datacommando

Hi, That’s a little vague. Don’t have channels 1-2 USB on what exactly? More input required to help you with this.

Soundflower is an open source kernel extension for MacOS, designed to create a virtual audio output device that can also act as an input. It is now superseded by Loopback - I need to update that, but because it’s virtual - no driver is needed. The UMC204HD is an audio hardware interface and doesn’t require a driver for OSX, works with all sample rates and has volume control. I don’t know why, but he same hardware does need a driver for use on a Windows machine. I don’t know what exactly the Line 6 driver “precludes”, but if it’s not installed you don’t get access to sample rates other than 48k, therefore that must be what it precludes. Anyhow, as previously noted - when installed I get access to the other stuff.

Hi, I haven’t had the situation of two Line 6 drivers being available simultaneously, but my guess would be that it could cause some sort of conflict. My Behringer U-Phoria UMC204HD, ProTools Aggregate Device and Soundflower all appear in the Audio/MIDI set up along with the System built in options and Helix, but only Helix requires a driver. If there were 2 for Line 6 I would remove the one that I didn’t need, which is what I did by installing the 1.0.7 driver because the option of changing sample rates is more important to me from the recording aspect. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that I noticed the name changed from “Helix” to “Line 6 Helix”. May be to help tech support differentiate when troubleshooting? Recently, pre 2.80, I needed to connect my old POD XT Live and Variax 600 to alter some custom settings and later I also hooked up the POD HD500, to check something out, with out any problems - the Line 6 Monkey just worked as it should, but I don’t remember if it needed a driver? If it does, possibly the new one will support the older hardware too.

Hi, This info is a little late, but it is important as this thread was linked in a post elsewhere in this forum discussing a similar issue. RE: MAC DRIVER FOR FIRMWARE 2.80 I looked inside the “HX Edit 2.80.dmg” when it mounted on a Mac OS X computer. Inside the “installer.pkg” there are 2 sub packages - one consists of the Helix Editor application and the other is the latest Line 6 Updater application. It appears that the “required 1.0.7 Mac Driver” is not installed by default.  That explains why, after updating to 2.80, users are stuck with the 48,000 sample rate and no volume control. Solution: to avoid issues with wrong sample rate garbled audio playback, simply install the 1.0.7 Mac Driver. Considering that this 1.0.7 Mac Driver is “a required update to support Helix Firmware 2.80 or greater” I can only guess that it is not installed by default because of the statement that follows on the download page. IMPORTANT! Installing the Helix Mac Driver 1.0.7 precludes using Helix with the class-compliant OS X Core Audio driver. Hope this helps / makes sense. Hi Ho Silver, away!

Thanks I retract my previous comments, must have been my medication - I can see it now. But do you also have a solution for “DimSam” and the issues with the “Hot Fix”?

Hi, I have heard on a previous occasion that the Joystick could sometimes fail. Not surprising when you consider how much use they get, it possibly should be expected. I got my Helix way back at the tail end of 2015 and used it everyday. Then a couple of weeks ago, just before 2.80 hit the street, my Joystick stopped working. You could use the Jog to move around, but trying to rename a preset, nah! Not happening. Luckily we have HX Edit which can get you out of the hole, although ultimately the thing needs to go to a service department for repair. Packed it up and sent it off to the Authorised Line 6 Service Centre where it arrived on a Friday morning and the following Friday it was fixed and back working in the studio by lunchtime. Relatively painless experience that only required a blob of solder, which no doubt I could have done myself as it was way out of warranty. I didn’t need the extra hassle of a DIY job, plus I have 3 months warranty on the repair, all for a reasonable cost. Look at it as a computer, a very specialised computer designed to do one thing very well, so, as with all electrical items, parts fail. Easy enough to get fixed. Maybe your unit was put together on a bad day in the soldering department.

Hi Jose, When you bought your Helix it had v2.3 Firmware installed. If you had changed something on the hardware unit that you needed to make a backup of then that back up should be made with HX Edit 2.3. You said that you had managed to install FW 2.71 onto the hardware Helix. That replaced any previous presets from 2.3. The only way to Edit any of presets on your Helix is by using HX Edit 2.71 No other version will connect to the Hardware while it is using FW 2.71. Your problem is that your computer is failing to connect to the Helix. The logical reason for that is because: a) Wrong version of HX Edit b) Bad USB connection c) combination of both of the above I am really very sorry that you are experiencing these problems, but I am simply going round in circles and we are no nearer a solution. I really wish I was there to deal with it hands on, but no. It is now 1am and I need a beer and sleep - over and out!

I spotted this post earlier, but I got sidetracked with something else. I was intrigued by you comment, so I decided to check it out and I don’t have any problems with the Reverse Delay. As noted in posts above, mix at 100% output is the reverse delayed (wet) signal only. Check that you don’t have audio coming through another source.

Hi Wallyg, That’s a real leap of faith to update your hardware and take it into a live gig situation as an untested piece of vital gear. I have made this same comment on other posts where people have jumped into a live job with the same problems. I’m a Studio Rat so a lot of this stuff can be worked around for me until there is a patch for the bugs. Not just here, but the whole internet has been alive with report of bugs, so your “out of town”, might just as well been “on another planet”. The good news is if you revert to the previous version of the firmware and reload your backup presets you should be good to go until the bugs get squashed. It must have be a scary event - you really are a brave soul taking this out on the road - I can manage to work with a flakey Expression Pedal for a while.

I looked inside the “HX Edit 2.80.dmg” when it mounted on a Mac OS X computer. Inside the “installer.pkg” there are 2 sub packages - one consists of the Helix Editor application and the other is the latest Line 6 Updater application. Without going any deeper it appears that the “required 1.0.7 Mac Driver” is not installed by default. That explains why you are stuck with the 48,000 sample rate.

Hi, DELETED! Comment updated: I couldn’t see the “Hot Fix” on first checking - it is definitely there now though! Don’t have a HXFX Box so I’m not sure what the issue is.

Hi, I just tried Helix in Reaper. Not sure about your Mikko gizmo, but Reaper seems to work. What I did notice is that with AUDIO/MIDI set up you are stuck with a single sample rate of 48,000 and you cannot change it like you could previously. I think I will need to look in to this a little bit further. Being able to change sample rates could be important on some projects. See Screengrab of Reaper Playback via Helix Audio:

Got my Helix floor unit back from the service engineers who had fixed a solder tag that had come adrift from the Joystick. I spent most of the weekend making sure everything was O.K. before making the jump to 2.80, Sunday afternoon (already done it with HX Native previously). The "brain transplant" for the new Core was faultless and I was back up and running in around 25mins. Let the firmware rebuild the presets, then reinstalled my stuff with another restart and rebuild routine. That should have been it - other than this thing with the Expression Pedal. I don't use the onboard one because, even though it's a floor model it lives on a stand, therefore I use two external pedals as EXP 2 and 3.This is detrimental too a whole bunch of my presets, but I guess I will just have to live with it until it gets a patch from the Line 6 troops. Being a Studio Rat means that for me it's not "mission critical" and I will work round it. For anyone playing live gigs it must be a real PITA. The Expression Pedals 2 & 3 don't react to the Learn Controller but do show a 0-100% operation (and work) within the preset. The onboard Pedal shows EXP1 100% in the window and I can't get that to change at all. Apart from that BIG BUG we have a lot more fun stuff to play with.

Hi Danny, Why are you following "all the directions from everywhere?" Do that and confusion will happen - follow the one set of instructions that are supplied on the download page for v2.80 That 88MB file is the only thing you need to download. When you launch the file which is named "HXEdit2.80.dmg" it contains the latest Line 6 Updater app, any required drivers and HX Edit 2.8 app. It appears to me that you must still have a copy of HX Edit 2.71 on your Mac and that is not compatible with the new firmware. Find and delete any old copies of HX Edit prior to 2.80. You might have an alias on your system pointing to the wrong version. If after deleting the other versions you cannot find HX Edit 2.80, the simplest thing to do is launch the HXEdit2.80.dmg and double click HX Edit.pkg to open the installer, click Continue 3 times and then click "Agree". On the next page at the lower left hand side click the "Customise" button. In the next window leave the tick in the box for HX Edit, but leave the box for Line 6 Updater an empty box. Click install and when it finishes, the only copy of HX Edit on your computer will be the correct one! You can then enjoy your new Firmware. There you are. Now I have become of those - "Everyone just keeps telling me you have to update your HX Edit" - because it's true!

Hi, I seem to have exhausted all the options in my attempt to fix the issues that are happening to Jose (above), so I really am not able to assist you. You are describing the same faults as things mentioned in another thread from earlier this year - even though it does seem to be unresolved, maybe you could find some clues there. Here is a link: The only other thing to do is contact Line 6 Customer Support for assistance. Sorry I’m unable to offer any help.

Basic acoustic rig starting point. Built in Noise Gate > Studio Tube Pre > EQ (to taste) > LA Studio Comp > Chorus (your choice and mix to suit) > Reverb (your choice and mix to suit) Works for recording using my Gordon Giltrap Signature with built in Fishman Rare Earth Blend System. Little trick for refining the set up - because you usually need both hands to play. Add a looper as the first block and strum or fingerpick a loop to playback while you adjust the sound to suit. Optional extra - last block - Dimension from Legacy FX mixed in at around 15 - 20% Done

Hi, More confusion for me? In your first post you said that when you bought your Helix it already had v2.3 firmware installed. That is correct? Yes. Then you downloaded and installed v2.71 on the Helix which worked fine on the unit. That is correct? Yes. When you go to open HX Edit it shows “No Device Connected” and shuts down. That is correct? Yes. That information would seem to indicate a communication error over the USB or trying to use the wrong version of HX Edit. You say that the version of HX Edit is v2.71. That is correct? Yes. The logical conclusion must be that there is a problem with the USB link. The solution for that is to try another cable in another USB port - use one on the rear of your PC because the ones on the front act like a hub! Once you can connect to your hardware Helix you can update to 2.80 or revert to version 2.70. Once connected to the Helix you need to run the Line 6 Updater program. When it launches you should see the graphic of the Helix in a dark green panel and below that the versions of the firmware available to install. Choose v2.70 and proceed with the installation. When it has finished find HX Edit v2.70 and use that to link to your Helix. Delete any other copies of HX Edit that are not v2.7.0. During the entire installation process, ensure that no other Line 6 applications are running, also make sure all audio applications are closed and disconnect anything that may interfere with the installation. I am really sorry that I have nothing else to offer. I am very confused with the information you are giving about this.

Hi, Watch this for a little insight as to how this stuff is done - there's a lot of work behind it - and a little bit of magic!

Hi, That's rather odd because when I read your initial post I went to check the download page and everything is fine - HX Native 1.80 is top of the list. Now you have explained your method that takes you to HX Native version 1.00 - looks like you went down the wrong rabbit hole by clicking on "- All Hardware -" first! There is no need to select "- All Hardware -", it's not relevant, because Native is a totally software product. Return to the Download Page and from "- All Software -" just select "Helix Native" then from "- All OS -" you select "Mac OS X" and click "GO" it takes you to the correct page. You simply need to download the first item and install that. Hope this makes sense/helps. Enjoy!

Hi once more Jose, This situation is crazy! I have re-read this entire thread many times and it appears that we have covered absolutely all the things that would normally fix your Helix/HX Edit issues. I really cannot think of anything else to suggest and being thousands of miles away with out having “hands on” makes this extremely difficult to diagnose and fix. I have one final thing to suggest. In your very first post, you stated that you are using the Helix as an interface. You don’t say if anything other than a guitar/Variax is connected? If you have something connected to the Helix MIDI ports, then it could possibly interfere with communication during the Firmware update process. Disconnect the MIDI plugs from the back of your Helix during updates. If that’s not the problem, then I am very sorry that I have nothing else to offer which may solve this, other than contact Line 6 support. Good luck.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^ Why do I continue to be surprised by some people?

Hi Bill, I think that the factory reset instruction above were given in error. Your HXFX doesn’t have FS7 & FS8, that’s for the floor unit Helix and LT, and it’s an easy mistake to make. Here ya go! HX Effects: Turn unit off and then turn back on. Hold Footswitch 6 and Tap throughout the boot process, until you see that your factory presets are loading. If you run into any trouble with a failed update or your unit will not boot up, try powering on while holding the right arrow ">" This will put the unit into update mode and you can re-install the latest firmware from there. Hope this helps.

You really are a brave soul to update to a new firmware version, especially when you know that you have gigs coming up. I realise that out on the “bleeding edge” of technology there will always be a need for “Test Pilots”. Although, I would hazard a guess that there are many, many users on here that rely on their Helix as a tool to do a job and would certainly not even consider taking a relatively untried and tested piece of equipment on the road. Luckily, reverting to the previous v.2.71 is a quick and painless option, until these issues are resolved. Glad I’m a studio rat.

Hi, The previous version was tested on a whole bunch of DAWs on both Mac and Window platforms – there's a list available on here somewhere. As they had previously been O.K., in the main, they probably didn't repeat the the task of checking every option with every DAW. If your Studio One and MOTU had both worked before with your HXN 1.71, I'm really at a loss to guess what happened to stop it working. It must be a PITA to have it crash like it does, because the 'Preferences" are how you access a bunch of new stuff. All I can tell you is, for me, using Logic Pro X 10.4.4 – Native works perfectly well (so far). I did go the long way round by de-installing all the earlier versions and went through a couple of restarts of the Mac to make sure there was nothing lurking in the plug-ins, before installing the updated version. Maybe worthwhile checking that there is nothing causing a conflict with the 1.8 copy. Because of delays and so many people calling for this update to be released ASAP, that now with so many strange issues and possible bugs showing up that it's as if we are all in a big army of public beta testers.

Because of this, which has been going on since the 2nd of July!