Helix 3.8 - That's it?

[gsmanon]

Considering it's been nearly a full year since the last update, 3.8's addition of a meagre "6 new amps, 4 new cabs, 1 new effect, and bug fixes" is very disappointing. 

 

I really was expecting new features/workflow enhancements/bringing it up to par with rivals in different ways, not just a few more amps and cabs. 

 

I hope we don't have to wait another year before a significant update to the platform. Like most music software companies, they seem immune to taking on board user feature requests. 

[scrapperstoo]

It's tempting to think of it that way.... but equally - i've not had to pay any maintenance subscriptions in the 5+ years I've had my Stomp, and yet it keeps getting improvements.

 

OK, so it's been a while since the last one, and i'd have sooner seen a killer envelope filter in there or a 4th snapshot instead of yet more fender amps that I won't be able to tell apart from the others.... but I ain't mad.

 

 

[cruisinon2]

Harrumph! 

 

We really need either a soapbox, or an "I'm outta here"/ angry storm-off emoji around here. It would save so much space. ;)

[cruisinon2]

On 11/19/2024 at 1:28 PM, gsmanon said:

I really was expecting new features/workflow enhancements/bringing it up to par with rivals in different ways, not just a few more amps and cabs. 

 

 

 

The Helix platform is nearly a decade old... and I could be wrong, but I'd say the odds of any significant overhauls like those you're suggesting will not be forthcoming at this point. Any major UI or functionality changes will likely be reserved for whatever the next flagship device(s) will be. No matter how good something was when it was "the next big thing", continuing to spend resources duct taping endless upgrades to it just doesn't make sense... at some point you're putting a silk hat on a pig.

[dnottis]

I think the Helix is about done with updates...I wouldn't expect any huge changes.  At this point its mostly bug fixes and maybe a few additions.

[reginaldStjohn]

I am just grateful for any update or enhancement.  No expectations here.

[gsmanon]

Most of you saying "Helix is such an old platform, you can't expect major updates". Maybe, if they were working on its replacement, I'd agree. But most Line 6 sources appear to say there are no short term plans for such a replacement. 

So if they're not working on a replacement, and they're barely updating Helix, then surely that means they've simply given up the market space to competitors entirely? 

 

[rwandering]

On 11/19/2024 at 12:10 PM, reginaldStjohn said:

I am just grateful for any update or enhancement.  No expectations here.

 

Yep.

 

My perspective is: cool, some new things I'm probably not going to use on this amazing platform that I do use pretty much every day.

[SaschaFranck]

Even if I wish they would do that, I don't think we'll see significant functionality updates anymore. At one point in time the HX family market will be saturated (it likely almost is), so everone and his mum have their Floors, Stomps and what not. To sell some more hardware (which is their main job) Line 6 will have to show up with some new stuff.

But then, I think the HX platform is really mature and good enough for quite some years to come already. Sure, I'm really somewhat dissapointed that certain functionality updates never materialized, but such is life.

[theElevators]

The only thing that could have been a cool addition would be the "flux" feature.  Or some kind of a timed engagement of a snapshot/effects.

 

For example, you want to take a solo, so you press a button, walk up to the front of the stage, and the switching occurs after 3 seconds. 

 

Otherwise, the Helix has been a complete package as far as I'm concerned for a while.  Time for Helix 2.0.

[gsmanon]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:33 PM, theElevators said:

The only thing that could have been a cool addition would be the "flux" feature.  Or some kind of a timed engagement of a snapshot/effects.

 

For example, you want to take a solo, so you press a button, walk up to the front of the stage, and the switching occurs after 3 seconds. 

 

Otherwise, the Helix has been a complete package as far as I'm concerned for a while.  Time for Helix 2.0.

 

Their ideascale is filled with great user suggestions. In addition there's plenty of functionality in rival products that they could be analysing and competing with. But no - the two main sources of big pay-off updates get completely and utterly ignored and instead "yeah let's model 6 amps" which could probably be done in a couple of weeks of dev time, "let's do 4 cabs", which could probably be done in an afternoon - it's just a bunch of IR captures, "let's do some bug fixes" each one of which should take a dev an afternoon at most to rectify and should be fixed and updated AS AND WHEN they're found, not just packaged together for nearly a year so they can be released at the same time.

If they're not working on the next gen, then honestly, what exactly have Line 6 devs ACTUALLY been doing for 10 months? 

[C4TH]

I kind of agree. I feel bad moaning as Line 6 here usually very generous with their updates. I have to agree to an extent though. As an HXFX user there's not a lot to get excited about with this update. Would still love a global reverb, and a few other small improvements would be nice.

[datacommando]

On 11/19/2024 at 11:28 PM, gsmanon said:

Their ideascale is filled with great user suggestions. In addition there's plenty of functionality in rival products that they could be analysing and competing with. But no - the two main sources of big pay-off updates get completely and utterly ignored and instead "yeah let's model 6 amps" which could probably be done in a couple of weeks of dev time, "let's do 4 cabs", which could probably be done in an afternoon - it's just a bunch of IR captures, "let's do some bug fixes" each one of which should take a dev an afternoon at most to rectify and should be fixed and updated AS AND WHEN they're found, not just packaged together for nearly a year so they can be released at the same time.

If they're not working on the next gen, then honestly, what exactly have Line 6 devs ACTUALLY been doing for 10 months? 

Hi,

 

“Model 6 amps in a couple of weeks”? -  Really?

 

“4 cabs which could probably be done in an afternoon - it's just a bunch of IR captures”? Really?

 

"let's do some bug fixes" each one of which should take a dev an afternoon at most to rectify? Really?

 

You seem to be remarkably well informed about how much is involved in creating this stuff.
 

If you feel it could have been done in a shorter time frame, then maybe you should have offered your incredible genius to kick this stuff together a lot faster. 
 

Putting your money where your mouth is, springs to mind.

 

Do I smell “entitlement” in the air?

 

Oh, yeah - I haven’t updated to v3.80 yet, as I have enough stuff to keep me amused everyday, as I have only had my Helix since 11/23/15.

 

Plus - consider the HXFX owner’s who only got a bass wah pedal.

[cruisinon2]

On 11/19/2024 at 3:37 PM, gsmanon said:

Most of you saying "Helix is such an old platform, you can't expect major updates". Maybe, if they were working on its replacement, I'd agree. But most Line 6 sources appear to say there are no short term plans for such a replacement. 

So if they're not working on a replacement, and they're barely updating Helix, then surely that means they've simply given up the market space to competitors entirely? 

 

 

On 11/19/2024 at 6:28 PM, gsmanon said:

 

If they're not working on the next gen, then honestly, what exactly have Line 6 devs ACTUALLY been doing for 10 months? 

 

Lol... so because a new product release is not imminent, therefore everyone at L6 has been just sitting around with their thumbs up their a$$es?

 

That's fascinating logic. To conclude that because nothing new is available today, therefore L6 has abandoned the market to their competitors, is truly astonishing...it's also ridiculous, juvenile, and short-sighted, but I digress. Just for my own morbid curiosity though, do you have a similar reaction when the supermarket runs out of broccoli? SPOILER ALERT: It's not because all the farmers decided to play in the dirt instead of growing $hit.

 

Helix was in development for years prior to it's release... do you think somebody just snaps their fingers and a product magically hits the shelves? Hell, beta testing alone takes months, and that's not even the hard part. Ask some of L6 guys over on TGP if you like, and they'll tell you the same. Just because they're not inviting you to the R&D meetings or screaming about a Helix successor from the rooftops, doesn't mean they don't have anything in the pipeline. Whatever is coming next has likely been in development for quite some time already.

 

It's a crying shame we can't all just pitch a fit and have everything we want miraculously appear, but life's rough. In through the nose, out through the mouth, nice and slow. Everything's gonna be OK... ;)

[VGK17]

There were 11 bug fixes and a bunch of updates to HX One. There's so many models in Helix as is that I'm amazed people still want more and more. Even with all the amps, pedals, cabinets, microphones, etc. out there how many truly different tones are there actually?

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 3:04 AM, VGK17 said:

There were 11 bug fixes and a bunch of updates to HX One. There's so many models in Helix as is that I'm amazed people still want more and more. Even with all the amps, pedals, cabinets, microphones, etc. out there how many truly different tones are there actually?

I don't think anybody is calling for more and more amps/pedals/cabs/mics. For me personally, I'd like to see additional features, rather than extending pre-existing features.

Maybe the 3.5 update spoiled me, but I was stoked when they entire re-did the cab-engine side of things - not necessarily adding more cabs and mics, but improving the workflow, adding dual cabs, introducing the ability to move mic positions around the speaker cone and give a visual for it as well. I'd like to see more of that kind of thing - truly adding new capabilities.

In comparison to 3.5, 3.8 is pretty laughable. 

I'd like to see them do things like add LFOs to control parameters, or envelope followers that can be used to modulate parameters or dictate timing/sequencing of certain effects. As soon as I seen the video of Guthrie playing with stuff like that on the FM9, I hoped Helix may eventually include it. But nope, just a few more amps/cabs, which, as you say, aren't going to sound THAT different to what's already there - there's already plenty of high gain amps, no real need for more Peavey models.

[fremen]

Very pleased with the update, the new amps are great ! Of course, everyone has a list of what he would like to see added, but for me, the EVH 5150 III, the Bogner Ecstasy and the Fender Super Reverb are enough to make me happy ! Now, if they could add some Two Rock amps and a model of Andy Timmons Halo pedal...

 

 

 

 

 

[gsmanon]

On 11/19/2024 at 11:50 PM, datacommando said:

Hi,

 

“Model 6 amps in a couple of weeks”? -  Really?

Yes, really. Because in previous updates, they've released enough new amps to show that they CAN model an amp on a much shorter time frame than 6 per 10 months. 

On 11/19/2024 at 11:50 PM, datacommando said:

 

“4 cabs which could probably be done in an afternoon - it's just a bunch of IR captures”? Really?]

Umm, yes. I presume Line 6 have something like a dynamount mic stand and a suitable space to capture IRs. It literally takes a few seconds to do an IR sweep/capture, so to then multiply that few seconds by the number of mic positions/mics/angles etc should add up to a few hours. Let's be generous and give them 8 weeks. Certainly not 10 months worth of work, and again, they've released WAY more new cabs in the past on MUCH shorter time frames in the past.

On 11/19/2024 at 11:50 PM, datacommando said:

 

"let's do some bug fixes" each one of which should take a dev an afternoon at most to rectify? Really?

Uhh, yes. Again, certainly not 10 months worth of work to debug a few user-reported bugs. And why are they waiting until 3.8 to release bug fixes? Bug fix releases should be done as and when each bug is fixed.

On 11/19/2024 at 11:50 PM, datacommando said:

 

You seem to be remarkably well informed about how much is involved in creating this stuff

 

If you feel it could have been done in a shorter time frame, then maybe you should have offered your incredible genius to kick this stuff together a lot faster. 
 

Putting your money where your mouth is, springs to mind.

 

Do I smell “entitlement” in the air?

 

Oh, yeah - I haven’t updated to v3.80 yet, as I have enough stuff to keep me amused everyday, as I have only had my Helix since 11/23/15.

 

Plus - consider the HXFX owner’s who only got a bass wah pedal.

 

Yes, I'm a software developer. Any software developer that's worked inside an organisation before will tell you the same thing - it's not the technical task which causes development to take so much time, but instead the bureaucracy, the management, the HR, the office politics, the failure to take user feedback into account, and it's more than allowed to criticise companies for allowing that nonsense to result in such poor outcomes. 

"Entitlement"? No. I paid for a product, I am allowed my opinion about it, and just because an update is free doesn't mean negative opinions are not allowed. If it was entitlement then I'd also mind if they just never released an update ever again, but that's not the case. If the choose to say "no more updates", I'd be fine with that. But so long as they do continue to make updates, presumably with the intention of exciting the existing userbase to continue using and therefore advertising their product/encouraging new user base/retaining their position at the leading edge of amp sims, then I'm allowed to pass comment on whether it achieved that goal for me. In this case, it did not. 

I'd also be happy to pay for more significant updates, as long as it's reasonably priced and the offering is significant.

 

[gsmanon]

On 11/19/2024 at 9:29 PM, SaschaFranck said:

Even if I wish they would do that, I don't think we'll see significant functionality updates anymore. At one point in time the HX family market will be saturated (it likely almost is), so everone and his mum have their Floors, Stomps and what not. To sell some more hardware (which is their main job) Line 6 will have to show up with some new stuff.

But then, I think the HX platform is really mature and good enough for quite some years to come already. Sure, I'm really somewhat dissapointed that certain functionality updates never materialized, but such is life.

Why not? 3.5 was a complete reworking of the cab engine. There's no reason to assume that 3.8 couldn't have been similarly groundbreaking, especially given the elapsed time. I really thought with such a huge wait, they must have been working on something significant. 

[somebodyelse]

It's '6 new amps, 4 new cabs, 1 new effect, and bug fixes' you didn't have yesterday, and it didn't cost you anything... f***ing muppet.

[SaschaFranck]

On 11/20/2024 at 5:01 AM, gsmanon said:

Why not? 3.5 was a complete reworking of the cab engine. There's no reason to assume that 3.8 couldn't have been similarly groundbreaking, especially given the elapsed time. I really thought with such a huge wait, they must have been working on something significant. 

 

Yes, they are most defenitely working on something significant, at least I'd bet on it. But 10 year old hardware that won't generate much sales anymore isn't something significant for a company who has to pay their employees.

It's really as easy as that. And believe me, I wish it was different.

[Necrogoat]

Nothing new for bassplayers, no new amps like maybe an EDEN (WT Series)?

[datacommando]

On 11/19/2024 at 6:28 PM, gsmanon said:

Like most music software companies, they seem immune to taking on board user feature requests. 

Hmm… The 3.80 promo email which I received actually states: - 

“3.80 firmware finally delivers the missing link with six of the most requested amp channels and four unique cabs.”

How does that equate to not taking on board user requests - unless, of course, you mean the ones that you specifically wanted?

 

You also say - “There's no reason to assume that 3.8 couldn't have been similarly groundbreaking, especially given the elapsed time”. It would appear that you seem to think the team at Line 6 have been sitting around twiddling their collective thumbs. You must have slept through the release of the HX One and the POD Express, during the last year. They have not exactly been idle, plus Line 6 never reveal what they are working on, or give a timescale for delivery of whatever new products they have in the pipeline. Who knows? Version 3.90, or v.4.00, or Helix 2 may be right around the corner, laden with a plethora of exotic gizmos.

 

I mentioned previously that I bought my Helix way back in 2015 with version 1.00 Installed complete with 46 Amp, 30 Cab, and 79 Effect models. I bought it for what it could do then, not expecting the 19 gratis updates, which means Helix now stands at 112 Amp, 81 Cab and 274 FX models installed. I don’t have any reason to complain.

Oh, yeah - Previously, the v3.10 update had only one amp and five effects. Didn’t hear you complaining then - maybe you weren’t bothered enough to gripe at the time.

 

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 7:08 AM, somebodyelse said:

It's '6 new amps, 4 new cabs, 1 new effect, and bug fixes' you didn't have yesterday, and it didn't cost you anything... f***ing muppet.

 

Well aren't you civilised.

 

I would HAPPILY have paid for an actual significant update. You don't get to avoid criticisms of your terrible software updates just by giving them away for free, unless you offered a more significant update with a cost. 

Are you telling me that absolutely everything that is produced is to be celebrated, regardless of quality, as long as the price is low enough? What a moronic approach to anything. 

[DunedinDragon]

On 11/19/2024 at 10:59 PM, gsmanon said:

 

Yes, I'm a software developer. Any software developer that's worked inside an organisation before will tell you the same thing - it's not the technical task which causes development to take so much time, but instead the bureaucracy, the management, the HR, the office politics, the failure to take user feedback into account, and it's more than allowed to criticise companies for allowing that nonsense to result in such poor outcomes. 


 

I can only say I will be eternally grateful you were never a developer on any of my projects given all your statements here.  You're allowed your opinion, but certifying it with your claim of being a software developer given your obvious lack of technical knowledge regarding DSP real-time programming and the process used in professional team-based, versioned commercial delivery of products only serves to embarrass you further..... 

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 9:48 AM, Necrogoat said:

Nothing new for bassplayers, no new amps like maybe an EDEN (WT Series)?

Actually the only new effect in 3.8 is for bass players. Zero new effects for non-bass players. 

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 4:01 PM, DunedinDragon said:

I can only say I will be eternally grateful you were never a developer on any of my projects given all your statements here.  You're allowed your opinion, but certifying it with your claim of being a software developer given your lack of knowledge regarding DSP real-time programming and the process used in professional commercial delivery of products only serves to embarrass you further..... 

Apart from the fact that the Line 6 developers HAVE done more significant updates in the past with LESS time, so I don't even need to rely on my experience in software development to point out that the team are clearly lacking with this update - I can compare them to their own record. 

 

And if you have any real experience with software development as you're implying, you'd know that, as I said earlier, it's not the extreme technicality of the task that provides the largest roadblocks, but the unnecessary nonsense attached to the "professional commercial delivery of products". 

[silverhead]

On 11/20/2024 at 11:05 AM, gsmanon said:

Apart from the fact that the Line 6 developers HAVE done more significant updates in the past with LESS time, so I don't even need to rely on my experience in software development to point out that the team are clearly lacking with this update - I can compare them to their own record. 

 

…

You are assuming that the same level of development resources were applied in both cases. That’s not true. Line 6 has reallocated development resources to the next generation flagship product. Otherwise they’re planning to be out of business soon, which I highly doubt.

[DunedinDragon]

On 11/20/2024 at 11:05 AM, gsmanon said:

 

And if you have any real experience with software development as you're implying, you'd know that, as I said earlier, it's not the extreme technicality of the task that provides the largest roadblocks, but the unnecessary nonsense attached to the "professional commercial delivery of products". 

That may be the case in non-professional, non-commercial deliveries.  And I did refer to that in the second part of my statement, and that's why I spent a good portion of my career teaching organizations like those how to organize teams and the necessary cycle and critical guidelines of iterative development and delivery, of which actual code-work is about 1/3 of the process.  Those organizations that don't follow those process and team elements generally have about an 80% chance of failure or rejection by end users.  Sorry you seem to have been limited to working in one of those.....

[BluesMeUp]

They don't have to do anything at all at Line 6.

I've bought the Floor unit and I'm very happy with every update, but updates aren't mandatory you know?

We all should value the updates and be thankful.

Everybody has a different opinion on what should be added and if someone feels short because it's not what he hoped for he's just a fool.

Everytime I start up my Helix I smile, big, it's a product that makes me very happy.

Just my 2c

[silverhead]

In a former life I managed a team of software developers in a large telecommunications company. There was a rigorous software development process including software library management tools ensuring development integrity and regression testing. I had to fire employees who considered software they developed as their own personal property and refused to follow the development process. My favourite refrain? “I developed and tested this myself. I can assure you it’s bug-free and doesn’t need further testing!” The last person you want testing software is the person who developed it. They’ve already thought of and handled everything they think could be problematic. It’s the things they haven’t thought of that will catch them,  but someone else will think of those things and test for them.

[Drybonz]

On 11/20/2024 at 12:32 PM, BluesMeUp said:

They don't have to do anything at all at Line 6.

 

They don't even have to sell future products... and if people realize they have stopped sending decent updates for their existing products, they may consider this when it comes to their next purchase of expensive guitar gear.  These things are a big purchase for a lot of people and many do have an expectation of ongoing updates, especially in this "broken when sold, fixed over time" culture we are living in.  The attitude that companies don't owe us anything is not productive, at all, for consumers.

[craiganderton]

On 11/20/2024 at 12:26 PM, Drybonz said:

They don't even have to sell future products... and if people realize they have stopped sending decent updates for their existing products, they may consider this when it comes to their next purchase of expensive guitar gear.

 

I certainly do consider what Line 6 has done: 10-year-old technology (based on the even older technology available during development) has received multiple updates, including two that I consider truly major - global oversampling and reworked cabs. The reworked cabs update was only two years ago. And you have the massively improved pitch transposition, feedback effect, and significant new effects like the auto level control dynamics. It's easy to forget that snapshots, impulse responses, favorites, and other useful features we take for granted now were updates as well.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Line 6 delivered on their promise of a platform, not just an effects processor, with multiple significant updates over the course of a 10-year product life. That's rare, and all the updates were free, too. I can think of very few companies with a similar track record. I don't judge a product by what it doesn't do as much as I judge it by what it does.

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 4:49 PM, silverhead said:

You are assuming that the same level of development resources were applied in both cases. That’s not true. Line 6 has reallocated development resources to the next generation flagship product. Otherwise they’re planning to be out of business soon, which I highly doubt.

I'm not assuming that - in fact I'm concluding the opposite of that.

Everywhere I've seen Line 6 being asked about a new flagship they say there's nothing on the horizon in the short/medium term, primarily due to challenges in the chip industry post covid, and therefore their implied focus would be on updating the current generation of devices. Obviously that could be bluster to throw off competitors, or it could be that things have simply changed in recent months, but either way the mixed messaging is a bit annoying. 

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 5:32 PM, BluesMeUp said:

They don't have to do anything at all at Line 6.

I've bought the Floor unit and I'm very happy with every update, but updates aren't mandatory you know?

We all should value the updates and be thankful.

Everybody has a different opinion on what should be added and if someone feels short because it's not what he hoped for he's just a fool.

Everytime I start up my Helix I smile, big, it's a product that makes me very happy.

Just my 2c

Nobody said they were mandatory, but if Line 6 are making the claim that there's no new flagship on the horizon, and that their focus is instead on updating the current generation of devices, then it will raise eyebrows. 

As I said, this is not coming out of entitlement. If L6 said updates were finished, I wouldn't be unhappy with that. But while they are promising updates, there's a lot they could be doing that they aren't. 

[gsmanon]

On 11/20/2024 at 6:41 PM, craiganderton said:

 

I certainly do consider what Line 6 has done: 10-year-old technology (based on the even older technology available during development) has received multiple updates, including two that I consider truly major - global oversampling and reworked cabs. The reworked cabs update was only two years ago. And you have the massively improved pitch transposition, feedback effect, and significant new effects like the auto level control dynamics. It's easy to forget that snapshots, impulse responses, favorites, and other useful features we take for granted now were updates as well.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Line 6 delivered on their promise of a platform, not just an effects processor, with multiple significant updates over the course of a 10-year product life. That's rare, and all the updates were free, too. I can think of very few companies with a similar track record. I don't judge a product by what it doesn't do as much as I judge it by what it does.

I don't think there's anything wrong with also judging a product by how what it does evolves over time. Some companies are better than others at implementing popular feature requests, I don't see a problem with highlighting that. 

Helix is a great platform and I won't be moving away from it any time soon. But I think if we're at the point that 10 months of development results in just a few amp/cab models, then they might as well just admit that the lifecycle is over, or if it's not over, at least keep us abreast of what/when is coming next.

[surfsup1955]

10 years with mine (very soon) and admit this update certainly seems like some general shop keeping BUT with the release of a few very data intense (resource hog) amps.  I think the shear volume of programming within these new amps tells us that the future of HX needs more oomph, i.e., something else is coming...? 

[craiganderton]

On 11/20/2024 at 2:39 PM, gsmanon said:

Everywhere I've seen Line 6 being asked about a new flagship they say there's nothing on the horizon in the short/medium term, primarily due to challenges in the chip industry post covid, and therefore their implied focus would be on updating the current generation of devices.

 

Well, they just did update the current generation of devices. If you look back over the update history, some have been major and some have been minor, and they happen at different intervals. They can't do something like the cab revamp with every update. As to whether there will be another update, and whether it will be major or minor, no one here knows. But Line 6 may not even know. Some of the past updates seem like someone figured out something they hadn't figured out before, or assumed wasn't possible until they found out it was. Or they may be developing a new flagship model, and in the process, discover a technique that could apply to Helix that they'd never considered. For all we know the new amps are the result of research into something else entirely...or not. So I think it's unlikely (but not impossible) Line 6 will make a statement like "massive amazing update coming up" or "okay, that's it, no more updates" because the Helix's history so far has included different types of updates at different intervals.

 

Let's also zoom out and look at what's going on in the industry these days. Industry changes, which happen quickly, necessitate changes in strategy. I have no idea whether any or all of the following affects Line 6, but it sure is affecting a lot of other companies:

 

• There are lingering supply chain issues that complicate planning. All you need is one missing proprietary part to screw up a production line.
• There's an overabundance of used gear. People who bought gear during covid because they thought it would be fun to make music now realize that music is a discipline and no, just pushing buttons isn't very satisfying. So currently, there's a glut of used gear on the market.
• Because of the glut of used gear, manufacturers and dealers are finding it difficult to sell new gear. This provides little incentive to launch new products when there's already too much product in the marketplace.
• There's a threat of major tariffs being levied on Chinese goods. Companies have to decide whether to tie up a significant amount of capital now on Chinese parts that they don't need (yet) to (maybe) forestall paying a lot more starting in January. And of course, that requires really accurate projections of what the market will be in the future for parts currently sitting on their shelves gathering dust.

[Motto85]

Maybe I'm alone, but the new update has me FLOORED. After first getting a Helix about 6 months ago and learning how to really dial it in, I said to myself: "This has everything I could ever want, but as far as amp models, the ONE amp that's sorely missing is the Ecstasy". Now we have it! Also, I've been wanting them to update the legacy Soldano 412 because I find Soldano cabs to be my favorite. I've owned three--the older 412 with Eminence Legend V12s, the newer 412 with V30s, and now I have the new 212 slant. Sonically, I've always preferred the older V12 version, so seeing it get an update in Helix is exciting as heck.

 

I've had my share of expensive tube heads and let me say this....there's really only a handful of flavors to play with, and the only thing that TRULY separates them is form-factor and QOL features. That's it. A 5150, Rectifier and SLO aren't so radically different that if you owned either one, you wouldn't be able to do most of what the other does with the proper boost. My honest opinion is there's a subset of people that just want SOMETHING new to spend their money on. Maybe they're tired of seeing the same piece of gear for a long time, maybe they're lusting at some of the things other brands are doing and just feel left out.

 

I'm WAY late to the digital game because I was a staunch tube amp guy, got sick of all the mucking around with mics and all that, so I spent about 2 months deciding between the Helix and other modelers and found that the Helix is the most full-featured and fleshed-out. I was right. They're the Apple of their kind--Maybe they don't always have the newest thing as soon as it's out, but what works REALLY works. Even aesthetically, the Helix is THE best looking modeler available...a 10 year old device that still looks modern, and STILL has more effects than it's competition. I don't know what more they could do other than maybe incorporating nano-tubes or something in it, like the BluG stuff. The real-world connectivity is already there, the form factor and aesthetic is still top-notch after 10 years, it's got nearly all the amp flavors you could want. The rest is just (some of) us looking at the Youtube videos and wanting to burn a hole in the pocket for the latest thing, not realizing how redundant it is. Every new amp coming out is the same stuff--modded Fender, modded Marshall, modded Rectifier. Another thing I've learned from owning expensive amps: modding is a waste of your money if you have the right drive paired with the amp. You have dozens of drives in the Helix to solve any "deficiency" each model has. I've spent a few grand on amp mods that I'll never get back, when all I needed was the Helix. Lesson learned.

 

IMO, all Line 6 has to do is keep fixing bugs, keep making the cab block better and tweak the synth/octave stuff to track better.

[trhx]

On 11/19/2024 at 1:28 PM, gsmanon said:

Considering it's been nearly a full year since the last update, 3.8's addition of a meagre "6 new amps, 4 new cabs, 1 new effect, and bug fixes" is very disappointing. 

The real Bogner Ecstasy is a $3500 amp that has more knobs, buttons and switches than any amp I've ever seen, so I'm betting they spent as much time to create that one amp as it takes to create a dozen simpler amps. I don't know if I'll use the Helix version, but I bet a lot of people will.

So I'd look at this as a quality over quantity situation. After all, whatever favorite amps you have in the Helix so far, aren't you glad they got them right?