SaschaFranck

Fwiw, and that's something against using an external boost, I usually prefer to place global volume boosts (if I need them) in front of delays and reverbs. Otherwise, you could run into activating them while there's still some delay/reverb trails going on and the boost would hence boost these.

And btw, it'd be just as useful sitting right in the beginning of the signal chain to compensate for different guitar output levels. Oh yes, I know, there's gonna be the "well, it's one of the things you just deal with and it's also why guitars have different output levels" comments - fine if you think so, but I would still like such an option. And I could even elaborate why this is making *much* sense for me and why I had a little boost/cut box in front of my old pedal board for just that single purpose.

Fwiw, I can totally understand the need for certain on the fly boosts (or cuts) of the overall level, even while playing (hence coming along with a footswitchable option). I'm currently in a band project where everything works fine with my standard patch, but there's 2 tunes where things can get pretty loud (not always, just sometimes) and one where it could as well become less loud than usual. For that very project, I'd really like to have a switch allowing me to cycle between 3 volume states.

Hm, I don't think it goes much more official than Eric Klein commenting on the feature set.

Did I ever mention on this forum that global blocks would be nice to have for such things? I'm sure I haven't, so here we go: Global blocks would be nice to have for these kinda things!

So, didn't you realize 2.9 is out already yet? Oh, sorry, forgot that you will only ever read this when 3.1.0 already hit the streets.

Fwiw, I'm using all three possible FS modes together: 4 snapshots/stomps, 10 stomps, 8 snapshots. My main 4 snapshots are those visible in 4 snap/stomp mode and I can get to 8 snapshots by pressing the up/down switches simultaneously. I keep some more "esoteric" combinations on the additional 4 snapshots. As far as stomps go, the 4 visible in 4/4 mode are some that I use to globally modify a preset (or channel - I'm usually using 2 channel setups), so they have "snapshot bypass" deactivated. And btw, I have also set my global snapshot edits to "discard", that way the snapshots always stay identical and I can recall them all the time (minus the stomps with "snapshot bypass" deactivated). Works pretty well for me that way.

Ok, just tried, works exactly as described, you can hook up a switch to EXP 2/3, assign it to a gain blocks bypass and it'll work globally. If you do it like this, don't forget to deactivate snapshot bypass (for the gain block).

May I say that problems such as this would be another proof of why global blocks would just be incredibly nice to have? With a gain block set to "global", all this would be just a piece of cake. However, while I haven't tried myself yet, in case you don't need the external EXP pedal option for anything else, you could just hook a footswitch up there. The EXP position can be set to global, so the Helix would remember it's position even when switching patches. Assign a volume block to it in all patches (a pretty trivial task) or use a "relative volume tweak" on the output block (again on all patches, not as trivial as the volume block, though) and bob should be your uncle. I will try myself later on to see whether that works.

What exactly is "not working"? Do you see an input signal on USB ins 7/8 in Reaper?

Wow, someone else into Philbert Desanex... oh the memories. Apart from that, at least somewhat on topic: I really wish hum and ripple would be turned off by default. I'm possibly not enough of a supernatural warthog to deal with them.

Yes, I do.

Fwiw, IMO it'd be a better idea to not even announce the update at all. Just release it when it's done.

I'm a Helix user and will never ever return to using real amps. Yet, if you are happy with your Lonestar (which I could imagine, as it's a really excellent amp), you may not need a full Helix at all. The described 4-cable-method would work just as well with the HX FX and as there's a whole plethora of drives, EQs and compressors coming with it, you can still massively modify the tones of the Lonestar channels. In fact, if I personally was in that situation, unless I wanted maximum flexibility for recording duties, I would just go for a HX FX. After all, it's smaller and less expensive.

Yeah, sorry, that's what I meant, as in the saddles being a part of the bridge, whereas a GK pickup sits completely outside of the bridge.

Yeah well, the fact that the piezos are mounted inside the bridge certainly doesn't help with authentic PU behaviour, either.

Well, let's face it, if things were made for us musicians (rather than in the interest of maximized profit), we wouldn't be dealing with any of that stuff. We'd have a Hex pickup signal format that would be accepted by both Line 6 and other companies devices. In addition, Line 6 would offer an external box to take care of the pickup modeling so you could use it on any guitar. Just the way Roland is doing things - which is a lot better in many aspects (the actual pickup design included, a slapped on GK pickup reacts a lot more authentic when it comes to things such as palm mutes - and yes, I have compared the two directly). As is, we have to use a Variax in case we would like to take advance of the Helix/Variax interaction and a GK pickup slapped onto it to also use hex processing and Guitar-to-MIDI. The resulting guitar would be a complete ergonomic nightmare. Even more than what the current models already are (let's face it, from a strat style players POV, Variaxes are plain horrible, every single one of them). Well, it's not just because of the tracking. Once we're dealing with individual string transpositions, individual sounds per strings or things such as double bends when going Guitar-to-MIDI, hex pickups are absolutely required.

Well, pretty much all class compliant devices work just fine.

Yeah, for bass players that'd be extra cool. Wouldn't mind some synth-ish things for my guitar musings, though. Or at least something along the lines of EHX' POG/HOG series, which I find to be quite wicked.

Well, not via MIDI at least (as Phil already explained). Basically, they're nothing else but FX pedals as in that they're working straight with the guitar signal and manipulating it - but there's no conversion happening. Either method has its pros and cons. Anything converted to MIDI will more or less automatically result in things not exactly being guitar-like anymore. Slurs, glides, scratches, dead notes and what not, they all won't work as there's a) no sufficient detector/converter in those Hex pickup driven systems for such signals and b) no sufficient parameter set covering them in MIDI land (let alone on any target sound module). As a result, you will have to adjust your playing quite a bit (which usually is also required to make sure the conversion is working well without glitches) On the upside, you can use any "normal" synth and also do nifty things, such as individual string transpositions or such as sending each string to a different sound. The "native" conversion (as happening in EHX/Boss pedals) doesn't allow for the latter, but on the upside, you don't need to adjust your playing style and even your slides and such will be transformed into whatever it might be. There's also a kind of hybrid approach, such as used in the Variax guitars but also in Rolands VG series and now as well in their SY-1000. For that, the signal is grabbed by a Hex pickup - hence each string is processed separately, which allows for individual string tunings but also offers vastly improved "native/direct" synthesis (without going the MIDI route). In the Variax guitars, the Hex pickup is used for individual string tuning and guitar/pickup modeling. I think it'd be cool if Line 6 did something like the synth-ish stuff with their Variaxes, but I'm afraid it's pretty much a niche thing, so I wouldn't think it's likely to happen.

Well, there's Jam Origin already, doing just that, converting polyphonic guitar signals into MIDI without the need for a dedicated pickup. Obviously, certain things possible with a Hex pickup driven setup won't happen (mainly individual string transposition and different strings triggering different synth sounds), but otherwise there shouldn't be an intrinsic problem for L6 to not be able to pull something like that off. Personally, I'd be a lot more interested in "direct synthesis", such as happening on the Boss SY-300 or on the various EHX pedals. But I'm sure this would come at plenty of CPU cost.

I'm mixing my IRs since a long time already, just using what my DAW has on offer. Works a treat. Whenever I find a nice blend, I consolidate things into one single IR.

I never felt I needed a meter for a guitar compressor. But obviously, YMMV. And when you say "Loop FX", these are likely digital units, so they *do* need a meter at least on the input, for you to easily see whether you're clipping their inputs. But that's pretty irrelevant once the signal is converted already (for the same reasons you see no meters on, say, delay plugins). Anyway, I'm not opposed to meters, not at all. In fact, for some things I absolutely welcome them.

Regarding the meters, the main question for me would be: Can I hit eleven?

I would never do that. I'd only use them to check for clipping.