watch4king Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 I ended up buying the VDI cable from Line 6 in case the battery runs out or I decide to have Helix change models which is not possible running wireless or via a regular cable. The cable came in and is really crappy. Its nothing like a guitar cable and gets tangled every single time. And being 25ft long makes it even worse. Does any one make a cable that is more like a real guitar cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekc Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 My old 2005 era VDI cable is a tangled mess I suppose I got lucky - when i ordered a new VDI cable from Amazon - it arrived as a tangle free easy to roll up flexible type EtherCon cable https://www.amazon.com/Line-Variax-Digital-Interface-Cable/dp/B000JLMXSC?ie=UTF8&keywords=line%206%20vdi%20cable&qid=1410023400&ref_=sr_1_1&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1 But requires a bit of a luck to get a nice official Line-6 VDI cable Suggest try re-ordering from Best Products here: http://btpa.com/98-030-004-XXX.html Variax Digital Input Cables Compatible with POD®xt Live, Bass POD® xt Live,Quality made and tested in the U.S.A. with tactical dual jacketed ethernet cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 The "btpa" says it will also plug into an FBV controller, it won't with the Canon casing in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Have you checked the input selector in the edit page? The VDI doesn't usually doesn't engage automatically, it has to be selected. It's an easy thing to forget, done that one a number of times myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 the cable from btpa.com is a very nice one! That is what I use. Much nicer IMO than the one Line6 sells. btpa makes great regular guitar and other audio cables also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Got a couple "bpta" types here in the lab, along with the Line 6 ones. Aside from getting old and used up from all the guitars I work on, they both perform well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indianrock2020 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Have you checked the input selector in the edit page? The VDI doesn't usually doesn't engage automatically, it has to be selected. It's an easy thing to forget, done that one a number of times myself. Are you talking about input1 and input2 on the POD being set to variax? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Page 15 in the Helix manual. POD would be referred to as mic, guitar or VDI inputs in the edit page of the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indianrock2020 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 I've been happy with this cable: Line 6 Variax Digital Interface Cable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indianrock2020 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Page 15 in the Helix manual. POD would be referred to as mic, guitar or VDI inputs in the edit page of the unit. I run my 500x with Input 1: Variax Input 2: Variax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watch4king Posted July 26, 2016 Author Share Posted July 26, 2016 My old 2005 era VDI cable is a tangled mess I suppose I got lucky - when i ordered a new VDI cable from Amazon - it arrived as a tangle free easy to roll up flexible type EtherCon cable https://www.amazon.com/Line-Variax-Digital-Interface-Cable/dp/B000JLMXSC?ie=UTF8&keywords=line%206%20vdi%20cable&qid=1410023400&ref_=sr_1_1&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1 But requires a bit of a luck to get a nice official Line-6 VDI cable Suggest try re-ordering from Best Products here: http://btpa.com/98-030-004-XXX.html Variax Digital Input Cables Compatible with POD®xt Live, Bass POD® xt Live, Quality made and tested in the U.S.A. with tactical dual jacketed ethernet cable Thanks Steve I ended up ordering the BTPA cable as you recommended. Will report back once I get it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 I don't recommend running both inputs set to Variax. It doubles your input signal. I would set input2 to aux or something other than Variax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watch4king Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 My old 2005 era VDI cable is a tangled mess I suppose I got lucky - when i ordered a new VDI cable from Amazon - it arrived as a tangle free easy to roll up flexible type EtherCon cable https://www.amazon.com/Line-Variax-Digital-Interface-Cable/dp/B000JLMXSC?ie=UTF8&keywords=line%206%20vdi%20cable&qid=1410023400&ref_=sr_1_1&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1 But requires a bit of a luck to get a nice official Line-6 VDI cable Suggest try re-ordering from Best Products here: http://btpa.com/98-030-004-XXX.html Variax Digital Input Cables Compatible with POD®xt Live, Bass POD® xt Live, Quality made and tested in the U.S.A. with tactical dual jacketed ethernet cable BTPA cable arrived today already!! YES!!! what a difference. Recommend all the way! Thanks Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekc Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Happy to hear your good results with the BTPA cables. BTPA Cables are what Fractal recommends too, as they are consistently good quality ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dspellman Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Happy to hear your good results with the BTPA cables. BTPA Cables are what Fractal recommends too, as they are consistently good quality ! I was all set to put a 25' btpa cable on the card when I noticed that it was $39+ and the shipping was another $11 (minimum). That's a fifty-buck cable at that point, and the Amazon/Line 6 one with free shipping (and I can get it even cheaper with coupons at Musician's Fiend) is still just $29.99. That makes the btpa cable 60% more expensive, even if there really is a 30% improvement in quality of the cable itself. Backed away. Not worth it. Unless someone here can convince me. I think someone should talk to btpa.com about their default shipping costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 I was all set to put a 25' btpa cable on the card when I noticed that it was $39+ and the shipping was another $11 (minimum). That's a fifty-buck cable at that point, and the Amazon/Line 6 one with free shipping (and I can get it even cheaper with coupons at Musician's Fiend) is still just $29.99. That makes the btpa cable 60% more expensive, even if there really is a 30% improvement in quality of the cable itself. Backed away. Not worth it. Unless someone here can convince me. I think someone should talk to btpa.com about their default shipping costs. Yeah, they got balls charging almost 30% of the cost of the item for shipping...nothing's that good. You'd think it weighed 100 lbs. No way it's costing them more than 2 or 3 bucks to ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watch4king Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 I was all set to put a 25' btpa cable on the card when I noticed that it was $39+ and the shipping was another $11 (minimum). That's a fifty-buck cable at that point, and the Amazon/Line 6 one with free shipping (and I can get it even cheaper with coupons at Musician's Fiend) is still just $29.99. That makes the btpa cable 60% more expensive, even if there really is a 30% improvement in quality of the cable itself. Backed away. Not worth it. Unless someone here can convince me. I think someone should talk to btpa.com about their default shipping costs. I think their default shipping may be higher but you have the choice at checkout to select USPS shipping. Mine came to $26 shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimPhillip Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Thought it a bit expensive but connects my JTV to meet firehawk without difficulty and doesn't get tangled particularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocco_Crocco Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 I just tried to check out... the cheapest I could get the BTPA cable shipped for was $10 from USPS. Wasn't there a guy here on the forum who made and sold his own that featured a braided jacket? Or am I mis-remembering? EDIT.... I found the link for the braided cables. Looks like the guy is gone.... he stopped responding to PMs. http://line6.com/support/topic/958-cool-vdi-cable/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dspellman Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 I think their default shipping may be higher but you have the choice at checkout to select USPS shipping. Mine came to $26 shipped. I'm comparing the standard Line 6 25' cable, so the btpa.com 25' cable came to (with shipping): My guess is that the shopping cart web software they're using is calculating costs using the "if it fits, it ships" Medium Flat Rate 2 box. How do places like MF, Amazon and B&H manage to offer free shipping for a virtually identical product? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watch4king Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 I got 12 feet only. Trust me, its worth it. If you want Line6's cable it me up $20 shipped its yours..... but you'll have to live with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 The "btpa" says it will also plug into an FBV controller, it won't with the Canon casing in it. Didn't some guy fry his Variax doing that? Why would you try to tell someone that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psarkissian Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Yes,... they used the cable meant for the Variax interface device. And if I recall,... they didn't read their owner's manuals. The cable with the Canon casing on both ends is for playing through. VDI is used with floor and rack multi effects XT Live/Pro, Bass XT Live/Pro, X3 Live/Pro, HD500/500X/Pro, Firehawk FX and Helix/Helix Rack Rule of thumb,... if it won't take the Canon casing end, and it doesn't say "VDI" or "Variax" on the unit, then it's not for playing a Variax through. Too many want to take the cheap shortcut and not get the right cable. There's a Murphy-ism about shortcuts,... "a shortcut is the longest distance between two points". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshoenfelt Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 I bought a nice cable from ebay, it is heavy duty and seems well constructed. the cost was $23.99 shipped, I can send a link if anyone is interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowgoose50 Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 I have been using a Whirlwind ENC2010 cable. This is the 10 foot version but they make other lengths. It's MUCH better than the Line6 cable. It has the same heavy-duty end fittings but the cable is heavier, thicker and much less prone to kinking and tangling. Mind you, I'd change to a wireless in a flash if they offered one that would control the Variax. Cheers Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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