Line 6 Helix

Elx

https://dijkmanmuziek.nl/line-6-helix-gitaarprocessor/

delivery time 1-5 days, for those of you who must have it now..

mellowsun

Is it just me or do all the Line 6 demos of the Helix have some subtle ping-pong delay going on? It sounds nice and fills out the sound, but I wonder what the raw amp sims sound like.

Cabicular

This won't help but it's the first thing I've recorded with the Helix
I like the tones I'm getting from it so far

https://www.dropbox.com/s/reozfbank94xlmx/PrayPray.mp3?dl=0

matt1973

Well. My order has just gone for a Helix and word has it that they're not too far off these shores now. Look forward to partaking in this thread.

fretmeister

Cabicular said:

This won't help but it's the first thing I've recorded with the Helix
I like the tones I'm getting from it so far

https://www.dropbox.com/s/reozfbank94xlmx/PrayPray.mp3?dl=0

That sounds pretty good to me!

Did you do the bass with it as well?

stickyfiddle

Sounds good @cabicular. ;

I'm getting very very tempted right now. Given I live in a flat and never get time to play in daylight hours a Helix could be perfect...

Cabicular

And the vocals (roughs only for just now) Although I am putting it via a focusrite scarlett interface as there is an issue with it as an audio interface with Logic at the moment

handsomerik

Word on the street is that most UK pre-orders should be able to ship within the next 2 weeks. Can't wait to try it out. I ordered it on the 2nd December.

Further to my previous concerns about the rather poor 1 year warranty i've been informed that in Europe the warranty is actually 2 years which is much more reassuring for a device at this premium price point. 

uncletrev

I ordered mine at the end of October - hopefully more than 1 unit makes it through customs

My initial excitement levels dropped off after the third time the date got pushed back, but the nearer to the end of january it gets, the more i'm looking forward to it!

Moltisanti

i ordered my FX8 this week, it will be here on Monday

(sorry....i couldn't resist) 

Cabicular

I have both
I prefer the Helix ... (Sorry)

uncletrev

When the units start trickling through, I'd be interested to know how people are using their helices(?) - what amps/set ups are people using etc....  I've got an H&K Trilogy, an Emery Superbaby and am considering going down the FRFR route, depending how it goes...

guitargeek62

FRFR for me, though I still haven't gotten around to trying to record anything yet.

sweepy

I use a pair f active wedge monitors with mine, seems to do the job nicely, although I'd use a third as a monitor

Cabicular

I bought an Atomic reactor from here for cheap cheap and I use it as the monitor
I take the outs straight into the PA
For rehearsal I put it into the Fx loops of the JCMs
I had two paths one without cabinet sims for the amps but they almost always sound better with the cab sims on
I use the Fx 8 into my FriedMan using 4 cm and the Amps excellent distortion. But it's just too much gear and hassle compared to the Helix and for little to no reward
Don't get me wrong Moltisanti the FX8 is a great unit
It's much less intuitive to edit (without the PC editor its borderline unworkable) and things like assigning expression pedals to parameters are far more difficult than they should be ( more because of the amount of paramaters available than because it's hard to do)

Also both units suffer from poor factory presets but I spent 10 bucks on Glen Delaunys Helix preset pack and it is a great basis to work from
I was up and running within half an hour of doing that
Line 6 really should pay him to do the factory stuff

Moltisanti

@Cabicular - I have not played the FX8 yet so i don't know if it will stay or not, that's the beauty of the 30 day return policy, I get to really test it out and see if it's worth the money.

To be fair the AX8 is a fairer comparison to the Helix as it has amp modelling, i'd like to be in the room for a side by side comparison.

I agree that Line 6 has nailed the interface and it looks way slicker than the FX8 - however if one sounds better than the other then the interface is neither here nor there.

hywelg

Anyone near to Nottingham and would be prepared to bring it along to this?

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/65404/nottingham-amp-demo-day-3-saturday-13th-february#latest

Cabicular

Moltisanti;928057" said:

@Cabicular - I have not played the FX8 yet so i don't know if it will stay or not, that's the beauty of the 30 day return policy, I get to really test it out and see if it's worth the money.

To be fair the AX8 is a fairer comparison to the Helix as it has amp modelling, i'd like to be in the room for a side by side comparison.

I agree that Line 6 has nailed the interface and it looks way slicker than the FX8 - however if one sounds better than the other then the interface is neither here nor there.

There isn't much in it in terms of sounds it just depends on your use case
The Helix has teething problems as well
I've personally filed a couple of bugs that have been verified and I haven't had it long

rossyamaha

@uncletrev where have you ordered it from?

Moltisanti

i had an Axe FX Ultra back in 2010 and while it was great I prefer a real amp as the core of my tone, hence the FX8 ticking all the boxes for me