mdmayfield

Just be aware that, when saving setlists, goofy things happen if you have any empty presets in between presets that actually contain effects. There seems to be a bug in the Helix software that throws the names out of sync with the presets themselves if there are any blank ones scattered in between used ones. I've been working around this by creating a one-block fake "blank" preset in any spots where I don't want to save something. I don't know whether this happens with bundles as well, or not; I've only saved/loaded setlists.

I believe that if you use them (thus undergoing a D/A conversion and A/D conversion) they will add 2-ish milliseconds of latency to sounds in those paths. If delay compensation for these paths is included in the Helix, then enabling them may add to the total latency whether you use them in the preset or not. I don't know if that's the case. If there is no delay compensation, then the most important thing to watch out for would probably be comb filtering from mixing the 2ms-delayed signal with the original. It's very hard to notice added latency of 2ms, and depending on the circumstances, is often impossible for humans to detect. Whether the idea of it being there bothers you or not is another matter....

There is something wrong with your specific setup; it's not a flaw in all Helixes. I've been using the Helix extensively for audio playback and it has been flawless, on Mac OS X 10.9 and Windows 8. You may be using Mac OS X 10.11 El Captian, which has issues with the Helix.

Double check the "blank" spots in the list - it looks like the presets themselves get separated from the names. You might be lucky and find your lost presets in slots that supposedly have nothing in them ("New Preset").

Can you describe an example of the kind of situation where you absolutely need two separate patches, and wouldn't be able to make the sounds you want with various paths, blocks, and multiple-changes-per-switch in one patch? It's not that I don't believe multi-patch-requiring situations exist, but just that I haven't encountered one, so I'm curious. I've created about 45 patches on my Helix, some for very complicated songs with multiple vocal and guitar effect changes, and haven't had any problems using one patch per song. For example, I do a cover of Band on the Run with 2 different electric sounds, an acoustic sound, and 2 different vocal effects, all in a single patch.

The Line 6 folks won't/can't comment on future features, but it would seem pretty silly if they never added that feature to the Helix in a future firmware update.

Guys, thanks for adding actual measured times - my figure was an estimate based on a memory, so might be a bit off. ;) Either way, even though the "gap" seems bad, it's not far off from what other modelers do. Also, at least speaking for myself, I have never found a situation where I absolutely had to switch patches during a sustained note/chord within a song. The versatility and flexibility of the switch assignments means that you can (at least I can in the situations/songs/styles that I play - YMMV) always find a way to make any needed sound changes within a patch, and not have to switch patches except between songs or in silent sections. Edit---- having said that, I'd really like some kind of "scene" functionality. An easy way to implement it would be to detect when two patches have *absolutely identical* block architecture, just with different settings. In that case, the Helix software should be able to skip loading any new effects, and instead just update the settings of all the (already-loaded) blocks. (and in case you were wondering, I tried it with two identical-block patches just with different settings, and at least on 1.03, there is still an appreciable gap.)

I can also give some input on #3. A/D and D/A conversions really don't add or subtract anything from the sound, with modern high-quality converters like those in the Helix. If your pedal sounds different after going through a conversion, it's more likely a volume difference or a difference in impedance, as opposed to a sound imparted by the converters. Modern converters are really, really transparent, and all the actual scientific blind tests I've ever read about support the conclusion that people cannot tell the difference between a signal that's been through an A/D/A conversion and one that hasn't (guesses no better than 50/50 chance). It's worth mentioning that every A/D or D/A conversion imparts a tiny bit of latency (delay), in the neighborhood of 1 millisecond, which could cause audible comb filtering if two paths (one delayed 1-2ms, and one not) of the exact same sound are mixed together. By itself though, 1-2ms latency isn't perceptible in any practical circumstances.

I can answer #1. As of firmware 1.03: Stomp changes (turning on/off a single effect within a preset) are perfect, instant with no glitches, like an analog pedal. Patch changes (switching from one preset to another) are pretty bad, like 200-500ms of dropout/silence. OK for between songs only.

No Variax has ever been able to use more than two virtual pickups at the same time.

Not sure how one could create such an IR... An IR measured without a mic is like a photograph taken without a camera. (Reminds me of the old story about how John Lennon saw them recording bass with a DI, and wanted to record his vocals like that...)

Not in the way you're probably thinking. You can kind of simulate them, in a limited way, by assigning several things (bypass toggle + min/max paramters) to one pedal, but it takes a lot of creative problem solving, because: - You can only assign up to 8 tasks per switch - The switches can only *toggle* things (there's no "turn it off whether it's on or off") There's no "save state" for all effects, like would be most convenient. That's probably not there because it would be very hard to implement without greatly complicating the UI, and they don't want to put it in until/unless they can find a simple way to do it. One simple thing I think Line 6 could do, as a useful workaround, would be to watch for when two presets have identical effect blocks, just in different states, and not bother reloading them, thus eliminating the short mute between presets. So you get the "scenes" functionality simulated by using two different presets.

If you're looking for a Boston-type "double-tracked" guitar harmony sound, then you would want to put it *after* the amp (but before any reverb or delay).

As a temporary workaround: If you're on Mac OS X, you can use keyboard shortcuts to zoom in System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Zoom. Mine lets you zoom in with CTRL-mousewheel. On Windows 7 and higher, you can hold the Windows key and press + and - to zoom in and out, though it doesn't zoom the entire screen like OSX does.

The 3D printed joystick turned out pretty well - it just took some sanding on the inside with a Dremel to make it fit:

I don't own a 3D printer, but I have SketchUp and made this: That should fit right over the knob snugly, and be a bit more sturdy than glue. I sent it to my local UPS Store to have it printed (25 bucks for a 1" x 1" x 1+" model though; yikes). They're printing it in a nice dark gray so it won't stand out too much. If it works well, I'll let you know. It might need some shaving down on the inside with sandpaper; we'll see. If anybody has a 3D printer, you can try it yourself with the attached .STL file. Thanks, Matt --------- Edit: The interior cavity of the model is definitely too small; I'm going to have to sand it out. If I were to print it again, I'd make the interior cavity 20-30 mils larger or so. MMHelixControl-Inches.stl.zip

Sounds like your right output is mechanically broken, unfortunately. If it came that way, you can probably get it fixed under warranty. Looks to me like they're using these: http://www.neutrik.com/en/xlr/xlr-chassis-connectors/a-series/ Edit: rather, the male connector version of those.

I agree 100%, especially when it can be improved (I'll avoid the loaded term "fixed") so easily in software. Technically it's not broken, but it's a poor design decision, a mistake and a violation of the most basic ergonomic/usability principles. They're putting two things into one control: 1) Moving the cursor between blocks - The only way to move the cursor to unassigned blocks - Done very often when tweaking - Doesn't make any changes - No bad consequences to doing accidentally 2) Change the effect the cursor is on - One of several ways to change the effect - Not done often when tweaking - Huge bad consequences to doing accidentally (minutes or more of work wiped out instantly) - Easy to do accidentally Why the hell would you want those two things in one control? It's like putting an ejection seat on your car, and then to eject out the ceiling of your car, you simply move the turn signal one extra click. See? Super convenient! .... Until you see all the crashed empty cars on the highway, and confused people in the ditch.

yup

Most amp heads send a Speaker-Level output, which is in the ballpark, voltage-wise, of the AC outlets in your house. If you send a speaker-level signal into the Helix's inputs, which expect low-voltage line or instrument level, you will almost certainly kill the Helix, and possibly cause a fire or explosion. So you would definitely need a box that accepts a speaker-level signal from the amp head, and sends a line-level signal to the Helix. Only then would it be safe.

That makes me really happy. I just saved a TON of time, effort, and frustration, by manually editing .hlx files in a text editor. Text files are ideal, since they enable advanced editing by people who want to dive that deep, but they don't get in the way of anybody who doesn't care about the technical details. (Please please please don't change it to an opaque proprietary binary format in the future....)

Thanks for the reply Duncann. I found out a couple things: - The patches I had saved still had my custom names, but were empty - Some other patches that were still called "New Preset" actually *had* the contents of my custom patches (?!) Also, by examining the contents of the .hlx and .hls files, I can confirm what you mentioned - they're both text, but the .hlx file is uncompressed and the .hls contains compressed data. That would explain the size discrepancy. All seems to be well for now, but I'll probably take some extra care next update. Thanks!

As of the current version, you're not missing much. All it is, is literally just a text list of preset and set list names only. It's not at all like HD500 Edit. There are no buttons, knobs, icons of effects, nor any patch editing or viewing functionality at all.

Something seems to be wrong with the Helix app. I've been saving my setlist in progress, and then after the update to 1.03, I installed the new Helix app, and when I restore the setlist, the names of the patches are there, but they're blank! There seems to be something wrong with the way the Helix app saves setlists. I was suspicious when I saved them and they were only 4KB... a single preset was 11KB, so I should have thought that was fishy. Has anyone else seen this?

This is just a guess and I could be wrong, but I suspect this will be impossible. CV = Control Voltage: http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/control-voltage/ Anything that's expecting a switch to open or close, like the circuits in the amp where you'd connect a foot controller, is only checking for electrical continuity, or not. I don't have an EE degree, but as I understand it, if the CV output provides specific voltages, then by definition there will be continuity at all times, even at 0 volts. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and there's some way to do it. I hope so!