mattbarden

I really would like to try one of those Powerstages. Nobody stocks them in my area though. Not to say I don't like my current setup, but those do look cool from what I've seen and heard. What advantages did you find from it compared to the amps you tried your Helix through?

There's always the Boss Katana head too. It's solid state but it isn't class D like most solid state amplifiers. I think its class A/B if I'm not mistaken. Pretty inexpensive too and works great! I just run into the fx loop and use all Helix for the tones. Another plus is should something happen to my Helix the Katana on it's own can act as a backup.

Got an email this morning saying the new update is available, so you should be able to export and load your custom ir's with no volume compensation needed in helix now.

MIKKO is an excellent piece of software. I've been using it for about a month now and have gotten great results. One thing to mention is that currently when you export your custom IR and load it into the helix it is a lot quieter than other IR's. I've just been upping the db's to compensate, but I talked to Mikko today and this will be resolved in the next update that's coming very soon.

It's right below the PV Panama.

I guess other than the other channels of the Revv, the additional amps I'd really like to see added are the other channels of the original amps that were included in the initial release (since it seems like that's what we're doing going forward), the Diezel VH4, Mesa Mark 2C+, Randall Satan, Marshall JVM and JCM 900. That would pretty much round it out for me. What is everyone else hoping for?

Surprised nobody's posted anything on this here yet, but Mikko from ML Soundlabs just released what I think is an absolute game changer for IR's. You can create your own with the cabinets and mics he's included and export them to wav files. Load the cab, pick your individual or custom combination mics and position them wherever you want. Been playing around with the free version all day and it's awesome. Mikko makes (imo) the best IR's available and now he's giving us the ability to make our own with this software. Check this out: His customer service is outstanding as well. I downloaded this last night and couldn't figure out how to mute the raw sound going in, sent him an email asking what to do and today we got this video. He even emailed me back directly to let me know it was up. Been talking a little bit with him since I got his Mesa cab pack a little while ago and he's just a good dude overall. It's nice to see someone that puts out this good of a product and still takes time to talk with the lowly bedroom warriors like myself. Props to you Mikko, this is incredible and keep up the great work!

For sure! I haven't even gotten past trying the Revv yet as far as the other new additions go. I was very much looking forward to this model so I've been focusing on dialing in different tones with it ever since I got home from work. There is a lot you can do just within the red channel. I'm stoked to see what the other 3 have to offer. I do really like that Line 6 is giving us more of the amp channels on the Helix as opposed to the previous "you get one and that's it" mentality on previous hardware.

Nicely done Line 6, the new Revv model is awesome. Can't wait for the other 3 channels to be added now. Thanks!

If you haven't tried this IR library yet I'd recommend giving it a go. I've bought IR's from Ownhammer, Redwirez, Celestion, 3 Sigma, Choptones and tried a bunch of other free ones since getting my Helix that I was always kind of "meh" on, got frustrated with and just went back to the stock cabs in the end. These are awesome though, especially for the money. 10 cabs for $20.00, about 800 some odd IR's per format (Helix, Axe-FX, Kemper, WAV). I kind of randomly stumbled on them, nobody seems to mention them in IR discussions so I thought I'd share for anyone interested. No free IR to try unfortunately, but $20.00 isn't bad for what you get. I'm mostly a metal guy but with all the different cabs/mics they included I think there's something for everyone. Their Mesa cab pairs very nicely with the L6 Badonk model IMO.

Let me say first that I've never owned a tube amp or stack with a separate head/cabinet, so this is by no means going to apply to people that own them since I know they work a little differently. But I recently picked up a 100 watt Katana combo to use as a power amp/speaker with my Helix and also double as a backup should something go wrong. Initially I was just running the Helix straight into the FX return of the Katana without cab sims and it sounded pretty good, but then I thought I should try the 4 cable method too. Why not get the best of both worlds an use the Katana's amp models too, right? Well, I kind of started to prefer the Katana's high gain amp sounds and just used the Helix as FX only. The "Brown" channel on the Katana is pretty cool. The Katana's amps also seem to respond a little better to dynamic picking and the guitar's volume roll-off, probably due to it's class A/B amplification structure than the usual class D you'd typically see from solid state amps. Colin from CS Guitars on Youtube put out a video a few days ago explaining the difference of amplification structures of class A, A/B and D that I found very informative and kind of reinforces what I'm about to say here. The Katana's amp channels definitely feel a lot more dynamic to me when playing through the amp than the Helix amp models do when running 4CM. I think the main difference is that the Katana amp models were specifically built around this class A/B structure while the Helix amps are supposed to be a jack of all trades. So on to my point. Today I figured out a way to get the same best of both worlds in a recording scenario without compromising the current setup and workflow that I've become accustomed to using the Helix. I live in an apartment so mic'ing up the Katana is not an option for me. It's fun to jam with, sounds good on it's own and thankfully has a power level adjustment to keep me in check. But getting mic'ed recording levels isn't something I can do here. So, I took my 4CM patch and instead of the usual 4 cable routing, I just ran the FX send out of my Helix into the Katana's input, then out of it's phones/recording output back into the Helix's FX return and plugged into the Helix's guitar input. And it works, very well actually. I still kind of prefer the Katana's amp tones this way even, with it's own built-in speaker emulation from it's record out none the less so I don't even need to use a block or two for IRs or my meticulously dialed in Helix stock cabs. And the same dynamics still seem to come through with the pick attack and volume roll off so that's really cool. I'm mainly talking about the high gain amps with this, I do still prefer using the Helix's JC 120 model vs the Katana's own clean channel for my clean sounds so don't label me a heretic for blaspheming the Helix here or anything. But for high gain stuff I'm definitely leaning on the Katana right now. To me it just sounds and feels a little better than even my best Helix patches, be them with the Ownhammer IR's I have or the stock dual cab combos I've taken a lot of time to dial in. And before you say "but you could have just done this using the Katana's USB to record", I say nay! Note the previous statement about not wanting to compromise my current setup and workflow. Yeah, I probably could have used the Katana's USB to record with the Helix hooked up via 4CM, but I wouldn't be able to use my studio monitors AND record a dry track that I can re-amp later if needed. At least as far as I can tell, maybe there is a way but this was pretty easy to do and for all intents and purposes everything works the same in the end. The only thing that would be the Coup de Grace for me at this point is if I could switch the Katana's amp channels with the Helix. Is this possible? I'm sure it is with the 100 head via midi but I only have the 100 1x12 combo and it doesn't have midi. I know the Helix can switch amp channels on a lot of amps, but can it do it on the Katana without midi? I don't really care if it can do FX on a need by need basis, just with the patch from A, B, C or D. Anyone know if this is possible?

The update went great for me, no problems with the install and no bugs that I've noticed. I'm not using any of the new stuff in place of what I've already been using, but I gave them a fair shake. It is nice to have new options for any new tones I might create in the future though. I think the only thing that might drag me away from any of my go-to's at this point would be if they added a Diezel amp model, like the VH4. (Please Line 6?) The Diezel's are the only thing missing from their previous modelers that I would like to see added to the Helix. However, the Archon and Friedman amps were a very welcomed surprise. The Archon in particular is my main hi-gain sound and if it wasn't already available when I bought my Helix I might have returned it to be honest. Some new cab models might be nice for the next update though. Like an Orange PPC or a 5150/6505 cab since they already have the Panama model in there. The XXL cab has done really well for me but new options are always appreciated. I went down the rabbit hole of IRs for a while and at this point I actually prefer the stock cabs. I lollipopped all over them in the Helix review I did on Ultimate Guitar and I should really go update that. A YouTube video about "How to love your Line 6 Helix stock cabs" really helped me out. The Helix cabs have a certain midrange focus where a lot of IRs seem to emphasize the lows and/or highs more and can sound a bit scooped in the end, at least to me. I'm at the point where I'd rather not spend extra money on IRs and just take some time to try and dial in the stock cabs because the results can be very worth it. Speaking of spending extra money and regarding an earlier post that was made here, as far as I know these updates will continue to be free. I haven't heard anything about charging for packs in the foreseeable future, and if Line 6 is smart they won't. I don't think Fractal or Kemper have ever charged for new updates that added additional models, but I might be wrong since I never owned either. I know Eleven Rack did but they were also in that "more affordable range" of modelers like the POD and not the premium tier the Helix, Axe FX and Kemper are.That's part of the luxury of owning the premium gear I think, a lot of that R&D is already baked into the cost we initially pay for these units. I get why the XT, X3 and HD and Eleven Rack had paid updates. They weren't at the same price point the Helix and it's competitors are so you'd have to charge for that stuff to make it worthwhile to put the effort into. If those other guys started charging for new updates then I could see Line 6 jumping on that bandwagon, but nobody wants to be the first to do it when nobody else is. Considering the Helix is Line 6's first real jump into the premium price point, albeit a bit lower than some of the others, I doubt they would be the first to do it.

Really digging that new Friedman model. I think the Archon's days as my go-to gain amp are numbered.

This is awesome, can't wait to try some of them out after work. I appreciate the time you've put into this too, thanks for sharing!

This was totally it I didn't even think to check that. Problem solved, thank you much!