silverhead

Is your mobile device connected to the Internet? Are you logged into your Line 6 account within the app?

You need to purchase a license for the device independent version of Pod Farm.

Interesting. Thanks for the report.

No. The usb connection is for firmware updates using the Line 6 Updater program. The editor/app only runs on iOS and Android.

Have you downloaded and installed the Line 6 driver? The Line 6 Updater program needs that to communicate with the Firehawk device over usb.

I get plenty of volume through my studio monitors even with my Helix master output level at 25% or so. Do you have a level setting on your monitors? Try raising that. Ideally it has a 'notched' position - start there. Also try setting the Helix output level to Line for the outputs you are sending to your monitors (XLR or 1/4").

Another thing to note is that Helix is designed for use with two optional output situations: a guitar amp or a PA system. Your home theatre audio system is neither. To get the best results from that system you should find the settings that are as neutral as possible in terms of EQ. I don't know about your home theatre system but mine is surround sound and has many built-in presets. None of the presets are designed to be flat in terms of EQ. I expect it would take some tweaking of the theatre system to get something resembling a PA/FRFR sound from Helix.

That's interesting and you may be right. I didn't test either before responding and I hadn't considered that. Please do report back on your findings.

Here are the reset options: http://line6.com/support/page/kb/_/effects-controllers/helix/helix-reset-procedures-and-troubleshooting-tricks-r768

Check your global settings. The display you describe could be normal behaviour depending on these settings and the specific assignment of stomps to switches in your preset. Make sure your global settings specify Stomp and Snap for the footswitch display.

Any footswitch should work. The M20d manual should include any constraining specs.

Well, I stand soundly rebuked. 😃 Yes, it's my opinion. Assumptions and speculation are what separates opinion from unassailable knowledge. Your assumption is that mine are unreasonable, yet you don't offer any facts to the contrary - just different assumptions. I believe my assumptions are reasonable,and my opinion remains unchanged. And you're entitled to yours. Have a nice day.

There are two footswitch jacks on the M20d right beside the headphones jack. You need to connect an external footswitch just like you need to connect headphones. No you cannot use the Helix footswitch for this purpose.

Use the Studio/Direct setting for headphones.

Could just be a problem with the wires in the VDI connection/jack itself on either end of the connections. May be a physical inspection and careful pin-straightening with a J-hook fashioned from a twist tie?

A firmware upgrade might be able to do this but only, I think, by reducing the overall number of parameters that could be controlled by snapshots. The primary constraint would be memory for the many different parameter values. Right now the parameter limit is 64. It would probably have to go down significantly; at least half I would think and probably more for other implementation overhead.

Ok - I get what you mean, but I think what you're asking for would involve the actual implementation of 16 rather than 8 snapshots. I don't think it's a simple matter of grouping snapshots in some virtual manner. The current implementation does not support two simultaneous snapshots; they are mutually exclusive. But no harm in submitting to Ideascale......

Have you tried narrowing things down by using the battery instead of the VDI? I'm not suggesting that this is a solution - clearly the integration with Helix or whatever is lost - but it might help determine whether the problem is a general problem within the Variax, or narrowly related to the VDI connection, or perhaps even a problem with the device at the other end of the VDI.

This is a better solution than using the Helix pitch shift FX. While there is no built in bass model in the Variax it is very easy to create one in Workbench. This provides a more stable and polyphonic octave down tuning than the pitch shift FX which is designed as a monophonic shifter and can suffer from warbling.

Not sure I understand. Can you not achieve the same result now by arranging for this grouping in your snapshot design? If you use, say, Snapshots 1 through 4 for your different amp/drive settings (leaving the time-based FX constant) and Snapshots 5 through 8 for your different time- based FX (leaving the amp/drive settings constant) does that not achieve the result you want? If not, pleasant provide further details of what you want to achieve that this arrangement doesn't support. Maybe I'm just not getting your idea.

I don't think the main screen display mode can be changed. You have options for the scribble strip switch displays but that's it.

Any reasonably new laptop should be OK. You can find the minimum requirements for most software products on the mafacturer's website for that product. For instance, the Pod Farm requirements are at the bottom of this page: http://line6.com/pod-farm/ Mac vs. PC is a matter of religion...... ;) They will both do the job quite nicely.

First thing I would do is make sure that the Helix setup and global settings matches your equipment. What are you monitoring the sound with? Guitar amp? PA/FRFR speakers? Headphones? Does your guitar have active pickups? While factory presets in general rarely match any user's preferences in taste and style, they should at least sound reasonable even if you don't like the style/FX being used. One you get your overall settings right you can worry about tone building.

Adding to the good suggestions and info from ffbrgst...... and recognizing that you are a self-proclaimed newbie.... apologies in advance if some of this is too basic...... The audio interface is a piece of hardware that allows your sound-producing equipment like guitar, keyboard, etc. to communicate with your computer and a software audio recording program that runs on the computer. Typically a guitar player will want to apply some signal processing to the raw 'dry' guitar signal. This is often done with outboard (not on your computer) equipment such as your Spider amp. You would connect the amp output (or place a mic in front of the amp) to the audio interface to record the processed sound. However there are also software options for guitar processing that run on your computer, eliminating the need for a physical guitar amp and associated pedals. There are many manufacturers of both audio interfaces and software-based guitar processing tools. Since this is the Line 6 forum I will point you to their offerings in this domain. The Studio suite of audio interfaces come bundled with the Pod Farm software so that you get interface device and processing software in a single package. http://line6.com/products/#computer The other piece you will need is the audio recording software (DAW). Again there are many options - and generally you get what you pay for. Line 6 does not play in this domain. You will have all the looping tools you need for recording (not live gigging) in any reasonably capable DAW. I think your needs, at least initially, would be well met by one of the free or low-cost DAW options. I suggest you look at GarageBand (Mac only), Audacity, Riffworks, and Reaper. The latter, Reaper, is a seriously powerful DAW that is, imho, the best bang-for-the-buck price you will find in this domain. But it has a steeper learning curve than the others. My overall recommendation for your daughter would be the Line 6 Studio UX1 including Pod Farm, Reaper, and a reasonably powerful computer. Sell your FBV MKII to generate some funds. You can sell or keep the Spider amp depending on whether or not your daughter wants to be strictly studio/computer dependent or wants to occasionally just plug into a guitar amp either for practice or playing out. Hope this helps, and good luck to you and your daughter!

Also you should try out some Customtone presets from a user here named CBTL. He has created some wonderful Pink Floyd tones and has very generously posted them in Customtone so that all Helix users have access to them. You may have to tweak them to fit your guitar and monitoring equipment but they should serve you very well as a starting point. Many thanks to CBTL!