cruisinon2

I've been doing that with one rig or another for 25 years...it's no more mysterious than adding an overdrive. Anything that messes with gain levels can screw with your volume. So yes, you'll have to play with the relative volume levels. Changing patches also comes with the much-hated audio drop out that's been discussed ad nauseam...it's short, but noticeable, and in a live setting can be irritating if not done right. As always, ymmv.

How the models are created is irrelevant. What matters is how THIS PARTICULAR DEVICE functions, and the options at our disposal...not some theoretical "what if?" scenario. The design is what it is. The guy wants to use cab sims without mic models. Can't be done with the POD. Period. If the cab sims are on, then so are the mic models. You can't use one and not the other. Would it be possible to create a device with that option? I suppose...but this ain't it, end of story. So technically, nothing I said is incorrect.

I think more time had been wasted on Customtone than any other endeavor in human history...

Here we go again...strap in folks! ;) No cab = no mic. They are inextricably linked. It's not possible to separate the two. If it were, years of ridiculous threads lamenting the inability of modeling technology to accurately emulate an "amp in the room" tone would have been avoided.

I'll say it again...EVERY modeler on earth does this. And don't hold your breath for a "fix", because nothing is "broken". This is how these devices are. If you need instantaneous switching with no gaps, an analog rig is the only thing that will provide that.

There's no point in trying to integrate the two. Daisy-chaining two modelers together is redundant and pointless. There's nothing that the Eleven Rack does that Helix won't do better anyway.

"Piezo plink" is a long-endured problem in the Variax world. The JTV forum is drowning in plink-related threads. Take a month off from work, and start reading.

Zombie thread

There will always be a noticeable drop out when switching patches. Every modeler in the world sufferers from this to a greater or lesser degree. The device simply needs time to load up a new patch. We're talking milliseconds, but yes... it is noticeable, and everyone hates it. The only real solution is to set up dual amp patches, and assign the channel volume for each one to the expression pedal. That way you can morph between two completely different tones within the same patch... no drop-outs. It's a seamless transition. Works great live.

Intermittent problems are rarely solved until they become constant problems... however, a new VDI cable is the cheapest and easiest thing to try. If you had one of the older design L6 VDI cables (floppy, easily tangled if you looked at it cross-eyed), then it wouldn't surprise me if that is in fact the problem. Mine lasted me only 2 years and change before it crapped out completely. Bestronics makes one that is considerably more robust, and you can choose any length you want.

Amen...thank you. The final arbiter of tone is the box you're plaything through. Until technology allows us to beam our tonal awesomeness directly into our skulls, "amp in the room vs. mic-ed cab" will remain in contention for "Most Utterly Useless Discussion of Our Time". Rounding out the top three contenders for the crown we have "Tastes great/less filling" and "Who shot first, Han or Greedo?" ;)

That's all well and good, but it seems to me that in order to create a modeling algorithm, the sound you're interested in modeling must first be captured. I've tried fishing nets, mousetraps, nothing works. You ever hear an old couple argue?...sound can even escape a marriage. ;) I think we're stuck with mics for the time being...

This isn't exactly a new problem, nor is it peculiar to JTV's. Every Strat-style floating bridge in the world has this issue. You can shove something under the bridge to try and keep it in it's neutral position (preferably something that won't ruin the finish), but it's mostly a losing battle. The springs are pulling back as hard as they always do, and without string tension to balance it, the bridge will always want to slip off those pivot points. There ain't much keeping it there... if you need to address neck issues, just bite the bullet and remove the bridge and springs. Getting it back together takes less time than trying to replace bushings that have flung half way across the room.

You didn't mention how you're amplifying Helix...but whether or not you get convincing acoustic tones from a Variax is almost entirely dependent on how you're listening. Without some sort of FRFR speaker solution, you can kiss decent acoustic sounds (and your sanity) goodbye. A guitar amp/cabinet will never get you there...it's over before it starts. Beyond that, less is usually more for acoustic Variax tones... no amp model, judiciously applied EQ, and a little reverb, and you should be able to fool most people into thinking it's a real acoustic.

Yup. This happens to us all, because human perception does not obey mathematical equations, and no matter how "awesome" your ears are, they DO NOT have the precision of a Swiss watch. How you perceive something on any given day can be influenced by anything under the sun. With the exception of cases where the device itself is genuinely malfunctioning, there are a million and one things that can make it SEEM as though the patch sounds different from one day to the next...but it's got nothing to do with the hardware. It's all about the software in your head, and what happens between your ears and your brain. Good mood, bad mood, headache, ingrown toenail, had a fight with the wife, kid wrecked your car, the weather sucks, you won $100 on a scratch-off, the guy at work whom you've despised for the last 30 years keels over in his cubicle...the patch is exactly the same as it was yesterday, but you're not.

And not to put too fine a point on it, but sending a stereo signal to a single speaker is useless anyway... if he wants stereo, he needs a pair of monitors.

Well I don't have a dog in this fight anyway, as I don't redistribute copyrighted stuff I've purchased. But regardless, I'll say it again...legal or not, ethical or not, the creators of IR's obviously don't want their stuff compromised and traded like baseball cards, but they're the only ones who care. These are not mass marketed products. They're useful only to a tiny demographic...guitar players. And of all the world's guitarists, only a small percentage even know what an IR is, much less make regular use of them. IR "theft", if that's even what this is, will never make the evening news. If there's no money in it for the blood sucking lawyers, pursuing the violators is a losing proposition.

Exactly. It'd be easier to explain the infield fly rule to a Neanderthal...

Me neither...I've got an IR loader in my DAW, and tried a bunch with the POD. Got some nice sounds, but nothing that I couldn't achieve with the stock cabs. And frankly, sifting through dozens of them got old quick. Not one provided an instant "Ah-ha!" moment...had to do just as much tweaking as with the native ones. Choices are delightful, but too much of a good thing really does exist, and can be just as stifling as having limited options. Sooner or later you reach a point of diminishing returns. If you're spending more time tweaking than playing, something is wrong...or you're just nuts. ;)

Probably not...and it's not hard to guess why. There isn't enough money involved. If lawyers can't get rich on the case, then nobody cares. Vast sums of money change hands with books, music, movies. Also, everybody knows what songs and movies are. Good luck explaining IR's to the judge...;)

Lol

Indeed. It's like trying to copyright the sound of a doorbell. Does someone own "ding-dong"? How would you distinguish your "ding-dong" (insert phallic joke here ;) ) from any other company that decides to sell doorbells?

You mean there are actually people out there who steal intellectual property, and pass it off as their own for financial gain? Say it ain't so, Flava Flav!🤣

What he said... But if you're still determined to use the amp, just do this: Guitar--->Helix--->FX return. All you need the amp for is power. The 4cm is only useful if you want to get your basic tone from the amp itself, instead of Helix. Otherwise all the 4cm accomplishes is using up more cables. And if you want to get your tone from the amp, that's fine... but it begs the question, why bother with Helix at all?

A little compression.