due respect... You're asking them to put WAY more in there than you're asking them to take out. Adding MIDI and USB functionality like that? You think that would somehow cost less? And... I doubt that very many are going to want the EXPs removed... and the display not being there? makes little sense to most rack users live who don't have the rack right in front of them but do have Control. It wouldn't cost any less because of the small quantities of people who would buy it.

You can only add an external EXP with a toe switch to the Rack version of Helix, and the only one that exists is the Mission Engineering one. If you have a Helix floor, the EXP already has a toe switch. You have to lean pretty hard on it to activate it though. You might have missed it.

1. Only you can decide, but most people here probably prefer Helix. imho, it works like this: Helix pluses - multiple amps/paths/inputs, easy UI and workflow, 4 FX loops (or two stereo), extreme flexibility. AX8 pros: sheer number of FX and amps (HUNDREDS of 'em), maturity of modeling technology, Axe Edit (FANTASTIC editing environment on PC). 2. Different strokes for different folks. I prefer an FRFR that is as similar to my PA as possible. Tube amps don't work for me in my environment. Only you can decide (see a pattern here?) 3. For me, I'd upgrade the modeler first, but I have an amazingly awesome FRFR monitor anyway.