theElevators

Then sell it and try something that is easier. I know some people who are computer programmers cannot wrap their heads around this tech. Or go back to pedal boards.

In the real pedal world, "Fuzz "tone sucking" (volume/treble loss) often results from impedance mismatches, particularly when vintage-style Fuzzes (like Fuzz Faces) are placed after buffered pedals or active pickups." Also in the real world, the Fuzz pedal sucks tone whether it's on or off, they are not true-bypass. In your case, you have a digital emulation of any pedal you want. HX One has capacity to run exactly one block. Digital pedals in an analog signal chain do not have any "impedance" and tone-sucking behavior, because they are digital devices. They can suck tone on their own though to an extent, but they will do it consistently regardless of what effect you are running. Just because you are running Fuzz on your HX One, doesn't mean that it will magically recreate the physical properties of an analog Fuzz Face and affect other pedals. In the Helix world, they replicate the "tone sucking" behavior, if you have a virtual signal chain. Helix recreates those nuances when you have more than one block in your preset. But it does it weirdly: only the first block in the virtual chain affects how the rest of the chain sounds in terms of its virtual impedance, if you set the impedance setting on your preset to "auto". So if you have a wah, followed by 10 Fuzz pedals -- no tone sucking. But one bypassed Fuzz pedal followed by 10 wahs -- it will suck the tone. However, you can override this behavior by dialing in an explicit impedance value of your entire preset, then it stops behaving like it would in the real world. Regarding how to set the impedance on your HX device: My advice is to just set it to auto. Auto take the first block's impedance and uses that. For most effects it's 1M ohm. Changing the impedance to a specific value between HX presets is a very bad idea, since it results in loud pops when changing presets. (For the record, I don't have HX One, and cannot confirm what it does when you bypass your Fuzz block, you would need to test it out. ) I also recommend just using your ears. Digital doesn't always behave like analog, and sometimes not at all. Add a Fuzz in your HX One. Bypass it in one preset, compare it with a blank preset. If you start messing around with impedance, it may introduce weird harshness and resonant frequencies. The difference in sound is there, but not that significant, mostly just becoming unpleasant. One more piece of info: as a Helix user, I want all my presets to sound consistent. All my presets are based around the same 'core' sound. So if I wanted to add a Fuzz solo in one of my presets, I need the core sound to remain unchanged. If I added the Fuzz in the beginning of the chain, I know that it would affect my tone for the whole preset very slightly (not something I want). Therefore, I can either change the impedance of the preset to be the same value as other presets (1M ohm), or make sure that the Fuzz is placed second in line after the wah pedal, which I know has the correct impedance of (1M ohm). But I would never change the impedance setting between the presets, because of the horrible noise glitch that will happen when switching presets! See my old video of me messing around with the impedance. There are also lots of threads on this topic. In summary, set it to "auto", and forget about it IMO :)

This is not carbon. This is just the black foam rubber getting grated and creating this dust. It's more severe on the Floor (because there are more foam ribber parts for the snapshot screens). So when the foam is brand-new, it creates this dust from all the vibrations, pressing on the footswitches. Eventually, the foam stops being brand-new and becomes more gooey, and the problem is less severe, or it just stops. Somehow the tactile switches attract that dust. (that's my theory anyway). Or it could just be the plungers deteriorating, hence the black powder, since they are black plastic parts. But once you clean it with DeoxIT, the problem goes away for a while. That's why I think they should use this stuff at the factory to prevent the initial issue.

Press BOTH the “MODE” and “TAP” footswitches together This toggles between: Preset Mode (scrolling presets) Snapshot Mode (Snapshot 1/2/3, etc.) I think this is what you did.

Try a different cable. Otherwise, open up a support ticket. Otherwise, you can still use your Helix, using the return 1/2 jacks instead of an input. It can work with the tuner as well.

Do you use any stomp buttons at all or purely snapshots? I would just clear the bypass assignment for the amp/blocks entirely. Then assign the bypass to snapshot only. Then select snapshot 1, turn things on/off as needed, save. Then go to snapshot 2, do the same and save. Sometimes the bypass assignments get confused when you have multiple things controlling what is on/off.

Also there's a lazy method that I've used as well -- use at your own risk. I've started doing this, and it works for me. Prop up the Helix so that the buttons are perpendicular to the floor. Apply liquid deoxIT to each of the buttons, around 3 applications. Wait an hour: the liquid will eventually reach the actuators/microswitches. Press the buttons a few times. Flip the Helix upside-down, again propping it so that the buttons are perpendicular to the floor. The excess DeoxIT will ooze out. Vacuum each button, wiping the leftover DeoxIT until it's dry.

The micro switches under the metal buttons are cheap and will stop being reliable after about a year of regular gigging use. If you are handy with electronics, open it up and clean out all of your switches whenever this starts happening. No need to re-solder a new microswitch. The procedure is very simple, in essence: locate the micro switches, and apply liquid DeoxIT to them, and press them a few times. I like liquid (not spray) DeoxIT, because it's only one drop, nothing gets sprayed in the process, you don't need to be careful where you spray, etc. The switches to me became as smooth as butter after the cleaning. watch a video on how it's done. https://youtu.be/WONiwe0vjH0 Helix is built like your typical Chinese gadget (Kemper floor is no different): looks solid from the outside, but inside is all microscopic PCB stuff with cheap components. In particular, the little button plungers are not held by anything, if you flip the unit upside-down they will all fall and you will not find them. you need a big table with a towel for this job -- can't do it on your lap. I use Tupperware / bowls / shot glasses to store all the parts, like screws/bolts/nuts. Sort all your screws by height, etc. Take a picture of what's inside before you start taking things apart -- that way will know how it used to be. A tablet is very useful for these. When I cleaned micro switches on the Helix LT, I did not have to take apart any ribbons, remove any glue, etc.

Pod HD 500 is way more limited and complicated at the same time than the Helix! I tried helping a friend dial in sounds on it, and it was very difficult, especially on the unit itself. Helix is way more user-friendly. Snapshots are presets within presets, plain and simple--the octopus picture really explains what it is. You can save what each of your blocks do when you select a specific snapshot: what is on/off, and the various settings of blocks are, if you wish to change them. I only use snapshots for all my sound changes, never use any effects individually (aka stomp mode). In the band where I played, there were lots of sudden changes from loud lead with delay to dry low-gain sound. With snapshots, it's a breeze. With pedals, I'd have to turn on/off 3-4 pedals at once. Plus with snapshots you can also have different tap tempo saved, so your delays can have extreme exaggerated spillover effect when you turn off your lead sounds, for example. I actively use all such tricks to glue different parts of the song together. With 8 different snapshots within each song, you have more than enough different sounds to cover each song, given you save each song as an individual preset. Love it.

I really like the sound and feel of a compressor between the amp and cab. It just makes everything easier to play, the notes just fly off the fingerboard. But the downside is that it amplified some amp buzzing, and constant droning, which I had to adjust on the amp, the "hum" level, etc. Once I figured this trick out, it just became so much better, I wish I had discovered it earlier!

It's all the same to dial down your hot guitar. I just like the separate volume block, because it's easier to see what it's doing. And easy to copy/paste it. Guitar pad = input level = using a volume block. But guitar pad is fixed of course, so you can't adjust it. Also my point is that I have used volume cut not just in the very beginning (input), but also right before the envelope filter, for example.... and other parts of the chain. Helix in my experience was VERY difficult to dial in for my needs in the beginning. So much so, that I was getting very frustrated! Took me several weeks to recreate my "signature" sound. And then I was tweaking still.... The feel was also very "hard", like I needed to be very articulate, and the notes would not come out as easy as on a tube amp. Then I added a compressor after some time, and that solved that issue! Now of course, it's been years since I figured out all the tricky sounds. It took me many iterations of reviewing concert board mixes, etc. Now I can say that I'm very happy how my presets sound and most importantly feel.

Yes, I have been using the "volume cut" approach in various parts of the signal chain to achieve acceptable results. In my experience, the envelope filters are pretty much unusable, unless I significantly lower the volume of the signal .... using a volume pedal block that is fixed at a very very low percentage. For example: I needed to do a simple funky clean auto-wah sound, and that took me many many iterations. I wound up achieving the needed results by using the volume cut and adding... reverb BEFORE the envelope filter. Only then it started behaving as auto-wah should! Also, every preset that I build nowadays has another fixed volume pedal block in the very beginning of the chain, again to be able to dial in exactly the right level so my preset works with that specific guitar. I have figured out how much to cut the signal, and if I need to use a different guitar, just go and adjust that first volume cut as needed. So in summary, I can confirm that the Helix is EXTREMELY sensitive to the output levels. In the real guitar pedal/tube amp world, it's not the same. When I had my pedalboard, I was frequently swapping guitars with minimal adjustment. Also I had a Boss MS-3 little processor for effects only, and a lot of effects were a lot easier to dial in. The same envelope filter sound was set up in one go! Some people solve these sensitivities by using a compressor/limiter in the beginning of the chain on the Helix, so it behaves more like the real world gear...

The signal is very weak then. You can try to boost the dry signal when you route it....

Pretty sure you need to press the "R" on both tracks, like you have on the upper one.

First of all, on the Helix Floor you have the 10-stomp mode, so it gives you 10 footswitches, unlike the maximum of 8 that the LT allows. Use the expression pedal. I am a big fan of using that for quick back-and-forth changes. Like you need to play a quick solo fill, rock that expression pedal to the front, then back. In your case, you can assign the mix parameter of certain blocks to the expression pedal, perhaps, so that you can mix things out when you put your expression pedal up or down, however you assign it. Or you can use snapshots + stomps and use the command center for an insane amount of versatility. I like snapshots and use the expression pedal for quick changes. This allows me potentially 16 different sound combinations, 2 for each one of the snapshots. That's a ton. Here's a video of me showing how I use the Pod Go with the expression pedal trick.