Helix Talk

norminal said:
No A/B comparisons. Reported.
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I think that's actually great about this video, because the real differences in the boxes shown are in workflow, features, effects etc. I think a short demo clip of each device at its best would have been cool tho.

There's such a huge overemphasis on the amp modeling comparisons. Even if something is not accurate, it does not mean you can't get good tones out of it. I got good tones over 20 years ago from a Yamaha DG combo, even if it wasn't accurate, tended to make all guitars sound a bit samey etc. Obviously if I'm buying, I'd rather buy something that does sound the best.

There's also the expectation from the price point, like I don't expect an Ampero II Stage to be the same as some of the pricier units.

I do agree with GuitarJon's thoughts here. I really liked the Helix Floor I had as an overall package. It was easy enough to use, it had everything in one box, sounded great etc. I still use Helix Native, probably will use it more now that I sold the Axe-Fx. I just wish it scaled properly as it's a bit small on my 4K screen.

I could see myself using the Helix Floor even now if I could still use floor modelers. I have a hiatal hernia that makes bending over to adjust things on the floor for any longer length of time really uncomfortable, so it has to be desk/top of cab unit and the HX Stomp does not pass muster because of its severely gimped UI. For rack, I'd rather have the Axe-Fx 3. So Line6 just doesn't make the right product for me - which would be more along the lines of the QC.

I had high hopes for the Quad Cortex and loved the form factor and UI, but it was too raw when it released 3 years ago. Now I don't want to buy another one, because I expect we will see a Boss "GX-1000 Core", Fractal "FM4" or Line6 "Double Helix Stomp" :satan within 1-2 years.
 
My wish-list for Helix is now incredibly narrow:
  • Multiple split/merges per path - probably not possible on current gen.
  • Footswitch activation in HX Edit - this does seem like a simple request.
  • A Cygnus type update to the amp engine, I'm sure there's some scope for incremental improvement.
  • I also run out of DSP on my ambient / P&W / Shoegaze patches, but I don't see another DSP optimization like the IR one coming - probably not possible on current gen.
 
laxu said:
I could see myself using the Helix Floor even now if I could still use floor modelers. I have a hiatal hernia that makes bending over to adjust things on the floor for any longer length of time really uncomfortable, so it has to be desk/top of cab unit and the HX Stomp does not pass muster because of its severely gimped UI. For rack, I'd rather have the Axe-Fx 3. So Line6 just doesn't make the right product for me - which would be more along the lines of the QC.
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Interesting, I use all of my modelers at/on my desk & find the HELIX (although big) to be quite functional...Pedal Edit mode, capacitance touch switches, joystick navigation, the buttons, screen size, & overall layout make it a breeze to edit on the unit. I definitely understand the hold out, but @Digital Igloo can be so cryptic w/their future products releases, the Fender TMP might be mature by the time L6 shocks us with their new modeling direction.

Have a good one,

3EO
 
three_eyed_otter said:
Interesting, I use all of my modelers at/on my desk & find the HELIX (although big) to be quite functional...Pedal Edit mode, capacitance touch switches, joystick navigation, the buttons, screen size, & overall layout make it a breeze to edit on the unit. I definitely understand the hold out, but @Digital Igloo can be so cryptic w/their future products releases, the Fender TMP might be mature by the time L6 shocks us with their new modeling direction.
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I tried that, but found the Helix Floor's size to be really annoying. It took over almost my whole side desk, and I still had to reach over the footswitches to adjust anything and the expression pedal felt unnecessary and difficult to use with a hand.

The Helix LT to me is the weird "Helix Floor, but cheaper/cut down" product that should not exist, and that price point would have been better served by a "Helix Floor, but smaller" product more like the Fender TMP. The LT is probably one of the big sellers for Line6 so I understand it for business reasons, but that doesn't make me like it.

Fender TMP is also not a product I'd want to bank on, having learned my lesson from pre-purchasing the QC and thankfully selling it for what I paid. I feel the TMP UI workflow is not that great (a lot of swiping or back/forth between blocks compared to QC), and so far Fender has not established the trust that it will become a great product. It came out pretty strong, but was also quickly cut down as the issues with its amp modeling got revealed. I think their next few updates will be crucial for its future.

Fractal and Line6 are both brands that I can trust to deliver products that are supported a long time, with bug fixes and new features. So I have less issues buying a brand new product from them.

As always, we are in this weird scenario where you have better UI, workflow and form factor on some of the "lesser" devices, but the older design boxes just sound better, with mature feature sets and more options than you could reasonably use. I'm really hoping the next gen corrects that.
 
laxu said:
The Helix LT to me is the weird "Helix Floor, but cheaper/cut down" product that should not exist, and that price point would have been better served by a "Helix Floor, but smaller" product more like the Fender TMP.
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Yeah, I'd prefer something that'd sit better between HX Stomp and Floor as well. Kinda like a Stomp XL with full Floor power.
 
CakeEater said:
My wish-list for Helix is now incredibly narrow:
  • Footswitch activation in HX Edit - this does seem like a simple request.
  • A Cygnus type update to the amp engine, I'm sure there's some scope for incremental improvement.
Click to expand...
1. I program my foot switching all the time in HX Edit. Can you clarify what you are looking for here?

2. Similarly, what are you looking for feature wise? I could see the gapless switching being VERY useful. I’m a little less convinced about the “game changing” modeling updates a couple times a year - would hate to see L6 in the practice of chasing fractal just for the sake of chasing fractal.
 
ian_dissonance said:
You guys are all wrong. The LT is great BECAUSE IT STILL HAS AN EXPRESSION PEDAL. Just run into your interface and get a BT footswitch instead of putting floor pedals on your desk.
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To me built in expression pedals are not a plus. I know Line6 disagrees. When the expression pedal is not built in, I can leave it out for a smaller, lighter unit, or I can put it whever it is convenient.

I sit enough in front of the computer that I'd prefer getting away from units that need to be edited from computer editors or VST plugins.

Also real knobs are better than virtual ones and most guitar plugins do not have particularly good MIDI mapping capabilities to properly utilize a MIDI knob controller. It's much easier to add footswitches than it is to add knobs.

It's honestly a shame that the scale of digital modelers is rack/amp -> big floor modeler -> small floor modeler -> pedalboard friendly modeler. Some of the modelers on the market just happen to work as desk boxes rather than being designed as such.
 
laxu said:
To me built in expression pedals are not a plus. I know Line6 disagrees. When the expression pedal is not built in, I can leave it out for a smaller, lighter unit, or I can put it whever it is convenient.
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I concur - whilst I'm right-handed, when I do use an expression pedal I simply find it more comfortable to use my left foot, so I'd rather not have a built-in expression pedal at all on a floor unit, but I appreciate other opinions exist and are just as valid!

Imagine a world where the LT never had an expression pedal - it could have been a bit cheaper, significantly smaller, and Line 6 wouldn't have had to extend what is effectively a lifetime warranty on LT expression pedal faults... ;)
 
EOengineer said:
1. I program my foot switching all the time in HX Edit. Can you clarify what you are looking for here?

2. Similarly, what are you looking for feature wise? I could see the gapless switching being VERY useful. I’m a little less convinced about the “game changing” modeling updates a couple times a year - would hate to see L6 in the practice of chasing fractal just for the sake of chasing fractal.
Click to expand...
Okay, so I have a Reverse-Trem footswitch, it activates a 1/8th reverse delay on my left channel and a soft harmonic trem on the stereo channel. In HX Edit, I have to turn both these on separately. It also increases the chance that the states will get muddled across my snapshots. Being able to press footswitch 11 in HX Edit would be ideal.

I would like to see some attempt at amp engine improvements, to remove the tendency of harsh-top, muffled-mids that shows up sometimes. I just didn't need to contend with that as much when using Kemper or NAM.
 
CakeEater said:
Okay, so I have a Reverse-Trem footswitch, it activates a 1/8th reverse delay on my left channel and a soft harmonic trem on the stereo channel. In HX Edit, I have to turn both these on separately. It also increases the chance that the states will get muddled across my snapshots. Being able to press footswitch 11 in HX Edit would be ideal.

I would like to see some attempt at amp engine improvements, to remove the tendency of harsh-top, muffled-mids that shows up sometimes. I just didn't need to contend with that as much when using Kemper or NAM.
Click to expand...
Oh interesting. I’d never thought to do that because I usually have my Helix connected right there via USB so I just hit the footswitch. I guess I am a little surprised there’s not a way to do that from the editor. You’d think a right click or something.

Re: amp engine - I think we all want a “more better” bullet point in every update. I personally think making the amp/cab impedance curves selectable would eliminate any perceived quality differences between Fractal & HX. I doubt there would be any more oversampling improvements.
 
A separate expression pedal, easy to connect either left or right side of a multieffects unit, would be quite cool.
 
laxu said:
It's honestly a shame that the scale of digital modelers is rack/amp -> big floor modeler -> small floor modeler -> pedalboard friendly modeler. Some of the modelers on the market just happen to work as desk boxes rather than being designed as such.
Click to expand...
Amen. In this day and age where a lot of modeler users are just bedroom/home studio musicians, desktop units should be a thing.
Small footprint, touchscreen with essential knobs and no switches. If they have proper I/O, one could expand them if needed with footswitches and pedals, making a company some extra profit. Everyone wins.
 
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