Line 6 Helix Reviews Are Starting to Appear...

Crapshoes

Crapshoes

Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1fBuSjDnCw

I know not everyone is a fan of Rob and the Capt. but lets talk about the tones showcased in this video.
Of course the reviewers are going to freak out and call it awesome, but what does everyone else think?

Captain Anderton said on Facebook recently that he considers the Helix to be a real alternative to the Axe...
 
Well, Andertons stocks Line 6 and doesn't stock Fractal. It's not really in his financial interest to state "The Helix is really good but isn't quite up to Fractal in terms of sound quality."

I would wait for a review from someone who doesn't pay the bills selling Line 6 product if you want an unbiased opinion.
 
According to a Line6 guy, despite what they say, that is actually not the finalized firmware. Anyway, I didn't care for all the tones specifically, but I liked the character of almost all of what I heard if that makes sense. And from what I perceived from the vid, Anderton's not an Axe user, so I couldn't care less about whether he considers Helix to be an alternative to the Axe or not. :D
-
Austin
 
They are salesman. They work for a store No?

Lets use logic here. Helix can use 4 amps at once, and Axe8 can only use one. I think that tells you right there on the amp resolution and believability. One is an mp3 with a great looking interface and the other is lossless.
 
scottburrow said:
They are salesman. They work for a store No?

Lets use logic here. Helix can use 4 amps at once, and Axe8 can only use one. I think that tells you right there on the amp resolution and believability. One is an mp3 with a great looking interface and the other is lossless.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it will sound good and usable, but not an Axe killer for sure. For $1500 it doesn't have very many amps and cabs and you know line 6 doesn't update much. Also when they add amps they almost always charge for it as part of an amp pack.
 
Hellbat said:
Well, Andertons stocks Line 6 and doesn't stock Fractal. It's not really in his financial interest to state "The Helix is really good but isn't quite up to Fractal in terms of sound quality."

I would wait for a review from someone who doesn't pay the bills selling Line 6 product if you want an unbiased opinion.
Click to expand...


True, but when you're comparing a product to FAS (arguably the industry standard in amp modeling), you have to be pretty subjective. I wouldn't stake my reputation on a bold claim like that unless I meant it. But perhaps I'm being naive.
 
Jvstrat said:
I'm sure it will sound good and usable, but not an Axe killer for sure. For $1500 it doesn't have very many amps and cabs and you know line 6 doesn't update much. Also when they add amps they almost always charge for it as part of an amp pack.
Click to expand...

I agree, it will sound good and usable, (not AXE good, but good) and they will sell boatloads of them. And in the end everyone wins, because people will have a choice from a long standing company. I still have Pod farm, by the way.

I am glad though, that we have a cadillac (AXE 8 ) as a choice option coming shortly, because I don't want just good enough for the 80%ers. I want a top Quality, high end floor modeler without the cup holder. The cup holder slows down the pace, ask any Foreign sports car driver.
 
Line 6 has got enough of my hard earned money in the past and has left me disappointed EVERY single time. There's just no way in hell they'll get me for another $1,500 dollars. Heck the only justification I got in the past was "at least it was cheap" so I could only feel so bad about the crappy sounds coming out of it..

By the way I have an m5, hd500, flextone II and an original pod for sale if anybody has a boat and needs to make a good boat anchor....
 
jrh_67 said:
Line 6 has got enough of my hard earned money in the past and has left me disappointed EVERY single time. There's just no way in hell they'll get me for another $1,500 dollars. Heck the only justification I got in the past was "at least it was cheap" so I could only feel so bad about the crappy sounds coming out of it..

By the way I have an m5, hd500, flextone II and an original pod for sale if anybody has a boat and needs to make a good boat anchor....
Click to expand...

The only Line 6 product I ever bought was a Spider III Combo... It is the worst piece of garbage that I've ever purchased. That being said, I've heard some additional positive reviews on the Helix today, but I'll be reserving judgement until I can see some unbiased user reviews.
 
The talking points of their sales pitch are pretty obvious -- "get good modelling with a leading interface". The interface does look cool, but I have no desire to program from the front of *any* unit. Minor tweaks, yes. But I don't want to spend hours setting up patches and routing, and experimenting with models, etc for hours on end while constantly bending down to the ground. Or putting the unit on a table, crate, etc.

It's all about the tone, in the end, and how it feels under my fingers. I've seen Line 6 put out vids with great sounds for years now. Sean Halley, one of their product demo folks, does a particularly great job of dialing up very good sounds --= they alwasy sound super impressive. But every time I get my hands on a modern modeller from Line 6, it always feels like crispy crapola. (Except for the Pod 2.0, ironically enough. I still have that unit, and still find it usable.)
 
After watching these two guys giggle like schoolgirls over the Miku pedal, I'll reserve judgement on the Helix pending a more credible and thorough review.

I also think this is the wrong portion of the forum for this thread.
 
Crapshoes said:
The only Line 6 product I ever bought was a Spider III Combo... It is the worst piece of garbage that I've ever purchased. That being said, I've heard some additional positive reviews on the Helix today, but I'll be reserving judgement until I can see some unbiased user reviews.
Click to expand...

I actually won a Spider III many years back. Had it for about a week & sold it. Couldn't get a decent tone out of it for love or money!
 
steadystate said:
After watching these two guys giggle like schoolgirls over the Miku pedal, I'll reserve judgement on the Helix pending a more credible and thorough review.

I also think this is the wrong portion of the forum for this thread.
Click to expand...

SS-didn't see your post- Sorry-I would have just agreed with you
 
I'm open to anything, anything that makes my life easier, and still sounds good. To me this sounds great, and the functionality of the UI is unparalleled. Behringer used to make people puke, until the x32 came out. Companies change, It took 4 years to develop, so I'm guessing they put some time in it. I'll pick one up.. will it replace my axe? maybe, maybe not, who cares, whatever works for you.

I used my sons spider III 75 watt celestion combo the other day for an audition completely out of ease of use and one trip from the car... 3 tones dialed up in 3 minutes, played, got the gig.
 
The Fractal/Kemper success was naturally going to inspire Line6 to raise their game...

The Helix is going to be enough for many guitarists who are into modeling units. You can tell by a few of the demos that the tones are in there.......when folks get a chance to dial it in themselves & use their favorite IR's, I'll bet it will be very good. Even if it's not exactly Fractal/Kemper good.

It also looks to have the best UI out there, almost every routing option you could imagine, 8x8 USB audio, scribble scrips, IR loading, gorgeous screen & simple intuitive onboard workflow.

The Helix being a great success will be good for us all. At the very least a new bar will be set regarding expected UI & routing options going forward......
 
1st impression is the distorted tones sound like crap... again... every video.... sounds like a metal zone pedal.

He keeps talking about the way it decays the note, but to me it does not sound natural at all. I absolutely hate how the Delay sounds. It's exactly the same in every demo, and it just sounds so fake.... and the reverb... sounds exactly like the delay... hmmm.

The tuner looked ok, definitely bright enough, however it's hard to judge how well it tracks.

the tones at 21:30 sound like a preamp into a preamp into a SS amp..... if this is the tone people like I might as well give up on the Axe FX and just use iRig.... yuck. Again the grain of the distortion/overdrive sounds the same in every model too.

They keep saying it's great... in my experience, even a 5 year old Boss GT10 (NOT the 100) completely owns the tones.

I do understand though... In this video, It's dialed in for the FRFR speaker, not direct so I am still reserving final judgment for an live in person demo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom