Paulzx

Guys, thanks for all the help so far on trying to solve my update woes, I'm sticking at version 2.01 for now as I don't have time in my life to lose trying to get 2.10 to install properly - or to risk losing the unit altogether! So..I've had my Helix for more than a week and I still haven't actually been able to use it until now. What I want to do is use the Helix for all the amp tone, cabs and effects ideally so I'm guessing some kind of PA speaker set up might be best? My actual situation is that I own the following amps: Spider 3 combo Vetta 2 combo DT50 combo Is it actually worth trying to run a Helix through any of those or would you just go for some powered speakers? I don't really want to mess about trying to change the DT50 midi settings and I don't know if there's any prospect of Line 6 integrating L6 link properly. I have no clue what the difference in the sound would be either way. I do prefer a 'pure' solution of Helix doing everything, but would be open to using one of those amps if it's straight forward to do. If you guys are going to recommend stand alone speakers over an amp, what should I be looking for? Thanks

Exactly this, you get the download icon and the accept disclaimer etc but rather than start a download process it just fills your screen with random code or letters etc You never actually get the download process started

Thanks for this, yes just seen it listed, didn't realise it was there under flash memory. Got excited and attempted to download it but guess what...just a page of gobbledygook again and no download! I've selected windows 10 as the OS, I'm on a windows 10 pc...what else can I do? Something isn't working here, I'm not the only one either who has had this while trying to get a firmware download onto a pc. I suppose there's no way anyone could attach the firmware file to a post or message on here that I could try and download? Thanks guys

That's great to see your update went well but it certainly isn't down to just following instructions for all of us. I can't speak for others but I went over the instructions repeatedly and still got various results so it's not always that simple for some of us.

Bearing in mind the link to download the firmware to the pc didn't work in this thread, does anyone know a way to actually do this? How come there's no option to do that on the website...is it hidden somewhere? Thanks guys for all the help so far.

Yep as already stated, it was safe boot mode that eventually put it back in to update mode, switch 6&12 I think. Over the last couple of days I have thought several times mine was bricked and that I would need a support ticket but in the end it was a case of switching the unit off and leave it a while then keep trying. A lot of times it didn't clear the LED screen, but I kept just trying to reset globals then safe mode until something finally worked. I even went back to the first firmware download at one point and that got it going also at one point. It's so glitchy it's untrue. I loved the demos of the Helix but had I known what this was going to be like, I would have gone with a competitor unit because this just isn't acceptable. Even after I get this fully up and running I think I'll call it quits with Line 6 and finally learn my lesson. Don't mean to sound negative but it shouldn't be this traumatic just to apply an update.

I agree, I'll probably stick to 2.01 - I've nearly launched the unit out of the window on several occasions just getting this far though..unless I can get that offline 2.10 file to work somehow but that seems just as glitch trying to download that as it does doing the update. My worry is that I'll have this all over again on the next firmware release. I wonder if this is the reason quite a few of these units are being sold on now?

I got this too, a page of junk, no downloaded file, followed by website not responding after further attempts. Why is dealing with Line 6 gear so frustrating? I should know better after owning a vetta 2, spider 3, DT50 and HD500, now Helix, and yet we're still messing about trying to get simple operations to work properly.

Thanks for the link but it isn't working for me, I just get 'line6.com isn't responding. It's interesting because I'm trying to download this at work on my work pc and the line 6 website is still pretty poor on download connections. I thought it might just be my home pc but clearly it isn't, it's the same here. Now I'm thinking all these failed firmware upgrades are more down to the website itself. In any case, I can't download 2.10 to my computer either!

Thanks for this. Im going to try this method as the online download seems very unreliable. I'm up to version 2.01 now but honestly, the amount of times it has taken me to just get that far is a bad joke really.

I've deleted all line 6 apps from my pc except the helix drivers. I downloaded the editor 2.10 bundled with the updater and I'm thinking of giving it another go although I am worried because the helix is at least working at the moment

How do you download the firmware update to your pc then because I haven't seen an option for that

The updater on my pc is version 1.10. I totally agree that finding the right items to download is initially very confusing

Okay guys thanks for all this info, I really do appreciate it. I spent hours last night trying to get the unit working as the lcd screen had gone bananas. I managed to get it into safe mode and reapply the 2.00.0 update and it's working again thank God. On my pc I have the updater installed and the helix app version 2.10. It won't connect to helix because it knows the firmware is out of date. I have noticed that the line 6 website it very slow on this pc sometimes it doesn't load at all and I'm wondering if this is part of the issue. Basically now I've got the helix up and working I'm afraid to try any further update! It's the floor model by the way. What do you guys think the best way to proceed now is?

Hi all, Just got myself a Helix and starting to regret it without even having used it yet. It didn't have the latest firmware so I've attempted to get it to 2.10 but I am having epic difficulties with this thing. Using the Line 6 updater I can get it up to version 2.00 but after that it seems to just corrupt and I end up trying to re-load 1.06.5 just to get it working again. The most recent attempt to get to 2.10 resulted in my floor unit telling me it was a rack unit on the somewhat messed up screen and then it wouldn't work at all, so back to 1.06.5 and it works again. I have tried applying all the updates one by one because going straight to 2.10 is not working. Is it correct to try and apply all the updates in sequence or should I be trying just to get the 2.10 update regardless of the current version the unit is running on? This is without doubt one of the most frustrating experiences I've had with any guitar hardware, I know others have had issues also but I have no idea why this is happening. Surely it cannot be my pc because it's applying the earlier updates? Any help is very welcome at this point. Thanks

EQ is a black art in itself. Interesting to learn about but now you realise why sound engineers earn their money. I'll bet the majority of pod HD owners have no clue how the eq effects really work. One other thing I have noticed is that if I roll off most of the bass on my tone then the horrible boomy A string effect vanishes. It's that old scenario where you sit there in a room and dial up a nice bass thick low mid crunch tone and you think yeah...this sounds heavy as he'll, but it only sounds any good when you play on your own. If you play alongside a record your tone is now too muddy and doesn't cut through. If I then start removing bass and dare I say it, a bit of the gain, I get a nice audible cutting crunch. It just sounds better with other people playing than on it's own. A case of re-learning some of the fundamentals I've forgotten over the years. To master the eq will improve that further no doubt

Yeah the Cube is just a little practice amp I have around the house, my main gear is the DT50/Pod hd500, it's just noticeable sometimes how a limited little amp can effortlessly produce great distortion, maybe being solid state it's easier, but it really gives you a thick distortion that you can hear on individual notes let alone chords. I've realised two things this week. Firstly, it's a mistake to copy other people's patch set ups, unless they have identical gear. YouTube videos where some folks are getting great distortion tones and such like, are not translating for me because they are not using a DT50, and when you load in their patches it actually throws you further off track. With my amp and pod setup, mids are everything. I've realised that where I've been using other people's patches, they have been dialling up the mids and that is making my tone very brittle and shrill, and thin sounding. I've dialled all the mids out completely on the amp setting and now I'm starting to get nice throaty chunky percussive distortion, which is what I wanted, just didn't realise DT50 does not like mids! Still need to resolve the booming A string problem, but I'm optimistic again with my tones. Then I saw a video on Spider V and now think I need one of those! Sigh.....

Thanks for this, I never knew about the global EQ mode, I assumed everything available on the pod itself was available on the HD500 edit software. This could really help.

Thanks Chaps, The low cut - is that the setting on the cab sim you mean or is there a low cut elsewhere? I already did some low cut on the cab sim. The room is pretty small by the way, although I have a vetta 2 combo on the opposite side of the room and don't get that issue at all. Weirdly, my little roland street cube amp produces a way better distortion tone than anything I can achieve with the DT50, so I can only assume the DT50 combo is a little too big, maybe I need a smaller amp to get a really full on overdriven distortion tone. The weird sound from the A string is yet another strange thing from this set up, I'll try moving the amp and see how that works out.

Thanks for the reply, the cable I'm using is a van damme 268-610-000 smart control DMX512 GRADE 1 pair lighting control cable. If that means anything to anyone?

Hello...hoping for some insight with this... I have a pod hd500 with L6 link to a DT50, but I've struggled to get decent saturated distortion tones. Having now realised that using the pre amp versions of the modelled amps in fact doesn't work so well, I've reverted back to the standard amps, even though the pre amps were designed I think to be used with the DT amps, they simply don't give enough punch. One thing that is bugging me a bit is that for some reason, the A string on my guitar really booms through the hd500/DT50 combo, it's quite obnoxious in a very bassy, boomy type way, it doesn't happen on any other string, just the A string? This happens on all my guitars, but not on any other amp, just HD500/DT50 so it must be something to do with the processing through that. You can't really just roll the bass off the amp model (treadplate), as the tone just loses it's punch. Is there any way to EQ it out? But it's tricky because it's just the A string I want to stop the booming sound. Antone come across this before, or know some really good EQ tips without totally killing the tone? Thanks

Fortunately I managed to solve this myself in the abscence of any help. For anyone also owning a DT amp and using with pod HD500, the simple answer is that you cannot use the standard amp models, you have to use the pre amp versions, the difference is huge. I still think there are only one or two amp models that are really any good for a modern high gain sound, but at least I'm on the way to getting something I can be happy with

Hello Chaps, Some time ago I invested in a Pod HD500 and a DT50 2x12 combo amp, as an upgrade from my Vetta 2 combo. Being mainly a hard rock player, I was aiming for some nice saturated high gain distortion tones but I seem to be struggling to get what I want. Plainly, it's not subjective regarding the tone. I'm not talking about taking an amp tone and adding some dirt, I'm talking full on overdriven gain saturated distortion. So far, I've had a better distortion tone just plugging my lead straight in to the amp, naturally I'm not going to settle for that when I've got a pod and a Line 6 link cable ready to use. I've found the best amp model in the pod for this, is probably the treadplate (not the pre amp version), but even with the drive fully up, it sounds crunchy but it just sounds like it needs more gain. When playing my guitar with this amp model, the low end is very boomy and the top end is quite tinny. In fact, when the A string is hit on the guitar, the DT50 produces a noticeably unpleasant thump, which it doesn't do with any of the other open strings. Anyway, if I listen to the pod direct using head phones, the distortion tones sound great, problem solved! Except like most players, I don't want to sit there with head phones, I want to hear the thing out loud. So why is it going wrong when I'm running it through the DT50? Surely that should improve it not weaken it? I haven't changed the tubes in the DT50. I don't have a lot of experience with tube amps but I have the feeling that replacing tubes won't suddenly give me masses of distortion that was missing before. Maybe I should remove the DT50 altogether and just run the pod into a speaker cab? What do you guys think, have I just hit a limit on what this setup can do or am I missing something obvious. I do know that when I watch some youtube demos of pod hd500 distortion tones, it sounds a lot better than what I'm getting at the moment.