Line 6 Helix

mellowsun

menamestom said:

There really is something to be said for just waiting until a product hits the shops and then going to try it out and seeing if you like it. It's not as if this won't be for sale everywhere.

Trouble is, it looks like it's for sale everywhere apart from the UK! The P&W community in the US have had it for weeks now, our forum member from Germany has one, and even the Aussies have it

siremoon

Some reports are emerging of system lockups occurring and requiring factory resets to recover.  It's somewhat unclear to me at present under what circumstances this is happening but a potential concern if it were to happen during a gig. 

I understand that new products of this complexity are going to have bugs which don't emerge until after launch but what puzzles me is that the Line 6 staff who are generally quick to comment on the various fora have so far remained silent on the lockups.  They must be aware of it and one presumes they must be investigating and so why not say so?   They may not have found the cause(s) but an acknowledgement that they are actively looking and seeking a solution surely wouldn't do any harm?

I have been very interested in this product since it was announced and what I've seen and heard since it's launch is very impressive indeed imo.  My intention was to gig with it as a complete replacement for my current rig however I won't touch it with a barge pole if it's got some mystery bug in it that could cause random crashes part way through a song. Reliability is right up there with tone and usability imo.  So come on Line 6, tell us what's going on. 

DesVegas

One of the commenters in this video said his died after only six days. It does sound damn good though.

Does it djent?

welshboyo

I'm getting cold feet again...it will probably turn up this week but can't get past the obvious freezing issues that are happening, hopefully Line 6's lack of updates on it means they are away squirrelling a fix, but another part of me thinks that if they respond then it will be admission that there is an issue...

Gitarrenschlumpf

I had such lockup today as I switched it on. The Helix boots but after it all screens are dark and just one led ring is red. I had to do a factory reset. From now on I export every single preset. Hope Line 6 will find the issue. .. By the way. I tried to copy a Kemper profile of a XTC. Different IRs, hours of tweaking. I get very near, but I was not able to nail it. The Kemper rules in amps and cabs.

ThorpyFX

Gitarrenschlumpf said:

I had such lockup today as I switched it on. The Helix boots but after it all screens are dark and just one led ring is red. I had to do a factory reset. From now on I export every single preset. Hope Line 6 will find the issue. .. By the way. I tried to copy a Kemper profile of a XTC. Different IRs, hours of tweaking. I get very near, but I was not able to nail it. The Kemper rules in amps and cabs.

do you lose everything then? What caused it?

Gitarrenschlumpf

Yes, you loose all user settings. I don't know why it happened. I just powered the Helix on.

ThePrettyDamned

Gitarrenschlumpf;821282" said:

Yes, you loose all user settings. I don't why it happened. I just powered the Helix on.

Shiiiiit. They best fix that quick.

rossyamaha

Haven't heard of any issues yet. Will try and find out whats happening on Monday. I know there was a firmware update that needed doing before they shipped. Maybe a few got missed. One thing I know is when there is a probem like this, it's fixed pretty quicksharp. 

Back with info as soon as I get it. 

bingefeller

Some people on TGP are reporting bugs also.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/line6-helix.1586637/page-649#post-20761938

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/line6-helix.1586637/page-651#post-20764573

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/line6-helix.1586637/page-651#post-20764907

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/line6-helix.1586637/page-652#post-20765189

Si_

All of the issues have defiantly put me off from ordering... 

ElectroDan

I can't believe after all the time and effort they have put into the Helix they would let it go out with a problem like this. If so many people have reported it so soon after release, then how did the testers not notice it?

A good reputation is so easy to lose. It could be costly for Line 6. It's a shame.

Teetonetal

Yeah even if I was still interested the possibility of a BSOD would be a deal brake. Especially when only fix is factory reset.
Imagine this happening at a gig....

Moltisanti

this is the worst case scenario for Line 6... they will fix it with a patch and it will probably never happen again, but a lot of people will already be thinking twice

Gitarrenschlumpf

Maybe it's a bug in the last update. I think they will fix it soon.

ThorpyFX

Sounds entirely fixable........ I bet there's some midnight oil being burned!

digitalscream

Moltisanti said:

this is the worst case scenario for Line 6... they will fix it with a patch and it will probably never happen again, but a lot of people will already be thinking twice

Exactly - look at Bugera. They had one design flaw in the first batch of amps they put out which resulted in some overheating, and now the web's full of (99% bullshit) stories of the world and his dog seeing them melt down, burst into flames and eat the owner's first-born.

L6 really need to get out in front of this ASAP.

dindude

With forums screaming for preorders to be met, not saying it was a rushed release but I bet the pressure was on to get it out PDQ, and with such big tech, easy to miss something. 

Even the tech giants don't get it 100% right first time, I'm sure they'll get it sorted.

guitargeek62

This is (unfortunately) expected with anything using complex software though to be fair. Pre-release testing is very difficult to test comprehensively, so once the product is in the wild the likelihood of bugs being identified multiplies exponentially. That one little glitch that never showed up again can come back and bite you in the ass.


I did mention in my "first thoughts" post some 15-30 pages back that I managed to freeze up Paul's unit, though that only necessitated a power cycle restart - not a factory reset. I haven't lost faith in any of this yet, but I do find it funny that people expect bleeding edge tech to be 100% perfect out of the box - please name the last piece of electonics (of equivalent complexity) that was flawless from day one?

DesVegas

but like myself and Mr. Igloo have said, rather it be right than ship it to you and you be disappointed.