d0stenning

no i didn't   but........ this worked in the end:

well well well.... I tried this - and voila ! 

( rebooted the HELIX while the USB cable was attached to the iPad, also worked when attaching to iMac ) 

Moral of the story - its worth rebooting the HELIX if one is connecting a MIDI device via USB to it. 

https://youtu.be/nn2FB1P_Mn8

FWIW - I *can* actually record HELIX parts into the Loopy HD slots manually by operating the iPad app directly and play them back via the HELIX - its just this MIDI thing. I'm tempted to think its a firmware thing - or some obscure option in the HELIX settings - doubt its a hardware fault - since its just different data being sent over the same serial cable. audio - fine (both ways).

Daniel Stenning i've also used MIDI "snooper" apps on both the iPad and iMac to catch *any* MIDI coming out of the HELIX .... but - nothing

Do you have the MIDI Over USB setting turned on in the Global Settings menu? It's under Knob on the MIDI/Tempo page.

Yes. 

And i can send-receive audio over USB  ( to/from Ableton for example ) fine  from the HELIX..  weird. 

i've been trying to get the Loopy HD working with HELIX over USB - as per that cool CustomTone patch - but the problem is that neither my iPad 2 ( over camera kit ) or my iMac - using MIDI snooper apps etc can see ANYTHING MIDI wise from the HELIX. 

I tried Chris's patch AND i just tried the template MIDI Bass Pedals patch in TEMPLATES - and ..... nothing ..... is this a known hardware/firmware bug or am i missing something ? 

My iPad receives MIDI over camera kit fine from other MIDI generators ( such as AKAI's LPK25 or Korg NanoKontrol )

Thanks !!

Very Cool ! can you post the preset - on CustomTone ? 

Can I just give a big  BIGUP to this  suggestion by another user -  namely adding the ability to call up, create and save presets - for each effect !

Presets per effect

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Presets-per-effect/799692-23508

Forget comparisons - what an interesting track !    Good stuff  ! 

They could just allow the HELIX to store ALL the parameters for custom Variax models in a HELIX patch so that each patch can include a totally unique customised JTV body, neck, pickup set etc etc 

Great soloing.  Only thing is  the comperes at the open mic and jam sessions here frown on me using backing tracks... mostly don't allow it.. :(

a great shame cos getting hold of good jazz players to accompany is impossible unless i pay them.

would love to be able to use  a jamman looper etc and just do stuff by myself !  

( not very social i know .. but there you go ! ) 

I will not respond to trolls. Which Peter clearly is.

 You appear to be confusing or conflating someone expressing his opinion with gusto - using maybe a little rhetoric here and there - vigorously arguing for his case - with "trolling". 

I see so much of this kind of thing - lazily inserting the word "bigot" "xxxphobe", "troll" or some other emotive word into a sentence - as if somehow accusing a dissenter in a thread online -  accusing the person of such things will  help in the argument. 

It doesn't.   Debate online gets vigorous and robust sometimes. Deal with it.  Instead of lazily accusing or straw-manning people who just plain disagree with you of some kind of net-crime - or worse. 

Peter is a regular and very helpful contributor to this forum and elsewhere. He helps people out a lot. 

Now if many have bad experiences with the HELIX and want to share that here. Fine. 

But its just intellectually lazy to accuse a vehement dissenter with "trolling".  As if doing so somehow helps _your_ case. 

And no doubt *I* will now be accused of trolling, being "arrogant" ... lowering the "tone"..... 

Such is life... 

Hey all, just curious as to your position on this thought... Usually I will only do a clean install of a new OS, but it is so time intensive.  Reinstalling NI Komplete, Ableton, all the drivers etc. etc. etc.  Really would love to avoid the hassle and just update to El Capitan.  Thoughts?  Thanks all!

 jut saw your post after I posted mine !  

yes i'm wondering whether to do a clan install of El Cap too... but have SO much software in HD  i'm very reluctant to.. 

Also - bearing in mind the spotlight indexing thing on OSX....  does anyone here know if Spotlight indexes EVERY drive connected ?  can i opt to only have certain drives indexed ?    the indexing daemons on OSX  seem to take control and CPU more and more..... 

Me too, but alas, I can't upgrade at this time without buying a bunch of new software. Too much of what I use is not good with newer OS releases. I'm stuck at Mavericks.

you know - in so many ways i wish i was back on Mavericks...   My iMac  since El Cap  has this annoying spinning ball wait thing going on... something reported by many people on apple forums too..  grrr 

Interestingly the MacBook Pro i'm writing this on also has El Cap but has had an SSD drive fitted for a few months and thus a clean install ( i think Yosemite then El Cap but forget )  and runs fine.  

the iMac has been upgraded thru many releases - and has all my music AND developer software too.... 

but i hope this fixes the HELIX USB thing for me too...

WHY OH WHY is it that somehow things never get to run FASTER when we get a new OS release ??? 

I actually think it would be good if Line 6 were to produce their own unique killer delay, harmoniser, boost effects - etc - ones that don't merely compete equally with the boutiques etc..  but better them by miles.... becoming "go to" effects i their own right ! after all L6 have been in the DSP and effects game for longer than many of the boutique pedal manufacturers so should have the edge. 

I confess I always avoided the effects in my Pods and HELIX named L6 - assuming that since they weren't a copy of anything they couldn't be any good - or were probably ultra clean "digital" - but maybe wrongly so. 

Wouldn't it be cool if people over time actually ended up using Blocks that were pure L6 inventions ? inspired for sure by existing pedals but not a copy of any particular one of them - instead being true Line 6 "originals"... taking things further ? bettering them ? 

Just my tuppeneth..    

Maybe they need a better "Brand Name" for their own range than L6 - ( how about "Fat Freddy" ? ) - And even sell the effects through a new "boutique" stomp pedal range ? put them up against the competition ?   so many pedals out there are basically DSP inside anyway arena they these days ( delay/reverb/harmoniser/chorus/tape echo sim etc )  ?

and then of course give or sell us these in the HELIX too :) 

What OS are you folks using, because there are some issues with El Capitan that, iirc, will only be solved when Apple releases the coming fix for that boondoggle of an OS upgrade.

 

I can say that I'm having nothing but success with Helix as an audio interface with OS X 10.9.5 and Logic Pro X, latest version.

I'm on El Cap but reckon i was better off on Mavericks.

I use Ableton. and like others really want to get going with some recording but ... can't. 

i'm not  heavy metalled - or even a "distortions" really ! but I love this post !  makes perfect sense.

As does the idea by Mr The Helix Channel do do boosting - simply by mapping increases to gain/master etc on an amp to a pedal. Simples !

And since many boosts are supposed to aim for just "more of the same" - surely a simple gain block tied to an EQ - mapped to a pedal ought to be a great booster too!

( but hell - what do I know ? ) 

I noticed that the Tech 21 MIDI foot controllers state they can be "Phantom power operable via MIDI cable"

Does this mean the  DIN MIDI in/out sockets on the HELIX can power such devices as the Tech 21 MIDI Moose/Mouse ? 

COPY AS ALIAS feature for patches

There is always many other audio Interface choices out there with mature drivers available. MOTU, UA Apollo, RME, etc etc... Just use the Helix for what it is, a kickass guitar processor. :)

that might be almost tolerable for a £300-ish effects unit like the Pod 500 HD  but  definitely not for a £1000+ unit.

This is sold as a unit with top notch audio interface functionality. 

For that kind of money I expect it to do  EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN

( as we brits say )  

I feel for you- Audio Interface Drivers take a while to get right sometimes. 512 is ok for playback/mixing but trying to monitor real time at that rate is painful. 

quite

If so does it - released yesterday - solve the USB audio issues ? 

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/23/apple-releases-os-x-10-11-4-public-beta-4/

As my very talented business analyst friend Jez used to say to anyone who asked about the progress of our tough projects: 

" IT WILL BE READY WHEN ITS READY !" 

What's more, DSP/sound design and MCU/feature development don't overlap all that much, as we have engineers working in both camps. Everyone should feel free to request away.

Thanks for the clarification DI.  

Out of curiosity - roughly how much FLASH ( SSD style ) ROM is there altogether for the CPU firmware ? is it on separate chips or just what comes inside the MCU chips themselves ?    ( This clearly tells us just how much scope for future FW enhancements there is .. ) 

These days programmers on computers, smartphones get to be able to write megabyte-size apps - with no worry.  But as an ex-assembly programmer - if one is careful its amazing  ( and salutary ) as to how much one can cram into tens or hundreds of K ..... if coded carefully !

For the sake of the sanity of your engineers i'm rather hoping they get to code primarily on C or ideally C++ - than in assembler - which is grim and tedious...... and inefficient....  but the argument is  often made that C/C++ takes up too much space for embedded stuff. 

Dunno.  Thankfully i'm well out of that game now..

While I like the idea I really think that the focus in the helix itself should concentrate on Modelling and sounds. All that fancy stuff eats up DSP and storage.

But this would be a good Idea to have on the helix editor only - not in the device itself.

 

Just my 2cents

Ability to Tag and filter ( search on ) Helix presets with a Keyword

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Ability-to-Tag-and-filter-search-on-presets-with-a-Keyword/806003-23508

Allow Helix presets to be given several tags of one's own choosing - and then be able to filter on the tag when skipping through presets to find an ideal tone for something.