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When the FC was announced there was a lot of speculation that the FC commanded a higher price due to the additional features it would have over the Helix foot control. Now that’s it’s released what are these features?

You answered your own question.
 
So it’s jist a higher price but same or less features?

No idea, I haven't used Line6 since the Pod XT and am not in the market for a Helix, so I have no idea what its features are. The beauty of competition is that you can give your money to Line6 instead if you feel that you're being ripped off.

Are you asking whether those who speculated about the price difference were correct about their speculation, in hindsight?
 
I have no idea what the Helix Control can do. So I can't answer directly. Maybe you can ask a specific question such as "The Helix can do this, that and the other thing. Can the FC do that?" It would make it easier to answer the question in an informed manner. Having beta tested the FC now for several months, I'm sure I could answer any question so worded.

Also, I would not say that there was a lot of speculation. There was a thread or 2 on this forum. I think the price is reasonable in that it is an extension of the Axe III and NOT a midi controller. It can control the Axe III and turn IT into a midi controller. But the point of the FC is so different than any other midi controller in that it is designed to work exclusively with the III.

So it's a bit comparing apples to oranges. Again I don't know what the Control can do. I'm sure it is a great unit. But I assume it is probably best used with a Helix, just as the FC is best used with the III.
 
Yes it appears as though they do the exact same things though it appears the mini displays are a little less versatile on the FC. I, like others, thought perhaps there would be some features that differentiate it from others on the market. Sort of like how the AXE FX differentiates itself. If it doesn’t then that’s cool but that’s what I’m trying to figure out. Don’t need need to be questioned about things being said in the past. Especially considering the amount of threads that are merged, deleted, edited etc.

I actually do not know if they do the exact same thing. It's not what I was trying to say. What I did say is that they are probably best used with the unit they were designed to be used with.

I think what differentiates the FC from any other controller out there is that (apart form the fact that it is a truly awesome controller that is very easy to program and makes the Axe control very simple) it is a slave of the AxeIII and so any firmware improvement over the years to come will see more features, refinements and the usual greatness we are used to with Fractal.
 
All the fanbois out tonight. Not one of you have been able to answer how the FC differentiates itself. You just want to question my statement that this had been posted about in the past.

So far I’ve gotten that it works with the AXE FX 3. If that’s it then fair.

Perhaps nobody has been able to answer how the FC differentiates itself because nobody knows. I know I don't because it's not a concern for me. I haven't read the manual for the Helix foot controller. But since it is a concern for you, why don't you read it and tell us what the differences are?

I'll ask a few questions though to perhaps spark your investigation:
  • How many Helix foot controllers can you daisy chain together? The FC family can do 4.
  • How many external foot switches can each Helix foot controller have? Each FC can do between 4 and 8 (pedal inputs can be switches if you want). So a full rig could have between 16 and 32 external foot switches.
  • How many external expression pedals can each Helix foot controller have? Each FC can do 4 so a full rig could do 16.
  • Can you select a bank directly with the Helix foot controller?
  • Can you increment/decrement banks by a variable amount between 1-10 with the Helix foot controller?
  • Can you increment/decrement scenes with the Helix foot controller?
  • How many custom footswitch layouts can you create with the Helix foot controller?
  • Can one Helix foot controller change the layout of another Helix foot controller?
  • Can a Helix foot controller automatically increase an amp block level and resave a preset (to help leveling presets)?
  • Can you change block channels with the Helix foot controller?
Please let us know what your findings are.
 
I can't give you a complete answer, because I'm not familiar with the Helix Control. I suspect that most here are in the same boat. I'm not willing to invest the time into studying the Helix manual to find out, especially because there is only one manual that covers both Helix Rack and Helix Control, and the information on the Control isn't broken out into a single section, so I'd have to pretty much read the entire manual covering both devices.

However, I find it telling that the manual for just the FC is almost as long as the combined manual for the Helix Rack and Control combined. That suggests that Fractal's FC's have a much deeper feature set.


So I'll limit myself to what's available in product blurbs and marketing literature:

- The Control can handle three expression pedals and one external switch. The FC can handle four expression pedals and four switches (eight switches if you're willing to spend down some of its spare expression pedals).

- There's no indication that the Control can handle multiple layouts. The FC has multiple layouts plus per-preset switch overrides.

- The Control uses Ethernet-style connectors. Even in their ruggedized form, they're more prone to failure (and harder to find) than the XLR connectors that the FC uses.

- There is no provision for combining multiple Controls, but you can combine up to four FCs of any configuration.

- Then main display of the Control has only one line of characters. The main display of the FC has two lines.

- The Control is made of aluminum. The FC is made of steel.


For anything beyond that, you'll have to ask specific questions and let us know the Control's capability in regard to those questions.
 
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Was asking about the helix control, not the helix.

A Helix control would be as pointless of purchase without a Helix as an Axe FC controller would be without an Axe III though, no?

Don’t see how you can look at them and ignore the other required system hardware.
 
thats a good list on the hardware side. Seems like on the HW side the only advantage on the Helix is the mini displays being slightly better. Though I guess you could argue either way on the aluminum vs steel. Lower weight vs slightly more rugid.
On the software side too, looking at what we know of the feature set.

I'll agree that the Control has sexier mini displays, and the ability to display a second line of text is useful. But some of that text is so small as to be impractical for anyone with less than perfect vision. And, in the pictures at least, I find the mix of fonts (there are at least four fonts shown) is distracting and less legible.
 
The FC doesn’t have the Capacitive touch-sensitive switches, correct?
Correct. Which I'm glad of, TBH. The minute some drunk in the crowd (or your singer) dumps his drink on it, or the sky dumps a few raindrops on it, you'll wish there were no such thing as capacitive switches. :)
 
I suppose though I’ve not read of it being a problem for the helix guys. Not to say it hasn’t. Just haven’t seen it. I tried to keep the drunks away when I had it. It does make programming a bit easier when you get the hang of it but for me I personally don’t spend a lot of time programming regardless.
I like Fractal's way. I program the FC from my Axe-Fx (and eventually from Axe-Edit). All I ever have to do to program my FC is step on it.
 
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That’s a good list to consider. Many of those the answer is yes except for the chaining. This also reminded my of the syncing too which I’m not aware of the helix being able to do.

I took a quick look through the manual for the Helix rack and foot controller. I couldn’t find a way to do any of the things I asked about.

So please go back over my list and point out the specific things you think the Helix foot controller can do with a reference to how it’s done (manual page number is fine).
 
The FC doesn’t have the Capacitive touch-sensitive switches, correct?

That’s the first thing I turned off when I had a Helix and I turned it off almost immediately after I got the HX Stomp as well. I was constantly having it go into edit mode by accident, it is seriously annoying.
 
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That’s the first thing I turned off when I had a Helix and I turned it off almost immediately after I got the HX Stomp as well. I was constantly having it go into edit mode by accident, it is seriously annoying.
Dude, when did you become the "Fun-killer Committee Chairman?" I totally can't see you in that role.
 
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