chrisakinhan

My nearly 20 year old TC Electronic M-One XL makes Helix Reverbs sound like $h1t

Where Line 6 has to be careful is when users start to feel strongly about missing some key features and other competitors capitalize on it. If Axe Fx had release a floor pedal as powerful as their Axe fx III rack unit and had made the interface and routing as easy/intuitive as Helix or more, you'd be seeing a lot more Helix units on Reverb. The Quad Cortex looked promising but from all demos including most recent ones, feels like a poorly executed device and software. It feels more like a proof of concept than a product. If they had nailed it, Line 6 would be loosing a lot of customers. Line 6 is lucky they haven't. As it stands the reverb quality in Helix is making me want to add an outboard pedal. I hate the idea of using up more dsp just to do some spliting/combining tricks in Helix to achieve the Reverb I want that I can buy in a single pedal. I wouldn't be as concerned about that if Helix DSP was at least 50% more powerful. I would be very happy for a long time if it had similar or more power than the Axe FX III, would allow multiple splits on a single path, and 4 independent long paths of at least 12 blocks each (and each of those could have multiple splits along their paths). Lastly the Helix UI is the best of the bunch, but adding a touch screen where I can just touch blocks to select them without having to use the damn joystic, and a graphical parametric EQ representation where I can touch, drag, pinch, would just send it through the roof. A device like that, along with software updates would likely last 10-15 years. As it stands, Helix is already aging just 5 years after release.

There are both "Level" and "Gain" settings as well that can boost or reduce volume. That may be what's happening when the pedal comes on.

So, I tested this and found out there is a little over 1db drop in volume after engaging and disengaging the tuner. It goes back and forth. The volume drops after you engage and disengage, and then the volume comes back after you engage/disengage again. I recorded the wave form into my DAW to capture this. See image. You can see that not only does volume drop, but the distance between the first two peaks is reduced indicating perhaps some compression going on as well. This happens on all or most my presets. I generally use at least a PowerAmp (NO CABINET) Delay and some Reverb on each preset. If someone wants to try replicating this into their own DAW on 2.92.

BluGuitar Amp1 vs SD PowerStage 170 vs Orange Pedal Baby This review should be of interest to users of Helix, Kemper, Axe FX, and/or any other Amp emulation. I just did a side by side comparison of power amps for Helix dialing in several tones on the Helix in the mid gain range for Blues, Blues Rock, Classic Rock genres. I plugged the out from Helix directly into these at line level and directly into the Amp1 return for the power amp stage only. I’ve compared the PS 170 before but this is the first time I’ve done a back to back with all three. Conclusions and Notes: PowerStage 170 Plenty of power/volume in small to medium sized venues or stage volume only. I’ve heard people describe the PowerStage as sounding “sterile” compared to the Pedal Baby. I have to concur. It is more sterile sounding compared to it and outright dead sounding compared to the Amp1. After many comparisons back and forth between all three I believe I know exactly what is missing in the PS 170. It is missing a large amount of the natural harmonics produced by the tube amp, and since Helix is not super great at reproducing these, they are glaringly missing. The sound is there but there are large “gaps” in the harmonics from one amp to the next. There is no “bounce” or “give” when you play. It feels completely “digital” or non-organic. Orange Pedal Baby It definitely sounds BETTER and like one reviewer on youtube recently stated, “more amp like”. Even though it was better, no matter how much I EQ’d Helix, there was still a lot of mojo and oomph missing. I WAS ABLE to increase some of this on the Pedal Baby itself by increasing the bass dial resonance, as well as reducing the treble dial resonance to more closely match my speaker. However, even though it had MORE body, presence, and harmonics than the Power Stage, it still lacked a glaringly large number of the harmonics that the Amp1 produces and although it also FELT slightly better to play, it still felt mechanical and non-organic. BluGuitar Amp1 Just absolutely stellar in comparison to both of the others. When you take a Helix tone and send it through the Amp1 power amp you get: 1) The FEEL of a tube amp… that bounce and feedback is there… but I’m still playing a digital emulator! Best of both worlds. 2) Tons of transparent power on tap 3) It SOUNDS like a real tube amp with a glorious array of tube harmonics. If I put the Amp1 at 100% for sound/feel, the PowerStage is about 65% and the Pedal Baby is like 70% at 12 oclock dials and maybe 78% when adjusting dials to match your speaker. Conclusion: There is still no better option than a used Amp1 (~$400) for amplifying something like the Helix. I still think Thomas could make a killing just selling his nano tube power section only for ~$450 - $500. What Helix user wouldn't want the feel and sound of a real tube amp?