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Hi,

 

I've been using a POD X3 for my live sound for many years now and although I'm very happy with it, I've always wanted to upgrade, even more so now with the release of Helix. The trouble is, a few of my bands songs extensively use the X3's 'Synth Strings' effect, so much so that we cannot live without it.

I bought an HD Pro a year or two back to replace the X3, seeing it had a 'Synth String' effect, however I had to return it as the HD's 'Synth String' sounded nothing like the X3's Synth String, plus it seemed the HD couldn't do half the the stuff the X3 could do in Dual Tone mode without reaching DSP processing limits?

 

Are there plans to patch the Synth String effect into the Helix? If not, can there be? This will be the Synth String effect modelled on 'ARPSolina / Elka® Strings'.

 

Also, for recording, I like to record the dry signal, and use POD Farm VST, so that I can tweak settings further down the line. Are there plans to make a VST Helix plugin, so that I can have Helix tones within my DAW, rather than one-shot recording?

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I too wish some of the X3 amps and effects make it into Helix, especially at least one of the preamp models for acoustic instruments. Helix hardware is too flexible to leave this important capability out. The EQ blocks aren't a substitute since the tone controls are not voiced for acoustic instruments making them inconvenient to setup and use live.

 

For recording, I also record dry, but no longer use POD Farm having replaced it with S-Gear from www.scuffhamamps.com. S-Gear is really fantastic.

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Oh yes, a good pre-amp would be great, a Neve or something for vox would be ideal. Another effect I'd like to see from the X3 on the Helix is the Pattern Tremolo. I would, and sometimes do opt to use other VSTs such as Amplitube (I've not used S-Gear yet, but I'll give it a try). The trouble is, I like being able to demo a song and create all the tones in my DAW using POD Farm, and then I simply have to save the tone and export it into my X3 to use it live. It cuts out a lot of the work trying to match a sound made using a variety of VSTs etc. I don't see any point in investing in anything newer than an X3 till this is possible.

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Greetings!

 

Have you guys had a chance to check out Ideascale? It's a community where you can post your ideas for our products or vote on other peoples ideas that you would want to see implemented as well. It is actually an invaluable resource for us here at Line 6, in fact over 100 different ideas posted there made it into the current version of Helix. Honestly, it is pretty much a direct route to development, so feel free to pitch your ideas and vote on the changes you want to see. 

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/

 

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Oh yes, a good pre-amp would be great, a Neve or something for vox would be ideal. ...I don't see any point in investing in anything newer than an X3 till this is possible.

 

On the first note, there is a GREAT vintage preamp in the Helix, similar to the one that was in the HD.

 

ON the second point, I don't know if you'll see that again, but you can re-amp Helix sounds in your DAW.

 

The sound difference between the Helix and the X3 is pretty amazing.

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I have made these suggestions to Ideascale.

 

Regarding the vintage preamp in Helix, you are probably referring to the Studio Tube Pre model. That's fine, it has drive and polarity. But for tone controls it only has low-pass and high-pass filters. What I'm looking for is a set of tone controls voiced for acoustic guitar. The POD X3Live had these models, at least one should be included in Helix.

 

It is possible to combine the Studio Tube Pre model with other EQ models to create something that works - but it isn't convenient and is difficult to tweak in a live setting because the typical amp tone controls are spread over a number of blocks.

 

The Studio Tube Pre model might be more useful for gain staging an electric guitar. The Studio Tube Pre can provide extra drive in front of amps that need it (e.g, typical Fender amps), and can use the high-pass and low-pass filters to voice the additional gain stage for an initial Drive stage. Overdrive and Distortion stages will generally need more flexibility. I've had good luck using Vermin Dist (ProCo Rat) as an initial Drive gain stage, keeping the Gain down below 2.0 and the Filter cup around 9. This provides a nice bit of extra drive but is still pretty transparent in front of an amp. For Overdrive I like the flexibility of the Valve Driver, but Studio Tube Pre might be similar. For Distortion, its hard to beat Compulsive Drive (Fulton OCD).

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  • 7 months later...

Resurrecting this old post...  is there any hope of getting the synth strings tones from the Helix?

Our other praise team guitarist uses it on her X3 Live, and she's gonna be gone for awhile.  Her keyboard playing

son may be gone for a few as well.  This means I'd like to have this for filling the holes on certain songs and for background music during talking segments...

 

I'll try to search ideascale as well.

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