phil_m

Yes, 7 bass models - http://line6.com/data/6/0a06439cc0ef55b13d89a4aa8/application/pdf

You just need a regular USB 2.0 cable. One other thing I just remembered - you need to install the Amplifi 75 driver on your PC before running the updater. That is available from the same link I posted above. Just search for drivers in the second column.

You can do it through the app, but it's a lot faster to do it through the Amplfi update utility found here: http://line6.com/software/index.html Select "Amplifi 75" in the first menu, and you'll see "Amplifi Utility" in the second. It takes about two minutes with the utility versus 45 minutes with the app.

Sorry, it wasn't quite clear to me... So when you bring up a tone on the app, the amp changes accordingly then? Does the editor have any effect at all? If you select a different amp model, can you hear the sound change? I still think that re-installing the latest firmware would be the first thing I would do.

It sounds like perhaps you need to update the amp's firmware. Does the app say that the amp is connected and synced?

The synth is still relying on pitch detection, and right now it's monophonic. The current generation of the Whammy is polyphonic, yes. The Line 6 model is not at this point. I don't know how high creating polyphonic effects is on their priority list at this moment. I imagine it's on their radar, but I don't know. It's kind of an idiosyncratic effect category for most guitarists.

That would be correct. As of now, there aren't any polyphonic pitch shifting effects on Helix. I actually don't think there are any polyphonic shifters in the entire Line 6 line.

Lol... They do use the Variax in a lot of their videos. Invariably, though, some people say, "I wish they would use guitars other than the Variax in their videos...". Line 6 simply isn't going to please everyone with these demos. It's not possible.

I don't see why it wouldn't work. If anything, you'll have a lot more flexibility in terms of signal flow with the Helix.

I love my JTV69US. It's been my main guitar for nearly three years now, and I've played dozens of shows with it since getting it. It's really been a workhorse. I really like the neck on mine.

Any of the condenser options are going to be pretty flat. Look at the frequency response graph for a Neumann U87, for example. It falls off below 0Hz and there a bump above 5,000Hz, but there's not a ton going on in a typical guitar cab in those ranges, at least not much that you'd want to accentuate.

Not that it's necessarily any comfort to HD users, but the new rotary effects on the Helix do have variable slow and fast speeds, and I believe they can actually be controlled by tap tempo, too. They also have a "ramp" parameter that controls how quickly the effect changes from slow to fast.

No, with the HD rotary models, you only have the choice of slow or fast for the speed. And you can't set the rate of the slow or fast, either.

Yes, as noted, you can make it so the presets are the top or bottom row. Another cool thing is that in stomp mode, you have the option to re-purpose the bank up and down switches as regular footswitches, so it gives you a total of 10 footswitches to assign effects or controllers to. The thing that's nice is that you can switch between modes really easily. You just hit the mode footswitch. So it's not like the HD500 where you have to actually go in the setup menu to switch between modes. I think many people may find that keeping preset mode set so that both rows are presets may actually work out well. If you need to get into a preset to turn effects on and off, you just hit the mode switch.

I think Line 6 officially only says the camera kit will work with an iPad, but I have heard of people having success with the iPhone as well. If you have it already, you might as well give it a shot.

Looks to be available everywhere else still. I haven't heard anything about it being discontinued...

I've always liked the M-series (aka HD) reverbs. I think they're great, personally.

Silverhead is right, but just to put a finer point on it. You'll only get that 120 seconds when running the looper in mono and recording your loop after you've pressed the half speed switch. In stereo, the max loop time is 60 seconds. Operationally, the looper on the Helix is identical to the looper on the 500X. The main differences are that you have a choice between inserting a mono or stereo looper, and you can put the looper block wherever you want in the chain. Also, the looper isn't automatically in every patch. If you want it in a patch, you have to insert it.

You can use the FX100 as an interface with your Mac as well. Actually, for Macs it's a class-compliant interface, so you don't even have to install a driver to get it to work. It will work with the standard Mac driver, so all you have to do is plug it in. It should show up as an input and output device in Garageband.

If you're monitoring through the POD, there shouldn't be any more latency than you would have if you're just playing through the HD itself. How are you monitoring?

If you wanted to have the stompboxes on the floor in front of you, yes, it would require some long cables. There are four mono loops, though, so you might be better off getting a rack shelf (assuming you're mounting the Helix in an actual rack) and putting your pedals in the rack. You can just leave the pedals on all the time and control the loops with the controller. The loops actually make it really flexible. You would be able to re-order your pedals on a patch per patch basis and bring them in and out of tones as you need.

Yes, you could still do that. Actually, if you wanted to, you could keep the audio from your PC or iPad separate from the guitar. You can select what outputs the USB audio is played back on, so you could, for example, send the USB audio to the XLR outs and then use the 1/4" outs for your guitar. There's a lot of flexibility.

Have you all seen/heard these? http://line6.com/variax-modeling-guitars/sound/ The Strat model sounds pretty darn good to me there.

With a laptop or iPad or iPhone with a camera kit, you could run audio over the Helix's USB connection. That would probably be the cleanest way since it would only be one cable. The Helix doesn't have an 1/8" stereo or other consumer-audio oriented connection, so if you wanted to plug in a regular MP3 player, you could use a pair of 1/4" returns as inputs. You would have to set that up on a patch per patch basis, though. I think using the USB would definitely be better way to go.

The channel volume doesn't change anything with the amp modeling. The way to think of it is as the volume control for the amp/cab block. So it's not going to increase saturation or drive of the amp model. If you have effects after the amp, it can lead to clipping on certain effects, especially some of the EQs, if you have it too high. So in that sense there is a chance it can effect the tone.