gkinder

Went FRFR, just sold my last tube amp....not missing the tube amps one bit....finding the right/best FRFR system for you is, IMHO, the biggest challenge. I took the money from selling off my amps and stepped up to a Mission Engineering Gemini 2 Studio Edition. The Gemini and Helix are the BEST decision I ever made on gear. Can use this combo in the studio or live and the Gemini lets the Helix flat sing. Run backing tracks from my tablet through the Gemini via its Bluetooth interface and have a Line 6 G70 wireless hooked into the Helix. Have two cables in my entire rig now, G70 receiver to the Helix and the Helix to the Gemini via a dual XLR to TRS stereo (that's it)....simple, easy to tear down/setup, plenty of power, sounds killer. Looked at the L3 and L2 speaker options but by the time I bought two for stereo the dollars were pretty much the same as the Gemini 2 plus I would end up with multiple pieces and cables which I didn't want, The Gemini was designed from the ground up to be used with modelers like the Helix, so it's not a PA system but rather a instrument system....that may or may not make a difference to everyone's ear, but it does to mine. Good luck!! http://missionengineering.com/?product=gemini-2-studio-edition

This all depends on your needs and if the Helix integrates with your other studio gear. I've gotten rid of just about all my gear, i.e. tube amps/pedals/etc, and am using the Helix pretty much exclusively. I'm PC based so the Helix works great...if you are Mac based then the Helix may not be a good choice until the driver issues are resolved. Helix is being updated by Line6 for the long haul so you will either go a different direction today or go with the Helix now and live through the growing pains....the Helix is an excellent unit and think it will only get better over time....

Have a set of the old KRK Rocket 8's....the Helix screams through them...

Put out a Carol Ann Triptek model with three channel switching and push back the editor

Dittos on the ME units...have the Gemini 2 and this thing will break windows if you crank it....take a Big room to absorb all the juice these things have on tap...pricey but the best FRFR cabs available, imho...the blue tooth is killer too...

what could you pissibly need a system that boots faster for? takes that long for my home theater rig to get going....

Just remember that a little move up on the Helix goes a long way.... cranking up a Helix setting may be way over top sounding... most controls have a pretty wide sweep..... haven't worked much with the twin but the amp settings on other models have been dynamic and produced good results with a few nudges here and there, i.e. sag, bias, etc

helix, best floorboard available....soooo easy to use and dial up great tones

Running single coils in my knaggs severen through my helix and it sounds great... getting killer Hendrix tone.... must be something else going on with your setup

WiFi I can't really see as being a major value, though some may find it useful, however Bluetooth streaming for backing tracks, etc. would be a nice addition and if the new editor would allow changes via Bluetooth connections that would be pretty sweet....I don't need it at this point because I have this capability with my Gemini 2 cab and it's one of the best things I've ever used for practicing, learning songs, and doing solo performing where I want to have the Helix mixed with a band from a backing track....don't know how Mission Engineering has their streaming and modeler input setup in their interface but the Bluetooth audio and Helix mix perfectly and it truly sounds like you are right in the middle of a live band. I've shown my rig to guys that do a lot of solo gigs and they are now looking at putting the same setup together for themselves....

Add Bluetooth.....everything is better with Bluetooth :)

Full uninstall and reinstall worked fine for me on W10 on both my machines. This is the third or fourth file with invalid digital signatures from Line 6..... Line 6 developers, you need check your compiler.....

Mission Engineering Gemini Series powered FRFR cabs....fantastic sounding and built from the ground up for modelers....if you are using in a studio most of the time get the Studio Edition so there is no fan noise....the Live version does have an audible fan if used in a studio...live, you'd never hear it....they aren't cheap though, but you get what you pay for....

Have the silent plug on my Lava cable and really like it....worth the extra couple of bucks...no pops connecting or disconnecting the guitar :)

Does anyone have suggestions for GOOD wireless headphones to run with the Helix?

Wasn't grasping what you were driving at, sorry about that (had a senior moment there), and you were correct on your suggested application with the Mission cable...

Yep, that would work too, however I only need a 15' edition of this cable and it was only a few dollars more to have one made.....other wise I would have to buy the short Mission cable and then buy two additional XLR cables which would have been quite a bit more expensive...plus only having one cable is a cleaner setup. These folks make custom cables...great folks to deal with!! http://www.best-tronics.com/ Also ordered a custom cable for the G70 transmitter, 36" long with a right angle silent plug....

+1 on the DT 770 Pro headphones....love mine. I have the 80 ohm version and they work well on the Helix....not sure what the difference in the various ohm versions is or how that affects the usage....can anyone shed some light on this?

You could use two XLR cables then get a stereo 1/4 TRS to dual XLR adaptor....there is a single, stereo input jack on the Gemini so you have to come out of the Helix's two outs (L and R) and reduce them to a single (L/R) in. You could do the same with Helix's 1/4" outs to a single 1/4" stereo as well....I'm just opting to use the XLR outs.....plus one cable is better than two as I'm trying to reduce everything down to the lowest number of pieces in my rig.

Pickup up Glenn's Gilmore patch the other day....pretty good....not expensive either....good luck https://www.glenndelaune.com/patch%20downloads.htm

Well said sir.....real world bugs and fixes take time and the Helix certainly appears to be a unit that is capable of expansion/revision over a long life cycle...in all fairness to Line 6, they have been pretty responsive, IMO, to making updates and expansions already.....how long has it been out? Not even four months and we've already seen a number of updates, new FX, and next week new amps, FX, librarian and editor....not bad support at all....

Mark series are great but would also like to see the Lonestar modeled....

No, it's a special cable....though you could do the adapter type thing I guess....the special order cable was about the same price so went that route...should be a nice and clean setup with a single cable between the Helix and Gemini 2 http://missionengineering.com/?product=gemini-2-stereo-signal-cable

Thought about going with two of the Gemini 1's, but for my application the stereo version should be spot on, though won't know for sure until that cable shows up. I was a bit surprised how loud the cooling fan was. If doesn't sound defective, normally you can pickup a bad fan audibly pretty quick, think it's indicative of the unit. Sweetwater confirmed this yesterday during our discussions. My wife even noticed it immediately when she walked into our man cave/multi-media room...had the TV on and hadn't turn the Gemini off, she asked me to turn it off as the noise was bugging her.

Some folks had asked for impressions of the Mission Engineering Gemini 2 that I received earlier this week. Had a chance to spend a few hours with it last night and thought I'd throw up my initial impressions. First, I've been on a quest to build my "perfect rig". "Perfect" is highly subjective, so perfect for my needs is probably the better usage. As I've posted before, I'm a 50 year old home enthusiast. Don't play gigs but do play out with some friends of mine who are the same type of players, i.e. older guys just having some fun and trying their best to sound decent. Our wives all tolerate our passion and normally just roll their eyes at us :rolleyes: . With that said, all you pro guys on here please take this with a grain of salt as I'm not sure how much of this is helpful for you all. I've sold off all but one of my tube amps since I got my Helix a few months back. For me the Helix is the perfect anchor for my rig, see my previous impressions post on the Helix if you'd like. In the process now of clearing out most of my pedals and other "non-essential" gear. My next "prefect" rig item was a wireless unit to eliminate having to be strapped to the Helix with a cable. Looked at all the options out there and decided to go with the Line 6 G70 Relay. The G70 is working flawlessly and would recommend it to anyone. The last "perfect" rig item was for amplification of the Helix. Tried running the Helix through my tube amps but the result was what one would expect, coloring of the Helix tone by the amp, so decided a FRFR solution was what I wanted. After doing a lot of research I decided to go with the Mission Engineering Gemini 2 with Bluetooth. Reasons for choosing the Gemini 2 were; built to last, designed as a one piece stereo unit, tone good both at low and loud levels, plenty of power to play in a quartet with a heavy handed drummer (more than enough juice), ability to tweak the cab resonance from FRFR to more of a guitar centered voicing, and ability to stream backing tracks via Bluetooth form my phone or tablet, i.e. makes my rig a "band in a rig". So does the Gemini 2 deliver? So far, almost a 100% Yes, will get to the "almost" pieces in a moment. Now, I haven't been able to run in stereo mode yet because the special cable you need to do so won't be here till this coming week. In order to run the unit in stereo you need a dual XLR to single TRS 1/4" cable. Mission offers one but it's only 3' long. The support folks at Mission were great and gave me the name of the company who makes theirs so I could have one made 15' long to go with the Helix floor unit. Will update this post when the cable gets here on the stereo aspects. Plugged-in in mono however sounds fantastic with the Helix, both at low and loud volumes, so imagine stereo will just be incredible. Hooked up my phone via the Bluetooth last night and was streaming blues backing tracks to the Gemini while playing a Plexi patch from the Helix. HOLY ##%$# this sounded good!!! The Gemini and Helix blended together in a perfect mix, sounded like I was playing "in the band". Have been trying any number of solutions to get this kind of mix and could never get close to what I was getting last night with the Gemini/Helix combo. For you pro and semi-pro guys that may find yourself playing small solo gigs and want a "band in a rig" type setup, I truly don't think you will ever find anything that can top this. Volume wise, you could play a good size room at half power, the Gemini has balls. At lower levels the Gemini sounds fantastic, which was my biggest worry when I bought it because most gear at low volume sounds just okay, at best. As to tone, the Gemini amplifies your Helix patches spot on, every nuance is audible. I wanted to "feel" the Helix, think only guitar players get that reference ;) , and the Gemini delivers in spades. With some of the other solutions I checked out, low end had a tendency to get hollow or flabby, that's not the case with the Gemini. Low end is as tight or lose as your Helix patch is set. Mids are what they are supposed to be from low to high, and the highs are not ice picky unless you want them to be via your patch...all the highs from my patches sounded sweet and clear. With the Helix, as with all Line 6 products, I've found that less is more when dialing in settings and the Gemini exposes this in even greater detail.....it truly is FRFR when set to that mode and you hear what you are dialing in. I did play with the resonance voicing a bit and it works as advertised. If you dial back from FRFR on the cab it truly takes on the more mid focus of a traditional guitar cab. For the blues backing tracks I found that pulling the resonance of the cab off of full FRFR slightly produced a tone that sounded like you were sitting in a smokey bar filled with soulful tone....was heaven to my ears. I haven't played with all of the recording and other features of the Gemini, may never do so honestly, but the number one things for me were the tone at studio levels and the streaming capabilities and these were both higher than my expectations. If you want all the specs you can go to Mission's website, however this unit is built like a tank and the fit and finish is top shelf. I do like that it is built like a guitar cab, i.e. it's what a guitar rig is supposed to look like :) . The trade off though to being built like this is weight. Here is the first of the "almost" items...it is HEAVY. With all the modern materials available there has got to be a way to build these units without so much weight. I'm no engineer but if this unit weighed 20 lbs less Mission wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand of people wanting them. Other "almosts" have to with the weight as well. There are no removable casters provided nor do they appear to be an option....they really should be standard on any piece of gear that weighs this much. Next is that the cab has a single, center mounted strap handle on the top positioned lengthwise. While the strap feels sturdy, the weight and size of the cab make it cumbersome to move. Again, I'm no engineer but would think dual top straps mounted front to back instead of lengthwise, recessed corner or side mounted handles, or something in these veins would make moving the Gemini MUCH easier. I'm no waif of a guy, so I can move this beast around but someone of slighter build might find this even more of an issue. The only other thing in the "almost" list is the cooling fan in the Gemini. It puts out too much noise for primary studio use, at least for me it does. Now, since I ordered my Gemini from Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago, Mission has re-branded the unit I have as the "Gemini 2 LIVE" version and released a new unit branded as the "Gemini 2 Studio Edition". The new unit has no cooling fan and is noiseless, plus a couple of other minor improvements....guessing I'm not the only one that has an issue with the fan noise. Really wished I'd known about the new version as I would have waited a few weeks and selected this newer option. Thank goodness I dealt with Sweetwater as an email on this issue was all it took to get an immediate response and action. The Gemini I have is going to be returned and replaced with the new Studio Edition. The new version is $200 more but believe it's money well spent not to have to listen to this cooling fan. For those that will be using the Gemini in live settings the majority of the time, the "LIVE" version would be perfect and doubt you would even notice the cooling fan. Well, that's enough I guess. Think the Studio Edition will put the Gemini 2 in the 95% approval range, with the 5% knock off going to the weight/casters/handle items listed above. Probably can't get much better than that....if the weight items were changed the Gemini would get a 100% rating form me...and I'm picky. Hope this was helpful for those considering a FRFR rig. I'm pretty much have my "perfect rig" put together, wireless so I can sit on the couch across the room from the Helix/Gemini and play along with my favorite backing track and songs, fantastic tone, and more flexibility than I'll ever truly need....now just need my Collings I35 Deluxe to get here and I'm done :D Life if good...be well....