Hi Everyone,
I've stumbled into amp modeling just recently, and am enamored by the whole concept and quality of these devices. I'm now considering the Helix or the Helix LT. I've looked at loads of YouTube videos on the Helix (and the Kemper and the Fractal and others) and am finding the Helix systems hit the right spot in terms of interface and overall quality.
Now...I've been a bedroom guitarist for decades and have done some home studio recording (which I enjoy). I have a pretty basic setup (a Macbook Pro/ FocusRite Scarlett 2i4/ a Neumann TLM102 mic/Garageband). Having met a very good female singer recently, we've discussed taking her songs and playing live and also doing some home studio stuff. It's mainly acoustic based, but I also want to incorporate electric guitars into the whole songwriting going forward.
I checked out both Helix units at a guitar store and I liked the scribble strips on the full version vs the LT. But I know very little about what inputs and outputs I would need for a live show. I just have zero experience performing live and little knowledge about what works with what. I would want, I think, room to add more than just two guitars and two mics. But I don't even know for sure if either Helix unit accommodates 2 mics. I think there's just one mic input on the Helix and none on the Helix LT am I right?
I guess my questions are this: 1) Are the scribble strips all that important or are they mainly nice-to-have? I seem to like them. Is it easy to navigate the Helix LT without them? 2) Do you find that if you do have the full Helix, that you don't use it to its full capabilities in terms of inputs/outputs? In other words, is there a lot of unit real estate that goes unused and will always go unused? Or do you feel that you still want those capabilities "just in case"?
I realise these are very newb questions, but I'm finding that, generally speaking, the salespeople at the retail stores I've been to really don't know many of the ins and outs of these systems. I'm just trying to soak up as much in these forums as I can.
Any advice or enlightenment is appreciated.
Thank you.
Geo