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Helix FW 2.20 (The "Get Low" Update) OUT NOW


Digital_Igloo
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I dont understand what the 4 osc generators "decay" parameter does. I would think it would be the time the osc would take to fade out after you turn it off, but theres just an abrubt (and unpleasant) stop.

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Update seems working great!

 

Few things; Seems the MIDI clock sync does skip some bit and it does not sync back. I just had few sessions using RC300 mastering the Helix, but after few minutes I saw the Helix was not blinking same tempo. Then I tried to test my theory assigning the tempo to a delay with 100% feedback, and I've seen that was changing along time (was like speeding up, very slowly). Odd stuff.

 

Second thing; I'm not sure I got how the OSC are working. I heard they are working through momentary switches but how? Can we have some procedure to make it working?

 

Love the autoswell!!!  ;)

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I'm not home yet but is there a new Helix Editor? That thread was not updated yet.

 

There is a new editor, and they've moved the Updater (you have to use v 1.11 I think it is) up near the top.

 

All worked smoothly here on MacOS Sierra 10.12.4.

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tmuka, same thing just happened to me and the wife nearly started rubbing her hands together with glee thinking she finally had my life insurance along with some long awaited peace and quiet close at hand. I think it was some kind of Line6 twisted sense of humour.

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All worked smoothly here on MacOS Sierra 10.12.4.

 

 

Same here, except El Capitan 10.11.6.

 

I just realize I just spent almost 2 hours playing with that Clawthorn distortion+fuzz. Good lord! Yeah, I know it's says its for bass, but dang that thing sounds good!

 

I played a little bit with the autowah - pretty interesting. I'll still need to learn how to set it up to really utilize it. And those multi-voice osc generators, not sure how to make use of those, but the they sound good. :)

 

With every update it seems like I have a brand new Helix with a few more weeks or months of learning how to use all the cool new stuff.

 

Thanks, Line 6!! :)

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This corrupted matrix looking screen got me a bit worried during the firmware update, but I kept waiting and it did finish and reboot on its own! Now it's rebuilding presets... Hope this helps somebody else!

 

I got the same screen garbage during the update. Freaked out a little. No problems with the update though.

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Ahh... Fighting the urge to update NOW.... I have a self-imposed practice of not updating within a day or 2 of gigs, and I have 2 this weekend.... :(   Oh well, going to have to wait until Sunday... Trying to stick to it....

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This is me realizing I have a gig tomorrow and really shouldn't try to update :angry:

 

Same here, only I've lost my patches three times already. 

I think I won't lose any patch this time because L6 has already found a bug which may have been the culprit.

As it turns out, patches containing IRs 127 and 128, were not exported correctly, so when you tried to import them again they were corrupt.

All the patches I was losing time and time again contained those two (two IRs I loaded at the end of the list that ended up being used a lot) so I guess I'm safe.

ANYWAY, I won't risk it, just in case.

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Volume Knob issue after updating to FW 2.20

 

After applying the update and resetting everything the main volume know doesn't work correctly.

As you turn it up it makes jumps in volume rather than gradually increasing the volume as before.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Update...Never Mind, just read it's one of the known issues, sorry guys. :P

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Hi folks - my editor still shows as 2.11, not 2.20, even after I downloaded Updater 1.1 and successfully updated my Helix floor to firmware 2.20 and restored my backed up presets. Did I miss a step? thx

 

You have to download editor 2.20 and install it. I don't think Updater updates the editor. And the editor installer installs the Updater as well. And I thought the updater should be 1.11 not 1.1. Yet you still got the Helix to update? I hope it all goes well after this. But it does sound like your good as far as the firmware goes.

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tmuka, same thing just happened to me and the wife nearly started rubbing her hands together with glee thinking she finally had my life insurance along with some long awaited peace and quiet close at hand. I think it was some kind of Line6 twisted sense of humour.

Hah! The guitar gods smile upon us today!

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You have to download editor 2.20 and install it. I don't think Updater updates the editor. And the editor installer installs the Updater as well. And I thought the updater should be 1.11 not 1.1. Yet you still got the Helix to update? I hope it all goes well after this. But it does sound like your good as far as the firmware goes.

Thanks, my tired brain reversed the editor/updater relationship and I thought installing 1.11 would get me the new editor, and it was the opposite. Just installed editor 2.20 and all is still well.

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Where on earth do I download the 2.20 Editor??? 

 

The link in the sticky post just takes me to the generic http://line6.com/software/index.html page...

 

If I use the filters at the top of the page I just get a message 

At this time, there is no   software available that matches your selection.
 
 
Come on Line 6 - having 3 separate steps is fine, but at least have a page with links to all 3 files.....
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C'mon it's not rocket science! :)

 

In that page you linked, you have 3 rolldown choices in the top. There put Helix on the first, ALL SOFTWARE on the second, and Windows 10 (or your OS) on the third.

 

You'll be redirect to a page with ALL software you need; Editor, Workbench and Updater.

 

;)

 

Capture.jpg

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New amps, new effects... and no improvement in quality... it's a kind of nonsense for me: there are a lot of things to improve a lot (delays, reverbs, harmonizers) and overall transparency/dynamics (for my use with 4CM and real amp this is one of the most important things, and now I have to use 3 eqs to have a decent transaparency).

 

I bought the Helix mainly for pratical reasons and for a fabulous user interface, hoping that Line6 would be working on improve overall TONES quality (to match the standards of their direct competitors), but this seems not to be their priority...

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yes i would have thought the reverbs and pitch stuff might have got some priority by now .. and maybe a bit more mic control on the cabs.. more useful to more people than a bunch of bass stuff in my opinion (but that's just my opinion ;) )

 

Pretty useful if you're a bass player :)

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Couple of artefacts during the update -

 

1) the garbled text in the middle of the screen as seen by others.

2) straight after rebuilding presets it hung (helix graphic stopped twisting) - power cycled - all good. Has done this just once before.

3) Rebuilding presets twice.

 

But net effect is 100% functional.

And massive + with MIDI sync.

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I think Line 6 deliberately limited the quality of effects ecc, to not incur into DSP limits: even in 2.20 FW they worked to limit the DSP use for reverbs and pitch... instead of improving quality, that for some effects is low compared to (just to say two) Fractal and Strymon.

 

IMOH, a reasonable compromise should be to let the user choose the quality resolution: for example, I use Helix as a pure pedalboard, so no need of amps and cabs (which are DSP intensive) for live use, and I'd preferer to have the possibility to use both the DSP's power for the max possible resolution and highest quality effects... then, when I go home and want to use Helix direct into PC, I could add an amp-sim and - if needed - lower the resolution in case of reached DSP limits.

 

Regarding transparency issue.. it's more difficult to notice it if playing direct, but it's evident when using Helix with 4CM and real amp: it changes the sound and - mostly - the feel of the amp... less natural and organic. It's still usable, but not so good from the point of view of the player's enjoiment.

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Hey guys ,

 

Can someone tell me what's new about the editor besides a version number change? Looks the same to me...

 

 

The editor has no significant User Interface changes, but you MUST use the latest editor to use the latest firmware.

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same here but I still find the process somewhat cumbersome and potentially confusing  for some to be sure. 

 

 

They have hinted that when Helix Native happens, at that same time this whole process will change and become easier for everyone.

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same here but I still find the process somewhat cumbersome and potentially confusing for some to be sure.

My thoughts exactly, but as PeterHamm already stated Line 6 has hinted that the update procedure will be improved

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I think Line 6 deliberately limited the quality of effects ecc, to not incur into DSP limits: even in 2.20 FW they worked to limit the DSP use for reverbs and pitch... instead of improving quality, that for some effects is low compared to (just to say two) Fractal and Strymon.

 

IMOH, a reasonable compromise should be to let the user choose the quality resolution: for example, I use Helix as a pure pedalboard, so no need of amps and cabs (which are DSP intensive) for live use, and I'd preferer to have the possibility to use both the DSP's power for the max possible resolution and highest quality effects... then, when I go home and want to use Helix direct into PC, I could add an amp-sim and - if needed - lower the resolution in case of reached DSP limits.

 

Regarding transparency issue.. it's more difficult to notice it if playing direct, but it's evident when using Helix with 4CM and real amp: it changes the sound and - mostly - the feel of the amp... less natural and organic. It's still usable, but not so good from the point of view of the player's enjoiment.

 

 

Understood and agreed, but I don't know if that is physically possible, if the  2 SHARC chips  are set up like Axe-FX  are, one of them is hardcoded to the Amps only, but Im guessing. 

 

 

 

 

 

ops

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Understood and agreed, but I don't know if that is physically possible, if the  2 SHARC chips  are set up like Axe-FX  are, one of them is hardcoded to the Amps only, but Im guessing. 

 

 

That would be a reasonable way to do it, but no. There are two paths (which can be split into two paths each) in Helix. There is a CPU for each of the paths, that's how it actually functions.

 

In any case, though, you can't create something so dense that it needs both processors.

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C'mon it's not rocket science! :)

 

In that page you linked, you have 3 rolldown choices in the top. There put Helix on the first, ALL SOFTWARE on the second, and Windows 10 (or your OS) on the third.

 

You'll be redirect to a page with ALL software you need; Editor, Workbench and Updater.

 

;)

 

Capture.jpg

 

Found it - it was buried under pages of release notes - I was expecting a more obvious download link....

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First up, I'd like to thank Line 6 for all the new goodies. Was hoping for an improved editor and improved quality reverbs (as some have already stated on here) - but I'll take the update anyway :).

 

If the update had only been "improvements", I would probably have clamored for new amps, effects etc. Such is life.

 

Here's hoping Line 6 is working hard on the next update and in pushing the boundaries in terms of both quantity and quality - Quality foremost for me.

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If my informations are exact, Helix has the same AD/DA converters and the same processing power and CPUs of AX8, but with both CPUs freely assignable (except for the paths)... which means double power against for example FX8 (which has only 1 CPU).

 

So the problem of poorer quality effects (and amps) against competitors is only due to a coding problem, not an hardware one: Helix with it's architecture, loops, switching system, user interface could be the absolute best on the market, but in the real world it isn't... because unfortunately the TONE quality doesn't even match that of the competitors; furthermore, Fractal and Kemper are improving a lot their quality, update after update... not only adding models.

 

I hope Line 6 will understand this, and that they concentrate more on this aspect ASAP.

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