Helix Native

guitarfishbay

I didn't even realise there was a Polytune plugin

Fretwired

guitarfishbay said:

I didn't even realise there was a Polytune plugin

There are quite a few plugins .. I have Cubase and it has one built in so its not a major issue.

Fretwired

robinbowes said:

Fretwired said:

I use Amplitube quite a lot and it offers an FX loop for stomp boxes and a rack at then end of the chain with a bunch of useful rack units, such a two channel stereo EQ, delay, reverb etc. Just wondered if Helix had such a thing?

Ah, I see.

No, it doesn't. But you can do that within the DAW, ie. add post-Helix effects.

R.

True .. I do that anyway.

octatonic

Fretwired said:

robinbowes said:

Fretwired said:

I use Amplitube quite a lot and it offers an FX loop for stomp boxes and a rack at then end of the chain with a bunch of useful rack units, such a two channel stereo EQ, delay, reverb etc. Just wondered if Helix had such a thing?

Ah, I see.

No, it doesn't. But you can do that within the DAW, ie. add post-Helix effects.

R.

True .. I do that anyway.

I've been messing about with the Helix feeding Soundtoys plugins today.
It is pretty awesome.

guitarfishbay

octatonic said:

Fretwired said:

robinbowes said:

Fretwired said:

I use Amplitube quite a lot and it offers an FX loop for stomp boxes and a rack at then end of the chain with a bunch of useful rack units, such a two channel stereo EQ, delay, reverb etc. Just wondered if Helix had such a thing?

Ah, I see.

No, it doesn't. But you can do that within the DAW, ie. add post-Helix effects.

R.

True .. I do that anyway.

I've been messing about with the Helix feeding Soundtoys plugins today.
It is pretty awesome.

@octatonic ;

Have you directly compared your typical Axe FX patches to Helix Native? Or is it a case that if they're close enough that the practical benefits of a plugin workflow outweigh any sonic differences?

FWIW I use Echoboy as my main delay anyway, I think it's awesome.

octatonic

guitarfishbay said:

octatonic said:

Fretwired said:

robinbowes said:

Fretwired said:

I use Amplitube quite a lot and it offers an FX loop for stomp boxes and a rack at then end of the chain with a bunch of useful rack units, such a two channel stereo EQ, delay, reverb etc. Just wondered if Helix had such a thing?

Ah, I see.

No, it doesn't. But you can do that within the DAW, ie. add post-Helix effects.

R.

True .. I do that anyway.

I've been messing about with the Helix feeding Soundtoys plugins today.
It is pretty awesome.

@octatonic ;;

Have you directly compared your typical Axe FX patches to Helix Native? Or is it a case that if they're close enough that the practical benefits of a plugin workflow outweigh any sonic differences?

FWIW I use Echoboy as my main delay anyway, I think it's awesome.

I haven't and I probably won't.

I've never been that interested in nailing specific amps- I just want something that sounds great, rather than a replica of a real world thing.
The Helix is really nice and there are loads of usable tones in there.
Whether it replaces the Axe FX or supplements it for recording will come down more to functionality than anything else.
I have specific things I need to do with my amp modeller- if it does them better or as well as the AFX then I'll sell the AFX on.
If it can't do a few things that the AFX does then I'll keep the Fractal.
It mostly comes down to the looper and how the pitch delays can be configured.
So far it is looking positive but it is still early days.

I love Echoboy but Exponential Audio's 'Excalibur' plugin has largely replaced it these days for me.
Eventide Ultratap is awesome too.

mrleon83

Ok , I'm really impressed with this software... I have nine instances, cla and ssl plugins by waves and isotope ozone 7 it's running like a charm , helix is so easy to get sitting ... just a tiny amount of eq...  I wouldn't buy the software though ... much more inclined to go helix rack or something ... just due to costs ...

John_A

mrleon83 said:

Ok , I'm really impressed with this software... I have nine instances, cla and ssl plugins by waves and isotope ozone 7 it's running like a charm , helix is so easy to get sitting ... just a tiny amount of eq...  I wouldn't buy the software though ... much more inclined to go helix rack or something ... just due to costs ...

Isn't nine Helix racks a bit cost prohibitive?  

guitarfishbay

octatonic said:

I haven't and I probably won't.

I've never been that interested in nailing specific amps- I just want something that sounds great, rather than a replica of a real world thing.
The Helix is really nice and there are loads of usable tones in there.
Whether it replaces the Axe FX or supplements it for recording will come down more to functionality than anything else.
I have specific things I need to do with my amp modeller- if it does them better or as well as the AFX then I'll sell the AFX on.
If it can't do a few things that the AFX does then I'll keep the Fractal.
It mostly comes down to the looper and how the pitch delays can be configured.
So far it is looking positive but it is still early days.

I love Echoboy but Exponential Audio's 'Excalibur' plugin has largely replaced it these days for me.
Eventide Ultratap is awesome too.

Yeah seems a sensible approach.

With me I'd need it to replace my Fractal 6505/Rectifier/Mesa Mark tones, if I was to consider selling the Axe FX, since those particular models are as close to plug and play for my tastes as I'm likely to find and I'm very happy with them.  However it'd still be very useful to have a very good plugin amp sim to use alongside the Axe FX, and Helix also has a bunch of cool bass gear modelled too.  

Right now I'm aiming to try Native and also test out the more recent official Amplitube models of Mesa and Soldano/Jet City gear to see which I prefer.  It'd be significantly cheaper for me to upgrade the Amplitube bundle with the current sale.

I'll have to have a look at Excalibur I've never heard of it.

digitalscream

guitarfishbay said:

Right now I'm aiming to try Native and also test out the more recent official Amplitube models of Mesa and Soldano/Jet City gear to see which I prefer.  It'd be significantly cheaper for me to upgrade the Amplitube bundle with the current sale.

I can save you a bit of time, if you like - Amplitube Soldano models aren't even close to the quality of the Eleven Rack versions, much less the Helix. The Jet City models - tested against the real thing with a dummy load - aren't really all that great, either. I have it from the horse's mouth that they're not supposed to be the same as the real thing, just "inspired by".

Fretwired

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Right now I'm aiming to try Native and also test out the more recent official Amplitube models of Mesa and Soldano/Jet City gear to see which I prefer.  It'd be significantly cheaper for me to upgrade the Amplitube bundle with the current sale.

I can save you a bit of time, if you like - Amplitube Soldano models aren't even close to the quality of the Eleven Rack versions, much less the Helix. The Jet City models - tested against the real thing with a dummy load - aren't really all that great, either. I have it from the horse's mouth that they're not supposed to be the same as the real thing, just "inspired by".

Eh? The Jet City models were developed with Jet City themselves and are endorsed and recommended by the company. Why would they recommend something that sounds crap?

digitalscream

Fretwired said:

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Right now I'm aiming to try Native and also test out the more recent official Amplitube models of Mesa and Soldano/Jet City gear to see which I prefer.  It'd be significantly cheaper for me to upgrade the Amplitube bundle with the current sale.

I can save you a bit of time, if you like - Amplitube Soldano models aren't even close to the quality of the Eleven Rack versions, much less the Helix. The Jet City models - tested against the real thing with a dummy load - aren't really all that great, either. I have it from the horse's mouth that they're not supposed to be the same as the real thing, just "inspired by".

Eh? The Jet City models were developed with Jet City themselves and are endorsed and recommended by the company. Why would they recommend something that sounds crap?

I know, right? It's not that they sound crap, per se, just they're not as much like the real thing as you'd think given that they're endorsed by the company. I honestly think Jet City were just trying to get their name out there; they were a pretty new company when that all came about.

guitarfishbay

digitalscream said:

Fretwired said:

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Right now I'm aiming to try Native and also test out the more recent official Amplitube models of Mesa and Soldano/Jet City gear to see which I prefer.  It'd be significantly cheaper for me to upgrade the Amplitube bundle with the current sale.

I can save you a bit of time, if you like - Amplitube Soldano models aren't even close to the quality of the Eleven Rack versions, much less the Helix. The Jet City models - tested against the real thing with a dummy load - aren't really all that great, either. I have it from the horse's mouth that they're not supposed to be the same as the real thing, just "inspired by".

Eh? The Jet City models were developed with Jet City themselves and are endorsed and recommended by the company. Why would they recommend something that sounds crap?

I know, right? It's not that they sound crap, per se, just they're not as much like the real thing as you'd think given that they're endorsed by the company. I honestly think Jet City were just trying to get their name out there; they were a pretty new company when that all came about.

That's not really an issue for me as I've never played a real Jet City.

To be honest I think I actually prefer the Fractal Rectifier models for recording, they have a recognisible amount of the tone and size of the sound, but it's a lot more controllable overall.  Not quite as chewy on the plain strings or thunky on the wound strings, if either of those words make any sense, but easier to make it do what I want it to.

guitarfishbay

Also FWIW I've never worked out how to get the Fractal Soldano models to sound right.  Again I've never played an SLO, but in the test me and Drew did it was the only time I preferred the Helix model vs the Fractal, when doing a direct comparison.  I strongly preferred the 5150 variants on the Fractal in that test.

digitalscream

guitarfishbay said:

Also FWIW I've never worked out how to get the Fractal Soldano models to sound right.  Again I've never played an SLO, but in the test me and Drew did it was the only time I preferred the Helix model vs the Fractal, when doing a direct comparison.  I strongly preferred the 5150 variants on the Fractal in that test.

Well, I only tried the SLO models in Helix Native, and they were enough to convince me to buy the LT. Absolutely the best Soldano models I've ever encountered bar none...given that they're always the first thing I hit when I come across a modeller, and having owned a Decatone and many Jet City amps, I'm calling that High Praise

guitarfishbay

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Also FWIW I've never worked out how to get the Fractal Soldano models to sound right.  Again I've never played an SLO, but in the test me and Drew did it was the only time I preferred the Helix model vs the Fractal, when doing a direct comparison.  I strongly preferred the 5150 variants on the Fractal in that test.

Well, I only tried the SLO models in Helix Native, and they were enough to convince me to buy the LT. Absolutely the best Soldano models I've ever encountered bar none...given that they're always the first thing I hit when I come across a modeller, and having owned a Decatone and many Jet City amps, I'm calling that High Praise

Great! A happy ending for Soldano tones after all. I remember it was me that found the listing for the Decatone and posted it on the board... All worked out well in the end!

Fretwired

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Also FWIW I've never worked out how to get the Fractal Soldano models to sound right.  Again I've never played an SLO, but in the test me and Drew did it was the only time I preferred the Helix model vs the Fractal, when doing a direct comparison.  I strongly preferred the 5150 variants on the Fractal in that test.

Well, I only tried the SLO models in Helix Native, and they were enough to convince me to buy the LT. Absolutely the best Soldano models I've ever encountered bar none...given that they're always the first thing I hit when I come across a modeller, and having owned a Decatone and many Jet City amps, I'm calling that High Praise

In fairness the Solando was one of the amps Line 6 got right from the get go .. the ’89 Soldano SLO Super Lead Overdrive on the POD 2 was pretty good.

digitalscream

Fretwired said:

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Also FWIW I've never worked out how to get the Fractal Soldano models to sound right.  Again I've never played an SLO, but in the test me and Drew did it was the only time I preferred the Helix model vs the Fractal, when doing a direct comparison.  I strongly preferred the 5150 variants on the Fractal in that test.

Well, I only tried the SLO models in Helix Native, and they were enough to convince me to buy the LT. Absolutely the best Soldano models I've ever encountered bar none...given that they're always the first thing I hit when I come across a modeller, and having owned a Decatone and many Jet City amps, I'm calling that High Praise

In fairness the Solando was one of the amps Line 6 got right from the get go .. the ’89 Soldano SLO Super Lead Overdrive on the POD 2 was pretty good.

Agreed. It's actually the main thing that got me into the Soldano sound - no matter which modeller you choose, you can pretty much rely on the fact that it's the best-sounding amp there (for my tastes, at least).

The lead channel sounds phenomenal in Helix Native when you put the gain about half-way and put the two-knob compressor in front of it. Plenty of aggression when you dig in, and creamy sustain for days. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

guitarfishbay

Yes that was the one I used most when I used L6 plugins (had a guitarport from launch, then used an UX2 and Podfarm for years). Possibly might've been the model I used most on my old Flextone 2 - can't remember as I sold that years ago

TimmyO

Fretwired said:

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

Also FWIW I've never worked out how to get the Fractal Soldano models to sound right.  Again I've never played an SLO, but in the test me and Drew did it was the only time I preferred the Helix model vs the Fractal, when doing a direct comparison.  I strongly preferred the 5150 variants on the Fractal in that test.

Well, I only tried the SLO models in Helix Native, and they were enough to convince me to buy the LT. Absolutely the best Soldano models I've ever encountered bar none...given that they're always the first thing I hit when I come across a modeller, and having owned a Decatone and many Jet City amps, I'm calling that High Praise

In fairness the Solando was one of the amps Line 6 got right from the get go .. the ’89 Soldano SLO Super Lead Overdrive on the POD 2 was pretty good.

I recall trying a Duoverb in Sound Control years ago on the Solodano model - sounded awesome