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I am new to the concept of Digital Modeling ... I used individual Boss pedals for years. I understand the basics: Amp head, cabinet, effects paths, pre- and post-amp, etc. I have searched Google and Bing to try and find an explanation for the basic concepts of Digital Modeling for use in live and recording environments. Yes, the search permutations were many and none with a satisfactory results. Can anyone point me to a good article(s) for explaining the basics in using a POD: what is a 'bank' (a group of preset amp heads, cabinets, effects, and effects paths with similar characteristics?), what is a 'scene' (no clue); how are 'banks' and 'scene' groupings related and what is their basic usefulness (again, no clue) with respect to the old 'amp head with matching cabinet, Boss effect pedals, and the pre- and post-amp effects paths? I am wholly aware this is a lame Dummies/Newbies question for nearly all in this forum, but I would have thought there would be at least one article somewhere across the net world-wide that would explain (in Dummies language): 1. What is Digital Modeling, how it's done, and the reason it is a vast improvement over my old school rig? 2. What is a 'POD'? 3. What is a 'bank', what is a 'scene', how are they related in practical live and recording environments, and why is it of more benefit to have and use these tools vs. old-school? 4. etc. Many of us older folks can finally afford building our dream rig, but technology has passed us by to a certain extent. Like nearly all operator's/user's manuals - usually written in house by users - the information provided assumes a certain level of operator/user understanding...which is not always the best for new consumers of 'new' technology. Line 6 has great products (!), but for the non-professionals who enjoy the art of playing and writing (and can afford the product lines [though your pricing is very fair!!!]), I am surprised there is not a comprehensive introduction to 'Digital Modeling and Application in Live and Recording Environments for Old-School Dummies'. Seems this would be a great sales tool...and would save me (and likely many others) from the many unproductive hours of noodling just to figure it out the full concept and rationale instead of actually playing, writing, recording, and the occasional gig...then the operator's/user's manual might actually make sense... I greatly appreciate any info/links/etc. that productively answers this topics questions :) ttrench

Hi, my Variax Standard finally arrived, and lovely it is. The manual, though, is astonishingly unhelpful. I worked out how to connect the device by USB (couldn't find a single instruction on the subject in the manual), what software I needed to download (Line6 Monkey. Wouldn't have been too hard to mention that, would it?) But Workbench won't install, because it appears it's not compatible with Mac OSX systems beyond Mountain Lion, and I'm running El Capitan. I did download Workbench HD. Is that the software I should be using? It refuses to recognise the guitar when it's plugged in via the USB interface, though Line6 Monkey seemed to find it all right. Can anyone help?