mikah912
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Everything posted by mikah912
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Yeah, none of what you typed makes a lick of sense. First, Fractal is moving slower at adding new content than Line 6 and have been for quite awhile. The Axe-FX III has had one new model (yet another Plexi) added since its release in March. A few weeks prior, Line 6 added two amps, five reverbs and 77 legacy effects to Helix hardware and VST. Now, I will say Fractal does more frequent bug fixes, but these are part of an onslaught of public beta releases that also create other bugs that - then - have to be fixed by yet another public beta. If that's what you want, Line 6 aint your cup of tea. Kemper rarely even implements user-requested features and updates, so....LOL. BOSS, Headrush and Amplifire? LMAO. Second, I see no "number of buyers" who are moving on. Line 6 clearly gave a window in which the next update will arrive ("end of Spring"). That's 10 days away. If they miss it due to discovered bugs, they will come here and elsewhere and update us on when they think it'll be fixed. Otherwise, they've been open and straightforward. No one in software development can say that an update will be released on X day unless they haven't tested it. It's released when they kill the bugs in the update, not before. No one is developing across more platforms (I don't believe anyone else is maintaining a synchronous VST/multi-form hardware ecosystem) at a faster rate than Line 6. Jumping ship because that's not enough for you is fine, but you better be jumping to real tube amps. There's literally no one in the modeling space working harder and putting out more when it comes to firmware updates.
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A long time? Just four months since 2.5 with all of the new effects, reverbs and amps. Bug fix updates have happened since then too. Do people expect new models every 60 days or something?
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THAT is a "specific" tone? Sounds like every guy I've ever gigged with in town across a host of different amps and guitars.
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As someone who has had a Helix and AX8 MULTIPLE times, I went with Helix ultimately and never looked back. I also primarily play the same genres as you. First, online clips tell you nothing and online "versus" discussions just sow doubt. The clips are just a snapshot of one person dialing in one amp with one IR as of one particular firnware. Second, usability made a huge difference to me. While Fractal does offer a gazillion parameters and amp models to choose from, I personally found it less than optimal to set up and tweak with. Helix inspired me to write and play a lot more. Finally, for high gain, Helix has some exclusive amp models - the Badonk, Archon and the Cartographer, in particular - that just do it for me in a way that Fractal never did. I love the Friedman too, but everyone wears that tone out these days. If you have any remaining doubt, check k out the Helix videos from Sonic Drive Studios on YouTube.
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WOAH. Can't wait for all of the goodies.
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Three wildly different rhythm tones there. Tesseract uses the FAS Modern amp model with a mid/gain boost in front into a V30 cab. There is no direct analog on Helix, but my suggestion would be to start with the Archon. Also, they coil tap their pickups for a spankier tone with all rhythms. Meshuggah uses a buttload of different things through their career, but the Badonk model with a V30 cab should help get you there. Periphery likes 5150 and Friedman sims, so dial either one of those up and pair it with the XXL V30 cab. If you go with the 5150, be sure to stick a Tube Screamer in front with the gain almost off.
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Yeah....it's not accessible for the moment. It'll calm down later, I'm sure.
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Only my opinion. Rocco Crocco thinks it sounds off and weak. The only thing that stood out negatively to me was the palm muting part, which Helix doesn't negatively affect one way or the other.
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It's the headphones. That could use a touch more plate reverb, but otherwise sounds damn good.
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EVH used a lot LESS gain than people think he did on those classic recordings. Yes, he had a Plexi cranked to oblivion and sometimes Variac'd, but that's not a "high gain" head. I've used the EVH patch in that video, and it sounds spot on when I play it.
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It is. But nothing is "good" for everybody. Not everybody loves or even likes or even bothers to see the Best Picture winner every year. Don't think everyone or even most here are Taylor Swift fans. But what you call "good" MIGHT take a bit more work than what a lot of other people do. But I can tell you there is no inherent lack of "sustain" or "tube like warmth" on Helix. I know it. It's demonstrable across a kazillion YouTube videos and Soundcloud clips. It's something in the way you have it set up. One thing I see with guys used to other units doing on Helix for high gain stuff is using an aggressive noise gate block, which can kill sustain and degrade tone. Just use the Gate on the Input block all the way to the left of the signal chain. I also suggest you keep things simple to start with and go from there. For Metallica, the Mark IV/Cali IV Lead channel gets the job done nicely, but if you've never played a real Mesa Mark amp, you gotta learn how to dial it. The B/M/T controls are all pre gain staging that really shape the tone not unlike a TubeScreamer does. The best thing to do is to follow the name of each: Keep the lows low (bass), mids in the middle (around 5) and keep the highs high. Finally, set the 5-band EQ to a slight smile curve. I know you like mids, but the Mesa has a good amount inherent in its voicing already. It's ok. Then you can crank the two drives on the amp to around 7 or 8 and go at it. Pair it with a good Mesa/Cali IR. Try the one in the free Line 6 Allure IR pack. We already gave you a great Van Halen pack. The above should help you get to Metallica.
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If you wanna do classic Van Halen, this guy gives the whole game away here: That has the demo and download link for the patch. Similarly, if you want Metallica, check this out:
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Again, just saying it sounds terrible or sounds like caca isn't helpful. You gotta use your words. If you're as experienced, you should be able to identify if a tone has too much/too little mid-range, high-end, low-end, chunk, clarity, definition, etc. Also, Metallica doesn't use ENGL or EVH amps. Their tone is in a completely different ballpark - that's true of the AJFA era, Load era, and modern Metallica.
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Might help if you had specific sonic criticism. Saying "it sucks...tried this and that sucks....tried that and it sucks too" is not at all helpful. What is not working for you? Be specific. There are a kazillion great metal Helix patches and major artists using it. I wouldn't necessarily say it's user error, but merely user unfamiliarity. Help us to help YOU to get familiar.
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Although I absolutely believe and respect your stated difficulties, I think it should be made clear that "glitches with sound issues" or "hesitating while scrolling" are not problems that were introduced with the 2.30 update nor are they widespread bugs at all. You should log a ticket with Line 6 ASAP. Best support around.
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Should sticky this somewhere. I like the swerves y'all are pulling.
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I'm liking the cut of your jib, sir......
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Most of the month is off-limits, tho. It's probably only going to launch Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. So....assuming it won't be tomorrow (They'd probably say something were it that close), that leaves the following days for the update to drop: Nov. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30. Assuming everything is still on track, we don't have long to wait at all.
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It's. only. been. six. months. since. the. last. update....
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No one knows, man. It could be this coming Tuesday. It could be 15 Tuesdays from now.
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It IS taking a rather long time. You know what is taking an EVEN LONGER time? Any substantial new content updates from pretty much every other modeling company in the biz! Fractal hasn't added a new amp to the Axe-FX/AX8 since around the same time2.20 dropped. And they don't have a 7 amp, 7 FX update pending, either. All Cliff has teased for their next update is a new memory Man pedal model and Darkglass B7K model - both of which we already have in Helix. I believe Kemper's last big update - delays - was around this time last year. Ask Amplifire users when was the last time they got firmware with new content. Headrush has had, what, one amp model added since they launched in the summer? Boss? Digitech? Zoom? ISP Theta? You can practically hear those names echoing because there's nothing but tumbleweed and crickets in terms of afterrelease content being added to their flagship products. Meanwhile, Line 6 has a load of goodness ready to roll as soon as the *&^!%!*%$##@!&ing new editor decides to behave and makes it out of testing. We're getting the best of it....trust me.
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YES. This is what people keep forgetting - the CLOSE MIC part. The Helix does not simulate an amp in the room. It simulates an amp in the room that is close miced by a microphone that has a dynamic range beyond the high end rolloff of a speaker. I've heard it for myself in recording sessions. That's why producers have taped off "sweet spots" on their cabs and Fredman clips to alleviate this.
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Line 6 already has multiple Helix videos showing product specialists creating a signature artist tone from scratch one element at a time. I guess they could make MORE of those, but it appears people have not even discovered the ones they've already done.
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I truthfully didn't spend more time tweaking my presets for Helix than I did when I had an AX8. I used high/low cuts for both. I didn't like the stock cabs on either at first. Definitely wasn't crazy about most of the stock presets. I think I was a little bit more plug and play with my Atomic Amplifire, but those models felt more limited to me as well,.
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I see some customers still have that "signature laziness" where they buy an incredibly powerful signal processor that can load tons of IRs, adjust with near endless surgical EQ and tweak mic types and distance from the speaker....but expect it to magically match the sound in their head with no adjustment. In fact, they consider "having to use" any of these powerful capabilities they paid for as a bad thing.... Really? I bought a nice 4k TV for my bedroom not long ago. When I plugged it up, it had that "signature appliance store showroom" look to the image. I guess I could've sulked because it wasn't what I wanted "out of the box", but then I remembered I paid for significant tweaking abilities too! 10 minutes later, I calibrated it properly and now it's great. Sheesh...
