rd2rk

That is a very annoying bug that L6 is aware of, and HOPEFULLY it'll be fixed SOON.

That's why I posted about the A/B test I did. I had a preset that was a bit dull sounding, and it sounded much better using the G10 XLR Out. A preset that was fine sounded too bright. So the XLR and an A/B box can provide another tone option, maybe to help cut thu a mix, or?

I haven't tried what you're describing, but I did A/B the two outs. There's no level difference, but there's a definite tone diff between the two. As I understand it, because of the 10' cable emulation on the 1/4" there's a slight HiFreq attenuation that's not present on the XLR. That makes the level sound slightly higher on the XLR, but running through a freq analyzer the overall levels are the same, just slightly different frequencies.

Thru the stereo is easiest, unless you want to use headphones. Tho, in that case, you could run the backing tracks AND the Helix thru the stereo...I use a small mixer, run the music I'm jamming to and the Helix into it, then to headphones OR monitors as circumstances require.

You'll need to run the backing tracks from your computer, connected to the Helix via USB, and set the the Helix as the computer's default sound card.

Playing along, volume disappears. Operate volume pedal, fixed. I've had the unit since 2.01, never had the problem, but remember people talking about it. I'm up to 2.11 now, suddenly, there it is. Can't believe this still isn't fixed. Anybody know anything?

Try it through headphones. If it's still distorted, check your gain staging.

Unless you're really crankin' it, those Yammies are supposed to be really good. I use a pair of Rokit6 and was thinking like you, so I got an Alto TS210. Sounds great, but If I turn it up loud enough to get past Fletcher-Munson, it KILLS my neighbors (apartment).

You want to be sure that the MP3's volume is off when you try this, as you could be VERY loud if the amp's Master isn't after the return jack. I had an old Peavey that was wired like that!

This thread has thoroughly unraveled....

Congratulations PRS! You get the award for MOST PATHETIC USER MANUAL/PRODUCT INFO! If I was you, I'd contact PRS Support for this. It LOOKS, from the pathetic website picture of the back panel, like a proprietary footswitch.

evh0u812 - Which Engl are you using?

No, green cheese is what Gibson was making it's fretboards out of a couple of years back!

But seriously, no way could he have gotten that tone standing on real moon rock.....

Would Armstrong have said what he said if Apollo 11 hadn't been secretly sponsored by Adidas?

Grainy is one of those descriptions like fizzy, it means different things to different people. I spent way too much time trying to eq out what I perceived as Grainy, to no avail. Now, I know that somebody's gonna jump in and say that there's no changes to the amps between versions, but when I updated from 2.01 to 2.10, the Grainy sound miraculously went away. I have no clue why, maybe I'd changed something in the globals that was restored, I have no clue, BUT IT HAPPENED! Now my Helix sounds GREAT and I'm having a ball. YMMV. Good Luck!

"So, IMHO, get the Helix if you can afford it. But if you can't, the HD500X is absolutely the way to go......But the HD500X will be my totally acceptable and nearly equal backup. And let's be honest, unless the people you're playing for are guitarists; they, more likely than not, wouldn't hear a difference. It would all sound good to them. This purchase is mostly for my ears." Excellent summary!

To clarify my 2 previous posts, they were in response to someone's response to mine 3 posts back. He deleted it, so here it is: ME: "Watched YouTube vids, haunted these forums. Finally decided to take the plunge." DELETED: And what if you had done the same with the POD HD 500x? Probably you still would have it... I'm not saying that 500x is better or viceversa, I just think that both can achieve the same result with some effort.

Quick add-on to my previous post. I don't think the FX in the Helix are all that much better than the HD. If I was sticking with my tube amp setup, using just the pre amp FX and FX loop, the HD would be perfectly fine. I want to simplify my rig and vary my sound options by going full FRFR, and THAT'S where the HD didn't cut it for me.

I did do the same with the HD500X (replaced an ME70 that I also researched, and that replaced a Behringer V-Amp). At that time, it sounded very good to me. I used it for over 2 years. If not for the Helix, I might still have it. After 3 months of side by side use, I sold it and kept the Helix. My opinion: with A LOT of effort, you can get inferior (to MY ears) results from the HD500X to what you can get MUCH QUICKER/EASIER with the Helix. That's got nothing to do with the price. I wouldn't have bought the Helix if I couldn't afford it (and I work HARD for my money!). I wouldn't keep a car that needed to be worked on constantly just so it would get me to work every day, why keep an effect unit that takes 3 hours to get a good sound when it takes 15 minutes to get a better sound (to MY ears) on the next gen model? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the HD is a POS. I liked it fine when I got it (compared to the ME70 which was way better than the V-Amp). If what it does is satisfactory for you, it's a great unit. But neither am I buying the argument that it's every bit as good as the Helix because it's cheaper, and that the Helix isn't worth $1500 because it doesn't sound $1000 better. There are so many things about the Helix that I WISHED were in the HD. The combination of sound and features is what makes it worth the price to me.

"But deaf will claim the opposite because they pay 1500" Had an HD500X. Was never totally happy with the amps. Mostly used the fx with my Engl, a VHT 112 and/or an Alto ts210. Waited a year after Helix release. Watched YouTube vids, haunted these forums. Finally decided to take the plunge. I could always return it to Sweetwater if it wasn't worth the $1500. After 3 months, sold the HD500X. The Engl is on Craigslist. I'm not deaf, and your ears aren't as good as you think they are. The millennials vs whatever argument is ridiculous. Bottom line: if you like whatever you like, use it! But don't insult other people who have differing tastes.

"But deaf will claim the opposite because they pay 1500" Had an HD500X. Was never totally happy with the amps. Mostly used the fx with my Engl, a VHT 112 and/or an Alto ts210. Waited a year after Helix release. Watched YouTube vids, haunted these forums. Finally decided to take the plunge. I could always return it to Sweetwater if it wasn't worth the $1500. After 3 months, sold the HD500X. The Engl is on Craigslist. I'm not deaf, and your ears aren't as good as you think they are.

He's working on the MAC version, but no telling when it'll happen. Unfortunately, there's not a lot out there for MACs in this context. There's something called Mainstage that might be helpful. You might also look into the BOME MIDI Translator (has OSX version). A while back someone gave me a MAC and I looked into trying to get it to do all the things I could do on a PC. Big PITA and ultimately just not possible. There, I've said it. That should motivate all the MAC kiddies out there to prove me wrong by suggesting possible solutions for ya! :) As far as routing for the Softstep, I had a quick look at the manual. I didn't see any way to set output Channels for controlling separate devices, which is what you'd need to be able to do. Apparently you'd also need to get the MIDI Expander Hardware to link to other hardware devices. As I said, it was only a quick look, so I could be wrong. If there's a forum for the softstep you might have better luck there than here. Good Luck!

Pretty easy with an FCB1010, not so much with the L6 stuff. There's a program called Cantabile that's made for "one man band" type performers. It can do all sorts of things with MIDI and VSTs - play loops, send, receive and filter MIDI messages - filters, triggers, tempo syncing, changing presets on VSTs and external synths etc., - and organize all that stuff into songs, sets, pretty much anything you want. It doesn't record loops per se, but it'll record stereo Wave files and MIDI files, and if you have those in Ableton, you can export as Wave or MIDI files to use in Cantabile. There's a large and very knowledgeable support forum, and the author is very active and responsive there. I've only ever used it as an "ultimate VST loader", but some of the stuff that the people on the forum talk about sounds truly amazing - way over my head. You'd have to look into it to see if it'll do all that you need, but as far as I can tell, all you have to do to set a "Song" running is send it a CC - easy enough to do from a Helix (or POD for that matter). The program is surprisingly inexpensive and very stable.

OK, 3. You just can't get that Bela Fleck sound without that!