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TimeLine firmware update 1.23

TimeLine firmware 1.23 has been superseded by a newer version. Click here for the latest.

We’ve been working hard over the past few months to add some cool new features to TimeLine.

What’s new:
1. Preset naming – Display an (optionally) scrolling 16 character preset name, or the bank number
2. Global Tap tempo – Keep the most recently tapped tempo across all of your presets
3. 5 second Spillover* – Once you’ve played for at least 5 seconds on a patch, the current sound will spill over when you change to a new patch
4. Tap averaging – Tap tempo now averages your taps to more easily zero in on the desired tempo. Some have better rhythm than others 😉
5. Kill dry – Mutes your dry signal for use in a parallel effects loop
6. Looper Undo to initial loop & Redo – Undo all overdubs and revert to the first recorded loop. Redo will bring back the recorded overdubs.
7. New dedicated MIDI CC for Bypass – Bypass or Engage TimeLine via MIDI regardless of which preset you are currently on
8. Also … new MIDI CCs for Looper Level, Looper Undo, Looper Redo, and Infinite Repeats
9. Loop transitions are now smoother
10. Ability to record 100% wet with the looper
11. Save to MIDI patch number – when a MIDI program change message is received during a save, the patch will automatically be saved to that location.
Some miscellaneous “under the hood” bugs were also addressed with this update.

In order to take full advantage of the new factory preset names, you should follow the optional step of initializing your presets after updating the firmware. Additionally, we have provided a sysex file that only initializes presets in Banks 50-99 if it’s desirable to preserve edits you’ve made in banks 0-49.

The update will remain available on our support page FAQ

happy shredding!

*Detailed explanation from DSP guru Pete Celi on the “5 second” rule regarding our new spillover feature.

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73 Responses

  1. YES! I am so lost with my current presets. Named presets is THE feature I’ve been waiting for. Thanks guys!

  2. Is there any way to see the current settings in a patch so that you can rebuild the effect exactly as it is after you update it wipe the memory clean?

    1. @David – When the LED turns amber while turning a knob you’re at the saved knob position.

      Updating the firmware will not overwrite your presets. Updating the Factory presets will not overwrite your presets. If you want to preserve all of your presets, just ignore the optional steps in the instructions regarding the updating and initializing of User presets.

  3. THANK YOU!!!! I’m going to be using the timeline fulltime now with all my concerns addressed! This is a huge update – thank you thank you thank you

  4. The looper and 5 second spillover updates are super exciting! The looper erase for the overdub while keeping the original track was something I loved about the old timeline. Now we just need live panning abilities like on the old one too!

  5. The update links that I can find all point to a zip file with version 1.14 in it. Has anyone successfully downloaded the 1.23 firmware?

  6. Seriously! I’ve been waiting forever for the naming patches. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is why your company is the best.

  7. I’m new to midi, what kind of cable would i need to update it? a midi to usb or..? I have a mac if that matters at all.

  8. Oh man! This is HUGE! Tap averaging, Global tap tempo and spill over between presets makes this pedal absolutely PERFECT. The rest of the stuff is the cherry on top…Thanks so much guys!

  9. One more question (and then I’m done… promise) — any consideration for making the looper undo/redo only for the previously recorded layer, rather than all layers except the original?

    I mean, say I’ve got a faux rhythm track or some kind of a bass part laid down (as the original loop) and a rhythm guitar on top of it (as an overdub)… but then say I make a mistake on a lead part while I’m looping. Now, if I understand correctly, the only way the “undo” that mistake is to start all over from the first track and “rebuild” the loop entirely. Is that right?

    If so, that mechanism really doesn’t make any sense to me. Seems like I should be able to undo just the mistake — or, say, a part you only wanted on one section — rather than (nearly) the entire loop.

    1. Hi Nick, we don’t have plans to change the Undo to initial loop function. Give it a try, it’s actually a very cool live performance tool. It will allow you to switch back and forth between two separate parts, extremely useful if you want to build a song in real time. I’m putting together a TimeLine looping video that will illustrate this. Because the looper is recording at such high resolution, it would take up too much memory to store each layer individually. And we think our customers are skilled enough to avoid making mistakes 😉

  10. Sorry, but I still don’t understand: Is the only way to preserve our settings in the 50-99 range to go on each preset, turn each knob till we find the spot and write down somewhere the position of each aspect?
    In order to benefit from the whole update on a bank, we need to initialize it and thereby erase custom changes? Or is this only if we want to be able to name the banks?

    1. @Nathan – Updating the firmware will not overwrite your presets. Updating the Factory presets will not overwrite your presets. If you want to preserve all of your presets, just ignore the optional steps in the instructions regarding the updating and initializing of User presets.

      The firmware update will give you the ability to name your presets. After the update just go to the Globals menu and turn Names ON. 🙂

  11. Fair enough… I’ll give it a try.

    (Currently working through the process of updating my MIDI controller to handle the new CC codes.)

    But I would encourage you all to consider offering a more standard undo/redo option if the processing power will allow it.

    And regardless — kudos on a killer update. All four of my primary concerns were addressed… and that’s AWESOME. Thanks so much!

    1. @Nick no problem! Also it isn’t a matter of processing power, but memory. In order to save individual layers we would be forced to reduce the sound quality of the loop, something that we don’t want to do. Hope you enjoy the new features! 🙂

  12. You guys are awesome!! I’m impressed by the attention to customer requests. Keep up the great work! I’m super excited about the present naming and the tap averaging. 😀

    Question: I don’t have a proper MIDI interface. What I DO have is an M-Audio Oxygen 49 controller keyboard. Could that be used as the interface? Example: Timeline midi port > Oxygen midi port > Oxygen USB port > MacBookPro midi port.

    Sorry if that’s a stupid question, btw 😉

    1. @Yesplz – no problem! 🙂 The keyboard you mention should work, but we haven’t tested it specifically. We generally recommend the M-Audio USB Midisport Uno, so it’s very possible the Oxygen 49 will work fine. There are a few MIDI interfaces that are flaky when it comes to sysex files (the Digi002, for example, is known to be flaky with sysex). If you do run into issues, you can try slowing down the transfer rate on your sysex software on your Mac. Hope this helps. 🙂

  13. Weird – I’ve never seen this before but Google Chrome was somehow caching the update download which is why I kept getting the 1.14 update. Either there’s a web server setting Strymon needs to change to prevent the browser from caching the down load file, or even better to name the updates using their version numbers.

  14. Is there any kind of tool where I could arrange Timeline preset in the banks and patches I want? I know Eventide has something like that for their factor pedals. What does the initialization of presets do?

    1. @PMB – at this point there isn’t such a tool. Initializing the presets will erase any custom patches saved and restore them to factory settings.

  15. I downloaded and updated my timeline and now I’m trying to use the preset naming. I have turned my global setting for NAME to SCROLL (I’ve tried ON as well), and I see that each preset already has a name. However, my display will only say BPM or BANK. What do I need to do to get it to show the preset name?

  16. Hi Ethan,

    thanks for the update! Tap averaging works like a charm, preset naming is very cool. I would also like to use th new MIDI CCs for Looper Level and Undo/Redo … is there a list with the new CC numbers?

    Speaking of Undo/Redo: I agree with Nick that it would be great to have an “undo last layer” in the looper. Not for each individual layer, just for the last recorded one. As fellow TGP member Thesooze wrote: “It’s much more likely that I’ll be displeased with the last one recorded than the whole song, minus the first recording. A bummer if you’re on layer number 5 and you screw up!” (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1026339&page=4)

    I also agree with Nick that “react to global Tap” should be assignable per preset. So you could use global tap on some presets and still have presents with fixed BPM settings. Setting spillover on / off per preset would be great, too.

    There’s also one bug that still needs fixing: when you assign the expression pedal to control the mix and save the preset, it will default to strange mix settings. Like, I set heel to about 20% wet and toe to 50/50. Saving preset with heel down. Recalling preset. Mix is at 0%, which is not even in the range that was stored.

    1. Hi Sascha, glad you’re liking the update! Sorry but we don’t have plans to change Undo to Initial Loop. This would require reducing the quality of the loop recording and we don’t want to do this. We’ll look into your exp pedal question, can you please email us at [email protected]. We do appreciate the feature suggestions and feedback but we can’t guarantee the inclusion of any particular features.

  17. Great, that firmware update sets most of the to-dos straight, well done .. I can now buy my Timeline, as global tap tempo and preset naming were my biggest obstacles!

    Now I´ll wait for the Strymon “Glass Nexus” … 😉

  18. Hey guys! Super excited about the update. You’re making all of my wildest dreams come true. I’ve got one question, though:

    If I have my TimeLine set to only display presets 0-49, what (if anything) will happen if I update the factory presets?

    Thanks!

  19. I haven’t downloaded the update yet but what do I actually need to do to get my timeline updated? Midi to USB cable or something? Sorry if it’s listed in the update or something.

  20. HELP!!! My TimeLine will go through all the motions of updating and when it restarts, nothing… Still the same ole v1.05!!! I’m connecting through my mBox 2 (All current drivers) I want Global tap so badly!

  21. @Ethan: Thanks for the quick response. I’ll send an email about the expression pedal issue. On Looper Undo: I still don’t understand … what would be the technical difference (=memory requirement) between the current “undo = revert to first layer” and the requested “undo = revert to version before last layer”? As I understand it, both would require the same amount of memory: Twice the loop time. In the current implementation, you need “memory bank X” (say, 8 MB) to store the first layer. And a second memory bank Y for all overdubbed layers; I guess in overdub mode the TL plays back from Y and simultaneously re-records a mix of this playback plus the audio input to Y.
    Now why couldn’t it be like this: First layer goes to bank X. When you hit overdub, a mix of playback from bank X plus audio in is recorded to bank Y. When the loop end is reached, the TL starts playing bank Y and records a mix of bank Y + audio in to bank X and etc. — this way, whenever you would send “UNDO”, TL could revert to the version just before the most recent overdub from loop start to current position. And kill the mistake you just made messing up your beautiful previous 5 layers.
    There could even be a global option to switch between the current undo mode and “undo last layer” mode.

    1. Hi Sascha, thanks for your feedback. We can’t guarantee the addition of any particular features, but we do consider and appreciate all customer suggestions. 🙂

  22. @Brennan, yes you’ll need a MIDI to USB cable. We recommend the M-Audio UNO cable, however many have said that the cheap $5 cables on Amazon work fine as well. All of the update instructions are in the .zip file. 🙂

  23. Hi all, great to see the 1.23 Firmware update for the Timeline. Fantastic features added and bug fixes appreciated.
    One problem (only one). Am I the only one on here who wants to use sysex to dump his presets to a storage device e.g. computer. So that I can load another set of presets for maybe a different band or gig. I was hoping this was in the update but it’s not. although I appreciate you have so many requests for ideas surely this is one of the most standard and required features of any device with presets. Being able to create your library and swap things around as and when you need them.
    Maybe I’m wrong but I’m faced with a Strymon full of presets from my last tour and no way of dumping them to create space for new ones.
    Still it’s my most valuable pedal in my collection. well done guys!

  24. I love the new naming feature, i really missed that one when switched from timefactor to timeline.
    Thank you Strymon!!!!!

  25. @Ethan, I switched from my MBOX2pro to a M-Audio uno and it all updated just fine. Thanks for the suggestion. 😀 You guys rock!

    -James

  26. Just for the lists:

    My Novation Impulse controller didn’t work, but the MIDI output of my Maschine seems to be working just fine.

  27. Just about to tour the States starting at SXSW with Thomas Dolby with the Timeline at the centre of my board. Great updates thanks. What a machine! By the way I think amp manufacturers will thank you too as everyone who uses this will want the amazing spatial sound that comes with using it in stereo..I’m so loving what I can do with two amps.

  28. I previously posted here about expression pedal problems:

    “There’s also one bug that still needs fixing: when you assign the expression pedal to control the mix and save the preset, it will default to strange mix settings. Like, I set heel to about 20% wet and toe to 50/50. Saving preset with heel down. Recalling preset. Mix is at 0%, which is not even in the range that was stored.”

    My fault … I found out that the Timeline (other than Line6 M5/M9/M13) stores all settings of a preset independently of the expression pedal settings. So if you set Mix to 0%, then assign expression heel to 20% mix and toe to 70% mix, then save, then move the expression pedal — you will hear 20 to 70% mix, depending on where you set the exp pedal. But if you come back to this same preset later, Mix will be at 0%, because this was the “last manual edit before entering EP set mode” of the mix knob.

    So it’s not a bug, it’s a feature: You can assign an Exp heel and an Exp toe value, and set an additional “value on preset recall”. Great thing, sorry for my earlier misunderstanding 🙂

  29. So, I just receive the TL in the last few days. I loved it until I found out that there is no way to back up the device via MIDI (e.g., SysEx dump). What is the purpose of a MIDI “out” port if you can’t use it for anything? I have actually debated sending the TL back (I am crazy that way).

    I am a software engineer and would consider working on an editor if the SysEx details were available/published.

    To that point, manufacturers are required to publish their SysEx format:

    “System Exclusive messages may be used to send data such as patch parameters or sample data between MIDI devices. Manufacturers of MIDI equipment may define their own formats for System Exclusive data. Manufacturers are granted unique identification (ID) numbers by the MMA or the JMSC, and the manufacturer ID number is included as part of the System Exclusive message. The manufacturers ID is followed by any number of data bytes, and the data transmission is terminated with the EOX message. Manufacturers are required to publish the details of their System Exclusive data formats, and other manufacturers may freely utilize these formats, provided that they do not alter or utilize the format in a way which conflicts with the original manufacturers specifications.”

    http://www.midi.org/aboutmidi/tut_midimusicsynth.php

    1. Hi there, thanks for the feedback. There is a way to back up your presets via MIDI— email us at [email protected] and we can help you out. We are working on an editor/librarian that will make this easier.

  30. Got a Timeline with the latest firmware and I am loving it… however I have to do a lot of bank switching (like from bank 4 to bank 40 in 5 seconds between songs) and I don’t have room for a DMC-3 on my cramped board. Any chance that you guys are working on bank scrolling (by holding down the two right or the two left buttons) in a future update?

    1. @George – Thanks for the suggestion. While we can’t guarantee the of press-and-hold bank scrolling, we do always consider customer feedback. My suggestion would be to try to arrange your patches so that what you need to access during a gig are closer in proximity. Thanks 🙂

  31. P.S. I’m aware that I can use the knob to scroll, but that’s not convenient in 5 seconds between songs either!

  32. Thanks SOOOO MUCH for adding more looper flexibility. You guys probably know how few good loopers are out there – and yours has MIDI control, which is pretty much unheard of in any hardware looper. It would be awesome if you could add maybe another phrase or 2 (phrase to be MIDI CC selectable) or somehow increase looper time. Then this looper would rival things like the boomerang III or the higher end boss stuff.

    MIDI control is awesome. So happy this pedal has MIDI control for everything. Thanks so much!

    Phil

  33. 5. Kill dry – Mutes your dry signal for use in a parallel effects loop
    Unfortunately, the
    Dry kill does not address what he promised. Out signal while it is not mute trubyp
    thanks
    okrej

  34. Dear Strymon,

    I’m interrest in the update for Timeline, I was tried so many device via UNO also, but it doesn’t work.
    After the “loading” nothing changed…1.14. The Mac finished the sending, the Timeline goes beck to presets, or stay in “loading” method (on screen). I written my question before, but never answered it.

    Please, what can I do?

    Best regards: peter

  35. I updated the Timeline with this firmware, but I am still getting a dry signal output from the Timeline when using it in a parallel loop with the Timeline set to ‘dry kill’. Is this a user error or bug that is being fixed?

    I have tested another device in the same loop that has the dry kill option and it works fine, leaving me to think it is an issue with the Timeline.

    Please help! I can’t use the Timeline in my setup without it being in my parallel fx loop!

  36. HELP! i updated the firmwire to the last one (march 2013)i followed the steps ,it was written loading as in the pdf manual,but when i check the firmwire it shows me the one from the factory 1.2 or something. i want to use the swell propperly and it does not work.wtf,what can i do!

  37. @mike, Sorry to hear you’re running into some trouble updating your TimeLine. If you haven’t emailed us yet, please hit us up at [email protected] and I’ll work with you to get your TimeLien updated. Thanks!

  38. Hey guys ! I just wanted to know if I bought a Timeline like a year after this update was released does it mean that it was in my pedal when I bought it or do I still need to update my Timeline ? Thanks

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