Plz forgive if this has been asked.

[homegrownbuddy]

I'm have a hard time figuring out how to accomplish what I need to do with my helix LT. 
​I have a user preset with 3 snapshots made from scratch, the issue is that I only need one of them, The others are uselessly taking up footswitches for no reason and I can't figure out how to change it. I was told already that I can't delete snapshots so I was hoping to just copy over them with idk say some random factory preset or something. Hmm this is hard to even ask clearly. Bare with me. Picture this: the front of my helix shows the user preset my snapshot is in and then all three snapshots are footswitches 1,2,3. I only need to have fs1 stay as it is. Then I would like to make FS2 anything else like a factory preset. So that I can switch between the snapshot I rely on and then say some Hendrix preset from the factory preset section. I know that's probably confusing, I hope it makes sense to someone. 

​EDIT: I  guess what I am trying to do is have my from-scratch snapshot be fs1, while having fs2 be a factory preset. How do I do this. and more importantly how do I do this with fs2 already having a snapshot assigned to it. 

[spikey]

If I am understanding you correctly, If you have your LT connected to a computer and have the editor, you can rename the Snapshot back as "SNAPSHOT", and then just remove all the blocks in that snapshot, and then save. The same thing go's with a preset> goto a "new preset" and export it out to your saved preset folder. Then whenever you wish to remove the patch from your user setlist, just import the "new preset" patch into that slot. Hope this helps!

[rvroberts]

Snapshots are not for changing whole patches.  They are intended more for say setting up a rig of one (or maybe at most 2) amps and speaker combination and then changing pedals to adjust for different parts of the song.  you can turn on multiple pedals with one snapshot, and you can change a number of parameters all with one snapshot, so you might turn on chorus, increase the amp gain, and turn off the echo all at once.

To totally change your rig, you would normally go to a new preset (patch) where you would have a few snapshots that turned on and off a batch of stuff running with a totally different amp speaker combo.

Now, depending on your DSP and your skill of programming your Helix, you might actually be able to have 2 full patches combined in one patch and change them with a snapshot, but that would not be normally the case, and the amount of effects you could have in that patch if it contained 2 totally different amps and speakers would be limited.

I think you are trying to use snapshots where you should be changing patches.

Most of us have a number of patches with full rigs that suit either just one particular song each patch or at least say one for high gain stuff, one for lower gain and one for say super clean stuff.

Not that you can't build a patch that does super clean and high gain in the one patch - there are lots of those also.

But if you wanted to go from a metal sound to vintage Hendrix, you should really be changing just about everything in the patch, so a new patch is the better solution.

The factory presets are as you might notice, each in their own patch. (or preset).

[themetallikid]

I have something similar regarding snapshots.  I do a preset per song, and some songs only need 1 or 2 snapshots, but I have my up/down buttons change the preset, and my screen shows 8 snapshots (I have some songs that use 5 snaps). 

 

for those songs that only use 2 snaps, I use snaps #1 Rhythm and #4 Lead.  I copy snap #1 to snap #2, and when I rename it, I enter a <space> to clear the name and allow it to display as blank.  That way on my screen I only see snaps #1 Rhythm and #4 Lead, the others are just blank black boxes.  If I ever step on the wrong snap, it wont change my sound as 7/8ths of my snaps are my rhythm sound. 

 

For the single snap presets, I apply the same principle. 

[homegrownbuddy]

If I am understanding you correctly, If you have your LT connected to a computer and have the editor, you can rename the Snapshot back as "SNAPSHOT", and then just remove all the blocks in that snapshot, and then save. The same thing go's with a preset> goto a "new preset" and export it out to your saved preset folder. Then whenever you wish to remove the patch from your user setlist, just import the "new preset" patch into that slot. Hope this helps!

 

Thank you everyone for your replies. This is all helpful stuff. Going off of the above, could I assume then it's possible to have a snapshot made from scratch AND and factory preset tone assigned to footswitches? What I'm really trying to do is hit footswitch 1 to have it load my made from scratch snapshot, then hit footswitch two to have it load something from the factory list. If I do what you said above this is kind of the same thing right? 

 

​Honestly guys I feel kind of silly even asking these things. I bought my helix over a year ago and got pretty familiar with it, enough anyway to build snapshots from scratch, assign them to footswitches, and so forth but then I got deployed for 11 months and when I got back home it felt like I hadnever even seen the thng before. It all feels so complex now. It did then too but I feel totally lost with it after so long. Thank you guys for having my six on this one. 

[cclement]

Thank you everyone for your replies. This is all helpful stuff. Going off of the above, could I assume then it's possible to have a snapshot made from scratch AND and factory preset tone assigned to footswitches? What I'm really trying to do is hit footswitch 1 to have it load my made from scratch snapshot, then hit footswitch two to have it load something from the factory list. If I do what you said above this is kind of the same thing right? 

 

 

I think you are getting confused around the difference between a Snapshot and a Patch/Preset.

 

Snapshots let you change between settings within a patch. For instance, turn on a delay, change the EQ on your amp, and turn on the flanger... all at once with one button click.

 

A Patch/Preset is a set of blocks that define a sound. These can be factory or your own design.

 

So in your case... you can switch between a Factory sound, and another Preset. But Snapshots are to control parameters within a Patch.

[spikey]

Yea sorry I miss-spoke. You can change the values of the settings by setting their values to "Snap-shot" and then switching between them. For instance, I could set the mid-range to 5.4, and then hold down the control key and left click (which brings up a menu). At the bottom of the menu, there is a setting called "SnapShot". So set Snap-Shot 1 to a mid-range of 5.4, SnapShot 2 to a mid-Range of 5.7, etc etc...   But you cannot remove the block by just switching the Snap-shots. Sorry about that!  

[homegrownbuddy]

Hmm, I'm  more confused than ever lol. 
​Ok let's ask it this way, can I have footswitch 1 set to a snapshot, and set footswitch two to a factory preset? 
​Like what I can't understand is if my snapshot is set to a footswitch, why can't I set a different footswitch to like anything I want. Like a factory preset. 
​I literally just want to keep my snapshot I built with my IR samples I paid for set to fs1 and then add the rockabilly preset to footswitch 2 so that I can switch between the two (gap or no gap) by stepping on the switch.  I really like both of them. I use the one I made for like 80% of my stuff and then I like to load up that rockabilly one just for fun. 
​I realize it's more difficult than just going through and assigning footswitches to things but I really feel like this should be possible with this machine. 

​EDIT: also as if I haven't asked enough could someone thoroughly explain the point of snapshots vs patches because I don't think I get it.  I want to guys, I'm trying. 

​EDIT TWO: Maybe I am over complicating this, would it  be possible to just delete each block out of the snapshot I don't need and then rebuilt it with whatever the rockabilly preset uses? 
​Also I have a question about bandwidth, may also be called DSP? anyway I was told the helix LT has two of these chips,  so I wonder, is this dsp(?) shared between snapshots? like if I have a snapshot using custom IR's and the whole bit, using massive dsp or whatever.... and I change snapshots, does this dsp get reset? or do I only have so much dsp to use between all 8 available snapshots?  And AND! What is helix native and helix hx? I was in Kabul when this all happened but it all seems very cool. 

[DunedinDragon]

Hmm, I'm  more confused than ever lol. 

​Ok let's ask it this way, can I have footswitch 1 set to a snapshot, and set footswitch two to a factory preset? 

​Like what I can't understand is if my snapshot is set to a footswitch, why can't I set a different footswitch to like anything I want. Like a factory preset. 

​I literally just want to keep my snapshot I built with my IR samples I paid for set to fs1 and then add the rockabilly preset to footswitch 2 so that I can switch between the two (gap or no gap) by stepping on the switch.  I really like both of them. I use the one I made for like 80% of my stuff and then I like to load up that rockabilly one just for fun. 

​I realize it's more difficult than just going through and assigning footswitches to things but I really feel like this should be possible with this machine. 

 

​EDIT: also as if I haven't asked enough could someone thoroughly explain the point of snapshots vs patches because I don't think I get it.  I want to guys, I'm trying. 

 

​EDIT TWO: Maybe I am over complicating this, would it  be possible to just delete each block out of the snapshot I don't need and then rebuilt it with whatever the rockabilly preset uses? 

​Also I have a question about bandwidth, may also be called DSP? anyway I was told the helix LT has two of these chips,  so I wonder, is this dsp(?) shared between snapshots? like if I have a snapshot using custom IR's and the whole bit, using massive dsp or whatever.... and I change snapshots, does this dsp get reset? or do I only have so much dsp to use between all 8 available snapshots?  And AND! What is helix native and helix hx? I was in Kabul when this all happened but it all seems very cool. 

 

 

Okay, let's see if I can remove some of the fog starting with snapshots and presets.  The point of snapshots vs patches is to simply have a way to make complex changes inside a patch with a single stomp button action.  Think of it as a super stomp button that can take multiple actions on the blocks in a patch.  It's very important to remember snapshots only exist within a single patch.  If you change patches the snapshots that you had in the previous patch go away and are replaced by the snapshots (if there are any) in the new patch.  The value of this is there is no pause between the dramatic changes in different snapshots because you aren't loading a new patch.

 

Because snapshots are a "special" type of stomp button, the Helix provides several different ways of laying out which stomp buttons are regular stomp buttons and which ones are snapshots.  These are defined as part of your global parameters.  For example you can have regular stomp buttons on the bottom row and snapshots on the top row, or vice versa.  There is another special type of stomp button which is a patch change stomp.  By default these are normally located on the leftmost buttons as "patch up" and "patch down" but can also be configured as sequential patch buttons along the rows on the Helix.  What you can't do is intermix these stomp buttons at will.  They have to be one of several specific types of layouts that are defined for the Helix.  That's why you can't define one button as a snapshot and another button next to it as a patch change button.  There are various ways around this sometimes using MIDI commands, but that's beyond the scope of what you're asking here.

 

The bottom line in your situation is this, if you had a snapshot on a button and then changed to a different patch with another button, your original snapshot would be gone because you now selected a different patch.  You would have to switch back to the original patch in order to have that snapshot available.  Your best bet would be to have the preset containing your IRs that you use 80% of the time and the rockabilly preset as sequential presets in your setlist.  Then to go to the rockabilly preset using the normal preset up button, and use the preset down button to return to the original preset containing your snapshots.

 

DSP isn't bandwidth, it's Digital Signal Processor which is what is used to model the amps, cabs, and effects.  It's not really related to snapshots but to the patch and each amp, cab, IR, or effect within the patch uses a differing amounts of DSP processing power and each DSP chip has a limited amount of processing capability.  DSP processing capability is allocated for each block you add to a signal path in a patch so at a certain point you will begin to run out of DSP processing capability and certain blocks will be dimmed out and unavailable to add to the signal path because there isn't enough DSP left for it.  This is why you see more complex patches using sequential layouts that go from the top signal path to the bottom signal path so they can take advantage of both DSP chips within that patch.

 

This all comes back to what I mentioned in the beginning...although snapshots can exhibit some of the behaviors of patches, the basic unit of modeling is a patch.  DSP is allocated based on the patch and snapshots are defined within a patch.  Loading a new patch re-allocates DSP to that patch and uses the snapshots defined for that patch if any.  If you get that concept down it will all make sense.

[Meiannatee]

Okay, let's see if I can remove some of the fog starting with snapshots and presets. The point of snapshots vs patches is to simply have a way to make complex changes inside a patch with a single stomp button action. Think of it as a super stomp button that can take multiple actions on the blocks in a patch. It's very important to remember snapshots only exist within a single patch. If you change patches the snapshots that you had in the previous patch go away and are replaced by the snapshots (if there are any) in the new patch. The value of this is there is no pause between the dramatic changes in different snapshots because you aren't loading a new patch.

 

Because snapshots are a "special" type of stomp button, the Helix provides several different ways of laying out which stomp buttons are regular stomp buttons and which ones are snapshots. These are defined as part of your global parameters. For example you can have regular stomp buttons on the bottom row and snapshots on the top row, or vice versa. There is another special type of stomp button which is a patch change stomp. By default these are normally located on the leftmost buttons as "patch up" and "patch down" but can also be configured as sequential patch buttons along the rows on the Helix. What you can't do is intermix these stomp buttons at will. They have to be one of several specific types of layouts that are defined for the Helix. That's why you can't define one button as a snapshot and another button next to it as a patch change button. There are various ways around this sometimes using MIDI commands, but that's beyond the scope of what you're asking here.

 

The bottom line in your situation is this, if you had a snapshot on a button and then changed to a different patch with another button, your original snapshot would be gone because you now selected a different patch. You would have to switch back to the original patch in order to have that snapshot available. Your best bet would be to have the preset containing your IRs that you use 80% of the time and the rockabilly preset as sequential presets in your setlist. Then to go to the rockabilly preset using the normal preset up button, and use the preset down button to return to the original preset containing your snapshots.

 

DSP isn't bandwidth, it's Digital Signal Processor which is what is used to model the amps, cabs, and effects. It's not really related to snapshots but to the patch and each amp, cab, IR, or effect within the patch uses a differing amounts of DSP processing power and each DSP chip has a limited amount of processing capability. DSP processing capability is allocated for each block you add to a signal path in a patch so at a certain point you will begin to run out of DSP processing capability and certain blocks will be dimmed out and unavailable to add to the signal path because there isn't enough DSP left for it. This is why you see more complex patches using sequential layouts that go from the top signal path to the bottom signal path so they can take advantage of both DSP chips within that patch.

 

This all comes back to what I mentioned in the beginning...although snapshots can exhibit some of the behaviors of patches, the basic unit of modeling is a patch. DSP is allocated based on the patch and snapshots are defined within a patch. Loading a new patch re-allocates DSP to that patch and uses the snapshots defined for that patch if any. If you get that concept down it will all make sense.

This.

 

TLDR:

 

DEFINITIONS

 

Preset = Package containing all blocks (amp, cab, fx, etc.)

Snapshot = settings WITHIN A PRESET (e.g. on/off a block, modify parameter)

 

Cannot change/add/remove block with snapshots (e.g. cannot change amp from Deluxe to Plexi). Can only play with what you have within the preset.

 

SWITCHING TIME

 

Switching presets: have gap time.

Switching between snapshots IN THE SAME PRESET: gapless

 

FOOTSWITCH MODES

 

Preset mode: switch between presets (footswitch 2,3,4,5,8,9,10,11)

Stomp mode: toggle blocks on/off, toggle parameter changes (WITHIN THE SAME PRESET)

Snapshot foot: switch between snapshots (WITHIN THE SAME PRESET)

 

Composite modes (e.g. preset/stomp, snap/stomp): mixture of the above (e.g. footswitch 2,3,4,5 to change preset, 8,9,10,11 to toggle stomp)

 

For more info, read DunedinDragon's post.

 

Edit:

 

STEPS TO TAKE (Option 1)

 

1) Footswitch mode

In global settings, go to preset mode (or any composite mode with preset in it)

 

2) Put your custom preset in slot A of any bank in a setlist (e.g. Setlist User1 > Slot 5A

 

3) Copy Rockabilly preset to slot B of the same bank (e.g. Slot 5B)

 

STEPS TO TAKE (Option 2)

 

1) Footswitch mode

This option is for non-preset modes (e.g. snapshot, stomp)

 

2) Copy both presets to sequentially adjacent slots (e.g. 4D&5A)

 

3) Use leftmost footswitches to scroll presets up (e.g. from 4D to 5A) and down (e.g. from 5A back to 4D)

 

4) The other footswitches can be used to change stomp/snapshot states WITHIN THE SAME PRESET. Changing presets will load the last saved snap/stomp states within the NEW PRESET.

[homegrownbuddy]

 

 

The bottom line in your situation is this, if you had a snapshot on a button and then changed to a different patch with another button, your original snapshot would be gone because you now selected a different patch.  You would have to switch back to the original patch in order to have that snapshot available.  Your best bet would be to have the preset containing your IRs that you use 80% of the time and the rockabilly preset as sequential presets in your setlist.  Then to go to the rockabilly preset using the normal preset up button, and use the preset down button to return to the original preset containing your snapshots.

 

 

 

That sounds like a way to accomplish my goal, how would I go about setting up these two tones as sequential?  It doesn't seem like I can move either of them from the software screen. 

[Meiannatee]

That sounds like a way to accomplish my goal, how would I go about setting up these two tones as sequential? It doesn't seem like I can move either of them from the software screen.

When editing from a computer:

 

1) Right-click on preset > copy

 

2) Navigate to target slot. Right-click > paste

 

3) Repeat for the other preset

[homegrownbuddy]

If I am understanding you correctly, If you have your LT connected to a computer and have the editor, you can rename the Snapshot back as "SNAPSHOT", and then just remove all the blocks in that snapshot, and then save. The same thing go's with a preset> goto a "new preset" and export it out to your saved preset folder. Then whenever you wish to remove the patch from your user setlist, just import the "new preset" patch into that slot. Hope this helps!

 

I tried to do this today but for some reason when I start removing the blocks in the useless snapshots it just removes the blocks from ALL of the snapshots. Even the one I want to keep. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Any changes I make in any snapshot seem to be applied to all of the snapshots. Helix is hard :( If I could just delete those blocks without affecting the good snapshot I would be home free. 

[spikey]

I tried to do this today but for some reason when I start removing the blocks in the useless snapshots it just removes the blocks from ALL of the snapshots.

 

 

Yea that why I corrected myself below that. Sorry if I confused you.  :)

[homegrownbuddy]

Yea that why I corrected myself below that. Sorry if I confused you.  :)

 

I think I'm just confusing myself at this point  :D 

​This would all be so much easier if I could just pull a single snapshot out of a user preset and move it to another preset. Or delete snapshots within user presets.  I guess the ol' drop back and punt method would be to just take pics of every setting in every block and rebuild the thing in another preset. But when I think of the hours it took dialing that snapshot in I shutter to think of doing it all over again.  Is it normal for all the snapshots to be sync'd like that? I mean if that is true then what is the point of snapshots if every change you make affects all of them. I don't get that part of it at all either. I also don't recall it being that way when I left, I remember being able to treat each snapshot like it's own entity adding blocks to snapshot 3 that weren't in snapshot 1 and so on but now literally anything I change in snapshot 3 like say dialing down a fuzz setting, applies to all of the snapshots at once. It's weird. I don't understand the point of snapshots if they are all tied together in that way. Like if I wanted to go into snapshot 3 and remove a block and replace it with another block, this should work right? without changing that block in every snapshot simultaneously...In my mind it should anyway. 

[HonestOpinion]

I think I'm just confusing myself at this point  :D 

​This would all be so much easier if I could just pull a single snapshot out of a user preset and move it to another preset. Or delete snapshots within user presets.  I guess the ol' drop back and punt method would be to just take pics of every setting in every block and rebuild the thing in another preset. But when I think of the hours it took dialing that snapshot in I shutter to think of doing it all over again.  Is it normal for all the snapshots to be sync'd like that? I mean if that is true then what is the point of snapshots if every change you make affects all of them. I don't get that part of it at all either. I also don't recall it being that way when I left, I remember being able to treat each snapshot like it's own entity adding blocks to snapshot 3 that weren't in snapshot 1 and so on but now literally anything I change in snapshot 3 like say dialing down a fuzz setting, applies to all of the snapshots at once. It's weird. I don't understand the point of snapshots if they are all tied together in that way. Like if I wanted to go into snapshot 3 and remove a block and replace it with another block, this should work right? without changing that block in every snapshot simultaneously...In my mind it should anyway. 

 

You cannot change blocks between snapshots, only bypass/activate them or change their parameters. The whole idea behind a snapshot is to have all of the blocks in a preset already loaded up into the DSP, whether they are active or not. This is what allows lagless snapshot changes with spillover. Swapping, deleting, or adding blocks is only allowed when setting up a preset or when switching from one preset to another.  These actions cannot be executed by switching snapshots, you need to switch presets in order for blocks to be swapped for another amp/effect, deleted, or added.

 

One way to think of snapshots is as if you had eight identical pedalboards, all with exactly the same pedals on them. Each pedalboard though can have a different combination of pedals activated/bypassed as well as having their controls set to different settings. Each of these "pedalboards", all with exactly the same pedals but different bypass states and settings, is a snapshot.

 

You can't really delete a snapshot within a preset but you can copy one snapshot over another. The reason your snapshots appear to be "synched" is probably because you have not assigned the parameters you want to change to snapshots. You do this by pressing down on the parameter button and turning (on the Helix) or by assigning the parameter to 'Snapshots' in the editor. If you don't see a pair of square brackets e.g. [parameterValue] appear around the parameter's value you have not successfully assigned it to the snapshots and whatever its setting is will be the same across all snapshots. Once the parameter is assigned properly it can have a unique setting in each snapshot.

 

Another detail that is useful to know is that setting 'Global Settings' --> 'Preferences' --> 'Snapshot Edits' = 'Recall' will retain your snapshot edits as you switch between snapshots. Just remember to save before you switch to another preset. If you set 'Snapshot Edits' = 'Discard' you will have to save your snapshot each time before you switch to another snapshot to retain your settings. Otherwise when you return to the snapshot it will be in the state it was last saved in.

 

"Save" procedure when editing snapshots

'Discard' -  Save every time before switching snapshots and all snapshot changes will be retained

'Recall' - Save once before switching presets and all snapshot changes will be retained

[homegrownbuddy]

 

 

One way to think of snapshots is as if you had eight identical pedalboards, all with exactly the same pedals on them. Each pedalboard though can have a different combination of pedals activated/bypassed as well as having their controls set to different settings. Each of these "pedalboards", all with exactly the same pedals but different bypass states and settings, is a snapshot.

 

 

OOOHHHHH. That makes so much more sense. So basically then...I'm just an idiot trying to do something not even possible, and even going about that the hard way. Shux lol. When I think about it like that as 8 pedal boards all clones of each other it puts the whole snapshot thing into light. 

​What I should have done a year ago when I first learned it was build my tones as patches not snapshots. Hey one last thing, do you know if it's possible to swap the up and down buttons? I can't remember if it's hold them both down or tap them both. Or can those two even be swapped? Maybe it will just take me in and out of preset mode over and over lol. 

 

​Thanks everyone on this thread for all of your patience and help. I fully understand the differences now, I'm so happy about that  :D I've got some work ahead of me to get things set up properly.  ^_^ 

[HonestOpinion]

OOOHHHHH. That makes so much more sense. So basically then...I'm just an idiot trying to do something not even possible, and even going about that the hard way. Shux lol. When I think about it like that as 8 pedal boards all clones of each other it puts the whole snapshot thing into light. 

​What I should have done a year ago when I first learned it was build my tones as patches not snapshots. Hey one last thing, do you know if it's possible to swap the up and down buttons? I can't remember if it's hold them both down or tap them both. Or can those two even be swapped? Maybe it will just take me in and out of preset mode over and over lol. 

 

​Thanks everyone on this thread for all of your patience and help. I fully understand the differences now, I'm so happy about that  :D I've got some work ahead of me to get things set up properly.  ^_^

 

Yep, sounds like you got it, "clones" is a good way to describe a snapshot, with each clone "looking" the same(from a distance anyway) but capable of a different personality. If I understand your question correctly pressing on both FS1 and FS7(the Bank switches) at the same time will cycle between banks, presets, and snapshots. Instead of doing that I have been using  'Global Settings' --> Footswitches --> 'Preset Mode Switches' = "Snaps/Stomps". This gives me four snapshots on the top row and four stomps on the bottom. When I need to select a preset I just hit one of the bank buttons and that brings up the presets. Once I select a preset the Helix goes back into snap/stomp mode.  I could see eventually just switching to 8 snapshots though. There is really no reason not to as a snapshot can really do everything a footswitch in stomp mode can do and more.

 

My rule of thumb is that I switch presets for different songs or when I want to substantially change my "virtual" guitar rig, say from a Fender to a Bogner. Although sometimes I combine different amps in the same preset and switch "rigs" with a snapshot. The other time I switch presets is when I cannot fit all the blocks I need into a single preset for all the parts within a song(very rare). In that case I will switch presets during the song.

 

I use snapshots whenever I can though because, as mentioned in the posts above, they offer lagless switching and spillover("Trails"). The snapshot is my preferred method for switching parts within a song, e.g. verse to chorus, or rhythm to lead.  I recommend you use snapshots whenever you can and save preset switching for anything fitting the conditions in the paragraph above this one.

[Meiannatee]

I think I'm just confusing myself at this point :D

​This would all be so much easier if I could just pull a single snapshot out of a user preset and move it to another preset. Or delete snapshots within user presets. I guess the ol' drop back and punt method would be to just take pics of every setting in every block and rebuild the thing in another preset. But when I think of the hours it took dialing that snapshot in I shutter to think of doing it all over again. Is it normal for all the snapshots to be sync'd like that? I mean if that is true then what is the point of snapshots if every change you make affects all of them. I don't get that part of it at all either. I also don't recall it being that way when I left, I remember being able to treat each snapshot like it's own entity adding blocks to snapshot 3 that weren't in snapshot 1 and so on but now literally anything I change in snapshot 3 like say dialing down a fuzz setting, applies to all of the snapshots at once. It's weird. I don't understand the point of snapshots if they are all tied together in that way. Like if I wanted to go into snapshot 3 and remove a block and replace it with another block, this should work right? without changing that block in every snapshot simultaneously...In my mind it should anyway.

You're still confusing snapshots with presets.

Before, there were NO SNAPSHOTS. Only presets. If you change a block in preset slot A1, it will not affect slot A2.

 

Snapshot is a "layer" within a preset. You don't have use it at all. Just stick with presets if you don't mind the switching gap.

 

Set footswitch mode to preset mode. Keep us updated on it. Good luck!

[homegrownbuddy]

You're still confusing snapshots with presets.

Before, there were NO SNAPSHOTS. Only presets. If you change a block in preset slot A1, it will not affect slot A2.

 

Snapshot is a "layer" within a preset. You don't have use it at all. Just stick with presets if you don't mind the switching gap.

 

Set footswitch mode to preset mode. Keep us updated on it. Good luck!

 

Yeah I realized late yesterday I was way over complicating things. I figured out how to clear the useless snapshots off of my footswitches by changing to preset mode stomp only. Then organized the presets how I would like them so I could just hit the up and down toggles to get what I want. Helix is hard but it has like a Tony Hawk learning curve. It's like rocket science at first but then it all melts way and becomes clear. In the last 48 hours I have gone from feeling lost in the sauce to mediocre af. I really appreciate all of the help on this. I really have a new respect for the guys that have mastered this machine. 

​I'll leave one last off topic question here because why not...After being gone for a year I am still on software version 2.20?(I think?) Should I update or no? I see some issues in the forums about the new thing being buggy and freezing and stuff. Is it worth it? Or should I just stick with what works? 

​edit: Ok I lied, another question lol, is it possible to upload my user preset that I created from scratch to the custom tone thing? It would be really great to somehow have a backup of that patch because I spent so much time tweaking it, I could never do it again if I had to. I don't know how to go about it but would love to backup that specific patch. It has the downloaded Ir's in it so I don't know what to do.

[DunedinDragon]

 

​I'll leave one last off topic question here because why not...After being gone for a year I am still on software version 2.20?(I think?) Should I update or no? I see some issues in the forums about the new thing being buggy and freezing and stuff. Is it worth it? Or should I just stick with what works? 

​edit: Ok I lied, another question lol, is it possible to upload my user preset that I created from scratch to the custom tone thing? It would be really great to somehow have a backup of that patch because I spent so much time tweaking it, I could never do it again if I had to. I don't know how to go about it but would love to backup that specific patch. It has the downloaded Ir's in it so I don't know what to do.

 

 

As long as you clearly understand what you're going to do as far as the upgrade you shouldn't have a problem. The biggest issue people are having is not with the updated firmware, but messing up the update process so their software is mismatched on different versions. In that regard you need to pay attention to the first step which is to backup your presets....which relates to your second question.

 

You don't have to save your preset on CustomTone you can save it to your computer. In the HXEdit program you simply select the preset you want to backup by double-clicking it so that it's highlighted. Then up above the preset listing you'll see an area that says PRESETS and to the right of that is a selection that says EXPORT. Click on EXPORT and you'll be given a save dialogue box which will allow you to save that preset onto your disk drive. It will automatically be named the name you assigned it on the Helix and will be saved as a file with an .HLX ending in whatever location you choose. You can save individual presets or you can save and entire setlist of presets by choosing EXPORT from the SETLISTS area above the PRESETS area.

 

That will save your Preset but if you want to save your preset you'll have to select the IMPULSES at the very top of that list to display all your IRs. You don't need to save your IRs if you still have the original IR you downloaded from the manufacturer. But if you happened to rename it, you might want to save it just to keep the same name. You do this by first selecting IMPULSES which will list all the IRs on your Helix, then you can select a specific IR and choose EXPORT at the top of the page and you'll again be able to select where you want that saved.

 

What is important with saving IRs is that you need to put them back into the same location as they came from because the location number is what is used by the Helix to know which IR to use, not the IR name. For that reason a lot of us have adopted the process of renaming our IRs by putting a three digit number such as 001, oo2, and so on, in front of it to designate which slot it's supposed to go in. This makes it easy to restore IRs in bulk by simply selecting them all from where they are stored (given they're listed in sorted order), dragging and dropping them onto the IMPULSES list which will put them all back on in order in the right slots.

 

The upgrade may or may not wipe out your presets and IRs, but it's better to back them up just in case.

 

Once you've backed everything up you simply go to the support area and select the appropriate HXEdit program to download. The most current version is 2.53. Downloading and installing HXEdit will download all the other necessary files you need including the appropriate version of Line6 Updater. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SEPARATELY DOWNLOAD THE UPDATER.

 

Once you've downloaded and installed the most current version of HXEdit, you can exit HXEdit and run the Line6 Updater (with your Helix turned on and connected to your computer). Once you sign in to the Updater it will show your Helix and the version it's on. Select the firmware version of 2.53 and follow the prompts. After it's done you'll have the firmware and the proper version of HXEdit in place and all should be fine. Make sure you're clear on how this process works and follow it and you shouldn't have any problems.

[HonestOpinion]

...

 

You don't have to save your preset on CustomTone you can save it to your computer. In the HXEdit program you simply select the preset you want to backup by double-clicking it so that it's highlighted. Then up above the preset listing you'll see an area that says PRESETS and to the right of that is a selection that says EXPORT. Click on EXPORT and you'll be given a save dialogue box which will allow you to save that preset onto your disk drive. It will automatically be named the name you assigned it on the Helix and will be saved as a file with an .HLX ending in whatever location you choose. You can save individual presets or you can save and entire setlist of presets by choosing EXPORT from the SETLISTS area above the PRESETS area.

...

 

Two notes, as DD pointed out, double clicking, or even single clicking a preset for export is sufficient. In other words a preset just needs to be highlighted not selected as the active preset. The same applies to copying and pasting presets. Additionally you can export all the files in a setlist at the same time as separate preset files (extension *.hlx) by highlighting them and hitting the Export link in the librarian's menu or just right-clicking and selecting 'Export'.. You would do this "bulk" export using the same method you use for most highlighting actions in your OS, by for example (in Windows), clicking on the first preset in your list, then Shift-Click the last preset in your list, this will highlight all the presets in the range. Now just do the export into the directory of your choice. I name the directories the same as the setlist they are exported from.

 

Note: Just for clarity, particularly for new users I think it might be clearer if the commands at the top of the librarian in the editor were labeled "Export Preset" or perhaps just "Export" for preset exports, and were named "Export Setlist" for setlist exports. A minor detail but probably the way the export labels would appear if they were for instance commands in a pulldown menu.

[Meiannatee]

Yeah I realized late yesterday I was way over complicating things. I figured out how to clear the useless snapshots off of my footswitches by changing to preset mode stomp only. Then organized the presets how I would like them so I could just hit the up and down toggles to get what I want.

SNAPSHOTS

To be clear, the Snapshots for your Preset are still there in Preset/Stomp. They are just hidden. As long as you don't mess with them, they won't get in your way now. Every time you change Presets, it will load the Snapshot you were in during your last save.

 

If you accidentally switched Snapshots, simply switch back to the intended one and hit save to revert to that Snapshot as default when you load that Preset.

 

UPDATE

Like DD has said, if you want to update, follow the instructions word for word and don't deviate, then there should be no problem. Whether it's worth it or not is up to you.

 

Key features:

- 2 new amps (the Lonestar is one of my new fav)

- New HX reverbs

- Added Legacy fx from older Line6 products

- New category of FX for all the Legacy stuff. E.g. Mono, Stereo, Legacy. Old reverbs are legacy, so moved to Legacy folder

- Read full changelog for more details

[homegrownbuddy]

SNAPSHOTS

To be clear, the Snapshots for your Preset are still there in Preset/Stomp. They are just hidden. As long as you don't mess with them, they won't get in your way now. Every time you change Presets, it will load the Snapshot you were in during your last save.

 

If you accidentally switched Snapshots, simply switch back to the intended one and hit save to revert to that Snapshot as default when you load that Preset.

 

UPDATE

Like DD has said, if you want to update, follow the instructions word for word and don't deviate, then there should be no problem. Whether it's worth it or not is up to you.

 

Key features:

- 2 new amps (the Lonestar is one of my new fav)

- New HX reverbs

- Added Legacy fx from older Line6 products

- New category of FX for all the Legacy stuff. E.g. Mono, Stereo, Legacy. Old reverbs are legacy, so moved to Legacy folder

- Read full changelog for more details

Yeah I am not sure it is worth it when I read into what everyone is facing. The lone star amp sounds appealing though, I have been waiting forever for a steel string singer, I have been using the litigator since it seemed the closest but maybe this one sounds good? 

 

​As for the above response regarding IR's I have not upgraded or changed anything simply because of this. Those IR's are so important to my sound I am 100% scared of losing anything. I need to understand how this works before I do anything.  I really want to understand it, and I am trying to read up on it everyday but it just seems so damned difficult.