theElevators

You can use the "Send 1" as your 1/4" output, while leaving your output as "multi". That way you will have your cab sim on all outputs: 1/4", XLR, USB. If you want to bypass the cab, then plug into Send 1 jack. Simple! However, I don't bother with this separate signal chain for my on-stage monitoring. It works just fine exactly the same way it's going to FOH. Plus it's better to put delays and certain reverbs AFTER the amp cab IMO, not before. Otherwise you will not get that studio quality delay going to FOH because they'll be going through the cab sim. So in your scenario, you will never be able to hear the same exact sound on stage as is going to the PA potentially. Hence this is another argument against your proposed setup. I like to hear exactly what is going to the PA: all the delays/reverb. Regarding effects before the amp/cab: certain effects are meant to be in the chain before the amp, like the Fender '63 reverb unit, for example. Yet, there are certain delays/reverbs that should be run after the cab, like the "hall" reverb, or the stereo ping-pong delay. My setup is my Helix to FOH via XLR (L/R). For stage volume I use Mooer Baby Bomb that I run out of the 1/4" Mono/Left into a 12" speaker cab. I control my 1/4" output with the volume knob, while the XLR volume is fixed at microphone level. Sounds great, no need to remove the cab sim. I've spent quite a lot of time trying to experiment with all that stuff, and came to a conclusion that a clean power amp can run my chain as is and it will sound good enough to play gigs without a PA or simply for stage volume. To each his own, but IMO, simple is always better! (My source: I play 2.5 hour shows all over the world, so I've pretty much ironed out all the kinks. )

Opinions are like a brain.... some have it. LOL

Most likely you have a different output level than you had on HD500. You can choose from: mic/instrument/line. See what your HD500 had and do the same. Otherwise, as far as I know, the two units should work the same way, with the Helix sounding "better" because of oversampling. But I don't own anything older than the Helix, so I can't confirm.

If you are editing your snapshots, simply bypass / un-bypass things you need; then click save. That's all you need to do. Bypass-assign is IMO completely unnecessary feature that is buggy as well. I went through all my presets and removed that assignment. It used to cause the state of auto-engaged effects to flip for me. 2 examples from my presets. 1. you want to have snapshot 1 be dirty, and snapshot 2 be clean: simply un-bypass the distortion block in snapshot 1, save. Then bypass distortion block in snapshot 2, save. 2. You have your wah-wah auto-engaged past 5%. But in snapshot 3 you want the wah-wah to be disabled, even if the expression pedal is engaged: Remove any snapshot-bypass controls. Bypass is assigned to the Expression pedal 2: its state flips after 5% engagement, and turns off if less than 5% after 350 ms. Assign the "mix" parameter to snapshots. Go to snapshot 3, set mix parameter of wah to 0, save. You have effectively bypassed the wah in that snapshot--it's on but mixed out. I use this trick if I want to control something else in snapshot 3, like some filter.

No, no such thing. You would need to select each parameter and do "snapshot assign" for it. The limit is 64 parameters. If you max out your preset you will exceed that limit after around 10 blocks. So, nope. In my experience I've only needed to assign the following parameters to snapshots: 1) gain 2) mix 3) BMP. I mainly bypass/un-bypass things in snapshots, don't completely change all the parameters. And I have 65 presets. Some people assign amp controls to snapshots. But I've never seen the need to control every single thing within each snapshot: sounds impractical and unnecessary.

If you are running your HX device with a distortion into an amp that can easily get overdriven (like the Bassman), then if your signal is too hot, it will sound harsh. Try lowering the output level (in global settings, set it to instrument, or mic), or simply turn down the volume knob of HX Effects so it stops being harsh. I think you are overdriving the amp with the very hot signal, that's what's happening. Some amps are very clean, no matter how hot the signal, others have that warm sound, especially if you really crank it. Even an effects loop can add a certain harshness to your sound on some amps (for me, all Marshalls do that).

Sir/ma'am: You're better off calling Line 6 and getting your answer, honestly. This is forum is a bunch of people taking their time to try to help you. Also, if you think everybody else is dumb and you're so bright, then go read the manual and figure it out by yourself. "DUH".

make a video, show what issue you're having.

Last night saw a guitarist using Kemper Stage at a gig. I came up to him and asked how it's held up, any issues with the buttons? Yep, he said, button number 1 is unreliable and didn't always work. So... it's not an exclusively Helix thing... Kemper.. Kemper!! which is supposed to be the holy grail of touring gear has the same exact problems because they are using the same cheap components. Just thought I should mention it. Kemper Stage came out about 4 years ago btw.

Snapshots allow you to save what blocks are enabled/disabled within your preset. HX Edit Saves the snapshot you are in... so if you disable something while being in Snapshot 1 and save it; you only disable that block in snapshot 1; other snapshot will have that block enabled. If you decided to disable something in all snapshots, you would need to iterate through all of the snapshots and save the changes in there. Additionally you can assign various parameters to snapshots -- you will get brackets around that parameters, e.g.: "[gain]". When you first assign that parameter to the snapshots, al snapshots will have the same value, e.g. "30%". Then you can go to specific snapshots and adjust the gain parameter, and save each snapshot. For example, in Snapshot 5 you can save it to "55%". Best just practice creating/editing snapshots to get a feel for how it works, it's pretty intuitive.

Press the Mode button... you are probably in pedal board mode... If you are then the snapshot buttons will disappear/reappear if they are not assigned to buttons using Command Center (look it up). A somewhat related example... I have all my presets running in snapshot mode -- 8 snaps. To avoid my snapshot buttons disappearing, I recreated all of my snapshot buttons in stomp mode. So if I press the "mode" button, I will still see the same snapshots, but without the up/down buttons.

You'd have to replicate your signal path twice.. on the Helix you can do that. You have 2 DSP chips, in other words 2 lines on the Helix. So create your signal twice: top one will be the XLR mix, the bottm will be 1/4". Frankly sounds like an overkill. But doable.

There's actual volume, then there's "perceived" volume. If it cuts through the mix, it appears louder, even if it's not necessarily "loud". So the only practical thing to do is use your ears and test things in context IMO.

Check out snapshots though! They are a vast improvement over having to use presets/effects. Otherwise, you are not taking advantage of the latest Line 6 software improvement...

Yeah, I don't know what to tell you, why some people have no issues, yet some have switches malfunctioning early on. Like I know a guitarist who used Pod HD500 for 10 years, and then used it as a MIDI controller for his Kemper also for years... constantly playing gigs and going on tour -- 0 issues. Regarding being a heavy stomper, it's a spring mechanism, so it shouldn't matter how hard or light you press the button. Maybe it's a bad batch, same as with my Helix. My EXP pedal was also not tightened properly and I had to open it up and tighten the screws. Who knows? But again, from personal experience: after cleaning my micro switches a year ago, all switches are still working 100% correctly. So I still think that there is an issue when you first start using your HX product there is some kind of debris that get stuck in the micro switch... That black foam disintegrates when you first start using your gear, and then the foam gets more sticky or something so it doesn't flake as much. Try cleaning the switches first with liquid DeoxIT. Re-soldering the micro switches can be a big job--don't want to brick your HX gear if you're not careful.

3.61 is the desktop editor update only.

To me it sounds like the Boston tone, but completely dry (no reverb/delay). This guy pretty much nailed that sound, you can try to use that as the basis for your sound:

So it's still not fixed? Unacceptable! That's why I'm still on 3.11. Don't want to inadvertently break my presets. You may want to downgrade until this is fixed. IMO not worth the several new effects to have this insane chaos happening...

Assign all blocks to the same foot switch. Then turn some of the blocks off: aka bypass them. Save. Now your foot switch will toggle between certain blocks. Block a on and block b off; then block an off and block b on. The foot switch basically toggles the on/off status with each button press against what you have saved.

OK, I tried the smart harmonizer, all different keys / intervals and there is NO WAY to program it to play the entire solo as on the record. Unless you want to keep switching keys/intervals in the middle of playing each phrase -- it's impossible, so I wouldn't even bother with it. And I'm a kind of a guy who loves auto-harmonizers. It's just that they are not smart enough for what we need to do. For this to be played correctly, we'd need a way to assign which harmony corresponds to what pitch. If you want to replicate the solo with one guitar, you may want to use a looper and record the 2nd part -- record it with a metronome, and make your drummer play with a metronome. I've done that in the past. Just make sure that the metronome tempo is whole numbers, not something you pull from the internet that may not be exact.

Well, finally! This was broken since 3.15!!

It's an HX Edit bug after all! Bug Fixes in 3.61 EXP Bypass Toe Down Behavior parameter was reset to Heel Down when copy/pasting a preset, exporting/importing a preset, or restoring from a backup. Bass cabinets incorrectly displayed guitar microphone graphics. Other minor fixes and improvements.

You can achieve interesting sounds by breaking the rules. For example, everybody says add reverb at the end of your chain. Prince did the opposite -- he added reverb before gain. End-result interesting / unusual chaotic sound. https://youtu.be/00199ZXKZK8 Typically nobody adds effects between the amp and the cab, but nobody is stopping you. You can also run a cab into an amp. You may achieve interesting colors... A guitar processor allows you to achieve studio-quality sound for live use. Studio-recorded guitars usually are recorded dry; then stereo delay/reverb are added in post-production. So if you add effects after amp/cab, that's what you will be mimicking. Anyway, no pros/cons I can think of, except like @rd2rk said, so what sounds best. For example I was searching for that springy spongy 60's surf sound... and no matter what I did I couldn't get it. Until I tried an envelope filter as the secret sauce in addition to the usual '63 reverb or "hot springs" and an amp.. All of a sudden the sound I was hearing in my head was achieved. Another example everybody looks at me like I'm mad when I say I boost my solos with an EQ block where I boost 2K 10 db -- they think it's too much, it's incorrect, it's this and that. Well, it works for me and it makes my solos pop.

I have a bunch of delays that I run after my amp / cab in all of my presets. So for me it would be a giant pain to have to maintain 2 signal paths: one for stage volume and another for FOH. Every time I change the delay time for FOH, I'd need to mimic it for the monitor mix. No, thanks. BTW, Pod Go has a way to disable the amp for the personal monitor mix. No such thing on the Helix.... it’s a common misconception that you absolutely have to turn off the amp/speaker sim if you are running into a physical clean amp/effects loop. Not so. Trust me, I use my sound exactly the way it is to going to FOH and running it through through a power amp + speaker, and it’s fine. Very rarely I have to apply global EQ to 1/4” to take out the bottom. However, again, there is no rule set in stone that you have to disable the amp if you are running through a physical amp/cab. If it sounds fine then who cares if you have an extra amp. What is the worst that can happen? Having an additional amp may add more gain to your sound.... And an additional speaker cab may remove the top from your sound and make it more muffled, that's all. In my experience Fender-type clean amps or a simple solid state power amp like Baby Bomb that I keep raving about running into a single 12" speaker do not color my sound in any way. I get the same familiar sound I get at home on my mixing monitors. My source: I've played lots of shows in the US and abroad; indoor/outdoor for several thousand people. But then again, Helix is so flexible, that you can make it fit your workflow and break any rules you want, nobody's stopping you.

Correct. Headphones I set to "Multi". That means that whatever is routed out of the Helix will also go to the headphone jack. So you should also set it to "Multi". Multi includes both 1/4" and XLR. (On the Helix, when you build your preset you can specify where the output is going. For me it's always out to Multi. But some people may route things differently to 1/4", for example bypassing the amp block. So you can specify what exactly you want in your headphone mix...)