phil_m

Can't be turned off, per se, but you could easily ignore it. In fact, by default, when you turn on the Helix after doing the update, it will function pretty much the same as it did before the update (the Global Settings menu has changed). The mode switch will switch between Preset and Stomp mode. If you don't ever want to go to Snapshot mode, you don't have to. It would be very easy to ignore. That being said, I'd really suggest you check them out. It's really easy to use, and they add a ton in the way of flexibility.

This is basically what I observed, too, although, you don't have to go through the snapshots in numerical order. When you go into a preset where the snapshots haven't been defined yet, they are all the same, like you said. So I set up Snapshot 1 like I want it, then if I go to Snapshot 4, for instance, the settings there will match Snapshot 1. If I make changes in Snapshot 4, and then go to Snapshot 6, Snapshot 6 will match Snapshot 4. Basically, unedited snapshot will match the last Snapshot you edited. Once you have made changes in them all, they will automatically recall the changes as long as you have the Snapshots Edit parameter set to "Recall" in the Global Settings Menu. Note, though, this sort of workflow described above only applies to presets with "virgin" snapshots - meaning presets in which you haven't edited some or all of the snapshots. If you bring up a preset with 8 saved snapshots, editing in one of them doesn't affect the others (unless you do something that affects the whole preset - like move, add, or delete blocks).

Well, adding a block is something that affects the whole preset, so I'm not sure how it could behave differently. A snapshot is simply saving the states of all the blocks and controlled parameters in a preset. If you add a block to a preset, you have to go into each snapshot and set up that block however you want it in each snapshot. It's how the workflow is with snapshots. I suppose it could be possible that the default state for adding a new block was off in every snapshot, but that's not very intuitive.

Just to head this off at the pass and re-emphasize - you must resets the globals and presets after this update, or the Helix won't work. 7. Turn off Helix/Helix Rack. HELIX FLOOR: While holding footswitches 9 and 10 (middle two switches on the bottom row), turn on Helix. HELIX RACK: While holding knobs 5 and 6 below the screen, turn on Helix Rack. Wait for the message “Will reset Globals and restore stock Presets, Setlists and IRs…†to appear and let go. YOU MUST RESET GLOBALS AND RESTORE PRESETS, OTHERWISE HELIX 2.0 MAY NOT WORK PROPERLY.

With snapshots, you can change up to 64 parameters per snapshot. You don't need to assign a parameter to a footswitch to have it change with a snapshot. You assign it as a snapshot controller. In some ways, having snapshots makes other controller assignments something of a moot point, although, there may be things you still want to have dedicated controllers for.

This is not a drill! Helix v2.00.0 is a firmware update that includes new models, features, fixes, stability improvements, and optimizations. It is highly recommended that all Helix users perform this update! IMPORTANT! YOU *MUST* FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO INSTALL 2.00! 1. Shut down all Line 6 software as well as any software that streams audio, including, but not limited to: iTunes, Spotify, DAWs, etc. 2. Use your CURRENT EXISTING Helix application to back up all of your presets and IRs (if you want to keep them). If you’re running Helix FW 1.12, your current Helix application version should be 1.12. NOTE: You may want to back up individual Setlists so you can restore them to empty setlists without affecting the new 2.0 factory presets. 3. Quit the CURRENT EXISTING Helix editor application and download and install the NEW Helix editor application (2.00), available here: http://line6.com/software/ This also installs the newest version of Line 6 Updater (1.09). 4. If you’re using Helix Rack with Helix Control, turn off Helix Control. 5. Using the latest Line 6 Updater (1.09), update Helix/Helix Rack to the newest firmware (2.00). At the end of the update process, Helix/Helix Rack will reboot automatically and begin rebuilding presets. Wait for this process to complete. 6. If you’re using Helix Control with Helix Rack, connect and power on Helix Control. The inspector will ask if you want to update its firmware. Press Knob 6 (OK). 7. Turn off Helix/Helix Rack. YOU MUST RESET GLOBALS AND RESTORE PRESETS, OTHERWISE HELIX 2.0 MAY NOT WORK PROPERLY: HELIX FLOOR: While holding footswitches 9 and 10 (middle two switches on the bottom row), turn on Helix. HELIX RACK: While holding knobs 5 and 6 below the screen, turn on Helix Rack. Wait for the message “Will reset Globals and restore stock Presets, Setlists and IRs…†to appear and let go. 8. Using the NEW Helix editor application (2.00), restore the user presets you backed up in step 2. New Amp Models Cali IV Rhythm 1, based on* the Rhythm I channel of the MESA/Boogie® Mk IV Cali IV Rhythm 2, based on* the Rhythm II channel of the MESA/Boogie® Mk IV Cali IV Lead, based on* the Lead channel of the MESA/Boogie® Mk IV Line 6 2204 Mod, Line 6 Original based on* a hot-rodded Marshall® JCM® 800 Line 6 Fatality, Line 6 Original New Effects Models Distortion > Wringer Fuzz (Mono, Stereo), based on* Garbage’s special BOSS® FZ-2 EQ > Cali Q Graphic (Mono, Stereo), based on* the MESA/Boogie® Mk IV’s 5-band EQ Modulation > Harmonic Tremolo (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original Delay > Vintage Digital (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original * All product names used herein are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. Mesa/Boogie is a registered trademark of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd. Marshall and JCM are registered trademarks of Marshall Amplification Plc. BOSS is a registered trademark of Roland Corporation. New Features Snapshots—Select one of eight snapshots to instantly recall all block on/off states, up to 64 parameter values, certain Command Center values, and tempo. Any Delay, Reverb, or FX Loop block with its Trails parameter turned on will spill across snapshots seamlessly. To select a snapshot, press BANK UP and BANK DOWN simultaneously and then one of the middle eight footswitches. For Helix Rack owners who haven’t yet snagged Helix Control (and you should), press PRESETS and turn Knob 5 (Select Snapshot). For more information, check out the new Helix 2.0 Owner’s Manual, available here: http://line6.com/support/manuals/#effects (available later today) Snapshot Parameter Assign—To adjust a parameter AND set it to automatically update per snapshot, press and turn the knob. To adjust a parameter WITHOUT it automatically updating per snapshot, just turn the knob like you normally would. If you accidentally press and turn and didn’t mean to, hold BYPASS and press the knob to instantly unassign snapshot control Copy/Paste Snapshots—While touch-holding the footswitch for the snapshot you want to copy, briefly touch and release the footswitch for the snapshot you want to overwrite. For Helix Rack owners who haven’t yet snagged Helix Control (and again, you SHOULD), select the snapshot you want to copy, press PRESETS, and then ACTION. Press Knob 1 (Copy Snapshot). Select the snapshot you want to overwrite, press ACTION, and then Knob 2 (Paste Snapshot) Swap Snapshots—Touch and hold two snapshot footswitches and a dialog appears, asking if you want to swap their location Rename Snapshots—Press PRESETS and then Knob 6 (Rename Snapshot) to rename the snapshot to something meaningful, such as “VERSE 1â€, “BIG SOLO†or “D. IGLOO.†Snapshot names are limited to 10 characters Global Settings > Preferences > Snapshot Edits—Determines whether or not any edits made to a snapshot are remembered when returning to that snapshot. "Recall" automatically recalls any edits made to the snapshot; "Discard" forgets any edits made and returns the snapshot to its state when the preset was last saved. You must save the preset to store changes to snapshots regardless. The home screen’s camera icon turns red when set to “Discard.†Shortcut: Hold BYPASS and press SAVE to toggle this setting Global Settings > MIDI/Tempo > Tempo Select—In addition to Global and Per Preset (still the default), Helix’s tempo can now be set per snapshot. Shortcut: Touch TAP to briefly view and set this parameter Global Settings > Footswitches > Preset Mode Switches—You can now determine whether each row in Preset footswitch mode (upper or lower) selects Presets, Snapshots, or Stomps. The default setting remains the same, but is now called “8 Presets†Global Settings > Footswitches > Snapshot Mode Footswitches—A new Global Settings > Footswitches parameter lets you set Snapshot mode footswitches as Auto Return (automatically returns to Preset or Stomp footswitch mode after selection) or Manual Return (stays in Snapshot footswitch mode until you press FS6 [CANCEL]) Global Settings > Footswitches > Up/Down Switches—FS1 and FS7 now have three options: Bank Up/Down, Preset Up/Down, and Snapshot Up/Down, available from the Global Settings > Footswitches menu. Shortcut: Press and hold FS1 and FS7 for one second to cycle through Bank Up/Down, Preset Up/Down, and Snapshot Up/Down Global Settings > Ins/Outs > USB In 1/2 Trim—Added the ability to attenuate the level of incoming USB 1/2 signals, so Mac/PC/iOS applications with no (or difficult-to-access) app-level volume control can be more easily blended with Helix’s processing Global Settings > Ins/Outs > Digital Out Level—Added the ability to adjust the digital (S/PDIF and AES/EBU) output level Global Settings > EXP Pedals > EXP 1/2/3 Polarity—Added the ability to individually switch the polarity of EXP 1, 2, and 3, providing support for a wider variety of third-party expression pedals Global Settings > EXP Pedals > EXP 1/2/3 Pedal Position—Global Settings > Footswitches > EXP Pedal Position has been split into separate parameters for each expression pedal. For example, EXP 1’s wah position can be recalled per preset, EXP 2’s volume position can act globally, and EXP 3’s reverb depth control can be recalled per snapshot Controllers to Variax Parameters—Controllers (including Snapshots) can now control/recall Variax parameters, so you can do cool stuff like toggle between two guitar models with a footswitch, control Variax’s tone knob with an expression pedal, assign a momentary footswitch to drop D, recall completely different tunings with each snapshot, and more. There’s nothing special to do; just assign a controller to Variax parameters like you would any other parameter Per Preset Guitar In Impedance—Global Settings > Ins/Outs > Guitar In Impedance has been moved to the Input > Multi and Input > Guitar In block and is now recalled per preset. It appears at Knob 4 as “Guitar In-Z.†Now that it’s on the Home page, you can assign a footswitch or snapshot to it and adjust how your guitar’s pickups are loaded in real time. The default has been changed to “Auto.†Enhanced Tuner Display—The tuner display now shows an additional –3-cent to +3-cent row of bars, providing more granularity when the note played is close to being in tune. Accuracy remains the same MIDI Recall Indicator—Press PRESETS to open the Setlist menu. Dark text appears above Knob 2 and displays the necessary MIDI messages required to remotely recall the current setlist, preset, and snapshot so you don’t have to go digging through the manual Other Improvements Shortcut: Hold BYPASS and press a parameter knob to quickly remove any controller assignment (including the Snapshots controller). The value appears without brackets, indicating no controller is assigned to it Shortcut: In Pedal Edit mode, press and hold FS10 (VALUE–) and FS11 (VALUE+) to quickly scroll through values. Now Helix Rack/Control users can quickly adjust parameters with their feet when no expression pedal is connected Shortcut: In Pedal Edit mode, press and hold a Time (or Speed) parameter switch to toggle between ms (or Hz) and note values, just like pressing the knob Helix’s pitch detect algorithms have been optimized and now track slightly faster Parameters in the Global Settings menu have been reorganized to better reflect their category. For example, Tap Tempo Pitch has been moved to a new Preferences submenu and the Info submenu has been removed, as the current FW version now appears at the top of the Global Settings screen On the Save, Name, and Customize screens, Knob 3 (Clear) has been replaced with Insert, which inserts a space and shifts all following characters to the right. You can still clear a character by pressing the joystick, which now cycles through A, a, 0, and [sPACE] The Footswitch Assign page has been renamed “Bypass Assign†to better describe current and potential future functionality Touch-hold any assigned stomp footswitch and the Customize button now also appears above Knob 5. The Customize button is grayed out if the footswitch has nothing yet assigned to it On the Customize screens, Knob 4 now always displays a Remove button, regardless of whether a custom label has been assigned (solid button) or not (grayed out button) When touching two stomp mode switches to swap their locations, the inspector text now tells you which two footswitches will be swapped Recall snapshots remotely via an incoming MIDI CC message. A CC69 message with value 0 recalls Snapshot 1, value 1 recalls Snapshot 2, value 2 recalls Snapshot 3, and so forth Footswitches in Looper mode now transmit corresponding MIDI CCs Additions to and improvements made to the existing factory preset bundle Re-leveled presets The Helix Owner’s Manual has been updated to 2.0: http://line6.com/support/manuals/#effects (available later today) Bug Fixes Parameters could respond sluggishly when receiving lots of fast incoming MIDI CC data - FIXED Some MIDI keyboards (including those by Roland and M-Audio) send active sensing messages every 300ms, which could sometimes affect Helix’s MIDI input to the computer, causing intermittent dropouts - FIXED Certain cab model defaults with 121 Ribbon mic could display as 421 Dynamic - FIXED Rapidly moving EXP 1/2/3 while importing/exporting presets could result in data lockout - FIXED Command Center > Copy/Paste All Commands would not copy customized labels - FIXED Learn Controller would not work with FS1 or FS7 while in 10 Switches Stomp mode - FIXED Helix wouldn’t remember tuner output routing across power cycles - FIXED After a factory reset, Global Settings > Ins/Outs > XLR Out Level would be set to Mic level until toggled, regardless of its displayed value - FIXED Certain delay models’ Time parameter could only go down to 20ms, even if the display reflected a lower value - FIXED The TAP footswitch’s LED would reflect Global tempo instead of Per Preset tempo - FIXED General stability improvements Other minor bug fixes and optimizations Known Issues In rare cases, snapshot-enabled parameter values may appear out of range; this doesn’t affect audio, only visual feedback of the value. If this happens, turn the knob slightly to reset the displayed value and resave

I think it's only a matter of time before it's there, but as far as the timing, I couldn't say. The thing about these MIDI features is that they are really important to the people they're important to, but the perhaps unfortunate reality is that it seems to be something that the vast majority of users don't really ever use. Anyway, one work around in the meantime is something like this: http://www.moltenvoltage.com/products/SIXY_by_PedalSync_Line_6_Tempo_Control_by_Molten_Voltage.html I realize it's not ideal to buy another product, but it's a viable solution.

http://line6.com/support/forum/18-pod-hd/

Put a mono gain block after the cab block to sum the output to mono. Actually, any mono block after it will sum them, but the gain block will be transparent.

I kid, I kid... Not meant as an attack on anyone... :D Actually, just something I've run into personally with a lot of guitarists I've played with.

Have you contacted CS in regards to this? If not, it's probably worth doing. They have been handling these amp switching issues on a case by case basis. They very well may be able to help you out.

You can't at the moment. The preset rings and tap tempo are always going to be red. The rings will change colors automatically in Stomp mode according to what kind of effect you have assigned to them, or you can assign a custom color in Stomp mode as well.

Line 6 is actually quite receptive to diverse opinions, critiques, bad reviews, etc... These boards are barely moderated, and, really, the only time posts are deleted or threads are locked is when things degenerate into personal attacks or someone really goes off the rails. There's only a handful of times I've seen that happen over the years.

Wordclock isn't the same thing as MIDI clock sync. The rack does have wordclock- that's for syncing the sample rates of different digital devices. It doesn't have anything to do with tempo or MIDI clock. Neither the floor or rack unit have MIDI clock sync yet.

DI has a face and emotions! If you prick him, does he not bleed? :mellow:

You actually don't even need to know the CC# to assign it to control a parameter. If you use the "learn controller" function, the Helix will automatically pair the CC you send with that parameter. For example, if you had a control surface and wanted to have a certain knob control a parameter in an effect, all you would have to do is hold down the knob for the parameter you want to control in the Helix, hit "learn controller", and then turn the knob on your control surface, and it's set.

The mix at 50% will give you repeats at the same level as the dry signal. Or at least that's the point where the repeats will be the loudest compared to the dry signal. Once you go past 50%, you start to reduce the dry level. So if you do this, you might need to compensate the overall level of the block by increasing the level parameter.

Well, first off, I'm not a Line 6 employee in any way, shape or form. I'm an expert user here on the forums, which was something Line 6 started a number of years ago. I do help Line 6 in beta testing, so I do occasionally get things free to test. The vast majority of Line 6 stuff I own I have bought with my own money, just like other users here. I understand your frustration in regards to having things not work or components fail. I think overall, the Helix is a step up from a build-quality and quality control perspective for Line 6. Of course, like I said, there will always be failures, and all the testing in the world won't catch components that fail after they've left the factory. The thing I've seen is that Line 6 has gone out its way to deal with these issues with the Helix. Over on The Gear Page forums, I've seen their Senior Director of Operations work personally with posters to get them replacement units in the few times it's come up. I don't think there's a whole lot more they can do in that area than what they're actually doing. It is always more difficult when dealing with users on different continents and in different countries, for sure.

This a piece I put together over the last few evenings... I've been trying to spend some time with amp models in the Helix that I usually consider out of my wheelhouse. All the guitars on this piece are using the 2204 model, a model that I have to admit I'd barely spent any real time with before. The guitars are my American Deluxe Fat Strat. The bass is using the Cali 400 model (just the factory preset with that name, actually). It's kind of my take on Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain", although, it's quite a departure from her poignant ballad... https://soundcloud.com/phil-miller-20/dont-explain

I would recommend trying the Line 6 drivers. Here's the link for the beta Mac drivers: http://line6.com/software/readeula.html?rid=6962

Are you using the Line 6 drivers or the built-in Mac drivers?