PeterHamm

Similar situation... I could buy a Fender Strat and probably not get to talk to anybody important there. But instead, I own Tom Anderson's guitars. 3 of them. Not only does he answer my every email and remark on the Anderson forum, but has occasionally initiated conversations with me, remembers what guitars I own when I talk to him on the phone, and even let me buy one of his personal guitars a few years ago. The guys at Fender are not going to be able to do that. Because they don't make 3 guitars a day, they make 300. Economies of scale. I'm guessing you don't honestly expect the people who run Line 6 to be able to spend the same time one-on-one with customers as Cliff can. The company is way huger. The amount of effort Frank and Eric and others are putting into communicating with customers on forums and such is, as far as I can tell, from a big MI company like that, not only admirable, but amazing and unprecedented... I've never seen anything like it! And, for the record, I'd like the Helix (as I loved the HD 500) just as much if they didn't...

Y'all should know, I've had some private communication with Scott. He's not a troll, I promise you. He's a stand-up guy... So next time you see him post, just know that and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Very little, but for me, I use the volume knob to "preset" an edge of breakup that I want to be able to drive into full gain... and the volume pedal is for swells and shutting the signal off for one reason or another.

Scott, I wasn't the only one that thought you were being needlessly incendiary, as you can see now. I wasn't "defending Helix" as much as differing with you that your methodology and conclusions were sound. I am not a troll, I assure you.

The looper on the HD 50 (and the Helix) is not designed to be a serious advanced looper. For that, you want some external box like Boomerang or the Boss one or something. Serious looper users need to get an external device like that.

Way easier way to handle this, if you don't mind doing it. Just use a volume pedal before the input. Seriously.

Later firmware updates are way better in this regard in my experience. Make sure you are updated to the latest, but if you are, I'd open a ticket, because of all the pedals I've used with my Helix Rack, the VP Jr. has been the most consistent.

The other cool thing is that more people using different solutions means that when we play together, we bring different sounds together and they create more complex musical sound, imho. For instance, if you had a band and one guy is using Helix, the other guitar is using a Kemper, and the bass guy is on an Axe FX... That would probably sound bawss.

If AX8 and Helix were both available and both priced the exact same, I would end up with Helix because I have to have dual paths and don't need 200+ amps. If the situation was reversed, and I needed that many amps and didn't have to have dual paths, AX8 would be the clear choice. They each have SUCH a very nicely determined market that I'm sure they will coexist peacefully for a long long time.

Well, maybe you are. As far as I can tell. There's no way to back that up with data, so... No, it wasn't a trollish thing to say, no moreso than some of your incendiary remarks have been here. And, since the number of Helices in the wild is growing rapidly right now... I say... duh... The number of people who are really stinkin' happy with Helix is probably growing faster. The number of people who can't even get their hands on the one real competitor to Helix but wish they could is probably growing even faster... It's ironic, because on the latest patches I've made, they have been so present in the mix I've had to make them MORE "muddy" to sit with the band better. I'm goin' with "If you can't get a great sound, in the house and in the mix, out of a Helix, or an AX8 or Axe FX, or a Kemper, or an Amplifire, or even a Firehawk or RP1000 or HD500 for that matter... it ain't the gear.

This is also, btw, why I find that built-in cabs, especially if you do dual cabs, are way way way better than third party IRs. Yes. Better.

Couldn't disagree more. Not sure where these legions of people are, not sure how they are listening to Helix, but I have had zero problems with muddiness in this unit.

This. Seriously. This.

NEVER plug in the Variax with the Cat 5 AND a guitar cord at the same time. I don't understand why, but apparently you can damage the Variax if you do.

Is the crackle actually being recorded? EVen with my MOTU interface with Logic X at certain levels I hear crackle in the headphones/speakers, but it's not actually being recorded to disc.

I used to do this with the Variax and HD 500... two sounds at the same time. (Don't have the Variax anymore.) I did some stuff with two electric sounds at once that was really really fun, too. Probably still have the patches, but no clips.

Me too, but alas, I can't upgrade at this time without buying a bunch of new software. Too much of what I use is not good with newer OS releases. I'm stuck at Mavericks.

That is not possible. Variax has two channels. One is models. You can pick one at a time. The other is the magnetics.

That is a GREAT option. Sweetwater should copy it. GREAT idea.

have you all tried a different USB port on your computer. Also, can't say it enough. If you have an audio app launched that is accessing the Helix, or both the updater and the Helix Librarian program at the same time, it will cause problems.

yes, very possible on Helix.

Well, since I've been doing modeling (and even when I had amps) I've needed to switch to a backup rig exactly zero times in about 30 years.

Absolutely. 1st backup... HD 500 which I'm not selling (but may let other musicians use now). 2nd backup, Mac running Mainstage. 3rd backup. Acoustic guitar directly into the house. 4th backup... seriously... well... there's a little amp here I could use...

i've been saying this over and over, which should give you even more hope. I printed out my Helix manual and read it through before my Helix arrived. I referred to it a little the first two days I worked with it. (Got a working patch from scratch in under an hour.) I lost the manual a little while later. Didn't reprint it. Didn't look for it. Didn't need it. (finally found it, btw.) It took me a day to learn everything about this that it took a week or more to learn with HD 500. It's... that... easy... Editor won't make it "easier", just easier on your back, imho.

I think you do, as far as is possible. The user base of the Line 6 products is way way bigger than Fractal, and yet Frank and Eric and others find time to comment and be part of the conversations here and on TGP and on the facebook forum and in other places. I don't know how much more you could really expect.