flabergaster

Yes, did the long awaited update last night. All's well that ends well, I guess. There was a slight scare after updating I couldn't connect to the HD500 through the USB. I rebooted the HD500, and then the PC, but still couldn't connect. I was getting a bit tense to say the least. I ran Monkey again which brought up the dialog asking what I wanted to connect to, so I selected HD500 from the drop down list. Monkey opened and the driver was greyed out, so I clicked on it, and the update. It downloaded and reinstalled the new driver. and now everything is working as it should. Haven't had much time to play with it yet, but I plan to this weekend.

I think that is the point being made. You can only get the 2 sources simultaneously through the VDI connection, and split the two sounds out dual amps through the HD500. This means that you can't sample the workbench changes out the 1/4 inch to your actual patch if it is dual amp with model and mags. Your only recourse would be trial and error with re-cabling between each tweak. There is no way to monitor the workbench model changes through the actual patch, if said patch is a dual amp with the mags through one amp, and the model through the other. I have several patches that are built exactly this way, and the "workaround" does nothing for this scenario. Where you can monitor the changes through the 1/4 inch JTV out into the 1/4 inch HD500 in while connecting to Workbench HD through the dongle to the VDI on a standard single source patch, since the perceived tone of dual tone dual source patches depends on the relationship of the two sounds being heard simultaneously, the workaround can't get you there. Your only recourse is trial and error.

As far as I know, there is NO CURRENT WORKAROUND 4 this case, because u CANNOT HAVE BOTH SIGNALS USING THE 1/4" JACK. Great observation! You are absolutely correct. Hopefully Real Zap, has the real info, and this will be corrected........

I guess importance is relative. I've never experienced an audio feedback issue. This just confirms for me that the connection issue is much more dastardly than tweaking a driver. If it was a relatively simple fix we wouldn't still be waiting, while other problems are being addressed. At this point I'll be surprised if we ever get this functionality restored. Line6 designed us into a corner where we're now forced to sit with the gear that we paid good money for. I don't want to feel let down. I am let down by a sub-par effort, and a total lack of communication. I want to feel happily restored to the feature set I purchased. The "Workaround" SUCKS and has been the only recourse for too stinking long! But, I'm glad someone's problems are being addressed. It at least gives hope that they haven't completely given up future development on the HD500. It has been around about as long as the X3 was. I wouldn't expect it to be on the table for much longer.

Yes, I just noticed that 2.31 is on tap. It mentions fixing "an issue with audio feedback that could potentially occur when changing patches with a specific combination of settings" but says nothing about the Workbench HD interface issue. I'll give it a go this evening, but it's hard to imagine they wouldn't mention the interface issue if this update addressed it. Probably just another set up for a let down. Dare we hope??

ICYMI!! Another month passes.

We all seem to agree that it should be fixed. Most seem to agree, or at least feel, that Line6 will eventually do the right thing and provide the fix. The point of this whole thread is: Why are we still waiting 8 months later? It has been my observance of today's corporate world that companies put emphasis on that which impacts their future sales, and will relegate problems with things that they've already been paid for to the back burner. It will sit their simmering until someone gets around to dealing with it, or until it starts to boil over or scorch, causing enough of a mess or smell to make future customers pause before trying the new items on the menu. It seems that the squeaking wheels from this thread aren't close enough to the ears that matter to move this issue to the front burner. If they were listening to us, you'd think they would comment, with something like "Calm down guys. We've got a team of folks working to get this fixed." What reason do we have to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially in light of the newly released AMPLIFi line, which I'm sure used resources that could have been put toward this issue. I had an idea, but I don't have the equipment to carry it out. A truthful YouTube video review of the JTV and the HD500 focused on this very issue might get their attention. If someone had the video equipment to do this, a simple video showing the ease of the "before" process, followed by the hassle of the "after" process, and highlighting the fact that the fix for this is not available 8 months later, and that Line6 hasn't even let it be known if it can (or will) be corrected, wouldn't be that difficult. I haven't bought any music gear recently that I haven't searched YouTube for a video review, prior to purchasing. I'm sure that Line6 knows this. They have several video reviews they've done themselves. The way I see it, either this problem can't be fixed without a completely new revision, or there is no excuse for it to still exist. If Line6 would have waited until the dish was done prior to serving it up, we might still be wondering when it is coming instead of wondering why we're dealing with a design flaw. I know its not like we're talking a huge amount of money by corporate standards, but nearly $2k (for a JTV and an HD500) is a lot of money for most of us. When I spend that kind of jack, I shouldn't expect protracted use of a "work around". It's not that I can't get great sounds from Line6 gear. Its the fact that Line6 is damaging my trust in them as a company by disrespecting a prior commitment. That is no way to treat your customers, at least not if you expect to keep them.

The support guy's use of the term "in the near future" when referring to "plans", if "clear and accurate", implies that he knows of the issue and the importance (or lack there of) that Line6 is putting toward this. I'll admit that he may have misspoken, and I may be reading too much into it, but when it comes to this issue its not like it is a knee jerk reaction. If it is Line6 policy to keep us in the dark as to their intentions, A - We as long time customers should expect better. and B - We have every right to be reconsidering our relationship with their brand. It is not like we're asking for corporate information about the R & D for their new line of widgets. We are simply expecting the equipment that we invested in to work in the same way that was marketed to us prior to purchasing it. This is especially true since our investment in the combination of the HD500 and the JTV was more benefit to Line6 than for those who are using their JTV through non Line6 amplification. The 2.0 upgrade is all berries for those who spent less, but a mixed blessing to those of us who spent more. So we can either have the new and improved models, and deal with playing cable ping pong to test what we've done in Workbench HD, or we can do without the improved Les Paul sounds that are all happy time for those without a VDI connection. I appreciate the attempts of the Line6 apologists, but 8 months of waiting for a fix for something that Line6 themselves states that there is a "workaround" for is unacceptable. Its past time for Line6 to step up and fix it, or take responsibility for their screw up, and tell the people that gave them money what the f__k to expect. This isn't a R & D issue, this is a customer service issue. Who else in the business world can ignore and refuse to comment on customer service issues?

I hope you are right, but there's no way I'm trusting them. By the way the answer was stated, there was very little ambiguity. In stead of dancing around it, more like dancing on its grave. I expect we're getting hosed. Probably the best route is to roll back to 1.9, use what always worked before, and think before giving Line6 any more of our hard earned money.

Yeah, I've lost faith in Line 6 to the point that I've been looking at tube amps. If I sold my JTV and HD500 I could probably afford a nice Fender, Egnater, Jet City or the like, and enough pedals to get what sounds I can't already get with my Roland GR55. The Line 6 stuff served me well when I was in a Pop Cover type situation, but I'm playing mainly blues and blues based rock now, and if they're not going to back up what they've sold any better than this, to be honest, the novelty is wearing thin. Like with the new AMPLIFi thingy. Okay, it might be cool, but why the hell would you realease it when probably 1/3 or more of your current market are on Android. I don't like Apple iPhones or iPads. It is kind of the same thing as what we're dealing with. They're dropping something half baked on the market and leaving a percentage of what was their return customer base out in the cold. They have good guitar tone, but it's not so much better than their competition that they can ignore (and tick off) their long time customers. They have some serious work to do before I'll be recommending them as a company again, as I used to in the past. Hell if they released a patch to correct the Workbench HD through the HD500 problem tomorrow, I would be appeased, but I wouldn't be pleased. They wouldn't deserve a "Thank You" but more like "About Freaking Time!". But then I'm probably being naive in thinking they might care what we think.

Going on 8 months now. Beginning to doubt it will ever happen at this point. Line 6 is probably ready to unveil their replacement for the HD Line and leave us behind. It's a damn shame that those of us that paid our hard earned money for the HD500/JTV combination are still hung out to dry on this. If they weren't going to either put enough emphasis on getting this right, or if the hardware wouldn't allow it to be corrected, they should have stated that from the very beginning at the release of the 2.0 JTV firmware, and Workbench HD. I know I wouldn't jerk my customers around like this, nor would I expect to keep them if I did.

So glad to see that Line6 can get the development finished up on their new AMPLIFi, and redo their website, while we're still waiting for a WorkbenchHD connection through our HD500s. I guess hooking new customers is more important than maintaining relationships with the old customers. If you potential AMPLIFi customers are wondering when the Android app will be available, and you hear that it will happen "eventually" or even "soon", please don't hold your breath! <_<

I agree. All the more reason why we shouldn't still be waiting. Giving the benefit of doubt would mean it must be something beyond just a driver, and not just that they aren't putting reasonable emphasis on resolving this issue.

So much for Santa. With my luck the the new execs from Yamaha will come in and sack the poor lonely little code monkey that's been working day and night to get us back the functionality that we lost with the 2.0 "Upgrade". :( But maybe Yamaha will add development resources to help with this, and maybe not release half baked upgrades before completion in the future. I love my JTV and my HD500 but I can't help but feel a bit uneasy in depending on this technology long term the way it is being managed by the manufacturer. Especially when I've spent enough money on Line6 gear to have easily bought a killer conventional rig that would work as it is supposed to, even though on a smaller and simpler scale. For me one of the major selling points of the Variax/Pod arrangement is the ability to sit at your PC/MAC with HD Edit Open Next to Workbench so you get a real time sonic representation of the changes you make in Workbench, through the exact amp model you're going to be playing it through, while staying in the digital realm, and without having to unplug, plug, tweak, unplug, plug, test drive, unplug, plug, tweak, unplug, plug, test drive, etc., etc., etc.. I don't care if you could eventually dial in the tone of the gods, who the hell could get motivated to go through that crap. I understand that this isn't a bug, but a limitation. I don't understand why it is taking soooo loooong to get functionality back that we always had before, all the way back to my first Variax700 and Pod XTL. This always worked before! It is obvious that Line6 knew what paths needed to be traveled. After 4+ months since 2.0 was released, I'm beginning to wonder if they didn't develop them selves into a corner, and maybe the current hardware leaves them no workaround. If this isn't the case, why are we still stuck? Just Sayin'!

Going on 4 months since my initial post. Maybe Santa will bring it! B)

OK I received my UX1, and it is pretty cool, but as a Variax player now I'm rather frustrated with details that seem to me should have been a natural progression of function. The UX1 provides wonderfully for reamping. You can hear processed signal, while recording a dry performance, which is much more flexible in a home studio environment. The HD500 however does not allow the same, and adds convoluted hoops you have to jump through to accomplish reamping. It would seem that the ability to choose the recorded source (processed or not) should be extended to the HD500. This would allow the variax guitar models to be recorded dry through the HD500, and then be reamped through Pod Farm VSTs after the fact. Maybe I could put an effects loop at the front of the signal chain, maybe in a dual tone config, and then tie the effect send out to the instrument or line in of the UX1, allowing me to record a mono guitar only track for reamping, and a processed tone on the next track. I could mute the dry track in my DAW so I would only hear the processed track while recording. It seems that it would be much less fuss to just allow the selection of the recorded source on the HD500 as with the UX1. I could very well be missing something obvious here, so please let me know if I'm off track. Thanks!

Thanks for your help. I appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Line 6 gave me Pod Farm 2.5 as a reward for completing a survey, so it came first and is registered to my PC. I just ordered the UX1 and it will come with Pod Farm 2.5. So are you saying I can just add my current Pod Farm registration to the UX1? Then I would have the vsts available with or without the UX1 plugged in?

I have a Pod HD500 that is my primary recording interface. I have Pod Farm 2.5 installed and registered to my DAW PC where I use Reaper. I ordered a UX1 to use for times when I need to go capture some vocals or guitar, but I don't want to lug my HD500 pedal board around. What is the licensing relationship between the Pod Farm registered to my PC and/or the Pod Farm that I register to the UX1? Will the Pod Farm registration to my PC allow me to gain all the benefits of the UX1, such as low latency monitoring of effected input while recording dry signal for re-amping later, or does the registration of the UX1 do the low latency recording part, while the registration to my PC would give me the vst effects for re-amping the dry signal previously recorded? If I didn't have Pod Farm registered to my PC, but only to the UX1, would I still be able to use Pod Farm patches as VST effects on previously recorded material? Lastly will the Pod Farm registration to my PC conflict in any way with Pod Farm registration to the UX1. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I took a chance on a piece of gear, and I'm really happy with the results, so I thought I would share it here. While I would love to have 2 L3M Stage Source Speakers to complete my live setup, I don't have that kind of money at the moment. I play a JTV69 through an HD500/Roland GR55 combination, and I have several tones where I'm splitting an acoustic model to one side with an electric to the other. This means I need Full Range Amplification and it has to be stereo. I have two Behringer K3000FX Keyboard Amps that sound great and are plenty loud, but they weigh a frickin' ton, so I've been looking for an easy transport solution for smaller venues. I had looked at the Motion Sound KP200S but it is right at a grand. Same for the Traynor K4, and the Roland KC880, and they're both over 80 lbs. I came across the Simmons DA200S while searching. It is designed as a full range amp for electronic drum kits. It is stereo, 200W, and it weighs in at only 57 lbs.. I went to the Nashville Guitar Center, and played one by jacking my cell phone through the aux port with a few select mp3s. It sounded great so I dropped $319 plus tax and took it home. My models sound great through this thing, and it is seriously loud. The down firing 12 inch sub really kicks in the bass and I'm getting great articulation from the midrange and tweeters. I'm really pleased. I didn't even have to revoice my patches. With the tone knobs set at 50% and the Sub volume at about 40% it played great. I had a feeling that it would have to be pretty tight or a pounding electronic kick drum would shake it to pieces over time. It feels really solid and built like a tank. Of course it's made in China, so it may last forever, it may die tomorrow. It does have a 3 year factory warranty, but there's no website registration. You have to actually mail in the post card. :-/ The aux jack on the front panel is 1/4 inch TRS, so I'm just coming out of the Headphone jack on the HD500 straight to the aux jack of the DA200S with a stereo cable which leaves all the other outputs on the HD500 available. The DA200S has two built in direct boxes with a separate send level pot feeding R & L XLR Outs. This gives me 4 available XLR outs, 2 on the HD500, and 2 on the DA200S. I can use 2 to feed my Behringers, and 2 to feed the house when I need a larger setup. The way that the DA200S is slanted back will make it perfect for a personal monitor, and it seems loud enough to do the job in small to medium venues all by itself. I still want to eventually have a full Line 6 setup with the Stage Source Speakers, but until that ship comes in, the Simmons DA200S is a great sounding easy to carry alternative in the mean time. If you are looking for a full range stereo amp for your modeler, guitar synth, keys, or even the electronic drums it was designed for, I think you'll be pleased with the DA200S at under $400. I am in no way affiliated with Simmons, and I'm not trying to spam the board. Depending on taste, your results may vary. I play mostly classic rock, blues, and I only use the occasional higher gain model. Peace!

A couple of new notes on this. I ran monkey this past weekend and found monkey and my HD500 were a couple versions behind. When I got done bringing them up to date, I guess curiosity got the best of me. I switched devices over to my JTV69, and updated it to 2.0 through my HD500. Everything worked as it has with other variax upgrades, and it took without incident. On it's download page Workbench HD still plainly states that it won't connect through the VDI connection on pods so I haven't tried that, but out of curiosity I tried the old version of Workbench and it connected and opened normally. One of my main concerns was the inability to adjust string volume after changing strings, so I opened a model and then went through the normal process for adjusting string volume, and then backed out of Workbench without touching anything else. The string volume adjustment worked, and my variax seems to be working normally. I can tell that the new models are different than the old ones, and to my ears the changes are for the most part an improvement. With the patches on my HD500 I don't even mind the changes to the Spank which I use a lot, and which has drawn a lot of complaints. I will qualify that by saying that I usually use positions 1 & 5, and I think most complaints were about 2 & 4. I know that the new firmware took because Monkey shows that I'm on 2.0 and the models that were in my user banks are different than what I had set them to be on 1.9. They were just standard patchs with some alternate tunings so it's no big deal to remake on a patch in HD500 Edit, if I find a need. Well anyway, I still can't use Workbench HD until Line 6 gets the VDI limitation remedied, but the upgrade went well, and I can adjust string volume setup with the old version of Workbench. Hopefully the is fix for Workbench HD is soon to come, but I'd be long dead if I had been holding my breath.

For me the best strings to get that middle point between acoustic and electric feel and tone are the D'Addario XL115W. They have a wound G or 3rd string for those with altered tunings. They last well, and have been consistent in quality. Guages: .011, .014, .021w, .028w, .038w, .049w My 2 cents.

Thanks for the thought, but that won't help me. I have a 13 pin Roland connector where my 1/4 inch used to be, and since the usb adapter won't power the guitar, I'll just have to continue waiting. Oh Well.

Disappointment slowly fading into apathy. Oh well maybe by the end of the year. <_<

You have no idea what I have no idea of. This upgrade was announced around Jan 2013. It was probably in developement 2 or more years prior to announcement. Unless you want me to believe that the code monkeys at L6 got to nearly the end of the process, slapped their collective foreheads and said "Dang ..... ya know those folks with Pods and Variaxes are gonna wanna connect to work bench through them fancy pedals we sold them, like they've been able to do since the XTL. How did we ferget that?", the fix for this problem should be comming on the heels of the release of 2.0, and not be a complete rework. I think I may be giving them more credit than you are. And yes, every JTV was sold with an interface, and I sold mine because every Pod since the XTL was sold with Variax connection to workbench as one of its features. I have spent enough jack with L6, that I'll be a squeaky wheel if I want to. :P