Line 6 Helix

[gtr31]

This is a new 18 G3 axe recto .I think it is one of the best tight recto recorded tone I have heard .I would like to see it do something comparable but I am not holding my breath …

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii ... ample.html

Line 6 strength will be the GUI and the ability to get product into the hands of buyers fast

 

[NoiseUnderTheFloor]

This is a new 18 G3 axe recto .I think it is one of the best tight recto recorded tone I have heard .I would like to see it do something comparable but I am not holding my breath …

http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii ... ample.html

Line 6 strength will be the GUI and the ability to get product into the hands of buyers fast

From what I've seen, their biggest strength is their marketing department and all the hype they generate whenever they put a new product out. Those guys could sell ice cubes to Eskimos with the way they hype shit up. Maybe that's why their product manager's online handle is Digital Igloo When the Amplifi came out there was all this lead up and step by step product reveal with tag lines like "Line 6 changes the amplifier world again" and "Unlike any amplifier you've ever heard" and "The new gold standard for innovation and features in an amp" Then it turns out to basically be just some Bluetooth enabled home stereo speaker bullshit running old XT generation tones that you could control with a tablet or cell phone. That's what they consider the "new gold standard" in guitar amplifier innovation? Good f'ing grief.

 

[DADA]

And the other strength is product design.
Man does this thing looks slick!

Bring us the A/B guys!
We want sounds vs sounds! And dynamics vs dynamics.

And what a wounderfull kick in some modeling companies balls.

I smell some Snax III burning at higher temperatures. And see who will copy this UI.

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

From what I've seen, their biggest strength is their marketing department and all the hype they generate whenever they put a new product out. Those guys could sell ice cubes to Eskimos with the way they hype shit up.

Agreed. I remember reading through the owners manual and amp descriptions when I got the POD 2.0 and thinking "this will be the ultimate recording solution." Then I plugged into it.

That being said, I've got an HD300 and it sounds pretty good with IRs. I found the 2.0 and X3 to be much more intuitive but overall it's worth the little I paid for it.

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

Had the POD HD Pro for a few days. Thing sounded all sizzly and shit. It's tough owning one of these when you have a tube amp. If you don't have a tube amp, you'd probably not notice any difference.

So this basically has the same as the HD series in a different box. I haven't really looked at the thing in depth and it's impossible to tell how something sounds unless your sitting with it.

 

[Chris O]

So much trepidation already...and it hasn't been released that anyone has heard yet... I love it. Like a silent dog whistle.

 

[messenger]

I think the biggest issue with Line6 stuff is the learning curve and how much programming you have to do to get it to sound decent. Some people obviously get GREAT tones IMO from L6 gear. If they could make those tones easier to obtain without jumping through hoops I think a lot of the nay sayers might change their mind

 

[gtr31]

I think the biggest issue with Line6 stuff is the learning curve and how much programming you have to do to get it to sound decent. Some people obviously get GREAT tones IMO from L6 gear. If they could make those tones easier to obtain without jumping through hoops I think a lot of the nay sayers might change their mind

I think thats the attempt here . simplified editing on one screen .Question to me is the tones .$1500 is a high price tag ,it has to get into Kemper /Fractal territory to be worth that coin to me
The Sweetwater demo looked cool and while the cleans and Plexi seemed to add more depth than an HD500 .I have heard way way better Fractal tones.

For my cash I need to see a dry amp demo running through the Rectos ,J800 ,Uber Twins ,/13 etc

 

[NoiseUnderTheFloor]

I think the biggest issue with Line6 stuff is the learning curve and how much programming you have to do to get it to sound decent. Some people obviously get GREAT tones IMO from L6 gear. If they could make those tones easier to obtain without jumping through hoops I think a lot of the nay sayers might change their mind

I think thats the attempt here . simplified editing on one screen .Question to me is the tones .$1500 is a high price tag ,it has to get into Kemper /Fractal territory to be worth that coin to me
The Sweetwater demo looked cool and while the cleans and Plexi seemed to add more depth than an HD500 .I have heard way way better Fractal tones.

For my cash I need to see a dry amp demo running through the Rectos ,J800 ,Uber Twins ,/13 etc

If it were made in the US, Japan, or Europe, I might be slightly more receptive to that price tag...only slightly. $1500 for another made in China Line 6 though is almost laughable, at least to me. Like you said, that's entering Kemper/Fractal territory at that point. I'd have a hard time spending even $1000 on one of their products at this point. It was hard enough to give 'em $500 for the M13 and HD500. Remember when the Vetta II was their top, flagship product for a hot minute, sold for around that same price range IIRC. Now you can pick them up for $400, and that's if they're even fully functioning. Digital boat anchors at this point.

 

[yankeebulldog]

I wonder since Yamaha bought Line6 if this unit is using the same type of modeling that was used on the THR line of amps. Those amps sounded so much better than the Line6 modeling. Love to hear this in person. This might actually be a real nice piece for the $$

I'm curious about the THR line myself. A bigger/more elaborate version of the THR10x in a small combo loud enough for rehearsal or small gigs would be ideal. The tone and ability to program it are better than anything in that price range. Although the Helix looks easy to program, I don't like the price or the large footprint. Assuming the Fractal Ax-8 is going to be at or around 2k, I think the smaller size, and bigger feature set will sink this quick if they can keep up with demand.

 

[PBGas]

Disappointing news. I had thought they were putting all kinds of newness into it as far as models go. Oh well. Either way, I'm not interested in any hardware modelling "computers" at this point. I use the Friedman UAD stuff and Bias for that if I need that.

Either way, after owning a few Kemper units over the years, I'm much happier with my current setup. It works for me and I enjoy writing new music with it. For what they are, they are very convenient and they sound great in a mix.

 

[gtr31]

I wonder since Yamaha bought Line6 if this unit is using the same type of modeling that was used on the THR line of amps. Those amps sounded so much better than the Line6 modeling. Love to hear this in person. This might actually be a real nice piece for the $$

I'm curious about the THR line myself. A bigger/more elaborate version of the THR10x in a small combo loud enough for rehearsal or small gigs would be ideal. The tone and ability to program it are better than anything in that price range. Although the Helix looks easy to program, I don't like the price or the large footprint. Assuming the Fractal Ax-8 is going to be at or around 2k, I think the smaller size, and bigger feature set will sink this quick if they can keep up with demand.

I agree .I said on another forum I think Cliff knew about Helix maybe not all particular or street price but i believe he showed the AX8 earlier than intended to make people think.

This will be a pretty good battle if the L6 competes tone wise .I would think FAS will be a few hundred higher like 1650-1700 range . The biggest problem FAS will have is getting the product into the hands of buyers waving the VISA .If they have a plan to stock heavy and pretty much eliminate the 6 month wait list .It will be intresting Fall

 

[Digital_Igloo]

It is the same models that are in the POD HD.

Not even close to true. Helix has an entirely new from-the-ground-up dual-DSP architecture that reuses zero code from POD. It's an entirely new product line with an entirely new engine.

Our amp museum is filled with vintage and modern amps that are table-stakes; that is, pitchforks would fly if we didn't include them. It'd be stupid for us to not take the amps we actually own/maintain and model them from scratch in HX.

If you insist that a Friedman sounds better than a Marshall or that the only way to get a real Rectifier sound is with a Randall Satan, visit http://line6.ideascale.com and vote it up. We're far from finished with Helix.

 

[messenger]

I think the biggest issue with Line6 stuff is the learning curve and how much programming you have to do to get it to sound decent. Some people obviously get GREAT tones IMO from L6 gear. If they could make those tones easier to obtain without jumping through hoops I think a lot of the nay sayers might change their mind

I think thats the attempt here . simplified editing on one screen .Question to me is the tones .$1500 is a high price tag ,it has to get into Kemper /Fractal territory to be worth that coin to me
The Sweetwater demo looked cool and while the cleans and Plexi seemed to add more depth than an HD500 .I have heard way way better Fractal tones.

For my cash I need to see a dry amp demo running through the Rectos ,J800 ,Uber Twins ,/13 etc

If it were made in the US, Japan, or Europe, I might be slightly more receptive to that price tag...only slightly. $1500 for another made in China Line 6 though is almost laughable, at least to me. Like you said, that's entering Kemper/Fractal territory at that point. I'd have a hard time spending even $1000 on one of their products at this point. It was hard enough to give 'em $500 for the M13 and HD500. Remember when the Vetta II was their top, flagship product for a hot minute, sold for around that same price range IIRC. Now you can pick them up for $400, and that's if they're even fully functioning. Digital boat anchors at this point.

If it was made in USA, Europe or Japan it would probably $2500

 

[Shask]

It is the same models that are in the POD HD.

Not even close to true. Helix has an entirely new from-the-ground-up dual-DSP architecture that reuses zero code from POD. It's an entirely new product line with an entirely new engine.

Our amp museum is filled with vintage and modern amps that are table-stakes; that is, pitchforks would fly if we didn't include them. It'd be stupid for us to not take the amps we actually own/maintain and model them from scratch in HX.

If you insist that a Friedman sounds better than a Marshall or that the only way to get a real Rectifier sound is with a Randall Satan, visit http://line6.ideascale.com and vote it up. We're far from finished with Helix.

I meant the same amp models, not the actual code.

I always felt limited with high gain on the HD500. More high gain models are always welcome, and metal players in general are usually very open to modeling. Having more high gain variety would certainly be a good thing

 

[Elric]

If only one of these modeling platforms would nail the Mark series sounds. Then I would be very happy.

AxeFx 2, srs. It crushes the Mark stuff and Mesa sounds in general.

Agree this L6 thing looks super cool. Design is gorgeous and the features are awesome. The amp selection is decent but agree with shask that it looks anemic in some areas.

 

[CaseyCor]

If only one of these modeling platforms would nail the Mark series sounds. Then I would be very happy.

AxeFx 2, srs. It crushes the Mark stuff and Mesa sounds in general.

Agree this L6 thing looks super cool. Design is gorgeous and the features are awesome. The amp selection is decent but agree with shask that it looks anemic in some areas.

Clips please

 

[tarices22]

I meant the same amp models, not the actual code.

I always felt limited with high gain on the HD500. More high gain models are always welcome, and metal players in general are usually very open to modeling. Having more high gain variety would certainly be a good thing

Agree with this comment. The amp models on the Helix seem like by far the biggest shortcoming of the Helix versus the Kemper or Axe (or even something like Bias). I think a lot of folks are attracted to the idea of having access to a seemingly endless list of boutique (and particularly high gain) amp sounds. Would love to see the evolution of the product & software include lots more amp models and/or an amp matching feature. Seems like the line 6 ideascale page agrees

 

[stephen sawall]

Looking forward to checking it out.

 

[jrh_67]

Personally I got sick of giving line6 my money and being let down. I've got an hd500 I use as a foot controller for an AXe Fx II now and it works pretty good for that at least...lol.

For that price I would look to spend a few bucks more and get an Axe or Kemper!

just my .02