Line 6 mystery product speculation

[Whizzinby]

I don’t know why you’re making fun of my comment when I said I don’t mind them, but I think they’re overhyped.

Yes exactly. The control surface is wasted space during a performance, the touch part doesn’t really matter at that point.

What DOES matter during a performance is to display information that is actually helpful/relevant to performing and that is what both the QC and TMP lack.

That big screen doesn’t display anything useful for performing on either device.

Use that space to show me what I actually need to see in the heat of battle

I 100% agree gig view could be improved on the QC (never used the TMP) but that’s a software dev issue not an inherent issue with the TS itself.

 

[Aleksi]

 

[metropolis_4]

I 100% agree gig view could be improved on the QC (never used the TMP) but that’s a software dev issue not an inherent issue with the TS itself.

Yes it is. But. Both companies chose to have one big screen dominate the interface for touch editing and there seems to be so much focus on TS for editing that nobody is thinking about live performing.

Kemper with its lowly old non-touch low-res screen gives WAY more useful info in a performance than either QC or TMP and both companies should be ashamed of that.

The TMP performance mode shows me a big empty black screen with my preset name in the middle

But hey, I can touch it! Yay.

 

[GTR37]

How so? Touchscreens are breaking all the time on phones. Yes, in 2024. There's a reason for umpteenth mobile phone repair shops in my direct neighbourhood (we're talking at least 5 within 500 meters or so - sure, they're doing other things as well, but screen repairs seem to be one of their main businesses).
Whatever, as said, I'm all for touchscreens. But let me place them where my hands are.

And fwiw, in general, we're not talking touchscreens but UI issues. And oh yes, it's scary that we have to do so all the time in 2024 - but it's defenitely not only because some stubborn dickheads like me are raising these points again and again. No, it's mainly because on many, many modelers (and other digital devices of course), a whole lot of UI things plain and simply suck big time. And that even includes those that are quite high on the "what a nice UI" ranking.
To this day, not one of them can even remotely hold a candle against a plain old analog setups in terms of quick access and what not. Not even at all. And very often not even when you factor in editor apps.

This is why these issues are raised all the time. It's got very little to do with touchscreens. You could have a damn near perfect UI experience without any touchscreen. It'd likely use some space and be rather costly, though.

I 100% agree gig view could be improved on the QC (never used the TMP) but that’s a software dev issue not an inherent issue with the TS itself.

Dude there is a solution for that now Steve serlachi have a view pedal that sends midi commands

 

[Sascha Franck]

Dude there is a solution for that now Steve serlachi have a view pedal that sends midi commands

Why have you been quoting me?

 

[Whizzinby]

Yes it is. But. Both companies chose to have one big screen dominate the interface for touch editing and there seems to be so much focus on TS for editing that nobody is thinking about live performing.

Kemper with its lowly old non-touch low-res screen gives WAY more useful info in a performance than either QC or TMP and both companies should be ashamed of that.

The TMP performance mode shows me a big empty black screen with my preset name in the middle

But hey, I can touch it! Yay.

I think we agree that it’s not the screen, it’s how it’s being used in gig/performance mode.

 

[GTR37]

Why have you been quoting me?

To see if your paying attention

** just an error

 

[timbuck3]

All the phones out there with broken displays would disagree. Usually the touch layer keeps working just fine.

But don’t phones have gorilla glass or some kind of glass vs some modelers may have plastic displays so less robust

 

[timbuck3]

Can't second that. In just one year, we (in our family) had 2 phones with the screen still at least sort of showing all sufficient information while all things touch would be almost completely broken.

Your family is rough then

 

[timbuck3]

Not this shit again

 

[timbuck3]

Yes it is. But. Both companies chose to have one big screen dominate the interface for touch editing and there seems to be so much focus on TS for editing that nobody is thinking about live performing.

Kemper with its lowly old non-touch low-res screen gives WAY more useful info in a performance than either QC or TMP and both companies should be ashamed of that.

The TMP performance mode shows me a big empty black screen with my preset name in the middle

But hey, I can touch it! Yay.

Maybe 2 screens is a thought? One to edit and one to show settings?

 

[norminal]

 

[dean701]

bring it. I'm hungry

 

[metropolis_4]

Maybe 2 screens is a thought? One to edit and one to show settings?

Or segment the one big screen.

The biggest problem with the “one big screen” thing is that for some reason they always have the whole screen only show one single thing. So, for example, if I turn on the tuner I can no longer see my signal chain.

I like the idea of having parts of the display that are static and always show the same info.

One thing I love on Kemper is there is always a display of the signal chain and tuner outside of the main screen, so you can be editing parameters on the screen but still see the signal chain and tuner and you can still hit any block in the chain to edit another block without having to first exit the edit screen to select a new one.

On both QC and TMP I’d love to have something in the edit view giving me access to all blocks in the signal chain so I could just tap through all of them and do what I need without having to close the edit screen to go select another block

 

[Digital Igloo]

Some people are trying to fight gravity. DI has more experience with this shit than anyone, and he said they barely lost a coin flip on using a touchscreen ten years ago. That’s with the decade old components and software they had at the time, and he was still fighting for it.

For clarity's sake, it wasn't a coin flip as much as it was Helix's then-Product Manager being exhausted from arguing with other stakeholders. Not sure I would've been able to push hard enough back then either, as I was UI Designer at the time. Wasn't even in the meetings where it was debated; found out from the PM.

I would bet on line6 releasing a touchscreen before fractal

How much you wanna bet? Someone at The Other Place© already lost $500 (but has yet to donate to Agoura Animal Care Shelter).

I’m guessing this is a range of products under the Line 6 Nexus banner.

There will never be a product named "Nexus," just like there's never been a product named "L6 LINK." Nexus is simply one of many R&D projects that may or may not make it into future products; we've developed dozens of cool things over the years that never went anywhere (at least in YGG products; some of the stuff we do ends up in Yamaha products), and at this point, Nexus could very well suffer the same fate. The verbose description in the trademark application is just to cover a superset of all possible scenarios. Very common with these sorts of things.

Remember, YGG also acts as one of many research arms for Yamaha Japan. We'll work on stuff that'll never be branded Line 6, Ampeg, Cordoba, or Guild. In fact, the first Yamaha product I helped design is coming out in a month or two (no idea why it's taken so long; I did that work like 3+ years ago?).

So as exciting as "ooooh, NEXUS—what's that?!" might appear at first glance, I suspect the first potential SKU (or maybe even first two or three SKUs) that could implement it—if it gets deployed at all and isn't shuffled into some massive room like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark—will result in a "Wait, that's it? Meh" from the masses. It's really not sexy at all.

A cell phone is much more ripe for damage due to drops because it is handled and moved constantly throughout the day. A modeler is placed once per gig.

Yep, and no one is holding their touchscreen-equipped multieffects at chest height, walking next to cement street curbs. While drunk.

<challenge accepted!>

 

[mbenigni]

Yes it is. But. Both companies chose to have one big screen dominate the interface for touch editing and there seems to be so much focus on TS for editing that nobody is thinking about live performing.

The alternative for a complex MFX unit is a display-only screen and some alternate array of physical controls, which is very possibly a wash in terms of real estate. A screen is almost a given for this class of device; why not make it touch, even if it will only sometimes be used as such?

The only other variable I can see here is scribble strips vs. no scribble strips, but this turns into a straight form factor/ cost bargain.

The TMP performance mode shows me a big empty black screen with my preset name in the middle

But the QC doesn't; it displays the state of Stomps and/or Scenes. Same as e.g. a Helix LT. See above: the screen is there; why not touch?

 

[mbenigni]

Dude there is a solution for that now Steve serlachi have a view pedal that sends midi commands

To be clear, this "solution" has existed since the late '80s, if I recall correctly. I've been using a MIDI Captain for a couple of years now.

 

[mbenigni]

But don’t phones have gorilla glass or some kind of glass vs some modelers may have plastic displays so less robust

Yes. If you want to design a cheap POS that falls apart immediately after purchase, that is always an option.

 

[GTR37]

To be clear, this "solution" has existed since the late '80s, if I recall correctly. I've been using a MIDI Captain for a couple of years now.

I was being sarcastic, yes Even ya single midi footswitch could do it

 

[mbenigni]

I was being sarcastic, yes Even ya single midi footswitch could do it

Sorry about that. It's sometimes hard to tell... :)