HX Stomp - Sudden Loss of Sound

[rd2rk]

31 minutes ago, spikey said:

Just..., wow... I wanted to get one of these (I have just about everything else) but man am I glad I held off. I feel bad for those having issues and think that it would be nice to have someone here from Line-6  to communicate the status of fixing this bug, so that you guys and others like me who haven't purchased a Stomp yet know know whats going on.

 

 

 

Once in a great while I boot one of my Windows computers and it just, well, acts wonky. I have to turn it off and on again, then it's OK.

This has happened on EVERY Windows Operating system since v3 (my first Windows version).

In fact it, happened on my DOS machines back when it was DOS 2.0.

I contacted IBM and demanded answers. They didn't respond.

I contacted Bill Gates and demanded answers. He didn't respond.

I contacted Satya Nadella and demanded answers. I'm waiting to hear. That was about two years ago.

I don't get it. Don't these guys CARE about communicating with their users about serious problems like this?

How can ANYBODY seriously consider using a computer for business?

This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

 

[spikey]

FYI- I didn't say what I thought "should happen" was going to happen. In fact I deleted the last part I wrote about "don't hold your breath".

 

Even you said earlier " I sure wish they'd find a solution to it."  I do too, and I do feel bad for those with the expense of a intermitantly broken Stomp.

 

I think that beating a dead horse is right too, in that I doubt this anomaly gets fixed as we "move on" , onto the next latest and greatest thing.

 

Why do I think this ? because I doubt all of them are doing it that they have released. Just "some" of them. And what I have also read here, turning in a ticket doesnt seem to help much (just like you described above). And just "some of them" is not enough to pull an already "lean" crew off the drawing boards...

 

But you are right on one other thing as well I think rd2rk, it is totally unacceptable on the consumer side of the house. 

 

Oh yea, Get an OS without a registry that doesnt overwrite itself, and your Windows OS problems will disappear too. ; )

 

 

[spikey]

Quote

Seems like a pretty sporadic issue, to be honest. This thread was started almost a year ago, and there’s only like four or five reports. I’m not seeing tons of reports of it happening in the huge Facebook group...

Just thinking out loud Phil- like I said, not all of them are doing it. OTOH, 1825 views, in this isolated section on the net tells me many more are wondering about this sporadic issue. But even if there are a very few that is having this issue (I believe that too although that number may be in the tens or hundreds - I just don't know how many were sold), and allowing for the fact that the user didn't break the unit and it was indeed an internal abit "rare" issue, I think it would be a kind gesture to fix it for free if the user pays the shipping costs. Who knows, maybe Line-6 is already doing this. That would be nice to know about, don't you think Phil? If word got out this was happening, That IMO, would go a long way toward more sales of this unit too I'm thinking. Im sure the PR folks would like to beat that dead horse. ; )

[rd2rk]

14 minutes ago, spikey said:

Even you said earlier " I sure wish they'd find a solution to it."  I do too, and I do feel bad for those with the expense of a intermitantly broken Stomp.

 

I DO hope they figure out what the issue is, but no production run will be totally free of faulty units. Fact of life.

 

15 minutes ago, spikey said:

I think that beating a dead horse is right too, in that I doubt this anomaly gets fixed as we "move on" , onto the next latest and greatest thing.

 

I'm sure you know that was in reference to demanding more communication from the techies on this forum vs going to TGP where THEY PREFER to communicate.

 

19 minutes ago, spikey said:

And what I have also read here, turning in a ticket doesnt seem to help much (just like you described above).

 

Creating a ticket, then NOT following the recommendations and NOT following up by telling us what caused or solved the problem are failures on the part of USERS.

It goes both ways.

 

22 minutes ago, spikey said:

But you are right on one other thing as well I think rd2rk, it is totally unacceptable on the consumer side of the house. 

 

I know that you know that I was being sarcastic. You were just being sarcastic, right?

 

23 minutes ago, spikey said:

Oh yea, Get an OS without a registry that doesnt overwrite itself, and your Windows OS problems will disappear too. ; )

 

DOS 2.0 didn't have a registry, and compared to WFW3, Win10 is ROCK SOLID!

 

BTW and FWIW - I haven't had a loss of sound on either my Stomp OR my Floor in months, and I use them both every day.

I personally blame the problem on random interference by space aliens. :-)

[Matt70283]

9 minutes ago, rd2rk said:

I personally blame the problem on random interference by space aliens. :-)

 

That seems to be the most logical reason so far

[spikey]

29 minutes ago, rd2rk said:

DOS 2.0 didn't have a registry, and compared to WFW3, Win10 is ROCK SOLID!

 

I was running Dos and it too was rock solid, just not much of a GUI lol.

Windows 10 is their best yet I agree , but it's still Microsoft trying their best to be like a Mac. ; )

 

On another track- What I read was that the answers from the ticket he put in was to update the OS. That's not an answer... I know by filling out a ticket they always ask what version of firmware you are using at the time the issue started. Its a part of the troubleshoot process, and they would ask this. That's not being sarcastic when I say that I just don't understand the reply he got if he (Line-6 response) already knew what version of firmware he was running.  Now "may-be" he meant to say, they wanted me to "RE-install" the firmware, in which case that all makes sense. 

 

Had he been alone in this, it would not have drawn my attention either, but there were others saying this was happening too. Not the whole forum, but a few.

 

Quote

Just heard back from L6 on my support ticket. Unfortunately they have no suggestion of a fix other than updating firmware to v2.82, which I have already done. They say to take the Stomp back to the store/distributor. My 1 year warranty expired last month, so it looks like I am out of luck.

Sure, this guy could be full of butter-beans, and then again ... We (there's that word again ; ) ) don't know. ; )

 

 I was going to say that he sure wasted a lot of time here BS,ing people if it wasn't true, , but then I remembered you and me and errr... lol

 

 

[rd2rk]

4 hours ago, rd2rk said:

I would get back to them (support) about the warranty thing. This is NOT a "normal wear and tear" issue, it's a BUG that they are fully aware of.

 

IF (this is an IF to use if they give you a hard time about it) they give you a hard time about it, PM @FrankRichotte over on The Gear Page, explain (patiently and politely) the issue, reference your ticket # and link this thread.

 

If there's anybody who can help you, it's Frank. But TRY getting back to support first.

 

Keep us informed!

 

This is the best I can offer for ANYBODY who has this problem ON A REGULAR BASIS.

 

I'll just reiterate that NO production run of ANYTHING is ever going to be 100% free of faulty units.

As for the OCCASIONAL glitch - it's a computer, dammit!

That was the whole point of my mini-rant about the existence of occasional OS and HW glitches throughout the history of computing.

And if you're going to make the ridiculous claim that MACs are glitch-free, I call FANBOY!

I did tech support for a large corporation with a mixed environment - PCs, MACs and, yes, even LINUX boxes.

They ALL glitch! That's computers! And many of those glitches actually turn out to be Operator Error. That's life!

 

And no, DOS 2.0 and the HW it ran on was NOT perfect. If you're old enough (I am) to have used it on a daily basis, you should know better than to trust your memory if that's what you remember! :-)

[spikey]

5 hours ago, rd2rk said:

I'll just reiterate that NO production run of ANYTHING is ever going to be 100% free of faulty units.

I agree totally with that, in software or hardware. I also think the QA dept. (for any company) could be a wee bit better at times than they are...

 

5 hours ago, rd2rk said:

As for the OCCASIONAL glitch - it's a computer, dammit!

Sure eventually with use things break. Computers break for a number of reasons, The caps swell in older MB's, hard drives wear out etc etc. The software writes over itself, fragmentation gets so bad the OS wont boot etc etc. They didn't however come off the floor with issues like that. That my friend is a glitch that could have been avoided when that happens and that was my point.

5 hours ago, rd2rk said:

hat was the whole point of my mini-rant about the existence of occasional OS and HW glitches throughout the history of computing.

I know ; ) 

5 hours ago, rd2rk said:

And if you're going to make the ridiculous claim that MACs are glitch-free, I call FANBOY!

Oh no I would never claim they are glitch free. Mostly they run great thou I did have to remove a bad drive on this one and install a nice SSD. Runs like a top now! ; ) I mostly call a spade a spade, and when Line 6 does good I tell them so, here. Ive done that many times (like anyone there gives a fud). I also tell them when they screw up here,  and that causes me some grief at times lol. Doesnt make me always right, but  just like others sometimes I am. ; ) My opinion of course is just like yours and everyone else's. It's just another thought process. Brutally speaking you however will notice over time that some folks "never" have anything bad to say about a product, ever. Or, they never have anything to say good about a product, ever.  Ya know, If it were straight across the board like that with them playing on both sides at the times they should be ( my opinion again) it would be nice to see, but you are definitely right, Negative Nancy's & FANBOY's do exist, and like the virus it's everywhere on anything. Sigh...

5 hours ago, rd2rk said:

I did tech support for a large corporation with a mixed environment - PCs, MACs and, yes, even LINUX boxes.

They were made by and used by humans and that's why they glitch... People eat over them and drip chili and cokes into them. Ever pull womens hair out of a cd drive? I have. Nasty...

Quote

If you're old enough (I am) to have used it on a daily basis, you should know better than to trust your memory if that's what you remember! :-)

Im 62 years young and was running a Vic-20 by loading software on it with a cassette player. .Ive built over 20 pc's for me and others  over the years, and Im almost as old and wise as that decrepit old drunk Silver is LOL...!  ; )

 

[rd2rk]

9 hours ago, spikey said:

Im 62 years young and was running a Vic-20 by loading software on it with a cassette player. .

 

We thought the 5-1/4" FD was just FABULOUS! Then came the crowning technological achievement of that era....the REVOLUTIONARY 10MB HD!

 

But seriously folks........in the context of this thread, the point of all this Jurassic era Tech Talk is that buttons and other moving parts break from use, and if we let our warranties lapse (L6 offers paid EXTENDED warranties), then we have to pay to fix them. But something like the loss of sound that is the subject of this thread is NOT a user caused problem. Whether it's caused by lax QA or a few out of spec resistors from a batch of thousands, it should be covered, regardless of warranty status, just like the expression pedal problem on the LT was.

 

L6 is great at taking care of problems like this, but sometimes you just have to make the effort to document the problem (as @matt70283 did) and nag them a bit to get to the person with the authority to say "Just fix it!". It is, after all and small as it is, still a bureaucracy.

 

 

[spikey]

2 hours ago, rd2rk said:

We thought the 5-1/4" FD was just FABULOUS! Then came the crowning technological achievement of that era....the REVOLUTIONARY 10MB HD!

 

Yep those were the days. Oh yea and the upgrade from 28.8 to 56k modems WOOOHOOO!!!!

 

 

2 hours ago, rd2rk said:

L6 is great at taking care of problems like this

Yes they are for the most part. That said, I think all companies need to close their QA depts down and make um work another job elsewhere Friday's before a Holiday, ; )

[clerouxsimon]

Got the same things here.  audio drop  in and out almost like  a loop until a power cycle the unit. then It happen again...

 

any news on your side ?

 

do you guys use the line 6 PSU or a powerblock for pedal with a current doubler ?

[rayray6]

I use the line 6 power supply. Are you on latest Helix firmware?

[suiluj007]

Same problems for me! After playing for a longer time with USB connected and changing presets the sound is gone and sometimes everything freezes.

 

Today I restarted immediately and disconnected the usb (before restart)

 

After a few preset changes the same bug again.

I could repeat the restart and sound gone after preset changes for a few times.

 

But when I waited a little longer before restart everything works as normal.

 

(But of course the bug shows again when playing a little longer and changing presets then.)

 

I had this problem from the start and opened a support ticket in April.

 

Everytime i explain the bug but only get new instructions. Well of course I try it (because I am really interested in getting this fixed. I like the concept of the HX Stomp!)

 

But now after 4 months I am tired of trying new things. I started with firmware 2.82 and now my unit is in 2.92

 

I bought this expensive device to have a great experience but it is really the opposite.

[pt31645]

Same happens to me. This past weekend, the sound went silent right before downbeat of the 1st song at a live show. Very frustrating & embarrassing! It wasn’t the cable, or a problem with the guitar or anything. This problem happens to me and usually the only fix is to turn power off/on but even that didn’t work this time & ended up having to go direct thru DI and had to skip using the Stomp altogether. Again, so frustrating to use this unit at gigs not knowing if it’s gonna get thru the entire show. Unreliable!

[freezerlord]

Same problem happens to me now. I got a new HX Stomp yesterday (limited white edition) and the problems occurs in the exact same way. 3.0 is installed. 
I had a Helix for years and never had this issue with it. 

 

Did anybody here find a solution for this besides sending it back? :( 

[bluenote75]

they just sent out an update today that helped fix my issue with my HX stomp. i'd recommend giving it a go and see how it works for you.

i'm kind of nervous to ever update again...

[rd2rk]

On 12/4/2020 at 10:05 PM, bluenote75 said:

i'm kind of nervous to ever update again...

 

Welcome to the Digital Frontier!

 

Rule Number 1 - READ AND FOLLOW THE UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS!!!

Rule Number 2 -  Back up often, and always before an update (see Rule Number 1)!!

Rule Number 3 - NEVER update right before a gig!

[Vic_Winters]

I've been experiencing this same issue. I'm on FW 3.01, and performed a factory reset but the issue persists.

[elmerjcastro]

Me too... this issue has happened to me playing live and practicing at home. Yes, using the Line6 mega wall wart. Just rebooting takes care of it. Started with 3.01 for me. Just opened a support ticket. I own a Stomp.

[elmerjcastro]

Support response below. I did all of that and the issue still happened. Suddenly, no output, just rebooting the Stomp solves the problem. Days/weeks in between episodes. Stomp used daily.

They have asked me to ship the unit for repair, whatever that will entail. Curious because it seems software related to me, due to turning off and on taking care of the problem.

Glad they will fix it though. Fingers crossed cause I really like my Stomp.

 

I'm sorry to hear you're running into this issue. Do you have the latest version of firmware installed on your HX Stomp? version 3.01?

If not, I suggest updating:
https://line6.com/support/page/kb/effects-controllers/helix/updating-helixhx-r965/

If that doesn't help, please try to perform a factory reset with these steps:

1. Create a backup using HX Edit.
2. Turn off HX Stomp
3. Unplug USB cable and MIDI cables.
4. Hold down foot-switches 2 + 3 and power on HX Stomp.
5. Once the factory reset has completed, reconnect the USB cable.
6. Restore from the backup using HX Edit.

Give this a try and let us know your results.

[lucasschwarzer]

Hi all,

 

got my first Helix product yesterday - a white limited edition HX Stomp. At first everything was fine, but when I integrated it into my pedalboard and didn't only use it standalone trouble started... thus I am bumping this channel.

 

I did a lot of testing yesterday and today and things don't seem to apply to a fixed schematic, even though I can replicate use cases where the audio loss occurrs 95% of the time. Here is what I observed:

1. Using the HX Stomp standalone everything seems to work fine at all times (Firmware is 3.11 with both Input set to Instrument or Line level). Not really having problems here.
2. When integrated into pedal board (a few drives/boosts before and a walrus delay and eq pedal in the loop) it sometimes randomly looses audio when powering and I have to restart immediately and sometimes when switching presets. Can't really see a schematic here...
3. And this is the part where I can replicate: audio loss pretty much always occurs when the input signal is clipping. Once I turn everything down so that it never clips the input (even when playing super hard or adding another boost) things seem to work most of the time, but as soon as the signal goes into clipping it immediately looses audio in 95% of the cases. Weirdly in those 5% left it seems to work for a while, but usually once it clips the HX stomps goes silent and only power-cycling brings it back to life.
4. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with USB being plugged in or not. This all happens without USB plugged AND with USB plugged in.

 

When dialing everything in carefully so that it doesn't clip the input I am able to play quite some time on the Stomp. If it clips it shuts the audio off immediately. Meaning, if it clips 10 seconds after power-cycling I have to power cycle again. If it clips with the first note after power cycling same thing. Unusable in this state.

 

I also flashed older firmware versions to the Stomp today to see if it is a software problem coming with 2.8 or 3.0 update or something, but the behaviour is always the same... now back to 3.11. - still with the same issues. Switching the firmware didn't change anything at all.

 

Once the Stomp went silent and I turn it off it bypasses and the signal goes through fine to the amp. No broken cables or anything. Double-checked everything here. Factory resets as described above also didn't change anything.

 

This is my very first HX/Helix device and I love the feature set and sound if it's working, but so far a super dissapointing journey unfortunately.

 

Did anyone here manage to fix this in the meantime? If not I guess it is going back to the store and goodbye Line 6 for me :(.

 

Best,

Lucas

 

 

[rd2rk]

3 hours ago, lucasschwarzer said:

When dialing everything in carefully so that it doesn't clip the input I am able to play quite some time on the Stomp. If it clips it shuts the audio off immediately. Meaning, if it clips 10 seconds after power-cycling I have to power cycle again. If it clips with the first note after power cycling same thing. Unusable in this state.

 

I haven't re-read the entire thread, but IIRC, most of the problems reported were not very specific as to cause, mostly random, and therefore hard to troubleshoot..

Since your problem is VERY specific as to cause, please report it to Support (open a ticket) so that if there's a solution, we might all benefit.

Thanks!

[HonestOpinion]

7 hours ago, lucasschwarzer said:

Hi all,

 

got my first Helix product yesterday - a white limited edition HX Stomp. At first everything was fine, but when I integrated it into my pedalboard and didn't only use it standalone trouble started... thus I am bumping this channel.

 

I did a lot of testing yesterday and today and things don't seem to apply to a fixed schematic, even though I can replicate use cases where the audio loss occurrs 95% of the time. Here is what I observed:

1. Using the HX Stomp standalone everything seems to work fine at all times (Firmware is 3.11 with both Input set to Instrument or Line level). Not really having problems here.
2. When integrated into pedal board (a few drives/boosts before and a walrus delay and eq pedal in the loop) it sometimes randomly looses audio when powering and I have to restart immediately and sometimes when switching presets. Can't really see a schematic here...
3. And this is the part where I can replicate: audio loss pretty much always occurs when the input signal is clipping. Once I turn everything down so that it never clips the input (even when playing super hard or adding another boost) things seem to work most of the time, but as soon as the signal goes into clipping it immediately looses audio in 95% of the cases. Weirdly in those 5% left it seems to work for a while, but usually once it clips the HX stomps goes silent and only power-cycling brings it back to life.
4. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with USB being plugged in or not. This all happens without USB plugged AND with USB plugged in.

 

When dialing everything in carefully so that it doesn't clip the input I am able to play quite some time on the Stomp. If it clips it shuts the audio off immediately. Meaning, if it clips 10 seconds after power-cycling I have to power cycle again. If it clips with the first note after power cycling same thing. Unusable in this state.

 

I also flashed older firmware versions to the Stomp today to see if it is a software problem coming with 2.8 or 3.0 update or something, but the behaviour is always the same... now back to 3.11. - still with the same issues. Switching the firmware didn't change anything at all.

 

Once the Stomp went silent and I turn it off it bypasses and the signal goes through fine to the amp. No broken cables or anything. Double-checked everything here. Factory resets as described above also didn't change anything.

 

This is my very first HX/Helix device and I love the feature set and sound if it's working, but so far a super dissapointing journey unfortunately.

 

Did anyone here manage to fix this in the meantime? If not I guess it is going back to the store and goodbye Line 6 for me :(.

 

Best,

Lucas

 

 

 

As you state the Stomp is working properly when it is disconnected from the rest of your pedalboard I would probably start troubleshooting by removing, as in physically bypassing(reroute the cables), one pedal at a time to see if you can isolate this issue to one bad cable or pedal that might be causing problems with the HX Stomp. Also doublecheck your cabling to the Stomp to make sure that is correct.

 

Unlikely to be the issue but I would also be curious to know whether or not a noise gate is on in your Stomp preset that might be overreacting to a substantial level change from one of your pedals?

 

One last thought. If you have one available it might be worth powering up the Stomp on a different circuit than the rest of the pedals on your pedalboard in the event that one of the pedals is causing a power fluctuation that is impacting the Stomp's operation. Also make sure the power connection to your HX Stomp is secure as pressing the pedals on your pedalboard could otherwise cause a momentary disconnect.

[lucasschwarzer]

18 hours ago, rd2rk said:

 

I haven't re-read the entire thread, but IIRC, most of the problems reported were not very specific as to cause, mostly random, and therefore hard to troubleshoot..

Since your problem is VERY specific as to cause, please report it to Support (open a ticket) so that if there's a solution, we might all benefit.

Thanks!

 

Sure! Did open a support ticket right after posting this here yesterday. Let's see where this leads. If there is a solution somehow I'll let this thread know.

 

15 hours ago, HonestOpinion said:

 

As you state the Stomp is working properly when it is disconnected from the rest of your pedalboard I would probably start troubleshooting by removing, as in physically bypassing(reroute the cables), one pedal at a time to see if you can isolate this issue to one bad cable or pedal that might be causing problems with the HX Stomp. Also doublecheck your cabling to the Stomp to make sure that is correct.

 

Unlikely to be the issue but I would also be curious to know whether or not a noise gate is on in your Stomp preset that might be overreacting to a substantial level change from one of your pedals?

 

One last thought. If you have one available it might be worth powering up the Stomp on a different circuit than the rest of the pedals on your pedalboard in the event that one of the pedals is causing a power fluctuation that is impacting the Stomp's operation. Also make sure the power connection to your HX Stomp is secure as pressing the pedals on your pedalboard could otherwise cause a momentary disconnect.

 

It is the same behaviour when the stomp is on the pedalboard as when I have standalone with one boost pedal in front of it unfortunately. Also switching the boost pedal doesn't seem to impact anything. Only thing that helps a bit so far is dropping the input level to Line, since it better prevents the unit from clipping.

 

No noise gates were in any of my test patches, since there is a separate one on the board usually.

 

Regarding power: yes power is another thing to experiment with next.

 

I'll keep you posted where this is heading, might be another hint for double-checking for other people in this thread as well then. Not sure if we all have the same problem with the same cause, but who knows.

 

Thanks for the responses so far :)

[PierM]

In my experience the HX Stomp is EXTREMELY sensible to power quality and available mA(when not using its own AC adapter), and the typical result when there is not enough juice - is signal going offline (you can even hear the relay switch off). Unit does stay ON, but audio signal wont be available until you reboot to unlock the relay.

 

 

[lucasschwarzer]

Hi all, hi PierM,

 

after another few sessions of thorough testing yes, turns out it was a power issue. The unit works fine when supplied with the original power supply plugged into a seperate wall outlet.

 

Thanks for all your quick responses though!

 

Best,

Lucas

[PierM]

17 hours ago, lucasschwarzer said:

Hi all, hi PierM,

 

after another few sessions of thorough testing yes, turns out it was a power issue. The unit works fine when supplied with the original power supply plugged into a seperate wall outlet.

 

Thanks for all your quick responses though!

 

Best,

Lucas

 

Yeah, I do always turn on my HX Stomp last in my pedalboard, which gives both my power conditioner and Zuma, the right time to produce the final and stable power output. When you give power to pedalboards, especially if they are pretty busy with many pedals (or even just few hungry pedals that draws lot of current), both voltage and current aren't instantly stabilized for all plugged devices, and the HX Stomp doesn't really like that. (I guess that's why l6 suggest to only use their own PU).

 

I've proved myself that if I turn on everything in a row, the Stomp sometimes does switch off the audio after boot, and after testing with a multimeter, I've seen that the Stomp always switch off the audio when the power (voltage and current) isn't enough or not yet stabilized (like during power up ramp voltage at the conditioning input, which does of course affect the output).

 

Anyway, switching the Stomp after everything else, does give me zero audio blackout. :) - (this of course only make sense if we are NOT using the original PU)

[mylithra]

I have 2x HX Stomps. 1 has never given me any issues. The other has had this drop out issue. It got sent back about a year or so ago and they did something to it. The screws were tampered with. It came back with newer firmware than was available at the time and didnt have any issues until recently when it started doing this again. Both of them have always used the L6 power supply as I had room under the board to tie it down. Its started doing this again but Ive always just plugged in a master power supply cable and everything powers up from that. Ill try letting the rest of the board start up before turning on the L6 and see if that helps.

[blackSP]

To keep this thread alive, I have the XL, latest firmware, connect with 4cm to my blackstar ht-5 mkII and orange cab. Sound is finally awesome, this is the 5th amp I tried, including a Laney 112 frfr cab (which sounded very fake). Anyway, I have the whole rig powered with one power switch and when everything is on and ready I have no sound until I flick the volume knob of my stomp xl. Didn't have that problem with any of the other amps I tried out (1 koch, 2 marshalls, 1 laney).

 

Anybody experienced this too? I'm thinking that maybe the Blackstar is ready before the XL and it needs a volume refresh (or current change) before it accepts signal.

Who knows what's happening?

 

 

[jwstout007]

I've the limited edition white stomp on firmware 3.11 and am seeing the same issue pop up: approximately an hour of play time & then both inputs cut out completely. It's hooked up to a cioks PS with their recommended connections and aperage, & I've never had one of the cioks PS malfunction on me. The stomp has consistently cut out on me at home, rehearsals, & one gig.

 

It's getting pitched until there's a fix.

[rd2rk]

17 hours ago, jwstout007 said:

I've the limited edition white stomp on firmware 3.11 and am seeing the same issue pop up: approximately an hour of play time & then both inputs cut out completely. It's hooked up to a cioks PS with their recommended connections and aperage, & I've never had one of the cioks PS malfunction on me. The stomp has consistently cut out on me at home, rehearsals, & one gig.

 

It's getting pitched until there's a fix.

 

On 5/2/2021 at 5:26 AM, PierM said:

In my experience the HX Stomp is EXTREMELY sensible to power quality and available mA(when not using its own AC adapter), and the typical result when there is not enough juice - is signal going offline (you can even hear the relay switch off). Unit does stay ON, but audio signal wont be available until you reboot to unlock the relay.

 

 

 

On 5/9/2021 at 12:16 PM, lucasschwarzer said:

Hi all, hi PierM,

 

after another few sessions of thorough testing yes, turns out it was a power issue. The unit works fine when supplied with the original power supply plugged into a seperate wall outlet.

 

Thanks for all your quick responses though!

 

Best,

Lucas

 

If you've tried the above, open a support ticket. If you read the entire (long) thread, you'll see that if support can't resolve the issue, they'll have you send it in for repair/replacement. If you just put it in a drawer and wait passively for a fix, you'll be waiting a long time.

 

When you DO get the issue resolved, PLEASE report back. If half the people who posted here did that, this thread would be half as long!

 

 

[boris_plotnikov]

I use HX Stomp for two years, never had a described problem. Once in two years it gets frozen. And 3 or 4 times I had no sound just after I power it on. Power cycling always help. 
I love HX Stomp so much due to versatility and size but I am thinking of buying spare one.

[korminalexey]

I've had this problem quite often. Sound disappeared while the Stomp remained on. The reason was in the power supply Line 6. I replaced DC wire and now everything works without problems.

[DushanS]

I have the same problem with HX Stomp. In case someone else who wrote in this thread reads this, did you have any kind of additional foot switches plugged in?

In my case it started happening sporadically, and with different firmwares. The unit would seem to be working fine but there would be no sound at all. It was obvious that it is not a hardware defect with ins or outs, or something with cables because as soon as unit is turned off, sound of amp (I am using HX Stomp in the amp loop) would be back. In the beginning the problem would go away after one or two restarts, but recently at soundcheck for a gig, it just stopped working and no matter how much I restarted there would be no sound. But, when I went back home, surprise, unit was working again. I have tried it both without and with Behringer footswitch that I am using as fs4 and fs5 switch.

So, at least in my case there happens to be a pattern. Sound cutting out ALWAYS happens when unit is in a bit colder environment - at a gig soundcheck or rehearsal. (THere is also slight possibility that unit is working fine in my house because of good power and has problems somewhere else, but it seems a bit strange that all those other places have bad electricity)

I have also read on different forum that someone has apparently learned it is a relay problem and this explanation seems to checks out. In my case, I have noticed that sometimes when problem appears tuner screen may pop out even if it was not activated, and then tuner screen would disappear but sound wouldn't come back. Also, issue seems to happen most often when unit is turned on for the first time in new environment. So it may be an issue with relay turning sound off as if tuner is activated. Also I have found an explanation that relay is turning sound off temporarily while unit is initializing so that there is no noise or pops and then turns it back on - and it is exactly one of the cases where issue seems to appear.
Also, some people have found it helpful to plug in USB connection, change input to USB and then back to analog - it supposedly forces relay to reset and sound comes back. I didn't have a chance to try that in my case as sound was back when I tried unit again back at home.

Also I wouldn't rule out a possibility that this issue is much more frequent than it appears - a lot of users (including myself in the past) won't write about it or use support ticket if simple restart has helped immediately. I started to bi worried only after the unit couldn't be revived when this happens.
I also have to rethink this situation. I had literary every generation of Line6 hardware and it was always solid. I simply can't rely on something that may stop working randomly. If this is the case with all Helix products, I may have to get something else. For now I have an old HD500 as a backup, but it doesn't have greatest ad/da conversion so I kind of dislike to have it in an amps loop in serial mode.

If I learn anything else, I will write back.
 

Edited November 7, 2022 by DushanS

[HonestOpinion]

On 11/7/2022 at 1:53 PM, DushanS said:

I have the same problem with HX Stomp. In case someone else who wrote in this thread reads this, did you have any kind of additional foot switches plugged in?

In my case it started happening sporadically, and with different firmwares. The unit would seem to be working fine but there would be no sound at all. It was obvious that it is not a hardware defect with ins or outs, or something with cables because as soon as unit is turned off, sound of amp (I am using HX Stomp in the amp loop) would be back. In the beginning the problem would go away after one or two restarts, but recently at soundcheck for a gig, it just stopped working and no matter how much I restarted there would be no sound. But, when I went back home, surprise, unit was working again. I have tried it both without and with Behringer footswitch that I am using as fs4 and fs5 switch.

So, at least in my case there happens to be a pattern. Sound cutting out ALWAYS happens when unit is in a bit colder environment - at a gig soundcheck or rehearsal. (THere is also slight possibility that unit is working fine in my house because of good power and has problems somewhere else, but it seems a bit strange that all those other places have bad electricity)

I have also read on different forum that someone has apparently learned it is a relay problem and this explanation seems to checks out. In my case, I have noticed that sometimes when problem appears tuner screen may pop out even if it was not activated, and then tuner screen would disappear but sound wouldn't come back. Also, issue seems to happen most often when unit is turned on for the first time in new environment. So it may be an issue with relay turning sound off as if tuner is activated. Also I have found an explanation that relay is turning sound off temporarily while unit is initializing so that there is no noise or pops and then turns it back on - and it is exactly one of the cases where issue seems to appear.
Also, some people have found it helpful to plug in USB connection, change input to USB and then back to analog - it supposedly forces relay to reset and sound comes back. I didn't have a chance to try that in my case as sound was back when I tried unit again back at home.

Also I wouldn't rule out a possibility that this issue is much more frequent than it appears - a lot of users (including myself in the past) won't write about it or use support ticket if simple restart has helped immediately. I started to bi worried only after the unit couldn't be revived when this happens.
I also have to rethink this situation. I had literary every generation of Line6 hardware and it was always solid. I simply can't rely on something that may stop working randomly. If this is the case with all Helix products, I may have to get something else. For now I have an old HD500 as a backup, but it doesn't have greatest ad/da conversion so I kind of dislike to have it in an amps loop in serial mode.

If I learn anything else, I will write back.
 

 

That relay theory seems to have some supporting, or at least correlating, evidence. Thought I would throw the following out there as well.

 

Don't know if this applies to this problem on the HX Stomp (does it use ribbon connectors?), but improper seating on many devices that use ribbon connectors internally can cause intermittent issues. Changes in temperature, being transported, or a slight bump, such as the one caused by a footswitch can cause the cable to move in relation to the contacts' "seat".

[wesstore]

So this happened to me exactly as OP describes. Followed the advice here, took a full backup in hx edit, powered off and held the middle and right footswitches while powering on to full reset it. Once it was restored I then connected back to hx edit and restored my presets and all is okay now. Original problem was weird and just not signal I could see coming through. I knew my cables and guitar were fine and after each reboot the hx stomp kicked into gear again. Anyways its all sorted now and can see input on the first dot now and dosnt seem to crash now. Thanks guys!

[lorenleonard]

I was playing my HX Stomp last night and this happened to me just like the original poster described. The device remained powered but my signal chain stopped. This happened to me a couple times before, twice during gigs! Ugh! However, usually when I power off and back on the unit it is fine. Last night, it repeatedly did this after powering on/off even when I tried different presets that had fewer blocks. I have a big gig this weekend and I'm more than a little nervous. 

[irenabosworth]

Has this problem been sorted out yet? It's £500 worth of useless junk to me at this point in time 

[rd2rk]

On 3/14/2024 at 7:16 PM, irenabosworth said:

Has this problem been sorted out yet? It's £500 worth of useless junk to me at this point in time 

 

Have you opened a support ticket?