silverhead

If your existing presets were present in your Helix device when the firmware was updated then they were rebuilt. It's an automatic, not discretionary, post-update procedure. Accordingly, all your subsequent backups and setlist exports, including the backup you made on 3.0, involved presets that were on your device at that time which likely means they have been rebuilt. So I assume you are talking about presets, setlists, and backups that were NOT present on your device when the firmware was updated and have not yet been imported/restored. After importing/restoring these it's wise to cycle the power on your Helix device, thereby forcing the rebuild, before you edit any of the presets. I presume there's a reason that presets are automatically rebuilt after a firmware update, before you can edit them. I'm not sure what that reason is (likely format changes in the preset structure) but for the same reason it makes sense to force older presets to be rebuilt immediately after import. Note that there's only one time period when un-rebuilt presets exist on your device. That's the time period immediately after importing older presets and until you power down your Helix device. On the next startup these presets are automatically rebuilt. My suggestion is to minimize this time period.

After the initial firmware update and preset rebuild, any presets or setlists you import that were saved using the pre-update firmware also need to be rebuilt. I am in the habit of cycling the power to my Helix, thereby forcing the rebuild, immediately after importing these in order to minimize the chance of anomalies that may result from editing presets that have not yet been rebuilt.

And I don’t understand why you think that matters. After exporting one of your current setlists you can import it again later to the same setlist location and your device will be restored to its previous state, exactly as it is now. Each export and import operation takes a couple of mouse clicks. That lets you temporarily experiment with the new Factory setlists. You can save/export any individual presets that you like and then import them later (after importing your original setlist) to any preset location you want. You will lose nothing you don’t want to lose and gain any new artist presets that you like. I am giving you meaningful answers to your questions and I don’t think you’re stupid. But I do think you have so far misunderstood what I and others have been suggesting.

@ezut: Instead of composing another post in this thread, try this: 1. Use HX Edit to export your current Factory 1 setlist. 2 Download and import the Factory 1 setlist using the link datacommando provided. 3. Audition the Artist Presets (the ones with the names in ALL CAPS). 4. Now make another post here telling us what you think of them.

No, DSP is a strict hardware limitation. More efficient firmware may allow one to accomplish more using the same DSP but it does not increase the DSP. In particular, the increase in the HX Stomp from 6 blocks to 8 did not increase the DSP. In fact, that point was highlighted specifically in the release notes, in red font preceded by the word “Important”. Similarly, the POD Go may receive a firmware update sometime that adds amp and FX models, maybe some that are heavy DSP users. That won’t increase the DSP capacity of the POD Go. It will give you the option to use these heavy DSP models in your presets as long as you cut back on other things you might like in the preset.

Actually, history shows that in a democracy ‘we’ have all the influence. We elect the lawmakers. If we don’t like the laws they enact or the way they govern ‘we’ can throw them out and replace them with people we believe will do better. (Seems to me that’s a rather timely observation.)

Does Helix Native suffer from this incompatibility issue? I thought it was related to communications between Big Sur and external audio devices. Helix Native does not communicate externally; it’s embedded in a DAW as a plug-in. Having said that, I notice that the list of compatible Mac OS systems for Helix Native 3.0 does NOT include Big Sur. P.S. I moved this topic to the proper forum.

The Variax 300 does not have the same alternate tuning capabilities as the later Variaxes, beginning with the JTV models. You can’t control the Variax 300 tuning directly from a Firehawk preset as you can a Variax JTV. The Variax 300 handles alternate tunings using the Variax Workbench program (not Workbech HD). The alternate tuning is embedded within the Variax model stored on the guitar. You can use the Firehawk preset to recall that model, thereby accessing the stored alternate tuning.

That's one way. Another is to download and import the new factory setlists from here:

... or from Apple....

Jason, thanks for your ongoing work in hosting this site and keeping it up to date. I routinely refer forum users to it in response to their questions.

Which do you mean- is the update to v3.0 in general worth it, or are the artist presets worth the update for their own sake? The former is definitely worth it. I wouldn't update if your only reason is that you expect to be blown away by your perceived quality of the artist presets.

You don’t state that you updated the HX Edit program to v3.0. You need to do that too.

I think that could be a useful Ideascale suggestion. Might be helpful to consider two groups of users here. Group 1 consists of users who are regular forum participants, are keenly aware that an update is pending, see the release notice from Digital Igloo or otherwise become aware of the new release, and seek it out along with the Release Notes and installation instructions. This group of users knows that the HX Edit installation is the first step. Group 2 consists of users who don’t follow the forums much and are blissfully unaware that a new release is available. They are informed of the new release when they happen to launch their current (now old) version of HX Edit. They install the new firmware as prompted and are unaware that they also need to update HX Edit. I agree that there is a hole in the update process here. Group 2 users should be actively informed during the process that they need to update HX edit. It makes sense that, lacking that information, they come to the forums to report their problem.

Double check that you are running HX Edit v3.0. Use the About information for that. Note that the display on the bottom of the HX Edit screen tells you the version of Helix firmware that is installed on the connected device. That may be different from the version of HX Edit that is running. You don’t need to reinstall the previous version to update the firmware. Just run the Line 6 Updater program and install v3.0 again.

The actual preset is only one of many factors that determine the tone you hear. Other factors include your guitar and its pickups, your monitoring system (amp, PA/FRFR speakers, studio monitors, headphones), your playing style, the room you are playing in, etc. Each of these factors affect the tone you hear to a greater or lesser degree. The likelihood that your environment is exactly the same as that of the person who created the preset is very low. Hence you will likely hear a very different tone than the creator did, and perhaps very different. To your ears, the tone may suck!

The firmware update leaves your existing presets intact, including the factory presets. You need to load in the new factory setlists.

Yes, that’s what it means. You are restricted to using only Path 1 in your presets, though, so you’re sacrificing 50% of available DSP for this capability. Having said that, you can do a lot on Path 1!

You download and install the HX Edit package from the Downloads area of this website. See middle column to select HX Edit.

Make sure you update HX Edit to v3.0 also.

Total speculation here..... I'm not a Mac guy and know nothing about Core Audio, for instance. Perhaps the flash memory compatibility refers only to the use of Helix as the computer's audio card, separate from its use with HX Edit or as an audio interface for DAW purposes. In other words you could continue to use Helix for general audio output from your Mac (YouTube, iTunes, etc.) but specific audio applications like HX Edit or ProTools don't work with it. I have had issues like this in the past - a Line 6 product firmware installation on my Windows 10 PC ran successfully as a basic audio card for the PC but the editor program didn't run and a DAW did not not see it as an audio interface device. That might qualify as the device firmware being compatible with the OS though the editor is not. Just a thought, may be incorrect ....

Try restarting your computer.

Developers update their apps based on the OS provider’s specs. Apple’s ‘final’ release of iOS 13.0 did not seem to comply with their own specs. It wasn’t until v3.14 that Apple fixed what they broke in 13.0. Is the same thing happening with iOS 14? How can companies who have invested resources in getting their products ready by complying with the specs deal with a non-compliant OS ‘final’ release? Again, it seems that many audio companies are having this problem. Is it more reasonable to think that they all were unprepared for the final release, or to think that one company, Apple, released an OS that is non - compliant with their own specs? I think it’s more reasonable to assume that one company, rather than many, is at fault. Now I’m out of this debate.....

I expect that's what Apple is asking themselves right now (or will be asking when they get around to prioritizing it). What's the bug in Big Sur that is causing problems with all these audio equipment manufacturers? It's not public knowledge afaik. It's not exactly known who needs to fix what at this point, but with numerous apps failing and only one new iOS involved, chances are it's the one that's at fault - not the many. When iOS 13 was released it wasn't until v13.4 that they (Apple) fixed whatever bug it was that was causing problems in other Line 6 apps from v13.0 through v13.3. Will they do better this time? We'll see.