ozbadman

That's all understandable for the floorboard.  I'm sure it probably would have been a production nightmare to have different screens on different devices, but I wish Line 6 had kept the touchscreen on the rackmounted version.  It's cool that I can add the foot controller for $500, but the floorboard is not near the rack to edit the settings.  I'd love to have the Helix Rack in my studio desk and be able to simply touch a block to edit the parameters.  Instead I have to decide between form factor and ease of editing.

 Maybe the PC Edit program will allow touchscreen, which would solve at least your problem.

Maybe I need to clarify that section. I was not referring to controlling external effects. I was referring to the capability to add additional external footswitches that could control functions on the Helix. The capability to give yourself a couple of extra switches to, for instance control Bank changes on the Helix. This frees up the Bank switches on the Helix to control effect assignments or other parameters. You will find other multi-effects that have external footswitch jacks for just this purpose. Not a critical feature on the Helix which already has many assignable footswitches, but a nice to have. Was just surprised it was not available on this unit which has such an incredibly flexible and well provisioned back panel.

There are 4 analog control inputs. EXP Toe Switch and EXP1 - EXP3. Could any or all of these be used directly as HELIX control switches (that is, plug a switch in instead of an expression pedal)?

Suddenly? Hardly...it's run by the same Gubmint that can't turn a profit with a train service.

Really? I have never had a problem with USPS. UPS, big problems. USPS, no problems whatsoever. Usually an excellent service. FedEx is also excellent, but pricey.

Interesting. I also own the Axe FX 2 and am running the current FW. I dont play metal and I find a wide choice of amps and cabs that work with my style of music. Whether I build them from scratch in Axe Edit (which I find to be a great, intuitive tool) or use some clean/dirty presets from creative owners like Yek. Recent updates have really enhanced the tones Im getting from the box.

 

It sounds like the Helix might be more to your liking.

There's enough clean amps and effects in the AxeFX2. I just can't get them to sound good. I know it's a cliche, but they always sounds like they have digital artifacts to my ears. I always found the same thing with Boss pedals for some reason. YMMV. I've been overseas for the last year, so I haven't tried the latest Axe firmware. Maybe it's all there for me now when I get back home. :)

I hope the Helix is more for me, but not quite yet. Needs a few more effects in particular in there before I'll be buying. Looking forward to hearing what people have to say though once they get their hands on it.

The great thing about Axe FX and Kemper is that all firmware is free with new improvements, amps and effects at no cost. These units five years ago, you can still get the latest firmware.

 

Not really true. The AxeFX is no longer supported. Fractal upgraded their hardware to the AxeFX2 in May 2011. They have since released the XL and XL+, but who knows how long they will support the AxeFX2. So far, 4.5 years. However, your point about not charging for updates during the life of the hardware platform is valid.

I own an AxeFX2. Good for metal. Not so good for non-metal. A lot of their amps sound very similar, and I struggle to get a non-metal tone that blows my mind. I also hate both the physical interface on the unit, and the AxeFX Editor. Not at all intuitive, and reminiscent of 1980s designs. I want to play guitar, not battle interfaces. HELIX looks modern by comparison.

I will be buying a HELIX at some point, but it seems a little under-cooked right now for me. I have no doubt L6 will be adding more effects and amps, and will be looking at it again once they do that. Personally, I buy for what they have at the time, not for what they might have. I am OK with them charging for new amps/effects (but not bug-fixes). Whether they do or not, I will base my purchase on what is currently on offer, and at what cost-price, and whether I want it for that price now. I would prefer they charge me for upgrades, than make me buy a whole new unit just to cover their development costs. They are a business after all.

Editor is now available at:

http://line6.com/software/

Sadly, Line6 has taken the AxeFX route and the editor only works with a Helix connected. :(

I'm thinking Tuesday, November 10th would be a smart official release date, two weeks before Black Friday (USA). A lot of big consumer products get released that week. However, most of those release dates have already been announced by now. It's curious why Line6 has been dragging their heels on this.

Dragging their heels on what? Nothing has changed.

I can understand an HD500X or a GT100 charging you for new effects and new models. It is a reasonable price point. Here is my fear: To buy a Helix and in two years stop updating the unit with improvements. I understand new units containing more memory and more efficient. This is one thing that is good about an Axe FX and a Kemper. They constantly giving new updates for even 5 years down the road for free. When they do come out with new units, it is more memory, more power and something like that. Both companies constantly update models and effects for free. That is taking care of your customers. What will be you policy on this new expensive unit? When you triple the price of the HD500X, that should mean this unit will continue to update with new models and effects at no cost like the AX FX and Kemper, Would you please explain what your policy will be on this unit. Where this unit kick all the other units is how accurate all the stomp boxes are. The weakness of this unit is the number of available amp models. My favorite amp of all time is The Friedman BBE 100. This and the Suhr amps are the very best modified Plexi sounds. The Bogner Ecstasy is not there. The Mesa mk5 is not there. Don't get me wrong. I know this is a new unit with all new models and it takes about one month to do one model. I have seen several people wanting the Friedman Brown Eye 100  here. What would be a deal breaker for me is to charge $99 for just the Friedman amp pack. What will your policy be?

The AxeFX2 replaced the old AxeFX/Ultra. The AxeFX/Ultra no longer receive updates. Only AxeFX2-based models receive updates due to the processing power required. So yeah, for modelling based processors, every 5 years or so you will have to replace your hardware as processing power increases.

Additionally, when it's time to update, just  sell the old one on eBay. You usually get at least 50% of the cost back, so think of it as renting your gear for 5 years at a very good price.

I don't see how charging $1500 for the Helix, plus $99 for the Friedman pack could be a deal breaker, considering a new Friedman is $3700. $99 seems like a pretty good deal, and the Helix can do other amps as well!!!

My favorite players blends tasteful licks with speed. I love a melodic player that has speed burst. That is the best of both worlds.  I love old Dream Theater and not so much their new stuff. John in 90's would play a moderate speed melodic lick then play blistering burst in between some of the passages. Tom Quayle is an excellent player. He does this well.   

And a bit of a curve-ball, Tommy Emmanuel does this well.

Why is Line6 soon horrible with these kind of things. We are now a month out from shipping dates and still no manual for us to atlast look at. I know already what will be said, we are still working on the final touches of the firmware that will be released and therefore adjustment will need to made to the manual, Blah Blah Blah. Look at it from the buyers point, You want me to put out 1500 dollars and yet I really have no in depth idea on the unit itself (with the exception of the brief few videos on the net). Just about any other piece of gear I buy I look through the manual first to make sure it has what I want and can do what I am planning. How hard is it to just release it.

While I agree that in the past, Line 6 has been really bad at expectation management, I think they are much better at it now.

I don't see the problem. I would not expect the manual to be ready until the product is released. You can read the manual before you buy the product, it just means you may not be able to buy the product on day 1 if that is what you want. Yes, we all want to read the manual now the product is announced, but I don't see how you can say Line 6 is doing a bad job, just because they are going to release the manual at the same time as the product. From the buyers point of view, no, they don't expect you to outlay $1500 without knowing what something can do. Wait until you've read the manual. Line 6 will not mind if they get their cash 1 month later.

Also be aware that early adopters often have to deal with things not working 100% as intended, including physical faults, so if you're really keen to get it day 1, just be aware that you may have some additional frustrations coming.

Since pod hd has still some bugs after years. I'm disappointed And I don't power it on everyday!!!

Maybe you would be more tempted to power it on everyday if it had a switch to do so. :)

Not "Helix II", you are thinking about "HelixX"?  :D

Surely it would be a Double Helix, no?

...lots of stuff

Duuuude. I really think you overreacted to what I wrote. That's why the "if" was there. I understand you're probably sick of defending your position. Happy to hear both sides of a discussion/debate. Didn't mean to cause you such consternation. More importantly, this thread is pretty pointless anyway given that no-one has an official date outside Line 6, so hijacking in this case is also pretty meaningless. But, it fills in some time while we're jonesing for the Helix.

My question would be: Why do you believe it is 5000-10000 years old? If the answer is that one book, written by mankind, ~3000 years ago (old testament) said so, then I'd have to say your evidence is thin.

What I believe is that no one outside of Line 6 has any more evidence for the delivery date of Helix than I do. But false prophets will claim they speak of the one true release date. I look forward to the day when the Helix rises up and takes over the world. I will be helping it do that, hopefully sometime later this year.

Aluminum or aluminium?

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm

Apparently, it's the Englishman, Sir Humphry Davy's fault.

Not a problem for me. Hijack away and save the planet from these sandpaper-tongued feral lion wannabes. :) But harm a puppy and there'll be hell to pay.

Thanks for the reply Cipher. Just wanted to get a quick initial overall impression, and not derail the thread, so thanks for replying.

Now, back to Variax HX speculation...

I received a Variax Standard about a week ago...

Not to derail the thread, but just quickly, how do you find the Variax Standard as a guitar? I'm considering getting one, and want to get a feel for how people are feeling about the guitar itself, not the electronics (which I already have in my JTV59).

lol. No problem.

Well thats all well and good, but its easy to confuse when you post:

Wow, there's a lot of "overplayers" in the videos posted. Then, there's some good, solid, soulful players too.. ...... Why play 600 notes when 6 sounds better? I guess I like to hear emotion, not wanking. But that's just me..

 

These statements lend credence that you could very well be including what they put into it, and not just what you get out of it. For clarification. But fair enough, also I didn't mean to insinuate that you were envious. If you read above where I quoted your post, in this post, you will see what I mean.  ;)

Just to clarify, I didn't post that so you can't really use it as an argument for what I might be including. :)

I actually agree about the latest Strat model. Especially the neck middle out of phase position. Doesn't quite have that Mark Knopfler sound I love.

It may not help, but Mark Knopfler mostly played with bridge-middle (position 2, not neck-middle) for his classic Sultans of Swing sound, so you could try that.

This "soul" crap is getting old. Its just emotion, and plenty of the faster players have plenty of it.  Most of this (but they don't have "soul") crap comes from envy, more than anything, and its quite sad.

 

(Slow= "soulful" / fast=wanking) is a childish look on music, and guitarists. 

Nothing to do with envy at all, I just don't agree with you. I am talking about emotional impact as a listener. I don't care what emotion they put into it, I care what emotion I get out of it. Fast runs are technically amazing, but it leaves me emotionally cold. If it does something for others, great.

I'm sorry dude, but I do not agree with you either (especially when you're referring to those particular players). Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are two of the most influential guitarists in the world for a reason, and it wasn't just due to their chops. If people didn't like their music, they wouldn't be where they are. I can get that you don't like them. But saying that "they are too busy showing their chops" is BS.

 

According to you, were Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie also showing off? As you may or may not know, they also played very fast and were amongst the most influential players in history, to this day!

Charlie Parker, absolutely showing off. Dizzy Gillespie, less so. And I never said they weren't influential. I just don't feel anything out of the music they made (although I like some of Dizzy's stuff).

As I said, YMMV. Opinions vary. For me, these musicians do nothing for me emotionally. If it does something for others, that's great.

I don't know what he's talking about either. For example, Alex Hutchings (which I and another forum member posted videos of) is an incredible player. That dude can play 600 notes per second and still be so freaking soulful. I wanna be like him when I grow up, lol. Same with Tom Quayle, Andy Timons and Nick Johnston. All monster players that still impart soul into their solos.

I know what he's talking about. For me, most monster players do not impart soul into their solos. They are too busy showing their chops. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani. mehh. Brian May is an exception. I hadn't heard of Alex Hutchings, but the video above definitely has soul, so that's a new guitarist to hear for me. Miles Davis was much more interesting playing cool jazz than bebop though. YMMV.

OK.

 

However, the purpose of this thread is to provide Line 6 with a list of tones we 'have not' already heard in order to give them an idea of what we would like to hear in the next round of clips.

 

Not trying to be an a-hole, btw :-).

Yes I know. Some people on this thread may 'have not' already heard the tones linked to; that was my only intent, so that they (1) could hear the best variety of tones demoed so far and (2) not request similar tones on this thread.