HX Effects And Recording

[quigster]

I recently purchased Line 6 HX Effects and would like input on how people are using their HX Effects to record into there DAW. 
Some people who have Helix or HX Stomp are actually using them as their INTERFACE into there DAW which I found to be interesting. 

It seems as though HX Effects cannot be used as an actual interface like the Helix and HX Stomp (or am I wrong?)

Anyhoo, if you are using your HX Effects while recording please please share the best way to connect the HX Effects for recording on a DAW for pc. 

One of the things I want to record using the HX Effects are the synth pads that can be created on the HX. During a song I would be using several different chords in synth pad form. If you have done this using HX Effects and recorded with that please let me know how. Thanks 

[codamedia]

You are correct... the HX Effects is not an interface and cannot be used as one. 

To record it you need an interface... simply plug the outputs of the HX Effects into the inputs on the interface. 

[datacommando]

On 1/2/2025 at 1:48 AM, quigster said:

Some people who have Helix or HX Stomp are actually using them as their INTERFACE into there DAW which I found to be interesting. 

It seems as though HX Effects cannot be used as an actual interface like the Helix and HX Stomp (or am I wrong?)

Hi, again.

 

Yesterday, you contacted me by a PM when I thought that I had clarified the fact that the HX Effects doesn’t work as an audio interface and eventually pointed you to this answer:-

 

From the HX EFFECTS FAQ page:

 

Does HX Effects have an audio interface?
No. It's designed for your pedalboard. It will send and receive MIDI data over USB, however.

 

So, to be quite totally clear- you are wrong to think that your HXFX will work as an audio interface. That’s a fact! Asking the same question over and over will not provide a different result!

 

As for using the HXFX in conjunction with a DAW, you should treat it exactly as you would any other outboard multi-fx processor. If you are using a hardware synth, connect it to your Effects and take the L/R outputs from there to the inputs of a dedicated audio interface. This would be the same technique if you wanted to record some of the self generated (eg 3 note or 4 OSC generator) synth noises directly from your HXFX into your DAW. If you want to play a “soft synth” through your HXFX, then you will need to route the dry audio from the synth out of your Interface, into the FX then back into a stereo channel in your DAW, in a similar fashion to using an FX Loop on an amp.

 

Hope this helps/makes sense.

 

[quigster]

As I said before, people ARE using the Helix AND the HX Stomp AS AN INTERFACE in addition to what those units were originally made for and I assumed that MAYBE the HX Effects could also be used in this way JUST LIKE THE Helix AND the HX Stomp are. After you responded I decided to get CONFIRMATION which is NOT a bad thing, so you can relax. Confirmation is a GOOD thing. As to the rest of your response 'twas confusing. I was speaking about the onboard synth pads on the HX Effects and the best way to plug the HX Effects into a DAW since plugging in something like an HX Effects straight into a DAWS interface is not as straightforward as all that. 

So I was asking others for to share their experience with the BEST way they have found to connect the HX Effects to their DAW. 
Thanks.

[waymda]

On 1/3/2025 at 2:21 AM, quigster said:

Helix AND the HX Stomp AS AN INTERFACE in addition to what those units were originally made

 

Checks date - nope April 1 still some time away.

 

Off to check if my printer is an audio interface - it too has a USB port, as its networked I'm expecting it will also support AoE.

[datacommando]

On 1/2/2025 at 4:21 PM, quigster said:

As I said before, people ARE using the Helix AND the HX Stomp AS AN INTERFACE in addition to what those units were originally made for and I assumed that MAYBE the HX Effects could also be used in this way JUST LIKE THE Helix AND the HX Stomp are. After you responded I decided to get CONFIRMATION which is NOT a bad thing, so you can relax. Confirmation is a GOOD thing.

Ye gods - this is like pulling teeth.
 

You wanted CONFIRMATION of the information, which I had previously supplied to you, and that was a direct cut and paste from the Line 6 Knowledge base - it states:-

 

From the HX EFFECTS FAQ page:

 

Does HX Effects have an audio interface?
No. It's designed for your pedalboard. It will send and receive MIDI data over USB, however.

 

So, the CONFIRMATION from an official source was not a GOOD thing?
 

This is borderline insanity. It’s starting to travel down the same sort of wormhole you started back in October when you said you had bought a new HX Effects and failed to understand how stereo inputs work. That was fun - not!

 

On 1/2/2025 at 4:21 PM, quigster said:

As to the rest of your response 'twas confusing. I was speaking about the onboard synth pads on the HX Effects and the best way to plug the HX Effects into a DAW since plugging in something like an HX Effects straight into a DAWS interface is not as straightforward as all that.

I fail to see how my response, and a similar one from @codamedia, could be confusing. Both of us explained that in order record any audio from your HXFX into a DAW, you need to use a dedicated stereo audio interface to capture any sound created in your HXFX, up to and including the onboard synth pads. In fact I did actually mention the 3 note and 4 OSC generators. Is that too confusing?

 

On 1/2/2025 at 4:21 PM, quigster said:

So I was asking others for to share their experience with the BEST way they have found to connect the HX Effects to their DAW. 

I also pointed out that, as the HXFX is NOT an audio interface, in order to use it with a DAW it has to be treated like any other outboard multi-fx unit. Please, research how to connect external audio effect processors to you particular DAW. Ah, yes - I’m one of those people who use a Helix as an audio interface, and have used it daily like that since 2015. I must be afflicted with actually knowing what I’m doing with this stuff.

 

I have come to the conclusion this an exercise in total futility.