Re: Orange rocker 32 with pedals or a helix LT?
Helix is about indistinguishable for feel, under the right conditions. The main problems are people who are used to playing in a particular spot near a particular guitar cab at volume. Change any element of that (including volume) and feel changes to some degree.
There are workarounds. If budget permits (it is $500 more) I'd look at a Powercab Plus instead of another FRFR, especially in combo with a Helix. Yes, it's not true hi-fi, but... Tradeoff is it is particularly good at emulating a number of guitar speaker types. Other option (which is still usable with Powercab!) is farfield IRs, such as Jay Mitchell's. They basically remove all mic influence, room/surface reflection and distance cues from an IR recorded in that fashion, so combine it with a good FRFR and it sounds as close as is currently possible to using that speaker cab. Next Helix firmware revision improves Powercab Plus integration a bunch, too!
There are people who prefer different playback solutions to Powercab Plus. No sealed back 1x12 cabinet can perfectly replicate the punch of a pair of 4x12s at volume, or the airiness of an open backed cabinet. There are even people who prefer Headrush. The Powercab Plus weighs a hair less, but the Headrush FRFR-112 is a bit smaller. JBL EON610 is even smaller and lighter, but it drops down to a 10" woofer and raises the +/-3dB low point from 53hz to 60Hz. The Powercab Plus is weakest of the three for bass, having more of a guitar speaker, but any of them could use a subwoofer to handle bass guitar or suboctave synths anyways.
I actually use a receiver with Audyssey room/speaker correction as my playback system, and don't see any reason to get something else for my needs. My tastes are slightly unusual in that I chase recorded tone more than live amp-in-the-room tones. I use Helix Native, but it does lack the variable input impedance of the hardware units (because my USB audio IO doesn't have that feature). You could trial Helix Native for free for 15 days, but how good it sounds is very dependent on your audio interface, and latency is dependent on that and your computer, too.
Another cheaper option would be to look at a Helix Stomp, which doesn't have the horsepower or switching cababilities of the bigger model. If you need more effects, multi-amp rigs or whatever, you can use it as an audio interface for Helix Native (which is $99 instead of $399, if you buy helix hardware first). That'd give you a grab and go with simpler patches, and the input impedance qualities of the hardware units, at a lower entry price.
Given your situation, i don't think I'd even consider a small tube amp, given you can't even hit 1 on volume knob... But I am happy with latest generation modellers.
Whatever you get, I'd suggest buying from someplace with a good return policy. It's never possible to be completely sure things will work out for you until you try them where you need to use them.
I do use a Digitech Freqout for feedback/ebow goofing around, but at a hair higher than conversation level, I start getting increased sustain from speaker interaction, so it's not necessary for quiet playing to be fun.
Helix is getting 8 new amp channels and around 9 new effects (overdue spring release of firmware 2.80) very soon, bringing it to 67 guitar amps & 14 bass amps, 1 mic preamp, and 206 effects including 43 distortions. It's got a lot of surprising old amps, and beats out Fractal or Kemper for some sounds. Most accessible and wide range of easy to use effects of any of the top tier modelers. My dad who isn't wowed by much of any distortion, was stunned by how well it manages a live Hendrix tone (check out the Pick Attack Solo patch as a starting point). He's a longtime JC-120 user, and showed me how to dial in a better Roland tone on it.
Helix does work well in combination with other amps, too! 4CM (4 Cable Mode) lets you use your amp's preamp in a loop (which can be placed about anywhere in your Helix virtual rig). So even if you decide to go with a conventional amp because you just prefer a particular speaker, I'd look at a Helix for more tonal variety. Or a Stomp if you never use more than 6 effects (including amp model with 1 cab/mic model as 1), or an HX FX if you don't care about amp modelling and just want effects.
The Helix is accurate enough to defeat golden ears in blind tests in recording comparison tests, when dialed in correctly. Dynamics and feel are definitely there, though it doesn't have ability to swap preamp tubes to taste like a real amp. I'm fine with that, given instead you can tweak tons of settings simultaneously from snapshot to snapshot inside a patch. Or just treat it like a pedalboard and turn individual effects on and off with the footswitches. Or mix the two, with a "stompshot" config. 4 stomps individually togglable, and 4 snapshots.
