Line 6 Helix Firmware Update 3.50 – Massive overhaul to Cab Engine
New Cab Engine system, plus new amps and effects
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Line 6 Helix Firmware UpdateLine 6 Helix Firmware Update 3.50 - Massive overhaul to Cab Engine 3.50 - Massive overhaul to Cab Engine · Source: Line 6
Line 6 Helix Firmware Update 3.50 brings a whole wealth of new things to pay with for the Helix family of products. The all-new Cab Engine and new cabs could be the biggest update to the system since its release back in 2015.
Line 6 Helix Firmware Update 3.50
This latest 3.50 update for the Helix Floor*, Helix Rack *, Helix LT *, Helix Native, HX Stomp * and HX Stomp XL * brings a completely overhauled Cab Engine to the Helix family, along with a set of new cabs to play with. Thousands of impulses were captured with Sound Design’s all-new IR capture system. These were then consolidated into 20 guitar cabs and 4 bass cabs.
New Cabs in 3.50:
- Single—One new cab
- Dual—Two new cabs
- Legacy Single—One older Hybrid cab
- Legacy Dual—Two older Hybrid cabs
Amp+Cab subcategories have also been updated:
- Guitar—Guitar Amp+new cab
- Bass—Bass Amp+new cab
- Guitar+Legacy—Guitar Amp+older Hybrid cab
- Bass+Legacy—Bass Amp+older Hybrid cab
Line 6 Cab Engine in 3.50
New Amps
It isn’t just the cabinets that have been updated, as there are also a set of new amps to play with in this update:
- MOO)))N T Nrm, based on the normal channel of the Sunn Model T
- MOO)))N T Brt, based on the bright channel of the Sunn Model T
- MOO)))N T Jump, based on the normal and bright channels jumped in the Sunn Model T
- PV VitriolCrunch, based on the crunch channel of the Peavey Invective (Master boost off)
- PV Vitriol Lead, based on the lead channel of the Peavey Invective (Master boost off)
Those two Misha Mansoor Peavey Invective amps will be popular and everyone loves the Sunn Model T surely?
New Effects
And if that wasn’t enough for you, then check out the new effects added as well:
- Pillars OD (Mono, Stereo), based on the Earthquaker Devices Plumes distortion
- Vital Dist (Mono, Stereo), based on the Earthquaker Devices Life pedal (Amplitude side)
- Vital Boost (Mono, Stereo), based on the Earthquaker Devices Life pedal (Magnitude side)
- 4-Voice Chorus (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original
- FlexoVibe (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original
- Dynamic Ambience (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original ambience reverb
- Boctaver (Mono, Stereo), based on the BOSS OC-2 Octaver
New Features in 3.50
Line 6 has renamed the Impulse Response > Mono subcategory as “Single” and they have added a new subcategory Dual. The IR > Dual block can accommodate two 1024-point IRs. These can be panned independently and users can flip the polarity of either one and even slightly delay one vs. the other to account for any phase inconsistencies between different IR developers.
The new Cabs and 1024-point IRs use roughly 66% less DSP than the older Hybrid cabs and IRs in 3.15 and earlier versions. Making the system more efficient, which is always welcome.
More efficient Cabs and IRs
Prior to 3.50, when users assigned a parameter to a physical control (EXP 1, footswitch, etc.) or MIDI, Snapshots are also always assigned. Now in 3.50, they still are, but there’s an additional “Snapshot Control” parameter on the Controller Assign page that lets you bypass this.
There are also a number of bug fixes within this latest update.
Overall, the new Cab Engine overhaul is possibly the biggest news here. Plus, the addition of the Sunn O))) amps and those Life Pedal emulations are very timely.
As usual, back up your system before updating and follow the official instructions from Line 6 in the link below.
More Information
Videos
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- Line 6 Cab Engine in 3.50: Line 6
- More efficient Cabs and IRs: Line 6
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2 responses to “Line 6 Helix Firmware Update 3.50 – Massive overhaul to Cab Engine”
The hybrid cabs were not great compared to twonote and other so I’m glad they fixed that. But I’m also annoyed that didn’t announce this was coming because I paid for two note…
HX Effects also receives the update, per Line 6.