mbenigni

But to get the "pretty good jolt" you need to set the Helix up with 2PCM (2 power cable method). :O

The thing about the Mk IV is that it's got about a half dozen different voicings. When I had mine dialed in where I wanted it, it approximated a gainy Mk II. So I just cast my vote for the Mk IIc+ (i.e. the real deal ;) ) and called it a day.

Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix Helix. P.S. "summa lollipop laude" will probably be the best thing to happen all day. P.P.S. Helix.

Time to recalibrate. Your readings are low. :D

I wasn't trying to personally insult anyone. Arislaf is very likely a smart and pleasant guy who can play circles around me. I'm just calling out a manner of comparison that IMO doesn't make any sense, in that it's too specifically quantitative in describing something qualitative and subjective. I think it gets people thinking about these products in counter-productive ways, and lends to confusion and misinformation. And I see it a LOT, each time with a different basically random integer in front of the percentage sign. If only it were so easy to make judgements about the relative merits of these devices... :) But I get that my post was a little snotty and not exactly essential. Apologies for that.

You might have that backwards. It's the use of objective measurements where none are really applicable that I call into question. But wow man, I'm pretty sure you're having a harder time about this than I am. Even arislaf took my comment in stride. i.e. No one needs to use any particular kind of phrasing on my account, so... why are you freaking out about mine? For the record, I do not presume that anyone cares what I think about anything. I'll cop to the fact that my little comment above was a bit snide, but seriously, "worthless information"? As if this thread had been overflowing with valuable information up to that point? I think I am - at most - 47.65% to blame. Subjective assessment... not that anyone cares. :)

It's weird how perceptions can vary. I remember seeing the Helix product announcement and being happily surprised - amazed, even - that it would be available so soon. Usually when I first get word of a new product, I don't expect to be able to actually buy one for many months. A product of this scope, a year or so would not have surprised me.

I shake my head every time I read "n% improvement" in tone. Where are people getting these numbers? What could they possibly mean?

I agree... provided that the "better" equipment (or model) is versatile to the point of being able to provide a superset of tones compared with the older, lesser equipment. The easiest example is that tired old MXR DynaComp. Yes, it's noisy, and a million miles from "transparent", but some of the better more modern compressors struggle to achieve its in-your-face, breathy (I call it "poofy") chicken-pickin' effect. That's a very specific sound that some of us have grown to love because of the way it sort of sucks LOL. And therefore a case where you either need one compressor that truly runs the gamut from pristine to broken, or you need two separate compressors. (In "real life" I have a DynaComp and an Xotic SP compressor on my pedalboard, and love them both.)

Agreed. But you spelled "standardizer" wrong. ;)

Good question. The KPA is similar in this regard: you can use the Aux input as guitar in, but KPA cautions that signal quality is diminished... which basically defeats the purpose IMO.

Then PianoGuyy would have to roll his eyes twice. At least. :D

Cage match!

That is completely reasonable, but you manage to say as much as if it were somehow an indictment of Line 6. No one expects anyone to buy anything they don't want or need. In other news, not all "units" are created equal. :)

Oh, awesome, thanks - I hadn't even been paying attention to that post! Well, that puts just about everything I could personally hope for on the list. The only thing I note is that this idea has the wrong link attributed; it navigates to the "more bass stuff" idea: Global Signal/Spillover: http://line6.ideasca...ix/741738-23508 Should be: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Optional-Global-signal-path-Spillover/741927-23508

I'm guessing that means "request added to IdeaScale" and not "model added to Helix"? Don't tease me like that! ;)

Just talking about the GR-55 alone here. There are so many places to set levels within a given patch - most of them necessary, granted, but a few of them a little over the top. For instance, an amp-only preset will have amp volume, amp master, speaker level, mic level, patch level... and that's before you start trying to apply effects or mix in synths. LOTS of ways to get yourself in trouble, and without metering (in contrast with e.g. the VG-99), no tools to help you find your way back out again.

This was definitely my experience with the Roland GR-55. So many ways to compromise tone with inadequate levels, or to introduce ugly clipping ... which would immediately turn into a needle in a haystack. Yes, metering is always helpful when there are lots of little gain stages to tweak.

Well, I'd vote for that for sure, but sometimes you've got to pick your battles. If it takes them a man-month to do an amp (one voicing), I'd want the IIc+ pushed to the front. :) Of course it may be that there's another model in the Helix already - of something I've never played or heard - that cops a IIc+ tone pretty well, and that would lessen the very relative "urgency" considerably. We shall see...

:) Neurotically pouring over these web forums in the interim has made me completely dysfunctional. Maybe pre-ordering wasn't such a good idea after all LOL.

I would agree with you if any given amp model in the Helix included switching for all modes and voices of the real amp in question, but this is not generally the case. If they did a high-gain Mk V, I'd personally want it in the MkIIc+ voicing (vs. Mk IV or insane), and then we're just talking semantics. For what it's worth, I got to sit down with a MkV:25 a couple of weeks ago. Took about 10 minutes before I found my old groove in the MkIIc+ mode, and determined that if I were to buy one, it would probably never leave that mode (except for clean tones.) :) Never should have sold my MkIIc+ all those years ago. :(

My unsolicited opinion: most of these guys are showing off. Professionally, in fact. But that doesn't necessarily imply that that's all they're doing.

In this spirit, I've just added a Helix-specific Mesa/Boogie MkIIc+ request. Done right, this is about the only high-gain amp I'll ever need. Please vote if you consider it essential. http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Mesa-Boogie-Mark-IIc+/772605-23508 Every time I try to add tags to this request, I get a "tag includes forbidden characters" error. So this is probably about the only way you'll find it. :/

Bottom line: "Tones I want to hear from Helix" are tones from my own guitars, bouncing off my own living room walls. Please ship ASAP. :)

Paganini, anyone? Nearly every pianist in the Romantic period? Coltrane? What a parade of wankers... ;)