HonestOpinion

Any AES/EBU cable will work. For that matter any XLR cable will work in a pinch if you don't have too long a run. Just get yourself a decent quality inexpensive AES/EBU cable though as it is less likely to drop signal.

I would like to see at least two more reset combinations. One that did a global reset and restored only 'Factory' setlists leaving all others intact. The second option would be to restore only the 'Templates' setlist leaving all others intact. That would make it so that you could refresh with the latest factory and template setlists without overwriting your own and having to reload them. The reason for separating out the Factory setlists restore from the one for the Templates, is that I use the 'Templates' setlist to store user presets and my own templates. I also keep the Line6 template presets there as well. Doubt I'm the only one. There are relatively few Templates presets and that setlist gives me room for my PC+ presets. I suppose you could separate the 'Factory 1' and 'Factory 2' reloads as well for people who have dedicated one of the Factory setlists for their own user presets.

Line 6 rocks! Awesome turnaround on the hotfix! Tip 'o the whole Susquehana hat factory to you gents.

Indeed!

What version of the HX Edit package are you updating to? I did not notice the message you mention in the 2.9 update notes that there would be an error message while updating. That sounds more like the 2.8 firmware than the current 2.9. You should uninstall your Helix software after getting backups and reinstall 2.9. It does make a difference to reinstall HX Edit as this downloads the latest drivers as well as the software. The drivers are what enable the software to see your device. Don't use the separate Updater to update your firmware if you are installing 2.9. Just use the HX Edit package. Have you tried any of the global reset options? If you can't get backups or if your device is still not being recognized after uninstalling and reinstalling HX Edit go to this site for the footswitch reset combinations. https://helixhelp.com/manuals/helix/reset-options.html

There are some major issues popping up for some people on this update although perhaps not for that many of them or I would expect to see more posts. I can understand why the issues that are appearing, for whatever number of affected users, such as severe tuner and screen lag and volume knobs not controlling properly have those impacted scratching their heads as to what is going on with QA. Can't say some of those thoughts don't cross my mind when I see something major slip through but that is mitigated by having spent decades dealing with enterprise software for corporations with millions of dollars on the line and way more to lose that also went through years of bugs. The more complicated a product gets the more difficult it is to do a bug-free release. With that said the hope is that the bugs that do slip through are minor and obscure. Here's to L6 getting out a hotfix quickly! Although there are a lot of bug reports coming in I also remember what happened after the 2.8 release and the update process itself seems to have gone infinitely smoother. The changes to the editor and firmware upgrade process seem to have resulted in far fewer posts from users who had issues with the upgrade than I have seen over the entire lifetime of the Helix. These improvements to the upgrade process are quite possibly part of the benefits we derived from the more involved and extensive 2.8 upgrade that put all our devices on the new unified "Helix Core" architecture. I guess we will have to wait a few more days to see how things go as more people update but in the past by this time the forum had already exploded with people complaining about temporarily bricked units and asking a thousand questions about how to get through the upgrade process. To me there appears to be a qualitative change in the upgrade process for the better. I am extremely happy to see a device that is now several years old still getting updates that add substantial improvements. I suspect the 3.0 update will be particularly noteworthy. To get an update during a pandemic when Line6 workers have so many additional stressors is above and beyond the call. Sincere thanks to Line6 for giving me a new toy/tool to play with at no cost during a particularly grim time.

I get what you are saying and I assumed there would be users who did not want them on all the time. At least having the option would allow them to be used more easily when constructing a preset. I would suggest a global option to show them all the time, only when the output block for example is selected as they operate now, or just turn them off. That would catch a wider variety of user preferences. I thought about the DSP thing myself but if the meters work the way most other DSP allotment functions on the Helix, then they are permanently using the same amount of DSP whether they are being displayed or not. Could be wrong though and if the DSP usage is different or the cycles consumed when active impact other processing adversely that is definitely a consideration .

My take after a day with the metering. Well once again have to say the gain reduction meters are magnificent. The output meters are also a welcome addition but agree they would be more helpful with some kind of markings or different colored segments, e.g., moving from green to yellow to red. Really dislike the dim green lighting of the input icon. Would much prefer to have input bars that were located over where the output bars are now. The addition of the meters, great feature! Why make it so you have to select the output block to see them? Users will have to resave every preset/snapshot with the output block highlighted just to use the meters live? If you want to see the output meters while you are building a preset you are going to have to switch back and forth between the for example, effect block whose level you are adjusting, and then jump over to highlight the output block. Just too much work for me to fit in between my busy schedule of hand washing and procuring food and toilet paper. Ditch the nigh invisible light up icon effect on the input block, or if you think it is really keen keep it and make it brighter. Either way just add input meters. Leave input and output bars showing all the time. No matter which block is selected. Maybe add a global setting to turn them off for people who don't want to use metering all the time. I know Line6 wasn't too enthused about the idea of adding meters but now that they are here let's make the most of 'em. Free the meters!

Some stellar troubleshooting work here! If you have not already you should provide this information directly to Line6 in a ticket. Don't rely on them seeing it here. This could be very helpful information if it proves to be accurate and you do seem to have a repeatable test case. If it is not the sole possible cause for this issue it will still help narrow things down and assist in finding any other causes.

Sounds great! What are you using for drums?

As long as everyone is raising and re-raising on the spreadsheets I'm all in with this one with actual audio samples of each amp, cab, and effect. Hmm, doesn't seem to be uploading. No really though, thanks for the spreadsheets. Very handy!

So we hear, great! Thanks for passing that on. Now the other question, how many taps does it use to average the tempo?

He might be an employee but it is not that uncommon for users on various boards to start their username with the company or product name although that is a convention that is least confusing when reserved for company employees. That or a special visual or text designation for an employee username. You do for example see the words "Line 6 Staff" below Digital_Igloo's username when he posts. Maybe someone here is familiar with "Line6Nelson" and can let us know. He has no official designation under his username. Just pointing out that the huge preponderance of posts on the subject here claim it is a two tap average. If that is the case I hope a future update increases it to at least three or more. As has been pointed out there appears to be a hotfix coming for tap tempo so I am not denying it may have some issues right now. Ideally this would be tested with a calibrated piston hitting the tempo(not suggesting L6 has to do this). Humans don't have precise timing and even different tap switches can activate at slightly different depression points. Of course if it is off substantially and consistently even the human and hardware margin of error can become insignificant. Tapping tempo in is an approximate art, rarely precise although it should be close.

Great improvements to Line6's update process. Found the update to be flawless. The addition of the new automatic notification of a new version of the software is fantastic as is the elimination of the requirement to use the Updater. User error as well as users with incompatible computers, OS versions, or faulty cables or USB ports will inevitably pop up but that is unavoidable. Would still like to see the following things happen to reduce user challenges with updates. Particularly those new to the HX family of equipment. No need to put the firmware("Flash Memory") file at the top of the download page. It continues to confuse new users. Put it under a completely different section of the download menu. Helps that the HX Edit 2.9 and Helix Native 1.9 notes refer to each other. Makes it easier to know what version of each you should have to keep things matched up. Better yet would be to have an updater that can update the HX Edit package and Helix Native version at the same time if the user has a Helix Native license. If a user does not have any hardware and only Native perhaps Native could employ the new update alert and procedure that HX Edit is using. One master update to rule them all! Optional: Also think the new automatic backup built into HX Edit is a great addition! Might be worth having it backup individual setlists in addition to the full backup it already executes. For the more OCD of us automatically backing up the separate presets would be a bonus too in the event that there is something corrupt in one of the setlists that prevents that setlist from upgrading or being manually reloaded properly during or after the firmware upgrade. Always a proponent for making two separate full backups as well, in case my initial one is corrupt, but I do that before I upgrade firmware anyway. Know this might sound overly cautious to some/many(?) users which is why I started this last bullet point with "Optional". One might even say this would be dev cycles better spent on other things. Luckily all of these backup options are available from the menu and can be executed manually by the user. It would just be extremely handy but not necessary to see them automated. :-)

Is Line6Nelson a Line6 employee? There have been many previous posts on this subject for years now that stated that tap tempo was calculated on the Helix by only the last two taps. That has been the accepted if not preferred understanding of how tap tempo worked around here for a long time which is probably why Silverhead mentioned it. Would be a nice time for phil_m or someone else in the know to confirm the four tap thing if that is indeed the case.

Have been scrolling back through the posts on tap tempo as well as the new topic on it that just got created and am now aware that the issue is not that the tap tempo isn't responding for some people but that it is not accurately responding and is instead providing a tempo that is different from what was tapped. I have not tested it against a metronome so I may indeed be affected by this issue. In the interest of not introducing confusion and given the posts saying that this is a known issue I will also be looking forward to the fix.

Just want to remind everyone to check your global settings after you update before reporting a bug or problem. Mine were reset to their defaults. Haven't had time to test comprehensively as the update just hit but everything is working as anticipated so far once I reset them.

A quick fix for tap tempo would definitely be a great thing. Don't understand why it is impacting some people and not others. I'm not seeing it so far. Maybe it is a particular combination of global settings or affected by which blocks are in a preset. Do you see this when setting up a blank preset with only a delay block?

Agree 100%! Incredibly helpful to have this for the '3-Band Comp' although you are right in that you can also use it potentially to see how the 'Emphasis' setting is impacting the 'LA Studio Comp' as well.

I agree, it is very visible in this video. Looks nothing like that on my Helix where it is so dim as to be almost imperceptible. Don't know if that was a beta version he was demoing, or if the camera picks it up better than the human eye, or perhaps my screen is dimmer than his. I have one of the first Helix's that got produced. I pre-ordered mine when they first came out. Is the green background on the input/output icons dim on other people's screens as well?

Boot time is astoundingly fast. Just remarkable for a device with this much going on under the hood. Really impressive job of coding!

And I can definitively say that in my first sixty seconds of initial testing the gain reduction meters are AWESOME! Such a great feature to roll out. Makes setting the compressor way faster and easier!

Agree if by "subtle" you mean you need a chromatograph set to its most sensitive setting to see it from a standing position. Yup, definitely needs tweaking. Also strange that they just chose a colored background for the input block and included bars for the output block. Would have preferred bars on both. The implementation could use some fine tuning IMHO in the 3.0 firmware. Any way, very happy and grateful to see meters and indicators(grrrrr) making their way into the Helix. Enthused to start testing the gain reduction meters.

The slowness you describe is not happening on my Helix. Might want to try reloading the 2.9 firmware.

It seems to be working correctly for me on several different delay blocks on the Helix in both 'Transparent' and 'Authentic' modes. Haven't tested all the delay blocks yet. What is your global settings 'MIDI/Tempo' --> 'Tempo Select' set to? Mine is set to 'Per Preset'.