lou-kash

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)

For the record, I've never used the Tap/Tempo function on this Stomp. In fact, that annoyance was the first thing I've turned off for good. Thanks for confirming, that's what I've actually suspected as well. But since it usually doesn't do any harm, it was worth a try.

Recently I've experienced exactly this on FS3 on my Stomp, too. Contact spray was what the guy at my local music store where I bought the unit told me. Did that, it slightly helped for a while. Other than that, rotating the top of the switch back and forth a few times usually fixed it for the rest of the session. That said, I haven't even experienced it in the past few weeks at all, using the Stomp at few rehearsals, a recordings session and a bunch of live performaces, the last one being a three-hour gig yesterday. So I can't say how it develops. In any case, my unit is still under 2-year warranty for a few weeks, so I may try to have it fixed if the issue should reappear during this summer.

Hm… a "clean direct-to-desk tone" would be anything that doesn't have an Amp and Cab block in its path. You can experiment. Anything is allowed as long as you like the result. ;)

Alternatively, you can also plug instrument 1 into Main In, and instrument 2 into Return In. Then you simply switch the Input block on each preset.

If you want to change presets while keeping both instruments plugged in, you can move all blocks to path B, then use the Y Split at the beginning to assign the respective channel to it. The other channel goes to the blank path A which you then mute in the Mixer block at the end.

At this amount of data, I likely would have moved them from a spreadsheet – which usually seems to be the first "best" choice for "small'n'easy" tables – to a proper database app, in my case FileMaker Pro. That step then completely separates the data from their appearance; i.e. first you make sure the data and all formulas and functions are correct without having to worry how the records look like; then you can create zillions of different layouts how to display the same set – or a subset – of records for various needs and situations.