Line 6 Helix

guitarfishbay · January 2018

I don’t understand the headphones thing unless there’s something to do with the onboard amp I’m not aware of.

I’ve got an Axe FX 2 and the Helix Native plug-in, when it comes to speakers vs headphones there’s no appreciable difference in their respective performances with each delivery medium, if that sentence makes sense.

menamestom · January 2018

I’m guessing some of the headphone issues are due to using lower impedance consumer types. The Helix works best with higher impedance studio headphones. Furthermore like a real amp things sound better with a little distance from the sound source. Adding a bit of room reverb I find can improve headphone sounds.
Also with the helix rolling off higher frequencies, say above 6khz makes things sound better, certainly if you just plug in consumer headphones and none if the above it wont sound amazing. A bit of tweaking it can.

Teetonetal · January 2018

guitarfishbay said:

I don’t understand the headphones thing unless there’s something to do with the onboard amp I’m not aware of.

I’ve got an Axe FX 2 and the Helix Native plug-in, when it comes to speakers vs headphones there’s no appreciable difference in their respective performances with each delivery medium, if that sentence makes sense.

I haven't tried onboard headphone out since I got it. I run the main outs into a dedicated headphone amp. It sounded better and I didnt like the lead going down to the floor.

I found the dedicated output very agressive and harsh. It hated my headphoes but others say it's fine. Might be better has FW goes on.

duotone · January 2018

TTBZ said:

Despite my earlier criticisms from a quick play on a Helix rack through headphones, I've been looking at trying an LT again. Looks like my band is nearing it's end due to lack of progress and commitment etc so I'm looking into something I can play quietly at home ideally through monitors or headphones - seem to recall people saying it doesn't sound as good through phones though, or does it just need tweaking differently?

I must say I like what I've heard tone-wise from the AX8 more, but the price of the LT is too good and gets too much praise to be ignored.

Use my LT 90% of the time for headphone practice with an old pair of comfortable Sennheiser (HD590) headphones & I’m happy with the sound. Definitely give the LT a try & bring your own headphones to the store to try it, I’m sure they won’t mind if your dropping £680ish on the unit.

Good luck!

TTBZ · January 2018

Cheers guys I've been doing my research and with external IRs it sounds really bloody good to be fair. The Glenn Delaune patches in particular pretty much nail the tones he's emulating. I've got my Mackie MR5s I can run it through at home as well so not just limited to headphones.

I guess my first step is trying the Helix native demo with some external IR's and seeing how I get on with that.

Sporky · January 2018

Don't discount the inbuilt cabs without trying them. There are a lot of people using IRs and insisting that if you don't the world will end, but there are an awful lot of people using the onboard stuff with great results.

Teetonetal · January 2018

Cabs all the way for me. IR just a faff.

Cabicular · January 2018

Double wizd
3rd Party IRs are good if you are looking for a specific sound but there is a lot to be said about the flexibility of the onboard cabs
changing mics can make a massive difference
use the hands free floor control to change the parameters while you play

simonk · January 2018

Teetonetal said:

Cabs all the way for me. IR just a faff.

I find the opposite; getting the cabs to sound right requires effort. A well chosen IR works straight away.

Sporky · January 2018

I'm not knocking IRs, but there seem to be a lot of people going into Helix ownership thinking the inbuilt cabs aren't worth trying.

TTBZ · January 2018

Yeah a lot of the reviews/comments on forums etc seem to criticise the cabs which is why I thought that, I'll give it a go without then! Any advice on best amps/cabs to try first for getting a straightforward, thick marshally rock tone?

Teetonetal · January 2018

Sporky said:

I'm not knocking IRs, but there seem to be a lot of people going into Helix ownership thinking the inbuilt cabs aren't worth trying.

Yup. Which is why I like to shout abut cabs working for me. It took me a little whike to get it right but now I just copy the sEttington from patch to patch.

If IRs work for you then of course that's cool too but it's not the only way with helix.

Teetonetal · January 2018

simonk said:

Teetonetal said:

Cabs all the way for me. IR just a faff.

I find the opposite; getting the cabs to sound right requires effort. A well chosen IR works straight away.

Right tools for the right person. I'm glad helix does both.

meltedbuzzbox · January 2018

I personally always use cabs (usually 2).
And I find I have to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone (or both) or it sounds a bit dull and lifeless.

Teetonetal · January 2018

meltedbuzzbox said:

I personally always use cabs (usually 2).
And I find I have to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone (or both) or it sounds a bit dull and lifeless.

Lots of wisdom there.

John_A · January 2018

I've tried both and I'm sticking with the inbuilt cabs. If you know what sort of sound you're looking for you can get there with a bit of tweaking, they sound excellent. IRs are a bit like 'presets'. Instant gratification, but better IMO, to build from scratch, it's really not that much effort.

meltedbuzzbox · January 2018

Teetonetal said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

I personally always use cabs (usually 2).
And I find I have to use a condenser or a ribbon microphone (or both) or it sounds a bit dull and lifeless.

Lots of wisdom there.

To be fair it's the advice you gave me and I think you were totally spot on mate.

Teetonetal · January 2018

TTBZ said:

Yeah a lot of the reviews/comments on forums etc seem to criticise the cabs which is why I thought that, I'll give it a go without then! Any advice on best amps/cabs to try first for getting a straightforward, thick marshally rock tone?

Place to start is with speakers you know get you the sound you want. now I think (even with IRs) that modellers require a bit of help to sound lively,

I find cab models and Ir's a bit flat. I like to split the path post amp, add in two cab/speaker types that go well together, use two different mike types and then merge the path before hitting post fx. At that point I sum to mono. I think this gives you a greater range of frequency response. You can then add an eq block to tailor further (I don't). Another trick with this is that on 1 cab, set the mic distance to around a foot. Then add in room reverb, quite low mix on that cab before the path merge.

My ears prefer the above vs having a single cab or using a dual cab block. I also prefer it to blending two IRs. You just have more control and more options. I had to play around with the cab / speaker types a bit, but I always got better results with that method.

I didn't like IRs. I felt like it was jumping from one preset to another and I was constantly looking for something in-between. Your ears may vary

guitarfishbay · January 2018

IRs for me. Always one IR with a mono guitar sound, never stereo panned/delayed (unless it’s post amp FX).

Its easy enough to use either IRs or the cab block, but the stock cabs don’t cover the sounds I want and the IRs I have sound the way I’d expect from having owned the same or similar cabs and mics.

I only use cab sims for recording. I’ve not mic’d a cab in a long time now, IRs sound so close to the real thing that the tech isn’t the weak link in getting a guitar sound, and the other benefits massively outweigh micing a cab for me.

Cab block, IRs, either is a much more practical solution for direct guitar tones for most people these days.

TTBZ · January 2018

Cheers guys looking forward to trying the demo out now! My interface is an old Edirol UA25EX so hopefully I will still be able to get the best out of it with that.

Having seen Pete Thorns demos of the Celestion IRs I'm pretty sure I'll never mic up an amp at home again, I can't tell the difference.

Edit - got helix native running. Only had a quick play but it's better than any modeling software I've tried so far! Not had a chance to give it a proper run but first impressions are good through my monitors.

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