cruisinon2

I love mine. Worth every penny, as far as I'm concerned. However.... If you're a "washed in the blood and filled with the spirit" tube amp and pedal guy, looking for the "amp in the room" sound, and you already have a track record of not liking other modelers/multi-fx units, you may not like Helix either. Some guys just don't warm up to modelers. It happens... It's it difficult to use? No. The UI is dead-simple... but it's not an amp. If you approach it like one, expecting to just "plug and play", fiddling with the amp model's basic tone controls and nothing else, as you would with their real world counterparts, you're likely to get frustrated quickly. You have to approach it as if you're in a studio... with a close mic-ed amp/cab in the room next door, listening through studio monitors in the control room... that's what is being modeled. The finished product is what you'd hear on a recording, NOT the raw sound of an amp heard from a few feet away, and way off-axis. Depending on how you choose to monitor Helix (headphones, studio monitors, straight to a PA, or through a "real" guitar cabinet), various additional tweaking and EQ will be required, particularly hi/low cuts, to varying degrees depending on the circumstances. If you really want to take advantage of what the unit is capable of, some kind of FRFR speaker(s) is required. For example, if you take a Fender amp model and pump it through an actual Marshall cabinet, don't expect to hear much "Fender-y-ness"...if the last thing in the chain before your ears is a Marshall, then that's what you're gonna hear. Now that doesn't mean you wouldn't like the tone and plenty of guys have similar setups, but you'd be limiting yourself somewhat. You need a blank canvas that will color the tone as little as possible...which in this case is a neutral, flat response speaker. In short...I wouldn't go selling off everything you own to finance a Helix until you've given one a LENGTHY test drive. 20 minutes of noodling down at your local Megalomusic isn't gonna cut it... you need to spend some time with it. Doubly so if you're new to modeling.

If the next modeler doesn't come with a pony, I don't want it....

The alt tunings shouldn't be "terrible". What exactly is it doing, or not doing?

MORE! MORE!...I'm still not satisfied! Give it here, and give it now!... lol If we started getting daily firmware updates, I'd bet it wouldn't be a month before there was weeping and gnashing of teeth over that, too..."Why can't we have a separate evening update?" Kemper, Fractal, keep up or get out of the way, compete or get left behind, nobody's gonna buy L6 products anymore...blah, blah, blah. Same refrains again and again. This was a boring movie the first time I saw it, and the reruns suck even worse.

The number attached to the firmware is meaningless. Everything that's in the hardware versions is also in Native....Native just came along later, so it's seen fewer updates than the hardware versions, hence the lower number.

It's a user forum. Official L6 folks are absent 99.97% of the time... it's just how they do things. They've never been here with any frequency, on this or any other issue. With the exception of the occasional "drop in", with hints/tips usually just after something has been released... or occasionally just before the release, for the familiar "soon, gents... soon" refrain. Is what it is...

A 6 hour round trip to buy gear is nuts, unless you really like driving, lol. Just order it from Sweetwater... you'll have it in a couple of days, and you've got 30 days to return it, no questions asked, if it's not your thing. As for the Amplifi comparison...Helix is a VERY different device...imho, and at the risk of offending Amplifi fans, it's really kind of a toy. Helix is pro gear in every sense of the word, and infinitely more versatile. Might be a little overkill for your needs...but if you want amp modeling too, instead of just FX, the Helix LT might be an option for you. Native doesn't come with anything, no matter what you buy, but there is a discount if you've purchased Helix hardware. It's $99 if you buy the full Helix, and I believe $299 (?) if you get the LT. Not sure if there's a discount at all if you've purchased HX Effects. Technically you don't "need" Native to record... but it does make re-amping much easier. Figure out what you really need/want, decide how much you wanna spend...then splurge accordingly!

It's the other way around... high impedance = greater resistance. It's the higher impedance cans that sometimes need a headphone amp. I wouldn't suggest anything rated at 16 ohms...that's almost ear bud territory. You might find that things will start to clip at relatively low volumes. I use AKG701's @ 55 ohms. Sounds great, and I have to crank them to an uncomfortably loud volume before they start clipping.

You'll need pliers, witch hazel, some hickory chips, a six foot length of pipe, and a goat...;) Just kidding... yes, there should have been plastic covering the scribble strips, but anything is possible... if you can't find anything to peel off, then maybe the scribble strip sticker guy was out sick that day....

Amen. Trying to run stereo live is a sh**storm that's never worth the trouble... at home through headphones or studio monitors, and on recordings, it's glorious. Two very different worlds, though.

lol...these threads never disappoint. Just when you think you might be safe from the metal gymnastics which tend to keep one firmly entrenched inside Square One, the "whens?" and "what ifs?" return to rescue us all from productivity. ;) We now return you to the regularly scheduled blind guesswork and wishful thinking...

...but starting them is fun! ;) Let the wild, unhinged speculation commence! Ready...set...GUESS!!!! lol...

Never....something will always be excluded. No one unit will ever contain everything from every previous unit they've ever produced. It's impractical, and ultimately counterproductive. Each device is marketed to some target demographic...users with different needs, and more importantly from a business perspective, different budgets. Trying to dump them all into the one unit would be not only cost prohibitive, but would result in something that's unnecessarily complicated and difficult to navigate. Some will already never pay the $1500 that Helix costs, either because they simply can't afford it, or just can't justify it based on their needs. Now ask that same guy to pay 2 or 3 times as much for the "L6 Every-Tone" that includes every amp model and effect they've ever made. More is not always better, despite what advertising has us all conditioned to believe. Eventually quality suffers in the relentless pursuit of quantity.

Overanalyzing, and tweaking when you don't really need to, is a great way to screw up tones that were perfectly fine to begin with. Nothing can get infinitely "better"... eventually you end up shooting yourself in the foot, and then you have to fix something that was just fine before you screwed with it. "Nagging feelings" are just that...feelings. If it sounds good, who gives two wet farts what you cut or didn't cut to get there?

Onions vary... some say the cuts in the para EQ have a steeper slope than those in the cabs or IR's. Same thing for placement... I've put hi/low cuts as the last thing in the chain, between the cab and various FX, and used the cab cuts as well. A/B-ing them solo, you might notice a subtle difference at best...but in a mix, I seriously doubt I could tell the difference if my life depended on it. In the end, its all subjective...wherever you like it best is where it belongs.

Those are your basic options, yes. What's "better" is really a question of what you need the rig to do, as opposed to evaluating pros and cons. If you're looking for the "amp in the room" thing, with just one or two basic tones, then the first option is the way to go, as it will be the closest thing to using a "real" amp... it's a simpler set-up, but as you pointed out, somewhat less versatile. A greenback is a greenback no matter what you're pumping through it, and will color everything in a similar fashion... which might suit you just fine, it just depends on what you need/like. On the other hand, if you need to be able to go from searing high gain, to a mild Marshall crunch, to a Fender clean, to an acoustic model on a Variax, then the first method ain't gonna work. In that case, running the Powercab flat and using Helix's cabs or IR's will give you far more options... but it's more work, patch by patch.

I'm not familiar with the monitors or headphones you mention, but what I can tell you is, ANY time you change monitoring methods, your sound is gonna change to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the circumstances. At least half your tone is dependent upon what you're listening through. Getting everything sounding "just right" through one source, then switching to another is often a problem, and continuity from one to the next is hard to achieve, even when all the components in question are top shelf stuff. We're batting acoustic physics... and in the end, physics wins every time, lol. ;) With headphones, highs can often be more pronounced, as they're right on top of your ears... try sticking your head right up against your monitors, and you'll likely hear some shrillness that's not there when you back off to a normal listening distance. Room acoustics and volume will factor in as well...if your monitors are in a "dead" room (carpeting, upholstered furniture, etc...I have this problem, actually), some "dullness" can be expected vs. you're headphones, where there's nothing to suck up the treble before it hits your ears. In short, it's tough to keep any one patch sounding the same through multiple sources... nearly impossible, I'd argue. To that end, I resorted long ago to having separate banks of patches for different uses...monitors, headphones, and live use. After the initial grunt work, it's far easier in the long run... otherwise you'll be constantly tweaking patches back and forth depending on your needs of the moment.

First, forget the factory presets... most are useless, as they are on every similar device I've ever owned... one could write a PhD thesis on this phenomenon, but let's put that aside for the moment... The biggest problem most have when they're new to modeling is the tendency to treat the device the same as you would an amp... in short, you can't do that, lol. It's not an amp, and you can't approach it the same way... especially if you're monitoring through FRFR studio monitors as opposed to a guitar amp/cab, or combo. Just fiddling with an amp model's basic tone controls as you would on its real world counterpart will be insufficient... you will have many more parameters to think about and tweak. You have to think of it as if you were in a studio, micing a cabinet next door, and listening through the monitors in the control room, as that is exactly the set-up which is being modeled. Since you're not hearing the amp directly, mic choice and placement is critical. Same goes for those modeled parameters in Helix. Furthermore, the frequency response of FRFR monitors is far wider and flatter than that of a typical guitar speaker. As a result, fizzy highs and muddy/ boomy lows are a common complaint. Additional EQ, specifically high and low cuts, will be essential, and will vary depending on the amp model in use, and the overall sound you're after. 100-120 Hz on the low end, and starting around 6KHz (sometimes lower) for the highs, are common "ballpark" places at which to start. There can be a steep learning curve at the beginning, but the sounds are in there, but it will take time. A couple or three days with it won't cut it. Try watching some of the YouTube tutorials mentioned above...Jason Sadites videos are excellent and should get you started.

Get the 2i4... it's a minimal price difference, and I've heard tell of some issues with the preamps in the 2i2. I used the 2i4 for years with the POD (and now Helix). The direct monitoring feature works great, no audible latency... just be sure to turn direct monitoring in your DAW off, or you'll hear yourself twice.

spec sheet rangers... lmao

Yes, there are lots of things out there in the wild that are comically overvalued... a guitar that Hendrix torched on stage sold for £280,000. A six figure price tag for what is now a guitar-shaped heap of carbon...but it was "worth it" to somebody. I'd sooner pluck my own eyeballs out, but I digress. Since nothing that we're discussing can be quantified or proven, it all boils down to opinions, preferences, and how much cash you've got on hand. It's amazing how much more things are suddenly "worth" when you've got money, lol...yet I'm sure there are things that I'd spend money on that you'd think were ridiculous, and vice versa. Who's "right"? Nobody. But as far as the Helix vs. POD thing goes...functionally, there's a whole lot more to the Helix than the sounds themselves. The ease of use compared to the POD, snapshots, the fact that useable tones are much easier to achieve quickly, all the routing options, etc etc...I'd have paid a premium just for the functionality alone, even if the modeling was identical to the POD...hell, I'm still using a couple of the legacy FX. But again, I'm sure there are those who wouldn't agree. Different strokes...

How many "subtleties" are there in a "night and day"? ;) I think these sorts of unquantifiable and wholly subjective "upgrades" have a way of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies...if you spend a bunch of money, you'll WANT to hear a difference, so you do. Golden Eared types will no doubt disagree, but to add 33% to the cost of the unit...I'd need more than wishful thinking and a voided warranty for it to be worth it.

I tried "constructive" initially, by pointing out that just about any connection like those in question, can work their way loose over time. And since I'd had no similar issues after a number of years of regular use, it doesn't support the conclusion that none of them are "road ready". I then went on to say that since you'd already fixed it, it was likely nothing to worry about. That's what is commonly referred to as "reassurance"... it was intended to make you feel better about the situation. Instead, you doubled down on "it's a poor design and it breaks when you hang it up". At that point, what was I supposed to say to change your mind? Obviously not "halfwit humor"... sorry my drivel isn't your cup of tea. And if the fact that I don't share that opinion makes me a half-wit, so be it, lol. If your axe is working, great.Hope it stays that way.

You might try bumping the output of the models in Workbench... you can go up to +6dB. Piezo outputs can vary a lot, boosting it might help a bit.

lol... indeed. Some sort of evidence would be nice. So far all we've got is "This is awesome, trust us. That'll be $500, please". ;) Side note... for anybody seriously considering this, I've got a boatload of really high quality, low mileage cans of used air that I'm letting go for $350 apiece, with free shipping! It's a steal... don't be left out! When they're gone, they're gone... at least until I breathe into some more empty cans. ;)