My footswitches are doing the wrong thing
The unit is in Preset mode
Working as designedPress FS6, marked MODE. This is the single most common question on every Helix.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)Indexed by what you notice, not by what the subsystem is called — because when something is wrong you know there's no sound, not that it's a routing problem.
15 of the 17 problems below are not faults. They are documented behaviour that looks like a fault, and they are marked working as designed. “Your unit is fine” is a useful answer and nobody publishes it.
Press FS6, marked MODE. This is the single most common question on every Helix.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)Mic and aux inputs are Helix Floor features. The LT has a single GUITAR IN.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)EXP PEDAL 2 and EXT AMP are the same socket on an LT. Pick one, or use the built-in pedal and free the jack for amp switching.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)The LT has no separate headphone level. Set VOLUME for the desk and monitor from a separate feed.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)Both pairs are stereo; LEFT/MONO is the one that sums to mono.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)Two speakers stacked. Bypass the cab, or use an Amp model rather than Amp+Cab.
Helix 3.80 Owner's ManualPress the GND/LIFT switch on the rear panel beside the XLR outputs.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)Four amps per preset, two per path. One looper per preset. One poly effect per path.
Helix 3.80 Owner's ManualMake a stereo block mono, or swap a Legacy cab for the newer IR-based one.
Helix 3.80 Owner's ManualAn “E” beside the preset name means edited and unsaved. Press SAVE twice.
Helix LT Cheat Sheet (Rev B)Global Settings > Preferences > Snapshot Edits decides this. Recall (the default) keeps your changes as you left them. Discard returns the snapshot to its last-saved state — which is the behaviour you want live, and the behaviour that eats your work while you are building. Hold BYPASS and press SAVE to flip it at any time; the camera icon on the Home screen is grey for Recall and red for Discard.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualThat is exactly what an unedited snapshot does — it carries the state you arrived with. It only becomes its own thing the moment you change something in it. Nothing is broken; you have simply not written it yet.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualSaving a preset stores all of its snapshots and remembers which one you were on. If a song should always start on the intro sound, select that snapshot and then save — the choice is made at save time, not at load time.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualSet Global Settings > Footswitches > Snapshot Mode Switches to Manual Return and it stays in snapshot mode until you press CANCEL. Auto Return is right when snapshots are an occasional visit; Manual Return is right when they are how you play the set.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualNot the same problem as tails cutting off at a preset change, and it has a different answer — this one is a setting inside the block.
Trails Off mutes repeats and decays the moment the block is bypassed. Trails On lets them ring out naturally, through a bypass and through a snapshot change. It is set per block, so one delay left wrong is enough to make a whole rig feel abrupt.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualA tempo-synced delay re-syncs its trails to the incoming preset's BPM, so the tail you are still hearing shifts under you. If you want the trails to hold their speed across a change, set that delay in milliseconds rather than to a note value.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualThis one is worth reading before it is a problem rather than after.
Never connect these XLR outputs to a device whose XLR inputs have 48V phantom power enabled. On a desk, that means switching phantom off for those channels before you plug in, not after.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualS/PDIF and AES/EBU are a choice, not a pair — pick one in Global Settings > Ins/Outs. And connecting an L6 LINK device disables the S/PDIF output automatically, which is the version of this that catches people who have just added a Powercab.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's ManualGlobal Settings > Ins/Outs page 3, Volume Knob Controls, decides which outputs the knob touches. Set to Digital it controls nothing at all and both output pairs sit at unity — which is deliberate, for rigs where front of house sets the level and a stray knob would be a disaster.
Helix LT 3.80 Owner's Manual