Line 6 Helix Sounds Terrible?

Glaw343

Hey everyone, I put a post up recently asking for opinions on what the best multi FX pedal is, quite a few people said the helix, I was able to try the Helix LT as well as the GT1000 and GT100 for a couple of hours in my local music shop through my own headphones which are high quality, the gt1000 sounded great, I wouldn't say it sounded like a valve amp but I would have no problems using one on a gig or for practice, the GT100 sounded pretty good too and for the price it seems like a bit of a steal now, the helix however sounded terrible, I made sure that it was set to 96kHz, I didn't really mess with the global EQ, just went through the patches, they sounded really weak and some were quite gritty/fizzy, needless to say I was really disappointed in the performance of the helix as I'd gone in with the intention of buying one and while I like the sound of the GT1000, not being able to switch to manual/stompbox mode on the fly is a real dealbreaker as well as the helix being much easier to use, what was I doing wrong with the helix? I've heard a lot of talk of the Helix Stock IRs being pretty crap and that it's vastly improved by third party IRs but at £750 it should sound pretty damn good from the get go, my other two options are the headrush and the AX8, anyone have any experience with them?

gearaddict

I found the headphone out pretty nasty on both the HD500X and the Helix...not sure why. But I don't think it is representative of the quality of sounds you get from the units in 'real' applications.

Sporky

I'm not sure that judging any multiFX on the factory presets is a great approach.

Did you not try any tweaking at all? 

John_A

A couple of hours in a shop isn't enough, you need to some some time with it.  Never used mine with headphones, but understand the impedance is important.  The stock cabs are fine too, don't believe everything you read.

that being said, if you can't get a Helix, ax8, headrush, gt1000, Amplifire to sound good, it's not the fault of the hardware 

Teetonetal

The headphone out on helix is awful with my headphones. Very bright and harsh, it requires high impedence like 250 ohm headphones apparently. I run the main outs into a headphone amp and it sounds ace.

Fiftyshadesofjay

Trying out something like the Helix in a shop through headphones using stock presets is a recipe for disaster.

I’d at least get the shop to set it up with a decent monitor and have a bit of a play creating presets for yourself.

But ideally you need a good few days to know if it actually works for you or not.

meltedbuzzbox

I always thought the helix wasn't too bad through headphones. At least with driven amp sounds 

As mentioned the presets are bad, I've found that everything benefits from having the hicut rolled right back to 6 or 8k.

I still don't think it's the second coming that it is often billed as on here and really do feel that a good valve amp still sounds better.
But where it excels for me is as a recording device (after a lot of tweaking).

Beexter

I've had the AX8 for a while now and it's my main gigging rig (through a DXR10). I really like it and think it sounds terrific. It's the most I've ever spent on a single piece of gear and I wasn't able to try it before purchasing. All I had to go on was YouTube and it was between the Helix and AX8 (Helix LT hadn't been released)
I consistently preferred the sounds of the AX8 and wasn't disappointed when it arrived and still love it after owning it for some time.

Having said that, I have recently purchased the Helix HX Effects to use with my regular amp set up and the user interface is absolutely brilliant. The effects sound good and everything is as easy to tweak on the fly as it would be with a "traditional" pedalboard and the form factor is great. Obviously there are no amp models though. I still prefer the effects in the AX8 and the Fractal has greater deep editing possibilities, although I still have to do most editing via the software, unlike the HX Effects. 
If you need a headphone out though, neither the AX8 or HX Effects have one.

simonk

As far as showcase sounds go, the Helix factory presets miss the mark by some margin IMO. Get past the factory presets though, learn how to dial it in and start building your own rigs and it’s a wonderful bit of kit. Personally I don’t go a bundle on the stock cabs, preferring a select few IR’s but there’s no doubt the stock cabs can be made to sound plenty good enough.
I owned a Helix and AX8 at the same time and preferred the Helix (which really surprised me as I adored my FX8) and have now gigged it exclusively for the last year or so.

We did two gigs last Saturday, the first of which was a festival style corporate affair... I got some enviable looks from the band after us as I hopped off stage with just a guitar and Helix, slid the Helix into its backpack and made my way to the next gig as they were loading 100w heads and 4x12’s onto the stage. They all commented how good the guitar sounded out front too.

sweepy

The latest modelling units are so deep and flexible that it’s virtually impossible to get a handle on them in a shop, sure you can assess the interface but not the sounds. I’ve had 2 Helix units an Axe Fx2 and currently own an FX8, all wonderful units that definitely benefit from a fair bit of tinkering. What about ordering one from Thomann, if you don’t like it you can use distance selling regs or bribe someone on here with beer and hobnobs to run through the units with you ?

Glaw343

Sporky said:

I'm not sure that judging any multiFX on the factory presets is a great approach.

Did you not try any tweaking at all? 

yeah I did do a lot of tweaking, it was just really the global eq that I didn't touch much, people on here seem to be saying that the headphone out is not too great or it requires higher impedance headphones to sound decent, might have to give it another go

Glaw343

John_A said:

A couple of hours in a shop isn't enough, you need to some some time with it.  Never used mine with headphones, but understand the impedance is important.  The stock cabs are fine too, don't believe everything you read.

that being said, if you can't get a Helix, ax8, headrush, gt1000, Amplifire to sound good, it's not the fault of the hardware 

Hi John, I'm not saying they are bad, I was just trying to figure out why the helix which gets such great reviews and going by the pete thorn video where he uses third party IRs to get some fantastic guitar sounds was really nowhere near the sound quality of the GT1000. The issue seems to be to do with the impedance of my headphones, I'll have to measure them and see what line 6 specify, didn't even think about that lol 
Edit: also I haven't been able to try the Headrush, AX8 or Atomic Amplifire yet although I've heard good things about all of them, I did manage to get some great sounds out of the GT1000 though and the GT100 so I might just end up going for one of them if the headphones aren't the problem I'm having with the helix, which would be a shame as the interface on the helix is way more user friendly than on either of the boss ones

Glaw343

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Trying out something like the Helix in a shop through headphones using stock presets is a recipe for disaster.

I’d at least get the shop to set it up with a decent monitor and have a bit of a play creating presets for yourself.

But ideally you need a good few days to know if it actually works for you or not.

I normally wouldn't use headphones to try anything like this but it's really important that whatever I get works well with headphones as I'm only really getting one of these boards for ease of use at uni (silent practice and easy to take to jams and rehearsals etc), I also don't want to be lugging my full pedalboard on the train lol my back hurts just thinking about that, I was able to have a fairly in depth tweak of the parameters as it's so easy to use, I was fairly fluid with it in about 20 mins but I just couldn't get it to sound any more than decent for practicing which is strange because I'm usually pretty good at this stuff and I was able to get some great sounds out of both the GT1000 and the older GT100 I wouldn't say either of those would be replacing my amp and pedalboard soon though but I only tried them with headphones so I suppose I haven't given them a proper chance

Glaw343

Teetonetal said:

The headphone out on helix is awful with my headphones. Very bright and harsh, it requires high impedence like 250 ohm headphones apparently. I run the main outs into a headphone amp and it sounds ace.

That pretty much describes the problem I was having, I'll have to check it out, it as a shame as it was the easiest of the three to use by a long shot

Glaw343

gearaddict said:

I found the headphone out pretty nasty on both the HD500X and the Helix...not sure why. But I don't think it is representative of the quality of sounds you get from the units in 'real' applications.

Unfortunately using them with headphones is what I'll be doing most of the time as I can't have an amp for practice in uni accommodation or someone will kill me lol so I'd rather go for something that sounds great with headphones and good into a valve amp/direct to PA than something that sounds rubbish with headphones but great into a valve amp/direct to PA, this is more of a practice/rehearsal thing than for recording etc, I have my usual pedalboard for that but it weighs a ton so sod carting that on the train haha

revsorg

@Glaw343 have you read this? https://line6.com/support/topic/26959-the-mother-of-all-headphone-complaint-answers/

Glaw343

revsorg said:

@Glaw343 have you read this? https://line6.com/support/topic/26959-the-mother-of-all-headphone-complaint-answers/

will check it out, cheers

TTBZ

I've had some issues getting to grips with Helix. My first try of it was the factory presets trough headphones on a Yamaha trade stand, so you'd think they would have paired it with something that suits. My experience was much like yours but I didn't spend too much time tweaking it. My next attempts with it were the Native trial so I had 2 weeks of tweaking it at home. At one point I got some tones I thought were brilliant (using IRs instead of the included cabs) and really considered getting an LT. It was only when I compared it to free software and amplitube that I thought it fell a bit flat and didn't seem like something I'd pay that much money for.

Maybe it's just because I know Amplitube a bit better but I found I was able to get tones I'm happier with much easier, and without the need for 3rd party IRs. And imo it should just be a case of setting the amp, setting the cab and getting a good core base sound - I don't want to have to work around any quirks and use any tricks with EQ blocks, splitting paths etc to get tones I like.

thumpingrug

This does raise the issue of why manufacturers create presets that are universally regarded as crap at demonstrating their products.  Surely the point should be for someone to have a quick blast with some recognisable sounds in a store environment and come away impressed enough to want to part with cash.  Why are preset not make to get the best out of the gear?

siremoon

If everyone judged Helix by the presets they would not have sold very many, even the product manager has said more than once that they "suck".  I do a lot of my practice and prep work at home through headphones and it sounds great to me.  But then again I'm not using the stock presets ...

sgosden

I didn't get on with any of the presets. But then I have also never downloaded someone elses patch off custom tone that I have either (bar a couple of Jason Sadites, but they still needed a bit of tweaking).