littlespaceman

Thanks for all your opinions guys. I have to say I'm always a bit bemused by how many people on these forums go on about how the Helix is high-end pro-musician kit and use that to justify why it doesn't have several really useful 'everyday' features - but how many of us play in front of 20,000 or more every time we use it? Not many, I bet. And if the Helix did have a longer looper, and some other consumer-user conveniences, I don't think you'd actually complain about it, you just might not use them - but at least you have the choice. The acid test is what Helix 2 has - and I'll be amazed if it doesn't have a longer looper amongst other improvements...

Well it's good to know we're not the only ones! :D

But the whole point of the Helix for me is that it's a one-box solution, and I've deliberately purchased it to slim down my rig. So I don't want extra gear plugged in to it - point I'm making is that while some people do and some don't it would have been easy to have included a longer looper - after all many £100/$100 fx units can loop for at least as long as the Helix. It's up there for me with the lack of an Aux-in socket... (we're not all writing our own material, some of us play in cover bands, so an aux-in would be really really useful for working out guitar parts/tweaking patches specific to particular songs you are covering...)

Not sure you understand how small and close together houses in England are!! :huh: But thank you, sounds like I made the right choice :)

Would love to return to the initial point of this thread - that the Looper on the Helix is just plain inadequate (and IMHO I couldn't agree more, it's very disappointing on a high end unit like this) The simple question is, can that be 'upgraded' at all with a firmware release, or is it hardwired - so best wait until Helix 2 comes out (10 minute looper, touch screen, etc etc :) )

What did you go for in the end? I have a pair of HS5's and love them but I'm limited on space and wonder if the Genelec 8010's would be a better alternative. Max volume isn't really an issue as I don't get to crank the volume much at home :mellow:

How's this for an idea - the ability to create Global EQ presets; say you use a pair of studio monitors to create your 'reference' sound. You then play a venue and feel you need to tweak the Global EQ for the acoustics etc of the environment. Say you then play another venue, which needs a different tweak to the Global EQ. And then say you play several venues regularly and would like to recall the Global EQ setting for each venue as and when because you know they worked just fine the last time you played there...? If you had, oh, I don't know, say 10 Global EQ presets you could recall, it would make life much much easier...

As a recent Helix owner I've been thinking almost since I got the thing that this would be a very useful feature - and one that is quite easy to add I'm guessing? Keeping my fingers crossed, and will vote for it too o)

Excellent reply - thank you. I appreciate that different PA speakers will have a different 'colour' from one to the other, all I want to do is get a fairly good 'neutral' (for want of a better word) feel at home when I programme the Helix - and so really the question was do I be a cheapskate and stick with just using the THR for that patch-tweaking, or will I get a better result using the HS5's (single or a pair) for that (after all, they're not crazy expensive) The main thing is size (smaller the better) and cost - we have a baby on the way! :)

Any thoughts on the Yamaha HS5's, guys? I have so far been using my Helix with the aux in on my Yamaha THR 10 - and tbh it sounds great, with a fairly good stereo spread. However, although theoretically as far as I know the THR speakers are 'full range' (at low volume anyway I guess that is?) do you think they would colour the sound compared to say some powered monitors like the Yamaha HS5 speakers? So do I really need some 'proper' monitors, or will the THR do? What I don't want to do is set up all my patches at home using the THR, then plug in to a PA for a gig and think 'WTF??' :unsure:

Personally I'd love to see a smaller FH amp - either as a combo or as a head and cab. So how's this for an idea - if there was such a thing as a FH cab you could plug in the matching FH head... ...OR your Helix, in which case the cab acts as a stereo FRFR speaker system, similar to the Gemini etc; so one cab would work with two different products...

Seems a real shame that an amp with a wireless receIver built in neees a cable to connect the editing app!! Especially when it's big bro, the FH 1500 has Bluetooth; say you're at the front of the stage wanting to tweak your settings - are you supposed to get a 30ft Lightning cable?? Seems like a bit of an oversight to me - so my question is, is there any form of USB/Bluetooth dongle that will act as a replacement for the Lightning cable, and allow you to use the app from a distance (as opposed to a BT device that just streams sound)?

Just seen the Andertons review of the Spider V, and seems that has the USB socket (but you can't use the app using Bluetooth with that amp, you can only edit when the tablet/phone is plugged in?)

I have yet to decide between the FH and the Helix, but for me size is definitely an issue - so how about a HEAD AND CAB version? Or better still a Firehawk 1000?? (yep, made that up but a slightly smaller / lighter version would be a deal maker) Oh and how's this - awesome fun being able to use an app to deep edit, but not when you're iPhone battery is about to die. So how about a standard USB socket so you can charge your phone / iPad direct from the amp? Line 6, please take note of that last one!