waymda

Q1 - Yes - just make sure midi over USB is turned on for the Helix. I turn it off as a matter of course and it catches me out everytime. Q2. Don't know, but its fallacious to think there will be a parallel. Different hardware, with different corporate owners, and likely different priorities. FWIW, whilst the D10 is said to support Variaxs I won't be holding my breath of the depth of that support, or for how long given since Yamaha took over Line 6 they've killed the Variax product. Says a lot to me about where the dev team will be able to expend effort. Unfortunately, as someone who uses variaxes with within song guitar and tuning changes via snapshots on the OG.

How do you dial in your overdriven presets? With my ears - not meant to be facetious, but really that's all that matters. 'Standard practice' is BS, it's just doing what others do and may not work for you. You may want/need to change your mic/cab approach for dirtier sounds, or even the amp settings. Luckily you can do all those changes with one button push using snapshots. I think you need to throw away analog approaches (which frankly were always a massive compromise (amp + cab with pedals in front) and embrace what digital offers in terms of clean and dirty and 'disgusting' can all be highly independent. You are no longer bound to amp/pedal/can settings based on what you have onstage. Play and learn, and have some fun.

Having tried many power-amp cab combinations (SS and valve) and FRFR approaches over many years my view is what works for you (at this moment in time) is what works, and that everything is a compromise. I now run direct to FoH and use (damned good) IEMs, and adjust tones to fit in the mix for FoH. The IEMs sound good, but its not the same 'experience' as loud onstage cabs. I would never go back though. The audience gets better sound and the sound is consistent(ly good). Something I can't say for running loud on stage and having to hit that volume level both for tone and so I can play well. My opinion is that its all marketing and hype, musicians play into it, and sunk costs drive opinions about what works more than anything else - before the next best and greatest potential purchase comes along. Audience be damned and internet opinions are worth what it costs to read them - nothing.

TLDR: Don't expect global assignment of a cab-free output in a hurry. Its not stumbling over this, its how its been done with the Helix since the OG. The exception to this is the Pod Go, which has fixed block placement. You will need to adjust your workflow, and quite possibly your approach to patch building (see below). The flexibility the Helix allows (1/4 inch, XLR, Digital, sends and returns) makes a global response near to impossible and, for many, highly undesirable as their needs may vary in terms of how outputs are used and can be managed on a by patch basis. If you want a standardised approach use templates to set-up your master approach and add/change as required. The idea that the cab should or must be the last block is also false. There is lots of post cab processing you may want to apply before going direct - eg compression or patch specific EQ - that you do not want going to your cab. The only consideration for your tap point (to cab) is does it include all the processing you want/need for the cab. Some users have a wetter send for FoH than to onstage monitoring/cabs. Again, why a global setting for no cab on output X is problematic. I can't answer your other question re the Agora amp interaction with cabs - however logically, if you're tapping the signal before the cab, and the cab still exists, the relationship between amp and cab still exists, and should impact all signal leaving the cab independent of tap point.

Slow reply - I didn't get a notification. I used to use poweramps into guitar speaker cabs, but it limited my pallette too much as the speaker has such a huge influence on tone. That aside, when I did I much preferred using the full amp model even though it includes the power amp section. Yes the preamp models are substantially quiter and need additional volume, but they also sounded thin to me. Irrispective of what you use, pre or full, you should be aiming for consistency in levels at the patch stage and then tuning the actual output to the out put device (eg line level PA vs instrument level amp head). I've always used a full Helix and/or LT so can't advise the easiest approach for that on a XL, but on the Helix I would use a gain block at the end of the patch, or the output level to adjust. If using different set-ups, copy the patch, adjust output levels and name for that output, or keel in a seperate user list.

If you understood the 500, you will (with time) get the Helix. I went from the 500xHD to a Helix about 10 years ago. The sound quality jump was amazing, as was the learning curve. Stick with it. Jason Sadites has already been mentioned. I also used Marco Fanton (youtube) as a resource and dropped a couple of each's presets to help understand it. FWIW I went from tweaking every preset on the 500HDx EVRY gig to reviewing patches occasionally with the Helix once I got it. I use a patch per song with minimal reuse.

The most obvious response is you're driving the powerstage. No idea what sort of level it expects to see (line/instrument/mic), but start there in terms of output from the XL globals, and work backwards to find what's making it saturate. The patches sounding good in cans suggest its post preset, so could be as simple as turning down the output of the preset. Keep in mind the powerstage and your speakers will colour the sound very diferently to cans, so expect to tune patches for the amp and the speakers. A final consideration is whether the powerstage is turned up to the point its saturating at its output - you may need something beefier to get the volume level you want whilst being 'transparent'. Your reproduction set-up (amp and/or speakers) is crtitical to your tone. Maybe more so than what's before it. A final consideration - do your speakers load the powestage in a way that causes it to drive? You've not mentioned them, but keep in mind the extent ohmage impacts on power amp efficiency/volume with/without saturating. Most of this also applies to the 5150, but mostly the output level it expects in a loop and/or direct in. They may be different and require a mix of instrument into the front vs line in the loop.

The least 'lossy' approach wouold be use the Stadium USB out direct to your PC/crapple device so it all remains native digital. And use the Apollo for playback. Then would be SPDIF (Stadium) to Optical (Apollo) via a converter - keeping it digital. Then XLR - no idea where the idea it will colour the sound comes from - are you a member of an audiophile BS group? They love to say ship like that (ensure the copper in the cables is aligned facing mecca or you'll be dissapointed). All of that said - if you can hear the difference between any of the above, congratulations you have 24k gold ears.

Of course its possible, desirable - that is a matter of taste. You're not thinking amp models output amp to speaker level signal are you, hence your concerns? You can put anything in the modelling world in front of an amp, and manage its level to suit. Thats kind of the beauty of it. Whether it works, only you can say.

I'd love to know what is NEEDED at this point. L6 (and all the other manufacturers) have created an unsatiable thirst for new with the ongoing updates with zip valuing of what is already available.

Same - no diffference. Can't see why it would happen even if you were using the L6 Link output. They're independent outputs and the changes to DT or Powercab settings have no relevance to the XLR or 1/4 inch outs.

You want to play along with backing tracks, so you want an 'accurate' reproduction system. That's monitors. The powercabs are FRFR, so full range, but not as clinical/transparent as monitors as it's intended for guitar use. Will it sound better for the Stadium? Maybe due to its tuning, but if you want your backing tracks to sound good you're better off tuning your guitar sounds to the monitors. You certainly won't lose any 'magic'. The powercabs are just L6 branded FRFRs. They are not 'special' or tuned for the agora amps, or stadium.

@flobudi there's lots of options on the chain to optimise volume. The amp channel volume will change the volume and no other amp characteristics. There are also gain blocks (mono or stereo) that you can run as a final block to 'normalise' your levels and/or to add boost for solos. You can also alter the output level of the output block. As to the optimal level, just don't end up with everything so hot your causing digital clipping in the chain or at the desk. The Helix has meters on the output blocks you can monitor. As you'll be aware from the fractal the metered level is not the perceived volume in the mix so you will need to adjust accordingly (without clipping, hence using a conservative baseline).

No

Can I suggest, cabs/irs close to last with any additional FoH sweetening after the sends as well. Eg i use compression, eq, and tape emulation a lot to get FoH 'right' but an amp/can arrangement would not need that.