tommasi

Thomann delivered mine ahead of schedule, for what it's worth.

My helix alsi has the "missing" plate on the left xlr! I suppose that's nothing to worry about?

Just to make things clear, I think the Helix has awesome design. I have nothing against the joystick per se, moreover it would be realtively easy to improve its use. However, "bad" (let's say sub-optimal) design from a user experience point of view, it's something relatively easy to measure: if after a reasonable amount of use, most people would still like it improved, well, then maybe that's the case. :) The other case to make is when, after "getting used to it", you actually prefer it to the supposedly improved version. In the first case, there's no advantage, and a possibly little or big nuisance, in the second case, there's an advantage that requires a developed skill to take.

I don't disagree with you, Ralph, as you're essentially saying that adapting oneself is a good attitude to have in general. I would be foolish make a point against this. I am however simply stating that a bad design decision (you are correct, the joystick works as per spec, but it is not well thought-out as ohers pointed out) is something the manufacurer needs to address without assuming it is something people will get used to -- it "needs" to from a business standpoint, that is. Totally right that you can't overengineer stuff, you can't have things tailor made. If the controls in the crane you operated were oversensitive, I bet they got improved in susequent versions -- something that might happen once in 40 years in cranes (don't know the life expectancy of a crane), but that is probably software controlled in the helix.

Well, in that case, you certainly have a point, and you'd have many thankful users!

Well, yes, up to a certain "best guess" degree that is certainly doable. But (and I've seen this professionally in a different market many times) to what effect? Scenario: * L6 launches Helix, and says "you can convert your HD500 patches!" * fact: the underlying technology is very different, and sounds cannot be reproduced identically * users are excited that their carfully crafted HD patches will be ported to HX * hyp 1: the patch sounds the same, in fact. Now the user has a 3x more expensive new thing that sounds like the old one * hyp 2: the patch sounds different. Discarding magic, it'll probably sound WORSE, since the original was tweaked carefully by hand. Now the user perceives a worsening of his tone. That is, claiming to be able to convert patches would only serve to create hype, and achieving resulting "meh" from users. That's not to say the feature would be useless! I would LOVE for my old HD500 patches to be "ported" in a state that would put me in the ballpark so I don't have to start from scratch. But I fear most reactions would be "I tried it, it sucks".

I got mine mid oct., so no complaints here! Just anally pointing out that the "end of summer" is late September, not late Oct! :)

This might get academic, and a little OT, but while I agree with you for life changing stuff, "get used to it" is *not* a good principle when it comes to user experience/user interface design. You need to "get used" to a change of paradigm, because overcoming existing limitations requires change, and users always react to change with a little "inertia", because they like what they're "used to". But having to "get used" to an idiosyncracy of a user interface or a fault in design is not something one should consider necessary. You "get used" to switching from your comfortable old fax machine to the devilishly complex email attachment system, but you do not have to "get used" to your car pulling to the left as you drive, even though you might learn to compensate for that.

Well, the fact that both use open-standards based formats helps, but the real issue in converting sounds is hardly only with the format of the patch!

I was eagerly looking for something letting in on something undocumented, in the files, but unfortunately they seem to contain all but just what you'd expect.... :)

The quality in the the helix and the sheer flexibility are certainly up to the task, however I still use my M9 whenever I need a pedalboard in front of an amp. Why? It's smaller, it sounds great and, at least for the moment, features more fx's than the Helix! It only runs 3 fx simultaneously, though -- I believe the M13 does 4. If you need more stuff simultaneously, the HD500 is a great option (for 1/3 of the price of the helix, and it features the same FX as the M13, or very close). A little less flexibility perhaps, but still pretty flexible, smaller (not by a lot) and cheaper than the Helix.

While a Gilmour lover, I am not too OCD about recreating the exact same tone... But on the thread I link I posted a Shine On You Crazy Diamond clip and the patch I used. http://line6.com/support/topic/16240-helixers-i-really-would-like-your-opinion/?do=findComment&comment=120296 (a few posts later you can find the patch, wich has everything disabled, you need to enable the blocks. Also, I use an additional external exp. pedal) The Helix has enough CPU to do what you're asking. It comes in handy to chain the 2 paths together in order to use both DSPs.

No problem Ralph, i wasn't piqued or anything! Just saying that I didn't think weight was an issue, and I don't throw my stuff around too much, didn't mean to imply you were suggesting that... :) dying up for a gig as I speak, let's see how this thing does on the job!

I admit I am fairly cavalier in attitude and not really paranoid, but I did care about my pedals, and I do not see the weight of the helix as an issue for the bag. Clearly, though, I handle my own bags, would not trust a roadie or airport personnell w/o a flight case or a case....

Managed to update and import patches on W10, though the process wasn't very smooth. The name changed but not the patch, until I switched away from it and back, then there it was (cold sweat). Gigging with it in about 4hrs, soundcheck in about 1hour. Living dangerously is my motto.

My fault, had the wrong model number. Here it is, in case you're curious: http://www.gatorcases.com/p/16108-726/g-multifx-2411 But it won't accommodate your mac, unless you put it in the main comparment where it would probably fit, but would scratch agains the pedalboard!

Tonight I will debut my new Helix live. I had one rehearsal session, where the result was not stellar, due, I believe, to the fact that I had various stereo effects mixed down to mono. The sound was perfect through headphones. I might have to work on "mono" versions of my patches explicitly. It actually makes a lot of sense, since I go mono for about 90% of the times....

I got myself a Gator G-MultiFX-2441 bag: the Helix fits perfectly in it, and the front pocket accommodates the power cord and a few cables easily. I wish, though, that the front pocket was full width: I hate it when they are undersized. I have an expression pedal and extra stuff, and it all fits, but the resulting shape, with the bulging full front pocket, is awkward to load alongside other stuff. Apart from that, and especially if you don't overstuff the front pocket, the bag's pretty good.

I wholeheartedly second the opinion that Line6 should address this. It is very easy to accidentally change a block assignment while moving around with the joystick, and this is very aggravating for 2 reasons: 1. you may not notice that it actually happened until you realize something's wrong with your patch, and 2. the parameter settings for the original block are lost. I am sure that with practice and repeated use one might develop a certain skill to keep the joystick from turning while moving it, but you shouldn't have to, and the usage conditions (controller on the floor, busy hands, often a correction made on the fly and in a hurry to adjust something wile playing) say that it is fairly critical for that not to happen. Imagine what happens if you want to dimish the gain of your distortion pedal, you travel to it, only for accidentally turning it and setting it to a tri fuzz or something mid-song. I have become very wary of using the joystick, and avoiding it when I can, by: 1. using the 'amp' button to go to the amp box (no joystick) 2. using the sensitive footswitches to go to any of the blocks that are assigned to a footswitch 3. if I have to move to a block that's not assigned, I use the footswitch to select the closest assigned block, so as to minimize movement by joystick, and finally 4. using pedal edit mode All of this mess would be solved by the very simple fix of making the user turn the joystick more to "unlock it" -- say, 3 clicks instead of one to "wake up" rotation. This way, the odd small movement while using the joystick for navigation would not cause an unadverted block change.

Managed to save the patch! I think it's all inactive from the start (I normally use stomp mode with 10 footswitches), you need to turn on the blocks I mentioned earlier. Enjoy. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/401585/HelixTones/Fenderino.hlx

I shared the clip on this thread because with virtually no effort it came out much better than I expected, with a guitar (strat road worn '54) that my hd500 never liked all that much. For me this speaks well for the helix. I certainly do not mind sharing the patch, but that just means you're also in line for line6 to fix the win10 bugs... :) In the meantime, I can describe it to you: Road worn strat 54, neck pickup until the very end when I switch to the bridge * deluxe comp * valve driver, off at the beginning, you can tell when I turn it on in the middle * us deluxe nrm, 121 ribbon Mic * ubiquitus vibe stereo * stereo chorus * '63 spring stereo * simple delay, stereo

Well, here's a clip I recorded just now. Didn't even use the Helix as an audio interface, because, did I mention? I use Linux -- so it's the crappy laptop integrated soundcard. The backing track is: http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/play/pink_floyd/shine_on_you_crazy_diamond.htm Played over it with my usual patch, didn't even normalize, this is what came out, no further processing, but both tracks at 0dB. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/401585/ShineHelix.mp3 Pretty sloppy, I know, but it was just a quick test.

1) How do you feel about your new Helix? It's great. I had grown cold about my HD500 that just didn't seem to like some of my guitars, but this one made me feel like experimenting with tone again. 2) What would you like to see changed or improved about it if it was at all possible? a) as others mentioned, moving the joystick almost always means unwittigly changing a block assignment, which also results in losing the original settings. If you're tweaking live (something that during the first few uses happens regularly), you might get in trouble. Luckily, there are alternatives (the touch sensitive footswitches, brilliant). b) I'm a linux user, and I don't expect the software to work on Linux, I keep a few old computers about for that, but come on -- Line6 software is much too picky about what it runs on. And you NEED to backup, because updating means losing presets. c) not that that can be changed in any way, but this thing is incredibly heavy! I wish they maintained the sleek and light profile of the HD500. The unit is otherwise awesome. d) I still have to use it at full volume, but it seems a little treble-happy. 3) How would it be then? Didn't manage to play with it live yet. I'll have to see how it performes at gig volume -- the configurability is really a joy, though. I always use the pedalboard mode, and between the extra DSP power (brilliant that you can chain paths), the extra configurability and control, I managed to cram about 3 HD500 patches onto one, with a few extras, all "stompable"! Awesome.

Thanks -- I did use search, but as I searched for "opto" and not "optical", there were no results. I believe it was called opto on the hd500, or at least that's what I thought.

Finally got myself a helix! I noticed that the opto trem effect does not let you set the speed via tap, unlike the other tremolos. It seems strange, do you think it's intentional?