DarrellM5

I'm not a gigging musician but I'll chime in anyhow. I've been playing my Helix with a JTV69 into an Alto TS112A powered PA speaker for 2 days now and I'm completely blown away. I was planning on keeping my HD500X as a backup but Helix is playing in an entirely different league. The amps and effects are a huge step up. Playing a JTV acoustic model into a Taylor IR is incredible. I'll be trying it into my DT25 as soon as I get home from vacation (had Sweetwater ship Helix to my vacation address). I'm pretty sure I'll be selling my HD500X along with my Vetta II Combo soon. Tomorrow I'll be exploring recording into Reaper. It's a great time to be a guitarist.

True, I just think there will be a lot of them to choose from. It will definitely be a buyers market.

Loading IR's is supposed to be a no-brainer with Helix. phil_m posted a great sample of an acoustic IR. Just search for philmillermusic on soundcloud. The clip is called Fly Me to the Moon.

You shouldn't need a DI if you have a HD500; just go straight out to the FOH. Like mcbeddall says above, it would use the same cable that they would mic your amp with anyhow. The sound guy either didn't know what he was doing or didn't know your HD500 had a direct out. I have a DT25 amp and cab and it does sound incredible. I also have an Alto TS110 powered PA speaker that sounds incredible. The amp sounds better for guitar but the PA handles acoustic tones better. The Alto speaker cost me $199 which is 5 or 6 times cheaper than I bought the amp and cab for.

I'll bet Helix had a direct impact on that price.

If you give it a few weeks, you can probably find really good deals on used HD500X units with the extra model packs included. I expect quite a few people will be selling them once their Helix units arrive.

So I just finished watching the 2 hour unboxing and demo on Youtube. It sounded really good and the patch switching times were incredibly fast for a modeler. Also, boot time was right around 22 - 24 seconds.

Hey, nice job Chad. I really enjoyed it.

I understand where you're coming from because XP was a very stable system. Windows 7 has proven to be just as stable though. Win 8 sucks and the verdict is still out on Win 10. The best 3 they ever did were Win 98 SE, Win XP and Win 7.

I think your friend is correct. That's how I run my HD500X to PA. The unbalanced left/mono sums the signal to mono. The other option would be to run stereo to the house with 2 cables.

The stock strings are D'Addario .10-.46 (D'Addario EXL110BT). This is the same set that the JTV guitars come with. I've just stuck with them on my JTV69.

I really do like the 500X. I was disappointed with the factory presets but I've learned how to dial in my own, thanks to MEAMBOBBO'S guide, PeterJH's videos and this forum. The Variax setlist (new factory presets) that came with the last firmware update really knocked it out of the park as well.

I have tried quite a few Line 6 amps. I ended up purchasing two, a Vetta II Combo and the DT25 Head w/ 1x12 extension cab. I still own both. The DT25 can definitely out-perform the Vetta II when it comes to tone but I love both amps. I've recently tried my HD500X into a powered PA speaker and I'm really enjoying the experience there as well. I'm waiting on my Helix to arrive so I can figure out the optimum amp or PA solution for it.

They're working on a really nice backpack style carrying case.

You're kind of getting off to a bad start here. This tutorial and explanation on the 4 cable method might help though. https://youtu.be/kI_SMjAb4GQ

The only thing I can really think of is the tone matching feature of the Firehawk. That's pretty cool, especially if you're not that into tweaking settings to get a tone. I'm keeping my HD500X initially while I explore the capabilities of Helix. I don't currently perform any gigs so I don't really need an emergency backup. Plus I have plenty of other options (amps, pedals, etc....)

I wouldn't worry about posting to CustomTone The worse that could happen is you get some great constructive criticism which, in the end, will help you to perfect your patch.

Shouldn't be any problem providing power to the older Variax guitars.

That's the $64,000 question and probably the biggest reason the TGP Helix thread is 344+ pages long. The Line 6 guys have said numerous times that their concern was more about how the new models compare to the actual amps and not to the competition. The demos I've heard are outstanding BTW.

Here's another good reason to keep my HD500X for awhile. It will just share floor space with my Helix.

I thought it was awesome all the way around. It's definitely the best demo video I've seen yet. BTW, the Strat did have a humbucker in the bridge position.

This thread might help: http://line6.com/support/topic/14907-dt25-voicing-iv-modern-high-gain-in-pod-hd500x/?hl=settings&do=findComment&comment=108779

A Friedman Dirty Shirley would be great as well.