Helix Modeling Question

Hapless said:
Clearly, you have no idea what you're talking about. All the Line 6 guys who were there when Yamaha took over the company are still there and they've added the old Digitech guys to help with poly stuff.
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Clearly he knows what he’s talking about. They’re only there because their stock (or whatever other comp they get in its place) takes 4 years to vest. This is called rest&vest. You put in just enough effort to not get fired in order to continue vesting. It’s not like there was much real talent remaining at Line 6 in the first place, but to the extent there was, expect those people to make an exit at or before the 4-year mark, well before if they actually know what they’re doing and are therefore employable for more money elsewhere.
 
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Because that's how you'd handle sheparding the project you'd envisioned and worked on for some years into its new home at one of the audio world's largest corporations? It's just not possible that any of those folks actually give a sh1t?
 
plexi59 said:
Clearly he knows what he’s talking about. They’re only there because their stock (or whatever other comp they get in its place) takes 4 years to vest. This is called rest&vest. You put in just enough effort to not get fired in order to continue vesting. It’s not like there was much real talent remaining at Line 6 in the first place, but to the extent there was, expect those people to make an exit at or before the 4-year mark, well before if they actually know what they’re doing and are therefore employable for more money elsewhere.
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Their unparalleled engagement and customer service speaks otherwise. If he (and you) had been paying any sort of attention outside this forum, he (and you) would see that. Don't get me wrong, I prefer Fractal's modeling to Line 6's but I own both. I continue to own the Helix and HX Stomp because the HX modeling is still damn good, they continue to add value and guys like Eric Klein, Frank Ritchotte, et al, remain. I stand by my statement.
 
They’ve been essentially regurgitating the same weak plastic garbage for like 15 years in spite of Fractal demonstrating what’s actually possible and in spite of being able to spend a lot more on R&D.

This has two possible explanations: 1. They don’t have the talent to leapfrog Fractal, 2. They don’t give a shit. Or, indeed, both. Even shoestring budget software shops have largely overtaken them by now.

Yamaha THR series had, to my ears and hands, better sounding and better feeling amp emulation. I’d consider this an embarrassment if I were Line 6. But they were probably blinded by their own success: they were the first to successfully enter this market, and the brand all but guarantees continued sales in spite of the product not being great. Trouble is, if you don’t aim for the best possible product (“truth in engineering”, if you will), things eventually begin to slide, and when they do, it’s too late to fix anything.
 
plexi59 said:
They’ve been essentially regurgitating the same weak plastic garbage for like 15 years in spite of Fractal demonstrating what’s actually possible and in spite of being able to spend a lot more on R&D.
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The Helix is the same as what prior art again??? I call bs.

You may prefer Fractal modeling, but there's no denying that the Helix UI is extraordinary, and the first to go anywhere near there.
 
UI is not the main selling point of this product. Modeling is. And their modeling doesn’t even compare to AxeFX 1 (IIRC, it’s been a while since I had the 1), let alone 3.
 
plexi59 said:
UI is not the main selling point of this product. Modeling is. And their modeling doesn’t even compare to AxeFX 1 (IIRC, it’s been a while since I had the 1), let alone 3.
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The UI and form factor are important parts of the product definition -- who it's for, its intended use, and what it's like to work with.

Same is true for the Axe, most products really. Similarly, for most end-user software, to users, the UI is the software.
 
Dave Merrill said:
The Helix is the same as what prior art again??? I call bs.
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The Helix modeling is based on the original Pod. That's prior art. UI isn't everything. It's the icing on the cake. YMMV, but to me functionality and quality of intended purpose trumps UI. But then again, I used to use Apple DOS 3.3, CP/M, and MS-DOS effectively and loved them all.
 
plexi59 said:
They’ve been essentially regurgitating the same weak plastic garbage for like 15 years in spite of Fractal demonstrating what’s actually possible and in spite of being able to spend a lot more on R&D.
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Their HX stuff is new. To call it regurgitated would be like calling Fractal's Ares regurgitated cus it's built from Quantum. And many of the effects like the recent polypitch stuff is completely new.
 
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yeky83 said:
Their HX stuff is new. To call it regurgitated would be like calling Fractal's Ares regurgitated cus it's built from Quantum. And many of the effects like the recent polypitch stuff is completely new.
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I returned a Helix I paid 2k$ for as I found it too similar to my PodHD I paid 650$ for. The Pod sounds just as good to me staying away from its' cabs (through Combo or external IRs). I like the Pod and HX but expected a whole new product with HX - under the flashy screen, case and scribble scripts, it seemed like a VERY close relative to the PodHD. HX is a worthy upgrade to PodHD - just
not worthy of a 300+% price increase over the PodHD.
 
yeky83 said:
Their HX stuff is new. To call it regurgitated would be like calling Fractal's Ares regurgitated cus it's built from Quantum. And many of the effects like the recent polypitch stuff is completely new.
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Yeah, I'm not sure how "new" it is. Of course they will say that. Alot of the HX Effects (these new effects) sound VERY similar to my M13. Some of them, I could barely tell any difference if any.

The Helix big thing is the UI (which is decent), not actually amp tones - which is the most important part for a modeler.
 
I was always confused by Pete Thorn because he did a video for the FM3 presets, yet he has used the HX Stomp in 1 or 2 recent videos and I haven't seen him use a Fractal product since. It seems he prefers Helix for some reason.
 
rrhoads17 said:
I was always confused by Pete Thorn because he did a video for the FM3 presets, yet he has used the HX Stomp in 1 or 2 recent videos and I haven't seen him use a Fractal product since. It seems he prefers Helix for some reason.
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Probably because Line 6 pays him for those videos.
 
plexi59 said:
They’ve been essentially regurgitating the same weak plastic garbage for like 15 years in spite of Fractal demonstrating what’s actually possible and in spite of being able to spend a lot more on R&D.

This has two possible explanations: 1. They don’t have the talent to leapfrog Fractal, 2. They don’t give a shit. Or, indeed, both. Even shoestring budget software shops have largely overtaken them by now.

Yamaha THR series had, to my ears and hands, better sounding and better feeling amp emulation. I’d consider this an embarrassment if I were Line 6. But they were probably blinded by their own success: they were the first to successfully enter this market, and the brand all but guarantees continued sales in spite of the product not being great. Trouble is, if you don’t aim for the best possible product (“truth in engineering”, if you will), things eventually begin to slide, and when they do, it’s too late to fix anything.
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Let me know when you're done moving the goalposts.
 
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plexi59 said:
They’ve been essentially regurgitating the same weak plastic garbage for like 15 years in spite of Fractal demonstrating what’s actually possible and in spite of being able to spend a lot more on R&D.

This has two possible explanations: 1. They don’t have the talent to leapfrog Fractal, 2. They don’t give a shit. Or, indeed, both. Even shoestring budget software shops have largely overtaken them by now.

Yamaha THR series had, to my ears and hands, better sounding and better feeling amp emulation. I’d consider this an embarrassment if I were Line 6. But they were probably blinded by their own success: they were the first to successfully enter this market, and the brand all but guarantees continued sales in spite of the product not being great. Trouble is, if you don’t aim for the best possible product (“truth in engineering”, if you will), things eventually begin to slide, and when they do, it’s too late to fix anything.
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Yep. They are as good as they need to be to sell x number of units. That's as good as they will ever be, or need to be.
 
sprint said:
I returned a Helix I paid 2k$ for as I found it too similar to my PodHD I paid 650$ for. The Pod sounds just as good to me staying away from its' cabs (through Combo or external IRs). I like the Pod and HX but expected a whole new product with HX - under the flashy screen, case and scribble scripts, it seemed like a VERY close relative to the PodHD. HX is a worthy upgrade to PodHD - just
not worthy of a 300+% price increase over the PodHD.
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That’s because it’s a goddamn PodXT with a few extras and new IRs, wrapped in a new enclosure. 🤣 The only truly competitive modeler they make now is HX Stomp imo, and that’s only because it’s so tiny - easily fits in a gig bag. Don’t underestimate the power of convenience.
 
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