Line 6 HX Effects pedal

  • Mine arrives tomorrow, so I'll let y'all know how it goes. So I could conceivably do a 4 cable method and add the stereo out of the HX Effects to both the return and alternative input on the Kemper for a 5 cable method and get stereo to the Kemper for recording / headphones, right? I get the basic principle, but I've never done it.

  • Really interested in how this works for you @mangopositive


    Please let us know, or better yet, post a YouTube video?


    I have another unit (Mod Duo) in a stereo effects loop in my Kemper, but want to use HX Effects for the Minotaur and other reverbs. I love being able to go direct out to the mains using XLRs (no 1/4” to 2 DI boxes which is nice). I’m wondering if I can put in the HX Effects into the Kemper stereo effects loop, and put my stereo Mod Duo into one of the effects loop of the HX Effects... this is all so I go stereo XLR out of my Kemper.

  • Okay, so I picked up the HX Effects pedal yesterday and played around with it some. It’s pretty amazing for what it is: lots of effects, great looper, small form factor.


    I finally figured out that I can put the Kemper into the stereo effects loop of the HX Effects, and still have my Mod Duo in the stereo effects loop of the Kemper! This configuration allows me to put the Minotaur, a compressor, and a looper (using HX Effects) in front of the Kemper, put my Mod Duo in Slot X, and then I can put the HX Effects delays and reverbs after the Kemper. All of this is achieved by just putting the Kemper in the effects loop of the HX Effects.


    The only problem I have now is that the HX Effects only has a Mono L and R 1/4" out and no headphone out, whereas the Helix also has XLR outs for L and R.and a headphone out. So I figure I could possibly get a Stereo DI out of my HX Effects to take care of the XLRs, but unfortunately, it doesn’t allow for me to use headphones for late night sessions. I can, however, plug into the Kemper and hear everything in the signal chain up to the Kemper (including my Mod Duo). At a certain point, I started considering getting a Helix.

  • Thanks for the update Amaze-b! Have you tried switching presets on the Kemper with the HX? I'm wondering if I could sell my Remote and just use the HX to control my Kemper.

    @maccayoung I haven't tried using the HX Effects as a midi controller to switch presents, but I'm almost 100% sure it will work and it would work amazingly. I currently use the Line 6 HD500 for my midi controller, and while there's kind of a steep learning curve to getting it right, it works very well and is very reliable. I don't use any of the HD500's built-in effects, but I know you can do this if you put the Kemper in the FX Loop of the HD500. I just use the HD500 as a foot controller to change presets and activate stomps and effects in the Kemper. The downside is that using the HD500 this way doesn't allow you to use the Kemper looper, so if you ditch the Remote and use the HX Effects as a midi controller, then you will probably not be able to use Kemper's looper.


    Anyway, I would think that the HX would be nice to use for the scribble strips (which can be relabeled to anything you like), but really you only get 8 buttons, and only 6 have scribble strips. I think the Helix would be much better suited, but it would be a very expensive midi controller!

  • Anyone who got the HX, how is it to control via midi the Kemper (to change profiles on browse and perfomer mode)?


    I'm looking foward to this unit by it size and all effects possibilities but I want to integrate it to control the kemper.


    The Hx has only 6 buttons besides the mode and tap/tuner buttons.
    So if I control it to change profiles on Kemper I'll have to program and miss 2 of those 6 buttons for effects...


    Is this right?

  • I haven't tested this yet, but I believe you can set a switch to control both an effect (or entire preset) and send a midi signal, so you could switch an amp and turn on an effect at the same time. I decided that I would just use the HX for the effects and not the midi capabilities, but I already have the Kemper foot switch. It makes more sense to keep amp switching and effect switching separate for me. If I played in a band and was extremely organized in what I needed for each song, it might be a different story.

  • If anyone with the HX model also has the M9 or M13, I'd be interested to hear about the difference in sound quality of the effects, please. :)

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me

  • If anyone with the HX model also has the M9 or M13, I'd be interested to hear about the difference in sound quality of the effects, please. :)

    I haven't played my M13 for a while, but I do know that the latest HX Effects firmware includes ALL of the legacy effects from the M line of pedals. In hearing the new effects, they are pretty impressive. The main gripe I've had with Line 6 is that their delays and reverbs were nice, but their overdrive effects weren't anything special. Now that they have revamped their effects in the Helix, the HX Effects makes for an amazing pedal.


    That being said, people have commented on how Line 6 has to step up their delays after Kemper released their delay update. I've gone through the Kemper delays and I agree that they are superior to Line 6 now. Are they all usable though? That's another question.

  • How good the spring reverb?

    As a reverb nerd I have compared Line6 and Axe fx spring reverb to many pedals, software and the real deal spring amp and separate fender spring tube tank. They are passable but neither of Line6 or fractal comes close to the better pedals and software and certainly not close to the real deal. The most realistic and best way to get spring reverb from software for recording is to use an IR loader software with an impulse response taken from a real spring tank.
    All other reverb types are easier to create in a realistic way, spring reverb has very specific characteristics that are difficult to model, it must also respond in the correct and musical dynamic way when pushed hard.

  • As a reverb nerd I have compared Line6 and Axe fx spring reverb to many pedals, software and the real deal spring amp and separate fender spring tube tank. Neither of Line6 or fractal comes close to the better pedals and software and certainly not close to the real deal. The most realistic and best way to get spring reverb from software for recoding is to use an IR loader software with an impulse response taken from a real spring tank.All other reverb types are easier to create in a realistic way, spring reverb has very specific characteristics that are difficult to model, it must also respond in the correct and musical dynamic way when pushed hard.

    Have you tested Universal Audio AKG BX 20 and Strymon Flint?
    I did compare the Flint with my vintage Twin and it sounds quite good. Different of course, but convincing. I often leave the reverb of the Twin off because it's temperamental and use the Flint and I'm pretty hapy with the result.
    The UAd AKG spring reverb is lush and sounds amazing with Kemper cleans.

  • No I haven't tested those two. But as you experience and what I also experience, spring models can sound good but different when compared to the real deal. It's a bit like why many use the Kemper, because it replicates their own amp gear.
    For most users spring reverb in most units are just fine and do their job. But if I want the spring reverb to behave and sound exactly like the real gear then most spring reverbs will disappoint.
    In surf music the reverb itself is an instrument that change the whole tone, not just a background effect, and it responds very dynamicly to picking and gain.
    The usual test I do is to play surf songs and compare the tone and character of the "boing" using hard picking single string, clean and muted. Then compare hitting a chord hard, muting it, listen to the tone and "wash wet length".
    For spring pedals I recommend the Topanga.

  • I really liked the Topanga, but went through two faulty units, the second after about 5 hours’ use. As the store I bought them in didn’t have replacement stock, I ended up with a Flint, which was the next most realistic of the 15-or-so different reverb pedals they had in stock. However, I’m hearing that the Subdecay Super Spring Theory is the daddy of all spring reverb pedals for surf. Has the proper decay and drip when hit hard.

  • I haven't played my M13 for a while, but I do know that the latest HX Effects firmware includes ALL of the legacy effects from the M line of pedals. In hearing the new effects, they are pretty impressive. The main gripe I've had with Line 6 is that their delays and reverbs were nice, but their overdrive effects weren't anything special. Now that they have revamped their effects in the Helix, the HX Effects makes for an amazing pedal.
    That being said, people have commented on how Line 6 has to step up their delays after Kemper released their delay update. I've gone through the Kemper delays and I agree that they are superior to Line 6 now. Are they all usable though? That's another question.

    Thanks!

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me