silverhead

Not sure I understand exactly what long-winded process you want to avoid, but you can drag/drop individual patches from a file folder on your computer to any slot in the HD Edit program window.

You could use an external MIDI footswitch controller and program it to your specifications. But there is no plug'n'play Helix compatible pedal that I'm aware of.

I agree with cruisinon2. There's no good guide other than your own ears, and no shortcut that others can provide you with. Unless someone is using exactly the same guitar, exactly the same speakers/amp/monitors/headphones, in a similar size room with the same acoustic characteristics...... then what they are hearing with any specific preset is different from what you are hearing. And then consider the simple fact that everyone has their own subjective idea of what sounds 'good'. Their opinion on what you can safely "Go" might well cause you to throw out what could end up being your favourite preset. And their 'keepers' might sound like garbage to you.

Yes - download the app. Here's how: - Click on the Support tab at the top of this page. - You will see the Downloads tab on the next page. Click that. - You will see three selection fields near the top of the page. Use those fields to select Helix Rack as the Product, Helix as the Software, and enter your computer OS. - The next page will display a lengthy set of instructions, and at the bottom of the instructions you'll see a Get Download button. - Click the Get Download button. It is an installer file; save it to wherever you want on your computer. - Follow the detailed instructions carefully. Since you're new to Helix you can omit Step 2 and the first part of Step 3. Start by running/executing the downloaded installer file as instructed in the second part of Step 3.

First thing to do is double check that you are following the installation instructions exactly. You start by downloading the Helix app (not firmware). You will find the app in the Downloads section of this website under the Support tab above. Select Helix in the Software (not Product) field. Then follow the instructions on the downloads page carefully.

Exactly. And that's why you should always have the most recent version of all your presets backed up, even if Helix had an ironclad guarantee to never fail (which, of course, it doesn't). Like duncann and phil_m I have never had any presets suddenly wiped out. But I have had system crashes (during beta testing) where the recovery procedure required a factory reset that wiped out all but the factory presets. That could conceivably happen at any time although I haven't experienced it with a public firmware release. Anytime you edit presets and don't backup the changes, you are leaving yourself exposed to data loss - and if/when it happens it will be your fault, not Line 6's.

I think you should open a support ticket if you haven't done so already. Line 6 tech support should be able to help you determine whether there's any physical damage that would need a service centre repair.

You need to download and install the POD 2.0 editor. It's called Line 6 Edit. You will find it in the Downloads section of this website, under the Support tab at the top of this page. After downloading and installing the editor you will use it to open the l6t file and send it to the POD device with your POD connected to your computer. You'll find instructions for this in the Technical Support section - Knowledge Base, FAQs, and/or manuals.

Well, for one thing if you split the individual piezo signals after they pass through the piezos and immediately route them separately, the ones you want isolated will have to pass to an output without any Variax Model processing. You'll just get the raw piezo signal. Once the individual signals are re-joined and fed back into the processing DSP there is no separating them again.

Nobody knows if there's something else imminent in the POD HD product line, except Line 6 and they don't announce product updates in advance. It's never worth waiting for something new unless it's already been announced. If you like a product for what it does today, buy it. And if you don't like it now don"t buy it based on some unfounded future expectation.

No there is no feature in Variax that allows you to separate the string outputs.

What is the model/name of the Line 6 power supply you are using?

Two things to start with: 1. Make sure you are using a dynamic mic, or not condenser. 2. Make sure your Input in Pod Farm is set to mic, not guitar. I believe you'll find the input selector on the Mixer page in POD Farm. EDIT: corrected auto-fill typo

Yes you can use the device itself to edit patches. No PC required for that. However you do need a PC/Mac computer to update firmware and to backup/restore patches.

I found the post I referred to above: http://line6.com/support/topic/17997-using-helix-looper-live/?hl=helix+looper I haven't tried it but you might be able to adapt this strategy to Snapshots by substituting Snapshots for Presets in the global setup description and carrying that change throughout the subsequent descriptions.

I think anyone who wants a fully functional and easy-to-use looper for live play should invest in an external, dedicated looper pedal. The Helix and POD HD loopers are primarily designed for tone building (pre position) and practice soloing (post position). While they can be used to support live play they are very limited in that regard. I wrote a fairly positive and comprehensive post many months ago about using the Helix looper live but I can't find it at the moment. It described what I believe to be the most effective way to set things up and operate the tap dancing but it was still limited. This was pre snapshots. You may be able to find it by searching my posts.

Yes - you have full flexibility in FX selection including using the same type of model or even the very same model many times. The only limitation is the DSP limit of the device. You could probably not, for instance, line up 8 Spring Reverb models because that is a heavy DSP hog.

Yes, that can be done easily.

So, let me get this straight. It's not OK for someone else to express a negative opinion about Helix in this forum, but it is OK for you to recommend that people sell their Helix and buy a competitor's product. How does that work? I think your Fractal tattoo is showing again. Don't bother replying with another of your personal attacks. EDIT: Just to be clear, I don't have any problem with either expressing negative opinions about Helix, nor recommending that you sell Helix and buy Fractal. I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of denouncing one and doing the other.

Please describe the procedures you used to perform the backup. You need to start by downloading the Helix editor/librarian program, not the firmware. The full procedures are described on the editor Downloads page. You need to follow them carefully.

I think it may also depend on the PC/program/DAW. On my computer it was indeed recognized for midi input in a midi OX program, but in my DAW it did not appear as an available input for a midi track armed for recording. That was the basis for my response. Perhaps different programs use different criteria for what they deem to be a midi device.

I have always had my Variax JTV-59 connected via VDI since the v2.01 update so, no I haven't had any problems without it. But that's not saying anything useful under the circumstances.

Yes, it's often necessary to update the foot controller after a firmware update. I make a habit of disconnecting the foot controller during the firmware update. After the update completes I reconnect the foot controller, whereupon the Rack display informs you if a foot controller update is necessary and performs the update after confirmation.

Yes Variax was connected.

I've had this happen too, even without the Editor running. I've unsystematically traced it to a couple of suspected causes: 1) Loose cables/connections with one or more EXT pedals. I spent half a day during beta testing trying to chase down a 'recipe' that could reliably reproduce the frequent system crashes/freezes that I was experiencing. It seemed totally random and resisted all my efforts to reliably reproduce it (a real requirement in order to be able to debug the issue). Eventually I noticed that an FX parameter value assigned to an EXT pedal sweep was fluctuating wildly on the display although I was not touching the pedal. A visual inspection showed that the pedal plug was not fully inserted into the jack. I fixed that and the problem immediately disappeared. So there was no bug after all. I promptly poured a double scotch and took a hammer to my forehead. 2) One or more patches may be somehow corrupt. There was a lot of change to the patch/preset format in the Helix update from v1.x to v2.x and it seems that some unknown (at least by me) sequence of operations can permit a v1.x-created preset to be imported into the v2.x firmware with some loss of data integrity. Until said patch is identified and rebuilt (preferably manually) it can cause Helix to freeze. With one specific patch that I recall the freeze-up was predictable and repeatable. I would turn Helix off with the patch active, then restart with my Variax connected via VDI. No editor. I could use the joystick to navigate the signal chain, and the display would track properly. I then did nothing but depress the Variax Model Select knob and Helix froze. This was repeatable. Note that the only change to the patch was to activate the Variax modeling; no amp/FX/block parameters were changed. The same procedure with other initial patches did not freeze Helix, so I concluded that the specific patch was somehow corrupt. I manually re-SAVEd the patch and the problem was resolved. Unfortunately there is no easy way to identify the troublesome patches. I am in the habit of saving and reloading setlists, not individual patches, during firmware upgrades. Hence the freezing issue can occur anytime after a setlist with one or more corrupt patches is restored after the update. I have tried to systematically diagnose this situation by reinstalling the v2.01 factory firmware and presets, then restoring some individual patches that had been saved under v1.x firmware. I then spent several minutes with each patch, one at a time, trying to observe a freeze-up. Most patches did not cause any problems but occasionally I would stumble upon one that did. Manually SAVEing the patch (hence rebuilding it) seemed to solve the problem. It was such a tedious task that I soon gave up the systematic approach so I occasionally still stumble across such a patch. I want to emphasize that this has just been my experience. It's my interpretation of my unsystematic observations and is not in any way an official description or explanation from Line 6.