lou-kash

I like the idea. Last year I was experimenting with the Stomp as a 4-channel mixer for two mics and two guitars. Which is possible, but slightly awkward to actually mix the four channels, since a pair is always lined up serially and thus e.g. EQing guitar A will affect the sound of mic A and vice versa. Finding a good balance requires quite some finetuning. A blank dual IR block might help here. I will definitely check that out.

This is obviously "by design" for this new feature. From the HX Edit 3.50 Pilot's Guide:

Once upon a time, 10 years used to be "eternity". But computer processing capabilities of the 2010s was a giant leap forward, if done right. For example, I still see no reason to replace my mid-2012 MacBook Pro, the last one with built-in DVD-R drive and optional matte display. It just works, on and on, daily. I use it for graphic design which is my main profession, audio editing, multitrack recording, mixing and mastering with Logic Pro, Izotope RX and others, video editing with iMovie and several freeware tools. Now when I compare it to my older MacBook model from 2008: that one already feels somewhat like a "half-eternity", although only 4 years older. But it still works as well, it can do almost everything the 2012 MacBook can, just noticeably slower, despite SSD upgrade. And not to speak of the PowerBook G4 from 2005, i.e. only 7 years older than my main MacBook. Technically it also still "works as ever", but, meh. It's only sitting here for those rare moments when I'd have to launch some legacy PPC-only software from distant past. (Oh, did I mention my 2001 PowerMac G4 or my 1993 Macintosh LC475? :D) Would a brand new M2 MacBook be much faster? Sure. Would it run all my favorite apps? Nope. Could I attach my good old and reliable Firewire audio interfaces to it. Nope. In other words: Well done, Line6!

I could never really hear any significant difference between the U67 and U87 in Helix, so I don't miss the latter. But what I'm actually missing is the 160 Ribbon in the Bass section. Earlier this year I spent quite some time to compare all the miking nuances with my favorite amp/cab combinations, and eventually settled on the 160 Ribbon sounding as the most pleasing to me. On a quick switch to the new cab format, none of the available mics sound as good to me as the 160 while keeping the same parameter values. In fact, I also had to add a few extra dB volume level on the cab block to get the same punch as with my "legacy" cab. That all said, being a Stomp user, I appreciate the fact that the new cabs save a lot of DSP power that I can use elsewhere. In that sense, I'm confident that with a few tweaks on the amp and cab EQs I will eventually dial in a solid equivalent of my "old" basic preset.

Yep, everything still works on E.C. I'm happy about it, too. Even the Line 6 Updater v1.27, even though it's tagged as "macOS Sierra", will install and launch just fine. The only issues I've ever noticed was with the Line 6 Driver. Version 1.0.7 works the best on E.C. My MacBook can run up to Catalina (and it does, on a separate partition), but I need E.C. for compatibility with my "antique" but still fully functional FireWire audio interfaces.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in other threads it's been confirmed that the Stomp is very picky about USB cables. Some will lose connection, others won't work at all. The longer the cable, the worse. (I guess the best is to blame the USB consortium and their, uh… "standards", for consistently being a total chaos club, to the present day…)

youtube.com/results?search_query=hx+stomp+midi+controller

In Audio-MIDI-Setup app you select the Stomp as your input and Built-in as your output. Then you need an app on your Mac that can activate the "play thru" mode to the selected output device. E.g. GarageBand or several audio editors like Amadeus Pro can do it. Note that you may experience latency. In that sense, it's a much better idea to plug a pair of active speakers directly to the Stomp for monitoring.

It really depends on what "real life" sound you're looking for. You can play some heavy funk on a jazz guitar via a Fender amp, while some other best funk lines were recorded on a Strat straight into a studio mixer.

Do you have an active compressor or distortion block in your preset?

As a reference, record the dry signal from USB channels 5+6 (a.k.a. Stream 3 in MacOS Audio MIDI Setup app). That's the "natural" output level of the Stomp. Don't know about Windows, but on Mac, however, not all apps will let you select individual USB channels. Audacity doesn't seem to support input USB channel selection on Mac. Whereas GarageBand (and of course Logic) does. Next, approximately match your presets' main output level so that they play about the same loud as the dry signal. This processed signal comes on USB 1+2. Like this, there will be no unwanted distortion. In other words, the allegedly "low" output signal is there for a reason: If I slap heavily on my bass – Ibanez SR1200 in passive mode – then the dry signal from USB 5+6 peaks at whopping -1.2 dBFS! That's quite hot! But: no distortion yet. In other other words: Nothing is wrong with your devices.

Normalize the track you've just recorded.

That would be quite a beast though: apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac

I actually used to have two of those: one I bought new in early 2000 which was a major upgrade for me from a then already "antique" Macintosh LC 475, but I replaced it a year later with a G4 tower. (I actually still have the latter two, and they both still work!) A few years later I bought another used one for my wife which we've then replaced with a used eMac G4. For basic office purposes, the iMac G3 were great, at least those silent ones without a fan. /offtopic

Um, really? The latest Helix driver is not necessarily compatible with older MacOS. For example, on El Capitan I'm getting the best result with v1.0.7 from 2019, available via line6.com/software

When I got the Stomp two years ago, I started here: line6.com/hx-guitar-processor/resources Then I moved over to youtube.com/results?search_query=hx+stomp and refined the search with keywords that would bring me the desired results for what I wanted to achieve. It's all there.

Theoretically you could resolder it and add a switch for use as expression pedal. The pot itself may in fact work. (Hm… sounds like a plan: I have a Cry Baby that I haven't used in decades. :)

Great. In Logic, I would then use Automation to turn the Helix Native effects on and off. If I were to use e.g. wahwah via expression pedal, I would also record the MIDI data.

Forgot to note that my compressor block is active all the time, but I have assigned some of its parameters to a footswitch for the actual boost. Also, to keep some of the original pick attack permanently intact, don't set the Mix parameter to 100%. So, on my latest "favorite preset", the Ampeg is: Comp: 2.2 / 3.0 Release: 1.2 / 3.0 Mix: 90% Level: 6.0 / 8.0 … while the Ventoux's Drive parameter is only 2.0 for clean sound, with Master at 10.0 though.

Yeah, that's what I'm also doing on my Stomp. Also, as a side effect, to compensate for the loudness difference of my Les Paul that has a 6-way switch for parallel/serial humbucker wiring. I would start with the "easy" compressor models that have only very few parameters: Red Squeeze, Kinky, LA Studio, Ampeg, or some of the "legacy" compressors. Then, just use whatever sounds good to you. Keep in mind that you may need to fine adjust some of the parameters while playing with a band, as opposed to when you play alone. Avoid the Deluxe or Rochester comps for the time being; they are very powerful but also complex. You really need to know what you're doing to get a specific sound. In fact, at first I actually used the Deluxe for quite some time, but eventually switched to the new Ampeg compressor which sounds just right to me with much less parameters to fiddle about. Also, the amp block that follows, matters as well. For me it's the Ventoux which nicely combines some characteristics from some of my other favorites like the Small Tweed and the Mandarine 80.

I have had the same issue with the Stomp when doing multitrack recordings with the following setup: MacBook Pro 2008, running a DAW (Logic) Alesis iO26 Firewire interface, paired with (aka MacOS Aggregate Device): M-Audio FW410 Firewire interface, paired with: HX Stomp via USB, with main out to: a tube guitar amp That was with two different bands in two different locations. In one case, the guitarist wanted his Marshall amp sound, while I thought we could mix it with the Stomp USB input to give it other colors via Helix Native. Since we had this constant buzz on his amp while the Stomp was connected via USB, in the end we did it without the Stomp, recording just his Marshall amp with a mic. The other case was a recording session with one of my bands, me playing guitar and using my Fender Blues DeLuxe as a monitor; the actual recorded guitar track was from the Stomp via USB, later reamped with Helix Native. The buzz was only on the guitar amp, not on the recorded tracks from the Stomp. Since we didn't use any mics for the recordings anyway, I decided to "live" with the buzz because we were short on time to sort it out. A few months later we did another recording session with the same band, but this time I changed two things in my recording setup: I used my other – slightly newer – MacBook Pro 2012 for the recording (with the same old two Firewire interfaces) I used a simple small powered PA speaker as my guitar monitor, not the tube guitar amp No buzz whatsoever. So, my temporary conclusion was so far that in this constellation, a tube guitar amp was the culprit. But it all still needs more testing.

Yes, and as the first owner I had the Stomp (not XL) repaired on warranty.

1/4" TRS to male XLR. Using such a self-soldered adapter patch cable since almost two years, both for bass and guitar, works fine. Just make sure that the Stomp's Main Out is set to Instrument in Global Settings. From the adapter you can then use any regular XLR cable either direct into the mixing consol or into a multi-core box on stage. For bass, I'm usually bringing a small SWR Workingman 12 combo as a monitor, but usually going only thtough its power amp via its FX return jack. For larger stages – especially when transport to the venue isn't an issue – I'd use a larger 400W H&K Quantum bass combo. For guitar, usually I'm bringing one of my old small Yamaha active boxes – which we'd also use as a rehearsal or small gig PA – that sounds pretty flat. Then, in my presets I have a Path B at the end of the chain using a parametric EQ block which I route into the Stomp's Send output. This goes into my monitor. Like that, I have independent EQ control over the monitor sound. The position of the path B split block is flexible, so depending on the monitor sound I need, it can be moved e.g. pre or post Cab block of the respective preset. Of course, things can get more complicated if you want to use more complex effect paths on the Stomp, or if you actually switch presets between or even within songs. Personally though, after two years with the Stomp I've figured that less is more, and so for me it's just one preset and only very few effects per gig.

What I've also done is to rename all*) blank "New Presets" to "-" (plain dash), using them as separators in the setlist. *) Of course you don't have to rename each and every one individually; rename one and copypaste over an existing blank "New Preset", quickly done in bulk using HX Edit.

Brilliant idea, upvoted. Even when the Stomp is on the floor, it would be useful. On stage I usually wear my "long distance" glasses, and my aging eyes cannot read the small text on the display anymore which makes it hard to find the appropriate parameter I'd want to be changing on the fly. Programmable knobs without having to go into the Edit mode would be great. Depends on the pedal's functionality and the Stomp's global settings. I already had a Roland EV-5 when I bought the Stomp and wanted to use the other Stomp input for an external passive footswitch via Y cable. It kinda worked sometimes somehow but was a p.i.t.a. to figure out the correct configuration again if I'd change something temporarily. Eventually I simply cut the cable off the EV-5 and soldered a TRS jack socket as well as a TRS<>TS switch instead: Much easier to use now. (That said, in the past few months I've actually reduced all my guitar and bass presets so that they work without any external switches or pedals whatsoever. Less is more! :D)