Line 6 shows that releasing a software version of their modeling didn't mean the downfall of their hardware.
Quite interesting. Not so sure it would be the same scenario for Fractal or Kemper?
Not many people are prepared to take a laptop and a soundcard out on stage and use it as their rig.
1. It aint rock n roll.
2. It's a tricky rig to build and setup and maintain. It's definitely not instant gratification.
3. Crashy crashy, splishy splashy.
Hardware solutions in guitars (and even drums) are still the predominant way that people wanna use this stuff. Plugins are used in the studio, they're not (or at least rarely) used live.
There's nothing stopping anyone from getting Ableton Live or Bitwig Studio, an Apollo Twin soundcard, and a midi controller ... and building a rig that combines all of the best stuff on the market available. But people just don't do it.
DJ's, keyboardists, and electronic musicians seem to be way more up for using and building rigs like that. But those are several orders of magnitude more capable of understanding complexity than guitarists. You almost
never have to explain to a synth player the difference between a midi PC and a midi CC.
Ergo - there is no canabalism of sales. I'm actually surprised that Line 6 give such a healthy discount on Helix Native to the hardware owners. That just speaks to how cool and humane the team is I would guess. Or they're more like crack dealers, trying to keep you hooked on the supply.
but overall it is absolutely brilliant.
