Line 6 Helix

Si_

Well.. it finally arrived.. First impression... It's bigger than expected, and it's a weighty beast, certainly well made.

Plugged my Les Paul Custom in and fired it up on a few presets.. was a little underwhelmed, maybe it's just the crap presets but only 1 of the ones I tried sounded good to me. So I spend a little time with the 2204 amp model (my usual goto sound) and It's Ok.. again didn't blow me away but it certainly got better after 30 mins of tweeting. I also downloaded the free Red Wire IRs which sounded much better (anyone know any other free IRs that are good?).

Keep in mind that I'm playing through headphones, and crappy ones at that, going to try it tonight with my expensive in ears and see if that helps.

It's certainly very easy to program, just took a few mins to figure out how to navigate and create a preset without any need for the manual. 

My mission over the next few days is to try to emulate by live rig and see if it's good enough to replace it.. My first challenge is to get a BE100 sound which may not be easy given there is no Friedman model (hopefully there will do one eventually)

RaymondLin

Sony 7506 or sometimes call V6 are flat, very popular in recording studios, nice long lead, comfortably and don't break the bank.

dindude

Sennheiser HD280 Pro, around £75 - I use them for recording purposes as they are pretty uncoloured.

Si_

Well, spent an hour with it and really liking it now.. tip for anyone who's looking to buy.. ignore the builtin presets there totally crap. Start from scratch and build your own..

Still trying to figure a few things out, like if it's possible to move the mode and tap tempo buttons, and having a few problem getting the Wah to work how I want it to, shame there isn't a way to get it to auto-engauge. 

I've reverted to the stock IRs and liking them so far. 

There are a few annoyances that I hope they fix in firmware, in particular, if you rotate the joystick accidentally while you are on a block it changes that block to something else, not a problem you would think, just change it back.. However, when you change it back it reverts to factory settings so you loose whatever settings you had.. I must have done that at least 10 times, very frustrating, There should be a facility to "lock" a block to stop it's settings being changed by accident. 

Drew_TNBD

Get some IR's in that mothertrucker!

ThorpyFX

if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?

sweepy

The most neutral and affordable headphones for a sensible price are, imho a set of Shure 840's

ThePrettyDamned

ThorpyFX;840724" said:

if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?

Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.

Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.

Si_

sweepy said:

The most neutral and affordable headphones for a sensible price are, imho a set of Shure 840's

Woah, there expensive. I have a set of Westone UM3s (cost about £350 when I got them) but the adapter I have won't fit them   I might just see if I can get a better adapter and see how they do.. only problem is the cable is a bit short.

ThorpyFX

ThePrettyDamned said:

ThorpyFX;840724" said:

if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?

Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.

Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.

I'm just surprised I guess. I looked at the price of redwirez IRS and they are $9 each or $125 for the bundle.

rossyamaha

Hearing a lot of good things about Ownhammer. We have started working with them for THR heads. Not used any yet though. 

sweepy

£120 is positively parsimonious for decent headphones, the Shure 840 really are worth it, go on, treat yourself

ThePrettyDamned

ThorpyFX;840832" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

ThorpyFX;840724" said:if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?

Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.



Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.







I'm just surprised I guess. I looked at the price of redwirez IRS and they are $9 each or $125 for the bundle.

A few dollars is cheap compared to the mad extents some people go through to find the overdrive pedal they prefer, or looking for a tremolo pedal that fades in and out just right, and for a hundred dollars or so you can effectively have a room full of different cabs, speakers and mics ready for recording - they're just virtual.

Built in IR's may be good, or as good, but if it's not quite what you want you can try others. I really like the torpedo wall of sound ir's, they've got a monstrous recto cab ir that sounds enormous, clean or driven.

ThorpyFX

ThePrettyDamned;841637" said:

[quote="ThorpyFX;840832"]ThePrettyDamned said:

ThorpyFX;840724" said:if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?

Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.



Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.







I'm just surprised I guess. I looked at the price of redwirez IRS and they are $9 each or $125 for the bundle.

A few dollars is cheap compared to the mad extents some people go through to find the overdrive pedal they prefer, or looking for a tremolo pedal that fades in and out just right, and for a hundred dollars or so you can effectively have a room full of different cabs, speakers and mics ready for recording - they're just virtual.

Built in IR's may be good, or as good, but if it's not quite what you want you can try others. I really like the torpedo wall of sound ir's, they've got a monstrous recto cab ir that sounds enormous, clean or driven.
[/quote]

It's just a technology I'm not familiar with, because I don't really utilise digital stuff for recording. 

Might have to get a few of the free ones to check out the utility/differences. 

Cirrus

sweepy said:

£120 is positively parsimonious for decent headphones, the Shure 840 really are worth it, go on, treat yourself

I am a fan of mine, so I second this.

ThePrettyDamned

ThorpyFX;841709" said:

ThePrettyDamned;841637" said:[quote="ThorpyFX;840832"]ThePrettyDamned said:



ThorpyFX;840724" said:if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?



Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.







Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.















I'm just surprised I guess. I looked at the price of redwirez IRS and they are $9 each or $125 for the bundle.

A few dollars is cheap compared to the mad extents some people go through to find the overdrive pedal they prefer, or looking for a tremolo pedal that fades in and out just right, and for a hundred dollars or so you can effectively have a room full of different cabs, speakers and mics ready for recording - they're just virtual.



Built in IR's may be good, or as good, but if it's not quite what you want you can try others. I really like the torpedo wall of sound ir's, they've got a monstrous recto cab ir that sounds enormous, clean or driven.

It's just a technology I'm not familiar with, because I don't really utilise digital stuff for recording. 







Might have to get a few of the free ones to check out the utility/differences. [/quote]


I only use free ones. Torpedo I had a free trial and it'd be worth every penny, but I've used good and bad free ones. I was very skeptical of the differences but when I heard it...

It's a significantly more important step than the overdrive pedal. I'd rate it as high as choosing the amp even, obviously only if recording direct though. FX loop send into an interface.

ThorpyFX

ThePrettyDamned said:

ThorpyFX;841709" said:

ThePrettyDamned;841637" said:[quote="ThorpyFX;840832"]ThePrettyDamned said:



ThorpyFX;840724" said:if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?



Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.







Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.















I'm just surprised I guess. I looked at the price of redwirez IRS and they are $9 each or $125 for the bundle.

A few dollars is cheap compared to the mad extents some people go through to find the overdrive pedal they prefer, or looking for a tremolo pedal that fades in and out just right, and for a hundred dollars or so you can effectively have a room full of different cabs, speakers and mics ready for recording - they're just virtual.



Built in IR's may be good, or as good, but if it's not quite what you want you can try others. I really like the torpedo wall of sound ir's, they've got a monstrous recto cab ir that sounds enormous, clean or driven.

It's just a technology I'm not familiar with, because I don't really utilise digital stuff for recording. 







Might have to get a few of the free ones to check out the utility/differences. [/quote]


I only use free ones. Torpedo I had a free trial and it'd be worth every penny, but I've used good and bad free ones. I was very skeptical of the differences but when I heard it...

It's a significantly more important step than the overdrive pedal. I'd rate it as high as choosing the amp even, obviously only if recording direct though. FX loop send into an interface.

can you recommend any favourites as a starter for ten?

Moltisanti

Session have just uploaded an hour long Helix video (auf Deutsch): 

ThePrettyDamned

ThorpyFX;842225" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

ThorpyFX;841709" said:ThePrettyDamned;841637" said:[quote="ThorpyFX;840832"]ThePrettyDamned said:







ThorpyFX;840724" said:if digital modellers have cab models already in them, why are IR's a) needed b) so much better?







Give ten studio engineers an sm57 and a cab to create an ir with then compare results. They'll all be different.















Different people like different things, so it's useful to have lots of ir's available to you. There are loads of good ones out there, but things like mic type and position make a huge difference to the sound.































I'm just surprised I guess. I looked at the price of redwirez IRS and they are $9 each or $125 for the bundle.



A few dollars is cheap compared to the mad extents some people go through to find the overdrive pedal they prefer, or looking for a tremolo pedal that fades in and out just right, and for a hundred dollars or so you can effectively have a room full of different cabs, speakers and mics ready for recording - they're just virtual.







Built in IR's may be good, or as good, but if it's not quite what you want you can try others. I really like the torpedo wall of sound ir's, they've got a monstrous recto cab ir that sounds enormous, clean or driven.






It's just a technology I'm not familiar with, because I don't really utilise digital stuff for recording. 















Might have to get a few of the free ones to check out the utility/differences. 

I only use free ones. Torpedo I had a free trial and it'd be worth every penny, but I've used good and bad free ones. I was very skeptical of the differences but when I heard it...



It's a significantly more important step than the overdrive pedal. I'd rate it as high as choosing the amp even, obviously only if recording direct though. FX loop send into an interface.










can you recommend any favourites as a starter for ten?[/quote]

I've got some free redwirez, the free demo of torpedo wall of sound (very recommended!!), a couple from lePou (try his 456, it's brilliant) and, oddly enough, I have an IR from @drew_fx I have used a lot - I have a feeling it's an IR he made from his own engl cab.

See here http://www.redwirez.com/free1960g12m25s.jsp

ThePrettyDamned

Oh @thorpyfx, God's cab is very good too.

http://www.freemusiciansresource.com/VST-detail/gods-cab-impulses/