pacard Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Hello, interested in purchasing a Helix. I've only owned the HD500X. Two questions. 1. will the patches i've created import into the helix...and still work? 2. will the amp packs i purchased transfer to the helix? Thank You, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theElevators Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Helix has a ton [more] amps than HD500, that are all included for free. You can use the "legacy" effects from the Helix, those correspond to what was available in the HD500X units. However, start using the tech, Helix has to offer, for example, snapshots, that are fantastic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 There is no way to import your HD500X presets into Helix, and you probably wouldn't want to anyway as you'd be far better off building them from scratch to take advantage of much better ways of doing things. Most of the HD500X amps are there, some aren't, and a lot are there that are far better than what was ever available on the HD500X. There's really nothing in the amp packs you won't have available in the Helix. The good news is, you'll feel right at home for the most part in building presets on the Helix so your transition time will be minimal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waymda Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 The other good news is that you should find the Helix a significant leap in sound quality and ease of use over the HD500x. I found the Helix fixed long term niggling had with my sound and feel that I could not fix no matter what with the 500x. I have patches I made with the Helix that have remained untouched and I use - where as with the 500x I was tweaking between every gig, and almost every patch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacard Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 Thanks for the input all! It definitely looks easier to build patches and the fact that there appears to be an easy choice to set up mono vs stereo patches is great. Will also have to look into snapshots. No idea what that is. Jist dreading having to make another 40+ patches again. Anothet question that comes to mind. Can the dsp/signal processor handle using dual amls and all the blocks for fx? I always felt a little cheated that the hd500x had the ability to create dual amps but not enough dsp power to choose any fx i wanted in a patch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondo100 Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 Since you may have both units still (at first) you can bring up the presets on the HD and then bring up the similar amps and effects on the Helix and manually dial in on the Helix some of the settings you had on the HD. You will probably find that this will only be a starting place, since the Helix is beyond what the HD could do both in function and in tone. I had the HD and it is sold and long gone. The Helix rules the day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicLaw Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 The short answer is Yes. You should have no problem running dual amp blocks with multiple FX blocks in the Helix Floor, Rack and LT, as each of these units have two DSP chips; one for each of the two main signal paths. Specifically, Signal Path 1 has one DSP and Signal Path 2 has one DSP. Either or both of these two main signal paths may be split to achieve Signal Paths 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B. If needed, they may be configured serially 1A -> 1B -> 2A -> 2B. Each is dual channel (i.e. stereo) however placing any Mono Block (Amp Blocks are mono) will collapse any dual channel signal hitting a Mono Block to Mono. To regain dual channel stereo simply use a Stereo Block type after a Mono Block. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacard Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 Thanks. Starting to sound like i just need to bight the bullet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datacommando Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 10 hours ago, pacard said: dreading having to make another 40+ patches again. You should be able to get those recreated in a very short time as the workflow is simple and efficient - plus they will all sound a lot better. Hope this helps/makes sense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 21 hours ago, pacard said: Hello, interested in purchasing a Helix. I've only owned the HD500X. Two questions. 1. will the patches i've created import into the helix...and still work? 2. will the amp packs i purchased transfer to the helix? Thank You, 1. No. 2. No. They are completely different animals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacard Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 How would you guys compare a kemper to the helix? Same ballpark? Just came a cross Fair Warning, an aussie vh cover band that posted a video of them playing the entire vh1 album. Spot on! He just told me's using an off the shelf fender guitar and a kemper. So it's got me wondering....and suddenly the helix doesnt seem so expensive. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 23 hours ago, pacard said: Hello, interested in purchasing a Helix. I've only owned the HD500X. Two questions. 1. will the patches i've created import into the helix...and still work? 2. will the amp packs i purchased transfer to the helix? Thank You, As a user that moved over from an HD500 to a Helix LT, I just thought I would share my 2 cents. IMO, there is no comparison between the two units. The Helix is well worth the investment in both money and time. It's easier, it's more flexible and it sounds better. The "legacy" effects included in the Helix are from the M/HD Series. If you really want to use those effect models most will still be available to you. I still use a few myself (the Dimension is one example), but for the most part I am using the Helix effect models. The additional AMP Packs for the HD500/500x were "mostly" HD Models derived from the Helix modeling. That would mean most of those amps will exist in the Helix, but are likely to be a higher quality. Don't expect any of the amp or effects to sound the SAME with the SAME settings. A little tweaking will be required but I digress - it's worth the time and effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 39 minutes ago, pacard said: How would you guys compare a kemper to the helix? Same ballpark? IMO...same ballpark, but completely different technology. It's not really "Helix vs Kemper", the question should be "modeling vs profiling". Once you decide which technology you prefer, look at the various products that offer it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_Brown Posted July 11, 2021 Share Posted July 11, 2021 I think you will love the Helix. I took screen shots of my main patches on my 500x (edit software) and then cut my teeth on the helix by recreating them and they sounded great. Then I did some tweaking and liked them more! Next I got busy with the routing capabilities on the Helix and now the main patches I use have three paths: one with full amp Sims to go to FOH from the 1/4; one with the same effects (mapped to the same switches) with no amps that goes in the front of my amp from send 1 and another for my vocal mic through the xlrs so I can use a harmoniser/megaphone on my vocal. I mix and match what I plug in depending where I'm playing. Only seem to run out of DSP if I use the new 'poly' stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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