phil_m

Silly reason not to buy, imo... I mean the function of those switches can be changed, but why is it a deal breaker? I also think that most users would find those switches pretty indispensable.

:D

You have to set the gain for the mic input under Global Settings>Ins/Outs, Knob 3, "Mic In Gain".

It sounds you were in Stomp Mode. If you don't have any blocks, controllers or commands assigned to footswitches in Stomp Mode, the scribble strips will be blank like you're saying. If you hit the bank up or down switch, it temporarily takes you to Preset Mode to select a new preset, and then goes back into Stomp Mode after you select a preset. Just hit the Mode footswitch to get back into Preset Mode.

The US JTVs are rare and expensive (rare because they're expensive), but they're not obsolete in any sense... You can still buy a new one if you like, and they're still supported. I have a JTV69US, and it's actually probably the nicest guitar I own. As far as marketing, I don't really think guitar marketing works that way anymore. People don't care what guitar a famous guitarist is playing anymore because all of the famous guitarists are grandparents or great-grandparents now...

What do you have your Helix connected to as far as monitoring goes? It sounds like you may just be clipping the input of whatever you're connected to. It is definitely possible to do that. Try rolling back the Helix's main volume knob and see if that makes a difference.

SSD doesn't use iLok, but pretty much all their other plugs do. I have a subscription for their Everything Bundle, and it's iLok. At least they sent me one for free...

The Global Lead feature is really a feature of the MFC foot controller, not the Axe FX itself. It just is a dedicated PC that calls up a specific patch whenever it's pressed. So there's not a dedicated footswitch on the Helix Control for that, but you could set up something like that by programming a MIDI PC to a footswitch and running a MIDI cable back into the Helix's MIDI in.

For multi-channel amps where more than one channel is modeled, each channel is a different model on the Helix. So, you could have both models in the preset (assuming you have enough DSP) and switch between with snapshots. There's a number of different ways you can do that as far as arranging the blocks in the signal path and whatnot.

I'm not sure how the whole thing with iLok came up, but I'm nearly certain that Line 6 isn't going to be using iLok with Native.

If you're talking about removing registered products from your account, you can do that yourself by simply clicking on the "Registered Products" link under your profile on the site. As far as deleting your user account, there's no way to do that. I don't think that accounts can actually be deleted once they're created, even by the Line 6 staff.

Try lowering the headroom parameter on the Transistor Tape model to get the repeats to be darker sounding. Other delay models have high and low cut parameters (the Mod/Chorus Echo, Sweep Echo, Ducked Delay, Reverse Delay, and Pitch Echo) and you can use those to get the repeats in the tonal territory you want. As far as the analog models, the the Adriatic Delay is a model of a modded Boss DM-2, and setting the BBD Size parameter and lowering the headroom parameter will get you some really nice washed out sounds.

I just remembered something like this coming up before... I think the issue is that when you change snapshots, the Helix is looking at the saved setting for that CC Toggle in the snapshot you're coming from, and not the current state. So if you had a snapshot where you had the toggle set to on and go into stomp mode and not that footswitch so it's off, the toggle won't flip when you go into the next new snapshot. It does sound like the dim/non-dim thing is a bug, but the CC Toggle is operating as designed even though it's not optimal. In any case, it probably warrants opening up a support ticket to get in front of the right people.

I believe you have to go into the Command Center and set the value for the CC Toggle command for each snapshot manually. Simply hitting the toggle switch itself doesn't set the value for the snapshot like it does with an effect block assigned to a footswitch.

Well, the time and manpower needed to develop the plug-in is over and above the cost of the Helix itself, so surely it's only right that Line 6 expect something in return for their investment... I mean, $99 is an incredible deal for the plug-in when it comes down to it. If you're recording with a computer and doing any sort of re-amping, it's so much faster than the hardware re-amping. The whole workflow is just so much more efficient with the plug-in.

You can use all those features with the 1/4" cable, that's correct. The VDI cable gives you more than the ability to just update and use Workbench, though. It also lets you recall Variax models and custom tunings per preset and/or snapshot with the Helix. And it allows the Helix to power the guitar so you don't need to rely on the battery.

The actual dll files for the VST can be installed in whatever folder you want, so, yeah you could do that, I suppose. Howerever, you can only have it authorized/activated on 4 computers. You have to sign into your Line 6 account to activate the computer the first time you try to run it on that machine.

The original Variax guitars didn't come with a VDI cable either. And even though they didn't have pickups, they could still be used like a regular guitar with the 1/4" output and batteries. The newer Variax guitars do come with a Workbench interface and data cable (not a full-blown VDI cable). Technically, you could use that cable with the Helix's VDI port, but you would need to be really careful. The cable that comes with the guitar lacks the ethercon ends that the VDI cable has, so you could damage the jack of you put too much tension on it.

Are you sure you're trying to install the right software? The editor for the HD500 is called "HD500 Edit". Line 6 Edit was the editor for previous Line 6 products.

Not really how software development works... at least at this scale. They've never announced a release date because they simply don't know for sure. It will be ready when it's ready.

The problem with doing something like that is the Variax modeling takes place in the Variax itself, and the VDI cable only send digital audio one way (from the Variax to the Helix). There's no way to send the raw audio back from the Helix to the Variax. And that's not just something that could be changed by firmware/software updates. That has to do with the actual physical architecture of the Variax, VDI and Helix.

The Firehawk only receives Bluetooth audio; it doesn't send it. Bluetooth still isn't viable as a monitoring solution, really, because of latency.

I suspect that may be the issue. You need to use a TS cable for the expression pedal control. What expression pedal are you using? Expression pedals that use TRS wiring schemes are generally not compatible with Helix, although some may work when you use a TS cable with them.

Are you using a regular TS cable (not a TRS cable) with your expression pedal?

Updating the JTV though the Helix isn't supported, because Line 6 Monkey doesn't support Helix, and you have to use Monkey to update the JTV (and, well, all the Variaxes). So, yeah, you need to use the little interface or one of the earlier Line 6 devices that's compatible with Monkey to update the JTV. The Helix only supports the JTV connection to Workbench HD.