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Helix beta editor out


audionutmike
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To be quite honest after using the editor for an hour I realise how good the editing on the Helix actually is, far better than the editor!

 

The editor is slow and cumbersome on my 12 core MacPro which isn't a slow machine! 

...any audio apps during installation running?

Remember (for this beta version):

Shut down all Line 6 software as well as any software that streams audio, including, but not limited to: iTunes, Spotify, DAWs, etc.

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Did anybody mention already that we all got this fantastic editor for absolutely free?

 

I bought and love Helix without this editor already - and now this addition makes it even more value for money. Great Job Line 6 and it is really time to say a huge thanks for this improvement - I got a nice and solid piece of software free or charge directly into my computer... this is awesome!

 

Had no problems with this beta on my win7 system, great job. Works flawless. Now being able to leave HELIX down on the floor while creating and adjusting patches - this is phenomenal for my workflow with this unit. The foot editing mode is of course still a big advantage if you need to adjust something in a live situation, but honestly this never got used when I created my tones back at home. I always need my hands do this... But it was so cumbersome to have it on the floor to practice stuff and needing to put it on the desk again and again for comfortable editing. NOW THIS IS OVER. This update made my day today...

 

I also have a few areas where I initially expected a different behaviour or miss a feature. But come on... I am sure the programmers had to make their decisions which route to go here and there. I could adjust my mind quickly to how it behaves, we all did that with the Helix UI when we first got it, right? Also, remember this is a beta and L6 has proved already that they value customer feedback and would implement good ideas if possible.

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Hmmm....what resolution are you running?  I've got a 4K on my 15.7 laptop, which is what I want to use, and can't get the app resolution big enough to be able to read the text without a magnifying glass :(    I even used the screen sizing options with no luck.  It's better on my desktop as I'm running a 28" screen but even there I can't get the app to scale up like I can with Office and my browsers....normally I can get stuff to size the way I want it but not having any luck with the editor....

 

3840x2160 and 3008x1692 both look good to me.

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Idk about this editor stuff, read somewhere when putting down your guitar pick and picking up a mouse is a really crappy experience, and completely destroys one's creative flow ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol..

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Did anybody mention already that we all got this fantastic editor for absolutely free?

 

 

 

Ditto.  I haven't played with the editor yet as it's not all that important to me.  I find the editing on the Helix unit to be so damned easy that I'm not too fussed.  When i want to, I pick the unit up and put it on my desk or coffee table for trial and error testing etc.  I'm sure I'll play with it in due course.  But I didn't purchase the Helix with an expectation of its existance.

 

I get really annoyed with people on here totally complaining about this and that (and this editor thing has been a major one.. when will it be out, yadda yadda..)... they knew it didn't have one when they bought the unit.  If something like this (and certain functionality that it affords) is a show stopper for them, then why did they buy the Helix in the first place?   You don't buy something and then complain that it doesn't do something that was never advertised on the box as a feature,  or from what you could have noticed during testing the unit in store (eg. patch changes delay!).

 

Is there things that bug me about the unit? Yes.   Are they enough that I regret my purchase?  God no.  The little annoyances I have i'm sure will get fixed over time. 

 

While i'm ranting, the other thing that annoys me is people comparing devices (Axe does this,  Kemper does that..).  They're not the same.  They're not the same company. They're not the same prices.   If another device does something better,  then buy that one and stop complaining.   Might AX8 sound better? Sure.  Does it have a built in pedal and multiple inputs and outputs? No.  Does it have a GUI that is ridiculously easy to navigate and use? No.  Are those things a showstopper for ME?  Yes... that's why I chose the Helix over another product, as it works FOR ME.  If it didn't, then I wouldn't have bought it.

 

Sorry.. lol.  Rant over.

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Idk about this editor stuff, read somewhere when putting down your guitar pick and picking up a mouse is a really crappy experience, and completely destroys one's creative flow ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol..

 

I kind of look at it as finding the least disruptive and destructive way of maintaining workflow. The current editor relies too much on mouse control, which requires you to quickly spot and sync your vision to a moving mouse cursor, and is a really crappy experience, as per DI I think. But after using the editor a little longer now, it's growing on me and is by far the best way to tweak Helix, for me. I'm even sort of starting to like the slider controls. Perhaps they can tone down the color saturation on them a bit. One thing is for sure, the physical downsides of tweaking Helix directly are gone.

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3840x2160 and 3008x1692 both look good to me.

 

Yet again, Hmmmm.....same res on mine.  App looks great just can't read the text as the whole thing is so small....will have to play with the driver settings some more....out of curiosity, which video card are  you running?  Nvidia in mine....

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I kind of look at it as finding the least disruptive and destructive way of maintaining workflow. The current editor relies too much on mouse control, which requires you to quickly spot and sync your vision to a moving mouse cursor, and is a really crappy experience, as per DI I think. But after using the editor a little longer now, it's growing on me and is by far the best way to tweak Helix, for me. I'm even sort of starting to like the slider controls. Perhaps they can tone down the color saturation on them a bit. One thing is for sure, the physical downsides of tweaking Helix directly are gone.

Luddites beware- Being facetious I was :P .... As far as I'm concerned It "is" the best way to tweak Helix. Reaching for the mouse lasts a couple of seconds, doesn't in the least destroy creativity (unless you are so easily distracted anyway) and its an operation that is not indefinite nor is it a "really crappy experience" by any stretch of the imagination. You have to "sync" your vision on everything else, driving, reading, eyes on path, being facetious on forums, etc. and its not an issue either, at least for me. Of course we can make the excuse that "something" has taken us away from just playing I guess. Welcome to the 21st century. Interaction happens, get over it and join the living I say. You grab a mouse for everything else on the puter and I dunno but Im kinda sure we don't say when doing a spreadsheet, or clicking on emails, or pictures, or a thousand other things on our computer, gee this is mouse clicking is so crappy... LOL... What a hoot...And last but not least, the "quote" I was being cute about was 2 months ago or longer when Fractal had an editor for their product,and Line 6 didn't yet, so excuses were made Im thinking as to why an editor was so "awful". That statement back then, compared to now its out and seeing how just about EVERYONE loves the editor (and rightfully so), is what I find hilarious!  Depends on what side of the fence yer on at the time, doesn't it...  :lol:

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Yet again, Hmmmm.....same res on mine.  App looks great just can't read the text as the whole thing is so small....will have to play with the driver settings some more....out of curiosity, which video card are  you running?  Nvidia in mine....

Nvidia in mine also. It's on a Samsung 28-Inch Ultra High Definition LED Monitor (U28D590D).

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Hey look at me I didn't read the other 97 post but I just wanted to know if there is any sign of the tone match feature in the editor that was either discussed or otherwise just curious I haven't had much time to fiddle with it

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I might have run into a bug:

Yesterday I was trying to build a new preset, but instead of doing it from scratch, I wanted to modify one of my previous presets, which, with minor tweaking, is perfect for the task (song). I copied the preset using the mouse's right button set of commands on the preset list. I copied, pasted, renamed... and the blocks were there, with the same values, but the footswitch and controller assignments were gone from both, the original and the copy.

Doing that on the Helix itself is flawless though...  :)

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Works great on my studio computer with Windows 8. I'm not really concerned about it not working untethered as I really don't know why I would edit tones without being able to hear them.....Same with reordering. What good would it do me to reorder my patches without actually reordering them on the helix?

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I might have run into a bug:

 

Yesterday I was trying to build a new preset, but instead of doing it from scratch, I wanted to modify one of my previous presets, which, with minor tweaking, is perfect for the task (song). I copied the preset using the mouse's right button set of commands on the preset list. I copied, pasted, renamed... and the blocks were there, with the same values, but the footswitch and controller assignments were gone from both, the original and the copy.

 

Doing that on the Helix itself is flawless though...  :)

 

This is probably not the issue but did you restart the Helix after loading your old presets? The first time you restart it, the Helix will run through an upgrade process on the presets you loaded from your prior firmware. I know people have been jumping in on the editor after loading their presets, for those who haven't, make sure you restart your Helix first before you start using the editor.

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I suggest a "reconnect" button.  Might not be needed for everyone, but I leave my laptop connected to the Helix.  It would be nice to not have to restart the software every time in addition to turning on the Helix.  Maybe even on the screen that has "device disconnected" have a "retry or reconnect" button.

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This is probably not the issue but did you restart the Helix after loading your old presets? The first time you restart it, the Helix will run through an upgrade process on the presets you loaded from your prior firmware. I know people have been jumping in on the editor after loading their presets, for those who haven't, make sure you restart your Helix first before you start using the editor.

Yes, it's not the issue. The preset was perfectly normal, behaving as usual, as programmed, before I copied it and pasted it to a free slot using the editor.

Give me some credit, dude.  :D

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Nvidia in mine also. It's on a Samsung 28-Inch Ultra High Definition LED Monitor (U28D590D).

 

Was over on the TGP board and a couple of guys are apparently having the same issue I am with 4K monitors.....got some digging to do

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Yes, it's not the issue. The preset was perfectly normal, behaving as usual, as programmed, before I copied it and pasted it to a free slot using the editor.

Give me some credit, dude.  :D

 

LOL, glad it's working for you! I only mentioned it 'cos I jumped in right away on the editor after loading up my presets and then noticed they got updated after the next time I used the Helix. You definitely get the credit here, I was relaying the observation from my own lesson learned.  :wacko:

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Was over on the TGP board and a couple of guys are apparently having the same issue I am with 4K monitors.....got some digging to do

 

Maybe the editor doesn't like it if you change the DPI settings in the OS from the default? Might be worth a check.

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Oh man this thing is toooo sweet. I started a thread a while back asking if the Helix would continue to see improvements ( i mostly wondered about the modeling - but this totally counts) and yeah, as each update passes, im happier and happier that i chose a Helix. Thanks Line 6!!

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To be quite honest after using the editor for an hour I realise how good the editing on the Helix actually is, far better than the editor!

 

The editor is slow and cumbersome on my 12 core MacPro which isn't a slow machine! 

 

 

I predicted this before I even had the editor. Mousing from one parameter to another on-screen, vs. twisting the 6 knobs on the actual physical helix. No contest. working on the actual Helix is much faster for most things. I do find that setting up a few things (assigning controllers for instance so that I can have two different states for my amp using an EXP) might be faster on the software, but overall, if you know the unit, it's way faster to create on Helix. In fact, it takes me (I measured) roughly half the time or less to do it on the actual unit.

 

That said, the Helix editor is very very nice, and for those who have the floor unit, it'll be a back saver.

 

If you are getting more satisfying results with the Editor, great! Keep on going. If it is faster for you to edit on the editor than the unit, I'm wondering, honestly, how that could be possible. But... different strokes...
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...... If it is faster for you to edit on the editor than the unit, I'm wondering, honestly, how that could be possible. But... different strokes...

I agree that editing on the device itself is very efficient (except for the back-breaking part). There are several specific things that I find faster and a little more comprehensive on the editor:

- block selection. I find it a lot easier, faster and less error prone to click on an FX block in the editor than repeatedly move the joystick L,R, Up, Down with each movement potentially involving an unintentional rotation which changes the model selection.

- multiple-page parameter views. Easier for me to scroll a mouse wheel to see all parameters of a block rather than multiple biutton presses to view different pages on the device

- naming anything. An actual keyboard is nice.

 

But I agree that once you're actually to the point of editing the parameter numeric values there's essentially no difference

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If you are getting more satisfying results with the Editor, great! Keep on going. If it is faster for you to edit on the editor than the unit, I'm wondering, honestly, how that could be possible. 

 

Im wondering how you think this is possible? Editing in the editor is MUCH faster. I can literally go from preset 9A to 14C in one click. One click to ANY block. One click to back the whole way out of a preset. Theres no navigating ANY pages for global EQ, amps, or ANY effect..its all on one screen. One click from the distortion block category down to the amp/cab...theres no turning a knob to bypass every category..

 

Mute point anyway. It is what is.

 

(I measured) 

 

:rolleyes:

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...I can literally go from preset 9A to 14C in one click...

 

Maybe I'm the only person who only edits one patch at a time.

 

- naming anything. An actual keyboard is nice...

 SO much this... I admit it.

 

 

 

I love that they gave us both possibilities. Easier to make everybody happy.

 

I can go from 0 - finished patch on the unit in under 5 minutes now.

 

Way longer for me on the editor.

 

Ideally... both at once, like I used to do with HD 500.

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...also seeing slow response using the editor sliders, on a MacBook running OSX 10.11.3, with no other apps or weird processes running.

 

There are gobs of external device problems with OSX 10.11.3. But 10.11.4 is out, you should update. A LOT of people are saying that totally solved the problems.

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