silverhead

I checked out the Cubase link. In Step 1 try selecting Audio Setup at the top of the menu rather than Studio Setup at the bottom. See if that allows you to select Helix and its ASIO driver.

I think it’s just terminology. A preset occupies one of the slots (1A through 32D) in HX Edit. I think you are calling this a block, which causes the confusion. The term block is used to refer to one of the components of a preset - an amp, cab, stomp, delay, etc. When you say you drag a block to the desktop people understand that as saying you are dragging only one component of a preset. In fact you are dragging an HX Edit preset slot.

You can’t drag/drop just the delay settings. You had to have dragged an entire preset, including the delay block and it’s settings.

I have to drop out now since I have no experience with Audacity. I know you should be using the Line 6 ASIO driver but from what you say your Audacity installation does not permit that. Someone with experience will have to help you further if you want to continue using Audcaity. If you want to try something else, download and install another recording program. A couple of free ones are Reaper (for a trial period) and Bandlab’s free Cakewalk offering. I use both of those and they permit you to configure the Line 6 ASIO driver.

I don’t have/use Audacity so can’t provide details. But having chosen the Sonic Port as the audio input and output device are things not working properly?

Have you downloaded and installed the Line 6 driver for the Sonic Port VX, and configured Audacity to use it (not the default ASIO4ALL driver)?

It shouldn't be a problem as long as he lets the Helix sit in the cold for about 10 minutes before turning it on. Don't power it on immediatley after taking it from a warm vehicle. There could be condensation inside Helix which would not play well with the electronics when powering on.

Yeah - as you noted it's not possible to drag/drop an individual block to the desktop. Presets yes, blocks no.

He meant preset in the first sentence, not block. His final sentence clarifies that I think.

I think there’s a whole lot of valuable IP in the app, and that Yamaha (who own Line 6) would be foolish to publicly release the code to everyone (including to its competitors). This app was the introduction of the UI that is now one of the main distinguishing features and advantages of Helix in the marketplace. Yamaha is not going to give it to its competitors.

That’s an interesting claim. How do you know the Variax crash bug only involves code in the app and not the device firmware? Don’t you think it’s possible, even likely, that the fix would include an associated firmware update?

I doubt that a Rocksmith realtone cable would act as an audio interface for Riffworks. But tbh I know nothing about it other than a 20-sec scan on google. The Variax Rack is long since gone. You might find one somehow on the used market. And yes - I expect much specialized knowledge would be required to make one out of a donor Variax.

Riffworks is a recording program aimed at guitarists. It is compatible with all guitars but you need an audio interface device that connects your guitar to your computer. There used to be a special version of it for Line 6 but no longer. The product is available here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjkxeeg5bPoAhWWKM0KHcLrB7AQFjAAegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonomawireworks.com%2Friffworks%2F&usg=AOvVaw1_jZpEN9uWsekqSM6QVGOm

The original Variax Workbench is the product that works with your Variax guitars. The Workbench HD product works with the newer Variax guitars beginning with the JTV series. There are some differences in features and capabilities that you can discover from the respective product info below but the differences won't matter to you in practical terms unless you get a newer Variax. https://line6.com/software/?submit=Show&name=Variax+Workbench https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi9m4zF5LPoAhXbB80KHfMJCnoQwqsBMAF6BAgLEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5XkVEDmU_S0&usg=AOvVaw3AMM1l-qNC72pwXXMXVPAd Note: Product info for the original Variax Workbench product is not easily found these days....

Let’s try some basic troubleshooting here based on the info you’ve provided..... You’ve said the tuner does not recognize an input signal. Let’s focus on getting that working. You’ve also said that you’ve tried both the Guitar and Aux inputs. This seems to rule out a hardware problem with Helix. It’s highly unlikely that both physical input jacks would fail at the same time. Using the tuner we can also ignore any issues with preset configuration other than Input setting. Setup: the simplest possible - connect your guitar to Helix and engage the tuner. There are really only three four possibilities I think (note to others - please correct me if I’m overlooking something): 1) There is a problem with external equipment preventing the signal from reaching the Helix input jack. Check your guitar and cord using some other means to confirm that they are properly sending a signal. I know you’ve done this already but do it again to be sure. 2) There is a problem with the Helix preset Input setting. Double check that the preset setting and your physical input match. 3) Your firmware has somehow become corrupt. 4) See EDIT below If you’ve confirmed 1) and 2) and the tuner still does not recognize an input signal you’re left with 3). You may want to open a support ticket first but I suspect you’ll need to reinstall the firmware. Make sure you use HX Edit to create a backup before reinstalling. EDIT: Actually there is a fourth possibility. There could be an internal hardware problem with a circuit that merges the Multi input signals before they hit the tuner. That would require a visit to a Line 6 service center. You should definitely open a support ticket first.

Yes. You’ll have no issues doing that.

Try these things in order until the problem is resolved. If still unresolved open a support ticket. 1) I know you’ve checked the connections several times but do it again. The Send/ Return pairs are beside each other, not above/below each other. Also try different cables; the cable connected to the HX FX Return jack may be faulty. Also check whether you are using mono or stereo cables and recheck connections and settings accordingly. 2) Check the Send/Return levels in Global Settings (Inst vs. Line). Make sure they match the levels of the external devices. 3) Check the FX Loop block’s Send and Return Level parameter settings. They should both be 0db unless you specifically intend otherwise. 4) Check to see if the FX Loop’s Mix parameter is assigned to a controller. If so remove the assignment at least temporarily. 5) Reset all Global Settings and check all levels again. 6) Reinstall HX FX firmware (make backups first).

Make sure the FX Loop block in your preset is activated (i.e. turned on, not bypassed).

This is just a guess but perhaps it’s because of the device’s physical architecture. Path 1 and Path 2 run on two separate processors (CPUs). You can rearrange the blocks within the same processor but you need to copy/paste between processors?

Glad you got it sorted out. I presume your Customtone presets are loading properly now?

Yes you can record both together, either in a single mono track, a single stereo track, or two separate mono or stereo tracks. The technical quality won’t be better one way or another. Your performance quality may be different depending on your ability to play and sing simultaneously rather than focusing on each independently. Assuming your DAW has sufficient capacity (most do) you can also record both guitar and vocals ‘dry’ meaning without any processing while recording the processed tracks as above. This is useful if you want to re-amp or use plug-ins (e.g. Helix Native) later. This will let you modify the processing completely without having to re-record the tracks.

Here's the latest HX Edit manual, corresponding to firmware v2.82. https://line6.com/data/6/0a020a4024285d8d400160c84/application/pdf/HX Edit Pilot's Guide - English .pdf

When you connect Helix via USB to your laptop it becomes your PC's soundcard; your internal soundcard is bypassed. By default your DAW (recording program) should recognize Helix and its ASIO driver as the audio device. If this does not happen automatically you may have to do it manually in your DAW's Audio Devices Configuration/Prefernces area. This is particularly important if you use Audacity because its default is to use a pseudo-ASIO driver called ASIO4ALL. Avoid using that because it is known to cause problems in some situations. Because your Helix becomes the soundcard for both audio input and output you will need to connect your speakers or headphones to the Helix outputs. Your internal laptop mic/line inputs and speakers will be bypassed. In your DAW, when you create a new audio track and arm it for recording you will need to select the Input Source. Helix has 8 independent channels that you can select from. For details check the manual's Global Settings section, particularly the subsections that describe DAW, Recording, and ASIO.

Can you elaborate? What behaviours are you seeing that need to be sorted out?

Hmmm.... I just searched Customtone with POD X3 selected as the Product and was presented with a list of over 66,000 tones I no longer own an X3 so can’t test whether these actually load properly but the list is certainly there. Is Gearbox working properly with your X3? Can you export/ import existing tones on your X3?