Kilrahi

FYI something that I think really helps is to use the PC program HX Edit. You can save various collection of presets there, so if you save your favorite factory presets there it's always pretty easy to pull them back without wiping out all the work you've done since.

That will forever be the downside of the Variax. I adore mine - but even after a good long time of using it I still occasionally get borked and start fiddling with all the settings because the natural true tuning of the guitar is overpowering my brain. On the plus side, what amazes me is that most of the time, even in intimate room settings playing for people, I seem to be the only one who notices. The other people seem to all focus on what the amp is outputting. Obviously part of that is proximity, but I do think another part is that as a guitar player, without even realizing it, we've always focused a great deal of our attention on the natural resonance of the guitar in our hands.

Have you heard them both in person? To me the Variax steamrolls the Digitech Drop - and I love the drop. I hope the Helix mimics one at some point, but the Variax eats it for breakfast. My first position is that people who use a Drop or Variax have to decide they care far more about what their audience hears than what they hear, and as long as that's the case, here's the difference: 1. The Variax can have far more variations of tunings than the Digitech Drop, which can only go in even across the board reductions (so for the Variax, you could have one string tuned up a half step, another down two steps, another up three steps . . . simply not possible with the DD). Now, maybe as a player that's not something you have ever had a desire to deal with - but it's still a distinct advantage. 2. The Variax sounds far closer to real, particularly the lower dropped the tuning. The Variax will play a very convincing baritone guitar - the digitech drop does not. 3. You mentioned this, but it's a BIG deal - the Variax will mimic tons of different guitars, including acoustic. The digitech drop will not do a good job of drop tuning acoustic guitars, nor can it sound like anything other than the guitar you're already using. 4. The variax will integrate with the Helix to the point that you can have the tunings shift on the fly with simple button presses. That type of interaction is not possible with the drop tuner. 5. Speed. You are correct that the DD has the advantage of cost and in some cases simplicity. Those are its only real advantages. If a guitar player is only wanting simplicity, yeah, I'd steer them the Digitech route, but if they truly want to mess with alternate tunings both at home or in a live setting, there is no substitute for the Variax (well, except maybe being above average wealthy and having 30+ guitars shuffled out by paid roadies like John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls does).

Good question. There should be a way to highlight the far right branch and change it from a Y to a complete break with different outputs. If you want same outputs leave on the Y (merge) setting.

Do you see the branching point on the lower left? The part where it splits into two signal chains? You should be able to select that itself and pan the L to 100 and the R to 100. This means all of the right input is going to the right path, and all of the left input is going to the left, which splits the instrument paths.

I actually own a Firehawk 1500 which is what I usually do with the Stomp, but friends/family have gone the Powercab route and I fiddle around with it. Honestly, I really like the Powercab (keep being tempted to buy one - but I just bought the bloody Firehawk), and I prefer to save on DSP with the Stomp, so I like the cab modeling. It works as well as any FRFR out there if you want it in flat response mode. However, while you're audience won't care, I just felt like the cab emulation gives it an extra "oomph" when playing on it. Setup is: 1. Stereo TRS out to Input 1 and 2. 2. Cab modeling of choice active. 3. Sometimes IR of choice (Plus has an IR loader and it works well - but I dunno I just prefer the cabs. I'm that guy. If you like IRs tons though it's a great choice). Then I sculpt the EQ to taste.

Hmmm . . . maybe you are in to far more complex wet/dry/wet setups than I am. My understanding of a wet/dry/wet is a three channel system where the main channel is the dry consisting of only the guitar and amp, and then a stereo channel of effects (delay, reverb, chorus, etc.). To do a setup like that you only need two wet channels and one dry, which the stomp and HX effects can do. You're top channel would be guitar and amp, bottom channel effects, and you would run the bottom channel in stereo. Both the Stomp and HX effects can split that naturally without the need of a splitter. They would then feed into the stereo speakers. I suppose technically the Stomp is harder to do that with because it's effects loop has a blended send, so if you wanted to use that for the wet channel you would need a TRS to Y TS 1/4 cable. However, you don't have to do it that way. You could have channel A be the wet effects only in stereo, and send them out the Stomp's main output into the HX effects inputs then have the B channel on the Stomp be the guitar/amp/dry signal going straight into its speaker output.

Yes, you can create a wet/dry/wet setup. For realsies though, not faux. I'm confused on the Y cable though. The stomp has a total of three 1/4 line outs and the HX effects has a total of four line ins so there's no need for a special Y or aby/splitter.

Based on all of the ice cream talk, I'm confident he meant to say, "Big meal."

You'd think if it was a known issue that many expression pedals wouldn't work that they'd specify in the manual ones they know that work. Do you happen to know if there is a running list of functional Helix pedals? It should be a safe assumption that if they work in the Helix, which has been out longer, they'll work in the Stomp.

If they broke through normal use, it should be covered under the warranty. If it was done through negligence, then no. That's a pretty vague boundary, but it kind of comes down to how you, the user, feel about what you did with it. Based on the fact that you feel like you kept it pretty safe I would try the warranty route before I attempt any self repairs, because typically a self repair automatically voids the warranty.

I have strongly felt, for many years now, that guitar playing was very comparable to ice cream, with your guitar being the spoon, the amp being the flavor of ice cream, and your pedals being additional ingredients like Reese's pieces, Oreo cookie bits, and gummy worms. My friends and family laughed me to scorn. I've found a home here. On a serious note - some people really DO like drowning in choice. That's what they like. Fractal appeals to that crowd, but it wouldn't make sense for Line 6 to complete on Fractal's turf. It's kind of niche group. I am confidant L6 fans want more releases over time, but I don't think most of us demand an avalanche or we wouldn't be hanging out with the Helix brand.

Are you still getting this problem? I know you mentioned that you already downloaded drivers, but when I had the HX Stomp this happened to me and I realized I hadn't downloaded the specific required Windows driver. I believe for the Helix it's this one: Version 1.91 Released 9/13/18 If that doesn't work, you could try using earlier versions of the driver, or you could try running HX Edit in compatibility with earlier versions of Windows.

If you have time, I'm just curious what you're replacing. I always like to hear about people's gear. I really think you'll be happy with the HX Effects. It's the best assortment of options at the most affordable price that I think exists out there. If this is your first L6 modeler, as a tip, I've found you have to commit yourself to at least a few good hours figuring out how it all works, and even then you stay at it reviewing what you know because you'll get new discoveries every so often, better ways to do things, etc. There are just SO many variables to tweak, and routing options, etc. that it's very mind boggling at first. You'll have to let us know what you think of it.

I sometimes wonder if age matters in how the Helix products are perceived. Experiencing my teen years in the nineties, having one good amp you liked was awesome. Two would have been for the rich and famous. Line 6 products have far more amps than I legitimately know what to do with, to say nothing of effects. I have my favorites, but even 75% of the time I'm going with the Vox AC 30. Never could afford a real one, love the fake version. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of free updates and as stated earlier in this thread I get REALLY excited or them - but it's a perk more than a requirement. However, if the guitar world you were born into is the modeling one with 2,000 amps available, maybe that's how you envision it has to be. I just don't fit that mold. I could eat cheeseburgers and French fries everyday and be reasonably content with my cuisine in life. Maybe a hot and ready pizza to celebrate an anniversary or something.

Yes . . . you have to think of the 9 blocks as an aggregate. If you have three for one, then you can have six for another. Eight for one, one for the other. You can use a stereo delay and keep the outputs separate AS LONG AS THE STEREO DELAY IS ONLY ON ONE OUTPUT (A or B). The moment you have path A and B combine into a stereo delay then they are forever mixed. So, if you wanted both path A and B to use a delay that was stereo, then you're stuck using TWO blocks, one stereo delay for path A, and one stereo delay for path B.

I definitely think this is a bigger issue for Stomp users than the HX Effects. If they think of a solution for the Stomp it might as well be implemented in the HX Effects, but the Stomp has such amazing routing capabilities and you hit these unfortunate brick walls because of six blocks - and the thing could easily handle the same number of blocks as the HX Effects. I really don't read a lot of HX Effects users complaining about the effects limits - which is telling. Last night my brother and I were routing two instruments and some additional pedals through the Stomp and it once again came down to a limit on what we wanted to do based solely on the FX blocks chewing up the 6 block limit. It was still pretty cool, but it could have been even cooler.

This shouldn't be too hard. You can assign multiple effects to the same footswitch, so you would basically assign the two delays to the one footswitch. You could either have them both turn on and off at the same time, or one turn on while the other turns off, etc.

Well, it's an FRFR so you pretty much plug and play. Skip the cab on the Stomp and instead use it on the powercab to take it to the next level.

Yeah, that's a very good idea I hadn't thought of. Particularly if you like using an expression pedal, this way you can do both. OR, you could get a small midi switcher and use it for presets changes then a dual footswitch for snapshot changes (or if the midi controller was large enough BOTH preset and snapshot while using an expression pedal too). The Midi Mouse is relatively cheap: https://www.amazon.com/d/Midi-Controllers/Tech-21-MM1-MIDI-Mouse/B0002E2OEO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546472998&sr=8-5&keywords=midi+controller+mouse However, if you don't mind slogging through badly written (it's a Chinese company) instructions, for $50 more you can do just about everything conceivable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DQPTZ1F/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1UM1J239QRPCJ&psc=1 Though my favorite (both in number of options, ease of use, and technical support), and the one I'm still saving up for, remains this one: https://www.morningstarfx.com/store/MC6-MKII-MIDI-Controller-p72756109

I wouldn't want to sacrifice functionality either, that's why if nothing else I think the first choice is they should expand the six block limit, at least in the case of the FX blocks. If the appearance of the UI is the biggest concern, sure, it could be represented by something else. Heck, a subset of the multiple Y/A/B split paths would be doable. I agree though that the functionality of the block is infinitely cooler and far easier to follow (the color coding of the stomp boxes in particular) and so it would be a bit of a downer to lose that. Maybe this could be a global settings function where if you didn't care for a particular preset it becomes a small nubbin on the signal trail. I'd vote for it on Ideascale. Seriously though, the DSP for those things has gotta be pretty close to zero. One of the Stomp's greatest assets is its routing functionality, and its greatest weakness is without a doubt its artificially limited six blocks. It's very discouraging to come up with a cool routing option and be chewing up your available effects blocks when you try to implement it. It's like the first time you finally figured out a way to buy your favorite toy as a kid only to realize you forgot to take into account sales tax. #FirstWorldGuitarProblems

Yes, you'll need a footswitch. You have a lot of choices about which switch does what, but generally, I like having the inbuilt HX Stomp switches control the stomp boxes (because they will be color coded making it easier to remember what switches they're attached to) and then have a dual external footswitch attached (via TRS to TS Y cable) with the left footswitch being set to cycle up presets, and the right one set to cycle down.

That's totally an option. It just depends on how happy you are with the Amplify's frequency range/sound output. My suggestion would be to test it mono first, and if you fall in love with it and it makes sense to you, sure, jump in on a second one. Then you would just route the Helix for a stereo setup split into the two Amplifi's.

Yeah, but it seems like it would be possible to have a name display on the actual Stomp. What I'm not certain of is how helpful that would really be. I mean, 3 snapshots isn't a huge deal to remember. Nevertheless, it would help a bit, especially with multiple presets. Ultimately, if someone put an ideascale up I'd vote for it. If I can get my lazy butt moving maybe even I'll create it.

I bought my HX Stomp to make gourmet rotisserie chicken. It may surprise you, but I've been VERY disappointed thus far.