The Annual NAMM predictions rumours thread 2024

[Sascha Franck]

LT expression pedal was the only consistent thing I ever saw.

That was absolutely horrible - and not even what I mainly had in mind. That's just plain bad QA. Which is also the reason why they were coming up with the barely visible LEDs and displays. These have either never been properly tested under critical lightning conditions or they just ignored it, pick your poison.

---

Seriously, there's absolutely no way to defend the quality of any Line 6 hardware.

Things I owned myself:
- Pod XT and floorboard. Floorboard just stopped to work middle of a gig. Couldn't be diagnosed easily, so no repair. Pod stopped working pretty much out of the blue later on, too. Same thing, tough to diagnose, possibly not worth the money.
- Toneport UX. Exactly the same thing, it just stopped working out of the blue. Has always been treated well.
- M13. Over its course, I had to replace 3 foowswitches, which was a most horrible affair, simply because (again business as usual), L6 refuses to use any kind of standard parts. A pretty wellknown issue, btw, some M13 lovers have all their switches replaced by decent ones.

You don't hear these kinds of complaints from Boss users. The switches on my GT-5 and GT-10 still work as on day one and no single other device in my posession has seen more of a beating than these two.

Edit: I'm happily calling some of my experiences bad luck. But with both the M13 and the entire HX series, it's absolutely (and proveably) clear that, at least partially, Line 6 is cheaping out on their hardware. An XLR out surpassed by even the cheapest DI boxes available on the market (for instance the Fame Audio stereo models for €34) simply doesn't qualify for great quality, there's no way to deny that.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Compared to?

Boss. As one example. The fact that your units worked fine doesn't say much. It's called anecdotal evidence.

 

[aivoryuk]

---

Seriously, there's absolutely no way to defend the quality of any Line 6 hardware.

My original POD Bean is still going strong 20+ years

 

[Sascha Franck]

My original POD Bean is still going strong 20+ years

I have one of those as well. Still working, too. Doesn't change anything on L6 cheaping out on many units, though.

 

[dronerstone]

Anyhow, intriguing take regarding the L6 follow-up flagship.

There's always the possibility of at least a product announcement/demonstration, but I personally doubt a nearing release, unless what we got so far ("not out until after the next couple of years", if I'm not mistaken) is a mere distraction tactic.

Although, I'm sure @FractalAudio wouldn't say something that's not backed up in at least some way.

Good thing NAMM is not too far away anymore at this point.

 

[Orvillain]

The Helix Floor seems to have some problem magnetically attracting Seymour Duncan Powerstage amps, directly to the screen!!! Really terrible design!!

 

[James Freeman]

Eew powerstage.

 

[JCW308]

That was absolutely horrible - and not even what I mainly had in mind. That's just plain bad QA. Which is also the reason why they were coming up with the barely visible LEDs and displays. These have either never been properly tested under critical lightning conditions or they just ignored it, pick your poison.

---

Seriously, there's absolutely no way to defend the quality of any Line 6 hardware.

Things I owned myself:
- Pod XT and floorboard. Floorboard just stopped to work middle of a gig. Couldn't be diagnosed easily, so no repair. Pod stopped working pretty much out of the blue later on, too. Same thing, tough to diagnose, possibly not worth the money.
- Toneport UX. Exactly the same thing, it just stopped working out of the blue. Has always been treated well.
- M13. Over its course, I had to replace 3 foowswitches, which was a most horrible affair, simply because (again business as usual), L6 refuses to use any kind of standard parts. A pretty wellknown issue, btw, some M13 lovers have all their switches replaced by decent ones.

You don't hear these kinds of complaints from Boss users. The switches on my GT-5 and GT-10 still work as on day one and no single other device in my posession has seen more of a beating than these two.

Edit: I'm happily calling some of my experiences bad luck. But with both the M13 and the entire HX series, it's absolutely (and proveably) clear that, at least partially, Line 6 is cheaping out on their hardware. An XLR out surpassed by even the cheapest DI boxes available on the market (for instance the Fame Audio stereo models for €34) simply doesn't qualify for great quality, there's no way to deny that.

I've owned Line 6 stuff (dozens of products) over the last 20 years. All were rock solid for me including the Flextone II amp, floorboards, POD stuff, rack stuff, HX Stomp, Helix, etc.... I never once had a hardware issue in years and years of gigging with Line 6 equipment.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I've owned Line 6 stuff (dozens of products) over the last 20 years. All were rock solid for me including the Flextone II amp, floorboards, POD stuff, rack stuff, HX Stomp, Helix, etc.... I never once had a hardware issue in years and years of gigging with Line 6 equipment.

As said, anecdotal evidence. The web is full of reports, especially when it comes to Helix switches and joysticks.
And even if that still doesn't convince you, the XLR outs, cheap mic pres and horrible visibility should be enough to prove that we're not dealing with military grade hardware, to put it very carefully.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Boss. As one example. The fact that your units worked fine doesn't say much. It's called anecdotal evidence.

Everything in the thread is anecdotal evidence. 100 people on the internet is still anecdotal. Both my GT6 and GT10 had failing dials and switches within a year of from-new ownership. Anecdotally, my Line 6 hardware has held up much better.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Everything in the thread is anecdotal evidence. 100 people on the internet is still anecdotal.

Well, there's a lot more than 100 people having to have their Helix switches serviced. And as said above, there's plenty of other things proving the not too great hardware QA.
And btw, believe me, I absolutely wish that was different, I'm defenitely not coming up with stuff to diss L6. I would've loved to keep my Helix but I just couldn't.

 

[Sedaxel]

Well, there's a lot more than 100 people having to have their Helix switches serviced. And as said above, there's plenty of other things proving the not too great hardware QA.
And btw, believe me, I absolutely wish that was different, I'm defenitely not coming up with stuff to diss L6. I would've loved to keep my Helix but I just couldn't.

I´ll not defend L6 here, just chime in to share my experience too.

I had an LT for 3 years. Gigged it with no issues at all. I made a "mod" (just attached a little plastic lid from a mineral water plug over the switch) to the pedal because I was advised by a friend to do so, since there were some issues reported on internet. But neither mine or his units failed. My buddy still gigs his LT without issues (maybe 6 years or so with him already). He also bought an HX Stomp because he loves his Helix.

Another buddy has a POD (I don´t know the model... the big-metal-heavy one). He gigs it regularly as a MIDI controller (no longer as a multieffects). Never had an issue either.

I wasn´t confortable with the Phantom worries on my LT, so I avoided using the XLR outs (carried with me a DI box). That´s a little sad.

I was pretty happy with the rest of the hardware and UI. I´m not a heavy stomper... so I´m not a good "reliability tester", I guess.

I sold the LT because of noticing tone suck when passing the guitar signal through an empty preset. Maybe I´d call it "feeling suck" better than "tone suck". No matter what I did, the guitar sounded "cushioned" through the Helix. It was quite noticeable. Not happened at all when doing the same through a cheap Zoom G1X Four. That was enough for me to get rid of it and to Keep the fun of buying/trying new stuff... LOL.

 

[DrewJD82]

Hahahaha I think the “I gigged it _____ times” should come with a note about how your band performs onstage, because there’s a difference between-



And

 

[kartikg3]

I sold the LT because of noticing tone suck when passing the guitar signal through an empty preset. Maybe I´d call it "feeling suck" better than "tone suck". No matter what I did, the guitar sounded "cushioned" through the Helix. It was quite noticeable. Not happened at all when doing the same through a cheap Zoom G1X Four. That was enough for me to get rid of it and to Keep the fun of buying/trying new stuff... LOL.

For me it was the complete opposite experience. Of all the modelers I have owned (Vox, NuX, Zoom, Digitech, Headrush, Valeton, Helix), Helix sounded and felt the most "transparent", with near zero tone/feel suck. I just had to make sure to turn off Guitar Pad and set the auto In-Z to First, and make sure the noise gate settings are appropriate/ turned off when not needed. Ofcourse, a lot of this stuff depends on the guitar, pickups etc.

 

[Sedaxel]

For me it was the complete opposite experience. Of all the modelers I have owned (NuX, Zoom, Digitech, Headrush, Valeton, Helix), Helix sounded and felt the most "transparent", with near zero tone/feel suck. I just had to make sure to turn off Guitar Pad and set the auto In-Z to First, and make sure the noise gate settings are appropriate/ turned off when not needed. Ofcourse, a lot of this stuff depends on the guitar, pickups etc.

Curious!

I made all of that, but I found the same issue everytime. I was outputing the Helix to my amps input to make the tests. When using the Zoom direct to the amp, it was like not usieng anything at all between the guitar and the amp. Tried it with my PRS and my strat. With the Helix I couldn´t do that. I don´t know, maybe some firmwares later it went better.

 

[kartikg3]

That was absolutely horrible - and not even what I mainly had in mind. That's just plain bad QA. Which is also the reason why they were coming up with the barely visible LEDs and displays. These have either never been properly tested under critical lightning conditions or they just ignored it, pick your poison.

---

Seriously, there's absolutely no way to defend the quality of any Line 6 hardware.

Things I owned myself:
- Pod XT and floorboard. Floorboard just stopped to work middle of a gig. Couldn't be diagnosed easily, so no repair. Pod stopped working pretty much out of the blue later on, too. Same thing, tough to diagnose, possibly not worth the money.
- Toneport UX. Exactly the same thing, it just stopped working out of the blue. Has always been treated well.
- M13. Over its course, I had to replace 3 foowswitches, which was a most horrible affair, simply because (again business as usual), L6 refuses to use any kind of standard parts. A pretty wellknown issue, btw, some M13 lovers have all their switches replaced by decent ones.

You don't hear these kinds of complaints from Boss users. The switches on my GT-5 and GT-10 still work as on day one and no single other device in my posession has seen more of a beating than these two.

Edit: I'm happily calling some of my experiences bad luck. But with both the M13 and the entire HX series, it's absolutely (and proveably) clear that, at least partially, Line 6 is cheaping out on their hardware. An XLR out surpassed by even the cheapest DI boxes available on the market (for instance the Fame Audio stereo models for €34) simply doesn't qualify for great quality, there's no way to deny that.

I would have to woefully agree, especially because I love Line 6. Boss hardware are tanks without a doubt. Even Digitech for that matter. Standing test of time for sure.

 

[kartikg3]

With the Helix I couldn´t do that. I don´t know, maybe some firmwares later it went better.

Might probably be firmware. Also, I don't know if it placebo, but to me my HX Stomp always "felt" better to play, and attack more instant and immediate, than my former full Helix floor. One of the reasons I "downgraded" to a Stomp. One of the firmware updates did bring oversampling and improvements to the sound quality for sure though.

 

[Sascha Franck]

One of the firmware updates did bring oversampling and improvements to the sound quality for sure though.

These should only be relevant once you have some active blocks.

However, fortunately I never ran into any possible tone suck scenarios, simply because I said byebye to my amps before I bought a Helix already, so I can't tell. I should actually try things out one day, there's still two full tube amps collecting dust in the basement...

 

[Digital Igloo]

If Winter NAMM 2024 doesn't bring considerably more vendors and higher attendance than 2023 and 2022, it may have to move to a smaller venue in the coming years. Musikmesse at its peak was far larger than NAMM's ever been, and once a few big vendors bailed, it went from the biggest music trade show in the world to completely dead within three years. Unfortunately, a lot of major MI companies have ditched NAMM and many others are on the fence. It's far cheaper, more intimate, and more fun to invite dealers, distributors, artists, influencers, and friends to Calabasas over a year's span than it is to wrangle cats for four days.

Also, unless a product is finally available for shipment in January or February, there's very little advantage to announcing it at NAMM. No point in delaying a market launch until NAMM because you miss out on holiday sales, and launching something that's more than a month or two out just cannibalizes your current products and/or forces two expensive market launches, as everyone will forget about it by the time it's in stores and you'll have to lift the circus tent again.

There will be a successor to the Helix this year. I can virtually guarantee it.

There will not be a successor to Helix this year. I can guarantee it.

This will be a flagship product with all the punch-list features that marketing requests.

Marketing has a negligible impact on what products we make or what features those products have. They (and Sales) provide input, sure, and sometimes a comment might inspire something, but our hardware, software, and sustaining road maps are all birthed by our Products and Design teams, with help from Engineering.

I predict a touch screen, wireless, maybe an SD card slot, etc.

StageScape M20d (Jan 2012) had a touchscreen, wireless editing, and an SD card slot so none of that's alien to us. Also, AMPLIFi (Jan 2014) was the first guitar-centric product with mobile editing and cloud sharing of presets.

Line 6 has always used Analog Devices SHARC processors. The SC594 is *finally* in production. This is a 1GHz dual-SHARC plus ARM A5 SoC. It's a logical evolution of their product line. One of these chips will have roughly twice the power of a Helix.

That particular SHARC+ with ARM is nice but it can't exactly pull off what we want to do. (Although again, what we want to do may not be guitar processors at all.) Also, Catalyst, DL4 MkII, and HX One are completely ARM-based. You're right in that any proper successor to Helix probably couldn't work without an AD or equivalent DSP.

Now we just need for DI to weigh-in with his Fractal predictions....

I predict one of these days Cliff and I will finally grab a beer and share some juicy industry gossip. Maybe NAMM?

 

[Orvillain]

I predict one of these days Cliff and I will finally grab a beer and share some juicy industry gossip. Maybe NAMM?

Film it and throw it up on Redtube. I'd watch it.