Help a brother out with multi FX

preston61

Morning Everyone

So I'm moving away from the classic valve amp and pedalboard setup due to not really playing that much these days and trying to save on space with an impending house move.

I don't know too much about the world of Multi FX, but here is what I would like. Some kind of Amp sim (mainly a fender style clean), straight to desk/computer output, good delay and reverb effects, along with modulations.

I know things like the Helix is out of my price range, the Atomic Amplifire looks good, but a bit limiting with the 3 switches and would be at the very top of my budget 2nd hand.

Any advice as where to look and what to look out for would be great

stickyfiddle

A couple of questions - do you want something footswitchable or just software? Do you have an ipad?

preston61

Footswitchable please, and no ipad,but happy to plug in to the computer to adjust settings in software

ICBM

Boss ME-80.

Does everything you need and has a simple knob-based user interface if you're coming from pedals.

Wazmeister

Mate, stretch that wee bit further and get a used FX8 or used Helix, or new Helix LT. Well worth the jump

preston61

Wazmeister said:

Mate, stretch that wee bit further and get a used FX8 or used Helix, or new Helix LT. Well worth the jump

I'm sure sound wise they are mate, but for the kind of money they cost I'd rather keep my amp and few pedals and keep the change :-)

John_A

Zoom G5n  I have the G3n as a backup for my Helix and while the Helix is certainly better the Zoom more than holds it's own and the price difference is huge

preston61

John_A said:

Zoom G5n  I have the G3n as a backup for my Helix and while the Helix is certainly better the Zoom more than holds it's own and the price difference is huge

Thanks John, how do you find the amp sims on the Zoom?

vasselmeyer

I would say try out the Zoom G3 (second hand you can get them for £60 which is a absolute bloody bargain). The amp sims are really pretty good.  Here's a version og Highway to Hell with all the guitars coming from G3 amp sims:

NelsonP

For your budget I'd be looking at:

Second hand
Zoom G5(n),  Pod HD 500x. Boss GT100. Some of the older Vox tonelab stuff still sounds decent today.

New
Boss GT1, Mooer red truck. There's also this - although it's too new to form an opinion on yet
https://www.gearnews.com/mooer-ge200-boss-gt-1-meets-line6-helix/

Amplifire is excellent but doesn't have USB audio (the USB connection on it is only for the editor) so you would need a separate interface = more money

John_A

preston61 said:

John_A said:

Zoom G5n  I have the G3n as a backup for my Helix and while the Helix is certainly better the Zoom more than holds it's own and the price difference is huge

Thanks John, how do you find the amp sims on the Zoom?

Pretty good, maybe lacking in dynamics a bit compared to the Helix, but to be honest the only time I noticed that was once when I used it at rehearsal, just to see if it would be OK as a backup, which it certainly was.  At home it sounds great.

The g3n G5n sound better than the old G3 IMO, and the footswitching is loads better

Legionreturns

I just picked up a used Pod HD500 for under £150. I've owned an ME80 before and the Pod is streets ahead. It's basically a helix but with slightly fewer options that you'll never use. Incredible piece of kit.

John_A

Legionreturns said:

I just picked up a used Pod HD500 for under £150. I've owned an ME80 before and the Pod is streets ahead. It's basically a helix but with slightly fewer options that you'll never use. Incredible piece of kit.

It's certainly not 'basically a Helix'  but for £150 that's a lot for your money

preston61

So between the G5n and the HD500, what would be the advantages of one over the other? There appears to be about 50-70 quids difference on eBay

57Deluxe

NU>X Cerberus maybe,,,

Legionreturns

preston61 said:

So between the G5n and the HD500, what would be the advantages of one over the other? There appears to be about 50-70 quids difference on eBay

I've not used the G5n ...but I can tell you that the amp sims on the Pod, together with the versatility in terms of connections and bring able to build a pedal chain up to 8 pedals long plus the output options make it a fantastic all in one. With the ME80 I found myself frustrated by only being able to choose one thing from each "box" and I found the digital sounds to be very...well, digital. 

Legionreturns

Oh and there's a fairly hefty price difference between an HD500, and an HD500X ...for the avoidance of doubt, the differences are a slightly faster processor (which is only noticeable if you're stacking a lot of FX at a time) and some coloured lights around the foot switches. 

preston61

Thanks for all the info fella

bloodandtears

HD500X or Firehawk??

preston61

bloodandtears said:

HD500X or Firehawk??

What's the difference?

Legionreturns

preston61 said:

bloodandtears said:

HD500X or Firehawk??

What's the difference?

Afaik the firehawk has Bluetooth but the Pod uses USB so it's mostly about updating / changing patches.