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Had a fun time comparing a buddy of mine's AX8 today to my Helix! We've each only had our respective units for a very short amount of time so there are things about each we're still learning. However I've been a LONG TIME Line 6 user and he's been an Axe FX user for several years. So not completely new territory. Spoiler alert: If you can't get a good tone out of either one of these units, it's your fault. Plain and simple. It's not that your ears are that discerning, you just don't know what you're doing. Sorry, maybe guitar playing isn't your calling. With that out of the way let me move on. The signal path was Crate Powerblock into Friedman 2x12 with one Vintage 30 and one Creamback. It produced about as much "amp in the room" sound as you could ask for. All tones done on each unit were amp only with no speaker modelling. As a side note, also in the room was a Friedman Dirty Shirley with matching 1x12 cabinet, so there was a high end tube amp there for reference. Admittedly I felt like bringing a Line 6 product into a room with a Fractal product for a comparission put me as the underdog. From everything I've read online the Helix has the competition beat on features, but what about pure amp tone? I'm here to say that the Helix held it's own and then some. At no point did I feel like the Helix was a step behind the AX8. Just dialed up an amp and it sounded amazing right out of the gate. Something Line 6 has MASSIVELY struggled with in the past. I've owned literally every incarnation of Line 6's product line and this is the first time they've produced a product that doesn't demand a ton of tweaking to find the magic sweet spot. This opinion was echoed by my friend who is a long time Fractal user. So not just my opinion in a vacuum. As a Helix user I feel compelled to point out the positives of it in this comparison, so that's exactly what I'm going to do. Not to take anything away from the AX8, but this is where I'm coming from. I'll leave room for AX8 users, or my friend with the AX8, to chime in here. Here are the pluses for Helix: The UI: on the Helix it is far and away more advanced than on the AX8. I'm speaking in terms of the on unit UI and not the PC editor. The Helix Editor isn't out yet so no way to compare that. But for using each unit stand alone the Helix UI is hands down the winner. Everything is faster, easier, and more intuative. Assigning pedals and controllers, using pedal edit mode, etc. Not a knock on the AX8, just showing how much design effort went into the Helix UI. Flexibility and routing: Again, this is another area that Helix shines. If you can dream it up, you can route it in Helix. And do so very easily thanks to a very intuative UI. Want a signal path with 4 drives, 6 delays, and 3 reverbs? No problem with Helix. Plus the 4 physical send/receives give you loads of flexibility to incorporating outboard gear. Need to route your dry guitar signal one place, your wet guitar signal another, and the looper another? No problem. Ease of creating tones: I was surprised that my vote for this would go to Helix. As a long time Line 6 user I'm used to spending hours dialing in the perfect tone. With Helix things just work. We found that amps, and especially effects, were very quick on the Helix. Everything was more or less in place and ready to go. You just had to add it to the signal chain and make adjustments to suit your taste. Ease of use: When using this as a live unit I have to give the nod to Helix here. The scribble strips, with customize-able text, were gold. I know exactly what function each pedal is performing. Something that was a challenge on the HD500(X). Along with the very large color screen showing exactly what's going on it's a breeze to use this thing live. The AX8 takes a more basic approach, and is very workable, but not on the same level as Helix. Built in expression pedal: Having a built in expression pedal, with a toe switch, is a big deal. At least to me. With an external pedal I'm left to choose one function of the expression pedal instead of two. Overall tone: I felt like this could go either way. On this day I think our Helix presets were pretty rockin', but either unit can be tailored to do EXACTLY what you want. They both sound awesome. I can say with all honesty though that the Helix didn't give up an inch tone wise. Which surprised the both of us. BTW, the Friedman Dirty Shirley model on the AX8 was spot on and we both felt like bringing the "real" dirty shirley into the equation was pointless. The AX8 simply sounded as good or better than the real deal. Sorry tube snobs, but facts are facts Pluses for the AX8: It did sound really good! There's no denying that, nor any reason to. It's an awesome unit. Amp models: In terms of sheer number of amp models there isn't a contest between these two units. The AX8 far outpaces the Helix by a mile. However the question is how many amp models do you need? Maybe I'm playing devil's advocate here, but I don't find that I have trouble covering all the ground I need with Helix's selection. Totally a matter of opinion though. Much respect for the sheer amount of work Cliff has put into modelling this number of amps. If the amount of amp models is most important to you then there is no comparison. Form factor: This could go either way. Overall I'll take the Helix because of the built in expression pedal and increased number of ins/outs. But I do like the compactness of the AX8. The Helix is big and heavy. I'm a Helix owner so obviously you can tell that I am going to lean towards the Helix. Having said that I can say with COMPLETE honesty that the Helix really shined today when comparing the two. All things being equal I take the Helix all day long and don't regret the purchase for a minute. My buddy was even joking about buying one once he sold off some of his other gear Most importantly though is that fact that there are two INCREDIBLE units on the market for, given what they do, not a lot of money. It is an amazing time to be a guitar player. I've been playing way long enough to remember when it wasn't so. I remember playing through a Crate solid state amp.....wow how times have changed!! So as a community let's be thankful for the tools at our disposal. We live in a great time to be a musician and let's truly appreciate these miracle boxes that can be had for less than the cost of a Marshall half stack "back in the day". Or this day for that matter. Cheers!

Hi, I have a standard Variax, and I cannot find my adapter. Is there any way to update the firmware of the Variax without the adapter? I have the Variax attached to my Helix. i can run Line6 Central, and the Variax shows up, and shows that an update is available, but when I click on the Variax icon, I just get an "OK" button, and it just goes away when I press it. Am I doing something wrong?

I built this satellite board for use with my Stadium XL with a space for the future Expand D-10 I guessed the size of the D10 box by scaling to the size of the known ethercon connector in one of the pix. If anyone at Line 6 knows, here are some questions… 1. what are the actual dimensions of the D-10? (found this on Thomann Dimensions: 40.6 x 138 x 99.7 mm) 2. is the D-10 phantom powered by the Stadium Nexus port or by the USB-C port? 3. what is the current draw of the D-10? thanks! Joe

It may not be perfect and it might be too bulky for a live application but it will work in the meantime. At least until they released the d10 expander: I ran my Variax guitar (via VDI cable) into my original helix and then I split the magnetic pickup and the piezo into two paths. I sent the magnetic pickup out of send 1 and the piezo pickup out of send 2. I then ran two ts cables from the sends into the two instrument inputs on the Stadium XL. I made a patch on the Stadium XL with two separate inputs: one with instrument input 1 and the other instrument input 2. After that you can do whatever. You got to still have to use the original Helix to control the Variax, unless you setup a midi cable and program it. Hope this helps. Thanks!

Just curious, does hooking a Variax up DIRECTLY to the Stadium just do nothing now? I am NOT a fan of the fact that I will now need to spend over $200 for an outboard piece of gear (Expand D10) to have the same Variax functionality as I've always had with my Helix, on top of the $2200 for a Stadium XL. The cost is one factor but I also just like the all-in-one solution of my Helix and don't want to have to bring and hook up another piece of gear. If I keep my Stadium XL pre-order, I may just go back to using my Variax with the battery and 1/4" output, though I hate to do that as I currently have ever preset recall guitar/pickup/tuning in the Variax as well. And sometimes change tunings for a slide solo or such. Just trying to suss out if I want to lose some of my favorite functionality for the benefits of a Stadium, or deal with a D10, or maybe just play my non-Variax guitars more (though my JTV-69 remains my #1 guitar and I am deeply disappointed Variaxes were discontinued as someone who has used one since the very first model)! DILEMMAS.

I know that with Stadium you need the Expand D10 for Variax control (boooooo) but I'm curious if anyone knows if plugging the Variax into the Stadium directly (without the D10) will at least POWER it, even if I can't fully control it.

Is there any where to order the output Jack for a jtv59? Part Line 6 50-04-0079-3. I'm guessing it's long out of production and I can't find one anywhere

I have a Helix, and JTV-69 Variax. Recently I noted that I am unable to select "Don't Force" under the options for Variax Model, in the Input parameters for the Helix. If I unplug the Variax, then the "Don't Force" option is available as the most counter-clockwise selection under the "Variax Model" selection knob. However, as soon as the Variax is plugged back in to the Helix, the "Variax Model" on the Helix jumps to the current model on the guitar, and if the selection knob is turned fully counter-clockwise, the "Don't Force" option is no longer there. I'm pretty sure that this is abnormal behavior and that I have been able to not force the Variax model on patches in the past. I've tried reloading firmware on the Variax, and on the Helix (3.8). I've also tried reloading firmware 3.71 on the Helix and so far, no change to the odd behavior. My only workaround so far is to unplug the Variax, select "Don't Force" under the input "Variax Model", and save the patch. The patch will operate properly, in not altering the Variax Model, even though the "Don't Force" option does not show up. The problem then, is if I were to select a Specific Variax Model for a patch, there would be no way to go back to "Don't Force", without unplugging the guitar. I would appreciate anyone with a Helix and Variax confirming that when the Variax is plugged into your Helix, that you still have the "Don't Force" option available to you under the Variax Model options.

I use workbench HD v 2.15 to edit the models on my my JTV-59, I run it on Mac OS Ventura 13.4 but I want to update to the latest OS which is Sequoia 15.2 but since the latest versions of workbench HD came out almost 10 year ago I'm afraid it won't run on the latest Mac OS, does anyone have experience running workbench on Sequoia? Does it still runs on the latest Mac OS?

I have two Variax JTV guitars and want to copy all of the settings from the 1st guitar to the 2nd one. I tried to this by saving a Bundle from the 1st one, loading it into the Workshop and then Transferring all of the settings to the 2nd guitar. That seems to have worked a bit: when I rotate the knob with the presets on it (Lester, Acoustic, etc) they are the same on the 2nd guitar as on the 1st guitar. But... The tunings on the 2nd guitar are not the same as the 1st guitar. In addition, the 2nd guitar does not work properly with my Helix. Patches that cause the 1st guitar to change key (electric capo) fail on the 2nd guitar. Any thoughts?

I use my Helix combined with my Variax to let me play bass on parts of a song and take a solo in the middle. This has worked well for months, but recently there have been a variety of problems. 1) sometimes the pitch shifting does not work at all: I want to hear bass, but all I hear is normal guitar. I then try disconnecting/reconnecting the Variax, switching to another patch and back, etc. Sometimes that works, sometimes not. All unpredictable. 2) today, the low E string would suddenly shift from an octave down back up to normal tuning, with no obvious precursor (I was not touching the Helix or the guitar knobs). And sometimes on normal patches, a string would suddenly be a bass string. I would appreciate any points to help me troubleshoot this. Given the erratic and unpredictable nature of the failures, it may be challenging. Thanks. Jon

Hey guys, I have a Variax JTV but I don't have the USB interface in order to use it with the Workbench. If you have a Variax USB and don't need it anymore because you have the Helix or another unit that interfaces with the Variax, I would appreciate if you would be willing to donate it or sell it for a reasonable price. The brand new unit is too expensive for me. Thanks.

Hello, Im interested in seeing if anyone else is having these problems. I've seen some older posts but no answers. I have a couple of variax guitars, a 300 and a 700 that have worked flawlessly for years. When I upgraded workbench (I had to for OS 10.8 mac) I went in and edited some alternate tunings on both guitars. Now both guitars are sounding ghost notes (I'm hearing the altered pitch and the regular string). I am absolutely positive that I am not hearing the strings from the guitar itself as I cranked it through headphones and also recorded direct. I contacted Line6 but have not heard back (it's been a few days). They said they had to research and get back with me. In the meantime they told me to re-flash one of the variax. This didn't solve the problem. It seems to me that it is a software issue as both guitars started mis-behaving only after editing with the upgraded workbench. I tried to open an older workbench but it freezes up. Has anyone else had this problem. Any fixes? Thanks! Variax 300 Variax 700 throughh pod xt live Mac intel OS 10.8.5

Hi interwebs. Weird issue with my JTV-69. With the battery charged (the green indicator lights confirm it is), when i plug in a standard guitar cable, the models do not function. The passive pickups are fine but when I try to engage the models...nothing. If I plug in the VDI cable through my HD500, they engage and work fine and I can toggle between models and passive pickups. So with VDI still connected, I tried plugging in the 1/4 inch cable at the same time and then unplug the VDI and presto...the models stay working and functioning. So basically, in order to get the models mode working, I need to give it a boost by plugging into the POD via the VDI. The battery is fine as I swapped it into my JYV-59 and the models worked as they are supposed to with just a 1/4 inch plugged in. Anyone experienced this? Any fixes? Thanks!

Helix Rack Noob again. Still in my learning curve, and I'm reading a lot about the advantages a Variax brings to the equation. I've never been exposed to one, but I have had several guitar synths, so I have a general idea about what synthetic guitar sounds like. My question for those who use a Variax: how is the latency? In a Roland COSM device, analog to MIDI has more latency, but the COSM modelling is virtually free of any delay. If the same thing is true of the Variax, I can foresee one in my future. Of most interest is the ability to change tunings without latency or audio artifacts Your thoughts? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. This is a great community, full of smart people. Lots of good information being exchanged here.

I went to use my Variax with my Helix today and it didn't work. It happened before and I'm not sure wh. First I checked if another car 5 cable worked. I tried a guitar cable along with the Variax cable. It connected. To see if the cable was providing power I took out the battery and I was able to select instruments on the Variax. So the cable is powering it, but not transmitting signal. I have a JTV-69S and Helix floor. I suspect one or the other may need a reset or something. Any suggestions welcome.

I have managed to get a really good sound with my JTV-89 and PODxt Live. It took hours and hours of research and testing to get that awful "Tin" or "Highly compressed" palm muting sound to go away. Once I got rid of that; I must say that I am HIGHLY pleased with this guitar! My only real complaint at this time is that as soon as I plug in the VDI cable, my sound goes right back to crap :( ...Is there any possible way to be able to match the resistance of the VDI to a real guitar cable? Is there any way that this could be implemented in the firmware or Workbench? I want so bad to be able to use this guitar live with my POD so that I can switch guitar models. At this time it is totally unusable that way. Any ideas?

I have a JTV 69 made in Korea and when I use a Variax cable with Helix or HD 500 it changes the sound of the magnetic pickups. Sounds to me like a bit of piezo quack. When I use a guitar cable the pickups sound natural. I'd like to be able to use the variax cable but I'd also like to be able to use the magnetic pickups. Has anyone else run into this?

Where can I buy a James Tyler Variax 89f? I am not able to find a store in Europe that sells it.

The Helix and the Variax are a powerful combination. I know I can change the tuning of each individual string and volume of each string for each preset. I'd like to add a bass octave to the E string, but *only* the E string. In theory I'd like to take the bottom track and use it exclusively for modeling the lowest string to add a bass effect and then the top track for everything else. However, it doesn't seem that this is possible. I was wondering if any of you knew how I could maybe achieve that?

I have a helix and a variax. I want to use snapshots so there won't be audio ramp-up when you switch presets. I want a Strat sound on Snapshot 1 and a Banjo on Snapshot2, for example, but it appears that inputs can not be changed between snapshots on a preset. Is there a way to alternate variax tones (under input) between a given preset's snapshots? I'm looking at using two separate paths in a preset, but am not sure how to select paths in a snapshot.

Hi I have bought a used Onyx Limited Edition, but I have got no papers. Is there any SW method to see the serial number? Perhaps looking at some window in a menu of Workbench. Is there any physical place of the guitar where is printed the serial number? Thanks! Regards Pablo

Hi, got my first variax standard yesterday and blown away with the models. Not so with the Alt tuning which does not play isolated Alt tuning notes but a blend of original and Alt note/s. I’ve tried thru a helix lt and direct to amp (quilter tone block frfr) and on daw monitoring and it’s the same. However the recorded sound in the last instance was just the Alt notes. What’s going on? I ran monkey and can see, and have updated workbench and the supplied vdi-usb interface but monkey does not see the guitar as a device so no info on firmware or opportunity to flash etc. However, Workbench does download and update the presets to the variax and I have set custom presets with my 1/2step down setups but the same effect. The model/mags balance is set to 100% model for sure in all these examples. the only oddity I recall when unpacking was the model select knob fell off and had to be pushed back on but seems to do its job. Any advice please as I don’t want to give up on it just yet as I had high hopes.

While searching the internet for Variax related information I came across this tutorial on advanced editing in Workbench relating to tone. I am not sure if it has been shared here before, but I didn't find it doing a quick search of the forums. The information may be useful to other Variax users so I thought I would share it. If you are interested in resonant frequencies etc. and how to set the capacitor value and pot values this is a good resource. Thanks to the original creator. The only reference to go on is Vettaville.nl WB Tutorial 6 290107.pdf