jdosher

There's all the same DEP parameters as the HD series - Master, Sag, Hum, Bias ans Bias Excursion. There's a Ripple parameter. That's kind of similar to the Hum parameter. It controls how the AC ripple interacts with the amp's tone. In addition to these, some of the amp models have some unique controls. The Orange model, for example, has the F.A.C. control modeled. That's a mid-sweep control that Orange uses that changes the voicing of the amp pretty dramatically.

 

The parameters for the cabs are a bit different than in the HD. They've been simplified to an extent. There's Mic, Distance, Low Cut, High Cut, Early Reflections and Level.

Thanks Phil.

 

I just read up on it in the HD500X manual. Hm. So am I right that there are only a couple advanced parameters then (the ones you mentioned)?

 

I'm truly sad to say that I'm increasingly thinking the Helix isn't going to cut it for me. The user interface looks absolutly brilliant, but so far there are some big show-stoppers for me moving from an Axe-Fx to a Helix. I don't use all the advanced amp parameters in the Axe, but there are a few pretty basic ones that really help sculpt the flavor of an amp. Obviously "presence" (HF negative feedback) is covered in the Helix, but low frequency negative feedback is a biggy (aka "depth").

 

The lack of global blocks is a massive no-go for me, as is the lack of MIDI clock in/out. I'll keep my eye on how Helix develops once it's released and possibly pick one up down the road if some of this key functionality gets added to the firmware.

 

Thanks.

I couldn't find if this has been asked before:

 

What advanced amp block parameters will be adjustable in the Helix?

1.- Can the helix Produce Midi Clock?

I would like to use it in conjunction with other gear that doesn't.

 

2.- You say it has 4 instead of 2 Channel paths???

 

3.- Can you explain what an Impulse responses are?

 

Highly Excited about this!

From what I'm hearing, no. I'm also hearing it can't even recieve MIDI clock.

I know my TC Voicelive 3 has global settings and I do use them for guitar but thats honestly just because the guitar modeling sounds in it suck so much that the one setting that sounds halfway decent must function globally lol.  I really think that if this thing has lots of great tones and amps to choose from I can't see the global settings being beneficial for many users.   On the other hand, from the demos so far released it does appear that Amp settings may function in a global way.  There is an amp button they showed in the videos.  Id imagine that these settings function independently of effects settings, dynamics, etc.  From what I understand they are coming from starting with a basic amp with basic settings that you like and then setting up a chain with effects paths as you like that can probably be grouped together somewhat like scenes.   It also looks like theres options for multiple paths which probably means you can have the benefit of 4 global amp settings.  Not sure if this helps or is obvious already but its just what i picked up out of the videos thus far.  

Ah, yeah - but that's not what we're talking about actually. A Global Block is an effects block that is linked between presets. When you make a change to a parameter in a global block, that change will be updated in all the presets using that same global block.

 

Using an amp as an example, but the concept applys to any fx block: with my Axe-Fx, I dial up an amp I like (currently my 'gain' amp is the dirty channel of the Freidman BE-100), and I tweak that amp to sound the way I want. Next, I save that amp block as a Global Block. When I then create subsequent presets, I link to that global amp block. Now, any changes I make in any preset using that linked global block will reflect in all other presets using that linked global block. So, the 20-or-so presets I regularly use all have a linked global amp for my clean amp (currently a Bogner Shiva clean) and my dirty amp (the BE-100), and if I want to change, say, the presence on the BE-100, or the 'bright' knob on the Shiva, bass, mid, etc, I turn a knob, hit 'save', and now all of my presets reflect that change because they're all linked to the same amp block.

 

If you want to think of it this way - essentially you're emulating the scenario of having a real, physical amp with consistent gain/eq/tonality. You turn a knob on that amp and it stays set, regardless of which preset you've switched to on your FX unit. I'm using amp blocks as an example, but the same idea is applicable to any FX block that you want consistent settings across multiple presets.

 

I think this scenario is probably more applicable to people playing original music in a band/live setting where you're usually interested in maintaining your sound. It's quite possible that these kinds of users are in the minority. For me, modeling technology is a way to replace the need to haul around large, heavy tube amps and a collection of pedals rather than a way to dial up 20 vastly different sounds per gig.

Thats what I'm saying haha!  I just can't see Line 6 looking at these conversations and going "OMG scene changes and global settings, those are freakin brilliant ideas, how come we never thought of that?"  Don't mean to be facetious but I just think that things have been implemented so many times in so many products before this.  They spent anywhere from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years (depending on which video you watch ;) and are charging a price 3 times higher than their previous product.  I just want to get this thing in my hands already and see what it can do.  Obviously whether you trust this thing is going to fulfill your needs is always a risk with a new product like this but at this point I feel like it is what it is with respects to basic UI at this point so close to release.

Yeah, there's zero risk that Line 6 is going to push back the release date due to implementing something discussed as a "must have" in this forum. It just doesn't work that way (fortunatly). They have no doubt decided upon a feature/function list to implement on initial release, and that's their current focus. Discussions here are purely speculation, with the added benifit that people more intimate with Helix can answer some of the questions we're asking. But again, it's not like discussing a certain feature is going to cause Line 6 to say "oh no! We'd better implement Global Blocks or Jesse in Seattle isn't going to pre-order a Helix! Push back the release date!"

 

Thought I'm not entirely sure though that the idea of global blocks or scenes is necessarily on their radar.  These aren't things I've seen in products prior to owning the Axe-Fx. Scenes may be a moot point, as the Helix may have an entirely different approach that works even better (and even without really knowing how the grid works, I can still envision some possible approaches). But global blocks - at this point it's absent from the feature set and I don't see anything indicating a different paradigm for accomplishing it. Sadly, I'll have to hold off getting a Helix until I see global blocks or similar. So yeah, I'm eager to see it addressed eventually since it could be a show-stopper for me.

As much as I agree with everybody asking for scenes and global settings.  Both of these features are things that I think are invaluable, however I want to just say that I'm hesitant to cheer for changes to the basic interface of the Helix as the interface from what I understand has a different approach to settings on the fly than any of us have seen before.  From what I understand Helix is meant to be a very easy fluid like layout for changing the sounds.  In previous units such as M13 the scene changes have existed and Im sure line 6 is aware of the need for global settings.  I want to believe that these approaches were not implicated for a reason. I guess Im optimistic to see their vision of user interface.  Im open to the change if it works personally.  You all know that old adage "don't bash it unless you try it"

Yeah, I hear you. It may very well be that Helix takes a different, but equally flexible - and maybe even better approach to scenes and global blocks. I'm really excited about the Helix, I'm just holding back until I can get a better grasp on how it'll work in terms of those two issues. One thing I will NOT do is go back to having multiple presets per song. It's just too much of a mess to maintain. The 'one preset per song' approach (mainly for matching delay BPM) has been working well for me, and scenes has replaced needing multiple presets per song in order to get single-button changes. (And global blocks has removed the need to have a physical amp or preamp to maintain consistency between presets.)

 

I'm very, very interested to see how the Helix's grid and routing works. I'm interested to see some kind of A/B/Y block being used. I want to see what Helix's approach to switching in and out entire fx chains is like. I'm also curious about gain-staging issues when switching in/out parallel fx or chains of fx. I'm very eager to see some videos showing some of this lower-level, down to the nuts and bolts stuff. I'm pretty sure Helix is going to sound just great, so I want see how it's going to address the different approaches different people are going to want. I'm sure those types of videos will come out in the near future; we're all eager to see more about the Helix! I really want to see a nice long video with someone setting up a preset, routing virtual fx loops, routing between grids, routing sends and returns for the four physical fx loops. I'm really excited to see what this thing can do.

A block's on/off state cannot be assigned to multiple footswitches. Only one FS can be assigned.

 

When assigning multiple blocks, each press of the FS acts as an on/off toggle for each block. If it was on it goes off, and vice-versa. The initial state is determined by the state of each block when the preset was last saved.

Got it. Thanks for clearifying.

 

It definitly sounds like some implementation of "scenes" will be needed for the Helix then. Maybe not for everyone, but those of us considering moving from the Axe-Fx to the Helix and having adopted the paradigm of scenes, it would feel like a step backwards to be doing some tap-dancing to turn on/off multiple fx. Pushing ONE button and having everything switch to a consistent pre-determined state within the same preset is golden.

 

I'm sure there are different work arounds though. How many of the same type of FX block can you use in a single preset? I know 4 amps can be used - is it also 4 of any given FX block?

mbenigni asked about scenes. I'm not sure if the Kemper does it, but the Axe-Fx does a thing refered to as "scenes". The basic idea is that within the same preset you can set up a number of scenes, where each scene is a "snapshot" of the various on/off states of your blocks. Then with one button press you can go to a know state. The advantage is that, instead of simply assigning multiple blocks to the same button, is that you can store multiple settings with each scene. For example, the on/off state, the X/Y state (many blocks in the Axe-Fx can have two entirely different settings), as well as "scene controllers" (e.g. you could assign reverb mix to a scene controller and have a different reverb level with each scene).

 

I've set my rig up to use five scenes. 1 is generally clean, 2 is clean with some fx, 3 is light or medium gain, 4 is always solo, 5 is "special". It can vary per patch, but that's my general scheme. I ALWAYS know that when I push button 4 (labeled SOLO) I'm ready to roll.

Question: (please read that in the voice of Dwight Schrute if so desired)

 

Can a block's on/off state be assigned to multiple footswitches? If so, what is the behaviour of that block? For example if I assign a footswitch to toggle a drive block, then assign another footswitch to toggle a tremolo block and the same drive block. What happens when the drive is on, the tremolo is off, and you push the drive+tremolo footswitch? Will the drive then toggle off, or stay on?

 

Does assigning multiple blocks to a footswitch cause the blocks to invert state when pushing the footswitch, or do the blocks switch to a pre-determined state?

 

I'm thinking of this in terms of a way to do "scenes" - a way to step on one footswitch and jump to a pre-determined state. Can you go so far as to specify "when the footswitch is turned 'on', set the state of the blocks to a given on/off state, and when the footswitch is turned 'off', set the blocks to a different on/off state"?

Voted.

 

BTW, I posted this same idea a couple of weeks ago.  Please vote here as well; might help to get all our votes in one place:  http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Optional-Global-signal-path-Spillover/741927-23508

Yep! I already voted it up. Though it's a bit different in approach, some kind of solution to a global, consitent "tone" is needed. If a person is only playing their rig at home, then maybe lots of patches with lots of different sounds (amps, cabs, etc) is desireable, but for live use in a setting where you want YOUR guitar sound across many patches, there needs to be a fast and convenient way to acheive that. If the Helix can't deliver Global Blocks (or some kind of global row?) then all the speed and convenience of the interface won't make up for time needed to copy and paste an amp block across a multitude of presets everytime you make a change.

I just came about >< this close to pre-ordering a Helix from Sweetwater a minute ago...but the lack of global blocks is holding me up. Everyone is different, but the way I work, I generally use one preset per song (originals), and I use the same two amp models (clean and dirty) on every preset. I use global blocks on the Axe-Fx so that if I change a parameter on the amp model, the change is reflected across all my patches. Like running a "real" preamp or amp, but without lugging around yet another piece of gear. (I also do the same with a drive block and maybe one or two mod blocks.) I need to have global blocks for a consistent, easy to dial-in tone or it's going to be a deal killer for me :-(

 

The interface on the Helix just looks fabulous, but the lack of global blocks, and to some extent 'scenes', is stopping me from pulling the trigger.

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Global-Blocks/755191-23508

Is there any plan to implement global blocks? The ability to use a global amp/drive/cab/etc, make a change, then have that carry across numerous presets is indespensable for the way I work. Copy-and-paste isn't the same. I may want different reverbs, delays, modulations on different presets, but I want my core sound to be consistent.