Kilrahi

That's a broken link. It DID seem lifeless, but I didn't see any sign the Helix was involved.

A few takeaways to check first: 1. Make sure that the ins/outs for the Helix are set to the appropriate levels (instrument vs. line level). From one of your examples above it sounds like you may have had the Helix set to instrument when it should have been line. 2. The default for the FX send/returns is to have some of the dry come through. If you look at the block it has a mix setting. At 50% it's a mix of dry and wet. Slide it all the way to 100% and it's all wet. Slide it all the way to 0% and it's all dry. Tweak that setting until you get the right mixture you're looking for. 3. Ground hum problems are typically a simple animal. Did you try using the ground lift switch on the back of the Helix? Were the amp and the Helix sharing the same outlet? If you ground lift one of the devices and it is still occurring then it's not likely a grounding problem. Edit: Did you see in this video the extreme hum he encountered at the end? Is that like the sound you were hearing? Maybe you need to buy a hum eliminator too! (https://www.guitarcenter.com/Ebtech/2-Channel-Hum-Eliminator.gc).

I really wish I could help here, but recording with the Stomp is my final frontier that I'm planning on jumping on in a few months (basically, I want to buy Native first and then use the Stomp as the audio interface - but have the full power of the Helix and all its blocks if I want. Now watch me end up using only six blocks). Nevertheless, I've always found Line 6's support team to be ridiculously helpful on stuff you really wouldn't even expect them to spend time on. I'd try opening up a ticket and seeing if they have any ideas. There's not a lot of info out there about the Stomp as an audio interface right now, but as far as I can tell that's because it's supposed to be pretty plug and play and yet in the case of both of you it's not working out that way.

I definitely tend to put it earlier in the chain. My thinking is the earlier the more accurate and less muddy it is when it doubles, triples, or quadruples the signal That may be crazy thinking though, but it does seem to be less muddy using it long before delays, reverbs, etc. In fact, lately I've used it as its own separate path (Path B) which most of the time splits off after the cab - but sometimes I even do it at the very front of the signal chain without any processing - and then feeds back into Path A at the very end. Sometimes I add another block to path B to tweak that. Often not. I don't know, like most things Helix oriented it just seems like there's a near infinite way to play with this stuff. I love the double take's possibilities.

It's a good question. I think the difference with the Stomp is that Line 6 seems to have recognized that this was a deficiency and design flaw with the original Helix and actually worked to follow the example of Boss and others as the Stomp's manual specifically encourages it's use for an audio player. With the Stomp, once set to an auxiliary in, it does not use any blocks and is not part of the signal path (i.e. it remains an unprocessed signal). The only oversight, which hopefully they'll rectify, is that it still sends the signal out the main left/right outs which I can see someone wanting sometimes, but other times that would be a no. Over all though, it works amazingly well for this purpose.

Yeah I guess that may be a hidden feature. I bought this little baby to retain stereo: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00ZKM3S4S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LeczCb2GB3HJ8 Then I go into the global settings and change the send returns to auxiliary ins. With a PC connected as well both will send sound. Last night my phone was playing the music while the PC had a YouTube tutorial going.

Unfortunately problems with unofficial pedals and the Stomp seem to be reported on from time to time, and the only thing in the Stomp is the "learn" parameter when assigning a controller. Hopefully better expression pedal functionality can be implemented in future updates.

I'm confused here. What's wrong with using the Stomp's auxiliary ins for practicing to?

Kudos to the original poster for being open to a number of possibilities. I haven't listened to the samples provided, but it sounds like codamedia's nailed it. I admit I'm about to go off on a rant here, AND I'm not necessarily saying that this is what is happening in your case, but I have noticed an interesting trend that occurs with new owners of HX gear. It goes something like this: 1. Real amps have a lot of interesting sounds and idiosyncrasies about them - but when a user uses a real amp though there is no worry that it's not going to sound "real" because it clearly IS real so these idiosyncrasies are accepted as just the way it is and they learn how to control them. 2. The Line 6 Helix does a fantastic job of mimicking these idiosyncrasies. They WILL show up in the models depending on settings. 3. From the moment a traditional gear user makes the decision to purchase a Helix they are worried that they'll find out it sounds "fake." 4. When they hear these idiosyncrasies, unlike with real gear where they assume it is just how it's supposed to be, they instead worry they are hearing the tell tale signs of digital modeling, and they begin to doubt their purchase. It's a vicious kind of confirmation bias.

I think it's largely to play music through it so you can practice to it. You could maybe use it as a monitor for other band mates.

I've thought about it. It depends on the angle you look at it: 1. Audio: It will sound amazing. 2. Practical: You done *?!@#!ed up and should have bought an LT.

It does seem like a strange oversight.

Well, you could always try this little beastie: Maximm Cable 3 Feet 360° Rotating Flat Plug Extension Cord/Wire, 3 Prong Grounded Wire 16 Awg Power Cord - Black https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B075KPJKTY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SCYxCbBZWY1MY

It's compatible.

Will do. Thanks for the tip!

Do you still have this patch? I was looking for something like this, but when I go to the original link it looks empty. Would it be possible to put it back up?

Here's a free Pink Floyd one you can try. The link is in his comments. Jason always does good stuff.

I think there was a "Dire Straits" preset on the factory settings. I can't be sure though since I wiped all the presets.

I use the Stomp, but the headphones easily get loud enough to permanently wreck my hearing.

Well, I just tested your preset and I didn't see any immediate problems that would cause what you're describing. There were a few small things I noticed though that you may or may not have reasons for. It's just preference stuff sometimes, but especially the first one. I hate that IRs default to -18 DB. Probably some obvious reason they do and a pro gets it, but it always messes me up. it's screwed some of my presets before and I've hunted for hours to fix it only to finally be like . . . DAMN IT. So it may impact you . . . then again it may not. 1. Your IRs were set to the default -18 decibels. I like going up to zero but seems most presets I see go around - 3 or -4. Eh . . . you might want to make sure that you REALLY do want them at -18 DB. 2. FX Loop - You didn't really put it between any other effects so this seemed like a pointless block - and it may not be! Maybe your pedalboard can only fit it that way, or whatever, but assuming there's nothing else going on, all things being equal I would just plug those in AFTER the Stomp and save on a whole block. You could pack in an EQ or a delay which may be a lot more useful. Other than that the Stomp preset seemed fine. I liked it even. Whatever you're facing has got to be fixable. I still think the next step would be to test it adding one distortion before it at a time, aggregating them, and determine the precise point at which it sounds like lollipop.

I'm not to where I can check the path yet. What kind of tweaks have you tried already? Have you tried bypassing most of the pre stomp pedals and slowly building up to see when the problems begin?

All of this is very confusing because you're not supposed to be able to assign the pedal to amp parameters.

I think using the fx returns are usually far better choices. Are they unavailable in your setup? It looks like you mentioned them in your first post but then brought up the aux in.

I'm having a hard time understanding what your dilemma is. What do you mean by, "It just falls apart into compression?"

You have to go into the global settings and change the HX Stomp's FS3 from Tap/Tempo to "Stomp" mode. Once you do that you can assign it to control a block.