New Amplifi 75

[jgrice1955]

Just purchased a new Amp here in Canada and I am pretty disappointed with the lack of transparency from line 6. First the amp had very outdated firmware. Seriously you sell an new amp with a very outdated firmware so it cannot connect to a blue tooth device when purchased.

 

Next discovery was that I needed a Microsoft Windows computer or a Mac to update the firmware. I have not owned a Microsoft computer in years, and I have no interest in Apple computers either. I use linux and have for years. And lets not forget the need to have an outdate USB cable.  Yes every household in Canada has a spare USB cable kicking around.

 

Called the vendor and they told me they only sell them they cannot update the firmware.

 

Lucky I was able to track down a Microsoft Windows 7 Laptop. The lack of documentation to update the Amplifi firmware is a disgrace. What a way to treat customers. It would very helpful for customers to know that windows 7 requires a device driver for the amp to be recognized via USB. 

 

Yes I finally got the firmware updated. But it would have been nice to know from the get go that this amp would not function until the firmware was updated. 

 

 

[silverhead]

Sorry you were disappointed but glad that you have things up to date and working now. Is your Amplifi 75 now working as expected? If not, please continue to report any issues and seek support here from other users, or open a support ticket to get directly from Line 6 tech support.

 

Regarding your specific issues....

 

1) There’s no easy way of telling when your particular amp rolled off the assembly line. You could probably determine that by asking Line 6 based on your serial number. It’s not uncommon for products to sit in a retailer’s inventory for a long time, perhaps years,  by which time firmware updates are usually available. Line 6 has no control over this, but does integrate new firmware into the manufacturing process at some point after the firmware is publicly available. However, the general practice is that purchasers of a new device should expect to update their firmware immediately after purchase. This is discussed on the last page of the Pilot’s Guide. Did you download and read this Guide as part of your pre-purchase product research? 

 

2) As described in the above mentioned Guide the firmware update process using the Line 6 Updater program is compatible with Mac and PC devices. There is no mention of Linux compatibility. This should not have been a ‘surprise’ to you.

 

3) Device drivers are ubiquitous in the Windows world. I believe the Line 6 Updater program installs the necessary device driver as part of the firmware update process. At least it does so with other Line 6 products and I don’t expect it behaves differently for the Amplifi products. Hence you should not need to know, or be concerned about, the need for a device driver unless you deviated from the firmware update instructions. However, the need for the device driver and how to get it is also described in the Guide.

 

As with all product purchases, effective pre-purchase product research will usually help avoid disappointment and surprises.

[Owagnerr]

On 3/4/2021 at 5:01 AM, jgrice1955 said:

Just purchased a new Amp here in Canada and I am pretty disappointed with the lack of transparency from line 6. First the amp had very outdated firmware. Seriously you sell an new amp with a very outdated firmware so it cannot connect to a blue tooth device when purchased.

 

Next discovery was that I needed a Microsoft Windows computer or a Mac to update the firmware. I have not owned a Microsoft computer in years, and I have no interest in Apple computers either. I use linux and have for years. And lets not forget the need to have an outdate USB cable.  Yes every household in Canada has a spare USB cable kicking around.

 

Called the vendor and they told me they only sell them they cannot update the firmware.

 

Lucky I was able to track down a Microsoft Windows 7 Laptop. The lack of documentation to update the Amplifi firmware is a disgrace. What a way to treat customers. It would very helpful for customers to know that windows 7 requires a device driver for the amp to be recognized via USB. 

 

Yes I finally got the firmware updated. But it would have been nice to know from the get go that this amp would not function until the firmware was updated. 

 

visit official website

 Thanks for the update and quick reply. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread.    Looking for the same issue. Bumped into your thread. Thanks for creating it. Looking forward for solution.