Line6 Helix

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mitch103
Hardcore TABN'er
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:20 am
Location: Ohio

Line6 Helix

Post by mitch103 »

Anyone been following this thing? I just found out about it today and I have to say I'm pretty blown away. One of my biggest complaints about the pod hd is that it didn't quite 'feel' like a real amp. Well supposedly that has been fixed. According to this video: [youtube]http://youtu.be/MBVT0kDO4n4[/youtube]
I was really impressed by the concept that they actually took these amps apart and used a multimeter to test the voltage from circuit to circuit in order to achieve such a high level of accuracy. For example, as shown in the video, the adjustment of your volume knob while playing now actually acts the same way as it would if you were playing through the actual amp, which is awesome because thats some of the stuff mark and myles do in their playing quite regularly now. The interface also seems cool as hell. It looks to me like you can have a channel with a given amp but also have the ability to kick on and off a limited number of effects pedals within that channel at any given time, including the legendary Klohn Centaur overdrive pedal which mark used to use in the pre blackbird Era of alter bridge.

What do you guys think? Is it worth $1500? Is it better than any other amp modeler out there like the axe-fx?

Edit: here's the amp model list:

Code: Select all

WhoWatt 100 - HIWATT DR
Stone Age 185 - Gibson EH-185
Tweed Blues Nrm – Fender Bassman Normal
Tweed Blues Brt - Fender Bassman Bright
US Small Tweed - Fender Tweed Deluxe
US Deluxe Nrm - Fender Deluxe Reverb Normal
US Deluxe Vib - Fender Deluxe Reverb Vibrato
US Double Nrm - Fender Twin Reverb Normal
US Double Vib - Fender Twin Reverb Vibrato
Mail Order Twin - Silvertone 1484
Divided Duo - Divided by 13 9/15
Interstate Zed - Dr. Z Route 66
Jazz Rivet 120 - Roland Jazz Chorus
Essex A-15 - Vox AC-15
Essex A-30 - Vox AC-30 Top Boost Channel
A-30 Fawn Nrm - Vox AC-30 Fawn Normal
A-30 Fawn Brt - Vox AC-30 Fawn Bright
Mandarin 80 - Orange OR80
Brit J-45 Nrm - Marshall JTM-45 Normal
Brit J-45 Brt - Marshall JTM-45 Bright
Brit Plexi Nrm - Marshall Superlead 100 Normal
Brit Plexi Brt - Marshall Superlead 100 Bright
Brit Plexi Jump - Marshall Superlead 100 Jumpered
Brit P-75 Nrm - Park 75
Brit P-75 Brt - Park 75
Brit J-800 - Marshall JCM 800
German Mahadeva - Bogner Shiva
German Ubersonic - Bogner Uberschall
Cali Rectifire - Mesa Dual Recto
ANGL Meteor - ENGL Fireball
Solo Lead Clean - Soldano SL0100
Solo Lead Crunch - Soldano SL0100
Solo Lead OD - Soldano SL0100
PV Panama - Peavey 5150
Line 6 Elektrik – Line 6 Original
Line 6 Doom - Line 6 Original
Line 6 Epic - Line 6 Original
Tuck n' Go - Ampeg B-15 Portaflex
SV Beast Nrm - Ampeg SVT
SV Beast Brt - Ampeg SVT
Cali Bass - Cali Bass – Mesa M9 Carbine
Cali 400 Ch1 - Mesa Bass 400+
Cali 400 Ch2 - Mesa Bass 400+
G Cougar 800 - GK 800RB

Andy92
You Waste Your Time
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Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:52 pm

Re: Line6 Helix

Post by Andy92 »

I remember reading about this when it was first announced. I haven't looked into it a ton. I'd be surprised if it's better than an Axe-Fx, but I'm sure it's good on its own right. The Kemper Profiling amps are awesome, but they're also priced accordingly. :lol
anguyen92 wrote:Oh well. Deal with it.

mitch103
Hardcore TABN'er
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:20 am
Location: Ohio

Re: Line6 Helix

Post by mitch103 »

I'm not sure if I understand kempers correctly but don't you first have to locate the amp you want to profile in real life so that you can get a recording of it? Because that would do me no good unless I knew people with amps I wanted to capture. Which I don't lol

Andy92
You Waste Your Time
Posts: 14001
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:52 pm

Re: Line6 Helix

Post by Andy92 »

Huh, I didn't know about that. :lol I'd haul it to the fanciest music shop in town and record on the demos lol
anguyen92 wrote:Oh well. Deal with it.

mitch103
Hardcore TABN'er
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:20 am
Location: Ohio

Re: Line6 Helix

Post by mitch103 »

Actually I just read that you can download a lot of them that other people have recorded. Makes sense I guess. Now I'm kinda torn whether I want that or the helix. The extra $1000 has me leaning towards the helix though

mitch103
Hardcore TABN'er
Posts: 514
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:20 am
Location: Ohio

Re: Line6 Helix

Post by mitch103 »

Image

Just got this baby in the mail today. Fucking thing is amazing. It's 1000x better than my podhd. I've already come up with a ton of awesome tones including this sick lead tone shown: bogner shiva through a mesa 4x12 cabinet+shure sm57 mic with a klohn centaur overdrive pedal thrown in front of it and a stereo delay in the effects loop. I've also come up with an even better sounding mesa and bogner combo for rhythm. Then I made a van halen like tone using the Peavey 5150 model and a slash tone with the marshall jcm-800 model with a tube screamer thrown in front of it. Can't believe how realistic these amps not only sound but FEEL. It's also really cool how you can assign the foot switches; the 8 center most (inner top and bottom 4 switches) are used to select an editable patch, ie. amps/cabs+mics and effects pedals. In other words, you have 8 different amp/cab and effects combos that you can make, also with the ability to use multiple amps together and multiple different cabs per amp. Obviously using the bank switches on the far left you can toggle through 30 or so different sets of 8. Now, for each given patch you can hit the top right switch to "zoom into" any given patch, allowing you to assign foot switches to, and turn on and off any of the effects or amps that you have already placed in that patch. Hitting the top right switch again "zooms back out" to your 8 different patches. The possibilities seem endless. Can't wait to dig into this beast more tomorrow. :headbang :peace

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