Digital_Igloo

The problem is that everyone has a different idea of what it means for a product to be "pro." Luckily, real pros who've used Line 6 gear for years couldn't be bothered when armchair product designers tell them their gear isn't pro. Personally, I feel the most "pro" feature of Helix is its 123dB of dynamic range (via patented circuitry), which is 13-23dB higher than most other modelers, but that doesn't mean I'd ever consider—must less state—that others aren't "pro." Our target market for Helix was us, knowing full well if we could make ourselves happy, our users would be happy too—professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Clearly. The point is that literally every DSP-based modeler other than the GSP-1101 has a gap. For what feels like the billionth time, this is simply how DSP works—the chip MUST unload models from one preset BEFORE it load models for the next preset. The more models you unload/load, and the more complex the models, the longer the gap. By many accounts, Fractal's AX8 ($1399) has a similar gap to Helix. This isn't surprising, as it uses the exact same 450MHz SHARC 21469s as Helix does. Since all current modelers (even the $2200 AxeFX II XL+) have an audible gap, if you're gonna wring your hands over the gap, you better be ready to measure said gap. If one categorically refuses to accept any sort of gap, then... they better like the GSP-1101's modeling and features because, again, it's the only modeler that'll make 'em happy. If and when you're willing to discuss milliseconds, it might be helpful to list a millisecond gap that's acceptable to you, as everyone's gonna have a different idea of: what's noticeable what's acceptable what they're willing to give up to get there Because screaming "I don't want any gap!" or "It feels like forever!" with zero qualifiers helps no one, especially after I've explained the technical implications dozens of times.

When are you going to learn—fukuri—that further improvements are certainly possible—and—there are current in-preset solutions that all but solve any perceived issues. In the meantime, it's important to ensure that misinformation like "half-second gap" doesn't spread. And someone does make a processor with seamless gap, but it dedicates half of its DSP to spillover and only spillover. To accomplish the same, Helix would have to either give you half as many blocks or drop the quality by half, and almost no one's willing to make that sacrifice, especially when again, Helix allows for in-preset solutions today. If one: categorically refuses to utilize 8 TEMPLATES > 02C TwoTones A-B or 8 TEMPLATES > 02D TwoTones Blend, AND they insist that the presets themselves must switch seamlessly, AND they care more about preset switching than number of simultaneous blocks or model granularity... ...the DigiTech GSP-1101 is an excellent solution.

There's not a half-second gap. There's 120ms at most, going from one very complex preset to another very complex preset. With simpler presets, the average gap is 40-60ms, or 1/20th of a second. The screen redraws are slower than the audio you hear, which makes some people believe it's slower. Helix makes it easy to create multiple tones within the same preset. Try starting with 8 TEMPLATES > 02C TwoTones A-B or 8 TEMPLATES > 02D TwoTones Blend, both of which support two completely different tones with spillover delay and reverb.

I greatly prefer the ridiculous entries. They sometimes inspire something else. It's more "okay, what's the underlying problem we need to solve?" than "okay, let's just do this the way they ask." I probably shouldn't admit this, but there's literally ONE realistic IdeaScale > Helix submission (outside of specific amp/FX model requests) that we hadn't already discussed at one point. Out of thousands. IdeaScale isn't about collecting ideas as much as it is validating and prioritizing existing ideas. Its greatest strength is when someone at Line 6 says "we should do this" and I can come back and say "maybe, but since literally not a single person's asked for it, it'll probably have to be way down the list." You guys are basically my ammo in a battle I fight for you. But to be fair, no one asked for cap-sense switches, four effects loops, or a hundred other Helix features, so IdeaScale doesn't have a monopoly on our development roadmap. There are a handful of left-field "pet features" I've been fighting tooth and nail to get in (that'll hopefully illicit a "whoa"), but it's all about balance. We didn't release Helix too early. We had a very specific list of features that needed to be ready for 1.0, and in the end, we got a lot more on the list than originally scheduled.* For every perceived missing top-level feature in Helix, we can list five that no other competitor has. So one could just as easily say their boxes have five missing features, and they were incomplete at release. But more importantly, our designers paid very little attention to what the other guy was doing. In fact, we actively eschewed comparison, as we wanted Helix to exist on its own. As such, it's a very unique box that has thus far, garnered a metric ton of attention. * Customizable scribble strips, customizable switch LED colors, Pedal Edit mode, Preset Up/Down switches, 10-switch mode, Re-amping, Preset Numbering, MIDI PC Tx/Rx bypass, MIDI over USB, Touch Tap shortcut, Touch-hold to assign, Press to assign controller, Clear/Clear All Controllers, Copy/Paste blocks, and others were all on the chopping block at one time.

Yep. Right when Helix started shipping, there was a perfect storm of OS X El Capitan and Windows 10 releases, both of which have been... let's say, brow-furrowing. Had anyone in this industry known what was going to happen, dedicated driver development resources would've been desperately dispatched many months earlier by many different companies. And it's not just USB audio; the actual USB port drivers—that is, drivers that make the physical USB ports work at all on specific mid-2012 MacBook Pros and iMacs—are also, shall we say, folicle-liberating. We're talking the inability to boot many USB flash drives. So pleading with a Line 6 product manager to hear your woes is like pleading with a flight attendant about a shared plane crash. We can empathize with your pain and wring our hands along with you, but in the end, we still have zero control over birds flying into the engines.

Because the experience of changing presets, waiting XX seconds for the patch to sync, changing presets, waiting XX seconds for the patch to sync changing presets, waiting XX seconds for the patch to sync... sucks. It doesn't matter anyway. Helix is designed for professionals, and studios record with Macs and PCs, not iPads. At least in 2016.

Yep. From the Quick Start section: Use the joystick to select the point where paths A and B split or merge. "Split" and "Merge" blocks only appear when selected, but can be adjusted and moved like any other processing block. Press ACTION to pick up the Split or Merge block for moving. Choose one of the following parallel routing options: Super Serial A serial path has eight processing block locations. If that’s not enough, you can use parallel path B to create one big “super serial†path. Move the Merge block down to path 1B. A duplicate Output block is created. Move the Split block all the way to the right, past the last processing block on path 1A. Select the Output block on path 1A and turn Knob 2 (Level) all the way down. That way, you’re only hearing Output 1B. Of course, if this still isn’t enough, you could always duplicate the above signal ow with path 2 and then route path 1B’s output block to path 2A for one gigantic serial tone with up to 32 block locations (DSP permitting - See "Dynamic DSP"): You could also use 8 TEMPLATES > 01C Super Serial and 8 TEMPLATES > 02D Super Serial x2 as starting points.

I don't. It might be more intuitive, but it's WAY slower in practice. Making a feature easier-to-discover is only an advantage before you discover it; after that, it just slows people down. Believe me, we tested Helix's UI/UX exhaustively. Like... years. I don't have time to explain every UI decision, but trust me when I say there's a reason for *everything,* even if it's not yet obvious. Page 15 in the Quick Start section (emphasis mine): Choosing an Output 1. Move the joystick to select an Output block and turn the joystick. Normally you should select “Multi,†which includes four simultaneous pairs of outputs: 1/4", XLR, Digital, and USB 1/2. If Path 1 doesn't have enough block locations or DSP to accommodate your tone, it can be routed to Path 2: 2. Select Path 1’s output block and turn the joystick to select Path 2A. Path 2’s Input block displays an arrow, indicating it is being fed by Path 1. If Path 2 has two input blocks, you may select either Path 2A or 2B, or even split your signal further to both 2A and 2B. See "2 into 1" for an example.

What's the manual missing, besides model-specific parameter discussions, which can get sketchy, since you're dealing with third-party IP? If you read it cover-to-cover (it's designed to be a very quick read at 50 pages), you will literally know how to do everything.* If the argument is "I shouldn't have to read a manual!", then cool—Helix is still miles ahead of other boxes, discoverability-wise, and we can prove it with metrics. But wouldn't it be easier and take less time to read the 12-page Quick Start section than perusing one paragraph without the proper context (context = the Quick Start section that the very first page implores you to read in its entirety) and then posting about it? FWIW, there are a metric ton of manuals in this industry that consist of "WALL O' TEXT." It appears as if they have more content, but it's just filler that makes your eyes gloss over. They're incredibly difficult to parse, and almost no one reads them. * outside of things not specific to Helix, like the billion different ways to hook gear up, how MIDI works, how amps and effects sound in different orders, etc.

Helix presets are much much larger than presets in AMPLIFi or Firehawk, and there are 1,024 of 'em. It'd take forever to sync presets every time you connected. Currently, tethered Mac/PC makes more sense for the type of environments we envision Helix in.

Line 6 and thousands of other companies exist because of overkill. "What if" is an extremely strong motivator. ;)

That's a fair question, I suppose. Unfortunately, with any product of Helix's depth, there'll be an insane amount of redundant steps when attempting to accomplish anything. For example, we have an entire column devoted to selecting a block. 100% clarity would dictate that every procedure requiring selecting a block (which is probably the majority of 'em) unnecessarily duplicates this column, plus the steps to turn Helix's power on, plus the steps to hook up everything. The manual would be over 9,000 pages long and even more people would refuse to read a single page of it. Correct—a user can't just pop onto any ol' page in the manual and expect every step to be laid out in detail. It assumes you've at least read the Cheat Sheet in its entirety, and ideally, the Quick Start section. In fact, the Welcome to Helix intro straight up tells the user to do both: What Have I Gotten Myself Into? Although Helix may appear complicated at rst glance, it's designed in such a way that once you learn a few basic concepts and shortcuts, you'll be able to construct both simple and complex tones at nearly the speed of thought, with very little menu diving required. Although you’re likely anxious to rip open the plastic and plug in, wait! At the very least, check out the big color Helix Cheat Sheet that came in the box, and keep it handy. Then read the "Quick Start" chapter of this manual and we’ll have you up and shredding in no time.

Phil's correct; you just need to press the knob. From the included one-page Helix Cheat Sheet (Knobs 1-6): Press to toggle between Hz or ms and note values From page 6 of the Helix Owner's Manual (Top Panel Overview): SHORTCUT: For most time-based parameters such as delay time or modulation speed, press the knob to toggle between setting the value in ms or Hz and note divisions (1/4-note, dotted 1/8-note, etc.). From page 24 of the Helix Owner's Manual (Common FX Settings—emphasis not mine): Speed: Adjusts the speed of the effect, with higher settings providing faster rates. Press the knob to toggle between Hz and note values. Choosing a Hz value provides a specific modulation speed in cycles per second; choosing a note value provides a time based on the current tempo. Not all Speed parameters can be synced to note values, as they may be non-linear and highly interactive.

Maybe, but literally 95% of the how-to questions posed in this forum can already be answered by spending five minutes in the manual—the rest could be answered by an exhaustive, 10,000-page doctoral thesis on every possible routing scenario, but I have more important things to do. If there are specific areas or use cases where more robust explanation is appropriate, we're not above providing blogs, knowledge base articles, or videos for those willing to dig a bit deeper. The problem with Owner's Manuals is that the more pages you add, the less likely your average user will read a single page of it. This is why your Apple iPhone's manual is four pages long (but an exhaustive, wax-poetic-on-absolutely-everything iPhone manual would literally be encyclopedic). We even include a real paper Cheat Sheet that covers ~80% of what one would need to get started, but few people bother reading that either.

Well, you could always pretend it doesn't exist until your personal desires are realized. Optical Trem does indeed sync to tempo. Press Knob 1 (Speed) and you'll see the value change from numerics to note values.

We can't talk about it, but if you read between the lines...

1.06 added an Autofilter, which can effectively act as an autowah. I hear ya' on the volume swell tho.' The reason Helix is $1499 is because A) it took six years to develop and that's a metric ton of R&D, which isn't cheap, and B ) it has a ridiculous amount of expensive hardware inside. We don't make up pricing out of thin air—it's always based on a combination of development and parts costs.

If Helix sees an L6 LINK device (like DT25), L6 LINK takes over and that Digital Out parameter does nothing.

1. So the headphones can be fed a different feed from the 1/4" outs (or XLR outs). Also, so we can do cooler things in the future. 2. There shouldn't be. 3. It's not ideal, but you won't blow anything up.

Requests aren't ignored here; IdeaScale is just the best place for tracking and metrics.

Yes, the editor is next. In fact, we've had to defer a bunch of stuff we wanted to get in by now because it'd push the editor back even farther.

We can make the boot time faster but chances are you guys would prefer other things first.

If you have a block assigned to, say, FS2 (second switch on the top row), sending CC50 (any value) should toggle that block on and off, regardless of the current footswitch mode. "Stomp mode only" refers to that CC controlling whatever's assigned in stomp mode; that is, it doesn't trigger what appears on FS2 in Preset mode (a preset), Looper mode (Undo), or Pedal Edit (Knob 2's parameter).

Footswitch modes only apply to Helix and Helix Control, but you can still assign blocks to footswitches manually from the Footswitch Assign screen: Press MENU (three lines icon). Press Knob 1 (Footswitch Assign). Use the joystick to select the block and turn Knob 1 (Footswitch) to select the footswitch. Repeat step 3 for other blocks and press HOME when you're done.