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Thinking of upgrding to Helix from HD500X


Anteater74
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Hi

 

I'm considering upgrading from my current HD500X to a Helix.

I wanted to know if the upgrade would be worth it as the Helix is expensive. I'm a serious 'home' player and record my own songs. I've joined a few other Helix forums/ groups to get a feel of any issues ...I've seen other users experience issues so at that price po8nt i wanted to be certain etc..

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Hi anteater - forums are interesting things - you get your over the top fans and you get your total idiots.  You get very nice people who are just not understanding how the thing works.  You get people who get 'it' completely and everything else inbetween.  I've watched very closely over the months since I bought my Helix - which incidentally for me has been exactly the right move and worth every penny.  What I've observed is that there are a few people who are probably having a real issue - maybe due to some real failure of the Helix or connectivity issues with certain computers.

I've seen people try to use their Helix in strange and creative ways outside the concept of its design with the expected difficulty of trying to put a square peg in a round hole.  But overall 99% of what looks like an issue is user error.  Just my opinion.

If you are reasonably computer savvy, and understand what the Helix is, you are extremely likely to have a great experience.  It helps to have a background in the analogue world I think because the Helix duplicates it very well.  So when you plug a collection of pedals into a certain amp and box and mic it with a certain mic, you mostly get exactly what you would expect.  Knowing what to expect definitely helps! 

The only trap for young players - and something I think Line 6 should have an introduction on page 2 of the manual is that you will need to set a global EQ or per patch EQ that gets your frequency curve into the kind of space a real amp, speaker, mic and EQ on the desk combination you might find if you were setting all that up in a studio.  If you chose to run it into an guitar amp, you will miss a significant chunk of its goodies and you will have to avoid not only using amp and speaker models, but all the cool stuff that can be done (and is in a studio) buy processing the sound after the amp.  I'd personally think Fractal FX8 if I wanted to keep my amp at all costs.

I don't have, nor have I used a HD500X - so I can't give you any feeling of what kind of quality jump you will get.  But from what I can see others who do have that experience feel it's worth the upgrade.  I expect you will hear from a few of them soon.........

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...

I wanted to know if the upgrade would be worth it as the Helix is expensive. I'm a serious 'home' player and record my own songs. .....

Only you can decide whether the upgrade is worth it because that's very subjective. However, I'll give you my views based on your described use.

 

Several users here have expressed their complete satisfaction with the Pod HD and see no need to change. I don't disagree with that at all. If you love what you have why change?

 

For me however Helix was a big improvement. I find it much easier to dial in a great sounding tone. I am not a master tone creator and I can get much better tones from Helix quickly, without the need to spend a lot of time tweaking. It just sounds way better to me right out of the box. The Helix modeling sounds much better to my ears.

 

But I think the main benefit in your case is the Helix features and capabilities in the studio. It has much more power, flexibility, and IO options for signal processing and routing. A really powerful addition to Helix is its reampong capabilities when used as the audio interface for recording. You can simultaneously record the wet and dry signal directly and then reamp and record a different copy from the dry signal without needing another audio interface. It's all very simple, easy, and direct.

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I still have my HD500X which I need to sell ASAP. I upgraded to it from an X3Live which I really enjoyed. The HD was VERY disappointing and I found a lot about it very annoying.

 

I made the leap to the Helix and it's night and day. Although there is no Workbench integration (as yet) it caters better for Variax overall.

 

The sonic quality difference as well as the increase in routing options is worth it alone in terms of a home studio setup.

 

I couldn't go back. I have played more guitar since I got the Helix than at any time in my 39 years.

 

If you get a Helix spend time with it and get to know what combos work well together. You won't be disappointed.

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I recently upgraded from a HD500x, and it was the right move for me. Beyond the improvements in the amp models, and effects the increased routing is fantastic. I have spent more time just experimenting with different things and sound on it, than I ever did with the 500x. For me it was worth every penny.

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I own a Kemper, and Helix. I cant see needing another guitar processor for a while now, because what one cant do as well for me the other can. 

The only way for you to be certain about buying a Helix is to youtube and listen to one, or go to a place that has one and play thru one. But if you do the latter, take the time to tweak it because there is where the diamond shines.

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I made the leap from the HD500X to Helix about a year ago.  After a year, here's my take.

 

I was pretty happy with the HD500X but I wasn't very happy with how much tweaking I had to do to get the sound I wanted.  I'man FRFR user as far as my output so I had to do quite a bit of tweaking with the HD500X to get things right.  When I first got the Helix I wasn't exactly "blown away" by the difference, but after I mastered a few concepts with the stock cabs and some of the routing options I felt pretty good about things.  I personally had avoided getting into the IR's because it was just one more thing to deal with.  But then a month or so ago I decided to dip my toes in the water.  Holy Smokes!!!!  My Helix came alive and all the previous tweaking I'd had to do with stock cabs just simply went away.  My productivity in building presets exploded, and my older presets began to hit right on target for what I was looking for.

 

However, there are a few things to keep in mind with the whole IR thing.  Not all IR's are created equal.  A lot of difference comes into play with what type of mic or mic combinations they use when the capture the IR, and the placement of the mics for capture can make or break an IR in how you use it.  Some IR providers include a TON of variations in this regard like OwnHammer.  Because of the way IR's are stored in the Helix it can become a problem if you keep a lot them loaded.  The reality is, once you find one or two variations that work for you, that's all you need to keep loaded.  And it helps if you understand a thing or two about the differences in mic's and placement of mic's.  If you keep these things in mind and spend a bit of time mastering these things you'll find the accurace of tone you can achieve with the Helix FAR exceeds anything you might get from an HD500X.

 

But ultimately, you have to invest the time and learn them.

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I came from HD500 to Helix in March 2016. I was always quite happy with HD500. I had lived with it for six years. I knew how to get "my sounds" out of it quickly. I understood how effects interacted with amps and with each other. I knew which mic models sounded great on which cabs and which cabs to use with each amp.

 

Helix had things I really wanted. The greater routing flexibility and scribble strips were too attractive and I knew each would improve my workflow greatly. I was right about that part.

 

However, Helix is a whole new modeling engine with a whole new sound and the dual DSP requires an entirely new way of writing complex presets. I HATED Helix for about the first two weeks I owned it. It didn't sound right. It was exceedingly difficult to write a preset that used two amps and a few effects. Delay times were messed up. Mix levels weren't the same. It was just totally different in comparison to my previous six years of experience and expertise.

 

Then I started to figure things out. Now I could never stand going back to the HD500 that is still sitting in the corner. I really need to sell that thing.

 

The link in my signature will take you to some tones I've made for Helix which are my testament to how great a unit it is.

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