Line 6 Metallurgy

Line 6 could have really done something with this.
But, they fucked around, and we didn't find out.
What do you mean? :rofl
I'm outta the loop on this, although I do use the plugins on occasion.
 
feels like a missed opportunity to me. I think the idea was fairly good, the overall execution less so. Didn’t seem like it was never a big area of focus or something Line 6 wants to take that seriously. They made a product, threw it into the wild and kind of left it.

main gripes (besides vitriol crunch bug) are:

- UI is very busy, could be way more clean and concise and spread out
- gear models look cartoony and a bit tacky

I’m not sure it totally nailed what makes these style plugins work. It’s fine but I wouldn’t say it demonstrates Line 6 at their most cutting edge and forward thinking. Hopefully it’s still on the agenda and they can do some new and interesting stuff with it.
 
You should be able to swap stomps among all three Metallurgy plugins. I’d like to be able to use other ODs in the Doom plug.
 
- gear models look cartoony and a bit tacky
Screenshot 2023-12-19 at 20.10.05.jpg


These knobs are so unreadable on my screen that they may as well be sliders. I'm all for skeuomorphism but this is not a good example
 
You should be able to swap stomps among all three Metallurgy plugins. I’d like to be able to use other ODs in the Doom plug.
Yes! Exact same request I've had from the beginning. Let me make the most of Metallurgy to mix and match please. I own all three.
We know it can work, it's Helix code at heart. Just a less Excel spreadsheet interface than Native.

Line6 has some great people and great ideas, but the old adage about "don't expect it to be more" proves true from time to time.
 
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Yes! Exact same request I've had from the beginning. Let me make the most of Metallurgy to mix and match please. I own all three.
We know it can work, it's Helix code at heart. Just a less Excel spreadsheet interface than Native.

Line6 has some great people and great ideas, but the old adage about "don't expect it to be more" proves true from time to time.
I sort of think the whole point is that if you want to mix and match with more freedom you use Helix Native, if you want something faster, more inspiring to set up, choice bits of gear that pair well together with a specific purpose in mind you go for Metallurgy.
 
If they sold it that way @MirrorProfiles it'd make sense but I don't recall it being marketed that way.
It wasn't sold as a "starter" but as the answer for the metal specific crowd. Which is me.

It also not apples to apples though even that aside. I dislike Helix Native.
To be clear, Helix Floor is a great interface for a floor device, I sing its praises all over - but its translation to big screen, mouse/keyboard didn't work for me at all. Native also has a lot of stuff I'll never use.

Given how big the metal crowd is, it didn't feel unreasonable to assume that Metallurgy was both the response to NDSP's success selling a model at a time, and that it would have a future. It's a great start too, but the failure to do anything beyond 1.0 leaves sour taste in my mouth for their software. Feels like a missed opportunity, but maybe it was a dud in sales.
 
If they sold it that way @MirrorProfiles it'd make sense but I don't recall it being marketed that way.
It wasn't sold as a "starter" but as the answer for the metal specific crowd. Which is me.
I don’t see it as a starter or inferior to Helix Native, it has several advantages to it:

- Standalone
- can buy products a la carte/lower entry price
- combined amp channels/modes into the same amp
- GUI
- pre routed signal flow=faster than building chains yourself
- cab section/mixer/eq
- easier automation

Helix Native had been out several years before Metallurgy, I think it was pretty clear that if you want to be able to mix and match different bits of gear than that’s your choice. Metallurgy is all about them pre-deciding bits of gear that work well for a specific need. You lose the options in favour of something a bit more geared towards a specific task.

But yeah. I think Line 6 missed the mark on arguably the two things Neural DSP (and others) get right - the GUI, and the marketing. I think if it had a market leading slick/modern GUI, and was marketed to its fullest potential it would sell way better. I think they’ve probably missed the chance to do that this time but maybe with the next evolution of helix they’ll rethink how they do that
 
My favorite part of the plugin suite is the cab section. Being able to post eq and have the mixer right there is really nice.
There's not much you couldn't also do in Native, but Metallurgy is easy to use which is a plus. The GUI is a weak spot though.
 
I agree. The cabs sound good out of the box and can be -easily- tweaked to sound great. My problem with the cab section, and a place they once could've gotten my money was for more speaker types.
 
Metallurgy is just what it’s supposed to be. Line6”s answer to NDSP archetype. Simple with few options but sounds great. Updates is just the kind of complication it’s designed to exclude.
 
Plenty of plugins have added features that didn't complicate them. Look at the excellent Bogren Digital OneKnob series!
It doesn't get more simple than that, and even they realized, 'hey we need to tweak a couple things and add a little here and there'.
 
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