soundog

Sorry, forgot to add the link. I added it to my post above. Here's where to start a ticket. Be sure your device is registered first.

That sucks. Read this thread (near the end) about saving your setup and patches and re-initializing everything. If all troubleshooting fails, you may want to give that a try. Otherwise, start a ticket with support. Your Stomp should not be causing a volume drop . If it is, that's unacceptable.

I have a similar setup, but am using an HX Stomp. I'd personally skip mic'ing the cab (unless your room acoustics are really good, you are good at mic placement, you are OK to commit to the recording, etc). You could use USB and skip the Apollo (as described in the manual). This gives you flexibility in terms of having dry mono and wet stereo guitar recordings, and you can treat the dry signal during mixing using Native. Or, if Native is dragging down your resources, reamp through the Helix via USB. This would probably work out nicely for your needs. I personally prefer using my Apollo Twin (Thunderbolt) as my audio interface. I split my guitar input (using a Samson MDA1 DI) to record a wet and dry guitar track through my Apollo Twin. Signal paths are then: 1) DI XLR out ---> Apollo Twin XLR/TRS line in 1 2) DI Thru 1/4" out --> Stomp guitar in --> L mono out TRS --> Apollo Twin TRS XLR/TRS line in 2. I can then monitor everything through my Apollo Twin (studio monitors and/or headphones) and don't need to mess with an aggregate device (on Mac). Plus, I have better control over my recording levels. I usually record a guitar dry and a wet (mono Helix wet) track. That way I can use any amp sims I want on the dry track during mixing (in your case, Native), or simply go with the Helix wet track. Next I treat the track with suitable plug-ins for compression, eq, effects (sometimes going mono -> stereo), etc. If you are having issues with Native draining CPU and don't want to mess with a DI split, you could simply take your L and R outputs from your Helix using TRS cables into your Apollo Twin, and record either a dry mono and dry wet track from your Helix, or commit to sterero wet L +R.

Weird. Does the same thing happen if you plug into either the L or R Stomp input? And does this also happen with an empty (no blocks) preset?

I own an old Variax Acoustic 700, and use it for coffee house and winery gigs during solo acoustic sets for special tunings. Line 6 abandoned the Workbench software, so I have to keep an old Mac laptop specifically for use with the guitar. So, my comments echo @Brue58ski's. I'll have my old strats for many more years and the value keeps going up, but the Variax will get harder and harder to get support and hardware for. Its like owning a Model-T after awhile; you have to learn how to maintain it and where to buy parts. Even so, I bought a newer used Standard at a good price a couple of years ago, and keep it around mainly for special tunings in the studio. Its good for that, I think (I wouldn't own it for banjos, sitars, dobros acoustic guitars, etc). There are artifacts with some tunings, but they are usually buried in a mix.

For more flexibility over your levels, run your Helix output into an audio interface, You can boost it there to your heart's content. I run my geetars through an active DI that splits the guitar signal so I can record a dry and wet track (or stereo wet) simultaneously if needed. I stopped using the Stomp's USB for recording. I felt that the input level seemed a bit wimpy (technical term for low).

With regard to the ground problem, it sounds like Line 6 should make this right, especially given you had the USB port repaired under warranty and that seems to be directly related to your problem. You've exhausted all normal troubleshooting. Perhaps a board tracing or solder joint is cracked. Maybe it would help if you would include a link to this thread in your ticket. Squeaky wheel gets the grease (my daddy always said). Regarding the level setting ..... its complicated. The Stomp has a fixed level, and there are no meters to go by. But with Helix Native, you've got multiple places where level is set: mainly at your audio interface (if not using the Stomp's USB for audio input) and the input level in Native. I think you're going to have to set your levels by "trial and error" (guessing!) until it sounds right to your ears and then note your settings so you can ensure consistency between gigs.

Grab a machine screw with a 6/32 thread at you local hardware store and see if it fits the taps on the HX. If so, you should be good to go.

This is indeed strange. It is possible there is a bad solder joint on the Stomp's USB point (though unlikely). Try using a long, bare conductive wire and try to touch one end to the metal USB housing (USB cable that plugs into the Stomp, and another ground point (such as your guitar, some bare metal on the outside of the Stomp, etc). There is no danger of shock; you're just touching ground. See if the noise changes. (Also, I'm sure you've tried multiple USB cables, but be sure to do that to ensure its not a bad cable.) Another question. Does the noise change when you have no guitar connected? How about if you eliminate the board (listen through the Stomp headphones) or got straight from Stomp to an amp. Do you hear the hum if you are only using the Stomp and the computer (no guitar connected, listen through the Stomp headphones)?

That's right. The manual has all the details. You can split the TRS into 2 TS connections to use 2 separate "things" .... 2 switches, 2 expression pedals, or 1 of each. Its very flexible....

Well, if that fixes your problem, I'd simply dedicate a power strip to your devices and plug the strip into one outlet. Its not like your Stomp and amp and PC will be in different rooms, right?

Ground loops are the devil's work. You have to do a lot of experimenting and elimination and A/B'ing to sort it out. A few things you could try, in addition to @rd2rk's suggestions .... - if you PC is a laptop, try with and without the PC power supply - try a USB cable with a ferrite choke on it (looks like a little barrel) - avoid a USB hub, and if you use a hub make sure it is powered, and try disconnection other USB devices, one by one - make sure there are no transformers (lights, old monitors, etc) nearby any cabling - switch cables one by one - if your amp accepts a TRS or XLR input, cable out of your stomp using 3-wire shielded cable - go through a DI box that has a ground lift into your amp

Sorry, but you can't. You'll need to either go through your Helix Floor, or record the audio from your Variax through an audio interface into your DAW, and then into Helix Native.

So .... the OP posted this way back in August 2018 and never returned to thank us for all of this great advice. What does that tell us about society?

The only way I've been able to realistically continue using my old Variax Acoustic 700 has been to 1) keep an old laptop running an old version of OSX, Java, and Workbench, and 2) learn how to do basic home repairs on the guitar and XPS A/B power supply. Its like owning a Model T to drive on the weekend or take to car shows. As long as I can find parts for the darned thing I can keep using it. If the software and hardware walls start to cave in on my newer Variax Standard, I'll probably do the same thing. Hey! I can probably use the same old laptop! Maybe I'll be like the old great grandpa that lives next door who still uses his push lawn mower. Go ahead and laugh at him! He doesn't give a damn!

I ordered a Stomp and a Strymon Iridium to do extensive testing with both to see which might work best for me for 1) home studio integration and 2) live performance. I ended up sending the Iridium back (and selling my HX Effects), primarily because I was able to create Stomp patches that sounded at least 90% as good (to my ears) as the Iridium's superb Fender, Vox, and Marshall amp/cabs/IRs. The Stomp was, of course, much more flexible in terms of I/O, and I was disappointed in the Iridium's limited MIDI + Expression pedal capability (you had to use one or the other). Icing on the cake was the Stomp's effects. Of course, combining the Iridium with a Stomp overcomes the Iridium's shortcomings, but in my opinion you just end up duplicating stuff (amp sims). Combining an HX Effects and Iridium makes more sense to me.

I've built several VDI cables of different lengths for stage (non Workbench) use using plastic, unshielded RJ45s with Neutrik Ethercons. Four lines tied end to end (power, ground; data +, data -), with no shielding. They've always worked OK for me....

To infinity! And beyond! (But I'd settle on twenty years).

I just checked my Line 6 VDI .... the RJ45 disappears into the housing, but as far as its exposed there is no metal shielding; its plastic only. I didn't take it apart to dig deeper, but I'm guessing its unshielded all the way.

FYI, I've settled on using my Stomp for DAW recording that's working nicely — by only using my audio interface rather than the Stomp's USB out for recording. I use an Apollo Twin mkii (Thunderbolt) for recording through microphones (with headphone monitoring), and for output to two sets of monitors. Initially, I played around with switching over to the Stomp for recording and headphone monitoring when recording guitar tracks. I also tried using an aggregate device (under OSX). I found the aggregate device to be a pain and unreliable, and switching between the Stomp and Apollo to be cumbersome. So now I'm routing the Stomp through my Apollo only, and its made things much easier. To do so, however, requires a direct box between my guitar and the Stomp to split the signal (I'm using a Samson MDA1 mono direct box). The DI's XLR out goes to the Apollo mic input, which in turn becomes my dry recorded track. The split guitar (Thru) from the DI is my Stomp's input. I then route the Stomps Out L/Main TRS to the Apollo's TRS in for its preamp #2. I use this to monitor the processed guitar while recording (monitoring my DAWs output through the Apollo while hearing the Stomp's wet signal). I could record the wet signal in mono on a separate track (or could record wet stereo out if I used L + R for my Apollo inputs). But I personally like recording only a dry mono guitar track so I can treat it with plugins (amp sims, stereo effects, etc) when mixing. (I still have USB hooked up to my Stomp, for midi clock effects timing.) Benefits: 1) using a single audio interface is easier to manage; 2) more flexible headphone and monitor outputs, 3) easier to dial in the guitar level when recording, 4) can play the Stomp through any of my monitor speakers with no computer required.

Ideascale? We aren't talking about ideas; we're talking about basic maintenance and bug fixes. And I don't think we are chasing rainbows or unicorns or krakens. We are simply asking that our Variax guitars live on. So far the unspoken official word seems to be that they were abandoned because many can't get Workbench to work on modern computers.

I also love my Variax Standard. But please, Line 6. Don't abandon Workbench HD like you have abandoned Workbench! Variax guitars are computers, after all, and partially rely on software. I have to keep an ancient Macbook laying around just so I can use Workbench with my old Variax acoustic!

Hallelujah!! (Last night I had a dream that I owned an M1 running Big Sur and all of my plug-ins worked correctly.)

I can't visualize how the USB ports look (and which are hosts). A diagram would help. But ... can you use a powered USB hub in this case? Or, a MIDI 5-pin DINs on the Stomp with a cheap MIDI-to-USB cable (I've had best luck with the iConnectivity mio).