optofonik

I get it. It's stating, or asking, the obvious. Okayfine. How bad is it? Has anyone experienced the same thing? What did that experience entail? Does anyone know of someone, or read a post by someone. who has experienced the same thing? What did their experience entail? Etc.? Stating the obvious isn't nearly as egregious as asking a stupid question. Duly noted.

Again, in case anyone is ever interested in knowing before they waste time. The micro.ghost works as advertised and is affordable. Considering it's other functions, my initial impression of a USB host as nothing more than an added expense necessary to integrate the Zoom has certainly changed and so the Zoom is a keeper. The micro.ghost is more than a basic USB host.

Turned the HX Effects on today and saw this: ,

Just in case anyone is interested in such a thing. The micro.ghost is a USB host made by Disaster Areas Designs. The micro.ghost MIDI out also acts as a MIDI thru. An added bonus is that the micro.ghost powers the Zoom via USB. mocro ghost.mp4

Yeah, sorry about that, I got a little dyslexic. Duly noted and thread title appropriately edited. The DAD micr.ghost is built like a tank and only a bit more expensive than the host you linked to. I did look at that, though. Since I have another specialty box from DAD that works flawlessly I ponied up and went with them. Buy once. Cry once. Thanks for answering my question in spite of the bad title. The mocro.ghost is working perfectly with the HX Stomp, btw. The next test is connecting The Stomp and Zoom to the HX Effects loop and getting the three of them MIDIed up. After that I wait on delivery of the ES-8 and I'm off to the races with a full redesign of my pedalboards:

If I read the manual correctly the HX Stomp transmits MIDI via USB which would seem to indicate it's a MIDI host. If I connect a USB cable from the HX Stomps to the Zoom 70-CDR's USB port would the Zoom not respond to program change messages?

Headroom of sorts. You can tone down highs if they get a bit too much but you can't add what isn't there; unless I'm mistaken about impedance as it relates to pickups. Better to have more and need less. My referencing the latency thing was strictly related to bypassvalves comment and the number of conversions that could accrue with so much I /O. As for an HX Switch, I understand how it it would be "sort of the opposite" of a Helix. Sorry, I didn't mean to muddy the waters. Personally, I would not want any effects included in an HX Switch, that's what the Helix / HX units are for.

So every instance of the signal going out of the box is DA converted and every instance coming onto the box is AD converted? That means that for 8 loop blocks in a Helix to be checker-boarded with internal Helix blocks, there are 16 conversions happening. Yikes. How many ms would the latency be for something like that? Without studio DAW level DSP I would imagine it would be unusable.

If it happens I'll be one of the first to ditch the ES-8 (and maybe even my Pedal Palette).

The loop block currently knocking down the block count to 5 is reason enough to add at least one more block, imo.

Thanks for responding in the forum, DI. Here are some of the features I'd like to see on the HX Switcher: Dedicated stereo/dual mono inputs. Stereo output. The ability to gang mono sends and returns for stereo use. Volume pedal loop. More than one programmable expression pedal input. 3 buffers: input/movable/output Ability to enabled/disabled buffers. Input impedance: 2.2 MΩ; / output impedance: 100Ω. Ability to Isolate output. Phase reversal capability for each loop. MIDI in / out. Command Center Programming via HX Edit. A color screen only slightly larger than the HX Stomp with same UI Digital scribble strips if they didn't contribute too much to the overall size. A form factor no wider than two HX Stomps side by side, a bit smaller top to bottom, and same height: 14" x 4" x 2". Or, just use the HX Effects enclosure for economies of scale. The HX Effects enclosure would provide the aforementioned scribble strips but the display of the Stomp is a bit nicer. Because Line 6 has been around so long and has become so ubiquitous I sometimes forget it's a relatively small company here in LA County and resources are indeed limited compared to global juggernauts like Roland. I still think that if Line 6 put out an HX Switcher, at a competitive price point, the market would suddenly get a bit bigger and be led by Line 6. Thanks again, DI, for taking a moment to respond as you did. Stay healthy. Stay safe.

MIDI side is still TBD. Command Center has been my plan but I haven't worked with the ES-8 programming software yet. Gain staging will, indeed, take some time. Impedance matching is something else I'll have to take some time to check. It all takes time but where I'm at The Great Pause is estimated to be in effect for my business for another 10-12 weeks. I took on three specific projects to keep me sane and sharp during The Great Pause, this one, a baritone partscaster, and finishing touches on an audio playback rig for work. I needed technical projects to stay sharp till my industry starts back up. Surprisingly, this is the most daunting. LOL, copy DB manager. Got any recommendations???

I've blocked out what I think is going to be the most malleable, the most flexible, configuration between the HX Effects, HX Stomp, ES-8, and Pedal Palette. I have some trepidation about the final output, however. Ignore the green lines in the last photo.

Yeah, I get that. I guess a lot of folks actually think companies are perusing forums for such ideas; some do of course, but most don't. I sometimes use the line as something of a rhetorical "full stop". I do think it's a brilliant idea, though, so I can't imagine someone at Line 6 R&D hasn't already considered it as a way to expand the Helix ecosystem. The recent unification of the Helix product line with the Helix Core engine opens up a lot of possibilities for Helix Core based products and the "HX Switch" is the next logical progression of the Helix line.

The Stomp and HX Effects are for use on a pedalboard, the Helix Floor is a pedalboard. Also, the Helix floor doesn't have 8 stereo send/returns and blocks, only 4. You mean like the MS-3? I wouldn't want built in FX, that's what the Stomp and HX Effect are for. I want an ES-8, MusicomLabs MKV, RJM MM, switcher only form factor with the HX UI and workflow. I did submit to Ideascale in addition to posting here for opinions within the user community. The HEX doesn't have enough loops and doesn't have stereo I/O from what I can see. I can see from the picture of your board, as well as your words, we are in absolute agreement. I'm glad someone else sees the crazy vast potential the "HX Switch" (yes, I just did that) would have. Imagine an HX Effects, HX Stomp, and an HX Switch as the foundation of a pedalboard. If Line 6 did it right , the "HX Switch" could even have a successful run for the money against the comparable Switchblade. Quite easily, actually.

I've sketched out some configurations but I'm hoping to get some other ideas from forum members about what they think the most versatile signal path configuration would be that integrates just these three units without any sort of switcher. Thanks in advance (and after, of course).

https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/HX-Switcher-w-stereo-main-ins-stereo-loops-stereo-main-outs/987670-23508?submitted=1 HX Switcher: w/ stereo main ins, stereo loops, stereo main outs Imagine an HX Effects with no effects where all the blocks are insert blocks (that are also stereo). People who currently aren't interested in the Helix / HX line will be interested in this. Since no other company offers a switcher with the ability to rearrange the fx chain that is ALSO full stereo, front to back, and the basic foundation for one already exists in the Helix / HX family is there anything standing in the way of this happening? The success of the Boss ES-5 / ES-8 units are proof there is a market.

I never told you this. How did you find out? Who have you been talking to?!?!

Hahaha, love all the replies. If it helps answer some questions . . . I started out on synthesizers in 1982. You guitarists were right after all, the level of expression one can get out of a guitar is better than a synthesizer. Even after running a guitar through a bunch of wacky effects, the "expression" inherent in playing a guitar can never be fully disappeared. That's a good thing. Also, the pieces I play tend to run about 6-10 minutes long so there isn't a lot of "tap dancing" between "songs".

An ES-5/8 or EFX LEII/MK-VI type switcher/swapper to help facilitate a unified ecosystem for hybrid pedalboards.

The Zoom MS-70CDR patched into the HX Stomp's loop, the Stomp patched into the HX Effects loop, the HXFX patched into the one of the ES-8 stereo loops, all standalone left field pedals patched into the rest of the ES-8 loops. Surely this has already been done.

The number of pedals it would take to replicate everything the Helix offers would be astronomically expensive and require a pedalboard that would be equally expansive. Offering a switcher/ swapper actually seems like a natural progression for Line 6 considering how popular these things have become. At the right price point Line 6 would crush the competition, especially considering the superior UI that Line 6 already has. Are you listening, Line 6?!

I'm pretty much done evaluating the HX Stomp for use with my trusty HX Effects and other pedals (I think the Stomp's a keeper). Now I'm in the market for an ES-5/8 or the EFX-LE/MK-V. After reading the manuals and watching various videos I really wish Line 6 would do one of these switcher/swapper pedals. Line 6 has a very dialed in and logical UI with the Helix line and the UIs on these switcher/swappers are straight outta that 1980s DX-7 era of UIs. Sure, there is software available for these switchers but with the HX Effects/HX Stomp UIs I rarely need to use HX Edit.

Holy cow, sometimes you ask a question and you don't even know what you're asking; seriously, I'm having a flashback to the early days of the WWW. This looks like an amazing piece of software. It really does appear to follow the TT technical and UI motif. It took me awhile to warm up to the more "left brain" approach of SD2 but I grew to appreciate the nostalgia for, and resurgence of, my right brain. I'm going to check out the Redwirez samples. If these cats ever do an IR library for the HX Stomp/Effects I might be the first in line.