ddargis1208

Thanks - appreciating your perspective on this as it's my first go at a modeler. I did check out my brothers set up and he was using Tone Bridge which I personally thought was pretty awful, or at least what I heard but he was using computer speakers. Not sure why. So if I went with Amplitube, or something like it, I'd need a DAW running in the background, correct? Just wondering as that's an additional element I'd have to spin myself up on... and I'm not hearing that a DAW is necessary to run Helix, or HX Edit.

Thanks - I'm not trying to record, so my interest overall was just a savings of the $400 Helix Native price vs. my investment of $1400 for the floor unit. I've watched a couple more videos, and feeling pretty good after watching Jason Sadites. Spoke with my new guitar teacher last night for the first time and he's aware of Helix, has some studio experience so I'm guessing between the two of us we can put together a preset template and some snapshots off of that.... I think I'm going to play with Helix, and then maybe down the road install Amplitube 4 at some point. My brain can only handle one right now.... I like how Helix has the floor unit so I'm not constantly mousing around on my computer to find tones. I can simply scroll through presets on the floor unit and click on pedals as needed to turn off effects or select snapshots. Down the road I think I'm going to get more and more value out of it. I've heard some people say Helix is better than Amplitube, and vice versa. For me, I'm not an audiophile and likely won't really appreciate the differences. I also really like that I can download Helix HX Edit and manipulate tones there vs. on the floor unit. I can also download preset tones from Custom Tone and assign them to my floor units open presets...

Whew - my hair just got blown back... light bulb! Feeling much much much better about all this. Ok, so new plan - not returning Helix floor for Helix Native. Downloading the HX Edit, and continuing to educate myself via YouTube videos for now. Thanks for all your time & help Cheers!

Soundog - thanks much! I am definitely wanting to play electric guitar on the Helix and sound like a guitar god! So, what I'm hearing is keep the floor model and I can run it through to my Fender Passport. The Passport comes with two rather large voluminous speakers so that should be interesting - in a good way. In terms of overall setup I could use some more advice. 1) So I keep the Helix floor - does the Edit - Computer Software package come with it? Is it a free download from the Line 6 site, or do I have to buy it? 2) If I'm not interested in "recording" , I wouldn't need the Helix Native at all then, right? I'm going to be very interested initially in downloading patches until I'm more up to speed with signal chain... so: Is it better to have the Helix Native to manage these patches or just the Edit Software?

Thanks. My mindset has been from the start - I'm buying this in lieu of a physical amp, so realistically I'm not spending a lot more than I would have on a decent amp + pedals and I'm getting hundreds of tones. So I'd prefer to see it through and am kinda praying my guitar instructor can help fill in the knowledge gaps with set up - haha. Trying not to get overwhelmed. I think once I get just one good tone dialed in I'll be more than happy with it. I prob don't need more than a good clean/bluesy tone, dirty bluesy tone, jazz tone, and metal tone for now. That's not a lot. For sound - do you know if anyone has tried to play a Helix through a Fender Passport mini PA + Speakers vs. just headphones or nice computer speakers? That's what I'm attempting to do via low impedance XLR cables. Here's the front face of the Passport. Should be pretty easy right?

That's an excellent point... and sounds like I'm going to have to wrestle it through in my mind. Cost / Benefit analysis... plus it really depends on if my guitar instructor is comfortable helping me out with it. Connections, Patches, Tones, etc. There is a large learning curve and I just can't throw 4-8 hours a day at it.

Thanks. Appreciate the response. I didn't mention that I hired a guitar teacher yesterday and he appears to have experience in the Studio. If he's ok with helping me spin up the Helix I'll keep it. Just thought I could save $1K by returning the Helix Floor if honestly I could just use the Native instead. Sounds like the Native has all the same capabilities... outside of being mobile, which as stated isn't something I foresee needing. I just wasn't aware of the Helix Native Plug In when I was at Guitar Center. So, thinking maybe I overly excited by the product in my face and jumped the gun. I'm 44 with kids and getting out and jamming with friends isn't really going to happen - anytime in the near future. Just looking to get back into guitar and playing in the basement. I work from home so there is an hour or so a day I can break away and play.

I actually bought a Helix Floor unit and am worried it's massive overkill for my abilities, experience, etc. I've played mostly acoustic guitar and bought a few electrics and now feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole. I wouldn't really know how to create tones, but like the idea of being able to purchase/download patches. I'm a bedroom player, so no gigging application or band application so do I really need a Floor Unit? Should I have just purchased the Helix Native Plug-In for $400 vs. the Floor for $1400. If I buy the Native Plug in and return the Floor unit I'll still need to purchase a FocusRite Scarlett (or something like that), plus I'll need a copy of Pro Tools to basically run the thing, right? Seems like I'm swimming out of my depth, but would appreciate any advice as I'm pretty new to all this amp sim stuff. Thinking I might just need to swim in shallow waters like Amplitube, Guitar Rig, or Tone Bridge.... but I do really want the high level tonal capabilities of Helix and have hired a guy for lessons who may be able to help me fine tune it.