Are we going to see any support or future updates at all?

[nomad2001]

So, I love my POD Go to death, but I can not lie when I say I am frustrated to see no firmware updates since August of 2020. While the package does feel complete on it's own, and I love mine to death as I said, I do feel kind of shorthanded by the fact Helix will probably be receiving updates, and new models for the next 3 to 5 years, while POD Go owners have not even seen more optimizations or patches in over 6 months.

Its not something worth throwing a massive fit over, but I am irritated enough to up and just ask what the plan for future support is for the POD Go and exactly what we can expect to see further down the line if anything from it.

[grdGo33]

hopefully..

 

 

[voxman55]

A Pod Go update is definitely on the way as confirmed by Line 6's chief designer.  Last month he indicated 'soonish' and that there would be 'no surprises' which indicates Pod Go may be getting some of the less DSP hungry upgrades from Helix v3.0. Pod Go only came out in around May/June in the UK and there were 2 firmware releases to fix bugs. 

 

Personally I'm less interested in extra amp or fx models, as there's already loads of options in Pod Go. But I'm pretty sure the upgrade will include some.

 

For my gigging needs there are 2 priorities. I'm told by Line 6 the first will not be coming with this upgrade but is high up on their to do list, so perhaps the upgrade after this, and that's the ability to name snapshots and multi switch assignments. At the moment snaps are simply numbered one to four, and multi assignments are just 'multi' so that's not helpful.

 

The other feature that I want is for the 4 user fx slots to be expanded to 6. It won't increase DSP but with prudent selection of amp and fx selections, we would have more flexibility to get more out of the DSP in Pod Go. Because HX Stomp was expanded in v3.0 to 8 user fx slots, up from 6, I'm hoping Pod Go will get some extra flexibility here... even 1 extra slot would be very useful.

 

But we just have to wait and see and be patient I'm afraid. Bear in mind too that everyone, including Line 6, has been affected by the global pandemic, so they are likely to have been slowed down just as so many other busineses have been.  

 

 

[ceedjay]

Hi,

 

Unfortunately, it's the same with all brands. Flagship products get all the attention.

I have found a bug in which expression pedal positions are swapped (exp1 gets the value of pedal2 position and vice versa) when loading a preset when exp pedals are set to "global value". Makes the option useless if you want to have a constant volume position for example.

I just cannot believe that they haven't noticed and fixed it yet.......probably too busy wanting to add yet again so many more amps and effects that nobody will use.......

 

Cheers.

Jay

[voxman55]

4 hours ago, ceedjay said:

Hi,

 

Unfortunately, it's the same with all brands. Flagship products get all the attention.

I have found a bug in which expression pedal positions are swapped (exp1 gets the value of pedal2 position and vice versa) when loading a preset when exp pedals are set to "global value". Makes the option useless if you want to have a constant volume position for example.

I just cannot believe that they haven't noticed and fixed it yet.......probably too busy wanting to add yet again so many more amps and effects that nobody will use.......

 

Cheers.

Jay

Jay, have you tried the reversing polarity setting referred to in another thread?  I'd also suggest it would be good to see if Line 6 confirm it's a genuine bug or whether it's merely a settings issue.   Have you raised a ticket and has Line 6 responded? 

[ceedjay]

20 minutes ago, voxman55 said:

Jay, have you tried the reversing polarity setting referred to in another thread?  I'd also suggest it would be good to see if Line 6 confirm it's a genuine bug or whether it's merely a settings issue.   Have you raised a ticket and has Line 6 responded? 

Hi,

 

I did even try with a friend's genuine line6 ex1 pedal and it is the same. Just try and you'll see. It does the same thing even without an external pedal just switching from exp1 to exp2 with the toe switch. It is a bug.

 

Reversing polarity will just make a pedal work the other way round (toe down becomes heel down) but it won't change how the device recognizes the pedal's position.

 

Cheers.

Jay

[silverhead]

Again, have you raised a support ticket to report it? Please keep us posted on the Line 6 response.

[ceedjay]

Yes, I have. Waiting for their answer.

 

Thanks.

Jay

[ceedjay]

Hi,

 

As I feared, they did not understand the description of the problem and just asked me to update to fw 1.12, use editor 1.11 and reset my PG, which is what I've done of course.

 

I sent them the full procedure to reproduce the behaviour. Waiting fpr their answer.

 

In the meantime, it would be nice if users with an external pedal could try and reproduce the bug so that I can know if it's only on my PG or not.

 

Here is what you should do :

 

1) plug an external pedal in Pod Go (and choose Exp2 in settings, obviously)
2) go to settings and choose "global" for expression pedals
3) create and save two basic presets where exp1 controls wah value and exp2 controls volume, with 0/100% range for both. Save both presets with volume block visible in view mode (so that you can see the value in real time).
4) put external pedal fully toe down (volume goes to 100%) and internal pedal fully heel down (wah value goes to 0%)
5) switch to the other preset

The value of volume should stay at 100% (the pedal is still toe down) and the wah should stay at 0% (the internal pedal is still heel down). IT IS NOT THE CASE, volume reverts to 0% (that is the position of the internal pedal) and wah jumps to 100% (that is the position of the external pedal).

You can try with other pedal positions. For example, leave external pedal heel down (0% value), move internal pedal to a position where wah value is - for example - 37%. Now switch presets : volume value jumps to 37%, which is the value of the internal pedal.

When Pod Go "asks" for the position of the pedals, it swaps pedal 1 and pedal 2.

I hope I made myself clear. If again you don't understand, I'll make a video of it.

 

Cheers

Jay

[ceedjay]

Hi !

 

OK, I asked other users on FB groups to test and their Pod Go does the same. The rep at Line6 could reproduce it too, so it is definitely a bug.

 

https://www.facebook.com/100004506545710/videos/1760704500756418/

 

So, for the moment, it is impossible to have a "master" volume pedaln which is what I'd like. Bummer !

 

Cheers.

Jay

[Thumpingrug]

I'd just like it to work with my Mac.  Doesn't seem to much to ask for.  At this rate it would be easier for me to buy a windows laptop to make edits easier.  

[ppiluk]

4 hours ago, Thumpingrug said:

I'd just like it to work with my Mac.  Doesn't seem to much to ask for.  At this rate it would be easier for me to buy a windows laptop to make edits easier.  

I use mine on my Mac. What problems are you having?

[ceedjay]

On 3/12/2021 at 3:12 PM, ceedjay said:

Hi !

 

OK, I asked other users on FB groups to test and their Pod Go does the same. The rep at Line6 could reproduce it too, so it is definitely a bug.

 

https://www.facebook.com/100004506545710/videos/1760704500756418/

 

So, for the moment, it is impossible to have a "master" volume pedaln which is what I'd like. Bummer !

 

Cheers.

Jay

Hi,

 

They updated the ticket. They managed to reproduce the bug and have escalated the issue further. So, it is a bug. I hope they fix it quickly because it is a must-have feature when playing live.

 

Cheer

Jay

[OmegaSlayer]

21 hours ago, ceedjay said:

Hi,

 

They updated the ticket. They managed to reproduce the bug and have escalated the issue further. So, it is a bug. I hope they fix it quickly because it is a must-have feature when playing live.

 

Cheer

Jay

Hopefully it will hasten the release of any update

[voxman55]

4 hours ago, OmegaSlayer said:

Hopefully it will hasten the release of any update

Or delay it of course.

[spaceatl]

check it out! 

 

[silverhead]

Yeah fine,  but when’s the next one??

[ceedjay]

Hi !

 

I haven't had time to update yet but the bug fix list says they fixed the expression pedal swap bug. Good stuff !

 

Cheers.

Jay

[voxman55]

13 hours ago, silverhead said:

Yeah fine,  but when’s the next one??

??

[silverhead]

1 hour ago, voxman55 said:

??

Just a lame attempt at humour. There’s a regular pattern on these forums (pretty much all products) of users constantly anticipating the next firmware release and anxiously inquiring about it. It usually begins quite soon after any firmware release so I was just trying to have a little fun by taking the practice to the extreme.
 

It won’t be long before the next series of enquiries about this begins for real. I predict that some time soon after Helix v3.10 drops  POD Go users will start asking when they are going to get any new models that Helix users will then have. 
 

In fact I believe you were among the first to ask about this most recent update. Your thread specifically references Helix v3 firmware which was released only two weeks earlier. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you and others shouldn’t be asking about future firmware releases. Just saying that it’s predictable here, and tends to happen soon after another product gets an update. I find it humorous and was just poking a little fun at the practice by taking it to the extreme in being the first to inquire about the next update immediately after the current one. 

 

[voxman55]

Gotcha, I was just thrown by it.

 

The problem is that Line 6 has gone with the masses who just want more fx, & more amps. But aside from the acoustic simulator, there's so much in Pod Go already that you really don't need more of all this - most folk have option paralysis as it is and amps & distortions do get to sound samey.  I'm therefore hoping that the next upgrade will focus on functionality. It's supposed to be Pod 'go' ie take it anywhere for rehearsals, gigs - yet it's not yet as gig ready as it should have been.  There are 5 key things it needs purely from a functionality perspective:

 

1. Snapshot naming

2. Multi footswitch naming

3. At least one extra user block (2 would be great) to be a bit more flexible so that provided your selections were less DSP hungry, you could have some additional flexibility - particularly useful for creating a stomp pedal board for gigging where you could add eg a compressor and a second modulation or distortion etc.  It wouldn't give more DSP, but Line 6 upped HX Stomp from 6 to 8 slots, so it is doable. 

4. Ability to see F7/F8 on screen

5. Ability to use F7/F8 to switch up/down so you could still still scroll through patches in 6-view stomp-mode

 

 

If Line 6 can get those things added to Pod Go, then as far as I'm concerned  it's then a bona-fide gigging unit and anything else is a bonus.  But then I'm a gigging player & home players don't need these.  

[silverhead]

I think those are all good suggestions. Have you started an Ideascale entry for each of them?

[voxman55]

25 minutes ago, silverhead said:

I think those are all good suggestions. Have you started an Ideascale entry for each of them?

All on by me and or others. 

[grdGo33]

5 hours ago, silverhead said:

It won’t be long before the next series of enquiries about this begins for real. I predict that some time soon after Helix v3.10 drops  POD Go users will start asking when they are going to get any new models that Helix users will then have.

 

Yeah, maybe because I`m not as ancient here as others, but we'll have a better idea of the typical time frames.  Helix 3.0 was released last November, so it took about 4 months for new features from Helix to trickle down to the Pod Go.  So next time, we'll have a better idea.  :)  (Communication by L6 about future release firmware/patch ETAs with expected features would be nice to have!)

 

Plus I think we`ve gotten pretty much everything as expected!  :D    (https://line6.com/support/topic/59695-pod-go/?do=findComment&comment=372131)  all except

 

Quote

 

Volume/Pan > Stereo Imager (Stereo), Line 6 Original. Used to increase the apparent stereo width of your signal when connecting Helix to two amps or a stereo playback system; just make sure there aren't any mono blocks after it!

 

Looper > Shuffling Looper (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original. Part looper, part sampler, part inspiration generator, part performance instrument, the Shuffling Looper intelligently chops up your playing and gives you real-time control over reordering, octave shifting, reversing, and repeating. It's all immense fun (even on vocals, drums, and percussion), but you'll want to familiarize yourself with its controls. IMPORTANT: The Shuffling Looper does not currently respond to Command Center > HX Commands or per-function MIDI commands

 

 

Still with the Glitch delay, you can sort of reproduce the shuffling looper; they're at least somewhat similar in terms of effect I think...

[silverhead]

1 hour ago, grdGo33 said:

 

  (Communication by L6 about future release firmware/patch ETAs with expected features would be nice to have!)

 

Being one of the ancient ones here.... ;-).......

 

You may be interested to know that Line 6 used to provide information about pending updates, including specific dates about when a new firmware release was expected to be available and what it was expected to contain. However, software development being what it is, they sometimes missed that self-imposed target. They got a huge amount of grief from users who were upset that the ‘promised’ release was not on time or did not contain Feature X as expected. Line 6 stopped providing pre-release info for that reason.

[grdGo33]

Ah yes, the good old; damned if you do, damned if you don't  lol

 

Off to try the new Benzin amps!  :D   Quite fun getting new goodies like that!

 

Quote

1. Snapshot naming

2. Multi footswitch naming

3. At least one extra user block (2 would be great) to be a bit more flexible so that provided your selections were less DSP hungry, you could have some additional flexibility - particularly useful for creating a stomp pedal board for gigging where you could add eg a compressor and a second modulation or distortion etc.  It wouldn't give more DSP, but Line 6 upped HX Stomp from 6 to 8 slots, so it is doable.

++!

[spaceatl]

On 3/25/2021 at 5:39 PM, silverhead said:

Yeah fine,  but when’s the next one??

LOL! What about, "This is great!  But where's my sandwich??!!"

[OmegaSlayer]

On 3/26/2021 at 6:41 PM, voxman55 said:

Gotcha, I was just thrown by it.

 

The problem is that Line 6 has gone with the masses who just want more fx, & more amps. But aside from the acoustic simulator, there's so much in Pod Go already that you really don't need more of all this - most folk have option paralysis as it is and amps & distortions do get to sound samey.  I'm therefore hoping that the next upgrade will focus on functionality. It's supposed to be Pod 'go' ie take it anywhere for rehearsals, gigs - yet it's not yet as gig ready as it should have been.  There are 5 key things it needs purely from a functionality perspective:

 

1. Snapshot naming

2. Multi footswitch naming

3. At least one extra user block (2 would be great) to be a bit more flexible so that provided your selections were less DSP hungry, you could have some additional flexibility - particularly useful for creating a stomp pedal board for gigging where you could add eg a compressor and a second modulation or distortion etc.  It wouldn't give more DSP, but Line 6 upped HX Stomp from 6 to 8 slots, so it is doable. 

4. Ability to see F7/F8 on screen

5. Ability to use F7/F8 to switch up/down so you could still still scroll through patches in 6-view stomp-mode

 

 

If Line 6 can get those things added to Pod Go, then as far as I'm concerned  it's then a bona-fide gigging unit and anything else is a bonus.  But then I'm a gigging player & home players don't need these.  

Great requests, I had one on ideascale too, which was the ability to preserve the setting/parameters of an amp (or other comparable effects) when cycling

Let's say you have a Brit set at Drive 8, Bass 7.5, Mid 4, Treble 6, Presence 10 and you want to cycle through other Amps with those settings without dialing every time

But my English is lame, so I don't know if what I asked was clear enough

If someone likes the idea and is able to convey it better than me, please go forth, I'm not about being the one that came up with the idea, I'm about having the idea accepted

 

About your requests, specifically, I'll be very happy already with the chance to turn the Wah into a second EQ

[Samdbl]

On 3/26/2021 at 1:55 PM, silverhead said:

I think those are all good suggestions. Have you started an Ideascale entry for each of them?

 

Huh? You told me I was S.O.L. for wanting another block and that there was no way it was going to happen.

[silverhead]

No inconsistency. In the above I said they are good suggestions and that the way to lobby Line 6 is via Ideascale. That is true. I would like to see these things be implemented. You asked a different and specific question, namely "Is this going to happen or should I get rid of my device?"  In response I said another thing that I believe is true. It ain't going to happen. You asked others whether they thought it was going to happen, not whether they wanted it to happen. I hold both beliefs simultaneously and without contradiction. Would I like to see these things? Yes. Do I think extra flex blocks will be added? No

 

[voxman55]

@silverhead I'm intrigued. Why do you think Line 6 won't add additional user blocks ... there is a LOT of untapped processing power that's available in Pod Go ... as demonstrated per my recent post in another thread. It would also follow what Line 6 did in HX Stomp.

 

Line 6s original 'concerns' at overplaying Pod Go's processing power were based on customers not being used to how DSP was allocated, but with so much easily available information now going around the internet and YouTube it's time to take the training wheels off. 

 

Do you have inside information on this?? 

[silverhead]

No inside information.
 

I think you are much more interested, motivated, and self-educated than most in terms of understanding the POD Go’s DSP management design. You have gone to the extent of doing extensive pre-purchase market research, post -purchase reading about DSP management, and pursuit of informative and helpful tools like the DSP utilization chart. And you actually take the time to use those things in your preset design. You are among the very few (I think) who have gone to the extent of calculating that it may actually be possible to increase the number of flex blocks and still be able (with your hard-earned knowledge as well as DSP analysis) to identify and maximize the available DSP during preset construction. If I thought the average user was like you I would have a different opinion.

 

But you do not represent the average POD Go user. I think the average user builds presets by filling their flex blocks with a desired FX model with little or no consideration of DSP utilization. They make no effort to use a lesser rather than more DSP intensive model of, say, a Delay or Reverb block. They can usually, but not always, manage to utilize all 4 FX flex blocks without encountering the DSP limitations of the POD Go. More importantly they get quite frustrated and vocal about the ‘underpowered’ nature of the device when they find they can’t use all 4 blocks, and still give no consideration to DSP management. Providing an available block that can’t be used has the effect of pi$$ing off many users. Unlike you, they don’t revisit their preset design to squeeze more DSP out of the device by consulting the DSP utilization chart to replace a specific block with a similar but less DSP intensive FX model. They still need the training wheels. They still just run to the forums to complain about poor device design. Understandably this just drives Line 6 to minimize those situations through design constraints.
 

I believe Line 6 has imposed the 4-block restriction (rather than 5 or 6) for a reason. I believe that reason is to minimize the instances of apparent DSP limitations for the average user. Someday Line 6 may come to believe that the average user is as knowledgeable and committed as you are to make efforts to maximize the DSP during preset construction, and is ready to take DSP management fully into their own hands without blaming Line 6 when they hit the limitation. If and when that day comes I will be happy to see the extra blocks. Meantime, my opinion is that adding  extra flex blocks will pi$$ off more average users than it will appease ambitious users like you.

 

Btw.... thank you for your inquisitive interest in this topic, and for educating all users with your findings and preset-building tactics. If Line 6 does reach the point where they believe the average user is ready for an extra flex block or two the user community will have people like you to thank. 
 

Again, all of this is just my opinion. No inside information. I could be wrong and we will see extra flex blocks in the next firmware update. I would be happy to see that,  but at this time I don’t think it’s likely.

[grdGo33]

2 hours ago, silverhead said:

I believe Line 6 has imposed the 4-block restriction (rather than 5 or 6) for a reason.

 

I think it's way more for marketing & not cannibalizing their higher end product sales.  I really don't think it's to 'help' the users at all (lol) I really do believe that it's to put an arbitrary limit on their cheaper product.   It would be sooo simple to display a % value for each block, and allow the users to add as many effects as long as they don't get over 100%.

 

I mean come on, are you saying that guitar players are so dumb they wouldn't be able to understand that each block takes a particular % and that they can't go over 100%?  LOL  That's pretty damn insulting and I think you owe an apology to all guitarists!  :p 

 

But seriously, even now, it's even less intuitive to use, because if they give no % for each effects block, you have no clue which block uses how much, which actually makes it even HARDER to build a patch; because after adding 3 effects; you're like;  "WFT can't I add this effect?!?  Why can I add this and this, but not that and that?!" then they have to go online to find a page that gives the actual % of each effects block...  Something that could and should have been done in the unit.  Hell, they already do know the % of each, since they won't allow you to go over 100%, just write the %, and add an extra block if there's still room for an extra effects block!

 

I don't think it would hurt the Stomp & others that much.  Fact that you can't do dual amps/cabs, have less inputs and outputs, etc., Go would still be very limited vs the others.

[voxman55]

Thanks @silverhead but I don't think my experience and knowledge is anything special and based on my interactions here, YouTube and other boards it suggests that there are a large number of users who have a pretty good understanding of how Pod Go works.   

 

But even if your point had some validity, I still don't buy it.  And that's because it would be a very simple matter for Line 6 to say that Pod Go is designed to be most flexible for new users with up to 4 blocks. But for more experienced users who have a deeper understanding of DSP useage and who are prepared to make trade offs  on models selected Pod Go now has ( at least) 2 additional slots that can be pulled down if required but provide no extra processing power. 

 

So, both types of users catered for with a simple explanation for 'newbies' and kids playing in their bedrooms who just want to make some noise and those who want to maximise their options.

 

But the solution is easy. I fully agree with @grdGo33 that you need to give users DSP info in the unit and not make it mysterious. Is it any wonder if newbies don't understand about DSP when Line 6 gives them no information?  It took a dedicated third party to publish what Line 6 should have done. What better way can you have for newbies to learn and understand about DSP  useage than give them a simple, visual reference. 

 

As a case in point, the new Zoom G6 ( aimed squarely at the Pod Go market) does exactly this - by each and every model listed is a %age of the DSP cost. How difficult can that be to do and how easy is that to understand, even for novices?  Now, if Zoom recognises that users need information to get the best from their G6 product and can treat it's customers like grown ups, surely should Line 6 be doing no less?

 

I know that Line 6 says every decision is meticulously thought through and pros and cons weighed. But I do wonder if their market leading status has perhaps made Line 6 a little shortsighted or even dare I suggest perhaps even a tad blase here with regards to what users need. The lack of snapshot naming and multi footswitch naming are further examples where their omission seems to convey that 'that's good enough for Pod Go users and we don't need to bother with these' - yet these are the two biggest things users have been asking for...did this not come out in research?  

 

With all its knowledge and experience, I can't help feeling that Line 6 might not know it's customer base for Pod Go quite as well as it perhaps might like to think.

 

And regardless of what Line might allude to publically, I again agree with @grdGo33 that if Line 6 made Pod Go too good, it would potentially deflect from Helix sales and it is in their interest to keep a sufficient level of differentiation from their flagship products. 

 

On this point, it's perhaps interesting that following the commercial failure of its G11 unit that Zoom has positioned the new G6 as it's flagship processor and perhaps that has encouraged it to come up with some genuinely interesting features. It therefore has no potential conflict of interest with other of its product lines. And whilst I'm sure Line 6 would vehemently defend any suggestion of there being any conflicts of interest between any of its product lines, I think its difficult to totally disregard that possibility. 

[OmegaSlayer]

One solution to the DSP management problem would be to put the % usage id the PodGo edit if Line6 doesn't want to partially redesign the PodGo UI, which might be annoying on not worth the hassle

In the end, how many users tweak the PodGo directly from the device? I think the majority of us use the PodGo edit, because it's faster and easier

I'm sure that everyone that wants to squeeze the DSP power tweaks the Go from their PCs

[silverhead]

1 hour ago, voxman55 said:

...

 

But even if your point had some validity, I still don't buy it.  ...

I’m not going to engage in any debate about this. I don’t really care whether you buy it or not. You asked for my reasoning and I provided it. My mistake.

[voxman55]

39 minutes ago, silverhead said:

I’m not going to engage in any debate about this. I don’t really care whether you buy it or not. You asked for my reasoning and I provided it. My mistake.

This is just a friendly, intelligent discussion about Pod Go, it's just a piece of gear. It's not life or death and certainly not intended to be personal ...apologies if you took it as such.  I always respect your views @silverhead but I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.