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As you say, though, the benefits of modelling aren't really that you can have 100 amps in one little box, but rather that you can do stuff which is impossible (within practical bounds) in the real world.
Worst case would be to setup 1 patch per song.. each with multiple snapshots inside. It's just a more flexible way of doing the same thing.
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
The up to date generation of amp models (the software itself) are so large that to make it seamless between patches would need another DSP Core - just to do the switching, and that in turn would significantly increase the price. It's the removal and loading process from 1 patch to the next that causes a delay.
The Digitech has 2 cores - 1 for the sounds (with much smaller file sizes) and 1 for the switching. The 2nd one doesn't do anything except making the switching seamless.
This sort of thing will only get worse until the makers put in additional DSP purely for switching.
However - there was an interesting chat on the L6 forums a while ago, that at some point the file sizes might be so large that a player would have to pre-load the next set just before they are needed.
Snapshots are basically what Fractal called Scenes. They allow large changes within a patch itself. So you load a patch with everything you need and then you don't need to change patches.
It's not fiddly - but it is powerful. You can set it up for 1 row of pedals and 1 row of Snapshots, for example (that's how I do it) - and an individual stomp can change loads of parameters.
If you like a Plexi with an OCD pedal, but for solos you want to up mids, and increase the just the drive on the OCD - then you can have 1 press doing that. You can still map the OCD to another switch as well to turn that off separately if you want.
For guitar use I have 3 snap shots of Clean, Crunch, Filth. Those are on the top row. On the bottom row I have Phaser, Tubescreamer (also comes on automatically with the Filth), Delay, Solo Boost (A volume block at the end of the chain - no extra drive so I can use it on any of the 3 channels). And I've got the wah set up too.
On bass I have the 2 paths set up separately to run 2 amps at once all the time. Each goes to their own output. I set up one as the low end. Super clean, loads of compression, not much treble. The other path is for drive and FX that can then be layered on top. The wah toe-switch turns on the wah and an extra fuzz pedal at the same time for that Cliff Burton abrasive tone.
The Helix UI is the best I've seen so far. It's almost impossible to get lost with it. In the box you get a big print starter guide and a USB Stick with the full manual on it. I've never looked at the manual. If you can use a smart phone or ipad, then you'd be fine.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
I've seen some shows, like Metallica, when the cleans are JC120 and the drive is Dual Recs. Sometimes it works very well, but in others it can be quite jarring.
My Zakk Wylde type patch is all the modded 2204 with different settings. I do like that.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
My dedicated Cliff Burton Patch uses the amp he did - the Mesa 400. But I've also done a version with the GK800, and of course the FX sound very different with such a different amp.
Dead easy to pick the right amp for a particular room though, just have a few available.
I also have the cab sims on a switch, so if I'm using a power amp and bass cabs I can turn off the model cabs, but if it's PA use then turn them on.
I haven't yet done the routing of the 1/4 outs to a power amp (no cab models) and the XLR to PA (with cab models) at the same time
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
Regarding snapshots/scenes - these are fantastic - I have 4 scenes set up on the bottom 4 buttons and the top 4 are 4 of the 8 effects in that patch which I can switch on and off manually like a normal pedalboard.
If I was looking now I'd go Helix and try to get used to the amps or at the worst go 4CM and still use my real amp and use the Helix as an FX board as I do now.
The screenshots above showing the controls of each are a bit unfair as the Fractal stuff CAN dive deep on parameters but the main page of each effect has most of the usual knobs and settings and is not as complex as it looks.
The thing that puts me off all the modelling is you seem to need to put in a fair bit of effort and work and try custom IR's etc, then, ideally, you need FRFR speakers and potentially IEM etc...it all just seems to add up and be more complex.
The main thing is, it's a journey, and can be great fun but also infuriating! I took the FX8 as that's what came up when I was looking for a trade - if it had been a Helix I'd no doubt have gone with that too. Main thing to take from this is, I still have my FX8 - that's the longest a multi FX has lasted in my rig lol. Unity gain, scenes, delay spillover, controlling parameters with Expression pedal etc all add up to a fantastic unit.
I've never used mine with custom IR or FRFR. Stock cab models for headphones or recording, or no cab models at all and into a power amp and a proper cab for everything else.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
We are spoilt for choice now and Line 6 have finally joined the top tier.
Tried a bunch of stuff. Katana best of the modelling amps in my opinion, but sounds boss-y (compressed, flat, digital). 100w head is pretty cool with its built in speaker. A kind of thr on steroids.
Loved the tones of the atomic amplifire initially, but a/b'd it vs my pod xt and realised the clean tones were better on the pod(!) I guess you may be able to improve it with tweaking but tbh who can be arsed with that.
Helix seems to be what everyone recommends, but £1,300 is too much.
I want a hardware unit so I guess I'll just wait until line 6 decide to replace the firehawk/hd500x. A mini helix at around £5-700 would do the trick, please.
What I love about it is that I can have an almost perfect approximation of any effect I want running into a good approximation of a large selection of amps. The only thing it doesn't do is oscillate when you run 2 fuzzes in a row.