HonestOpinion

This is not exactly what I envisioned when I first posted this idea in Ideascale but it might be an even more compelling idea in light of the issues being experienced with amp switching through the "Ext Amp" output. You can vote it up here or suggest alternate implemenations: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Allow-CV-output-to-double-as-a-2nd-Ext-Amp-controller/790054-23508

A very helpful and often true observation although sometimes it says more about the relationship vendors have with other vendors or the discounts or even free equipment one vendor may offer to another to show off their wares (cross-promotion).

As BINGEWOOD pointed out the latest firmware and Helix App have different version numbers. The pattern so far has been that if you do not have the latest Helix App version after a firmware upgrade, you may/will have problems saving and restoring presets. This is probably working as designed, new firmware updates may require new versions of the Helix App. I always check for the latest Helix App when doing a firmware upgrade.

Here are a few I have posted elsewhere but have found helpful: If you are using the noise gate on the input block set the threshold parameter to as high a number as you can and still have the noise reduced. This helps to avoid cutting off the end of your notes. For most scenarios set the "Guitar In Impedance" under the Global Setting's "Ins/Outs" parameter to "Auto". Choose the 'Line' or 'Instrument' setting that is correct for your monitoring scenario or just select the better sounding setting under the Global Setting's "Ins/Outs" section "1/4 Outputs" & "XLR Outputs" parameters. When you use more complex routing scenarios make sure you pan or set the level of the signal properly in the merge/mixer blocks depending on your routing scenario. Be aware that many(most?) of the FX have a "Mix" parameter that has the direct and effected signal levels roughly even at 50%. This means that unless you are using a wet/dry routing scheme you may hear the highest level of effect at the 50% setting (not 100%). I find that generally keeping the large physical "Volume" knob up to 3/4 or more usually results in a better sound. Providing the patch isn't so hot it is overdriving whatever amplification you plug into. Set the Global Setting's "Footswitches" section "Exp Pedal Position" parameter to "Global" if you prefer to control your volume with the expression pedal globally rather than have it set differently per preset. As Capdoogie said, high and low EQ cuts somewhere in your signal chain are critical to remove flubiness and icepick shrillness. Let your ears be your guide. It may not matter in the future but I copy any factory presets I want to tweak to one of the "User" lists to modify. Then save, save, save your user modified presets with the Helix App, individually and as a "Setlist". That way I have the original factory preset to refer back to and I don't have to worry about future updates to the factory presets overwriting my tweaks. I can always restore my tweaked factory presets or the ones I designed from scratch to a "User" list. Design your presets wherever possible with the equipment (guitar(s), amplification) you will be using. This one is kind of obvious but otherwise it can be disconcerting when you show up at practice or at a gig with a different guitar or going through a different PA and all your presets sound "off". You may be able to adjust your Global EQ at the practice/gig to help with this. I use the logarithmic ("Log") setting on the volume pedal to produce more musical swells.

+1 Thanks very much for testing this duncann! Yep, better eyes would be nice, and thanks for the flat magnifier tip, I will try that. It would still be nice to see the scribble switch be able to toggle between two labels related to whatever functions are assigned to the expression pedal.

Bug: Expression pedal switch scribble strip not showing custom label after switching presets until the expression pedal fooswitch is pushed at least once. I posted this over in the bug section yesterday and I am hoping some other folks on the forum will confirm this behavior before I open a ticket with tech support. This issue with the expression switch labeling is starting to drag out a bit. I was so psyched initially when I saw that this firmware release had dealt with the loss of volume pedal control bug caused by a custom label. Seems like they introduced a new bug in the process. Looking forward to this getting resolved once and for all and ultimately to the labeling on the expression pedal switch actually being enhanced to be more useful. Thanks! I think there is still a bug in the expression pedal switch scribble strip labeling functionality. If you custom label the expression switch scribble strip, for example, "WAH", save it, then pick another preset and come back, you have to push the expression pedal switch one time to get your label back. Until then it shows the default "EXP1 EXP 2". This makes no sense as the custom label might be some information you need to see when the preset first comes up such as "PhsrRate" or "WHAMMY". You should not have to actually engage the expression switch to see what it does (per your custom label). Is everyone else seeing the same problem/bug? The functionality is still not working properly for expression switch labeling although the loss of volume pedal control has been remedied, good on that. No offence intended but whoever is working the issues with custom labeling the expression switch scribble strip could do a better job of QA. It took about 60 seconds to find this problem, all you had to do was switch presets and come back to the one with the custom label and you would have seen the bug. It would seem that one of the most basic and necessary tests you can run in the QA process for the Helix is to switch away and back to a preset to see if your bugfix changes stuck. Users should not be seeing this kind of bug. If it was something that required more work in a future firmware release then it should have been listed in the "Known bugs" section of the firmware release. This can't possibly be the intended behavior for the expression switch labeling, can it? I have been using, developing, and testing complex software for years and products as complicated as the Helix are always going to have issues that only the users will be able to discover especially shortly after the initial release. There are simply too many complex scenarios for any QA suite or testing harness to deal with and not enough hours in the day for a QA team to test everything. However, basic issues that are easy to detect and test should rarely be popping up for users. If they are issues that require more work in a future firmware release, as mentioned, they are best listed in the known bugs. This not only demonstrates that due diligence has been pursued in the QA process but gives us hope that they are in the queue to be fixed. I apologize for veering into lecture territory but I really am totally willing and expect to have to help out as an early adopter with the more complicated, more buried bugs, just not obvious ones like this. Sincere thanks for working on this issue but a new bug was introduced in the process. I realize there are more pressing issues on the Helix now and this can wait, but Helix users should not have to be the QA team for such an easily detected issue. We waited months for the fix to the loss of volume control caused by a custom label, I hope this fix comes sooner, I hope it is a simple one. Firmware: v1.06.0 Bug: Expression pedal switch scribble strip not showing custom label after switching presets until the expression pedal fooswitch is pushed at least once. (Step by step description of how to reproduce bug) Custom label expression pedal footswitch scribble strip, in my example I named it "WAH". Save the preset. Choose another preset. Return to the preset with the custom label. Instead of the custom label displaying a greyed out "WAH", the expression switch scribble strip shows the default "EXP 1 EXP 2". If you activate the wah, your custom label reappears, if you turn the wah off you get a greyed out "WAH" label. The behavior is inconsistent. After switching presets to a preset with a custom label on the expression footswitch, you should see the custom lablel, not "EXP 1 EXP2" (the default). Last but not least, the Helix really needs the ability to switch between two labels, e.g. "WAH" & "VOL". It is extremely difficult to see whether the expression switch custom scribble strip label is greyed out or not on the fly in a live situation. The other switches have the advantage of a colored ring to help indicate their status but the minor difference between greyed out and not on the expression switch scribble strip can be very hard to detect without any other visual cues. For now though I would be perfectly happy just to see the current functionality working correctly. Thanks! Note: If this turns out to be a problem only with my Helix or user error I submit my abject apologies in advance for being so didactic.

Hmm, sounds like a tricky problem. If you haven't already I would definitely start by swapping my guitar, amp, and any cables out as well as perhaps trying it with just headphones in an effort to isolate what is causing the issue and what outputs are involved. Good luck, hopefully it is not a Helix hardware issue.

I am not sure how easily this could be done as I think Line6 mentioned in a post somewhere that the amp+cab combinations had been optimized so that they used less DSP than a separate amp and cab. If this is not the case or if this changes this would be a great feature. Although, maybe you could still have the option, knowing that picking them as separate amp & cab would eat up more DSP.

I think there is still a bug in the expression pedal switch scribble strip labeling functionality. If you custom label the expression switch scribble strip, for example, "WAH", save it, then pick another preset and come back, you have to push the expression pedal switch one time to get your label back. Until then it shows the default "EXP1 EXP 2". This makes no sense as the custom label might be some information you need to see when the preset first comes up such as "PhsrRate" or "WHAMMY". You should not have to actually engage the expression switch to see what it does (per your custom label). The functionality is still wonky for expression switch labeling although the loss of volume pedal control has been remedied, good on that. Is everyone else seeing the same problem/bug? No offence intended but whoever is working the issues with custom labeling the expression switch scribble strip needs to do a better job of QA. It took about 60 seconds to find this problem, all you had to do was switch presets and come back to the one with the custom label. This can't possibly be the intended behavior for the expression switch labeling, can it? I realize there are more pressing issues on the Helix now and this can wait but Helix users should not have to be the QA team for such an easily detected issue. We waited months for the fix to the loss of volume control caused by a custom label, I hope this fix comes sooner, I hope it is a simple one. Firmware: v1.06.0 Bug: Expression pedal switch scribble strip not showing custom label after switching presets until the expression pedal fooswitch is pushed at least once. (Step by step description of how to reproduce bug) Custom label expression pedal footswitch scribble strip, in my example I named it "WAH". Save the preset. Choose another preset. Return to the preset with the custom label. Instead of the custom label being a greyed out "WAH", the expression switch scribble strip shows the default "EXP 1 EXP 2". If you activate the wah, your custom label reappears, if you turn the wah off you get a greyed out "WAH" label. The behavior is inconsistent. After switching presets to a preset with a custom label on the expression footswitch, you should see the custom lablel, not "EXP 1 EXP2" (the default). Last but not least, the Helix really needs the ability to switch between two labels, e.g. "WAH" & "VOL". It is extremely difficult to see whether the expression switch custom scribble strip label is greyed out or not on the fly in a live situation. The other switches have the advantage of a colored ring to help indicate their status but the minor difference between greyed out and not on the expression switch scribble strip can be very hard to detect without any other visual cues. For now though I would be perfectly happy just to see the current functionality working correctly. Thanks!

Two things to check: Try using the ground lift button on the back of the Helix. Make sure you are not plugged into a device that has its phantom power turned on.

Yes, no problem, that is exactly what I do, you may want to add a low and high EQ cut on the mixer channel(s) you use for the Helix.

You probably downloaded it already but make sure you are using the latest version of the Helix App 1.03 for backup and restore.

+1 Absolutely echos my sentiments on the subject although I hope the wait is less than a decade or two (but still perhaps a wee bit of hijacking, just want to make sure the originator of this topic knows we intend no disrespect).

Laugh out loud! "Stonehenge where the demons dwell". Was the initial design for this studio done on a napkin? And my apologies for participating in the topic hijack but this stuff is just impossible to resist.

Thanks!

The new firmware update is awesome! Some new distortion/overdrive pedals, a much needed second phaser pedal with some crucial options, a new flanger and autofilter, a new tremolo, as well as fixes to the Helix app and the issue with the expression pedal losing ability to control the volume after a custom label. The new ability to swap multiple block footswitch assignments from one footswitch to the other is a huge timesaver. L6 is clearly listening to their customers and so far is really on the ball with enhancements and bug fixes. For my money this is the best MFX on the market right now at any price and getting better by the month. You could not pry this thing away from me. Great job guys! Thank you very much!

Shucks, I remember when we had to wind wire around a spool to record; uphill in both directions.

Me too, I love the Helix, don't want that fact to get lost in the chatter!

My perhaps clumsy analogy to graphics rendering is in reference to the loading of a new preset, not to the actual playing through the preset, which as you point out, is in real time, or very close to it (there is probably a minuscule inaudible delay as the Helix processes the guitar signal, which I guess is what is referred to as real time). I was trying to point out the similarity between the rendering of a graphics image and the loading of a new preset into memory for use by the DSP. There may be some legitimate parallels in that respect. In that one sense, the loading of a new sound 'image' from a preset is in some ways akin to rendering a graphics image. In both cases -- sound and image, a number of parameters are loaded into memory, processed into a sound or an image by the processor, sent to some form of output, and eventually to the delivery medium, whether that is a speaker or a computer screen. The process is as you point out more complex and dynamic in the case of sound in that the input is constantly changing and has to be processed in real time. Maybe a better analogy would have been to CGI animation rather than production of a static image. Could not agree more with this!

Yes, it does sound better today, just like the graphics look better today. The point is that not only do graphics look better today, they also render much faster. The same will apply to audio. It won't require people agreeing on what is acceptable latency, you simply will not be able to detect any latency in a switch between presets, it will happen so quickly and seamlessly. Improvements in graphics technology followed a curve where at first increasing quality was also accompanied by increasing rendering time. Eventually rendering times started to go down, even as quality went up. I think sound and modeling technology will follow the same curve, it is simply a bit closer to the beginning of its journey. This is an interesting debate and I guess time will tell. Can you tell I read a lot of science fiction in my youth? :)

Good idea, you might want to put this in Ideascale and post the link back on this topic.

You are right in that the envelope will always be pushed by even more sophisticated modeling that requires ever more processing power and memory. But along the way there are paradigm shifts. Latency slips below a perceptible level. Hardware speed and capacity increase by an order of magnitude as cost goes down. I remember the early graphics programs on primitive hardware. Rendering a simple graphic would take many hours or even days. This would be executed on a piece of hardware with less processing power than your alarm clock now possesses and at a cost that rivaled a home mortgage. Along the way there were, to be redundant, major paradigm shifts where rendering moved from days to mere minutes or even [milli]seconds (assuming you weren't George Lucas doing things on the bleeding edge with Industrial Light & Magic; and let's face it, most of us are not that). This shift from things taking seconds to render instead of days completely changed computer graphics artists' workflow in a multitude of ways. All of a sudden you could experiment with 50 different visual outcomes in minutes instead of having to painstakingly plan every step because it would be 12 hours before you could see the result. I know this is a rough analogy but the same applies to the audio workflow of for instance having to plan and design how to do everything within one preset versus just switching instantly to another. I believe the same will apply to sound processing. In many ways we are just moving out of the infancy of this technology. A technology largely advanced by L6 (let's not forget the Vetta). I firmly believe future programming techniques and cheaper, faster hardware will make things like perceptible lags a forgotten issue of the past. We will get to a point where enhancements to modeling will essentially be only perceptible to the theoretical nerd and not detectable by most, or any, human ears. Latency will slip below the levels it can be noticed and sound quality will be in the stratosphere. We are approaching that point already. I accept the limitations imposed by the current state of the art programming and the cost restraints of today's hardware but in no way do I think compromises like latency and spillover versus sound quality versus cost will be issues we have to contend with in the relatively near future; at least not at the levels we do now. In the meantime I have a huge appreciation for the big brains at shops like L6 that are doing incredible things while managing a technical balancing act and public relations challenge with the material, manpower, and knowledge they have at their disposal while persevering to satisfy an ever more savvy and demanding user base, and at a price point that is actually within reach. Even though I understand the current challenges, like many other performing musicians, I still can't help wishing for and encouraging the best possible sound and technology for making it, with maximum flexibility and ease of use. As a pragmatist I also accept "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you find, you get what you need".

Hilarious conversation and only too true! You guys have convinced me, I am finally going to remove the "Matchless" name plate from my Crate amp ;)

I think we may see some progress on this down the line. DI hinted that they had some ideas that might enable spillover, and who knows, maybe help a bit with latency as well. I think other manufacturers have figured out how to leave some code loaded such that switching a preset that uses for instance the same delay and settings does not require the entirety of the new preset to be reloaded into memory. With reuse and less to reload you get spillover and maybe less latency. At least I think that is how it works? Anyone know how the other guys are pulling it off? If they are indeed pulling it off? I've done a bit of web page and database development and I know that we would reduce page load time by essentially sticking things like pulldown menus and static parts of the page up in memory so that only the dynamic, changeable parts of the page had to reload. Using preloaded memory caches with algorithms that made a best guess as to what the user would look at next (such as the 4 presets on a selected bank) also helped to speed things up. I know the Helix is an infinitely more complex programming challenge with hardware cost constraints but it seems as if the same concepts would apply. It still seems like scene functionality would be the most easily attainable and huge improvement to the Helix. Perhaps as the editor progresses this functionality will come as well. As usual I suspect L6 has the programming talent but not always the programming time and unlimited hardware budget to make this stuff happen at a palatable consumer price point.

Me too, I prefer and expected to be able to have the choice between the two methods! It would be interesting to know what the major source of the latency is - the code, the memory speed, the DSP processor? If the code still has room to be optimized and is the major culprit, maybe there is a way to minimize latency with the existing hardware. And I do think there is a way to preload/anticipate at least the presets showing on the selected bank if there is enough memory. This would at least give people 4 presets that could be switched to quickly.