Helix

[Red_Label]

Re: Helix

See, while I love the M13 and M9, I was disappointed enough with the HD500 (owned it for 5 years) that I didn't even consider the Helix. Still have the M9, DL4, and Variax Acoustic.

The Helix is the real deal. No cheap, digital sounding modeler here. The HD stuff isn't comparable. And I too habe an M9 that I love. In fact, I'm thinking about picking up a 2nd one so I can have one each in the loops of my Splawn and Friedman.

[Mincer]

Re: Helix

Well, the HD500 had a terrible adapter. Three of them went bad on me in 5 years. They were $50 each. Tiny thin cable and a connector that stuck out too far. Also, there was no way to assign the loop level to the exp pedal- the DL4 had this, so did the M-series. The HD even had a parameter for this, but it wasn't assignable. Despite this (and numerous talks with some of the engineers), it was never updated.

[Red_Label]

Re: Helix

Re-arranged the man cave last night, and then did some A/B work between the Helix LT and my Friedman/Splawn stereo rig. Helix Holds its own just fine. Does it render the Friedman and Splawn useless? Nope. But neither do they render the Helix useless. For someone who wants to get awesome tube feel at low volumes, record direct, or go direct to the PA... the Helix units are just awesome. And I still haven't even played with any IRs yet. I'm definitely curious about the Celestion IRs.

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Helix

Re-arranged the man cave last night, and then did some A/B work between the Helix LT and my Friedman/Splawn stereo rig. Helix Holds its own just fine. Does it render the Friedman and Splawn useless? Nope. But neither do they render the Helix useless. For someone who wants to get awesome tube feel at low volumes, record direct, or go direct to the PA... the Helix units are just awesome. And I still haven't even played with any IRs yet. I'm definitely curious about the Celestion IRs.

Free IRs to get your feet wet.

https://www.line6.com/allure

Brock Davisson's Grand Slam of IRs. They're the collection of free stuff he gathered over time and posted on the Helix Facebook group I belong to. Good to go.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7MJkH3xeFGsWWNxU1RGN25kZUU/view?usp=sharing

And here's the original post.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/428105950706417?view=permalink&id=709564429227233

That said, I plan on getting the Red Wirez Big Box, which comes with their MixIR program that let's you mix & match up to 30 or so IRs. Plus it has Texas Heat and Legend V12 IRs, which are a couple speakers I've fallen for lately.

http://www.redwirez.com/bigbox.jsp

And I'll probably end up with some Ownhammer and Celestion IRs too. I must be an IR addict, or something. Lol

[Red_Label]

Re: Helix

Free IRs to get your feet wet.

https://www.line6.com/allure

Brock Davisson's Grand Slam of IRs. They're the collection of free stuff he gathered over time and posted on the Helix Facebook group I belong to. Good to go.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7MJkH3xeFGsWWNxU1RGN25kZUU/view?usp=sharing

And here's the original post.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/428105950706417?view=permalink&id=709564429227233

That said, I plan on getting the Red Wirez Big Box, which comes with their MixIR program that let's you mix & match up to 30 or so IRs. Plus it has Texas Heat and Legend V12 IRs, which are a couple speakers I've fallen for lately.

http://www.redwirez.com/bigbox.jsp

And I'll probably end up with some Ownhammer and Celestion IRs too. I must be an IR addict, or something. Lol

Nice! Thanks for all of that G_S. You've given me much to sort through. Good stuff.

[Mincer]

Re: Helix

Wow, that's a ton of IRs right there...thank you for this!

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Helix

Nice! Thanks for all of that G_S. You've given me much to sort through. Good stuff.

No problem. And everybody's welcome to this stuff!

And I forgot, Ownhammer has a free Mesa V30 IR as well, which may be in the Grand Slam (I haven't gotten through it all yet).

https://ownhammer.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=181&products_id=411

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Helix

Wow, that's a ton of IRs right there...thank you for this!

Well, Brock Davisson deserves the credit for putting together the Grand Slam. And look him up on YouTube, he's a heck of a player that's overcome some obstacles in his life. Here's one he did with his Helix.

https://youtu.be/TfEYIh9wDHs

[LesStrat]

Re: Helix

I'm a month into having this unit.



I've learned so much.

I have a friend that has the AX8. He stated that the learning curve is STEEP.

I have been using PODs since 2000. I figured that my experience would make the Helix an easier adjustment.

Yes, and no. The initial hurdle was tough. Now that I'm over it? I LOVE this unit. Another advantage is that it is EASY to program from the unit, unlike other pro level modelers. I've been tweaking settings in band rehearsals over the last three weeks. Something doesn't sound right, then I make an immediate adjustment and check it (our next gig isn't until October).

The FB pages have helped a great deal. I see so many fantastic programming ideas.

Yes, I think the extra features were worth the money.

Helpful hint from Chad Boston: swap the volume and headphone knobs. It's too easy to bump the volume. The smaller headphone knob won't be inadvertently adjusted, and I don't care if I bump the headphone volume live.

[Despair]

Re: Helix

I think for my tastes I'd prefer an Axe-FX II+ XL.

Given budget, I'm more likely to wind up with Helix Native when that comes out. Neat thing about a plugin is it'll scale with a beefier CPU, and AMD is driving parallel CPU power way up in bang per buck...

Sure, doesn't have the out of the box range of amps of the Axe-FX, or the deep tweakability, but a plugin can exceed the simultaneous amps/effects, and make reamping far easier. Might actually be better for exploring multi-amp tone combinations, which could make the variety shortcoming a non-issue.

And Helix is much easier for bass, another nice perk. I hope Fractal Audio starts working on bass features more... Sure, you can probably get a variety of decent bass tones out of the Axe-FX, but out of the box it's a lot more work to get there.

It's nice that the competition is heating up again!

[Mincer]

Re: Helix

I wouldn't say that the learning curve for the Fractal AX8 is steep. You have a few levels of control (like modeling the knobs on the amp), and then deeper modeling, where you can change many facets of the model itself. So it isn't for someone who doesn't care about obsessing over their own sound. I don't use a lot of the deep editing, as the models are so good- I do tweak a lot of the basic editing functions, although, this is much easier with the excellent software than the front panel.

[Silver]

Re: Helix

The Helix does look more user friendly. It's clearly a more expensive case... what with the colour screen and scribble strips and that. The coming integration with Native and the fact it has usb recording are great, too.

I love the sound of Fractal, and am seriously considering a purchase of the AX8. I really wish it had usb recording, but ultimately I have a separate audio interface I could plug it into. I'd be really interested in hearing how the Helix compares... to that end, I'm going to purchase Native when it comes out. It will allow me to judge the sound, and even if I go with the AX8 I'll have a plugin that only cost $300. I could try Helix in a store, but you can never really give it a proper try in stores.

Comparing either the AX8 or the Helix to the Axe Fx 2 is a bit pointless. Once you factor in the cost of the MFC floor controller and one expression pedal... the total cost of the Axe Fx 2 rig ust over $3000... more than double the Helix or the AX8.

Personally, I don't need dual amps or mad effects chains. I have a Line6 x3l that can do dual amps... but I never have. My effects chains have always been fairly simple even with a delay and reverb.

[devastone]

Re: Helix

So, how much of a learning curve is involved with the Helix or Helix LT, I hate programming, but since I run direct most of the time, a Helix (LT), Amplifire 12, AX8, or Headrush make the most sense. Probably leaning mostly toward the Helix (or LT) or the Headrush since they have built in expression pedals (if I'm spending that much, I really don't want to have to drag along a separate exp pedal). Oh yeah, I hate programming (I think I mentioned that).

I have a GT-100 that was fun for a little while, especially running through a power amp and cab, direct, I can't seem to get a decent sound out of it. I picked up a AMT SS-30 preamp and am running it in the loop and bypassing the amps/cabs on the GT and it's more satisfying, but still not rocking my world. Yes, some of it could be me and I'm sure there are better tones in it with some dedicated tweaking, but every time I sit down to "tweak", I end up walking away and checking Netflix or Hulu, could be that I hate programming (it didn't bother me so much in my younger days). Granted, if the tweaking was yielding more satisfactory results, it might not feel like such a chore.

So, given that I seem to hate programming now days (did I mention that), are there other options? A couple years ago I was running a pedalboard with a AMT SS-11b and pedals as my direct rig and into a power amp and cab and it sounded pretty good, unfortunately my work dried up and it took a year to finally find something, so all of that pedalboard and most of my guitars have gone bye bye so I"m looking to rebuild. For convenience, the all-in-one solution is very appealing, and I know that modeling has come a long way, I just keep reading about programming, finding and loading IRs, etc... and it's like, I just want to plug in, turn a few knobs, and play, and step on a switch when I want an effect, I know it can be done with the Helix (or others), and I only need a few different sounds, how hard is it going to be to get there from unboxing to playing?

Yeah, I know I'm whining, so I've already called the

[devastone]

Re: Helix

Hmm, after that whinefest, and sitting down with the GT for a little while, I seem to have found some settings that are working a little better. Weird, huh... Still thinking the Helix, et al will be light years ahead of the GT, hear great things about the Amplifire, wish it had a built in exp pedal, or get the basic version and use a midi controller, but again, lugging multiple things around to accomplish the same result.

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Helix

The Helix is stupidly easy to program, both with the unit it's self and on the computer with the editor. I've never messed with a GT-100, so I can't compare it to that, but over the years I've has a DigiTech RP20, a Line6 PODxt, and a Boss VF-1.