PeterHamm

Don't need an "acoustic amp emulator".. Try this. Download IRs from one or all of these spots. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1XgNa5vH3j1ZkVoTFJLQ241WTg/view https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5YMP7cdVF-LTWE5TkFrb0ZTUGc&usp=drive_web https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f2qdh9jtcl6s5cv/AACRlEt-UVeLAhuvV4YwMY7Wa?dl=0 Now, set up a path that goes from your acoustic pickup and goes... IR (pick the IR that sounds best with your guitar BEFORE adding anything else) EQ (cut the frequencies that sound bad, boost a little high end, shelf the low end to about 60 or 80 hz or more if you like. LA Studio Comp (set it subtle). any volume pedal, delays, or verbs you want. Your piezo-equipped guitar will knock your socks off!

Well, we discovered, honestly (I think...) that anybody who thinks there are huge differences between these boxes is either justifying their choice by poo-poo-ing the other guy, a mindless fan boi, or has some other kind of confirmation bias going on. They both sound so awesome.

OK... So... we had our Fractal vs. Line 6 summit here in the Cinci suburbs... 2 Helices, 1 AX8, and myself, my buddies Geoff and Mark and Rick came and Glenn DuLaune was... sorta... (via some of his patches)... Do we have a winner? Yes. We do. How do you find out who it is? ... Here's how. Go to the nearest bathroom, above the sink there is a device that will reveal the winner of this contest... It's called a mirror. Seriously, guys... What a great time to be alive and a guitar-slinging musicians. Sorry, no video, but much camaraderie and good time had by all. We all win.

you have to press down on the EXP on Helix HARD to engage it. It loosens up a little over time, but not much. You MUST have the unit on the floor and use your feet. Your hand will never engage it.

there are some inherent advantages to Helix if you're going to do acoustic, though, I suspect. I do both at the same time with it. Just awesome.

HD development, I bet, is done. I could see one last iteration, which imho would be like what happened from XT to X3. HD 500 X Plus (or whatever) that has all the same modeling but with all the model packs built-in for free, but perhaps a little more horsepower. But new sounds? I don't think so. And the fact is... where they have left it is stunning for the price anyway. I got 5 years out of mine and would have kept going another 5 years if Helix hadn't come along. Helix LITE? won't be 600 I don't think... I think maybe 750 or 800 minimum, and if I were them, I'd be developing this now. Who knows, it's probably already in development (and no, I don't know anything about such a device, just guessin').

The ability to access workbench with Helix would be HUMONGOUS. Right now, the Variax integration is just not all there yet. Is that on Ideascale? I'd vote it up.

In my role as beta tester, I use the product normally with firmware that sometimes has features you haven't seen yet, and also with bugs that you haven't seen yet (and if I'm diligent, you will never see). Sometimes I know about things before you do. (That Matchless Amp, for instance, and the Editor). This might include mentioning that I think a certain feature should work one way or the other, but by the time it gets to me, usability issues have really been ironed out and I have yet to see a new feature or some such that needed "course correction". In terms of "critical analysis" about how it works and what I'd like to see different, that's not part of beta testing in my book. Beta testing is simply reporting what works and what doesn't, what breaks when I turn the unit this way or that, what I am actually doing when the unit freezes up... something like that. Suggestions like you mention I can do publicly, here and other places. I haven't held back my opinion, for instance, that something like "scenes" would be an absolutely wonderful addition to this product, and in fact, I think it would possibly cut into the appeal of the AX8. You honestly don't think I haven't mentioned that in my communications with the L6ers that I "report" to, do you...? There are a few other considerations I have mentioned to them as well. To abuse any better channels of communication with Line 6 that I have to belly-ache about a certain amp I'd like to see would really be wrong, imho. (Example: I would LOVE to see a Vibroverb complete with 2 x 10" speaker set added... I don't bug them about that because as far as I can tell, I'm in a really small minority on that). That said... Until December of last year I had been happy with HD 500 for 5 years. Didn't really need more than it offered and had, since the Vintage Model pack came out, basically switched to where I was using ONLY HD 500 and a volume and expression pedal and nothing else. I actually had no immediate plans to upgrade to Helix. My fairly unusual (and demanding) set of circumstances attracted me to the prospect of testing Helix because it seemed that it could do the unique things I do even better (particularly acoustic and electric at the same time, ambient synth-style FX on top of that). I suspect that the L6ers who decided who they wanted to be a beta tester thought that my demanding use of the unit would be a good match for finding issues and problems. I feel like they were right, fwiw. On the other hand, am I a Line 6 fan boi? Yup. Might that be another reason that they asked me to do this? Yup, I expect so. Considering that their products, HD 500 and now Helix, allow me to do everything I want in one box (although I've now added a couple pedals to Helix which I thought I wouldn't) in a way that nothing short of an Axe FX II would (at probably twice the price including foot controller). The simple fact is, Helix DOES exceed my expectations and hopes for what I can do for the music that I make in the situations that I'm in. I vote up ideas on Ideascale that I think would be great. I also have voted down a small handful that I thought were totally boneheaded and I thought they should keep away from. If they never upgraded Helix from the 1.0 FX and amp offerings, I'd still have more than I need. I'm delighted that progress means we get more, and am happy to contribute to that discussion in the most appropriate ways I can. Lastly, as is the case with a lot of products, a lot of what people ask for is nit-picking. I'm going to defend Line 6's design decisions from those folks, yes. I once knew a guy who was such a nit-picker when picking a digital camera that it took him about 5 years to pick one. Good LORD, how many award winning photos he could have taken in 5 years. A lot of the complaints and nit-picking (such as spending more time hooking up test equipment to see if the tuner is accurate than use your ears) is by tire-kickers and measurebaters. I actually make music as part of my job with this, I don't have time to nit pick, I use that time to make music.

There is such a thing as too much. For me, Helix does more than I need, and I plan to get 5 years out of it.

I failed philosophy because if Immanuel Kant, then why bother listening to him...

I'm imagining a street in Paris, with 3 legendary restaurants. Chez Christoph - signature dish is a Chilean Sea Bass with a Mango chutney sauce Chez Helix - signature dish is a braised duck with black bean vinagrette. Chez Cliff - signature dish is a Filet Mignon with a homemade bearnaise sauce So, in I walk to Chez Christoph and ask if he can make the Filet Mignon from two doors down... oh, and while you're at it, can you tell me what dish you will be serving up next month, please?

Voted up.

THIS. SO much this.

no, just the ones who are impossible to make happy with any product in any way whatsoever. They know who they are... or they don't...

My experience also.

I've known too many of these folks. I had a buddy one time who spent 5 years researching a digital camera before he finally found one that suited his specific needs. Back in the day, you played the Fender Bassman or Twin because... THAT WAS ALL THERE WAS! And you made it sound good. People complain about not having this or that or whatever in Helix (like they have in every single product that models I've ever had) and I STILL only use 2 or 3 amps and probably 5% MAYBE of the FX that are in there. In other words, "Get a freakin' life"...

We want BOTH! But in time, and done right, and done well. One thing I'd like to see with Helix, now that we have the capability, is fewer new FX, but way more flexibility in them. So that I'm basically designing my own FX. But I'm in the camp of what's in there really works for me. The things I want that aren't in there would be so DSP intensive that I'm just adding them in the loops (POG2 anyone?).

Then there's always the possibility that they see what people are asking for that someone else has and say... "What is the problem to be solved here and can we do it better?" Case in point... Axe FX II has dual signal chains... Helix has FOUR. And loops... 4 of them instead of just one or two on other products out there. And I'm sure people say, hey other products can record direct... and they gave us an 8-in 8-out USB class-compliant interface. And I don't think anyone ever asked for that huge big display and ridiculous ease of use... but they saw what people wanted and extrapolated out and said "how much better can we do?" I love this stuff.

If that's the case, set your Helix back to Line out, turn the trims ALL the way down, and then bring up to taste. Better to have the volume of the helix up high than the input trims, btw. less noise.

Or...

too late, the product is already, it seems, a raging success... :P We have to remember that those of us who belly-ache on forums are a pretty small percentage of users. I bet there are a lot of guys who buy stuff like this who seldom even get online to check out software updates. There is a great Gibson in there, you know that, right? Dumble? I don't know how much that helps since each one is so unique. You'll never make everyone who wants one happy.

The Teemah is amazing, too.

Try the Minotaur with gain really low. Thank me later.

No, it won't cause permanent damage. You might have a line/mic mismatch, that could cause noise, too. Honestly, it is SO much easier (and sounds the same) to just go 1/4" out to a DI box.