Suddenly thinking I might sell up and go Helix LT in 2018

gibsongretschfan

The delays on Helix are as good as any I’ve heard. Just make sure that if you’re using the amp sims as well and you’re used to having your delays in front of a clean amp then put them in front of the amp inside of Helix too. The Tape delay really comes alive like this 

Megii

Teetonetal said:

Maybe wait and see what the next release has to offer. @Digital_Igloo already told us new reverbs are coming.

Fwiw helix is very easy to use, is very flexible and line 6 have been releasing great updates. It might be a case of once you have it you get sucked into exploring it's options... but we've seen quite a few threads from people who can't shake off the amp part, be non plussed with the fx and move on.

Just go test one and put your mind at rest.

Cheers @Teetonetal maybe I should do that and have a day out later this week. There are people selling the LT at £685 at the moment, which seems great, and I do wonder if that will go up significantly in the coming months, and maybe I should strike while the iron is hot as it were. Actually, one thing that makes me think I might get on with a Helix is that I've never been a massive amp fan - i,e. not really into real amp overdrive sounds, and I always seem to get results I like just from a basic clean amp tone. Never had a valve amp setup, so can't miss what I've never used.

But your cautionary advice is appreciated.

Megii

gibsongretschfan said:

The delays on Helix are as good as any I’ve heard. Just make sure that if you’re using the amp sims as well and you’re used to having your delays in front of a clean amp then put them in front of the amp inside of Helix too. The Tape delay really comes alive like this 

Cheers, appreciate your thoughts @gibsongretschfan

Roland

Megii said:

... There are people selling the LT at £685 at the moment, which seems great, and I do wonder if that will go up significantly in the coming months, and maybe I should strike while the iron is hot as it were ...

We usually see a lot of items coming up for sale once Christmas people add up what they’ve spent over Christmas, or make resolutions to clear the house of things they are not using. So now is the time to buy and try, and move it on later in the year if it doesn’t suit you. I firmly believe that you need a week or so to experiment with multiFX before you can reach a decision.

guitarfishbay

The delays are great. I wish each model had a HPF and LPF though. Easy to work around it but they’re super useful controls for voicing quickly

Megii

Roland said:

Megii said:

... There are people selling the LT at £685 at the moment, which seems great, and I do wonder if that will go up significantly in the coming months, and maybe I should strike while the iron is hot as it were ...

We usually see a lot of items coming up for sale once Christmas people add up what they’ve spent over Christmas, or make resolutions to clear the house of things they are not using. So now is the time to buy and try, and move it on later in the year if it doesn’t suit you. I firmly believe that you need a week or so to experiment with multiFX before you can reach a decision.

Thanks @Roland. I admit there is the thought to just get one bought now, and as you say, I can then test at my leisure - and accept the risk it may not work out and I could then end up selling on at a loss.

On the other hand - If it does work out, then I will recoup perhaps £300 or more selling things from the existing pedal board, and I've already sold a few unneeded pedals, so have £170 ish sitting in my paypal account - so take £470 from the £685 asking price of an LT, and it starts to seem quite a reasonable idea. All a bit of an "if" of course.

Megii

guitarfishbay said:

The delays are great. I wish each model had a HPF and LPF though. Easy to work around it but they’re super useful controls for voicing quickly

Good to know re  the delays, cheers @guitarfishbay. What are the mods and verbs like? Re the mods, especially interested in chorus and phaser.

Jota

What I miss on the MS-3 is having more of the same effect in each preset. The Helix would cure that.
I don't use much modulation but I like to have a few drives and fuzzes to stack and a couple of different delays.
That's why I have a fuzz, a dual OD and a delay on the loops of my MS-3.
But I can get all this in a smaller platform than the Helix so I never thought about doing the change.
Also, I never had a Line6 multiFX but the Boss has all the flexibility I need. The assigns on the MS-3 are amazing and I can do things I never could do with my old Nova System. I'm not sure the Helix can do the same but it probably can.

digitalscream

For what it's worth, I'd put a large amount of money I can't afford to lose on many of the complaints about Helix effects in this thread being addressed by a coming-soon update (the emphasis being meaningful).

In terms of speculation, though, Line 6 have been jiggering about with the underlying architecture (firmware-wise) in order to make the whole shebang more modular, and I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons for this was given on another forum as something to the effect of "...to enable further expansion of the Helix family". We've already got the full-fat one (floor and rack), we have a cut-down version, and we have a VST version. Not many other things they could build which would require modularity, except...

- An effects-only version to replace the ageing M-series
- A very limited version with only single/dual paths
- Both of the above in a single package

My advice would probably be to wait a few months if you're planning on being an effects-only Helix owner. It's pretty obvious to me that there will be something coming in the next year to sort that.

Musicman20

Personally, I much preferred my effects pedals over a Helix. I just didn’t bond with the effects. 

guitarfishbay

Megii said:

guitarfishbay said:

The delays are great. I wish each model had a HPF and LPF though. Easy to work around it but they’re super useful controls for voicing quickly

Good to know re  the delays, cheers @guitarfishbay. What are the mods and verbs like? Re the mods, especially interested in chorus and phaser.

The reverbs sound ok, they sound like a decent pedal reverb but they’re not (IMO) as good as the ones in the Fractal units or other high end pedals.

Modulations I’ve not played with much so I can’t really give you much info on those.

I have the plugin, I bought it to use for bass recording but I’ve found I’m using the delays on guitar too. The more lo-fi/modulated delays are nice.

If you have an audio interface and DAW you could demo the Helix Native plugin. The sounds are the same as on the hardware. I don’t use the Helix guitar amp modelling as I have a Fractal and I prefer the tones on that, but at this time I find it a bit fiddly for bass whereas the Helix has a load of basically plug and play stuff for bass.

menamestom

Worth noting that the verbs are being updated/expanded in the new year.   

Megii

Jota said:

What I miss on the MS-3 is having more of the same effect in each preset. The Helix would cure that.
I don't use much modulation but I like to have a few drives and fuzzes to stack and a couple of different delays.
That's why I have a fuzz, a dual OD and a delay on the loops of my MS-3.
But I can get all this in a smaller platform than the Helix so I never thought about doing the change.
Also, I never had a Line6 multiFX but the Boss has all the flexibility I need. The assigns on the MS-3 are amazing and I can do things I never could do with my old Nova System. I'm not sure the Helix can do the same but it probably can.

I know what you're saying @Jota - I like the thought that I can have 3 reverbs if I want, or 4 modulation effects in a row, or whatever - the MS-3 does kind of limit one to sensible configurations, and most of the time that's fine - but I would prefer to have the option to not be sensible sometimes. My MS-3 board is actually a bit bigger footprint (60cm x 40cm) than the Helix/Helix LT, so as long as I was happy just to use Helix effects and no outboard pedals, it would be good. I guess how good are the drive pedal models in the Helix is one key question for me. Cheers for posting anyhow.

Megii

digitalscream said:

For what it's worth, I'd put a large amount of money I can't afford to lose on many of the complaints about Helix effects in this thread being addressed by a coming-soon update (the emphasis being meaningful).

In terms of speculation, though, Line 6 have been jiggering about with the underlying architecture (firmware-wise) in order to make the whole shebang more modular, and I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons for this was given on another forum as something to the effect of "...to enable further expansion of the Helix family". We've already got the full-fat one (floor and rack), we have a cut-down version, and we have a VST version. Not many other things they could build which would require modularity, except...

- An effects-only version to replace the ageing M-series
- A very limited version with only single/dual paths
- Both of the above in a single package

My advice would probably be to wait a few months if you're planning on being an effects-only Helix owner. It's pretty obvious to me that there will be something coming in the next year to sort that.

Thanks @digitalscream - it's a very positive thing for me that Line 6 is committed to firmware updates and adding new models/effects etc. Re being an effects only Helix owner - I guess I would be at first, and maybe for a while, but I do like the idea that I would have the capability to leap into the modern world of going straight into the PA and FRFR and all that if I want to, that could easily happen in my case. But your thoughts on possible future Helix family products are interesting and appreciated, cheers!

Megii

Musicman20 said:

Personally, I much preferred my effects pedals over a Helix. I just didn’t bond with the effects. 

Fair do's @Musicman20 - and yes, there's a risk that could be the case for me too, but I reason that since most of my current effects come from the Boss MS-3, and I find them just fine, then it's likely I'd be good with the ones on the Helix.

Megii

guitarfishbay said:

Megii said:

guitarfishbay said:

The delays are great. I wish each model had a HPF and LPF though. Easy to work around it but they’re super useful controls for voicing quickly

Good to know re  the delays, cheers @guitarfishbay. What are the mods and verbs like? Re the mods, especially interested in chorus and phaser.

The reverbs sound ok, they sound like a decent pedal reverb but they’re not (IMO) as good as the ones in the Fractal units or other high end pedals.

Modulations I’ve not played with much so I can’t really give you much info on those.

I have the plugin, I bought it to use for bass recording but I’ve found I’m using the delays on guitar too. The more lo-fi/modulated delays are nice.

If you have an audio interface and DAW you could demo the Helix Native plugin. The sounds are the same as on the hardware. I don’t use the Helix guitar amp modelling as I have a Fractal and I prefer the tones on that, but at this time I find it a bit fiddly for bass whereas the Helix has a load of basically plug and play stuff for bass.

Cheers, appreciate the info @guitarfishbay

Megii

menamestom said:

Worth noting that the verbs are being updated/expanded in the new year.   

Indeed it is, duly noted, and cheers @menamestom

Jota

Megii said:

Jota said:

What I miss on the MS-3 is having more of the same effect in each preset. The Helix would cure that.
I don't use much modulation but I like to have a few drives and fuzzes to stack and a couple of different delays.
That's why I have a fuzz, a dual OD and a delay on the loops of my MS-3.
But I can get all this in a smaller platform than the Helix so I never thought about doing the change.
Also, I never had a Line6 multiFX but the Boss has all the flexibility I need. The assigns on the MS-3 are amazing and I can do things I never could do with my old Nova System. I'm not sure the Helix can do the same but it probably can.

I know what you're saying @Jota - I like the thought that I can have 3 reverbs if I want, or 4 modulation effects in a row, or whatever - the MS-3 does kind of limit one to sensible configurations, and most of the time that's fine - but I would prefer to have the option to not be sensible sometimes. My MS-3 board is actually a bit bigger footprint (60cm x 40cm) than the Helix/Helix LT, so as long as I was happy just to use Helix effects and no outboard pedals, it would be good. I guess how good are the drive pedal models in the Helix is one key question for me. Cheers for posting anyhow.

I belive Line6 will be at least as good as the drives on the MS-3. They're quite good.

digitalscream

Megii said:

Thanks @digitalscream - it's a very positive thing for me that Line 6 is committed to firmware updates and adding new models/effects etc. Re being an effects only Helix owner - I guess I would be at first, and maybe for a while, but I do like the idea that I would have the capability to leap into the modern world of going straight into the PA and FRFR and all that if I want to, that could easily happen in my case. But your thoughts on possible future Helix family products are interesting and appreciated, cheers!

For what it's worth, I've gigged the Helix LT both FRFR + direct and through a Rocktron Velocity 120 power amp and Matrix NL212 guitar cab.

In terms of sound, the Velocity + cab worked best. FRFR got about 95% there with Ownhammer impulses, but having a FRFR monitor right next to me meant that I could hear myself with more clarity than I ever have at any gig, ever. Of course, there's no reason I couldn't do both...however, I prefer to keep my rig as simple and lightweight as possible.

Megii

Jota said:

Megii said:

Jota said:

What I miss on the MS-3 is having more of the same effect in each preset. The Helix would cure that.
I don't use much modulation but I like to have a few drives and fuzzes to stack and a couple of different delays.
That's why I have a fuzz, a dual OD and a delay on the loops of my MS-3.
But I can get all this in a smaller platform than the Helix so I never thought about doing the change.
Also, I never had a Line6 multiFX but the Boss has all the flexibility I need. The assigns on the MS-3 are amazing and I can do things I never could do with my old Nova System. I'm not sure the Helix can do the same but it probably can.

I know what you're saying @Jota - I like the thought that I can have 3 reverbs if I want, or 4 modulation effects in a row, or whatever - the MS-3 does kind of limit one to sensible configurations, and most of the time that's fine - but I would prefer to have the option to not be sensible sometimes. My MS-3 board is actually a bit bigger footprint (60cm x 40cm) than the Helix/Helix LT, so as long as I was happy just to use Helix effects and no outboard pedals, it would be good. I guess how good are the drive pedal models in the Helix is one key question for me. Cheers for posting anyhow.

I belive Line6 will be at least as good as the drives on the MS-3. They're quite good.

True, they are pretty decent on the MS-3.

digitalscream said:

Megii said:

Thanks @digitalscream - it's a very positive thing for me that Line 6 is committed to firmware updates and adding new models/effects etc. Re being an effects only Helix owner - I guess I would be at first, and maybe for a while, but I do like the idea that I would have the capability to leap into the modern world of going straight into the PA and FRFR and all that if I want to, that could easily happen in my case. But your thoughts on possible future Helix family products are interesting and appreciated, cheers!

For what it's worth, I've gigged the Helix LT both FRFR + direct and through a Rocktron Velocity 120 power amp and Matrix NL212 guitar cab.

In terms of sound, the Velocity + cab worked best. FRFR got about 95% there with Ownhammer impulses, but having a FRFR monitor right next to me meant that I could hear myself with more clarity than I ever have at any gig, ever. Of course, there's no reason I couldn't do both...however, I prefer to keep my rig as simple and lightweight as possible.

Thanks @digitalscream - it's worth a fair bit to me to hear about how people actually use the Helix setup-wise, and how that works out, so cheers. I did notice Pete Thorn talking about and using Ownhammer impulses on his Helix demo video, which has to speak highly for those - it's all a world about which I know very little at the moment though. With you on the simple and lightweight rig also - nice if I could carry guitar in gig bag, Helix and some nice portable FRFR speaker in one trip from the car.