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Found 4 results

  1. Hello Line 6 Community! First time poster here. I've just made the jump from fractal to helix with a HX Stomp. In my first 2 days I am blown away at how great these tones are. I am looking to ditch both my AX8 and audio interface for the flexibility of the Stomp as a stand alone. So far, I can see I made the right choice. The only thing I am noticing is: Noise on high gain lead patches I love all the tones I'm getting from all the stock presets and also downloaded some Glen DeLuane presets. Both, have the high noise and uncontrollable feedback issue on the lead type patches. Is this just the nature of the Stomp or Helix in general or am I doing something wrong?
  2. Greetings! Life at it's current junction seems to be pointing towards going to a digital all-in-one box. The Helix LT and Ax8 are in my price range (the full helix is out, sadly) and the two contenders for purchase. I'm not in a position to buy both and keep the one I like. I've tried an LT and it was quite fun for the 20 minutes I had with it, though I didn't get too much into exploring the options and tweaking and what not. I've never tried and Ax8 or any fractal gear. So why am I bringing this up? While it's subjective, in most of the comparisons I've listened to the Ax8 sounds better to me and I feel somewhat concerned in my mind that if I go with the less expensive LT, I'll end up being disappointed. Part of me wants to get the LT because of simplicity of use and having a expression pedal already there and because I can get it for less than the Ax8 (especially since I may even be able to haggle a retailer down more than $999). Cost is a factor since I have a young family and not a lot of income for now. But again I have concerns of being disappointed. So now's your chance! Reassure me that I'd be just as happy with the LT as the Ax8. If it helps, I like clean/ambient-ish stuff, rock, and metal (but not so much djent). Thank you kindly for your responses!
  3. chuskey

    Helix Vs. AX8

    Had a fun time comparing a buddy of mine's AX8 today to my Helix! We've each only had our respective units for a very short amount of time so there are things about each we're still learning. However I've been a LONG TIME Line 6 user and he's been an Axe FX user for several years. So not completely new territory. Spoiler alert: If you can't get a good tone out of either one of these units, it's your fault. Plain and simple. It's not that your ears are that discerning, you just don't know what you're doing. Sorry, maybe guitar playing isn't your calling. With that out of the way let me move on. The signal path was Crate Powerblock into Friedman 2x12 with one Vintage 30 and one Creamback. It produced about as much "amp in the room" sound as you could ask for. All tones done on each unit were amp only with no speaker modelling. As a side note, also in the room was a Friedman Dirty Shirley with matching 1x12 cabinet, so there was a high end tube amp there for reference. Admittedly I felt like bringing a Line 6 product into a room with a Fractal product for a comparission put me as the underdog. From everything I've read online the Helix has the competition beat on features, but what about pure amp tone? I'm here to say that the Helix held it's own and then some. At no point did I feel like the Helix was a step behind the AX8. Just dialed up an amp and it sounded amazing right out of the gate. Something Line 6 has MASSIVELY struggled with in the past. I've owned literally every incarnation of Line 6's product line and this is the first time they've produced a product that doesn't demand a ton of tweaking to find the magic sweet spot. This opinion was echoed by my friend who is a long time Fractal user. So not just my opinion in a vacuum. As a Helix user I feel compelled to point out the positives of it in this comparison, so that's exactly what I'm going to do. Not to take anything away from the AX8, but this is where I'm coming from. I'll leave room for AX8 users, or my friend with the AX8, to chime in here. Here are the pluses for Helix: The UI: on the Helix it is far and away more advanced than on the AX8. I'm speaking in terms of the on unit UI and not the PC editor. The Helix Editor isn't out yet so no way to compare that. But for using each unit stand alone the Helix UI is hands down the winner. Everything is faster, easier, and more intuative. Assigning pedals and controllers, using pedal edit mode, etc. Not a knock on the AX8, just showing how much design effort went into the Helix UI. Flexibility and routing: Again, this is another area that Helix shines. If you can dream it up, you can route it in Helix. And do so very easily thanks to a very intuative UI. Want a signal path with 4 drives, 6 delays, and 3 reverbs? No problem with Helix. Plus the 4 physical send/receives give you loads of flexibility to incorporating outboard gear. Need to route your dry guitar signal one place, your wet guitar signal another, and the looper another? No problem. Ease of creating tones: I was surprised that my vote for this would go to Helix. As a long time Line 6 user I'm used to spending hours dialing in the perfect tone. With Helix things just work. We found that amps, and especially effects, were very quick on the Helix. Everything was more or less in place and ready to go. You just had to add it to the signal chain and make adjustments to suit your taste. Ease of use: When using this as a live unit I have to give the nod to Helix here. The scribble strips, with customize-able text, were gold. I know exactly what function each pedal is performing. Something that was a challenge on the HD500(X). Along with the very large color screen showing exactly what's going on it's a breeze to use this thing live. The AX8 takes a more basic approach, and is very workable, but not on the same level as Helix. Built in expression pedal: Having a built in expression pedal, with a toe switch, is a big deal. At least to me. With an external pedal I'm left to choose one function of the expression pedal instead of two. Overall tone: I felt like this could go either way. On this day I think our Helix presets were pretty rockin', but either unit can be tailored to do EXACTLY what you want. They both sound awesome. I can say with all honesty though that the Helix didn't give up an inch tone wise. Which surprised the both of us. BTW, the Friedman Dirty Shirley model on the AX8 was spot on and we both felt like bringing the "real" dirty shirley into the equation was pointless. The AX8 simply sounded as good or better than the real deal. Sorry tube snobs, but facts are facts Pluses for the AX8: It did sound really good! There's no denying that, nor any reason to. It's an awesome unit. Amp models: In terms of sheer number of amp models there isn't a contest between these two units. The AX8 far outpaces the Helix by a mile. However the question is how many amp models do you need? Maybe I'm playing devil's advocate here, but I don't find that I have trouble covering all the ground I need with Helix's selection. Totally a matter of opinion though. Much respect for the sheer amount of work Cliff has put into modelling this number of amps. If the amount of amp models is most important to you then there is no comparison. Form factor: This could go either way. Overall I'll take the Helix because of the built in expression pedal and increased number of ins/outs. But I do like the compactness of the AX8. The Helix is big and heavy. I'm a Helix owner so obviously you can tell that I am going to lean towards the Helix. Having said that I can say with COMPLETE honesty that the Helix really shined today when comparing the two. All things being equal I take the Helix all day long and don't regret the purchase for a minute. My buddy was even joking about buying one once he sold off some of his other gear Most importantly though is that fact that there are two INCREDIBLE units on the market for, given what they do, not a lot of money. It is an amazing time to be a guitar player. I've been playing way long enough to remember when it wasn't so. I remember playing through a Crate solid state amp.....wow how times have changed!! So as a community let's be thankful for the tools at our disposal. We live in a great time to be a musician and let's truly appreciate these miracle boxes that can be had for less than the cost of a Marshall half stack "back in the day". Or this day for that matter. Cheers!
  4. Today, I have to decide whether I return my Line 6 helix or keep it and keep tweaking. I've satisfied with the clean sounds I'm getting out of the helix but am not quite convinced about the hi-gain stuff. Below is a sample of the sound I've been able to get out the helix. What do you think is missing? https://soundcloud.com/baron-toria/helix-tone-test My other consideration would be the Fractal AX8 of course which has the following pros (based on what I've heard/ read online): 1. Better sounds (amps, cabs and effects) - sounds also seem more organic! 2. Regular firmware updates and improvements to (digital) models 3. Better presets But, this would be significantly more expensive for me as I'd have to invest in an expression pedal and an audio interface. The pros I see in favor of the helix are: 1. Works as a USB audio interface 2. Built in expression pedal 3. Dynamic DSP and no limitation on how many instances of a particular block can be used (I believe the AX8 can support only one instance of each effect/ amp block) 4. Routing options (not 100% sure I'd use all these though!) 5. Easier to repair/ service (if the need should arise). 6. Better support than previous Line 6 products, including free updates with new amps etc. What do you guys think? Keep the helix or return it? P.S. Excuse the poor playing...I'm a bit rusty.. :)
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