The Helix in 2023... still worth it and fw3.7

And to be honest, I personally have only had and heard good experiences/stories with Dave other than the old (and what I expect he probably also now considers outdated) names.

I definitely understand that as someone whos username was originally a mild joke as well. *cringes in self-reflection*
 
And to be honest, I personally have only had and heard good experiences/stories with Dave other than the old (and what I expect he probably also now considers outdated) names.

I definitely understand that as someone whos username was originally a mild joke as well. *cringes in self-reflection*
I'm all in favour of crude juvenile jokes; keeps us young at heart!!

I don't have a funky pun on my name :(
 
So I finally got around to watching this properly!! I actually disagree with Jon a bit - I am fully ready for a new Helix hardware revision. :D

I don't care about having a touchscreen. In fact, I think the touchscreen on the QC was crap. I've not tried the TMP, but I can't imagine they've done any better. FWIW, I also don't like the touchscreen on the Akai MPC, and I don't really use my mobile phone all that much. I'm just not a touchscreen kind of guy. At least, it isn't that important to me.

However, if it were as good as a high quality iPad or iPhone, then it could be used to address some of the browsing issues I mention below. So in that case, I'd probably appreciate it.

I would like to see proper skuemorphic UI's for amps, and I'd like all of the "channels" and "modes" for an amp, built into a single block - like a NeuralDSP plugin for example.

I'm not talking about Axe FX style "channels" I'm talking about the actual switches and knobs and modes the real amplifier would end up having. I want a Mark V amp to have the exact user facing controls.

I'd also like "list based" advanced editors - hide all of the bias type controls away from the front panel, and put them in the tweakers menu.

I'd really like to see a lot more raw horsepower for the unit.

I'd really like some digital delays that sound closer to what you'd get from a bog standard Boss DDx type stomp. I've banged this drum long enough I suppose!

I don't really like the browsing experience on the hardware. Scrolling through favourites for example, you can often go through delay, reverb, amp, distortion, and you can oftentimes blow your ears out with level differences. Some better organisation here could help.

I'm not a big fan of the 4-way scroll+press knob. Fat fingers, and I often end up accidentally changing an effect because the knob is too sensitive to turn.

I'd like less metallic reverbs.

I'd like the ability to create switch groups, where only one switch can be active at any given time. This would give people a way to emulate 'snapshots' functionality, without requiring snapshots.

I'd like full spillover and seamless preset transitions, without having to sacrifice any processing lanes.

I'd like firmware updates to be a lot quicker, to not require rebuilding of presets, and to not require me to restore a backup in order to recover my global settings.
 
So, the HXSXL came in yesterday…

IMG_0347.jpeg


:oops:


Got it updated this morning, and had some fun for a bit. Will do the same later today.

Sounds great through the TM FR-10.
 
So I finally got around to watching this properly!! I actually disagree with Jon a bit - I am fully ready for a new Helix hardware revision. :D

I don't care about having a touchscreen. In fact, I think the touchscreen on the QC was crap. I've not tried the TMP, but I can't imagine they've done any better. FWIW, I also don't like the touchscreen on the Akai MPC, and I don't really use my mobile phone all that much. I'm just not a touchscreen kind of guy. At least, it isn't that important to me.

However, if it were as good as a high quality iPad or iPhone, then it could be used to address some of the browsing issues I mention below. So in that case, I'd probably appreciate it.

I would like to see proper skuemorphic UI's for amps, and I'd like all of the "channels" and "modes" for an amp, built into a single block - like a NeuralDSP plugin for example.

I'm not talking about Axe FX style "channels" I'm talking about the actual switches and knobs and modes the real amplifier would end up having. I want a Mark V amp to have the exact user facing controls.

I'd also like "list based" advanced editors - hide all of the bias type controls away from the front panel, and put them in the tweakers menu.

I'd really like to see a lot more raw horsepower for the unit.

I'd really like some digital delays that sound closer to what you'd get from a bog standard Boss DDx type stomp. I've banged this drum long enough I suppose!

I don't really like the browsing experience on the hardware. Scrolling through favourites for example, you can often go through delay, reverb, amp, distortion, and you can oftentimes blow your ears out with level differences. Some better organisation here could help.

I'm not a big fan of the 4-way scroll+press knob. Fat fingers, and I often end up accidentally changing an effect because the knob is too sensitive to turn.

I'd like less metallic reverbs.

I'd like the ability to create switch groups, where only one switch can be active at any given time. This would give people a way to emulate 'snapshots' functionality, without requiring snapshots.

I'd like full spillover and seamless preset transitions, without having to sacrifice any processing lanes.

I'd like firmware updates to be a lot quicker, to not require rebuilding of presets, and to not require me to restore a backup in order to recover my global settings.
read my mind with most of this
 
So I finally got

I don't really like the browsing experience on the hardware. Scrolling through favourites for example, you can often go through delay, reverb, amp, distortion, and you can oftentimes blow your ears out with level differences. Some better organisation here could help.
Fuck yes
 
I'm not a big fan of the 4-way scroll+press knob. Fat fingers, and I often end up accidentally changing an effect because the knob is too sensitive to turn.
You might be aware, but there is a global option to change that knob (on the Floor, at least) so that turning it navigates along the path instead of having it change models. IMO it's a bit crazy this isn't the default, because joysticking around and blindly scrolling through models (and accidentally turning the knob when you didn't mean to, with no undo!) is definitely a pain point.

I'd like less metallic reverbs.
I hate to admit it, but I agree with this. The new dynamic reverbs are quite good, but there is a subtle metallic twang in their decay that is a bit grating on the ears. You can dial it out mostly by setting a fairly low high-cut, but then you lose the sparkle. Comparing them to Fractal's reverbs, the Fractal verbs feel like butter on your ears. Soft ooey gooey ear butter.
 
I hate to admit it, but I agree with this. The new dynamic reverbs are quite good, but there is a subtle metallic twang in their decay that is a bit grating on the ears. You can dial it out mostly by setting a fairly low high-cut, but then you lose the sparkle. Comparing them to Fractal's reverbs, the Fractal verbs feel like butter on your ears. Soft ooey gooey ear butter.
This tigga knows what's swingin'
 
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