theElevators

I've been curious about people's feedback on it, and several YouTubers reported really serious bugs.  One mentioning an unusable "helicopter" sound that just comes out of nowhere and makes the unit unusable. 

There have been reports on slow snapshot changes, slower than on the OG.  Also a bunch of problems with the expression pedal and block parameters when using snapshots.  

As with any modeller, it's a computer, it can have bugs.  Bugs will be fixed, new ones will be introduced.  I'm a computer programmer, and I know all about testing, beta testing, pre-release, release, etc.  I will never be foolish to upgrade the firmware the night before the show and expect everything to work.  Plus in certain scenarios the upgrade can brick your Helix, and you can only bring it back to life with a Windows computer... anyway...  Over the air upgrades are great, until they don't work. 

This thing so far to ME (if I were to buy a new modeller today) would be a risky purchase.  But it all depends on what you play and what approach you use.  

1. Bedroom noodlers -- I say go and buy it.  I am a bedroom noodler myself at the moment as I'm not touring anymore.  

2. You have 100s of Helix presets that you've built on the OG -- wait a bit.  There have been weird issues importing existing presets, and they do not sound the same anymore.  Arguably... better!  But that may require going back to the drawing board and wasting countless hours.

3. You are in a touring band with people who drive for 5 hours to see your show / you're in a wedding band -- wait until all the bugs are worked out.  Or else risk looking like a fool onstage while your processor stops behaving.  That's a nightmare scenario that I don't ever want to experience... I've come close to it a few times in my life.

I remember every time I updated the firmware on the Helix Floor, having to do extensive testing to make sure nothing got broken.  And a few times things got broken, and at one time I had to downgrade.  I also remember first getting the Helix, and right off the bat finding several bugs (on 2.8)

The OG is a complete solution in a box, with all the sounds that I would possibly ever need (personally).  But some people like new toys, which is understandable.  Really expensive toys with an absurd amount of processing power to...noodle in their bedrooms.

On 1/18/2026 at 2:11 PM, flobudi said:

Sorry i have no idea What you mean. All presets are, Factory and for buy Are exactly on the Same Output Level 0db. The Green fader is exactly on the Same Spot. 

One more time.  We are comparing the loudness of your custom preset against a blank preset, which in Helix is called "New Preset".  You can find them in User 2, User 3, etc.  They have no blocks in them and are completely empty.

So you save your preset, call it "Awesome Sauce".

You take your preset, switch to it, play your guitar with it.   Run it out of your FRFR, or monitors, or whatever you have.  with me so far?

Notice how loud it is.  Using your ears.  Just take a mental snapshot of how loud your sound is.  

Then switch to a blank "New Preset" preset (that's the preset that has ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECTS, JUST GUITAR STRAIGHT THROUGH), do the same. 

Is your preset louder than the blank one?  If your preset is louder, dial your preset down, use an amp master volume parameter and set it lower. Etc.  Go back and forth, until you dial it in right.  

Your preset should not be louder than a "New Preset", or else you will have garbage sound.  Use the "New Preset"* as a benchmark for loudness.  

On 1/18/2026 at 11:44 AM, flobudi said:

It i Play at home, i can use the xlr to the frfr speaker right?

There are no set rules how you can connect things.  But in most cases XLR should go to FOH, and 1/4 for everything else.  XLR are balanced, meaning they are noise canceling, which only makes a difference when long cables are involved.  

On 1/18/2026 at 11:36 AM, flobudi said:

Where i can adjust the loudness in a blank new preset?

You cannot.  But the presets that you build need to be the same loudness as blank presets.  If you make them too loud, it leads to bad sound, clipping, nasty parasitic frequencies, etc.  So when working on your presets, do A/B tests to check for loudness.  

Go to Global Settings / In/Outs / and play with the different settings in for Send/Return 1 and Send/Return 2.  I have mine on Instrument level, not line personally.  That may make a difference. 

Check the forum for similar topics.  

• Build your presets so that every preset is the same loudness as a blank "New Preset" (nothing in the chain).  Your presets are too loud if you are saying factory presets are too low in volume.  
• Set the output volume to mic level, fixed volume for the XLRs.  Volume knob should not be able to adjust this signal, it needs to stay the same throughout the show.  This is your FOH signal.
• Set the volume knob to only operate the 1/4" out.  This is your monitor mix for an onstage amp, Headrush FRFR, etc, set that to line level.  It doesn't really matter what that is set to, since it's just for monitoring your sound, but you also don't want to overdrive the monitor/amp too much.
• Use mixing monitors to dial in your sound.  FRFR is not good for that, it's bass heavy.
• Put FRFR on a stand, never leave it on the floor if you want to have more of an unbiased sound, still mixing monitors are better.
• Do not use Global EQ to achieve your "signature sound".  Instead use an EQ in the preset itself, change the tone settings of the amp, etc.  Never apply Global EQ to what you send to what goes to FOH -- sound guys can eq your sound themselves.  Only have Global EQ apply to the stage monitor and only when it's needed.  Your presets need to be dialed in so they are all uniform, and equalized the same and without any issues.  Use the same virtual amp in all your presets to avoid having the sound guy having to constantly correct the mix because you decided to use different amps for every song.  Use Global EQ when the stage gets too boomy, etc to compensate, as a last resort.  Sometimes this can happen.  Or if you are playing at a small club the onstage sound may ruin the mix, so the sound guy may ask you to make an adjustment. 
• To check for clipping, the green meter on the output block indicates a healthy signal level, showing you're within normal operating range without clipping.  So put the cursor on that output block and see if you are sending the signal too hot. But again, if you follow the first step, you should not have that problem.  A lot of people dime their presets and they become extremely brittle and harsh sounding.  I've seen that in almost every free preset I've downloaded that Line 6 users shared.  

Yes, definitely check the line levels of your effects loop, and set it to lowest setting.  You may be sending hotter signal than you used to to the amp, that's why it's more overdriven and cannot be cleaned up.  

In terms of cleaning up by rolling down the volume knob, it's my favorite thing, and the only method I use on the Helix.  I get all my cleans by rolling off the volume either on my guitar, or using a volume cut on the Helix setting the virtual volume pedal to like 5 percent.  I cannot have good clean sounds (maybe it's my guitar) without the grit being there.  

I have a Thon case for my Helix.  They are good cases with 2 minor problems: the feet need to be glued in properly, otherwise they will fall off (easy fix).  The other: on the old Helix, the case is upside-down.  When you carry the Helix, its weight rests on the foam where the space is cut out for the cables.  As a result, the weight of the Helix bends that plastic fooam, and the Helix slides down, further damaging it.  The handle should have been on the other side of the Helix.  I solved this on mine by gluing an extra piece of foam to support the weight--easy.

Not a bug.  That's not a label problem.  Helix Command Center allows your layout to completely change when you press one button in pedalboard mode, whatever you set up.  If you have "10 button stomp" enabled, you have 10 custom layouts at your disposal.  When you press one of the buttons in pedalboard mode, the rest of them can be completely repositioned -- snapshots/stomps/preset up all of them can be placed in a completely different place.  You can even have multiple presets that connect to one-another via these buttons.  It can be confusing, but is extremely flexible.  I never ever have the need to change my layout based on a single button press, so when I use Command Center, I re-save the same identical layout multiple times.  

You need to go into HX Edit, Command Center, and go through all the 10 buttons and make sure the correct snapshot/stomp is displayed.  Press first button, go through all the 9 remaining buttons to make sure that their action is correct, save.  Then press the second button, etc.  So you need to do this 10 times potentially for each of the remaining buttons.  So something like 100 updates :) Have fun. 

Re-soldering new LEDs is a very delicate hard job, and most "authorized" repair shops will not bother with it.  I sent mine to Line 6, after opening a ticket, and it was repaired promptly.  To fix it, you need to re-solder these delicate microscopic LEDs to the PCB.  This type of work is not something most DIY-ers can do either, you need proper equipment, or else you will break everything.  Not to mention disassembly/reassembly which is a giant pain in the .... 

If your Helix is like 10 years old, you should just consider getting a new one.  Because it won't be worth it, if something else breaks while you have fully-functioning LEDs.  Just my opinion.  

You've answered your own question.  Pod Go does not have every block due to limitations.  If you want to have feedback onstage, do what I have been doing for a long time, long before the feedbacker was even available in the Helix: 

No, presets cannot have custom LED colors.  Only snapshots and stomps.

This has bee posted before.  In summary:

1. when building presets, make sure your overall volume for a blank preset is around the same as the actual preset you are creating to avoid clipping.

2. set up XLR volume to be Mic level and disable the volume knob, so it's fixed.  This will go to the FOH and will never change the level, because you don't want to confuse the sound guy by having different volume levels.

3. use the volume knob to only control 1/4" out which is your monitor mix, or in my case which is going to a power amp (Mooer Baby Bomb) into a 12" speaker cab.

Pretty sure you can use a dummy block that does nothing and bypass-assign it to a footswitch.  Then set up the amp switching that will be like "opposite" to the switching of the dummy block.  You can assign multiple blocks to one button, something can turn on, something turn off, you know?  So the light should work correctly now.  

So on the Helix you can split the main 2 paths to have a total of 4.  

A good way to run 2 signals is to use the main "guitar" input for the melody and a "return 1" for bass.  Then you can use the pan block at the very end to pan whether the signal for the bass or melody side comes on the left/right or in the middle.  And also do the same for the additional "wet" path.  

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "only repeats" coming through on the other side.  You can take the delay and set the mix parameter at 100%, so you will be only hearing the repeats, and not the signal.  Same for reverb. 

All you would need to do is split the signal path for the melody, add a delay block and then add panning exactly how you want it.  

Route all 3 paths so they all are individual in their last "pan/mix" block.  Multi = the signal comes out of XLR, 1/4", headphones, etc.  

In my example the top path is for melody, middle for repeats, and bottom path for bass.  You can mix all 3 however you want and pan it however you want.  See the last free block that says "MULTI", where you can modify those.  

So hypothetically: melody is on the left, melody delay repeats are on the right, and bass is on the right.  

Polytune would be sweet too.  BTW, this is a page for the "legacy" Helix, not the Stadium.  

As I've also mentioned.  A few times for me a preset would become "corrupted".  The only thing to do is to recreate it from scratch, then it would start behaving normally.  You need to get to the bottom of this by recreating the preset, one block at at time, then try the experiment again.  If a preset is corrupted, then expecting it to work properly is just a waste of time.  

Try to save to USER 2 from the Helix and see if the same issue happens.  Press "Save" on the Helix itself, select USER 2.  This way you will see if the issue is with the Helix or HX Edit.  

Do you have Snapshot Edits setting set to Recall  BTW?

I've had issues with parameter assignments completely not working when editing one preset, it would affect the other, etc.  The issue for me was on 3.15, before I downgraded to 3.11.  And now I'm on 3.7.10 -- no such issues for me there.  Maybe it's a new bug with HX Edit on Mac or Windows. 

What happens if you save to a different setlist from within the Helix?  Simply press save, and select a different setlist.  

Also, sometimes presets become corrupted as well.  I've had this one preset that just had a different gain compared to the others.  I checked one block at a time, recreated it, and the sound was back to normal.  I haven't been able to pinpoint what exactly was different, but I had to basically recreate the preset from scratch, so it would start behaving correctly.  

What version of the firmware are you on?  Sounds like a recent bug from around 3.15.  If you haven't updated your HX Edit / Firmware, you should do that.  This sounds like an HX Edit bug!

I'm sure there will be software updates for the next 5 years at least!  I'm more worried about HX Edit not working on future versions of Mac OS, rather than the Helix not having some esoteric glitchy fuzz effect.  But I'm sure there are workaround for those situations as well.  

Worse comes to worst, I'll just keep using my old Mac Mini, which is currently hooked up to the TV to watch YouTube without ads.  

IMO, the Helix Floor/LT are a complete package, a mature product that to me does not need any other additions.  I've gigged with them happily for the last 6 years, and will continue to do so.  I'm considering buying another backup Helix, once the price drops further, and if I'll be playing more guitar again...

locked up, as in it won't turn?  Try liquid DeoxIT.  Pull it off, then add some so it drips down the shaft.  Or if you have it in a can to spray, that should work as well.

I've also used WD-40 for buttons/knobs of various devices that corroded and wouldn't press/turn.  For example, my coffee maker, pool heater on/off switch... I'm not kidding, in a pinch, try it, but don't use too much.  But DeoxIT is a safe product, that fixes all sorts of issues, and it's non-conductive, just like WD-40.

On 11/24/2025 at 9:06 AM, Sidolini said:

 

Thanks. Yes, it seems the encounters are not working correctly, because as I said they not only cause too big jumps, but also backwards jumps.e.g. I´m turning clockwise and the value (in my example it´s the mid frequency parameter in a "simple eq" block) jumps backwards to a lower value. Is there anything I can do about it?

I personally build all my presets using HX Edit.  If the knobs are not usable for you, then just use that.  There is also pedal edit mode -- use the expression pedal/buttons to adjust parameters: 

So if you absolutely need to adjust something and you have no computer nearby, then use that.  

If the unit is several years old, the only thing is to have it shipped to Line 6 for a proper repair,  Local repair shops that are authorized will not fix it properly, at least in my experience.  So I'd just use the workarounds and leave it alone...

Sounds like this is after the 3.5 update where they improved the speed of knobs, where you can quickly turn it and get to the max, or slowly turn it and get a precise value.  If the encoders are not working correctly, users have reported complete inability to adjust anything except jumping from min to max, and nothing in-between.  

"Encoder ballistics have been drastically improved. For example, tonestack values can go from 0.0 to 10.0 with one turn"

Yes, there is certain latency involved, the more effects you have in your chain.  That is how it is.  I've used many "max'ed out" presets with a wireless, which adds 7ms, and did not suffer.  

In terms of overall latency, I do think that theoretically, if you have 2 DSP chips running the same signal path as the single-DSP chip, the latency will be more.  But I have not bothered with that test.  So, when you enable "gapless switching", with your minimal signal chain, you may have lower latency.  Every DSP chip in theory should add on to the digital latency.