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Sending HX Stomp Back (No Command Center!)


soundog
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I've been using an HX Effects for acoustic singer/songwriter gigs and love it. I ordered an HX Stomp this week because I prefer the compact size, and 6 blocks is good enough for my needs. BUT I use the HX Effects Command Center feature often to send MIDI CC's to some other devices, and just discovered the HX Stomp does NOT include the MIDI Command Center functionality. I thought I'd looked over the feature set enough before ordering, but guess not. So, its going back.

 

DI mentioned in a Stomp form on the Gear Page that Line 6 left the feature out because they thought the manual was already too big for a stomp box. Hey—its a PDF manual, so I don't care if its even 100 pages long! One reason I love these Helix devices is because they are so darned flexible and feature rich (including I/O and MIDI capability). Its surprising to me that they chose to remove the simple MIDI CC output stuff.

 

I'm sad to send it back because I really like how compact it is. And because I have to pay for the Sweetwater shipping ... both ways.

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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On 3/13/2019 at 4:07 PM, DunedinDragon said:

A little bit of "due diligence" before buying pays off in less aggravation.

 

I did more than a "little bit" of due diligence, and do for all the equipment I purchase. There was nothing on the Line 6 product page that indicated the Command Center had been stripped out; the focus was primarily on the limitations being 3 foot switches and 6 blocks. Like the other units, the Stomp has USB and 5-pin DIN MIDI,  In and Out. Sweetwater (where I placed the order), stated the Stomp had MIDI "for traditional MIDI switchers and advanced performance integration."

 

Being a Helix Floor and HX Effects owner, I assumed the Command Center would have been included to support the MIDI connectivity, since the code was heavily shared within the family. Yeah, if I read the manual in detail I may have figured it out in advance. Shame on me!

 

Line 6 is also touting HX Unity with their upcoming firmware release: "Helix Floor, Helix Rack/Control, Helix LT, Helix Native, HX Effects, and HX Stomp all now live within the same ecosystem. Aside from a few obvious caveats (like six blocks in HX Stomp or effects only in HX Effects), all Helix and HX products can now share the same content."

 

So, yeah .... it's obvious from all the online info that the HX Stomp is limited to six blocks and that the HX Effects is effects only. But stripping almost all of the MIDI out capabilities from the Stomp and not making it obvious to customers in the literature and marketing info is short-sighted. And it says nothing for "HX Unity."

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Kilrahi said:

I agree it's a bummer. If that REALLY is the reason it seems like a mistake. Very few people read manuals ... those who do would feel reading an extra ten pages is worth an feature.

 

I re-read the Gear Page thread, and Digital Igloo said "That's not to say we'll never add Command Center to Stomp; it all depends on how important it is to people vs. how much deeper it makes the whole thing appear. It HURT to have a 50-page manual for a stompbox. A 60, 70, or 80-page manual for a stompbox would BURN."

 

So, I guess manual length wasn't the primary reason they chose to leave it out. Perhaps this was the main reason, inferred by Digital Igloo: "HX Stomp doesn't have a full blown Command Center menu, because, well, it's a stompbox. Trying to shoehorn in a master MIDI controller into a stompbox is weird. We don't include features just because we can—their inclusion needs to make sense"

 

Well look .... isn't HX Effects a stompbox?! Thought so. And inclusion of the Command Center in the Stomp absolutely makes as much sense as having it in HX Effect.

 

OK .... I'll quit whining now. Wish I'd read the Gear Page thread before I bought it. And I still don't get why it wasn't included in the Stomp; it sure would be useful to many of us. I voted it up on IdeaScale. Maybe I'll buy the Stomp again some day if it gets added back in.

 

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24 minutes ago, soundog said:

 

OK .... I'll quit whining now. Wish I'd read the Gear Page thread before I bought it. And I still don't get why it wasn't included in the Stomp; it sure would be useful to many of us. I voted it up on IdeaScale. Maybe I'll buy the Stomp again some day if it gets added back in.

 

 

Hey, I think it makes sense. I'll hunt for the idea scale. That'll make two.

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Without anything explicitadly saying it didn't have command center, I would have assumed it was included. I usually look through a manual before buying something, but an "exclusion" is hard to pick up on.

 

I'm not in the market for a Stomp... but I had considered it when I went from the HX Effects to the LT. I would have been very disappointed has I gone to the stomp.

 

On 3/14/2019 at 10:21 AM, soundog said:

I found three very similar requests for Command Center in the Stomp on IdeaScale (one with 65 votes, one with 20, and one with 17).

Here is the one with the most votes:

 

I've added my vote for it... 

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12 hours ago, soundog said:

Plenty of MIDI IN, but almost nothing for MIDI OUT. Not even sure why they even bothered to put the danged connector on there.

 

It can still be useful as MIDI Thru if you're controlling more pedals down the line. It can also be useful to use the Stomp as master clock even if you can't use it as a full-blown controller.

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42 minutes ago, phil_m said:

 

It can still be useful as MIDI Thru if you're controlling more pedals down the line. It can also be useful to use the Stomp as master clock even if you can't use it as a full-blown controller.

 

That's true Phil, but this is still a bummer. The hardware is there, the processing power is there ...

 

I don't think it's quite up to the bummer of the artificial 6 block limit, but it is something that I hope gets an update.

 

Business opinions are always complex, but to give a crass summary, I'm a firm believer you should never dumb down a product because you worry your consumer is lazy/dumb. Make the benefit great enough that the consumer can choose to rise to that level if they deem it of value.

 

Having said all this, to be clear I still adore my Stomp.

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It was certainly surprising the MIDI stuff was left out, especially since Line 6 is pushing  HX Unity with their upcoming firmware release. They say "all Helix and HX products can now share the same content...aside from a few obvious caveats (like six blocks in HX Stomp or effects only in HX Effects)"

 

As I mentioned, I was really disappointed to have to send the Stomp back because its a great sounding little unit and I love the compact size. But now I'm back to using my HX Effects because I need the MIDI out feature set for my solo performance stuff.

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  • 1 year later...

Was literally going to go buy an HX Stomp this evening, then I found this thread. Not sure any more, without the command center I would need to get something like the Morningstar MC6 to accomplish what I need and that would defeat the purpose (size-wise and budget-wise) of downsizing my board. That’s really a shame, thanks for bringing attention to this.

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  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, bypassvalve said:

Digging and digging to find out where to assign a CC to a footswitch to start/stop a digitakt...no wonder I couldn't figure it out. Looking like hell for something you would think should otherwise be there...

The Stomp is getting Command Center in firmware v3.0. Hold tight.

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41 minutes ago, steviek19 said:

Where has this been confirmed? Thanks

It’s buried somewhere in this interview with Digital Igloo. Sorry, don’t remember exactly where and don’t want to dig through it to find it, but it’s in there.

 

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46 minutes ago, qwerty42 said:

It’s buried somewhere in this interview with Digital Igloo. Sorry, don’t remember exactly where and don’t want to dig through it to find it, but it’s in there.

 

Sweet! For anyone wondering they talk about it at 55:45.

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