jbuhajla

I've been using mine for almost a year, zero issues. I do handle it appropriately though, keeping in mind the weak mini-usb port.

If I have my tempo synched, I turn the LED off. If I am tapping tempos, I leave the LED on.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON Be careful editing your presets with a text editor kids. You miss one character and you will freeze your helix

Over current is the killer of the amp. In basic ohms law sense, the less resistance (impedance) the higher the current. If the power amp is expecting an 8 ohm load, but you are running a 4 ohm speaker cabinet, your current doubles. It is like trying to run a bunch of hair dryers from one circuit in your house. Your breaker will trip. If your speaker cabinet is not fuse protected, something is going to smoke and not work any more. (disclaimer- the above is a basic description of ohms law in DC terms not AC. You electronics nerds out there, don't get your undies in a twist)

I just set my tempo manually in Helix to match what my DAW is set to. They don't have to be "synched" if you are not doing any mid song tempo changes. The tempo in Helix just sets the time interval for time based effects. They start timing upon articulating a note, and not based off of a "master" clock signal.

I use the cheap old Line 6 EXP1 pedals. They work great, no issues. Silly question: are you using a TRS cable and not TS?

True, most inexpensive UPS units are not "true sine wave". I don't know if it matters with the Helix power supply though. A lot of universal power supplies don't care since it is just making DC in various ways anyway. Maybe one of the Line 6 design nerds will see this post and comment on the power supply. Maybe we can start a new subject of contention (like the tuner) based on the power supply design of the Helix and its superiority/inferiority.

I have a UPS at home and at church to connect my Helix to. I like using them because they regulate voltage if necessary and filter out a lot of garbage.

It should be fine. Just play your Helix through it to ensure things sound normal. There really isn't a "formal test" you can do to verify damage. I've done that a few time on my JBLs and no issues.

Line 6 staff does not surf the forum very often, it is for end users. Do a search at the top of the Helix forum for SPDIF and it will bring up all posts with that text in it. You may find your info that way.

It would have to be really low, probably below 90VAC before it would start causing issues. "Universal" power inputs generally can support from 90vac to 255vac.

USB to Mac. You have 8 inputs and 8 outputs to play with that way. Also, connect your monitors (or headphones) to Helix to monitor so there is no latency. You can also record dry guitar signal simultaneously as well. USB 7 dry guitar USB 1/2 wet guitar USB 3 Mic You have LOTS of flexibility with using Helix as your interface.

What is "Overdub" set at? If it is set at less than 100%, then the volume of your overdubs decreases with every loop.

I purchased two powered PA speakers to use at home to create my presets on. I turn the volume up as close to "gig level" as I can, then adjust my tone. I didn't have any luck trying to create presets with headphones or in ear monitors.

If you hit the "mode" FS, does it take you out of stomp mode?

Flextone series were not FRFR.

This should have probably been posted in the Relay Wireless forum. After being fully depleted, mine takes an hour or two to fully charge. When the transmitter is in "sleep mode" it will have standby charge time varies. I have left mine in sleep mode for a day or two and it still had some charge left. I generally unplug the transmitter about 1/4" to disengage the micro switch so it is not in sleep mode for long periods of time. If you do that, it will hold a charge for 200 hours or more. I had mine sit for a couple weeks, and still had a charge. I am unsure about the Spider questions. I don't have one of those.

I don't think it is so much about being unforgiving or not covering up mistakes, but it is about signal distortion. Generally speaking, an amp with a clean tone does not introduce any/much clipping or transients to the overall signal, therefore being closer to the direct signal from the pickups. The more distortion added, as in high gain amps, the more "stuff" is added to the signal. I guess this is what you are referring to.

On the page you find the downloads for editor and firmware, you will see a giant set of instructions. Look at #2, and read the rest of them very carefully. You have to follow these steps. You will have to install an older version of Editor to be able to backup your existing presets BEFORE installing new versions of Editor and firmware. Helix Firmware 2.21 Release Notes Helix v2.21.0 is a firmware update that includes new fixes, stability improvements, and optimizations. It is highly recommended that all Helix users perform this update! IMPORTANT! YOU *MUST* FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO INSTALL 2.21! 1. Shut down all Line 6 software as well as any software that streams audio, including, but not limited to: iTunes, Spotify, DAWs, browsers, etc. 2. Use your CURRENT EXISTING Helix application to back up all of your presets and IRs (if you want to keep them). For example, if you’re running Helix FW 2.00, your current Helix application version should be 2.00. 3. Quit the CURRENT EXISTING Helix editor application and download and install the LATEST Helix editor application (2.21), available here: http://line6.com/software/ This also installs the newest version of Line 6 Updater (1.11). 4. If you’re using Helix Rack with Helix Control, turn off Helix Control. 5. Using the latest Line 6 Updater (1.11), update Helix/Helix Rack to the newest firmware (2.21). At the end of the update process, Helix/Helix Rack will reboot automatically and begin rebuilding presets. Wait for this process to complete. 6. If you’re using Helix Control with Helix Rack, connect and power on Helix Control. The inspector will ask if you want to update its firmware. Press Knob 6 (OK). Wait for the update to finish. YOU MUST RESET GLOBALS AND RESTORE PRESETS, OTHERWISE HELIX 2.21 WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY. DO IT. DO IT NOW: 7. To reset globals and restore presets, turn off Helix/Helix Rack. HELIX FLOOR + LT ONLY: While holding footswitches 9 and 10 (middle two switches on the bottom row), turn on Helix. Wait for the message “Will reset Globals and restore stock Presets, Setlists and IRs…†to appear and let go. HELIX RACK ONLY: While holding knobs 5 and 6 below the screen, turn on Helix Rack. Wait for the message “Will reset Globals and restore stock Presets, Setlists and IRs…†to appear and let go. 8. Using the NEW Helix editor application (2.21), restore the user presets you backed up in step 2.

It appears the oldest one available for download online is Version 1.06.5

I don't think that would cause your unit to go back to factory default settings. That's most likely a separate issue. You would be surprized at how many wifi signals are around that are not set to be "discoverable" by your laptop or ipad. We have a dedicated wifi router at our church set up specifically to connect iOS devices to our Behringer X32 mixer. Unless you know the device name, it is undiscoverable by all devices. Personal Hotspots are also in the wifi frequency range. The person posting above about autoscanning every time with your wireless system was spot on. Even though you do it during sound check, do it again after many more people have shown up to the venue with who knows what kind of device in that frequency range.

I play primarily strats and teles. I get no "digital sounding" guitar input and use my volume pot on the guitar all the time for controlling input to the Helix. In my experience, using my guitar volume pot on Helix reacts the same as any "real" amp I have ever played. What you are describing is highly dependent on your pickups, signal chain, the effects you have in your preset, the order of effects, and the amp model you are using. If I use the noise gate on the input block, I have it set to very sensitive (-70 to -60dB), but most of the time I have it off. I have input pad off so I don't prematurely cut the input signal. If you have a compressor in your chain, your volume pot response will be affected greatly. Some gain/distortion/fuzz pedals react quite differently to changing volume pot because of the compressing of the signal that they do. So test this theory, set input pad off, noise gate off, drop in a Plexi amp/cab block with no effects and default settings. Plug in your strat on the neck pickup and roll your volume pot around. It should be reacting just like the real amp. On 10 it should be pretty crunchy, getting down to 5 and below, it should be cleaning up very nicely.

When I create presets, I use a DAW to monitor level and try to keep them peaking around -12dB. This gets my presets "in the ballpark" for final gain tweaking if necessary if recording on DAW or playing live to FOH.

I use it all the time. A simple looper at the beginning (or other parts) of a signal chain allows for building preset tones without having to be playing constantly. I would guess that most Helix owners use the on board looper for this. I agree with PeterHamm and Phil_M, if I wanted anything beyond that, I would definitely integrate a dedicated looper pedal that has file management capatilites.