I Bought A Line6 Helix In 2021

My wonderful wife bought me a Helix for Christmas in 2016, she literally found the last one available in the US that Christmas. Seven years on, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. I’m astonished at the updates and upgrades that Line 6 have provided over the years. It’s still nt been replaced, and I’ve never felt the need to buy anything since, it’s the single best piece of kit I’ve ever acquired. Now I have to sell the 35+ pedals I’ve bought over the years. You’ll never regret buying a Helix.

Digital SIGNAL processing

I didn't know you liked Racks.
I too like racks.
I can't say your DV Mark is not justified.

shit excuse for the axe fx tbh, u dont wanna feel bad ur purchase is outdated? buy a 2006 standard for $400 and model any amp you want from scratch or preset, insanely great sounding to this date. and zero problems. you can literally do everything in the box on a 2006 standard still

I used to hate Helix because I have Native and it always sounded horrible to me.

I recently realized the way I was routing to Helix (had it on an FX bus), it was essentially doubling the input signal. OOPS!

Anyway, now it sounds mostly like the demos I see on here and I think it's pretty solid. Great value on the LT especially. I may pick up a hardware unit myself in the near future.

You probably won’t see this, but on the chance you do….I’m struggling hard on a decision right now. Would you still go with the Helix now?

KDH: I bought a rack that came out in 2016.

Me: (looks at Roland GP-8 bought in 1988 and still being used occasionally) Oops.

The kemper tho is awsome imo

I have a line6 spider...Well...i have it.D

I bought one in 2023. I tried hard to make it sound good but after 3 weeks of spending way too much time trying to do that I sold it. It was very cookie cutter sounding. Lifeless. Granted I did not use IR's and the powered speaker. I went with a power amp and cab. It just couldn't compare to my PRS Archon head and GE300 I was using previously, so I went back to that set up. Very dissapointed in the time and money spent to only send everything back. 3500.00 total for the Helix, a rack, Power amp . What I hated the most about the Helix was how customizable it actually was, for my needs. I was unable to stack certain things with another because I could only guess that its processing power was low? ANyway. Just a crap unit in my eyes. I paid more money and added almost 15 pounds of carry weight for nothing!

Helix's weak point is (are) the low quality footswitches. They need to be cleaned, and will eventually stop working...

wow, i'm really impressed by the sound of the acoustic simulation. probably the best i've heard so far

I've always been an absolute valve/pedal snob. I recently bought a zoom g2.1u for £45 after moving into a town centre flat as I needed something to plug headphones into. Best money I've ever spent.

I only recently got back into guitar, in the past tube snob 110% but i am blown away by todays offerings. I bought a Kemper on sale a few weeks ago and it is a very good piece of gear. Its not like having the exact amps in the true sense because it doesn't behave like the amp with gain/eq but its a worthy trade of. I will have a real amp, i did order a boutique 5e3 clone that will arrive one day but i don't see myself buying any more amps.

Boogs.

Is that an Ormsby?

"Does it condition power?" No, it shampoos it.

The crashing computer noise was great.

What sliding tray is that. I've been looking for a shallow rack tray.

Kemper will always be the better option. You can profile your own gear, with all variations of settings, and then sell your gear to recoup what you spent but still have the same tones up to about 95%. And you also get easy to access to everyone else's setup with a click. With the proper frfr and setting, you still get the "amp in the room" feel. Or get the toaster and keep your cab. Modelers don't really nail that. Modelers are ok if you're just going to rely on the PA but Profilers > modelers. Many things you didn't mention about the profiler but also, you're going to deal with the phasing issue with the modelers.

I'd rather have access to Soldano profiles with ease than forking out up to 5 grand for just the head.

Digital modelling to me is like a cross to satan. The way Dave Simpson felt bored to distraction fiddling with the helix is precisely how I would feel too . All analogue pedals running into a handwired tube head......there is no equal.

Thousands of hours on a Helix for 6 years now and not a single lockup, failure or crash. Amazing firmware upgrades along the way.

They keep updating the hardware on the line 6 as well

I have a boss katana amp would you recommend this with that amp and also would It work?

All my amps get used and they are all old simple tube amps. I have a captor X but I hardly use it and when I do its just the same IR of my early 70s 4x12 every time. I'd never buy one but I agree with your logic.

I've never had an issue with Line 6 stuff. Aside from not liking the sound.

I have a Pod Xt live floor unit. It sound's great. I love my valve amps, but for recording, maybe live, I use it with a trio hifi amp and two big hifi cabs loaded with midrange hi power 8" speakers for more bark. It has been my friend for a decade plus. It sometimes has to be reset, but not often, very reliable. Thanks for this video.

I’m genuinely curious. Is this guy in a band?

My Helix rack is the single best purchase I’ve made when it comes to playing guitar. It’s wonderful. There have been some serious updates in the past few years and it is so capable now. I have tube amps but I don’t play them much because the Helix sounds and feels so good.

It's not just me that doesn't like spending hour's trying to get a good sound then. Phew. Thought there was something wrong with me. 🤔

Line 6 sounds amazing dude, I still want a helix

I'd be Interested in your take on the boss Gt-1000

I have a $4000 analog board (King of tone, storymon timeline, storymon big sky and mobius, em drive, deep six compressor, rc booster, boss tuner, volume, along with many others), it sounded great, however, i bought a helix after playing a show. In this show the guitar player going on before me had the Helix and I was blown away by his sound. It was wayyy dialed in better than mine yet had the same sounds. The EQ was perfect. While talking to him i subtly studied his “simple” pedal, I even regretfully kind of scoffed at him because he was using such a “cheater” digital pedal. I then bought one and haven’t used my analog gear since. I hope I’m using the phrase “analog” correct here on my old board. The Helix is by far one of the best products I have EVER bought. If you’re older and don’t hook it up to your computer, maybe its not the best idea, but if you’re tech savvy at all (I am a little bit) then this is your pedal! BTW the Helix is half the price of my analog board, I may sell those pedals but am reluctant.

Plus, it just sounds so goooooood. I’m still rocking am eleven rack. Just can not justify investing 1,200-1,600 doll hairs in a new modeler when imo the eleven rack still sounds good. Not one to one with the Amos by todays standards, but a good sound is a good sound

Helix still sounds fizzy

Helix or neural DSP in terms of ease of use and sound quality ?

I don't know how it compares to other brands, but on my hand I'm pretty upset at Line6 strategy regarding updates.
To update my POD HD500, or to download user-created sounds, I must be sign in (why do they need my info for me to download basic stuff for something I bought?!). Because they want you connected, the donkey for hardware update relies on connecting to the Line6 servers, which don't always work, and support for my head might stop at anytime. You can't rely on downloadable filles.
Also, some updates must be paid for: you want to have basic models for bass that were lacking initially? Pay.
Finally, the softwares for updating and controlling are already flimsy, unreliable. I expect them to stop working any time soon, because I don't think their is any support for them know.

You need to make a new video considering the neural dsp has updated it's firmware in quad cortex significantly.

my dvmark head down yestoday

Side note 📝 took me 3 months to figure out how 🤔 to use the dam thing

I liked 👍 ♥️ how I could record in 5 seconds to work out ideas 💡 and it sounds like every pedal every amp ..................
........
Mkay

Starting to think about changing as well. I have all the old rack gear including triaxis preamp and some old rack fx and power amps controlled by a midi footswitch. What i could get for the triaxis would nearly pay for a rack helix and foot board. Interesting

I bought the Helix Floor midway through 2022 and don't regret a thing haha replacing my whole rig with it.

What a coincidence, I happen to love racks too

What about the headrush?

HX floor user myself since 2018. Best piece of gear I own hands down. Love the video man!

In 2021 its still the best option for the money, and prety versatile for recording and live play.

probably cuz it was cheap an u new people would see it in your vids so you got the idea to turn into a why u like vid

My only issue with modelers is I never got the same feeling like I do with my AC30. I used the headrush, and I loved its tones. But it never felt great to me, if that makes sense. Perhaps I could try a modeler with a PA into my cab.