Helix Talk

do you think they could make the LT and Floor smaller with the exact same features, screen, and switches?



i feel like they should add more high gain pedals in the distortion section. i actually like the 2 metal zones they have in the legacy section but give us some more flavors!!! maybe i should just try using the preamps like a dirt pedal?
You could put a badonk in front of your badonk so you could badonk while you badonk!

/Xzibit
 
do you think they could make the LT and Floor smaller with the exact same features, screen, and switches?
Technically, we could, yes.

But unless we're just changing chassis colors or silkscreen, significant hardware redesigns almost always trigger all new BOMs (Bill of Materials) with 2025 parts/labor pricing—not 2013 pricing when Helix Floor and Rack were first grandfathered in—so... I'm guessing a smaller Helix Floor Mini (again, with no other features/functionality, just a smaller footprint) would need to cost more. Maybe as much as $1900? And LT Mini might be... $1500? Or $1400 without the treadle? Not sure, but a lot has changed in the world over the past 12 years.

So the million dollar question is... Would you pay a $400-500 premium for the same, just smaller? I know I wouldn't.
 
That looks like a sweet solution, a bit out of the price range for me though! 😅 I was thinking something more in line with this to goose up the headphone audio: https://ifi-audio.com/products/zen-can-3

Would it make a meaningful difference with an HX Stomp, except being able to get some more low-end for planar headphones?
Ifi make great headphone amps. I have one of those for my laptop. Can drive anything.
 
Technically, we could, yes.

But unless we're just changing chassis colors or silkscreen, significant hardware redesigns almost always trigger all new BOMs (Bill of Materials) with 2025 parts/labor pricing—not 2013 pricing when Helix Floor and Rack were first grandfathered in—so... I'm guessing a smaller Helix Floor Mini (again, with no other features/functionality, just a smaller footprint) would need to cost more. Maybe as much as $1900? And LT Mini might be... $1500? Or $1400 without the treadle? Not sure, but a lot has changed in the world over the past 12 years.

So the million dollar question is... Would you pay a $400-500 premium for the same, just smaller? I know I wouldn't.
If only you had made one back in ~2018 when the HX Stomp was released...

I just hope that next gen Line6 units offer more compact solutions, without the severe onboard UI compromises the HX Stomp has compared to the Helix LT/Floor.
 
HX One but only amps
Futurama Buy GIF


I just don't have use for 1000's of digital fx pedals, I have a couple of my own that I use in front/loop and that's it.
 
HX One but only amps
Futurama Buy GIF


I just don't have use for 1000's of digital fx pedals, I have a couple of my own that I use in front/loop and that's it.
Have spoken about this before, but a standalone HX Amps pedal would also require cabs/IRs, and likely at least Dynamic Ambience reverb for headphone use. And a headphone amp, main volume knob, and a 4-channel USB audio interface. And because people would want it at the end of their chain, it'd likely need to be stereo (like Iridium and UA amp pedals), which means two amps (even if they're identical), two cabs/IRs, and a stereo reverb—for us, that probably means SHARC instead of HX One's ARM. You'd also need two switches for preset up/down, a display to select models, and a stereo effects loop independent of the stereo ins and outs.

So... we've now basically created a new box that's juuuust under HX Stomp: One less switch, a smaller B/W display, matte paint instead of sparkle, and maybe one less push encoder? $599 instead of $699? That's a hard sell.
 
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Have spoken about this before, but HX Amps would also require cabs/IRs, and likely at least Dynamic Ambience reverb for headphone use. And a headphone amp, main volume knob, and a 4-channel USB audio interface. And because people would want it at the end of their chain, it'd likely need to be stereo (like Iridium and UA amp pedals), which means two amps (even if they're identical), two cabs/IRs, and a stereo reverb—for us, that probably means SHARC instead of HX One's ARM. You'd also need two switches for preset up/down, a display to select models, and a stereo effects loop independent of the stereo ins and outs.

So... we've now basically created a new box that's juuuust under HX Stomp: One less switch, a smaller B/W display, matte paint instead of sparkle, and maybe one less push encoder? $599 instead of $699? That's a hard sell.

How much more (ballpark) would it be to make it an amp capture/player device as well?
 
How much more (ballpark) would it be to make it an amp capture/player device as well?
If it needed to do the captures itself, it'd need an XLR mic preamp (and the footprint would likely need to be a tad bigger to accommodate said mic pre, which might add a bit in material costs), so it might end up more than $599.

If it only needed to load existing captures, the price could probably remain at $599. But this is all speculation.
 
If it needed to do the captures itself, it'd need an XLR mic preamp (and the footprint would likely need to be a tad bigger to accommodate said mic pre, which might add a bit in material costs), so it might end up more than $599.

If it only needed to load existing captures, the price could probably remain at $599. But this is all speculation.

Of course. I'm just thinking out loud here. If Line 6 did decide to go into the capture market and could make it work with existing hardware, the Helix/Stomp units could get the ability to load captures. But creating captures would still require a separate device (apart from Floor/Rack possibly) which an "HX Amp" would fit in nicely.
 
Have spoken about this before, but HX Amps would also require cabs/IRs, and likely at least Dynamic Ambience reverb for headphone use. And a headphone amp, main volume knob, and a 4-channel USB audio interface. And because people would want it at the end of their chain, it'd likely need to be stereo (like Iridium and UA amp pedals), which means two amps (even if they're identical), two cabs/IRs, and a stereo reverb—for us, that probably means SHARC instead of HX One's ARM. You'd also need two switches for preset up/down, a display to select models, and a stereo effects loop independent of the stereo ins and outs.

So... we've now basically created a new box that's juuuust under HX Stomp: One less switch, a smaller B/W display, matte paint instead of sparkle, and maybe one less push encoder? $599 instead of $699? That's a hard sell.

The Big Lebowski Film GIF by The Good Films
 
Of course. I'm just thinking out loud here. If Line 6 did decide to go into the capture market and could make it work with existing hardware, the Helix/Stomp units could get the ability to load captures. But creating captures would still require a separate device (apart from Floor/Rack possibly) which an "HX Amp" would fit in nicely.
Or they do the Hotone thing where you just need to plug in a mic preamp or audio interface if you need it.

The Ampero 2 Stomp can do captures just fine with line level signal from a loadbox.
 
And LT Mini might be... $1500? Or $1400 without the treadle? Not sure, but a lot has changed in the world over the past 12 years.

So the million dollar question is... Would you pay a $400-500 premium for the same, just smaller? I know I wouldn't.
Nope. Didn't figure out it would cost that much more.
 
Can we have a Distressor please?
A distressor without its interface is basically a plugin. I think 99% of the benefits of it would be lost if it has the generic Helix sliders, it would be so similar to a standard compressor (albeit with the drive buttons). A distressed itself was trying to emulate different compressors all within the same unit, which is great for HW but when you have a full choice already, surely having a distinct 1176/LA2A/dbx160/fairchild etc is more useful?

I think for guitars something with a couple of controls that has a very specific and noticeable effect is more useful than a Swiss army knife general purpose compressor. I LOVE distressors, but it's because they are flexible and have a decent amount of controls. Seems redundant in Helix.
 
A distressor without its interface is basically a plugin. I think 99% of the benefits of it would be lost if it has the generic Helix sliders, it would be so similar to a standard compressor (albeit with the drive buttons). A distressed itself was trying to emulate different compressors all within the same unit, which is great for HW but when you have a full choice already, surely having a distinct 1176/LA2A/dbx160/fairchild etc is more useful?
If we got these compressors with hard and soft clippers and a switchable sidechain highpass sure...I'll take either one (the LA-2A does have its emphasis which is close enough for the filter, but I'd like the other goodies as well)

But at the moment we can't even sidechain the noisegate
 
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