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Amp model quality?


mountain2012
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how do they compare to the Axe FX or Kemper?  Is this something that is in the same league or is it a step down?

 

How do you even measure what a "step down" is when you're talking this sort of stuff? Having played through the Helix, the amp models feel and react very much like a real amp to me. I'm sure there will always be differences of opinions on products, though. Personally, I've never heard a clip from the Axe FX or Kemper that blew me away as something magical, but that's just me.

 

One quantitative difference between the Kemper and the Helix is that the Kemper is not a modeler. It's a profiler that takes a snapshot of an amp under a certain condition, miced a certain way. I know that profiles can be edited to a certain degree after the fact, but it's not the same thing as having a modeled tone stack and other parameters. So in that respect, the Kemper is a different category altogether.

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how do they compare to the Axe FX or Kemper?  Is this something that is in the same league or is it a step down?

 

That's the $64,000 question and probably the biggest reason the TGP Helix thread is 344+ pages long.  The Line 6 guys have said numerous times that their concern was more about how the new models compare to the actual amps and not to the competition.

 

The demos I've heard are outstanding BTW.

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The main thing I notice in those Axe firmware comparisons is that the excerpt from the Quantum firmware is about a dB or so louder.

 

The average person is not going to hear that as a volume difference, but will instead feel it subconsciously as an undefinable improvement in quality. Regardless of what else if anything changed on the specific amp models tested, loudness is an essential variable to control for, to avoid completely throwing off the comparison.

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This has a couple of early patches with minimal FX.

Paul get get a lot of dynamics out of a guitar but that aside the quality of the amps are

unmistakably there

Heck yeah. When he finally stops talking and starts playing...it's the first vid I've seen with just the amp sounds and not a ton of effects. That is what I wanted to hear!

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I think they're showing off how good it is because they know how bad it was in the hd500.

I don't think that the univibe in the HD500 is that bad. If you're able to dial it right it sounds pretty good. It may not be that reactive but it sounds decent.

 

The guitarguitar video is the first one that convinced me soundwise. There are some pretty good example and the video shows that the helix sound good.

I still find that there is not that much difference to the HD500 though. It may take longer to get a good sound out of it but it definatley can sound great.

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I don't think that the univibe in the HD500 is that bad. If you're able to dial it right it sounds pretty good. It may not be that reactive but it sounds decent.

 

The guitarguitar video is the first one that convinced me soundwise. There are some pretty good example and the video shows that the helix sound good.

I still find that there is not that much difference to the HD500 though. It may take longer to get a good sound out of it but it definatley can sound great.

 

If you can get the 500X univibe to sound anywhere near the Helix univibe, please share your patch. I can get it to sound ok in combination with other effects, but nothing close to the Helix. Thanks

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If you can get the 500X univibe to sound anywhere near the Helix univibe, please share your patch. I can get it to sound ok in combination with other effects, but nothing close to the Helix. Thanks

Where do you find the statement that I can make it sound like in the video? ;)

I said it sounds decent and you can get a good sound out of it. There are lots of patches on custom tone that sound good (of course with a few tweaks to fit your gear and ears).

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Where do you find the statement that I can make it sound like in the video? ;)

I said it sounds decent and you can get a good sound out of it. There are lots of patches on custom tone that sound good (of course with a few tweaks to fit your gear and ears).

 

I inferred it from the text of your post. You wrote: "I still find that there is not that much difference to the HD500 though." If you are going to change the subject of your conversation, it would be nice to give the reader an idea of what that new subject is within the context of your post.

 

I did not say I can get a "good" sound out of the 500X univibe, just an ok sound with other effects involved. It's not even in the same ballpark as the Helix univibe. I thought the TC Electronics Viscous Vibe sounded better than the 500X from the NAMM videos, but the Helix sounds quite a bit better than both of them IMO. 

 

If others can get a better sound than I can (which is not unusual), I like to see what they did differently so I can learn from them. That's all I was asking.

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I inferred it from the text of your post. You wrote: "I still find that there is not that much difference to the HD500 though." If you are going to change the subject of your conversation, it would be nice to give the reader an idea of what that new subject is within the context of your post.

 

I did not say I can get a "good" sound out of the 500X univibe, just an ok sound with other effects involved. It's not even in the same ballpark as the Helix univibe. I thought the TC Electronics Viscous Vibe sounded better than the 500X from the NAMM videos, but the Helix sounds quite a bit better than both of them IMO. 

 

If others can get a better sound than I can (which is not unusual), I like to see what they did differently so I can learn from them. That's all I was asking.

Perception can be such a frustrating thing sometimes...

I certainly didn't assume "I still find that there is not that much difference to the HD500 though." referred specifically to the Univibe simulation abilities of the units - rather to the "perceived quality" of the units generally.

Expectations too....

How long is a piece of string? As long as you want it to be, pretty much......

My perception is that my first experience of owning and using regularly a "Univibe" effect (the HD's version of said effect) pleases me. Particularly since Hendrix's magical use of the Univibe on "Maching Gun" and other delicacies from the late sixties, (e.g Robin Trower etc), the effect was obviously mono, but still had a real "3D" organic feeling kind of thing going on - and I can hear from the sound samples, that the Helix really does do a stellar job of reproducing that organic 3D swirling thang.

My perception tells me that's a pretty big improvement, and one of the boxes ticked for me on the list of reasons to (one day) flog off an HD500 and fork out the rest of the big bucks for the Helix.

My expectation that the Helix supports the original variaxes though, it seems is setting me up for a huge disappointment - far more than any quality of any specific effect in the new flagship product, if I then have to go out and buy another couple of variaxes, then I may as well just give up now....

G.A.S. BEGONE!

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