HELIX, When will we get a new firmware update??

[silverhead]

Ok, let me be the first. Now that v2.3 is out.....

 

WHEN THE F&CK IS V3.0 COMING?? It's been almost 24 hrs since the last update!

[spikey]

!!!!LOL!!!!  :lol:

[duncann]

Great to see pitch-blocks'-intervals-not-being-restored-properly-on-import fixed. Works now.

The new LFO reset feature I think is something I could have used countless times in the past. Great!

The stereo doubler effect looks very interesting.

Could have done without the new amps. I hope they start spending less time on new amps, and more on features.

HX Edit's window position doesn't seem to be remembered.

[hideout]

Perspective is everything I guess.

 

I'm of the opinion if Marshall's gain structure isn't high enough maybe you're playing the wrong stuff lol. :)

 

But then as you might notice, I'm "old" school.... :P

I’m old school too. But these new amp models don’t make me want to update either. I was hoping for more useful features and effects. I don’t need anymore amps.

[tedulrich]

I dunno about that, I feel like the Cartographer + Kinky Boost are pretty much the best thing that's happened to Helix, at least since the Archon model. 

[mikah912]

If we're predictable, we've failed.

 

Should sticky this somewhere. I like the swerves y'all are pulling.

[shanecgriffo]

i'm loving the mid gain stuff .. it feels very good for nasty in your face old time rock n roll.. haha if you modern metal guys need to get back to your roots sometime, you'll be at home here

[hideout]

So... DI said that there will be some controversial aspects to this update. Going by the release notes, I don’t see anything “controversialâ€.

Whatupwiddat? I was hoping for something interesting.

[phil_m]

So... DI said that there will be some controversial aspects to this update. Going by the release notes, I don’t see anything “controversialâ€.

Whatupwiddat? I was hoping for something interesting.

He wasn’t referring to this update... That will be the next one.

[brue58ski]

Great to see pitch-blocks'-intervals-not-being-restored-properly-on-import fixed. Works now.

The new LFO reset feature I think is something I could have used countless times in the past. Great!

The stereo doubler effect looks very interesting.

Could have done without the new amps. I hope they start spending less time on new amps, and more on features.

HX Edit's window position doesn't seem to be remembered.

 

I wonder if the stereo doubler (Modulation > Double Take (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original doubler) Is the double tracker from the Vetta. If it is, here's some info on what it does.

 

It had 3 controls Timing, Pitch and Dynamics to simulate two guitars.

 

TIMING controls just how tightly the ‘virtual’ second guitarist will track to your

playing. We also sometimes refer to this as the ‘Drunk’ knob, since the farther up you

   turn it, the more beers that other guitarist has had.

  PITCH controls the amount of pitch variance between you and your virtual partner.

Like the Timing knob, radical settings on this might make you wish you could fire the

‘other’ guitar player, or at least get them to play a guitar with decent intonation.

DYNAMICS controls how well that second guitarist matches your picking dynamics.

A rule of thumb is, since high gain sounds tend to be somewhat compressed, the more

distortion in the tone, the higher you’ll need to have the Dynamics knob to get the best

 out of Double Tracker.

[Lachdanan0121]

i'm loving the mid gain stuff .. it feels very good for nasty in your face old time rock n roll.. haha if you modern metal guys need to get back to your roots sometime, you'll be at home here

Some of us modern metal players actually play a wide variety of music. Some of us just want more flavors for high gain. Nothing at all wrong with that 😉

 

However this get back to your roots comment... Like saying you should get back to acoustic guitar, or back to playing Rock, Bach, etc.. Most of the time are nothing more than substance-less attempts at jabs from the older crowd.

[FlyingsCool]

It would be great if Line6 could set up a function that allows a subscribers, for any single product he wants, to receive an alert as soon was a new software update is released. We could thus avoid checking each and every day on the site, to know if a new software update is on.

 

Where's the fun in that????

[duncann]

 

I wonder if the stereo doubler (Modulation > Double Take (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original doubler) Is the double tracker from the Vetta. If it is, here's some info on what it does.

 

It had 3 controls Timing, Pitch and Dynamics to simulate two guitars.

 

TIMING controls just how tightly the ‘virtual’ second guitarist will track to your

playing. We also sometimes refer to this as the ‘Drunk’ knob, since the farther up you

   turn it, the more beers that other guitarist has had.

  PITCH controls the amount of pitch variance between you and your virtual partner.

Like the Timing knob, radical settings on this might make you wish you could fire the

‘other’ guitar player, or at least get them to play a guitar with decent intonation.

DYNAMICS controls how well that second guitarist matches your picking dynamics.

A rule of thumb is, since high gain sounds tend to be somewhat compressed, the more

distortion in the tone, the higher you’ll need to have the Dynamics knob to get the best

 out of Double Tracker.

 

 

Hmm. From your description, it doesn't sound like it.

 

The Double Take  has:

Doubles: 1-4

Slop: 0.0-10.0

Sensitivity: 0.0-10.0

Source: mono, stereo, left, right

Dry level and Wet level

 

It can make some interesting effects. For the purposes of doubling, it doesn't sound all that different from using a dual pitch block. But the effect seems much more versatile than that because of all the parameters.

 

Another interesting effect in the modulations is the Bleat Chop Trem. It's fun to mess with to create some funky patterns.

[FlyingsCool]

So for all the disappointed hi gain players on here.  Here are some quotes/info from TheGearpage.net thread from Ben Adrian, who created the Cartographer based on his own modifications he's made to a Traynor YBA-1...

 

"

BoogieZilla said: ↑

Ok let me clarify - not surprised at all that Ben created a kickass amp - just my own preconception of what a "Traynor" based amp would sound like was entirely inaccurate

Yes, I took it WELL out of Traynor land. It's mostly a modded 2204 Marshall, but with a pinch of Soldano, a pinch of Bogner, a pinch of Fryette*, and a scoop of Ben Adrian experiments.

*I have a HUGE amount of respect for Steven Fryette. I see him once or twice a year at the trade shows, and every time I go I want to buy a Deliverance or a Power Station. I'm a big fan of his work."

 

"

weshunter said: ↑

What is the Cartographer?

I knew people would ask this, so I made a brochure.

Cartographer Amp Information and Instructions

The Cartographer amp in Helix is a model of an amp that I built for myself to use in my band "Cartographer." The amp started its life as a 1977 Traynor YBA-1. When it came into my possession, it had been poorly modded as was not working very well. I decided to take the amp and mod it myself into the amp that would work best for my band's sound, and my unique guitar (an Electrical Guitar Company C500).

The first step was to get it working. I took out all the old modifications. I cascaded the bright and normal channels, making it a single channel amp. I began with a circuit very close to the JMP MkII amp. This included adding a master volume. The output transformer (OT) was not performing well, and was on the small side for a 50 watt amp. I replaced it with a larger OT. The amp was a bit bright for me (my guitar has a lot of highs), so I nudged the tone stack component values a bit, and I removed the two high-shelf circuits in the preamp.

Of course, I couldn't leave the amp alone. As time went on I changed some resistor values to add more gain. I added the second gain knob, which adjusts the volume between the second and the third gain stages. This allows the preamp's distortion voicing to be varied by adjusting where the most distortion is being generated in the preamp. Around this time I began my job at Line 6. Every month I had a different amplifier on my bench. Any time I discovered a clever or particularly good sounding bit of circuit, I would try it out in my personal amp to see if it pushed it into a more pleasing direction. I also began using other guitars and realized that I needed those high shelf circuits for darker pickups. I added presence and depth controls. People around the office played the amp and lobbied to get it put into Helix. I was happy to oblige.

Since the amp model is unique and slightly complicated, I wanted to give a rundown of the amp parameters.

Drive 1, Drive 2

Drive 1 is the traditional gain knob in a high gain, master volume amp. This is located between the first tube gain stage and the second tube gain stage. Drive 2 controls the amount of gain between the second tube gain stage and the third tube gain stage. The character of the amp can change drastically based on where these knobs are in relation to one another.

Drive 2 at max is the default position for high gain tones. then Drive 1 is the traditional gain knob. Of course, watch out for the Master knob being too high or things can get mushy.

If Drive 1 is set low (say about 3) and the Master is set high, then the amp will get a plexi normal channel vibe with Drive 2 acting as the gain knob.

With Drive 2 set low (2-3), and the Master volume at full, the amp can get big and clean, with Drive 1 bringing in just a bit of grit as it is turned up.

There are lots of textures available. Please experiment with the interactivity between Drive 1, Drive 2, and the Master volume.


Bass, Middle, Treble
These behave line a regular amp tone stack; located between the preamp and the power amp. Of course the values are slightly different than the big name amps. Use your ears and turn until it sounds good.

Channel Volume
Like on every other amp in Helix, this is a volume control at the end of the model used to adjust the overall level of the preset without changing the tone or distortion amount.

Master
This knob behaves like the Master Volume on the actual amp. It's located after the preamp, but before the power amp. When it's turned up high it will cause power amp distortion and saturation. At lower levels it will add less of its non-linearity and the tone and distortion of the preamp will come through more clearly.

Presence, Depth
These are similar to other amp models that have these controls. Presence and Depth are treble and bass boosts respectively. They occur after the preamp but before the power amp. They can affect overall tone of the amp model, or help define the character of the power amp clipping. They can also be said to affect the damping in the power amp.

Bright 1, Bright 2
The Cartographer amp has two bright switches. Both of these switches are high shelf boosts. Bright 1 adds a high boost after the first tube preamp stage. Bright 2 adds a high boost after the second tube preamp stage. They can be subtle, especially at higher gain setting. The usually affect the character and the harmonics of the preamp gain rather than provide a distinctive level boost in the high frequencies. Try turning them on for darker guitars. try experimenting by turning on each one individually and then both at the same time to discover how each one modifies the sound.

Sag, Hum, Ripple, Bias, Bias eXcursion
These behave the same as on other amp models."

 

A lot of hi gain players have been pretty happy with this amp... try it out.

Have fun, experiment with knobs, and enjoy.

[brue58ski]

Hmm. From your description, it doesn't sound like it.

 

The Double Take  has:

Doubles: 1-4

Slop: 0.0-10.0

Source: mono, stereo, left, right

Dry level and Wet level

 

It can make some interesting effects. For the purposes of doubling, it doesn't sound all that different from using a dual pitch block. But the effect seems much more versatile than that because of all the parameters.

 

Another interesting effect in the modulations is the Bleat Chop Trem. It's fun to mess with to create some funky patterns.

 

Interesting. I havent' done the upgrade yet (stil at work :( ). I was never that impressed with the Vetta version so I'm looking forward to checking this one out.

[hideout]

He wasn’t referring to this update... That will be the next one.

Then I look forward to that update.

[vrollin]

Then I look forward to that update.

Tune in this time next year to find out... hahaha

[Lachdanan0121]

Thanks FlyingsCool.

 

I did not know that. I was thinking it was yet another mid gain amp.

 

I will definitely have to try that amp model out then.

[hideout]

Tune in this time next year to find out... hahaha

 

 

 

Don't matter to me.  I'm happy where I am and how my Helix sounds.

You might even say I'm... Thankful.  

:D

[jbuhajla]

 

Don't get me wrong; I'm happy with the Helix as it was when I bought it. It's just that the clamour about updates builds up expectations... and then knocks them down again. ;)

Only if you let yourself get sucked into it. The way I see it, I am happy with what I have now, so if I get anything extra that is or is not useful to me, then SWEET. I have already put the EP boost and ES compressor in most of my go to presets. 

[kylotan]

Let's just say that there are a couple of things I miss from the venerable XT Live which I'd really love to see in the Helix, and each time an update comes around, I will be hoping to see them. :)