Axe-Fx III vs Helix

Ironically, the other-day, I was thinking of picking up a Helix for it’s form factor. ..There’s a lot to like about a Helix. It’s not a bad piece of gear, at all. And in some circumstances, for some people, it’s absolutely the right tool for the job.

But, I agree, Fractal products, to my ears, just sound better. If the Helix sounded better to my ears, I would have gone that route - unapologetically. Because it’s not about being a “fanboy”, it’s about giving credit where credit is due. There are certain details in sound I can hear with a Fractal that just never shone through with a Helix, harmonic undertones? ?? ..but, “real detail”; which, for me, makes the Fractal stuff better for recording.

For live use? ...where many details are lost? ..for many it comes down to form factor and ease of use.

There’s definitely a place for a Helix. But, given a choice between the two, I’d take a Fractal for its overall capability- studio recording/live use, over a Helix which, for me, might work as well as an all-in-one solution for live use.

If I had the spare cash lying about I'd get a Helix. I don't have the Golden ears of the Gods so I'm sure it will sound fine. Many pro artists use it and seem to do fine with it. But then again if I had that kind of spare cash I'd save it up for a III + controller, because I lust after that one more. And if I had that, then I'd get a Helix.

I don't agree with that at all, live use is where I noticed the major improvement when I switched from ax8 to axe III.
The added punch, clarity and dynamics make the axe 3 cut thru a live mix a lot better than the ax8 (and I suppose helix too).

IMHO it is in recorded tones where all those differences tend to be masked cuz, firstly, you're not playing when listening to a record and, secondly, you can process the hell out of tones to make them sound pretty much identical.

Live you get EQ'ed by the FOH as well. Not to mention that most of us will probably never make it into a venue with a really good sound system anyway, so Helix will do and does fine. And will benefit logistically from not having the whole 'I have to bring both a rack and a floorboard' with me, as its just a floorboard. Logistics is a quality on its own.

So funny I looked at that same vid a couple days ago and I think Mikko did a great job with setting them equally!

That being said, it was easy from the first note of each riff to tell which was which IMHO, I mean yes they sound similar but there is a depth and breadth to the axe iii sound.....and a kind of complexity whilst the helix still sounded 2D.

Great pieces of gear yes, but still a clear winner for my ears.

They both sounded exactly the same to me. Either you have the Golden Earts of the Gods or you have confirmation bias.

The thing that i always tell my students when it comes to comparisons of what sounds better is:
Be happy if you are not able to hear the difference between a 200,-€ and a 2000,-€ guitar - it safes you a lot of money.
Same applies to every other piece gear...and that´s a sentence with which you can always close some useless discussions on social media platforms.

Greater words of truth have never been spoken!

I´d still say - top of the line is Axe Fx and Kemper...and then after a long gap comes Helix and Headrush and maybe the GT 1000 by Boss - but it´s still useful gear and i´d go an a stage with it without hesitation

I agree. So many of these discussions basically boil down to 'I bought a very expensive piece of equipment, now something else comes along which is almost as good for a lot less, now I have to trash it to feel good about my choices.'

Sure, the Axe is better, 2 or 3, I've said it myself. But in the end you can gig with the cheaper modelers and 99% of your audience will never hear the difference, because they A: lack the Golden Ears of the Gods and B: never listen to guitarists anyway. The vocalist is always the band member that audiences will first, second, third and fourth pay the most attention too. Your guitar solos aside the only time people will take notice of what you do is when you f*** up.
 
Live you get EQ'ed by the FOH as well. Not to mention that most of us will probably never make it into a venue with a really good sound system anyway, so Helix will do and does fine. And will benefit logistically from not having the whole 'I have to bring both a rack and a floorboard' with me, as its just a floorboard. Logistics is a quality on its own.
I rarely get EQ'd by the FOH, 99% of my gigs are in small pubs where I play with a 2x12 and a couple CLRs used as PA.
I noticed the difference immediately at rehearsal.

I agree about the logistics aspect though, that's why I'm eagerly awaiting for the FM3.
If the Helix does fine for you that's good, for me it does not, it's as simple as that.
We don't have the same ears, preferences and tonal needs.
 
99% of people. blindfolded, will not be able to tell the difference either in sound or feel, especially through the same IR or real cab. These bold statements that one annihilates the other are simply factually wrong. Having owned both platforms, to me the differences where the same as playing with 2 different amps of the same model.
Sorry. I disagree with this. I can definitely tell the feel and tone difference between the two.

You having a certain opinion doesn’t prove other people’s discernment is wrong.

I don’t use words like “annihilate” or anything, but to me it’s a huge difference, even when “blindfolded” or whatever. People can tell the difference.
 
Well I have tried helix two times, axe Fx II XL+ and axe 3, I went back to real amp but not just any amp Engl E-670 special edition not because anything was bad it’s just I wanted that 4x12 feel and the powered speakers I had at the time were not good enough power and I was not informed that matrix or others were an option easily, I tried hx effects which was in my opinion just missing all the marks .. axe Fx 2xl+ was good and the axe 3 more colourful a bit more rounded feeling

helix had a very intuitive interface and worked well like others have mentioned the tones seemed flat and limited. I have a copy of helix native as well it’s pretty good..

I like axe edit as well really the axe Fx system of tools and interface seems very thought through.. it can take a bit to learn it but I find the sounds you get are better than most right out of the box.

at the moment I’m trying to decide on fm3 or go Back to axe 3 to add to my amp set up I do like having the access to two amp blocks

which you can do on helix too but the tone is flat and library of sounds are lacking, it can get better after a bit of work I found I had to add a tube screamer real pedal to get a decent overdrive tone

I kind of resented having to do, that since you paid 2k for the device .. The reason I really kinda of drop the platform is that, to get a decent sound I had to add a pedal. We as customers should not have to do that .. it should be great out of the box like Axe-Fx is .. in my opinion

I have not tried Kemper .. but from what I hear it’s a bit of work to get a set of good sounds .. hx stomp uhm well not the worst thing out there, but not in the league I feel.
 
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I've owned AXE FXII, AX8, and also line 6 HX Stomps. AXE modelling sounds best, but because I am an amateur guitarrist, I need professional advice to tune up good tones. The HX Stomp was the best investment I've made for band rehearsing (of an amateur group); it's so lightweight, sound as the Helix; even being so simple to tune (compared to AXE, a thousand parameters to tweak), I also get my tones from my professional adviser. I've sold my AXE FX II and my AX8.

Now a brand new FM3 is coming in two or three days. Guitar gods bless FRACTAL,... and my guitar master who help me config my tones.
 
I've owned AXE FXII, AX8, and also line 6 HX Stomps. AXE modelling sounds best, but because I am an amateur guitarrist, I need professional advice to tune up good tones. The HX Stomp was the best investment I've made for band rehearsing (of an amateur group); it's so lightweight, sound as the Helix; even being so simple to tune (compared to AXE, a thousand parameters to tweak), I also get my tones from my professional adviser. I've sold my AXE FX II and my AX8.

Now a brand new FM3 is coming in two or three days. Guitar gods bless FRACTAL,... and my guitar master who help me config my tones.

Guitar master makes it sound like you are in some BDSM relationship. 🤔 ;)
 
My PodHD can sound good if
used with an external ir loader (I have a Mooer Radar velcroed to the Pod).

Had Helix floor for a couple of weeks - returned it - marketed as a whole new architecture, but I found too much similarity to the Pod I have at 4x what I paid for the PodHD (no metering, bit thin on cpu at times, confusing routing, limited automation).

Ok but no comparison to Axefx.
 
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I have a Helix. IMO it is just as useful as the III. The reverbs leave a lot to be desired, but otherwise it EASILY hangs with the III for amp tones. With the same IR, differences are negligible. I don't need to be told I don't have an 'ear for tone'. I also agree that in a gig scenario, the vast majority of punters will not notice or care. Axe III is amazing, but so is the Helix. In terms of value, you get a lot more options and more frequent updates with the Axe III, but the Helix can be made to sound just as good IMO.
 
The necrothread lives! And the Helix still sounds and feels awful. The raw amps are unusable. IMO of course. Ear of the beholder.
 
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I'll never understand why people feel the need to turn every knob, just because it's there? When new folks have asked 99.9% of the advice given is you do not need to go deep to get great sounds.
Just human nature I guess..................
 
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I'll never understand why people feel the need to turn every knob, just because it's there? When new folks have asked 99.9% of the advice given is you do not need to go deep to get great sounds.
Just human nature I guess..................
That's what I love about the Axe-FX III. I don't need to turn every knob to get a great tone. With some other products, like the Helix, I'll turn every knob in hopes that the tone can be improved. The impetus to turn the knobs comes from dissatisfaction with the tone.
 
The necrothread lives! And the Helix still sounds and feels awful. The raw amps are unusable. IMO of course. Ear of the beholder.
Don't you think that calling it unusable is a bit too much? I mean, ear of the beholder for sure, but to go that far is beyond being subjective.
 
Don't you think that calling it unusable is a bit too much? I mean, ear of the beholder for sure, but to go that far is beyond being subjective.
Perhaps. I should have said unusable for me in any real-world scenario. I couldn't get a tone I liked out of it. Obviously I could use it if it was the best alternative in a specific situation. But I can't imagine that situation ever being anything other than hypothetical.
 
Don't you think that calling it unusable is a bit too much? I mean, ear of the beholder for sure, but to go that far is beyond being subjective.
Ok. Prompted by this reply, I decided to give Helix Native another honest shot. Maybe my memory isn't what it used to be, so I reinstalled it. I focused solely on the amp models and cabs and compared them to the Axe III.

It sounds and feels as bad as I remembered. The attack has no definition. It's mush with none of the complex character of the Axe. The sustain portion is no better; flat and one-dimensional. Poor note separation and zero swirl. It reminds me of my old BOSS GX-700. I A/B'd the Plexi models (Hell's Glockenspiels for example) and I literally laughed out loud at the chasm between the two products. Same for the Mesa Mark IV models. No amount of tweaking can save it. Yes, it can be used, and yes, a lot of people might not notice, especially non-guitarists listening to a mix. But actually playing through it....different leagues. I appreciate the Axe more than ever now.
 
Ok. Prompted by this reply, I decided to give Helix Native another honest shot. Maybe my memory isn't what it used to be, so I reinstalled it. I focused solely on the amp models and cabs and compared them to the Axe III.

It sounds and feels as bad as I remembered. The attack has no definition. It's mush with none of the complex character of the Axe. The sustain portion is no better; flat and one-dimensional. Poor note separation and zero swirl. It reminds me of my old BOSS GX-700. I A/B'd the Plexi models (Hell's Glockenspiels for example) and I literally laughed out loud at the chasm between the two products. Same for the Mesa Mark IV models. No amount of tweaking can save it. Yes, it can be used, and yes, a lot of people might not notice, especially non-guitarists listening to a mix. But actually playing through it....different leagues. I appreciate the Axe more than ever now.

I have Helix native and really can’t believe it’s equal to the hardware. It sounds and feels really bad. Not sure if it will sound better on an interface different than my fm3 dry signal.

I have tried the helix but on a different monitoring environment. Sounded good, feeled like a pod. But native is very far from that
 
I have Helix native and really can’t believe it’s equal to the hardware. It sounds and feels really bad. Not sure if it will sound better on an interface different than my fm3 dry signal.

I have tried the helix but on a different monitoring environment. Sounded good, feeled like a pod. But native is very far from that
Could be that they are different. I also have a hard time believing that Native is the same as the hardware.
 
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