pianoguyy

Criticism - I hope it was a small amp. The 300/400 are nothing like the 500. I don't own the 300, but if I remember correctly, this isn't an expression pedal. It is a dedicated volume/wah pedal. Whereas, the 500 had the expression pedal - it could control anything assigned to it. Beyond that - The ultimate answer is; do what you gotta do to get the sound you need to get. For example, my old rig lasted me 20+ years. I ran no loops, everything ran in a straight line, and went into the front of the amp. People tried telling me my wah needed to go here and my distortion needed to go here and put this cord here so that it bypasses this and that... to which I say "I hope you have your diaper on. You may want to take a step back, because I am about to make you lollipop your pants. And when I am done, I'm going to take your girlfriend for a test drive." However, amp modelers are designed to replace amps. That is their purpose. You will never get a Fender tone from a modeler when using a Marshall amp. It doesn't mean you can't make it sound good, it just means that X going into Y isn't the same as X by itself. So, yes, headphones (not $20 earbuds, not $200 Beats, we mean monitoring headphones) or a powered speaker will allow you to hear the device as intended. I have a multitude of resources available to me. So, at home (or on the bus, hotel room, etc) I am a little less concerned with being perfect. But I run a pair of JBL Eons. I also have Peavey KB/A amps. All very good options. Not as good of an option, but totally doable - those cheap $20 computer speakers you buy at the dollar store. Basically, anything that you can plug in your record player and get good clear tone at decent volumes is what you want. Some headphones and speakers add "bass reflex". You don't want that. If you want bass in your tone, you add it in your EQ. But, here's the kicker - Whatever way you decide to go, that is the way you have to go. You can't design a hundred patches using "Method 1", and then think that you switch to "Method 2". Tone won't transfer from one to the other. And there is no "rule of thumb" that you could, let's say, add "EQ Setting A" on all of your patches while using "Method 2". Each patch would need redesigned from scratch if you need the same tone.

On the 500, I use USB for the computer. And the CD Input for my phone. Neither get put through the signal chain. But the CD Input also does not get controlled through the Master Volume.

if that is a real question, then you don't have a variax

What I mean is - use the editor to edit, and then close the editor. It wasn't meant to accompany performances.

The EDIT program is an editor. Don't use the Pod (specifically the exp pedal) while editing. Of course, you didn't say you were running EDIT. But, given the symptom, I am taking the leap.

bad noise in a loop would mean that bad noise was there when the loop was made. so, it is doubtful that the power was the issue.

change your screen resolution. take it down to the first 1000 option. something like 1024x768.

the right way is the way that gets you the tone you are looking for. anything else is just something to try, not an actual answer. then you really had no reason to buy the pod. correct. there are settings that may need put in place.

apparently you haven't tried using Windows Media Player on Windows 7 for automated file tagging. That is simply the way technology works.

The product isn't broken. The product isn't defective. Some of the device-compatibility is showing it's age (which has always been my fear/complaint, since my previous rig lasted over 2 decades). Plus, a lot of the problem people are having are not a fault of L6. But are the fault of the 3rd (and 4th) party.

single input - what we were discussing above, has nothing to do with the DT. It's pretty simple - When making a patch (or set it up in your global settings), set it so that Input 1 is guitar, and Input 2 is Variax. Note - you should check the global settings anyhow, just to make sure there isn't something overriding the patch settings. Note - and this assumes you are using a guitar and not a variax

And, also,... 'tone is in the fingers'. Or, in this case, the volume knob. The 'single input' is something that, had I known about at the start, I would have used it and designed my patches differently. But, as it stands today, I cannot redesign the entirety of the archives. However, you would be amazed at how clean my guitars get (even without the 'single input') when you simply roll your your tone/volume knobs down.

you mean you want to play an acoustic guitar?

Your words aren't helping you at all... Can I edit a patch using editing software without editing the patch. However, assuming you mean - Can I change a setting without saving it. YES. Absolutely. But, I find it easier (and safer) to copy a patch I want to edit. That way there are no accidental overwrites.

and... you haven't taken the time to find out that the driver is the problem and there is a replacement driver?

you are complaining that a 2006 device doesn't connect to a 2019 device?

you want to make music but... you rely on WIndows to do so?

one tone to concentrate on... which shouldn't need tweaked in different situations *except for the extreme cases I previously touched on.

all of them. download all of them. of course, if you know what you like and don't like in the real world, then you can narrow down that list a bit. For example - do country musicians need an Engl Invader? Can metal shredders get away with a Fender Princeton?

Then experiment away. Have at it. If you don't like the way it sounds, twist the knobs until you do. That's the beauty of experimenting.

I've never bought into the studio vs live stuff. One tone is all you need. Now, with that being said - the studio allows you to do so much that you cannot do live. So, in that instance, you could run two different tones. I'll give you an example... Jimi Hendrix. There are enough live recordings of him out there (and those were long before KISS made the studio do-overs an industry standard). You can clearly hear a difference in his live and studio tones. But, he "created art" in the studio. Far different than his 3-man band rock concerts. So, unless you are doing so some wild creations that you cannot re-create live.... one tone is all you need. And yet, at the same time, this also assumes you are making your tones and your recordings correctly. Because technology gives so many variables that didn't exist in the old days. I don't make recordings for the teens with the iPod headphones. Nor do I make live music for the "please play quietly, I am trying to live stream" crowd. It makes a difference.

I don't have a Helix, so I can't help with that part. But, before you begin, the question you should ask yourself is - What do you need the Helix to do, that the Helix isn't doing?

this is an amp modeler, not a guitar modeler however... if you use a reverb, and use only the wet signal sure, it takes more than that. but it is a good place to start

Is your current rig broken? Do you require more than your current rig provides?

it is an apple issue. the problem (and the workaround) is scattered throughout the board. It may not be found if you search your specific device. But since the 4 units are the same, what works for one will work for the other. *I don't use apple, and can't help you beyond that