hideout

I can understand your frustration, but that's just the way the documentation is right now. You're doing all you can do to get things more to your liking (posting here and in Ideascale) and that's good. Meantime, until and unless things change, please continue to come here and ask any detailed questions that you might have.

Thanks, Silverhead.

If you are going to do Scotland the Brave at least learn the lollipop tune!

Jesus

I noticed that too. Makes ya wonder what people hear sometimes.

As with any hightech tool, there are different approaches. So, if somebody doesn't want 'to learn helix', then maybe others can help him (here), because they already checked that specific thing out?

Hang on now. I never said I didn't want to learn it. In fact, I do! But it's frustrating because of the inconsistencies in the UI design. I just don't believe that the things that feel hidden in its procedures need to be that way. I see it as a blemish in my whole perception of the thing because I love how it sounds... And that's saying something because I've truly loathed the sound of the Pods for so long. Sonically, the Helix is in a league of its own, imho.

Yes. For the the most part, the Helix is quite intuitive. So much so that really, I have not felt the need for the cheat sheet. However, there are some features that are not immediately obvious and I still feel that they are not explained well in the manual. I'm not sure if it's the grammar or wording in the manual but there's something in the way it's written that makes some of the decidedly unclear aspects of the Helix remain mysterious.

I realize that not everyone likes to read manuals but that's what the Table of Contents is for. Even in the thickest most explicitly descriptive manuals, I can find specific things in the Table of Contents without having to read the entire thing. And if it's well written, I can learn to do the things I need to do. And just because Apple has sort of gotten away with not having manuals with their devices, doesn't mean that there aren't folks who are completely flummoxed by that device. IPhones are only intuitive to a certain point. The rest of it, Apple wants you to play with it and discover what you can in fact do. BUT... The Helix is no iPhone and some of us would just like to get the thing ready for the gig on the weekend! We don't have a lot of time to play with it or dig deep. The implementation of the splits, A/B or otherwise is FAR from intuitive. Those things are used alongside the amp and effects blocks yet... It's not included in the block list and will only appear IF you move an effect block down to another path! Intuitive? NOT! Ridiculous, I say. The whole thing would be a lot easier if the splits appeared in the effects block list. You should also be able to create a new path along side an existing one without having to move an effects block because you might want that effects chain the way it is!

Again, I'm not a Line 6 employee. I was a beta tester for Helix, so I've had mine since last April. And, honestly, I didn't have any manual for the first three weeks or so that I had it. Line 6 just sent it to me and kind of said "figure it out". There were no factory presets or templates on my unit either. I'd say I was able to figure 85% or more on my own just by hitting button and looking at the different menus. The things that I didn't figure out were some of the shortcuts (like holding down the knob for the parameter you want to assign a controller to).

 

As far as how would someone know how to figure out how to assign a parameter to an expression pedal or footswitch, that's covered earlier in the manual (page 34 to be exact).

Maybe I was tired but I could not get to that parameter last night.

Ain't that the truth... I have this little sequencer, an Arturia Beatstep Pro, to be exact, and its manual is literally 91 pages long. Nothing in its operation is really all that difficult, but the manual makes it seem impossible. Long manuals are a product of poor design, really. I'm of the firm belief that the operation of these electronic gadgets we use should mostly be self-evident. People don't want to use manuals, and most people don't learn from reading a manual. They learn from doing whatever it is they want to do by figuring it out themselves or watching someone do it. Reading a manual is kind of a last resort.

 

In other words...

As well as the Helix's interface is designed, absolutely NOT everything in it is "self-evident".  

I think that things like the Split and A/B points and mixers should appear in the blocks list, for one.

A simple solution is to have a section in the manual explaining each of the Template presets.

 

I also agree, the manual is pretty poor and I'm a fairly technical sort of guy!

Thanks and... EXACTLY!!

Maybe, but literally 95% of the how-to questions posed in this forum can already be answered by spending five minutes in the manual—the rest could be answered by an exhaustive, 10,000-page doctoral thesis on every possible routing scenario, but I have more important things to do.

 

If there are specific areas or use cases where more robust explanation is appropriate, we're not above providing blogs, knowledge base articles, or videos for those willing to dig a bit deeper. The problem with Owner's Manuals is that the more pages you add, the less likely your average user will read any of it. This is why your Apple iPhone's manual is four pages long (but an exhaustive, wax-poetic-on-absolutely-everything iPhone manual would literally be encyclopedic).

 

We even include a real paper Cheat Sheet that covers ~80% of what one would need to get started, but few people bother reading that either.

When I look at this - 

 

 

 

To smoothly blend between the tone on parallel paths A and B, select a Split > A/B block and assign the Route To parameter to an expression pedal. By default, a heel-down position means the signal passes fully through Path A. Moving the pedal toward the toe-down position will gradually crossfade into Path B. Alternatively, assign a footswitch to control the Route To parameter, for instantly switching back and forth.

How are you supposed to know how you "assign a Route To Parameter to an expression pedal".  Are just supposed to "know"? You guys now the conventions of the Helix because you've been working on it for 4 years.  The rest of us are coming in with no knowledge of those conventions.  They may be obvious to you, but how about someone who's new to the Helix? A short, simple procedural "how to"would go a long way to help users understand.

Thanks I'll give it a shot tonight. I've messed around with that A/B split but have had zero luck so far.

It's the Irish version of the bagpipe. A truly beautiful sounding instrument.

I did but maybe I'm missing something 'cause there were none that had a foot switch assigned for performing the a/b switching that I could see. Do you happen to know the patch name and number?

I still stand by my statement that the manual is crap. This should be clearly explained procedurally but I think good old fashioned "good enough" methodology took hold.

Now if someone comes up with an Uilean Pipe patch, THAT would be way cool!!

I've gone back to the manual many times now and it has been zero help at letting me setup a footswitch to switch between Path A or Path B. Is this even possible?

If it is, then the manual is CRAP!

Yes you can. If you know how to assign it to a footswitch you can repeat the process for every effect you want to turn on and off.

Well, you should really be plugged into the guitar input, not the aux input. Other than that, the signal chain looks good and you should get better levels if you plug into the guitar input. If you use the same signal chain for the Terror as the Super Champ you should be fine.

Och, laddie! I dunnae know about such things.

Not sure that all midi devices supply phantom power.

courier delivering mine tomorrow :D

Woohoo!!

Thanks, Dennis!

Got it in my hot little hands last night and stayed up waaaay too late. I gotta tell you, the sound and response coming from this little beastie has very little to do with any of the other modelers I've used in the past. There is an eerie analog-like smoothness to all the sounds it produces. It's very noticeable in the clean sounds.

I think mine is similar, easy to dial in the bridge and then front single coil doesn't sound quite right and needs more low cut. My guitars have Seymour Duncan JB and Custom in bridge and alnico single coils in the middle and neck. Dialling down the low cut doesn't seriously damage the preset for the humbucker. With an Rcf or Ev 12" monitor can cut up to 180Hz mostly on the IR block, on top of -60Hz Global low cut. Not used to this kind of bottom end with my traditional rig, think I'm getting there, but even so the discrepancy between bridge and neck doesn't feel quiet right.

I've found this to be common in all the modelers I've owned. Some are worse than others and to me Line 6's products have a preponderance of low end compared to the others and excascerbates the problem. I typically create a patch specifically for the neck pickup in every modeler I use. I've also rewired the neck pickup on my main guitar so that the coils are in parallel not series. It's a bit too much on most modelers but not on the Helix.

Well, I got Helix yesterday and spent from between 9pm - 1am with Helix propped up on a storage trunk, creating 7 of my often used patches. It was very fun, it was very efficient, it was very satisfying. The thing sounds bloody AWESOME...

MY FREAKING BACK IS KILLING ME!

So yeah, Line 6, hurry up with the editor!!

I have done a factory reset. Any factory preset with distortion sounds like this. When I get some free time I can post some clips.

:rolleyes:  :P  :D  :lol:

My wife just texted me saying that a big box from Sweetwater just came... And here I am at work on another island....

GAH!

I have not. I guess what I'm confused about is that nobody else is having this issue. I'm wondering if it is my helix unit that is the problem. If it sounds like this on the factory presets as well, that would make sense and it would be this unit that is to blame.

 

Have you tried the factory presets and can you post a clip?  Have you considered a factory reset?

Have you tried putting an EQ block in front of the amp block and cutting the low end with that? Try some severe settings just to see what happens.