Digital Igloo (Eric Klein, YGG)

Thanks for your rich detailed answers mr Klein.
About firmware. We customers imagine that every modeler have its own limits (number of blocks per units depending on DSPs...)
2016-2022 : Helix has grown from 1.00 to 3.15/3.20; adding new models, effects and features (eg. oversampling).
To what extent is Helix expandable, in other words : can Helix load a little, a lot more or will it soon reach its max capacities ?
 
zib said:
Thanks for your rich detailed answers mr Klein.
About firmware. We customers imagine that every modeler have its own limits (number of blocks per units depending on DSPs...)
2016-2022 : Helix has grown from 1.00 to 3.15/3.20; adding new models, effects and features (eg. oversampling).
To what extent is Helix expandable, in other words : can Helix load a little, a lot more or will it soon reach its max capacities ?
Click to expand...
DSP-wise, I'm slightly worried each time I add a poly pitch block or a hoggy reverb, especially while still trying to make use of all the blocks/footswitches.

Sound-wise it's perfectly fine, hell, how could I ask for more?

Algorithm improvement would be the only way to possibly free up DSP, I guess. But L6 developers probably do boil things down and make the algos as efficient as they can.

That said, I'm using the HX FX. The full-blown Helix units would have all the DSP I'd ever need, I suppose.
 
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dronerstone said:
DSP-wise, I'm slightly worried each time I add a poly pitch block or a hoggy reverb, especially while still trying to make use of all the blocks/footswitches.

Sound-wise it's perfectly fine, hell, how could I ask for more?

Algorithm improvement would be the only way to possibly free up DSP, I guess. But L6 developers probably do boil things down and make the algos as efficient as they can.

That said, I'm using the HX FX. The full-blown Helix units would have all the DSP I'd ever need, I suppose.
Click to expand...

I think the effects that go into the Helix have an "eye to the future" so to speak.
On the Helix the poly pitch might take 50% DSP but on Helix-Next it might take only 15%, so the library of effects expands on the current hardware and can/will be carried into the next hardware, which is how the AxeFx1 transitioned into the AxeFx2 which transitioned into the AxeFx3, it evolved, the algorithms and IP were not discarded because the hardware and number changed.

I see the Helix family as Line 6's first jumping board into hardware in-dependent style of development, very apparent since there are many HX SKUs, Pod Go, Native, and most Legacy effects were ported.
So whatever Helix-Next with super powerful modern DSP bring to the table, I am sure it will have most of the current IP even if it looks and operates radically different.
 
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James Freeman said:
So whatever Helix-Next with super powerful modern DSP bring to the table
Click to expand...
Digital Igloo said:
DSP processor hops (the more DSP chips you have, the more latency you have)
Click to expand...
I wonder how it works : Yamaha, Fractal, Boss... ask DSP providers their own next features and specifications and they build a DSP or they use existing DSP and music developpers build their firmware/systems after ? If a single DSP means less latency so a super DSP is better than 2 or 3 minor DSPs ?
 
zib said:
Thanks for your rich detailed answers mr Klein.
About firmware. We customers imagine that every modeler have its own limits (number of blocks per units depending on DSPs...)
2016-2022 : Helix has grown from 1.00 to 3.15/3.20; adding new models, effects and features (eg. oversampling).
To what extent is Helix expandable, in other words : can Helix load a little, a lot more or will it soon reach its max capacities ?
Click to expand...
I don't honestly know. Brandon likes to keep things a bit vague as to not lead the witness, and Products works best not knowing our technical limitations. My impression is that memory and storage aren't anywhere close to being an issue.
zib said:
I wonder how it works : Yamaha, Fractal, Boss... ask DSP providers their own next features and specifications and they build a DSP or they use existing DSP and music developpers build their firmware/systems after ? If a single DSP means less latency so a super DSP is better than 2 or 3 minor DSPs ?
Click to expand...
YGG works very closely with Analog Devices and other vendors. No clue how much of our input informs their silicon roadmap, but I'd like to think they listen. Sure, Yamaha's a behemoth in the MI space, but we're small potatoes to someone like Ford Motor Company.
 
@Digital Igloo , here's another: has a Helix device designed for vocals ever been considered?

I'm a TC-Helicon Voicelive Touch user and, while the harmony block is really well managed, the UI and variety of fx is really uncool, and other options in the market are similarly lackluster. I'm sure a HX Vocals could take the whole market without so much trouble.
 
molul said:
@Digital Igloo , here's another: has a Helix device designed for vocals ever been considered?

I'm a TC-Helicon Voicelive Touch user and, while the harmony block is really well managed, the UI and variety of fx is really uncool, and other options in the market are similarly lackluster. I'm sure a HX Vocals could take the whole market without so much trouble.
Click to expand...
Now that’s a cool idea
 
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I have been using Helix Native a lot as general purpose mixing DSP, lots of good stuff for vocals, but the Megaphone block is UBER!
 
molul said:
@Digital Igloo , here's another: has a Helix device designed for vocals ever been considered?

I'm a TC-Helicon Voicelive Touch user and, while the harmony block is really well managed, the UI and variety of fx is really uncool, and other options in the market are similarly lackluster. I'm sure a HX Vocals could take the whole market without so much trouble.
Click to expand...
There appears to be a theme here. TC Helicon (now B€#®!ng€®) owns several patents that protect much of those products' unique, magical features, but even if that wasn't the case, every time we look at the potential sales numbers, they look pretty bleak. BOSS has enough resources to take big risks and invest in and protect their smaller niche markets; for better or worse, Line 6 remains guitar and bass-focused for the time being. Besides, have you ever tried to get your band's singer to help set up, much less buy gear? Most of my singers couldn't be bothered to buy an SM58.

But we discuss vocal processors a few times a year so maybe one of these days it'll finally make sense.

However... I recently designed my first UI for a Yamaha-branded product (not THR-related), so maybe I could move the right chess pieces to convince YCJ to take a crack at it.
 
Digital Igloo said:
There appears to be a theme here. TC Helicon (now B€#®!ng€®) owns several patents that protect much of those products' unique, magical features, but even if that wasn't the case, every time we look at the potential sales numbers, they look pretty bleak. BOSS has enough resources to take big risks and invest in and protect their smaller niche markets; for better or worse, Line 6 remains guitar and bass-focused for the time being. Besides, have you ever tried to get your band's singer to help set up, much less buy gear? Most of my singers couldn't be bothered to buy an SM58.

But we discuss vocal processors a few times a year so maybe one of these days it'll finally make sense.

However... I recently designed my first UI for a Yamaha-branded product (not THR-related), so maybe I could move the right chess pieces to convince YCJ to take a crack at it.
Click to expand...
Hahaha. Well, I'm actually my band's lead singer (and use the TC-Helicon Voicelive Touch) and also play lead guitar (with Helix LT) and a Korg Minologue XD synth, but I totally get what you say about singers ^_^U

Here's hoping that a Helix vocal processor comes before my Voicelive Touch dies, as it's not available anymore, and any other current alternative is either less than I need (most can't be controlled through MIDI) or so much more than I need (most of these units are have a separate guitar input and some dedicated and usually poor effects for guitar that I will never need) and therefore more expensive than I'd like.

Thanks for the reply :)

PS: so fed up with those Behringer patents >_<

EDIT: excuse my ignorance, but what's THR?
 
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Way back in school I learned a bit about Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Do you overtly you use any of those sort of concepts
when designing the hardware and UI?
 
molul said:
@Digital Igloo , here's another: has a Helix device designed for vocals ever been considered?

I'm a TC-Helicon Voicelive Touch user and, while the harmony block is really well managed, the UI and variety of fx is really uncool, and other options in the market are similarly lackluster. I'm sure a HX Vocals could take the whole market without so much trouble.
Click to expand...

That's why I have 4 Digitech Vocalist Live FX. Well those reasons and the fact they stopped making them. I have owned all of TC multi pedals all the way up to the VL3 Extreme and the Digitech (once you know it well) blows them all away for sheer vocal work. TC has better pitch correction but I have only ever used that when I had back to back gigs where I sing a lot or am sick.
 
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