Andertons Helix Vid

  • Interesting Andertons Vid here with Chappers and the Capt. with a Line 6 guy. Putting the Helix through its paces... apparently the first vid with the finished version of the software in it.


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    At 07.40 the Line 6 chap starts talking about 'profiling' circuits. He uses the term very deliberately. Interesting...

    Suhr Classic Pro, Fender deluxe Strat & Baja Tele, Gibson ES335, Ibanez S Prestige 2170FW, Eastman AR371CE, Variax JTV > KPA > Patch bay inc. Strymons (Mobius, Timeline, Blue Sky), H9 Max, TC Triple Delay, & POD HD500 > Adam A7Xs

  • Yep - they've probably just picked up on the marketing term rather than the actual technical process behind it. Like the POD 'HD' :)
    That colour screen and the scribble LEDs are a nice touch and I like the flexibility of the 4 different effect sends.
    Sounds pretty nice I think. Not necessarily 'Kemper nice' but still. Nice.

    Suhr Classic Pro, Fender deluxe Strat & Baja Tele, Gibson ES335, Ibanez S Prestige 2170FW, Eastman AR371CE, Variax JTV > KPA > Patch bay inc. Strymons (Mobius, Timeline, Blue Sky), H9 Max, TC Triple Delay, & POD HD500 > Adam A7Xs

  • Seen him in a few of these Anderton vids and he always seems a very humble chap. He's a seriously good player and coaxes some impressive tones out the Helix here!

    Suhr Classic Pro, Fender deluxe Strat & Baja Tele, Gibson ES335, Ibanez S Prestige 2170FW, Eastman AR371CE, Variax JTV > KPA > Patch bay inc. Strymons (Mobius, Timeline, Blue Sky), H9 Max, TC Triple Delay, & POD HD500 > Adam A7Xs

  • It sounds very nice. For me, I don't record so for gigs, it's nice and portable. A couple of wires and off I go. Wait..... that's what I do now with my KPA!!!
    Seriously, it's a nice sounding product in an equally nice form factor.
    I'm keeping my KPA

  • Again, I am just in awe because of the quality of the stomp models they have in there. And it seems that the controls for the stomps are more like real world pedals. This is probably the only thing I am hoping KPA might catch up on in the future. This is true for modulation and distortion / od.


    But let me add one more thing: How long have people been trying to come up with a decent univibe setting? Lately, prsgary and burningyen have suggested some very decent settings, but come on - how long did it take to tweak it? In the helix, it's just spot on right out of the box, or so it seems.

    Edited once, last by joerch ().

  • Again, I am just in awe because of the quality of the stomp models they have in there. And it seems that the controls for the stomps are more like real world pedals. This is probably the only thing I am hoping KPA might catch up on in the future. This is true for modulation and distortion / od.


    But let me add one more thing: How long have people been trying to come up with a decent univibe setting? Lately, prsgary and burningyen have suggested some very decent settings, but come on - how long did it take to tweak it? In the helix, it's just spot on right out of the box, or so it seems.


    Yes the effects sound great in the Helix.

  • I notice three things right away from this video:


    1. The amp sounds DO sound really great. I have been a Line 6 user since the AxSys/Ax2 days, and I still have my X3 Live that I've been meaning to profile some great patches I've come up with. This takes it to that next level, and does sound really great, on par with the Fractal or Kemper.
    2. It still has a characteristic "Line 6 Sound." There's something about their products that, while they can sound fantastic, they're just... I dunno, maybe they have a particular resonant peak or something? It still sounds like an amp model by Line 6 for a Line 6 product. That said, Fractals have their own "sound" as well. And, the more I play the Kemper, it has the same thing going for it as well.
    3. Their modeling process is like the Kemper's profiling process, except capturing individual portions of an amp's internals. The big difference on the amp tones here (aside from the "Line 6 Sound") from the Kemper's profiles is that you're leaving the profiling up to some unknown professionals from Line 6. Not that what Line 6 is doing isn't good (because it certainly is!), but the Kemper has thousands upon thousands of available profiles (some good, some bad, so positives and negatives), and more come up nearly daily. If you want you're priceless hand-wired custom-built 18-watt Marshall clone in a box, you can do that with the Kemper in an afternoon. If you want that out of the Helix, you're pretty much SOL.


    It's quite impressive. And, after watching this demo, it's obvious that they're positioning themselves as a competitor to Kemper and Fractal, except providing good-quality "budget" lines as well (Firehawk, POD HD500X, etc.). For thousands upon thousands of players that have used Line 6's equipment in the past successfully and want to upgrade to something higher quality, it seems logical to go for a Helix.


    I want to see this out in the wild for a couple years and hear what people say about it. Right now, I'm locked in with the Kemper. But it is certainly interesting.

    Guitars: Parker Fly Mojo Flame, Ibanez RG7620 7-string, Legator Ninja 8-string, Fender Strat & Tele, Breedlove Pro C25
    Pedalboard: Templeboards Trio 43, Mission VM-1, Morley Bad Horsie, RJM Mini Effect Gizmo, 6 Degrees FX Sally Drive, Foxpedals The City, Addrock Ol' Yeller, RJM MMGT/22, Mission RJM EP-1, Strymon Timeline + BigSky
    Stack: Furman PL-Plus C, Kemper Rack

  • After I listen to this demo all I do is go to the Michael Britt Dumble C CLN $+ Profile, plug in a nice Strat and I know the Helix aint gonna get that tone..no friggen way.
    Yes, I've owned every Line 6 modeller since the original Pod 1.

  • The problem is.


    When the Kemper released the amp tones and the Profiling process was so incredible that everyone concentrated on making videos of the Profiling process and how the Kemper sounded like the amp being Profiled...it was the game changer.
    Watch the Andertons video of the Kemper review, it's one and a half hours long of pretty much just Profiling amps in their studio.


    That's the problem.
    Where are the videos of the Kemper FX?
    Where's a video demoing just the Harmonizer and Pitch FX, that on it's own could be a brilliant video explaining how to use the Harmonizer to re-create famous tones, Thin Lizzy, Boston, Trevor Rabin, etc, etc?


    Time to slow down on Profiling videos and concentrate on FX videos.

  • I might be the only one here, but I found that really quite bad. the upper harmonics especially, it reminded me of a line6 product... and well it is!.. - I was hoping for good things for this OTHER than a real nice look/feel of the glossy exterior. but that just did absolute nothing for me, and is in no way on equal terms to some of the other stuff out there today.. including the Kemper..

  • I don't know, it sounds okay, although the first time the JTM 45 is demoed, the bottom two strings sounded 'spongy', and not well defined. They were smart to have a switch for the sensitivity of the switches, so as not to create a nightmare while playing live. The I/O interfacing, on the rear, seems to me to be their best addition to the virtual guitar amp/effects world.