cruisinon2

It's been done, sort of... with a 10- band graphic EQ. It was posted some time ago. It was supposed to be a curve that would compensate for added volume...you could just drop in at the end of your signal chain, allowing you to tweak your patches without pi$$ing of the neighbors. Then just click the block on when you're getting loud. It's around here somewhere...I messed with it briefly. But honestly, it's the same amount of work... you have to repeatedly A/B loud vs soft, and figure out exactly which to boost and cut to end up with the same result at both volumes. What works for clean tones won't necessarily be the same for dirty tones. I ended up just doing what I've always done: keep separate patches for home and stage.

It wouldn't do you any good anyway... you can't hear anything without the hardware. HX Exit is just an interface, there's no modeling going on in there.

What about the bagels? ;)

I'm convinced I was smuggled out of Texas as an infant and dumped in NY... it is wretched here, lol. The older I get, the more I realize I'm behind enemy lines...;)

Any decent PA speaker is FRFR, or as close as anything actually gets....nothing has a perfectly flat response, and you may notice subtle differences between any two speakers that claim to be FRFR. But that's only one part of the equation anyway.... when creating your tones, volume is absolutely critical. You must dial in your patches at or (very) close to the volume at which you intend to use them...If you're playing that monitor you rented at cozy living room volume when creating your tones, when you get to rehearsal and crank up to stage volume, you will be in for a very rude awakening... volume profoundly affects the perceived loudness of different frequency ranges. This would be the case even if you had rented the exact same speaker that you play through with your band... it's the volume that matters. Nothing will sound the way it did at home, and you'll only reinforce your bandmate's anti-modeler prejudice.

And the louder they pontificate about the glory of all things tube, the worse they tend to play.... not always, but it's a relatively safe bet.

A more or less identical question was asked just yesterday... honestly, it comes up repeatedly. There's a new "fizz/fuzz/harsh/buzz" thread once a week, or so. So rather than write the same thing over again, just have a look at the most recent thread:

Tell them to worry about their own gear. When they're parting the Red Sea with their magnificent tone, then they dictate what you can or can't use.

You won't like this, but if you're new to modeling, one day with any modeler in existence won't get you very far....prepare for a bit of a learning curve. Even with experience, these aren't the kind of devices that you pull out of the box today and use at a gig or rehearsal tomorrow. At a minimum, you will find that both high and low shelf EQ cuts are essential with any kind of FRFR output (that includes includes your headphones, a PA, studio monitors, etc. etc). Stay away from the global EQ... that's for minor tweaks in different acoustic environments, not creating your tones. It's not a guitar amp... you can't treat it like one. And it's never gonna sound like an amp sitting next to you in the room, so don't try... that's not what it's designed to do. It will sound like a mic-ed amp in the live room next door, while you're listening through studio monitors at the board. You have to think like an engineer in a studio, because that's what Helix is emulating...an amp, a cabinet, and the mic in front of it, all being monitored elsewhere. At the beginning, the manual and YouTube tutorials are your friend. Check out Jason Sadites' channel. It's not as simple as just setting all your tone controls at noon, your gain where you like it, and calling it a day. The tones are in there.... but the experimental phase, particularly with cab/mic choices and the appropriate use of EQ, is not optional. We all went through it.

Whomever started it...

If you already know when, then what are you complaining about? And what possible difference would a "status update" make if it won't change the "when"? Frankly, this makes no sense at all. Backpedaling inevitably leads to contradicting one's self.... What exactly do you want them to say? "It's going great! Gonna start work on algorithm 3.1415926 on Tuesday!!!!"? What insight would that provide? Here's the update: They're one day closer to releasing it than they were yesterday.

In which case we'd all be treated to the exact same gripe-fest, just with a slightly different stench. We would drown in "Why doesn't Line 6 ever tell us anything?" threads instead. They can't win. It's like asking which of the Menendez brothers you like better.... or if you'd prefer the 5 lb or 10 lb bag of $hit? ;)

There's nothing here worth taking seriously...it's the same pi$$ing and moaning again and again. All the whining in the universe won't make the firmware show up one minute sooner... yet these ridiculous threads never end. "Where?!?!?! When?!?!?! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!?!" It'll get here when it gets here.... and then five minutes later the b1tching will start all over again. Except then it'll be about how much the free $hit you just got sucks, and you waited months for nothing.

Would you rather haggle over a '72 pinto barn-find with a missing rear axle, or drive off in a Maserati that actually runs? ;) Seriously... the 500X was a great device in it's time, but it was put out to pasture some time ago. It's old, soon to be obsolete news.

Linux causes problems with everything...;)

83.9%... they put it in sky writing over sunny Calabasas just yesterday. Didn't you see it all over CNN? May as well ask for the results of his prostate biopsy...

Depends on where you are... if you're in the US, your warranty is 2 years. Hey folks, Helix is our flagship modeler and as such demands a high level of Customer service and support. Because we believe in this product, its durability and quality we are extending the warrantee for all US customers to 2 years. This includes Helix Floor, Helix Rack/Control and Helix LT. All you need to do to qualify for this second year of service is to register your Helix. See the FAQs below and as always if you have any questions just shout. Updated Helix Warranty (US Only) FAQ: When does this launch? Thursday, July 6th Who qualifies for the extended Helix warranty? This covers Helix Fl, Rck, LT, Cntr in the United States only. Why is this offered to US customers only? Warranties are set by Line 6 distributor partners. Currently Line 6 only distributes in the US. Why did Line 6 decide to offer extended warranty? Helix is our flagship product. We stand by the product and we want to make sure that we meet the high expectations of our customer needs.

Intermittent problems are nearly impossible to troubleshoot, no matter what the device. You'll stroke out trying to figure out what caused it. I'll bet good money that with stuff like this, if it's still under warranty, the repair joints probably don't even bother trying to diagnose it... if it's on their dime anyway, it's likely cheaper to just send you a new one, rather than pay somebody hours on end to try and figure it out. Or they'll do that back at the mothership... fix it and sell it as "refurbished", recouping some $ that way...long after you've gotten your new one. Or maybe it'll never happen again. Ghost in the machine...these things get weird. That's all there is to it sometimes.

Or next week they could have some sort of revolutionary breakthrough that fundamentally changes the modeling world forever, but oops! It'll require fundamentally different hardware. They spend the next six months working out the kinks, and dump an entirely new platform on us just in time for Christmas so they can cash in before Fractal and Kemper steal the recipe for the new "secret sauce". Stranger things have happened... who was its that said a plan is just a list of things that won't happen? ;) Yes, I'm playing Devil's advocate here, but the point is that the same question gets asked repeatedly, and without bugging the executive crapper at L6, all anybody can do is guess at an answer.

They're in business to make money. So whenever the next thing is ready, and whenever it makes financial sense for them to introduce a new product, that's when we'll see it. Now given that they're still developing Helix, my guess is "not soon"... but it could show up tomorrow morning for all I know. Technology moves at the speed of light. "The next big thing" is always imminent at this point. If not from Line 6, it'll come from somebody else. They wouldn't bother having the NAMM show every 6 months if there was nothing new to gawk at/drool over. If you obsess over it, you'll be in a constant state of waiting, and never buy anything. Besides...the only people who actually know the answer wouldn't tell you if you pulled their toenails out with pliers, anyway. Want a Helix? Buy it...

I dunno...I used the 500X for 5+ years, and I never needed that many EQ blocks in a single patch. I would have given up on the thing in short order if it required stacking multiple EQ blocks to get a usable sound.

There's nothing wrong with the 500X... it's still my backup in case the Helix craps out, but the POD is a rapidly aging platform that hasn't had an update in years. I won't go so far as to call it obsolete, but it's getting close. Helix is a far more versatile unit.... save a few shekels and get Helix. If you're gonna upgrade...upgrade.

I think you're gonna be a little disappointed with the results from the setup you've described. Your basic tone comes from your amp, or amp modeler. The HX FX has no amp modeling...so without your real amp somewhere in the vicinity, all you'll get by plugging the HX into your PC is your raw guitar signal, plus whatever effect(s) you've chosen. It'll sound nothing like what you'd hear playing the same patch through your amp, and won't be terribly useful for dialing in sounds. Now you could use a software based amp modeler plug-in to get an amp tone to work with... but those PC speakers aren't gonna help your cause much either. In terms of sound quality, most PC speakers typically fall somewhere between an old transistor radio, and two tin cans on a string...;) It's really not the best way to go. A small pair of near-field studio monitors will be an infinite improvement, and won't break the bank.

Bottom line is this: They may have pieces... but it's all or nothing. Carrying audio is the easy part. If it can't send model/tuning changes to the guitar, then it's worthless. And the fact that it ain't gonna be cheap anytime soon is the biggest hurdle.

We're gonna need more info to help you... what else are you using the HX with? There must be an actual amp or amp modeler somewhere in the equation. The HX by itself isn't good for much unless you're interested in just a raw guitar signal with FX... your basic amp tone has to come from somewhere.