mark_gamache

Wondering if there is a market for a small companion bank switcher pedal for the HX Stomp. This would expand the switching of the HX Stomp to allow for Bank Up/Down without using the expression slots. This pedal would connect directly to the HX Stomp's USB port (avoiding those large midi cables). This would allow the HX buttons to be used for Pedal or Snapshot changes. Is there something that does this already?

thanks for any feedback. 

I am not sure there are midi commands that correspond to all the parameters of the Helix. Those commands could be done via SysEx, but I don't think Helix supports that method of updating the Helix (see below): 

https://line6.com/support/topic/30972-helix-midi-and-sysex/

I am not that familiar with how the IR's are stored, but how did you communicate with the Helix hardware? (I am a programmer type...).

My needs are pretty simple, I just want to build a GUI on top of the command center that lets me view edit the loop changes (CC messages) on my VooDoo Labs Hex switcher. Using the basic command center UI would work, but it's cumbersome and not conducive to quick editing or experimentation.   

What I want is specific to my set up, but is there a larger need for a non-Line 6 editor? 

sorry, I should have been more specific. JSON is the container, but the structure and message specifics are still unique to Line 6 Helix. I could de-serialize some samples, but that would only expose the features used in that sample. It would be cumbersome (not impossible) to reverse engineer the formatting.  

thanks,

mark  

I am using the Helix to control a bank of external pedals using the VooDoo Hex. I control the VooDoo Hex loops using CC messages. Of course, I can use the command center to do this, but manually assigning multiple channel / CC messages to control each loop for each snapshot (or foot controller) is tedious.  I doubt live programming the Helix directly using an external app (midi or FBV) is easy (please tell me if I am wrong).   Is there documentation on the .hlx JSON format? I could write an GUI editor to facilitate editing the .hlx files then upload to Helix with the Line 6 editor.  I can try and use samples to reverse engineer, but it would be better to get official docs. 

thanks,

mark

I agree that SysEx is beyond most people's capabilities, but it's just a arbitrary binary format using Midi as a transport. I think you can pack anything in Sysex, right? Given that your FBV protocol is likely a binary format it could be stored in Sysex. I agree that the speed of midi might pose a problem especially when sending large patches (with like IR's). The benefits may be too little to spend any time implementing Sysex, but I think it's possible, or am I off base? Of course, in order to allow users to use the Sysex, the formats would have to be published. Again that's a lot of work and may open Line 6 to exposing proprietary information. Note: I've done some limited parsing of Sysex for a side project that never got going. 

Thanks! That's a very cool switcher. It's similar to the HEX unit that I have, but much more sophisticated and more options. I am not sure that gets me to where I want to be (I'll have to think on it). I need two stereo send/rec blocks and a mono send/rec block. What's silly is one of my outboard effects is an H9. For the cost of another switcher I could just buy an extra H9 core (used) and put it in the signal chain with the other stereo effect and solve the problem that way. Maybe that's what I do... Seems like complete absolute overkill.

I have two stereo effects units and a few drive pedals that I want to use in Helix signal chains. I can combine the drive units into one mono block using a Voodoo Lab  Hex switcher , but that still leaves me needing an extra mono loop (the four efx send/returns will be used by the two stereo effects). I know I could put the mono drive block before the Helix, but that doesn't allow fitting inside a chain and/or using with my Variax VDI. Any idea the best way to get an extra effects loop?

-mark