phil_m

You either need to either have the mix parameter on the Helix's FX loop set to 100% or you need to have "kill dry" setting turned on in the H9. It depends on what you're trying to do with the H9 as to which way you want to do it. If you want it to be a serial effect, just set the mix to 100%. If you want to set up a parallel effect, you'd go with the dry kill option.

If you want to completely bypass the Peavey's preamp, you don't need to use the 4CM. Just go straight from the HD500X's output into the Peavey's effects return. This way, the HD500X is completely taking the place of the Peavey's preamp. If you're saying you want to use the Peavey's preamp sometimes and not others, you can still do that with the 4CM. In the patches where you want to use the amp's preamp, leave the FX loop block on, and in ones where you want to use the amp model on the HD500X, turn the FX loop block off.

This reminds me of that episode of Seinfeld when George wanted to move the Frogger game while keeping it powered up... You just need to find a "rogue electrician". :) Your idea above seems to be a good solution to me.

I sort of agree, although, I think the reason they've left it "channel volume" is simply because that's the terminology they've used on all the PODs and on pretty much all the modeling amps as well. I guess there's always some tension for companies with wanting to make a new product feel familiar for their repeat customers but also making it understandable to the new.

The best way to think of the channel volume parameter is simply as a level parameter for that particular block. Adjusting this doesn't change the tone of the block. It just raises or lowers the volume. It's not a modeled amp parameter. The master volume has some effect on the tone coming from the block. How much depends on the specific model.

Well, technically the master volume control is in the preamp section of an amp... I know many guitarists tend to think of it as power amp volume, but it's really the final volume control on the preamp before hitting the power amp. It controls how hard the preamp is hitting the power amp. Yes, I can see how this control and the channel volume control might be seen as somewhat redundant, although I believe in the Helix, that there is some power amp sag built into the pre models. It doesn't necessarily reflect reality, but it makes them more usable with a real power amp. I remember Sean Halley mentioning this in a comment he made over on the The Gear Page, I believe.

Well, I have two L2t speakers, and that's the plan. It's not that I have any real qualms about doing it. Part of it is my own laziness - the L2t's are not light! There's an amp at the space where rehearse that I can just plug into, and the PA there isn't the best, so it just is easy for me to plug right into that amp. But I've been going direct in different playing situations for the past 15 years. I've been using the Helix direct at church and it's been great. It's really not about me thinking that one way is necessarily better than others, it's just that every situation is different. When playing with a band in many smaller venues, I really do think that having a guitar amp on stage is still kind of a necessary evil.

You could also do it by controlling the level of the output blocks. Or if you're dealing with paths that have split blocks, you can control the routing of the split block. How do you envision "direct path switching" working?

Well, I guess the proof is in the pudding... I have switched over to the Helix for my live rig now, using it as effects only into a tube amp (either a Princeton or a Deluxe Reverb most of the time). I may eventually go to an FRFR rig, but it kind of depends on the venues we play at. As far as the quality of the drives, I really like them on the Helix. I have a collection of nice analog drive pedals, and I can honestly say I don't miss them with the Helix.

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I can edit on Helix without an editor way faster than I could with the HD500 with an editor. That's just my experience. I get the whole not like to bend over or stoop down thing, though, especially if you have a bad back or whatever. Fortunately, I'm not dealing with that. I just find the Helix to be as easy to tweak as as a pedalboard. That's not to say that some things won't be easier with an editor. I think some people will prefer it simply because that's what they've gotten used. Personally, I've never enjoyed the experience of trying to tweak with a mouse or touchpad while playing guitar.

Generally, yes... The Helix doesn't have a "dry kill" feature, which is what you really need to get effects to work in a parallel loop. Otherwise, the dry signal coming through the digital effect is slightly out of phase with the dry signal going through the amp, and you get phase cancellation. You could try setting the mix to any of effects you're using to 100% and controlling how much effect is mixed in with the send level, but this really limits you if you're wanting to use more than one effect in the amp's loop. And, yes, all parallel loops are like this. There are few amps that allow you to choose, but most don't.

Well, if they're bugs in the firmware, the customer service person who responds to the tickets isn't really going to be able to address them anyway. I'm sure they pass those reports on to the developers and let them sort them all out, though.

That kind of thing makes me wonder if the switch didn't take a hit somewhere along the way. I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm just saying I've seen that sort of thing happen with toggle switches when they received the brunt of some sort of impact. Or, it could just be a faulty component. Unfortunately, that kind of thing just happens sometimes.

Some additional things to note - you need to make sure that you're using the same version of the looper in each preset. If you're using the stereo version in one preset, you have to use it in the other as well. Also, the looper has to be in the same tone path in each preset.

So you're using the L6 Link connection? I actually don't think that the sample rate parameter has any effect on that output when it's used as an L6 Link connection. I believe that L6 Link is fixed at 24 bit / 48 kHz.

Are you talking about the "Sample Rate" parameter on page 2 of the Ins/Outs menu in Global Settings? That setting only determines the sample rate of the S/PDIF and AES/EBU outputs. It doesn't change the internal sample rate of the unit at all, and it doesn't have any effect on the DSP available in a preset.

I haven't heard anything about that. I did see Frank Ritchotte, Line 6's Sr. Director Of Operations say "I will work on that!" in a reply to a comment on TGP about whether Line 6 will make a hard case.

Have you tried setting the "Preset Mode Switches" to either "Upper Row" or "Lower Row" in the Footswitches page of the Global Settings menu? That's about the only thing I can think of.

Yes, the editor is called HD500 Edit. You can download it here: http://line6.com/software/

Well, that sucks... I suppose you're right, probably a crack on the under side of the glass. Could have just been a weak spot in the glass. I'm sure if you open up a ticket Line 6 will take care of you. I imagine just because of how that flaw is, it would have to be a replacement unit.

Have you taken the protective plastic film off your scribble strips? From that picture, it looks like it could still be on there, and that mark looks it could simply be a "snag" in the film.

It works, even with the modeling, but with Variax modeling, you don't get the interaction with the magnetic pickups, so you lose some of the harmonic richness. It can still be a cool effect, though, even with the modeling. Of course, with the JTV or Variax Standard, you always have the option to actually use the magnetic pickups, too.

Yeah, you can't assign control function to the expression toe switch like you can the other footswitches. I agree it could be a nice feature to have. I imagine the reason they didn't do it out of the gate was simply to avoid confusion.

I still don't understand why you couldn't set it up so the Helix behaves the same way the X3L did. You certainly can. There is a toe switch under the expression pedal on the Helix just like the X3L, and it can be assigned to turn the volume pedal off and the wah on at the same time, just like the X3L.

It would be worth trying to plug your monitors directly into the Helix just for troubleshooting purposes. Regarding the Plexi model, are you positive you're using the full amp model and not the pre version?