WickedFinger

Personally man, you could not give me a POD. I left L6 after my HD POD phase, had issues I just could not resolve with it. Hides them pretty well in a 4CM thing (they must have prayed most used) but I ran into all sorts of problems as a stand alone rig core. I learned how to create massive sounding dual amp presets (remember the L6 genius "meambobbo" who wrote an advanced user manual?) but they used all the DSP and had much of nothing left for any effects. The Helix brought me back to L6 as it truly is a different animal than a POD. This is "component" modeling not merely surface mimic of how an amp sounds or a weak pedal copy. The new front end effects are good but the ability to farm out to other stuff works damn well with this unit. I have to use a gate NR after the loop return but these gates are really well done in the Helix not chokers like the POD. There are some new effects in there which can be really great sounding once you learn the tweaks. Tri-Chorus, Dynamic Flanger, Vibe are amazing. Here is a nice review of the mighty Helix. I am hyper critical of most gear but I find the Helix a jewel with its massive ability for routing and loops. http://tonereport.com/blogs/tone-tips/line-6-and-yamahas-absolutely-incredible-collaboration-the-helix

I did not know Yamaha bought Lin6. Nice review of the Helix, I enjoyed it, maybe everyone has seen it but I just ran across it. http://tonereport.com/blogs/tone-tips/line-6-and-yamahas-absolutely-incredible-collaboration-the-helix

I have both a pair of fullrange EV 15" speakers and a custom 4x12 stereo wtred with Eminence Man O war 12s. I love that guitar cab and it kills with the Helix rig or anything I have used with it. Nothing quite has the power and punch of the Eminence cab, not even the full range EV 15"s. I use both for different things bu my main guitar rig uses the 4x12.

I learned my lesson about three times now of getting rid of all my pedals for the latest greatest multi unit. Sadly I never rebuild my mod, delay, and reverb pedals so I rely on the Helix for all that. I find many of these better to many pedals I have had anyway. I have a GSP1101 loaded w C63 software, I really like this unit, but would sell it if I get enough to let it go, damn thing is brand new. I just got it before I went for the Helix. I still have not found anything in the Helix I like as mush as the two optimized Clean Tube models this puppy has. I am keeping my 2LeafAudio Proton envelope filter, my Mesa Tone Burst, Mesa Flux Drive, and a new Seymour Duncan Palladium I had just got. All these are much liked and will not part with them. They are rigged in a loop just after my up front Heix wah block. I have a Mel9 on a split line of a Radial PB1 and a Radial ABY which I may find an artful way to integrate it into the Helix but keep it isolated from my main Helix and loop chain. I use a series of BBE units which I will not be without on my rigs. There is am XLR unit after the Helix into my main power amp. Another one on my Mel9 and Trio line which runs into a little Mackie mixer converting to XLR outs to my powered EV rig. I have another spare instrument level unit I could use on the Helix 1/4 outs if I send them out the EV rig. I prefer balanced XLR feeds over unnbalanced. The BBE units if used per design really improve the sound. Some may not like them but been my experience it is usually from not using them right.

I was cranking on this model today and man it is one of my favs. It is pretty clean and takes to OD and whanot really well. Bloody great amp, if the model is this good, I would love to have the real deal.

To me I would place the Helix just below the Fractal and Kemper on the food chain. They are the next step up and the money difference is pretty much the jump from POD to Helix but I rate the tech jump from POD to Helix an order of 7 while up to Fractal or Kemper from Helix maybe only a 2 or 3 at best. I have heard a lot of A/B tests where you honestly cannot tell much difference in the sound and tone. So really Helix gets my vote for best bang for the buck. If I had unlimited resources I would go Fractal and Kemper but the Helix does the deal for me. I am digging this unit I was using a GSP1101 which I liked a lot and I had and returned an Atomic Amp, both I consider better than POD in sound quality but the helix has it all over either of them.

Really, record it and put it up on YouTube, website or something accessible. Most of us cannot get there from here.

My switch problem turned out to be something weird in the preset and it seems to be OK right now. I have had other similar switches go bad, like in my tc X4 delay had to return it for warranty exchange. What I do know is the word "stomp" should be eliminated from use, never pop a switch roughly or let it bounce by letting it go after smacking it. These things are not heavy duty and are indeed the weak link in the chain, press lightly and even on them without undo drunken led foot. With the capacitance thing on the switches in the Helix I do not fancy ever changing one myself so maybe extended warranty might have been a good idea? OR maybe L6 how about a little added protection on the switch thing as these babies are eventually going to die, some sort of "just a switch" repair send/return deal???

Yes, on a 3rd party IR it is an integral part of the process and the way it is done, but I am speaking of the mic add on with the Helix which further effects the IR. Also bugs me about the mic position as other modeler units I have used allow you to move the mic across the speaker from cone to edge and you can hear that; also being 1ft distance as a min, who really does that when mic'ing an amp?? Most of the time the mic is at grill distance not 1ft. Other than placing a mic back off feet at a time for distance reverbish effect that seems to be a an exotic flavor than a need. I often have used speaker line DI taps to record with no mics at all and that can work very well if you have the engineering skills in the studio. It is dramatic to me how much a mic can alter the sound and being a pure amp sound player not a studio headphone mic'ing an amp user it can sometimes ruin a great tone that is already there. I work to tweak in an amazing amp tone and then I have choose which mic filtering as to mess the tone up the least. They seem to range from the 57 being the most true sound to gradually more darker, which is not always a bad thing but why not a "direct" bypass on the mic like a DI thing, its like a captive mic coloring on the tone which might be useful at times but also nice to have another option.

All things considered. I have tried out the preset in question and other than thoughts of tearing it down and redoing it, was not the deal for me. Too many volume pedal things and plausible extra expression pedal needs. And why call something a JTM45 if you are not using the amp??? That made no sense at all. Why not use the amps JB uses or a little more closer than a make he does not. As with most "customtone" downloads, I usually dump them after a minute as they are not a fit for me. Quite a few I thought must be a joke as they were just wrongfully programmed, like the inputs on "mic" or a filter not even set right to make the sound "mysterious ways". If you want great well thought presets try the couple bundles they offer here, I have heard and seen nothing but high end goodness from them. At best most of the user free stuff are OK for getting ideas that may not have occurred to you but in general many not unlike the factory stuff are just dreadful, but that is my opinionated self. Don't lose too much sleep if you cannot download it, but like has been said update the unit to 2.01 and do not forget to follow the info sheet instructions about resetting the Globals. 3rd party IR's must be obtained and loaded in separately as far as I know. Little trick on the editor, you do not see the list of IRs you have loaded until you pull down the bar on the screen to get the list, they all just do not appear like other effects blocks in the unit. They also take up a lot of DSP so in a busy preset like the JB I do not think he could get custom IRs in there as it is really busy.

Much love for the HELIX. Excuse me while I review the unit a little for those you might be curious about getting one: Besides the mighty Helix: I can only think of probably one other piece of guitar gear that exceeded my expectations and the ability to master it out relatively quickly and that was my former GR-55 guitar synth, that puppy took some serious learning curve. The Helix is just the best amp modeler I have had to date and I have had a few. The unit is deep enough to have a myriad of programming features to keep you busy with all manner of preset design and tones. At first I thought $1500 was a mint, but really for what it can do and its potential I am really pleased with it. Due to the manner in which I study and absorb as much technical info and programming savvy as I can before I rig it up, I have spend my last few weeks headphone learning the unit to build around 10 presets of personal major coolness before I totally bring it on line with my full sound system. I want to be able to wail on some tones without killing my back bending over every 2s to adjust something. Much less trying to build a preset from scratch while I am wired up holding the guitar. I have learned to love the late night headphone sessions working on things in blissful silence for my wife's sake. Did the same for my GR-55 which required months of study and learning curve to really use it to its potential. While the Helix is not that deep, it still requires one get in there and try a bunch of possible ideas to use the unit to its potential. It begs to be taken to a higher level of tone ideas over just a simple amp and mini chain line and I cannot believe that was all it was intended. Multiple amps, switching, routing, inventive arrays of effects, and if you want simple then isn't it just an easy thing to click off the extra but nice having it there if you want to orbit Titan? If you're like me or pondering the issue of getting one of these and selling off your pedal board: I can say having done that maybe three times with the latest greatest multi unit, pause and hold your roll for a second. I suggest if you have some cool overdrives or even high gain pedals you like maybe you should hang on to them as this unit has superior quality effects loops and ability to position them anywhere. Now maybe modulation, delay and reverb you could sell those off unless you have something really cool or expensive that was hard to get. Maybe be selective in what you unload as a lot of the ability to the Helix is the ability to route and control your gear. While I have no major complaints on the effects there are just many I do not use nor cared to have the pedal versions. So if you have a cherished OD maybe hang on to it. The effects in the Helix are stellar compared to other modeler units I have used. The mod, delays and reverbs have everything you might need and probably a lot of fun in store for some you do not. Some of those reverbs like "cave" can be a real hoot. The drive/gain section is pretty well stocked if you have no pedals or want to stay within the unit. I appreciate the efforts L6 did to render a decent Klon and Timmy and their TS rendering is pretty dead on to the original and they included a mod as well. Certainly there are ways to adjust things that might not have occurred to you "outside the box" via running a pedal into something to buffer it down a little. Like say a Klon after a fuzz and things like that. Personally I have my 4 hard sought after drive section pedals I have piped in to the loop as I am used to them and they have survived my constant gear change-out syndrome. At any rate, big recommend for the Helix from me, and I say that as a "you-could-not give-me-a-Pod" opinionated former user. The notion that the Line6 cats drew me back on board with the Helix magic is no small feat, believe me. Now as a friend to all guitarists if you are like me and cannot afford this much baksheesh in one bucket. Bop on over to zZounds.com (not affiliated in any way) and grab a Helix unit while they still offer it for 12 easy, no qual, no card approval, no interest or finance charge, payment plan. :rolleyes: Thank me later.

I look forward to that. I seem to prefer the Weeper myself but I guess all have their certain uses depending on the amp structure. I wish there was maybe a modeled optioned wah you could adjust params more so than just another model. Sometimes I get annoyed with the copy mimic of things and prefer a more optimized high end model over a name. I had been using a GSP 1101 recently with the last available software C63 which has IR capability. My fav GSP1101 models for cleans were the "2101 Tube Clean" and the "Digitech Clean Tube" which were just optimized killer glass cleans I used quite a bit. I care more how things sound that what they are supposed to sound like. Makes me glad I did not spend a fortune on numerous amps I would have not liked. Still trying to narrow down my favs and go to amps in the Helix. I finally got into the Shiva model which has that mid ground of not clean and not all out gain which where modelers have their hardest territory to meet. Digging the Helix, wondering just how far they can take the update thing with its internal hardware config. I would prefer more tweaking options on pedals than just mimic models. I mean tubescreamer yeah that was novel 30 years out and yes 95% of all drives these days are "based" on that circuit, BUT, would you believe they are trying to improve it and make it better not just copy it?

I actually loved the Shiva model for just a little warm fuzziness on the notes, so many other options for cleans which I like a lot. The Shiva seemed to clean up pretty nicely cutting down the gain, bias and X bias also matter. but it is not a clean model really. Do ripple and hum serve a higher purpose other than making the amp sound realistically noisy? l use more clean amps than high gains as it easy to hit a pedal for gain. Have not found my fav amps yet in the Helix, still shopping around and adjusting. I loved the clean tube models in my GSP1101 which were not really mimics of certain amps but optimized clean tube amps, they are amazing, still looking for some similar things in the Helix. It's harder for me to really dial in a high gain amp I like than a clean one. Dig that Engl Fireball a lot. I try to ignore the name of the mimic and just dial through the tones until something rings with me and then tweak on it. Wondering why there is not a "no mic" direct option in the Helix? Mics color and change everything why can't we just get the pure IR? Or am I missing some trick?

Yep, that was the deal. Pays to read the header stuff more closely. All is cool now with the updates, actually went pretty smoothly after prying my head out of the neither regions. Be sure to reset the globals on updates kids, just like the procedure calls. I got confused as it was a brand new PC I was just starting up so amidst the various problems with modem connections and what not I was not paying enough attention on the L6 stuff. So can someone tell me what that FLASH memory update is for??? Isn't that handled with the 2.01? Is that something we need to deal with? Still bloody hate Windows 10 why did they do this to Windows, you have no control over anything anymore, the machine runs itself, updates what it wants and sets up accounts using your email password om everything that you do not want. And no you cannot config it not to do things like Windows used to work. I suppose its wonderful for the younger age phone obsessed ones that use all the social media and whatnot, I just do not want, need or care about it. I do not carry a cell anymore either, just a waste of money for me, I use my wife's when we are out and that is good enough.

Improved upon the basic glitch burble of all monophonic tracking pitch shifters and octave things they are still sadly not polyphonic (chords) tracking as so much new technology is these days. Wondering if it is just beyond the scope of the in unit technology?? EHX does it in their effects and they are not extreme high tech pedals. Many get away with slight detunes on 1 step and get reasonable tracking but they are not by any means polyphonic tracking effects. =

I've been using stereo power amp to a stereo wired cab and/or a pair of EV powered speakers for some time: Don't forget for true stereo you can run Path A chain out to your L 1/4" or XLR. You split the A line wherever it suits you and do not return to Path A merge, but down to Path B line and that goes straight out to your other R XLR or 1/4. A great way to have separate L and R chains. You can design a myriad of chains like each line having its own amp/cab and what not, depends where you split the A line off and what you do to it. I use this sort of template all the time even to create full on wet/dry sides and true stereo feeds. you can still place stereo effects near the end of the chains to still get them on each side without compromising the stereo separation. If you want more spread add a slight delay no repeats like 20ms just on one side and it pulls the stereo spread more. If you use any stereo effects be sure to increase the spread param.

I could not tell a difference in the vjd A/B pretty impressive. I am not a fuzz user myself so doubtful I will ever use them much. I do love good drives and I farm out to my better pedals in the loop if nothing works quite right. Personally I prefer more updates on the back end effects and amp model tweaks over more fuzz stuff which is not my thing anyway. The Helix for me is all about the amp models the notion it has decent effects is just icing.

Personally if the Helix was not light years better than the HD POD I would not have one. I sort of been-there-done-that on the POD thing. L6 had lost me as a customer until I really got a dose of how well they did the Helix. The Helix has a much better level of tones. I have a GSP1101 with floorboard that is basically new, I just paid it off when I got the Helix because it was such a decent deal. I like the 1101 myself, it has some clean amp models I just love but no where near the options the Helix has. I also had an Atomic Amp for a brief time, great amp models but the effects were not outstanding and limited in scope compared to the Helix ability to use multiple blocks of same effects. The atomic had this annoying clock tick in the background that was a deal kill for me.

Well speaking of massive sonic overkill I have a pair of EV 15s (powered ZLX-15P) and if that is not enough I also run a power amp'd stereo split wired 4x12 with Eminence Man 'O War's which is my go guitar rig package. It is not about seeing how loud you can make everything, it's just the headroom and range. Daddy likes Wattage. Many times I do not use them both on the guitar rig usually either or, but the EV's also run my secondary feeds from my EHX Mel9 line that also has my Trio unit. So most of the time it's my 4x12 with the EVs used for my Mel9 and Trio background. To be honest I do not always like the full range on the models but the Eminence are not low wattage low fidelity, true they have guitar roll off but the guitar has a specific range as well. To be honest I love the EVs for their massive bottom end capability and I used them on my GR-55 guitar synth when I had that rig going. Sold off the synth but still have the EVs so pretty cool to be able to use a range of options. These days smaller speakers can manifest low end more than you might imagine, for me it is wattage handling ability and not tubbing out or not being able to handle what is thrown at them. The EVs are powerful enough to PA a reasonable size band and fill a small club but do nicely in my studio space not cranked to wake the dead. I have speaker stands for them but i tend to like the sound coming off the floor you can also tilt them like monitors if you like. Big fan of EV.

One thing is for sure, this is a wonderful machine. I love how something can exceed my capabilities and take some time to fully groc it out, rather than be limiting to your creative edge. I have been having a lot of fun putting segregated amps on a path A and a path B and having the two channels be able to run either none or slightly different reverb or delays. Still learning some of the various switching options and split,merge things. It can really do a lot of stuff you do not really grasp right away. I've had and used several other amp modelers and this one has been really much better and more realistic sounding. The looping and path ability are superior by far.

Hey if it works, cool. I never had 7 so I cannot really say anything about it. I had 8 and I thought it was supposed to be better than 7 but it had so many issues. What I hate about Windows 10 is the AI takes over your machine and does things you do not want and cannot stop or turn off. The efforts to make things idiot proof and for the non thinking generation are frustrating to the wall for those like me who want the computer to do what it is told and not do what it wants. I live with it as everything on the Helix programs does well. But seriously MS needs to back off the intuitive AI, I do not want all that yada nor every damn update installed without being able to stop it or even remove them. What will future Windows be like, Hal? Stop dumbing down the world, we are stupid enough already.

I had not been a fan of EHX for some time but the newer line of their keyboard mimic pedals are pretty damn awesome. I like having that ambient background under my main tones and the Mel9 is a very nice compact package for strings, orchestral strings, brass, and my fav Cello or even that Flute Strawberry Fields thing. Really does get that quirky Mellotron coolness from that weird tape machine keyboard maintenance nightmare. You should know these are not pristine flawless tracking range renderings of these instruments but the Mellotron emotive of them, which in its own right it is bloody well cool to the bone. This is not a synth pedal but it is for sure just like the Mellotron without the maintenance nightmare. I am not sure how others use the Mel9 but for me I had to split it off into a separate rig line away from my main guitar tones. I cannot see how you would run this in a conventional chain as you do not want this going through your drives and what not. Probably an inventive way to use the Helix to loop isolate it to different outputs but I have not gotten that far along w my programming savvy yet. Right now I run full wet to my EV rig and full dry to my guitar line. I use an ABY on the Mel9 so I can dead mute the dry/wet signal when I want nothing from it, else you get the clean guitar coming through when it is off which is not desirable for me. If you plumb it right. it is a very cool pedal. I used to be a full on GR-55 synth player and all that but the rig just got to complicated with extensive programming on that puppy and having to use the Hex pickup thing which I did not like the fit on my new Les Paul's. The Mel9 gives me back some string and cello tones that add to the ambiance of my tones. I can tell you, learn that main riff sequence of Game of Thrones, it sounds killer and everyone recognizes it. My wife trips when I play that, sounds exactly like the theme w Cellos.

Main thing with the Helix is the amp modeling and the IR ability. If I need a better level of effect I will just loop it in. I just remembered that new little DWN&UP pedal from TC, does up and down two 8vas and is polyphonic and is only like $130 That can give you a much truer 12 string thing and organ like tone. I was not expecting a lot on the front end effects and was not planning to do without pedals for a lot of that. The Amps, IRs, a few back end effects plus the cool output and loop features and I am totally happy. I was impressed that they did give a good try and upgrade over the POD front end stuff. What ever the Helix lacks is an easy loop out to something but the amp modeling is fantastic and that was the price of admission for me. Everything else is added bonus.

What Browser are you using? I had fits with the Explorer on my new PC, I went back to Chrome and everything is cool. Make sure you have the correct 2.01 file as the first one on the page is a Flash memory thing not the 2.01 update. Check the header on the window on the left side. I made that goof several times.