Is the Line 6 HX Effects better than the M9?

Evan

I’ve been using my M9 for years now on my home pedal board, mainly for delay and reverb. 

I like the ergonomics and ease of use, for a multi effects it’s quite intuitive, but I’m just wondering if there are better sounds in the HX Effects. 

I’ve only heard them on YouTube and it’s impossible to tell how good the sounds are, never mind how they compare to the M9. 

I’m sure there must be someone here who’s had both, so, how do the sounds compare, especially reverb and delay and is it as intuitive as the M9? 

I’d also be interested to hear how the sounds on either compare to individual reverb and delay pedals, I just haven’t tried any for years. Am I missing out - are they miles better?

thecolourbox

I think the routing potential and the ability to use more effects, more loops, and even IRs in the HX is better however on the one I have I do the to find I use the old "legacy" effects quite a lot more than the HX ones

digitalscream

I haven't had the M9, but...I am struggling to find reasons to need the HX Effects over the Stomp.

Unless you need four snapshots instead of the three on the Stomp, or you need the extra I/O on the HX Effects (particularly the amp control output), I can't see any reason to limit yourself. Yes, the Stomp only has three footswitches, but you can always add another two if you need them (although it'll prevent you from using an expression pedal, obviously).

The fact that the Stomp has the amp modelling makes it a winner for me - if nothing else, you get a very useful backup if your amp goes down.

Evan

thecolourbox said:

I think the routing potential and the ability to use more effects, more loops, and even IRs in the HX is better however on the one I have I do the to find I use the old "legacy" effects quite a lot more than the HX ones

Ok, thanks for that.

Are the legacy effects improved in any way or exactly the same? Also, how about the ease of use and immediacy compared to the M9?

relic245

I prefer the drives in the hx fx.

I find myself using legacy reverb though. 

In terms of usability there is no contest. I had 3 m9s and kept selling them as I found them to be a pita for live use.

I find the hx so much better. 

Evan

relic245 said:

I prefer the drives in the hx fx.

I find myself using legacy reverb though. 

In terms of usability there is no contest. I had 3 m9s and kept selling them as I found them to be a pita for live use.

I find the hx so much better. 

Really? That’s interesting because I thought most people liked the M series because of the way you can view it as several individual effects units stuck together. All the parameters for an effect are visible at once in the lcd when that effect is selected. 

Aren’t there menus, sub-menus etc on the HX series?

chrisj1602

I'd say of course it is.

It has the M series effects plus way more Helix effects, plus more switching options, editing software. It also gets periodic updates with new effects added.

WiresDreamDisasters

Those M-series units are proper tone-suckers. The new units are stellar. And the DSP quality even for the legacy effects sounds better.

thecolourbox

The user interface is more advanced (by that I mean they've worked on it, thought it through etc) on the HX but in my opinion it's preference which you prefer. I personally find the HX Effects a nightmare interface to use but others seem to like it

Evan

Since I use the M9 exclusively for reverb and delay (I like the fact that I can stack 2 or 3 delays together) would I be better off using individual dedicated pedals and would I be able to get better quality effects from decent pedals than from the M9 or the HX?

Grangousier

I have both the FX and the Stomp - I've tried using the Stomp instead of the FX for that use case (4-cable method) and it was strangely claustrophobic and I switched back. There's no rational reason to feel that way, but I did. I suppose I use all those buttons more than I thought I would. There's also the extra send/return. But it's a practical thing rather than Helix itself, which is a consistent software environment with different hardware implementations. 

That said, whatever I'm using, I do patch writing using the HX Edit software on a computer, which is a hell of a lot easier. 

TTBZ

I find myself using more of the Legacy reverbs and modulations than the new stuff. Tbh most of the modulation in the HX is crap imo, its very over the top and un-usable for me, the phasers and univibe just sound crazy without really dialling down the settings. Then again I'm not really much of a mod guy and I pretty much just use the legacy dimension which gives some nice subtle chorusy movement. Reverb wise the new HX Dynamic Hall is really nice, and I use the Legacy plate & room a lot. I do really like the HX delays like Elephant Man and Transistor Tape. 

The HX drives are great imo, I love the Minotaur as a boost for my Jubilee and it works just as I remember my Soul Food. SD1 works great too when I want something more 80s.

jellybelly

Sounds and flexibility - definitely. Ease of use - fairly steep learning curve but that comes with the flexibility!!

Voxman

thecolourbox said:

I think the routing potential and the ability to use more effects, more loops, and even IRs in the HX is better however on the one I have I do the to find I use the old "legacy" effects quite a lot more than the HX ones

I thought the HX Effects was pure effects with no amp or cab models and hence no IR capability?  Were you talking about HX Stomp, as the OP was talking about the comparison between M9 and HX Effects? 

digitalscream

Voxman said:

thecolourbox said:

I think the routing potential and the ability to use more effects, more loops, and even IRs in the HX is better however on the one I have I do the to find I use the old "legacy" effects quite a lot more than the HX ones

I thought the HX Effects was pure effects with no amp or cab models and hence no IR capability?  Were you talking about HX Stomp, as the OP was talking about the comparison between M9 and HX Effects? 

No, the HX Effects does have an IR block, but no amp modelling blocks.

thecolourbox

digitalscream said:

Voxman said:

thecolourbox said:

I think the routing potential and the ability to use more effects, more loops, and even IRs in the HX is better however on the one I have I do the to find I use the old "legacy" effects quite a lot more than the HX ones

I thought the HX Effects was pure effects with no amp or cab models and hence no IR capability?  Were you talking about HX Stomp, as the OP was talking about the comparison between M9 and HX Effects? 

No, the HX Effects does have an IR block, but no amp modelling blocks.

Yes that's what I meant. No amps, but I used to use a preamp in one of the loops with an IR on which had its use

Blueingreen

I have both but I'm not a heavy effects user or connoisseur. For me the simple difference is that the dirt options are much better on the HX Effects, which means I can take one unit to a gig.  With the M9 I used to take a couple of dirt pedals as well.  My impression would be that for most users it's not worth upgrading from the M9 unless you plan to use the drive options on the HX Effects.

Evan

Hmmm.. you’ve all given me something to think about and I thank you for that. 

I don’t plan on using the drive options, I’ve got plenty of gain pedals, it’s just reverb and delay. 

I’d still really like to hear from anyone who has an opinion on whether the reverb and delay effects (currently I have the ‘63 spring on virtually all the time) are a significant compromise when compared to dedicated pedals, not necessarily ones that cost a fortune - for instance, Boss, TC, MXR etc.

TTBZ

I'm far from an effects connoisseur but that was one of the things I weighed up when buying my HX Stomp. I was originally going to get some individual pedals for the few I use (which would be a Klone, DM-2w/DD8, RV6/MXR and the DC-2w) and realised I was pretty much up to the price of a Stomp. I would have also needed to upgrade my power supply if I bought all those so that's another chunk of money. The Stomp then has the advantage of snapshots, presets, silent switching, one power supply (albeit a big ugly one), usb audio interface, amp models for playing quietly at home and a direct to PA backup.

I haven't A/B'd the effects with the Boss/MXR pedals but the delays and reverbs sound great in my FX loop to me. In a band mix I have no complaints. The presets also allow me to have 2 pedalboard setups for the 2 bands I play in. I do have to run quite heavy low pass filters on many of the reverbs though otherwise they sound really bright and fake to me.

Grangousier

The new spring patch is excellent, and better than the '63, but not necessarily as good as an actual spring reverb or a good dedicated pedal. 

For delay, reverb and modulation it's worth looking at the TC Plethora, which is basically any five instances of their TonePrint pedals (Hall of Fame, Flashback, etc). It's the least intuitive of any of them (you have to design patches using the TonePrint software and then download them to the box), but it could also be the most powerful in a lot of ways if you can get over the learning curve: the Line6 stuff is all models of actual pedals, but with the TonePrint software you have access to all the component parts of a patch to assemble as you wish.