cruisinon2

That's what they get for partnering with the Sack of Crap Zipper Company, of Squashed Possum, TN...;)

L6 Link cable does not come with any of stuff you bought...you have to purchase one separately. You don't necessarily "need" one though, unless you're looking to be able to control the DT's various topology options from the POD...that requires an L6 Link cable, but you have other options. You could run from the POD straight into the front of the amp, into FX return, or use the 4 cable method (4CM) to connect everything.

They're not building the Standards in Hoboken...

The modeling is all the same, so they're even on that score. As for build quality, the Standard is essentially a Yamaha Pacifica with Variax guts. Hold one next to the other, and they're nearly indistinguishable, save the extra knobs on the Variax. You do the math... The JTV69 neck pocket is compatible with any Strat replacement neck. Can't do that with the Standards.

Soon enough for ya? ;)

But what to choose...and how "soon" must I decide? ;)

Well the OP asked for the definition of the adverb "soon", in relation to nothing in particular. I could have said "Thursday at precisely 3:27 PM Greenwich Mean Time", and it would have been just as good an answer...something will happen then... just wait and see. But I figured it was better to cover all the bases. ;)

Half way between "imminent" and "never".

Yup...just as we've all had to do for years on end with the vast majority of modelers, or preamp/multi-fx units under the sun. Is it perfect? No...but find me something that is. Truth is, the gap is more than manageable with even a little forethought and practical experience.

Why not? There was a time when all anyone had on stage was one amp that MAYBE had 2 channels, and a stomp box or two. Suited some of the world's most well known players quite well for decades.

Or it's the modeling knob...that part has a long and glorious history of not traveling far enough to engage the switch when pressed, and sometimes it can be intermittent.

If reflashing the firmware didn't help, it's unlikely that there's gonna be anything else you can do on your own to fix it. You may have a hardware problem... the alt tuning knob itself may have crapped out, etc...it's service ticket time.

zombie thread...

Variaxes in general don't exactly fly off the shelves. Even if the guitar is new, it may have been sitting in a stock room with nobody charging the battery, for quite some time before you bought it...months if not a year or two. It's far more likely to be just an old battery that won't take a full charge anymore...LED's are pretty indestructible.

Hmmm....I didn't think drummers were smart enough to worry. ;)

Its early for me, but I'm not seeing any pics, lol 😉

Well this one obviously worked, or we wouldn't be having this conversation...I'd say try again.

Indeed...I'd sooner ask Medea for parenting advice. ;) Well I've never met the author of that email and perhaps I'm wrong, but in my experience anyone who goes out of their way to email you a lengthy diatribe chronicling all the things you're doing wrong, definitely doesn't "mean well". In all likelihood, his "main concern" is being in charge, and making sure that everybody around him knows just how brilliant and experienced he is. I've dealt with this type my whole life.

Lovely... passive-aggressive people are such a joy to be around. Even more awesome when it's a band-mate. Give him an enema, then send him on a 10 mile hike...he's a schmuck, and doesn't actually "know" anything about modeling technology.

For the life of me, I haven't the faintest idea what this means...

That would be a swell idea if perception were a uniform experience for us all, but it's anything but...you'd never get such an algorithm to work reliably from one person to the next because we don't all hear and interpret sounds the same way. The old fashioned way works, all day long. When it comes to judging relative volumes of two patches, there's absolutely nothing that you can do with a dB meter that you can't accomplish with your ears.

open a service ticket, and they'll tell you what your options are

I'll say one very simple thing... set the volume(s) wherever they need to be so that your patches are balanced, and everything sounds the way you want it. No one gave you a concrete answer because there isn't one. Please don't take this the wrong way, as I'm not being trying to be flippant or dismissive...but there is more hand wringing and wasted energy regarding where to put volume knobs than just about any other topic that comes up around here, and it baffles me. If it sounds good to you, then it is good... turn it up until the levels are sufficient for the task at hand, and be done with it. If it starts to clip, dial it back a bit, and don't obsess over the number some meter spits out...they lie anyway. Run the same signal through 3 different meters, and you'll get 3 different numbers. Let your ears tell you if things are where they're supposed to be... trust me, it works.

The only ones complaining about modelers being "too clean" are life-long tube snobs who have no desire to convert in the first place. They don't WANT modeling to improve...it would interfere with their constant quoting of the "Gospel According to Tube", verses 12AX7 through EL34. ;) As for the rest of us, I'd say most folks aground here spend a fair amount of time trying to get rid of excess high-end "sizzle", so a knob that dials in more of it would just collect dust...

Tastes great / less filling? Or were you looking for something with a bit more substance? ;)