guitarlory

Thank you Edwin for answering... there's for sure a difficult for me due to language: I read and understand we'll english, but not much able to write it or - even more - speak it. I know, Helix is a multi-purpose machine, and tried to suit guitarist that go direct, guitarist that use real amps, bassists, and even singers... understand and accept this. There are 2 things I can say for sure: - my Helix is not defective, I tried 3 of them in these months and they all perform in the same way; - I tried all that I could to "correct" the perceived differences in 4CM: global EQ as suggested by GlenDeLaune, even EQ blocks before send or after return blocks... better results with the last ones for frequencies correction, but still different in feeling. All impedances and levels setup correctly. I've always been a tone fanatic, a vintage gear enthusiast (and a pro-guitarist for 10 years in the past, until phisical problems forced me to a long stop from guitar), with years of tweaking on the big rack machines: Eventide Hs Ultra Harmonizers, Orville, TC2290, Lexicon PCM80-81... if there's something more regarding transparency that I can do and didn't consider before, I'm open to everyone suggestions. Regarding effects: here (as for most of the amps) often we have "emulated" effects, so the quality of the emulated sound is objective: a Transistor Tape Delay modeled after an original Maestro EP-3 is of high quality if the tone is similar to the original one... it's sufficient comparing them (I've done, and put a video on youtube some time ago). Same thing for a 2299 Digital Delay, or for the tracking and naturalness of an Harmonizer. For these effects my opinion is that they can be improved a lot... there's little or nothing a final user can do about them, right? I still think that Helix could be the best digital piece of gear I've had in 30 years of guitar addiction, with some improvement which I was hoping would arrive soon (a bit of letdown for the last FW, I admit)... and this is the only reason I decided to write here, where who works on the updates can read, instead of simply selling it or complaining about it in other places. Peace :-)

Thanks Peter,I'm going to try 2.20 this evening... the swells are anyway one of the effects I was used to use with XT Live and actually I emulate them with volume pedal.

You deserve an answer, because it's reasonable what you said.I have had Helix for 6 months and buyed it to substitute my big and heavy switching board... did more or less 30 live gigs, and after the snapshots introduction the functionality is perfect form me... also, the tones from helix/amp are good, expecially from the point of view of the people who listen. For me, as a player perspective, I always felt there's something "wrong"... every time I disconnect it, I feel the amps sounds more natural and warm, responds in a different way to picking (more raw, but I'm not sure this is the right term... not writing in english so well, sorry), and there are some frequencies missing (around low mids), expecially when using 4CM, and obviously all is more noticeable when playing alone to program the tones I need. Isn't possible to improve this? Ok, I can understand and live with it. For effects: delays, reverbs and pitch/harmonizers are a big part of my live tones with one of the bands, and I have to carry everytime other units for these; there are hundreds of requests to improve these effects on ideascale (so I'm not the only one to hear that something is missing), and I hoped that after 6 months and some updates done, these requests would be heard by Line 6 people... So, why I didn't choose one of the competitors? Because after 30 minutes with a Fractal unit I had hives! I absolutely hate their interface and editing on the fly... furthermore, some effects are better in Helix from my point of view (vibes, wahs, overdrives), in Fractal ones there's always a hi-fi feeling; but, conversely, I envied all the reverb/delays/pitch algorythms comparing them to the ones I have in Helix. Today I'm going to update to the 2.20 FW, because in the TGP thread I read that someone find the delays improved, but I don't know if this is psycho-acoustics, because nowhere I can find that confirmed by Line 6 people: we will see, hope is the last to die, and in spite of all I want to believe that sooner or later they put hands also on these. P.S. The only alternative I see at the moment is my old analog/digital switching pedalboard (that I still own): but 45kg and big footprint are leading me to send it to retire

Not a good Idea to write here... I don't know why I decided to waste time doing this, only to be treated with superficiality and allusions, and also to be accused of trollism by people who know anything about me...

Try this: put the Helix in the effect loop set the levels for the loop carachteristics (my main amp has a simple serial loop, setted for pedal level)... all blocks in bypass, volume to match the amps alone volume. Then disconnect the Helix and put into the amps effect loop a long patch cable (same lenght as the two used previously to connect the Helix) ... this way the only differences one can hear are due to Helix, no other variables. Is it usabile? Yes, of course, and the overall functionality is the main reason I still own it Sounds bad? No It's transparent? No Is it better than other OLDER multifx? Yes Could it be better? For me, improvement can be done in this regard... my old analog pedalboard with looper/switcher is a lot better as transparency and dynamics respect, and so are other digital pedals. Effects: there are effects of the Helix that I absolutely love... Vibe is one example, the best one I've ever had, including most of the boutique ones; some WAHs are also eccellent, and some ODs pretty usable. Reverbs, delays, and mostly pitch/harmonizing are not good, there are older machines (also Line6's) one that are much better sounding. I don't speak about amp-sims, not my cup of tea and not using them.

Always used Line 6 products (POD, POD XT and Live, and now Helix) and chosed the Helix for what I've explained before (seems that not many had read)... but working constantly with musicians, and beeing a musician my self, I have constantly the chance to try estensively all this kind of products, and simply said what I hear and feel. I'm sorry to have answers like these, expecially from Line 6 people... instead of staying close on their positions, I always try to be open to discussions and suggestions if I can improve my products: no one can tell me it's transparent if I hear clear differences in tone and feel connecting Helix (with ALL bypassed and correct impedances and levels setted) between guitar and amp, and the differences are even more if used in 4CM. The things that I hear and feel have been experienced from many others, there's a very long thread in TGP...

Sorry, english isn't my first language, so I could misunderstand what you are saying... are you talking about 4CM and use of only effects with a real amp? Because this is what my concern is about: I hear a degradation in my real amp tone and dynamics, not the same feeling and tone even with all the blocks in bypass, and setting impedances and levels correctly. Furthermore, the effects could be improved... nothing to say about amp modeling or direct use with IRs etc, I don't care about them because I don't use Helix this way

Ahaha, no Peter... one is enaugh for me :lol:I mainly use it only for effects, and beeing a tube amp enthusiast I really don't need amp sims. I think that it's not a crime to ask for a better quality and - mostly - more transparency and better dynamics when using it in 4CM... until now, we had updates improving quantity (more amps, effects, cabs etc), utility options (tuner, snapshots etc)... so, next to these updates, I'd like to see also one update regarding aspects that I think would be a real breaktrough... or at least to know if there are plans on doing it: better transparency, better dynamics, possibility to chose a higher quality resolution. Helix is near perfect as far as rig management capabilities... so Line 6, come on, let do the next step ;)

Not here to make controversies... I chose Helix over FX8 because of fantastic user interface and routing capabilities, but unfortunately I've not fan-boy ears... soundwise, there is a lot to improve, and the dynamic range is not as good as could be (not saying this only by ears, there are instrument measures that can be done). Trust me, I'd be the first to be happy if Line 6 could fix or at least improve these things... for this I'm writing here and not in other forums (throwing lollipop as others do): my first interest is the improvement of some crucial aspects of a pedalboard I paid for, not for polemics. And I know i'ts possible, because there are no hardware limits compared to others, it's all about software. I'm also not a forum lover usually... only because I think this and I'd like to have a better machine... it would be a market-killer with those improvements.

If my informations are exact, Helix has the same AD/DA converters and the same processing power and CPUs of AX8, but with both CPUs freely assignable (except for the paths)... which means double power against for example FX8 (which has only 1 CPU). So the problem of poorer quality effects (and amps) against competitors is only due to a coding problem, not an hardware one: Helix with it's architecture, loops, switching system, user interface could be the absolute best on the market, but in the real world it isn't... because unfortunately the TONE quality doesn't even match that of the competitors; furthermore, Fractal and Kemper are improving a lot their quality, update after update... not only adding models. I hope Line 6 will understand this, and that they concentrate more on this aspect ASAP.

I think Line 6 deliberately limited the quality of effects ecc, to not incur into DSP limits: even in 2.20 FW they worked to limit the DSP use for reverbs and pitch... instead of improving quality, that for some effects is low compared to (just to say two) Fractal and Strymon. IMOH, a reasonable compromise should be to let the user choose the quality resolution: for example, I use Helix as a pure pedalboard, so no need of amps and cabs (which are DSP intensive) for live use, and I'd preferer to have the possibility to use both the DSP's power for the max possible resolution and highest quality effects... then, when I go home and want to use Helix direct into PC, I could add an amp-sim and - if needed - lower the resolution in case of reached DSP limits. Regarding transparency issue.. it's more difficult to notice it if playing direct, but it's evident when using Helix with 4CM and real amp: it changes the sound and - mostly - the feel of the amp... less natural and organic. It's still usable, but not so good from the point of view of the player's enjoiment.

New amps, new effects... and no improvement in quality... it's a kind of nonsense for me: there are a lot of things to improve a lot (delays, reverbs, harmonizers) and overall transparency/dynamics (for my use with 4CM and real amp this is one of the most important things, and now I have to use 3 eqs to have a decent transaparency). I bought the Helix mainly for pratical reasons and for a fabulous user interface, hoping that Line6 would be working on improve overall TONES quality (to match the standards of their direct competitors), but this seems not to be their priority...

Hi Orzel, which pedalboard is this? Thanks :-) Lory

Hi, for me too this one seems the best solution: I gig a lot during summer as I live near Senigallia (in Italy) and there are a lot of seasonal events on the seaside; the downside is that sometimes the floor is not properly "clean", some sand when you play those gigs is something to reckon, not to mention the risk of some accidental beer on the floor. My need is for a hard-case that not only protects the Helix during transport, but also a case that I can leave the Helix into while playing... and with the Tohn there is a bonus, because with the contoured padding cut for Helix there is non need to fix the board to the bottom of the case... so on the biggest and safest stages, I can simply remove it and put on the floor. Now, the downside: here is hot during summer months, and I'm not sure that padding on the bottom of the case is safe... from the photos I can't see if the bottom of the Helix is sufficiently raised by her rubber foots, lefting some space between the vents and the padding on the bottom, or if the padding will touch again those vents blocking them. Is there someone that has both to confirm this? And, eventually, can the padding be removed partially in correspondence of the vents to left the air freely flow? Thanks a lot, Lory P.S. Any info on the construction quality and resistance will be also appreciated :-)