Digital_Igloo

Unfortunately, we can't talk about specific things that are coming up. Sometimes we don't even know exactly what's next, because there are a lot of constantly moving parts that force us to make changes at the last minute. If someone happens to interpret something we write as a "promise", we can get into trouble. Plus, there's one competitor that seems to pay very close attention to Helix and where Helix is going (no, not Cliff...); no point in giving them a head start. In the Command Center, if you assign a MIDI PC message to an Instant command (lightning bolt icon), and its value changes from snapshot to snapshot, the message will be sent. If the value is the same from snapshot to snapshot, the message will not be sent.

Snapshots were always in the plan. They were not tacked on. In fact, the reason we haven't yet implemented certain features—or more to the point, the reason why Helix does certain things in a certain way—is all because of future plans. We're very careful to not design ourselves into a corner.

Touchscreens are great for some things, but they're never *automatically* better for a product. Oftentimes, they're slow, clunky, offer zero security feedback during the heat of a gig, and require huge hit points that preclude seeing enough content on the screen at the same time. For example, what might take two button presses and a quick knob turn on one box might require touch-touch-touch-swipe-swipe-touch-swipe-touch-touch-touch-swipe-swipe-touch on a touchscreen-based box. Wait, are you psychoanalyzing Line 6 staff? :lol: Sure, the POD as Line 6's flagship processor is done. The POD itself is far from done. Ah, screw it. Here's some context: The $499 price point is a toxic wasteland. Roland/BOSS, Zoom, DigiTech, Line 6—none of us want to touch it, because of one simple reason: Users expect better and more—with nothing else removed from the previous generation—at the same price. This is literally impossible, as manufacturing and labor costs for relatively small-run products (such as modelers) have dramatically increased over the past five years or so. I've mentioned this elsewhere, but if we were to release POD HD500X today with absolutely zero changes, we'd likely have to charge $649. The only reason we can continue to sell it for $499 is because of rock solid contracts. We saw the writing on the wall many years ago and instead of making another $499 box, we went upmarket with the $1499 Helix. Roland/BOSS went the other direction with the $199 GT-1. DigiTech and Zoom... not sure what they're doing, but I'm highly confident they have similar conversations. That said, we have some ideas, but none of them look particularly like POD HD500X.

The Fuzz Factory is my favorite distortion pedal, and it's incredibly sensitive to input impedance from your guitar's volume knob. Currently no modeler has any sort of impedance detecting circuit, which would be required to nail that particular behavior.

From what I understand (that is, I may be totally wrong), it's an off-the-shelf ARM-based processor/memory/touchscreen package typically found in affordable tablets—likely the very same found in their impressive Akai MPC Live sampler. This is VERY different from embedded DSPs like SHARCs. "Only 2 SHARCs? Quad-core is two more, innit?!" Screen redraws may obfuscate the actual gap, but depending on preset complexity, switching should be between 40 and 120ms—maybe 150-160ms with obnoxiously large presets. If you've actually measured a 500ms audio gap, something's wrong and I recommend emailing the offending presets to Line 6 CS for our engineers to take a look. And yes, Snapshots were designed to provide seamless switching without the pain of having to constantly manage (and level) multiple presets for a single song. We chose Snapshots because we spend a lot of time attempting to understand the underlying problem instead of checking boxes.

Even though the manual says to not use phantom power, you won't hurt the hardware by trying it. If the signal-to-noise ratio drops precipitously, you know there's a problem. If it appears to sound the same, you're in the clear. The difference will be obvious.

After entering Looper footswitch mode, you must first record a loop. Record/Overdub is FS8 (second switch from the left on the bottom row).

Something's fishy; Amplifire sounds way better than it appears to in that video. I'd argue it's definitely in the same sonic realm as Fractal, Kemper, and Helix. People don't call 'em "the big four" for nothin'.

Mac desktops and laptops support aggregate devices, which is supposed to allow for multiple interfaces simultaneously. It doesn't work very well, regardless of what interfaces you use. iPads don't have any sort of aggregate device support, so you should only use one interface; that is, record via Helix's Guitar In and monitor via Helix's outputs. Don't connect anything to the iPad's headphone jack and don't use any sort of USB splitter or hub—go straight into the camera kit. If pops and clicks keep happening, try a different USB cable. If they still keep happening, open a ticket with Line 6 CS and we'll get to the bottom of it.

I'm sure it's not dissimilar to how one morning, running the car test on your latest mix can sound stellar—even against your favorite reference tracks—and the next morning, on the same system, against the same reference tracks, it suddenly sounds like cats barfing.

I might suggest this as the best way to connect your ME-80: Connect Helix's FX SEND 1 to the ME-80's GUITAR IN. Connect the ME-80's L/MONO OUT to Helix's FX RETURN 1. On Helix, set Global Settings > Ins/Outs > Send/Return 1 to "Instrument". It should be by default. On Helix, at the point in the signal flow where you want to insert the ME-80, add a Send/Return > Mono > FX Loop 1 block. From stomp footswitch mode, touch-hold a switch and then press Knob 6 (OK). This switch lets you instantly insert/remove your ME-80 from the signal flow.

Totally contingent on Helix Native's release and subsequent reactions.

There are always 8 snapshots. You can choose to access all 8 at a time, 4 at a time (top or bottom row), or in order, sequentially, if you set your BANK UP/DOWN switches to SNAPSHOT UP/DOWN: Hold both UP and DOWN switches to cycle through BANK, PRESET, and SNAPSHOT UP/DOWN. ​On Helix and Helix Rack/Control, the scribble strips update to reflect the change On Helix LT, the inspector header reads "FS1/FS7 set to [type] UP/DOWN" If your snapshots aren't in the order you like, you can quickly reorder them: Touch and hold two snapshot switches for one second and press Knob 6 (OK).

There's no MTC or SMPTE in Helix, as there's no HH:MM:SS:FF timeline with which to reference. Sync is limited MIDI Clock (Tx and Rx), which is par for the course in even the highest end effects processors.

Okay, that was a spit take right there. Good show. :lol:

Any MIDI controller that can send CC messages can control up to 64 parameters in Helix simultaneously. Assuming you've routed your controller through a DAW or some other MIDI routing program to control Helix: On Helix, press and hold the knob for the parameter you wish to control. Helix jumps to the Controller Assign screen. Press Knob 6 (Learn Controller) and then turn the knob on your controller. Helix maps it automatically. If desired, set Min and Max values (even in reverse) and press HOME when you're done. If you're shopping for a new MIDI controller anyway, it might be worth getting one with a MIDI out DIN port as well; that way, you wouldn't need the computer in between.

Find the Level or Volume parameter that you normally use to level presets. It might be your Amp block's Ch Vol parameter or the Mixer or Output block's Level parameter. Press and turn that knob. The value will turn white, show brackets, and now be remembered per snapshot.

Helix Native will support both VST2 and VST3. VST3 is loaded by default; you must check a box during installation to load VST2. I'm not aware of any imminent plans to support Linux, but Steinberg is one of our sister companies, so anything's possible.

I'll add one, but this applies mainly to other forums, Facebook, YouTube, and online retailer review sections: "Poorly Hidden Competitor's Shill" = Despite the requirement that corporate affiliations must be made public, pretends to have "just popped in because they're sooo excited about [Product X]!" Posts only in threads about their company's product. For some reason, has information about [Product X] that no one else seems to have, and when confronted about it, claims to have "inferred it from watching three videos over and over." Loves to spread misinformation. On Facebook, claims to love their [Product X] and all their friends love their [Product X], even though [Product X] isn't even shipping in their part of the world.

Up to a certain point, your brain compensates when you can see the source of the audio. When you can see your studio monitors 6 feet away, but it sounds like they're 20 feet away, it affects your playing. Helix Native won't support MIDI at all at launch—only DAW automation. We'd like to add MIDI support later. The IP is worth way more than $199, especially considering some companies charge $150 or more for one amp model alone. Many here feel it's worth more than $399, but that's the top end of what we feel people are willing to pay. Remember, you're getting over 60 Helix-level amps and over 100 Helix-level effects, and can chain them in any order, serial or parallel. How much are Slate, UA, Waves, and SoundToys bundles again?

If you have newer firmware, press the PRESETS knob on Helix Rack. Above Knob 2 you'll see a little cheat sheet that tells you exactly what messages are required to recall the current setlist (top line, CC32, values 000-007), preset (middle line, PC 000-127), and setlist (CC69, values 000-007). So if you wanted to jump from Setlist 1 > Preset 01A to Setlist 3 > Preset 04D, you'd send Helix a CC32 message (value 002) followed by a PC (value 015) message. The cheat sheet is there so you don't need to do any math or read the manual. Not sure if the FC1010 can send both a CC32 and PC message simultaneously from the same footswitch. EDIT: someone above just mentioned it can with the UNO chip. FWIW, you're missing out on approximately 40% of Helix Rack's functionality by not using Helix Control. It's not just a footswitch—it's a fundamental piece of Rack's workflow. Sorry if it sounds spammy—every time I read about someone trying to shoehorn Helix Rack into a different remote system, it makes me a sad panda. If I won the lottery, I'd buy every Helix Rack owner a Helix Control.

Yes.

The latter, to be honest, and we don't advertise it because there's power in simplicity. I used to do power user MIDI loopback stuff like this all the time with keyboard workstations. Just make sure you turn Global Settings > MIDI/Tempo > MIDI Thru, Send MIDI Clock, and MIDI PC Send off. Any feature request that appears to come from the mindset of "my Fractal or Kemper box did it this way, so Helix should do it this way too" automatically loses a few points. We try to toe the line between ease of use/elegance and flexibility, and user reactions to features dictate where that line should be, not competitors. If more people actually read the manual and inquiries started getting deep and compelling, we'd likely move the line.

Sorry. You basically needed to bug us back in January when it was announced. Eight zillion people came out of the woodwork then (current Line 6ers, ex-Line 6ers, studio engineers, session guitarists, forum gurus, forum trolls [?!], and their mom); our beta team filled up fast.

We don't know how CPU-intensive Helix Native will be yet, as optimization is nearly always the last job to do.