zooey

Very cool, nice work. I'm in the Boston area, saw you multiple times back in the day, and you always had a great handle on those Jimi flavors, both tone and playing. Any chance of you sharing some of those presets? (No pressure of course.)

Just to say the obvious, while you can't try either unit before buying, most reputable retailers will let you return a Helix within (typically) 30 days. Fractal gives you 14, but you have to wait months to actually get one. In theory there's no wait list for Helix, but in practice they're hard to find in stock, so you may have to wait there too, I did. All due respect to the helpful posters above, but all the words in world, from anyone, aren't going to tell you what either of these is actually like, for you, with your guitar(s), playing style(s), and technique, for your music. In my experience, even with a Helix in hand, you can tell some things right off (UI is great, it's built like a tank, has a ton of connectivity options, scribble strips, yadda), but the really important question of how does it sound and feel for you, takes quite a bit longer to answer for yourself. L6 has built in enough flexibility on many levels that many of us have been able to find our own sweet spots, no doubt all different in how they're built and how they sound and feel. The tradeoff for that is that you have to find your own comfort zone. For me anyway, that took a while. I wasn't as impressed or having anywhere near as much fun at first as I am now, but now I'm a pretty happy camper. Not exactly sure why that is, don't think it's that I've figured out that I like a few particular amp models more than the others (though that may be true), since I can get something I like out of a bunch of different amps. It's something more subtle about getting connected to it. Or maybe we just get used to its particular sound, if it has one, which it sort of does, maybe. Really, I think it's that the more you get comfortable working with it, the more you start hearing and addressing things on a more personal level. Or maybe it's just that the Kool-Aid takes a while to kick in (:-)

Yeah, this too. But like you say, it happens because the UI is so responsive, in so many ways, which I love. After a while, you learn to be careful not to step on the gas at the same time as the brake, even though they're close. You learn because you figure out that it matters, and you need to pay attention at those moments, at first, then it becomes second nature. I hope. And luckily, this isn't the missile launch UI.

Ditto. I still grab the completely wrong control sometimes, or think I'm editing a particular block just because I'm thinking about it not because it's selected, clearly pilot error, but I don't find that the joystick misinterprets what I mean it to do very often, if at all.

And BTW, this is why Helix needs to be able to load everything from a USB stick, so you can rent one at Helix-R-Us, load it up and go.

War story re Yamaha (Line 6's parent company) gear, not claiming it applies here. This isn't a hand-me-down tale someone heard somewhere and passed on to me, I saw it happen myself. I once did a gig where the AC power sagged so badly that the lights and display on our QX1 hardware sequencer literally went off, and it kept playing, without a hiccup. That there is robust design and implementation, much respect. However, everything that can go wrong eventually will, so have a backup. I have no idea what I'll do personally. This is my first modeler, so I can't bring my old one, and I'm not psyched on buying (and even more, learning) some known-inferior unit just for this. I really don't want to lug the amp I got Helix to avoid carrying, and don't like so much any more anyway after such great software and hardware alternatives, especially not to even play it, but just for backup. Everything Mr Glover said about an actual Helix backup unit (the only pro solution, except maybe glideman's AX8...) applies to me as well (plus the fact that I couldn't really afford the one I already bought). So. Hope real hard, I guess?

Not sure what sort of answer you're expecting here, every player's gear, music, and taste are different. If you're asking what principles you might use to make that decision, I think many people try to get their presets sounding good with the global EQ flat, so they can use it to adjust for duller or or brighter rooms.

Ah, got it, carry on. Personally, I'd say just get yourself a Helix and check out the built-in stuff, before you decide you just have to have a bunch of paid IRs.

Agreed, especially if they could hit the Helix/AX8 price point. And especially especially if it had a UI as good as Helix :)

Makes sense.

Do you have a version using the built in cabs, as best you could do? I'd be interested to hear the difference.

Are you saying that Guitar Rig 5 ships with cab IRs Helix can use? And that you like them better than the cabs built into Helix? Where would I find those?

The editor download includes the Line 6 Updater, which installs the firmware. I'm on Windows, so I don't know if anything's different for Mac, but I doubt it, on this level. Back up your Helix before installing. Which I'm sure you know...

So Helix and the editor don't tell you an IR is in use if you try to delete it? That's too bad, they should.

Hadn't thought of keeping things completely separate by firmware or editor release. Do you do that because newer firmware can't load patches from older releases? If so, that's kind of unusual, and definitely something to be aware of.

I looked into this, and I believe the Helix warranty is transferable. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH before you count on that though :) And just to say it, that's definitively NOT the case with Axe FX; their warranty is good only if purchased directly from them.

Hey, if you can do it, do it! Let us know what you think as you go, interested.

The Helix software creates a directory structure here (on a PC, I assume similar on a Mac): My Documents\Line 6\Tones\Helix\ It contains these directories: Bundles, IRs, Presets, and Setlists As I understand it, the Helix editor is aware of those locations only to the extent that they're the initial default locations for exporting those types of objects. Once you've saved a setlist (say) in another location, that location is suggested the next time you export. Is all of this right: - There's nothing special about those locations, you could choose to store your Helix stuff anywhere - You could store anything else you want in those directories, and the editor won't mess with it, or be confused by it - When you use the editor, it's inherently linked only to the Helix itself, not to any data on your computer, in any location - Exporting is essentially backing up, saving a copy of objects from the connected Helix on your computer. Besides general understanding, I'm asking because I'm thinking about your overall libraries of these objects, vs backup of what's on your Helix right now. For instance, if you buy some big IR or patch collections, after you audition them, you'll pick the ones you want on your Helix for now, and put them there, but where do you keep the original full collections as purchased? In those same default directories? That doesn't quite work in a practical sense, since some patch collections contain IRs. You'd probably want to back up all the IRs you actually have on your Helix in one directory, wherever they came from, so you can easily load them back in. But that's still about backup of you Helix's current contents. I'm wondering if people keep their larger libraries in that same location that the editor knows about, or somewhere else.

Hey fido, great tip! I've almost submitted that on Ideascale more than once, now you're saying it's already in there, very cool. Wish you could do it directly on the Helix itself too, but still awesome.

Please upvote this: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Edit-Compare/820832-23508 From my comment there: This would be a great addition, wished for it many times. For me, working on a patch is a process of evolution. You create something, then come back to it later with fresh ears, put it in perspective with your other tones, add more features, etc.. It'd super helpful to have a quick way to compare to the original during this process. Yes of course you can save a copy, but the point is to check if the new version is WORTH saving. Most of Helix is so fluid to work with, this functionality just makes sense for it especially.

And consider upvoting the ability to automatically switch to (10 switches) stomp mode when you recall a preset, here: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Default-to-10-switches-IA-s-upon-selecting-preset/796488-23508

My my. You didn't gig with that, did you? Helix has got to be way cheaper too...

Not to be a monomaniac, but I'm not talking so much about frequency response, like the folks with parallel paths, multiple cabs, etc.. I'm unhappy with the modulation at any fast speed settings, sounds cheesy and effect-y to me, doesn't remind me of a real Leslie at all. If anyone has great fast speed settings, and/or a clip of what they sound like, that'd be awesome. I haven't explored the Fender enough, will check that out, but other than that, I think I've been down the available roads, didn't care for the scenery.

Just said it failed the first two times, no other info. It was connected straight into a real USB port, no hub or anything, Win 7 Pro, aging Sony i7 laptop, pretty vanilla. On the plus side, there was no chaos, it just told me to reboot Helix and try again, which I did, twice, and the second retry took. As I recall, not positive, that also happened when I first got it and updated the firmware, but just once. Doesn't leave you all warm and fuzzy, but it ended up ok. Are others seeing this too?

@Max and @Peter, if you wouldn't mind posting a clip of what you're getting on fast speed, I'd appreciate it. Does it sound anything like the clip I posted? Don't think mine does, but maybe I'm just being weird. @Paolo, great idea in theory, but if I'm not mistaken, the way L6 does this is to build models of physical circuit components, which when modeled individually and hooked up like they are the the real unit, behaves like one. They don't model the behavior of a whole box, and I'm pretty sure the Ventilator is digital (runs on a SHARC chip), so the component modeling process doesn't apply.