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Helix Bug Reports


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1 hour ago, molul said:

As a developer, it's easy to explain: they received bug reports, checked what settings the problematic units had, and found a testing case that reproduced the problem, that wasn't taken into consideration in their QA department so far. 

It happens more usually than you might think, and everywhere, especially in complex software with so many possible combinations of either modules or settings.

 

Ok, I usually don't like saying so, but I have around 2 decades of audio software betatesting on my belt. So, I do know there's plenty of chances for software to be released while there's still some bugs (a lot easier to sort them out inside a closed, hardwarebased ecosystem such as the Helix, though, as you have to deal with way less variables). Fine.

But then there's "showstoppers". Bugs that you won't allow to get into the wild. IMHO, the messed up tap tempo functionality absolutely qualifies as a showstopper (in fact, for me it would be if I was playing live - which I only ain't because of C19, otherwise I'd instantly roll back to 2.82). So, how comes 2.9 is released as is, though? Either Line 6 doesn't care. I doubt that. Or they haven't aquired proper betatesting personnel (no idea about those, but I do at least sort of doubt it, too). Or there's simply not enough testers. IMO that's the most likely scenario. I mean, in this thread alone there's several people having tap tempo issues - how comes none of the testers were running into these issues? Because apparently there's not enough of them to cover all likely scenarios.

 

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LT gets frozen if I switch turner on shortly after it has finished boot.

Or

Tuner does not work, if switched on shortly after boot.

 

If I wait about 20 secs before turning on turner, then it seems there is no problem.

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1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Ok, I usually don't like saying so, but I have around 2 decades of audio software betatesting on my belt. So, I do know there's plenty of chances for software to be released while there's still some bugs (a lot easier to sort them out inside a closed, hardwarebased ecosystem such as the Helix, though, as you have to deal with way less variables). Fine.

But then there's "showstoppers". Bugs that you won't allow to get into the wild. IMHO, the messed up tap tempo functionality absolutely qualifies as a showstopper (in fact, for me it would be if I was playing live - which I only ain't because of C19, otherwise I'd instantly roll back to 2.82). So, how comes 2.9 is released as is, though? Either Line 6 doesn't care. I doubt that. Or they haven't aquired proper betatesting personnel (no idea about those, but I do at least sort of doubt it, too). Or there's simply not enough testers. IMO that's the most likely scenario. I mean, in this thread alone there's several people having tap tempo issues - how comes none of the testers were running into these issues? Because apparently there's not enough of them to cover all likely scenarios.

 

That certainly looks like a question that you'll only get answered by asking Line 6 support.

I don't really care. I'm happy with the product and support so far. Releasing an update during this crisis is amazing, and I can bear with normal bugs, moreso if they're handled the very day they're reported. 

Maybe the Helix is not for you and you might be happier with another multieffects unit :)

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2 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Ok, I usually don't like saying so, but I have around 2 decades of audio software betatesting on my belt. So, I do know there's plenty of chances for software to be released while there's still some bugs (a lot easier to sort them out inside a closed, hardwarebased ecosystem such as the Helix, though, as you have to deal with way less variables). Fine.

But then there's "showstoppers". Bugs that you won't allow to get into the wild. IMHO, the messed up tap tempo functionality absolutely qualifies as a showstopper (in fact, for me it would be if I was playing live - which I only ain't because of C19, otherwise I'd instantly roll back to 2.82). So, how comes 2.9 is released as is, though? Either Line 6 doesn't care. I doubt that. Or they haven't aquired proper betatesting personnel (no idea about those, but I do at least sort of doubt it, too). Or there's simply not enough testers. IMO that's the most likely scenario. I mean, in this thread alone there's several people having tap tempo issues - how comes none of the testers were running into these issues? Because apparently there's not enough of them to cover all likely scenarios.

There are enough testers, but apparently most of us didn't have this issue.

For the record, I did, and I did report it.

They will fix it fast.

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4 hours ago, PeterHamm said:

QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS WITH THE TUNER!

What unit? What input are you using?

Reason I ask is that I have had NO problems with the tuner in any of the 2.9 betas (and of course not the final release either). 

Love to help if I can.

 

I have the Helix LT, i tried ussing multi  and guitar input.

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1 hour ago, molul said:

Maybe the Helix is not for you and you might be happier with another multieffects unit :)

 

Well, I'm pretty happy with the Helix. But I'm obviously not happy with an update breaking an essential feature.

 

23 minutes ago, PeterHamm said:

There are enough testers, but apparently most of us didn't have this issue.

For the record, I did, and I did report it.

They will fix it fast.

 

Seriously, with a bug like that, this shouldn't have been released.

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50 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Well, I'm pretty happy with the Helix. But I'm obviously not happy with an update breaking an essential feature.

 

 

Seriously, with a bug like that, this shouldn't have been released.

Keep in mind it is not affecting everyone. I think I was the only beta tester who had a problem, and I have a reputation for being super picky and finicky about that particular feature.

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In relationship to the tap temp.  For what its worth.  Mine is all over the board.  I have a Boss digital metronome, a Roland FA-06 keyboard, an EMU MP7, and the Helix that have tap tempo.  Before the 2.9 update I could use the tap on each one to get everything sync'd with no issues.  After the 2.9 update, the Helix tap is not usable.  A consistent tap of 120bpm will show everywhere between 126 and 136bpm.  A consistent tap of 80bpm shows between 93 and 96.  Its hosed unless you dial it in manually, which means it is no longer usable.

 

I will have to look into downgrading back to 2.82.  Not really a bad thing since I still can not save an edited block, which is not a feature request by the way, it is a deficiency in the software.   That comment was not for the end user, it was hopefully for a Line 6 person to see.

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32 minutes ago, bwQuestion said:

In relationship to the tap temp.  For what its worth.  Mine is all over the board.  I have a Boss digital metronome, a Roland FA-06 keyboard, an EMU MP7, and the Helix that have tap tempo.  Before the 2.9 update I could use the tap on each one to get everything sync'd with no issues.  After the 2.9 update, the Helix tap is not usable.  A consistent tap of 120bpm will show everywhere between 126 and 136bpm.  A consistent tap of 80bpm shows between 93 and 96.  Its hosed unless you dial it in manually, which means it is no longer usable.

 

I will have to look into downgrading back to 2.82.  Not really a bad thing since I still can not save an edited block, which is not a feature request by the way, it is a deficiency in the software.   That comment was not for the end user, it was hopefully for a Line 6 person to see.

 

The tap tempo thing will be address with a hot fix, probably within the next few days.

 

As far as saving a block, what exactly do you mean? There isn't a way to save settings for individual blocks.

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8 hours ago, PeterHamm said:

QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS WITH THE TUNER!

What unit? What input are you using?

Reason I ask is that I have had NO problems with the tuner in any of the 2.9 betas (and of course not the final release either). 

Love to help if I can.

I'm using LT with Multi input.

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42 minutes ago, phil_m said:

There isn't a way to save settings for individual blocks.

 

You got it.  The "block" is what everything in the unit is based on and there is no way to save one to which you have made a change without putting it in a preset and saving the preset.  That is a software deficiency, but it often gets put in the "feature request" category.

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1 hour ago, bwQuestion said:

 

You got it.  The "block" is what everything in the unit is based on and there is no way to save one to which you have made a change without putting it in a preset and saving the preset.  That is a software deficiency, but it often gets put in the "feature request" category.

I was just thinking yesterday it would be really nice to have block presets.

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4 hours ago, bwQuestion said:

 

You got it.  The "block" is what everything in the unit is based on and there is no way to save one to which you have made a change without putting it in a preset and saving the preset.  That is a software deficiency, but it often gets put in the "feature request" category.

I don't really agree with your commentary on this, but FYI, V3.0 will have that capability. Pasted from TGP from phil_m: "User model defaults are kind of self-explanatory... If you want to have the default settings for the Litigator be at certain values when you plop it in a preset, you can save the settings you like as the defaults.

The Favorites is kind of adjacent to that, but there will be a new main block category called Favorites where you can save up 120 (was it 120 or 128?) of your favorite block of any type and name them whatever you want. I could create a Favorite called "Phil's Space Echo" using the Cosmos Echo, for instance, and then plop that in whenever I want it. So rather than having to navigate through the menus to find that block, I'd just go to the Favorites menu, select it and move on. So if you wanted to create a preset using your favorite settings, it would be super fast."

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8 hours ago, PeterHamm said:

Keep in mind it is not affecting everyone. I think I was the only beta tester who had a problem, and I have a reputation for being super picky and finicky about that particular feature.

 

Well, it's clearly broken. Those telling me it's not on their Helixes may feel free to post a video of it working.

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32 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Well, it's clearly broken. Those telling me it's not on their Helixes may feel free to post a video of it working.

As it seems to be a minority problem, it would make more sense that those who say it's undoubtedly broken upload that video, so those who don't have that bug (apparently) can say "oh, yeah, if I do that I'm having the same problem" or "nope, it doesn't happen to me".

 

Honestly, I don't know what to check. As I said, it works exactly the same as before.

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2 hours ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Would you do me a favour and record a small video snipplet?

I could, but, and I mean no offense, it would be pointless ^_^U I mean, I'm not trolling you with false info (it would make no sense at all), and what happens is:

 

-I press tap tempo a few times

-Play a bit

-The delay works as expected

 

And anyway, this video would not fix your unit.

 

As it's been said, this is not happening to everyone. It's not that we can't identify when a delay is working or not xD

 

However, if you want me to try what you're experiencing, I'd gladly see a video of yours and then try to reproduce it here if it's any different from what I'm doing :)

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For the record, to add to the data on user experiences:

Two evenings ago I updated my Helix Rack/Control from v2.82 to v2.90, following the release notes' instructions to the letter (using the new HX Edit pathway to acquiring the update, etc.).

It was the first time I had any real issues during an update (practically a comedy of errors which saw me re-doing the process 3 complete times); the end result was that my Helix was afflicted with the Volume Knob glitch - it wasn't controlling anything, no matter what steps I took to reboot, change the settings, etc.

In fact, on the last reboot attempt I made, the volume came on sky high, higher than it had on previous reboots.

There may have been other issues which I didn't even get far enough to investigate, like the tuner glitch, which I know that my good friends' Floor ended up with - he was also in the process of re-doing the installation.

 

Last evening I simply wiped the slate clean yet again, and re-did the update procedure - important to mention, with only one difference in the methodology of the process (same computer, USB cable, port, etc. - the only functional difference being that I had to use the Updater application to re-flash after I factory reset the unit again, something that HX Edit 2.90 does not have a pathway to doing).

 

I've not spent much time investigating the latest greatest from this new version, but I can certainly say that the REVV Purple channel amp is a fast favorite - I've already bonded previously with the REVV Red channel model as well.

 

As is being often reported, I do believe I'm seeing the tap-tempo misbehavior issue, for which I'm looking forward to a hot fix, but in general it's not a feature I actually use all that often or critically - I generally set my tempo manually.

 

Kudos to Line 6 for a feature-rich update, delivered during - to say the least - challenging circumstances.

The end result was that it all appears to be working as expected.

 

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Well, a bit disappointed today, i had the same volume knob issue that has been reported, basically it will get stuck at a certain level, you might reboot the unit and it will be fine but when you turn off and on again a few times the issue will come back. I tried all suggestions:

- several power cycles

- restoring from backup

- downgrading to 2.82 and then back to 2.9

- full factory reset

and no..... nothing works as the issue keeps coming up, it might seem fine for a bit but then after a few power cycles there it is again....

 

so i decided to go back to 2.82 and wait for the bug fixes, i wouldnt want to risk playing live with this issue, its too much of a deal breaker for me. 
so hopefully they fix it before we are all out gigging again!

 

for those asking, you need to use the Line6Updater to go back to 2.82. I had to do a full reset again since my unit got stuck rebuilding one preset but after a restore from back up in 2.82 it is now working fine as it was before...

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22 hours ago, Trl0126 said:

I just attempted to do the 2.9 firmware update.  I am doing the update through Mac Catalina.  I didn't see the note on updating through the Helix Editor software so I tried to update through the updater.  As the update was loading my computer went into sleep mode.  I received instructions to reboot my Helix and try to start the update again.  When I turn my Helix off then on again it got stuck on the boot screen below and I cant for the life of me figure out how to get the computer and Helix to communicate with each other again. Any suggestions? Because I am using a 2019 Macbook Air all I have is Thunderbolt 3 connections so I have to connect the Helix through a hub.  I have been able to connect the Helix with Helix Edit via the hub previously so this would not appear to be the issue.

 

 

20200422_085911.jpg

I got in touch with Line6 support. The fix was to turn off the Helix then press and hold FS6 and 12 (Mode and Tap tempo) while turning back on to manually put the helix into update mode. I was then able to finish loading the update through Lin36 updated.

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1 hour ago, molul said:

I could, but, and I mean no offense, it would be pointless ^_^U I mean, I'm not trolling you with false info (it would make no sense at all), and what happens is:

 

-I press tap tempo a few times

-Play a bit

-The delay works as expected

 

And this is precisely what I'd like to see. End of story.

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9 minutes ago, Trl0126 said:

I got in touch with Line6 support. The fix was to turn off the Helix then press and hold FS6 and 12 (Mode and Tap tempo) while turning back on to manually put the helix into update mode. I was then able to finish loading the update through Lin36 updated.

Glad to hear that! ^_^

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6 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

No, there's absolutely nothing up to me. You don't want to prove the tap tempo function is working properly.

 

I haven't noticed anything wrong with mine. Can you please post a video of it not working? That might help me explore mine further.

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7 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

No, there's absolutely nothing up to me. You don't want to prove the tap tempo function is working properly.

Ok man, whatever. You don't seem that interested in being helped, so I won't actually bother from now. I tried!

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10 minutes ago, molul said:

Ok man, whatever. You don't seem that interested in being helped, so I won't actually bother from now. I tried!

 

Well, the functionality is broken. By now, this is officially approved. No idea how you think you could help me with a function that is officially broken.

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4 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

Well, the functionality is broken. By now, this is officially approved. No idea how you think you could help me with a function that is officially broken.

Lol, you tell me. You were the one asking me to record a video xD

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37 minutes ago, silverhead said:

 

I haven't noticed anything wrong with mine. Can you please post a video of it not working? That might help me explore mine further.

 

Here we go. You can see the differences of the tap results in the Helix display. The delays themselves react accordingly, so there's no need to play through them for this demonstration (if you wanted, I'd do that as well).

Fwiw, it's acting like that regardless of which global settings I chose.

 

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Thanks for the video.

 

I've done a little experimenting with how the Tap Tempo actually works. We could debate whether or not that is 'correct' but here's what I found:

- the function calculates the tempo based on only the last two taps in any sequence of taps. It does no averaging based on a sequence.

- it calculates the interval between the last two presses, not releases, of the tap button

 

By pressing the button once (not twice) you can see the current tempo. Readers, please do your own experimenting and correct the above if necessary.

 

So in terms of your video I think the only taps that matter are the last two. The first 16 are irrelevant. So the question becomes: is it possible that your last two presses of the button were actually a tempo of around 110 rather than 100? That's both hard to say from the video and also hard to get exactly right when using your foot to tap the tempo in real time (which is how the feature was designed to work). Seems to me that if you want an exact, precise bpm you should use the bpm setting, not the Tap Tempo button. Using the button is generally good enough for live play, especially since you can correct it immediately by pressing again if it starts to drift.

 

So, is the above implementation 'correct'? Who's to say - it is what it is. In any case, it appears Line 6 is investigating and will have a fix if there's an actual problem.

 

 

 

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Just now, silverhead said:

I've done a little experimenting with how the Tap Tempo actually works. We could debate whether or not that is 'correct' but here's what I found:

- the function calculates the tempo based on only the last two taps in any sequence of taps

 

According to some Line 6 guy (I don't remember whom it was and can't find a link), tap tempo is supposed to work exactly the same as on Boss units, calculating an average tempo out of the last 4 taps (only in case there are that many taps). I was in doubt about that, but that's what has been said.

Anyhow, with 2.9 I am getting faster tempos when using the tap tempo switch all the time, doesn't matter whether I tap more often or not, it's always faster. And it wasn't like that with 2.82.

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5 minutes ago, silverhead said:

- the function calculates the tempo based on only the last two taps in any sequence of taps. It does no averaging based on a sequence.

 

Ah, found it, see the post of Line6Nelson in this thread:

You may see my response as well - yes, it's sometimes glitchy, but still, I am always getting faster tempos with 2.9.

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7 minutes ago, SaschaFranck said:

 

.. tap tempo is supposed to work exactly the same as on Boss units, calculating an average tempo out of the last 4 taps (only in case there are that many taps). ..

Well that's clearly not how it is working. To demonstrate, tap the button three time with the interval between the final two taps noticeably different from the interval between the first two. You'll see that only the last two are calculated.

 

EDIT: Actually it may be calculating the average of the three. My mistake. Further experimentation required. In any case, any problem will soon be fixed I expect.

 

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