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An orange squeezer is pretty much the definition of 'splat' when it comes to compressors. I'd also love to see a better typical 'guitar' non-transparent compressor added to the collection. My vote goes in for orange squeezer clone.

 

That being said, I still use transparent ones for acoustic guitars and giving a little 'transparent' boost into the front of a distorted amp model for less 'gainy' distortion, while maintaining saturation at that lower gain setting. Kind of like the best of distorted sustain without the over-the-top 'can of bees' that high gain can produce.

I hardly ever have any use for the 'can of bees' sound either. I just want a greasy feeling amp.

Thanks for all your input on this subject, guys.

Thanks, TLF2007. I too am a big fan of Digitech (DOD) compressors.  Strangely, I like the compressors in Boss's modelers more than their stand alone real counterparts.

The Red Squeeze kind of gets it for me but if I had my way there would be yet another choice that had all the soul sucking,  tone destroying,  sustain of some of the old Boss and other less "transparent" offerings. Often that is just the tone I am gong for; just a personal preference thing for me. I like having a note that goes on until I mute it for legato phrases and I don't want it to sound brittle.  I have always liked that warm almost slightly muted sound I think you are referring to. If you put a tone control on it for restoring some of the highs that can get removed with these kind of compressor-sustainors, all the better. 

I wouldn't go as far as "soul sucking" myself (lol),but definitely a reedy picked sound. As in, it sounds like you're using a saxophone reed as a pick almost. The sound has a very accentuated and slow pick attack.

I also like a little bit of squish in my compressor for most guitar sounds. I like having a transparent one available for acoustic guitar and some presets but usually I prefer a little bit of squish in both the feel and the sound, especially when it is accompanied by improved sustain.

Agreed! So, you have no issue with this on your Helix?

Thanks, duncann. I may be remembering it wrong but it seems that the Pod XTL had the same parameters but were mostly ineffective. Anyway, I appreciate all your info.

Thanks

I personally like the Deluxe Comp out of the three, with the LA2A coming in next. The Deluxe Comp seems to add a subtle tube-y warmth, so it's not completely invisible. The LA2A doesn't color the tone, at least to my ears.

 

The Red Squeeze is useful for higher gain tones, maybe even lead tones, that cleans up an unfocused low end and give some extra sustain. So this one isn't invisible either.

By "invisible", again, I speak of the attack and not the overall sonic character.  Here's hoping that the Red Squeeze does it for me and that it's not a repeat of the old Pod compressor sim.

The compressors in Helix work, and work well. There's the one you mentioned, the MXR Dyna Comp (Red Squeeze in Helix), the Teletronix LA2A (LA Studio Comp) and the Deluxe Comp (Line 6 Original).

 

They all have plenty of parameters to adjust to get what you want, except for the Red Squeeze, but that only has a couple of controls to begin with.

Therein lies the rub. The LA2A is a fine studio compressor but it doesn't work very well as a guitar compressor.  Never has, never will because it doesn't have the right kind of squish that guitar compressors are supposed to have..  I really really hope that Line 6 has not taken the same approach with all of their compressors as they have in the past. That compressors should be "invisible".  While this attribute is desirable for  studio compressors, it is absolutely wrong for guitar compressors.  Through the years, Boss, Digitech, Zoom, Vox and Yamaha's  guitar compressor simulations have been far superior to that of Line 6's.  I hope this has changed with the Helix and I hope to see models of the vaunted Ross, DOD Milkbox  and Orange Squeezer compressors.

So, one of the main things that led me to get rid of my PodXT Live was that, its compressors really really sucked.  By the time you finally got the sustain right, the attack was sooo horrible that it was completely unusable. All I got was a wretched "thunk" sound on the attack - all bass and no highs. I've used guitar compressors for a long time and never had any of them do that except for some of the early Boss compressors.  I hope that some of you can assure me to some degree that they, Line 6, have actually learned about how guitar compressors are supposed to sound like. This is my only trepidation about having ordered another Line 6 product.

I also noticed that there's really only one guitar compressor being modeled.  The MXR Dynacomp. They're workable but I do hope they'll give us more choices later on.

Good catch! yeah, Sweetwater is usually spot on. Looks like they say 21"x13" internal, looks like Helix should be good to go!

It's ironic that Boss's L2 bag also fits.  Ha ha!

Will it fit? Helix size:

22.05 x 11.85 x 3.6 inches;

 

That bag says interior dimensions

20.5" x 11" x 4.5".

Well, skategeezer says he's using it and Sweetwater has some slightly different measurements.  I don't typically find Amazon's specs to be very accurate.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ImpulseBag25

I think it depends on the talk box. Some, the old ones, needed to be powered by the amp. You'd plug the speaker output of the amp to the talk box and out of the talk box to the speaker. Those won't work. If one of the newer ones has its own built in amp, I suppose you could feed it signal from one of the sends and put the output hose/tube next to a mic plugged into the Helix's mic input.

Maybe there should be an "ideal room" IR between the Cab Sim and the Mic Sim.  Make it so that the room sound becomes more noticeable as you move the Mic away.  Or just have a "Room Mic" IR with a few different rooms and make it so that you can mix in as little or as much of the "room" as you want.  The Cab Sim in Digital Performer does this

My personal go-to monitor is a Verve 8ma, but they've been discontinued for some time.

I just looked that up. Intriguing. Is it a single driver?  Coaxial perhaps?

I've not used an AG Stomp but do love my Magic Stomp! It's got a Mod Reverb sound that gives all the new ones a run for their money and some very fun amp sims.  Maybe not very "accurate" but they feel good to play through.

That Firehawk looks killer... As in, lower back killer! 63.14 pounds??? Seriously? Ouch.

Looks incredible, so of course I want one :)

 

Firehawk 1500 = 63.14lbs

Mission Gemini 2 Live = 63lbs

L6 L3t = 57.5lbs

Friedman ASM12 = 52lbs

Atomic CLR = 45lbs

L6 L2t = 39.1lbs

Alto TS112A = 35lbs

QSC K10 = 32lbs

I'll stick to my EON 610s @ 26lbs.

It may be a cost thing but with the availability of Neodymium magnets, unnecessarily heavy speakers are something I'll always pass on.

That includes tube amps.

One acoustic guitar amp, like the Fishman Artist. 

Dang!

1.07?!

What's new in it? Is it just a maintenance release or are there new toys to play with?

Do tell. Do tell!

+1! Enough with the amps! I realize they are a popular thing, but I never did and never will understand the need for redundant amps. It gets in the way of decision making when making a patch.

I sort of agree with you. At least I do when it comes to high gain amps as the differences between them are pretty subtle to me. Low and medium gain amps differ a lot more - to me.

Dumble Overdrive Special and Fender Vibroverb

Crossover distortion?

Thanks, phil_m. I'm in.

I wish I could vote for these ideas on IdeaScale but it won't accept my Line 6 password, it won't send me an email to reset my password, nor is there a way to create a new login.

That would actually be way more interesting to (the mixing and matching of different pre and power sections) than the whole effects loops thing. But, yes, having the ability to model a "true" effects loop would be nice, too. I'm not against it, by any means. I just don't think the difference will be all that dramatic. I guess we always want what we don't have, though. 

Maybe, maybe not. I have to admit that I too want the mix and matching of differing preamps and power amps.  In fact, that was my underlying want.  For some reason I wanted to be careful - maybe it's because I'm been flamed for my "crazy" ideas before.