Line 6 Helix

Cabicular

gearaddict said:

Well my LT turned up yesterday - first thing I did was go to a new patch and add in the Cali Rectifire model on it's own...compared to the HD500X it just sounds way more like a real amp. No comparison really. It makes me wonder how others manage to make them sound so similar.

Slightly unsure as to how many models I would actually use...flicking through the models (without any other fx, eq etc) there were probably only a handful that sounded 'real' to me. It felt a bit like doing the same thing on the Pod...a lot of the models sound kind of nasal or muffled or processed. Just not open and real-sounding. But maybe that is how the actual amps sound...I don't really know.

Chucking in some delay and reverb produces some really great sounds...the fx just seem to sit really well with the amps in a way they don't really on the Pod. I can see how you can get some really awesome tones out of this thing.

I need to RTFM...it's not super intuitive...took me a while to figure out how to do the basics and it feels like I have a bit of a learning curve in front of me.

I'm a little unsure atm...bit of buyers remorse probably and I'm not fully committed to modelling so I always have a voice in my head telling me to go back to amp and pedals so part of me isn't sure if this is for me and it's quite a lot of dosh for something you're not sure about.

It's ok
seems to be a fairly standard bit of the process
start really playing about with it 
what is your amplification?

gearaddict

Atm I'm going into the fx return of an orange TH 30.

Cabicular

gearaddict said:

Atm I'm going into the fx return of an orange TH 30.

So cab emulations off
hi lo eq cut at the end of the chain of 4.5-6K depending not taste?

gearaddict

Cabicular said:

gearaddict said:

Atm I'm going into the fx return of an orange TH 30.

So cab emulations off
hi lo eq cut at the end of the chain of 4.5-6K depending not taste?

Cab emulations off, yes. not messed with the eq yet. Upgraded to the latest firmware. Was 2.12.2, now 2.21.

Cabicular

gearaddict said:

Cabicular said:

gearaddict said:

Atm I'm going into the fx return of an orange TH 30.

So cab emulations off
hi lo eq cut at the end of the chain of 4.5-6K depending not taste?

Cab emulations off, yes. not messed with the eq yet. Upgraded to the latest firmware. Was 2.12.2, now 2.21.

Definitely do the high cut
otherwise it will sound fizzy as hell

Musicman20

Well my new purchase has arrived but I am yet to open it as I am at work.

EDIT - Home earlier than planned. My friend has one of these and has brought it over. He has demo'd it briefly for me, before I have opened mine, and I have to be honest, I think I prefer the sound of my amps and daft amounts of pedals so far.

He loves it.

I don't have any intention to sell any pedals, and I'm still looking at things like the SA Ventris and Boss RV-500. So, I think I've probably jumped into this before the unit went up in price, and actually not thought about how much I'd use it.

I'm contacting the retailer to ask for a return as daft as it sounds. I don't want to open it up, return it partially used when it isn't really for me. I can play on his for another few hours anyway.

I also am finding it too large and heavier than I expected. His Helix is in fantastic shape and feels very high quality, but I'm not sure this is for me.

gearaddict

I haven't had a chance to play again with the Helix after my firmware update...can I just check what people are doing with lo/hi cut? From further back in the thread people were saying they do hi cut as low as ~4K. Is that right? Does it not go up to about 15K? I think I did try dropping it down as low as 4-5K and it sounded very muffled...I'm wondering if we are talking about the same thing.

fretmeister

For guitar use I cut the lows at about 85hz (Lots on the FB group do that at 100hz) and I cut the highs at about 7khz

But it depends what you are plugging into as well. I'm using a DXR10

fretmeister

Musicman20 said:

Well my new purchase has arrived but I am yet to open it as I am at work.

EDIT - Home earlier than planned. My friend has one of these and has brought it over. He has demo'd it briefly for me, before I have opened mine, and I have to be honest, I think I prefer the sound of my amps and daft amounts of pedals so far.

He loves it.

I don't have any intention to sell any pedals, and I'm still looking at things like the SA Ventris and Boss RV-500. So, I think I've probably jumped into this before the unit went up in price, and actually not thought about how much I'd use it.

I'm contacting the retailer to ask for a return as daft as it sounds. I don't want to open it up, return it partially used when it isn't really for me. I can play on his for another few hours anyway.

I also am finding it too large and heavier than I expected. His Helix is in fantastic shape and feels very high quality, but I'm not sure this is for me.

Try it before you send it back.

As with every single preset based bit of kit in the universe - bin the presets and start from scratch.

peteri

For me - I've tried most options, ended up using the Studio Pre-Amp very early in the chain for anything apart from completely clean.

Have quite a strong high-cut on that, seems to work really well.

Using pre-amps for overdrive, not pedals

Now very happy with the sound straight into the front end of an amp - sounds really good. 90% of my G2 set-up and 10% the weight (and maybe 20% the cost)

John_A

@gearadict  yes, I'm using it at around : 

Low cut 120 Hz
High cut 4.5KHz - 5KHz

If it sounds muffled to you then just increase the cut-off until it doesn't, there are no hard and fast rules, but for my ears if I increase the high cut above that it sounds fizzy, especially on dirty sounds, clean sounds less so.

gearaddict

More importantly, why do all multi-fx units have their expression pedal on the wrong side?

I guess I am odd in using my left foot for Wah-ing. If I use my right foot I have to move my guitar slightly over in an uncomfortable and awkward way. What I tend to do is step over to the right a bit so I can use my left foot. But then I have to reach over more to get to the footswitches.

I think they should make units in lefty versions.

Jonathanthomas83

Musicman20 said:

I think I prefer the sound of my amps and daft amounts of pedals so far.

Of course you do. Stands to reason as you know that kit inside out and have set it up to your specific needs and requirements. I don't think you can realistically say the same in regards to the Helix you've experienced, correct me if I'm wrong. As @fretmeister says, to get a good sound that you like with these things, you need to learn about them and spend time with it. 

That said, if you're not willing to try, there's nothing wrong with that either...but I can almost guarantee that the sounds you love about your setup (or a creative variation of) CAN be achieved using a modeller.

John_A

I'd say in most cases, certainly mine, the sounds you can achieve can be bettered with a Helix (other modellers are also available).  

Also, as I've said before  if you are gigging it's about the audience, and getting that consistency that means the audience hears what you want them to hear, and a £2000 amp at the back of a pub mic'd up right next to the drummer means they miss out on how wonderful you think your amp sounds.  The consistency also means if you want the sound of a Plexi at full pelt in your house you can have it.

Just done my first band recordings with the Helix, it took 20% of the time of the last session where I used proper amps, and without a doubt sounds better.

Musicman20

Now I'm wondering whether to just spend this weekend with it as I have to pay the return postage anyway....

Jonathanthomas83

Musicman20 said:

Now I'm wondering whether to just spend this weekend with it as I have to pay the return postage anyway....

I'd argue you'd probably need a week or so if your returns policy allows. Look at @Clarky 's thread, it's taken him a while to get there, albeit he has different needs and expectations. The best thing you can do is to give it a shot and learn about IR's etc and how it all hangs together for your benefit. With a bit of time spent, you can reap the benefits.

gearaddict

I can tell after a few strums that the potential is there with the Helix. It just sounds like a real amp straight away. I'm not worried that I will be able to get the tones I need...I tend to suffer from option paralysis and wanting to feel like I am using the whole potential of the unit. Especially when it costs a fair bit. That will be my challenge!

peteri

I've had my Helix nearly a month.

Just starting to get it to where I'm completely happy - the big pedalboard is still slightly better but only when doing back to back comparisons.

If you can get completely happy in a weekend, you're a better man than I - I nearly returned it after the first weekend, really glad I didn't

Cabicular

peteri said:

I've had my Helix nearly a month.

Just starting to get it to where I'm completely happy - the big pedalboard is still slightly better but only when doing back to back comparisons.

If you can get completely happy in a weekend, you're a better man than I - I nearly returned it after the first weekend, really glad I didn't

It took me a while too
at the beginning I was using it just as an FX board with external drive pedals in the loop
Nowadays as I've got more and more dialled in, its all I take. No amp, straight to PA

John_A

gearaddict said:

I can tell after a few strums that the potential is there with the Helix. It just sounds like a real amp straight away. I'm not worried that I will be able to get the tones I need...I tend to suffer from option paralysis and wanting to feel like I am using the whole potential of the unit. Especially when it costs a fair bit. That will be my challenge!

Don't worry about it.  I currently use two of the amps, and a handful of effects, The fact that you have fee access to all the others when the time comes stops the GAS