Sold my Helix

John_A

Well, just sold my helix rack, and miss it already. . Going to replace it with one of the following, what are your thoughts

Another helix
AX8
FM3

Beexter

@John_A , I have got an AX8 for sale if you decide to go down that route.....
As well as the AX8,  I also have an HX Stomp- in comparing Fractal to Helix based purely on my personal opinion with the above 2 products, the Fractal does sound better - hard to put my finger on it but it just sounds more polished and the number of amps modelled is massively bigger than with Helix with much greater control over parameters. The extra footswitches on the AX8 also offer a greater degree of control without requiring extra footswitches like with the Stomp, or FM3 for that matter.

Helix user interface is class leading though and it does sound good....decisions, decisions...

Cirrus

Well, if you do decide you miss the rack Helix, don't forget your erstwhile friend, Cirrus, who has one under the bed waiting for you. 

WiresDreamDisasters

Why did you sell it??

I did the same thing. Ended up buying a used Helix Floor a few months after selling it!!! Doh!

duotone

Another helix - Try something else, if the Helix wasn’t 100% doing what you wanted. 

AX8 - I don’t know much about these, only that they are 5 years old now. Are they still supported by Fractal with updates?

FM3 - I am on the waiting list for one of these. But will probably drop out since learning that you can’t set them up to do dual amps. Although I believe you can do dual cabs.

Kemper? or wait until the Quad Cortex becomes readily available, then decide?

Wazmeister

FM3 is really really good.

John_A

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Why did you sell it??

I did the same thing. Ended up buying a used Helix Floor a few months after selling it!!! Doh!

It’s sat and hardly been used for a year.  It was mainly used for gigs, and Native, S-gear, etc plus a few real amps are what I normally use at home

John_A

duotone said:

Another helix - Try something else, if the Helix wasn’t 100% doing what you wanted. 

AX8 - I don’t know much about these, only that they are 5 years old now. Are they still supported by Fractal with updates?

FM3 - I am on the waiting list for one of these. But will probably drop out since learning that you can’t set them up to do dual amps. Although I believe you can do dual cabs.

Kemper? or wait until the Quad Cortex becomes readily available, then decide?

Helix absolutely did what I wanted, but thinking maybe try something for a change

kennedydream1980

What about a Suhr reactive load IR to use with your real amps? It’s the best ‘direct’ solution for me. It just sounds and feels better than all the modellers I’ve tried. 

John_A

kennedydream1980 said:

What about a Suhr reactive load IR to use with your real amps? It’s the best ‘direct’ solution for me. It just sounds and feels better than all the modellers I’ve tried. 

It's mainly for when I start gigging again, never going back to real amps for that

FarleyUK

Kemper or the FM3 I'd say.

WiresDreamDisasters

John_A said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Why did you sell it??

I did the same thing. Ended up buying a used Helix Floor a few months after selling it!!! Doh!

It’s sat and hardly been used for a year.  It was mainly used for gigs, and Native, S-gear, etc plus a few real amps are what I normally use at home

If there was nothing functionality-wise that made you sell it, then I'd say get another Helix.

John_A

WiresDreamDisasters said:

John_A said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Why did you sell it??

I did the same thing. Ended up buying a used Helix Floor a few months after selling it!!! Doh!

It’s sat and hardly been used for a year.  It was mainly used for gigs, and Native, S-gear, etc plus a few real amps are what I normally use at home

If there was nothing functionality-wise that made you sell it, then I'd say get another Helix.

Good advice I'd say!  I like the sounds too

octatonic

I actually need a smallish, portable amp sim device.
I'm probably doing the FM3.

Teetonetal

John_A said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

John_A said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Why did you sell it??

I did the same thing. Ended up buying a used Helix Floor a few months after selling it!!! Doh!

It’s sat and hardly been used for a year.  It was mainly used for gigs, and Native, S-gear, etc plus a few real amps are what I normally use at home

If there was nothing functionality-wise that made you sell it, then I'd say get another Helix.

Good advice I'd say!  I like the sounds too

Can you nail down why you sold the helix? Was there anything nagging at you going, this could be better, I don't like that?

If it was purely change for change's sake, then you probably shouldn't have sold it - but why not try something else first, to put the mind at rest?

John_A

Teetonetal said:

John_A said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

John_A said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Why did you sell it??

I did the same thing. Ended up buying a used Helix Floor a few months after selling it!!! Doh!

It’s sat and hardly been used for a year.  It was mainly used for gigs, and Native, S-gear, etc plus a few real amps are what I normally use at home

If there was nothing functionality-wise that made you sell it, then I'd say get another Helix.

Good advice I'd say!  I like the sounds too

Can you nail down why you sold the helix? Was there anything nagging at you going, this could be better, I don't like that?

If it was purely change for change's sake, then you probably shouldn't have sold it - but why not try something else first, to put the mind at rest?

As I said.  Sold it simply because it was sat there doing nothing as I was really only using it for gigs.  I have other options for recording and playing at home.

Same as everyone, I wonder if Fractal/Quad Cortex might sound better, but to be honest I have no gripes with how the Helix sounds, love the updates and the lifespan of it where Fractal seem to make things obsolete after a few years, and QC is very much an unknown at this point.

Functionally the Helix is/was brilliant, does everything I need in one box

Beexter

John_A 

Same as everyone, I wonder if Fractal/Quad Cortex might sound better, but to be honest I have no gripes with how the Helix sounds, love the updates and the lifespan of it where Fractal seem to make things obsolete after a few years, and QC is very much an unknown at this point.

Functionally the Helix is/was brilliant, does everything I need in one box

I think the Fractal models do sound better based on my personal experience and offer a greater degree of control but the only way you can decide is to try it yourself as everyone's opinion will differ.
As for Fractal obsolescence,  it's not like the units stop working or suddenly sound awful and it's not exclusive to Fractal. I still use a Pod 2 from time to time ....I also bought my AX8 after Helix was already out. I bought it because of the reasons above, along with the fact that it modelled way more amps including many I wanted to try. All of those things still hold true. That's not to say Helix sounds bad - it doesn't,  it sounds great and the UI is second to none.
Ultimately,  the only way to know if the grass is greener is to try. I've done it so often with pedals with mixed outcomes- sometimes it is,  sometimes it isn't but at least I've cured my curiosity.

kennedydream1980

John_A said:

kennedydream1980 said:

What about a Suhr reactive load IR to use with your real amps? It’s the best ‘direct’ solution for me. It just sounds and feels better than all the modellers I’ve tried. 

It's mainly for when I start gigging again, never going back to real amps for that

Ahh right okay. For what it’s worth then out of all the modellers I’ve owned (Kemper, Helix, Boss GT-1000, Atomic Amplifire, Fractal AX8) the FM3 sounded the best and had the best feel. Plus it would appear Fractal are right behind the product, so the updates are coming thick and fast. 

John_A

kennedydream1980 said:

John_A said:

kennedydream1980 said:

What about a Suhr reactive load IR to use with your real amps? It’s the best ‘direct’ solution for me. It just sounds and feels better than all the modellers I’ve tried. 

It's mainly for when I start gigging again, never going back to real amps for that

Ahh right okay. For what it’s worth then out of all the modellers I’ve owned (Kemper, Helix, Boss GT-1000, Atomic Amplifire, Fractal AX8) the FM3 sounded the best and had the best feel. Plus it would appear Fractal are right behind the product, so the updates are coming thick and fast. 

Tempting.  Main thing putting me off is the price, FM3 + FC6 (essential for live use UMO) is close to £1800, or double. used Helix, would hate to spend that to find I would have been happy with another Helix.

How do returns work post-Brexit?

TTBZ

If it was me I'd probably be tempted to wait and see how the Neural QC goes and if any issues crop up with it. I still haven't heard any truly great sounding demos from it yet either. It sounds good but nothing I haven't got out of Helix or heard from Fractal. The FM3 seems alright but pretty limited in DSP and flexibility from what I've read about it?

I love the Helix workflow, tones and community/support so it would be really hard to move away from that. And the Helix Rack + floor controller integration and form factor seem the best to me. I don't currently own any HX products but keep coming back to it. Will probably dip my toe in again with another HX Stomp at some point but the rack is what I really want.

John_A

TTBZ said:

If it was me I'd probably be tempted to wait and see how the Neural QC goes and if any issues crop up with it. I still haven't heard any truly great sounding demos from it yet either. It sounds good but nothing I haven't got out of Helix or heard from Fractal. The FM3 seems alright but pretty limited in DSP and flexibility from what I've read about it?

I love the Helix workflow, tones and community/support so it would be really hard to move away from that. And the Helix Rack + floor controller integration and form factor seem the best to me. I don't currently own any HX products but keep coming back to it. Will probably dip my toe in again with another HX Stomp at some point but the rack is what I really want.

I had the floor, sold it and bought the rack.  If I get another it'll be the floor model, much better IMO for little gigs, just that and a little wedge 

The way Neural have dealt with things so far, it'll take a lot for me to have faith that they'll support the QC long-term
FM3 is. lot of money for what it is, and for me I don't think it can sound that much better than Helix, but I'd be happy if it did.  Does the limited processing power really limit the FX you can use?