Line 6 HX Effects pedal

  • 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. :)

    After playing with the HX over the weekend, I will say the old effects are still very usable and sound great. I stacked the Octo and Particle verbs in a single foot switch and they definitely held their own compared to the newer verbs like Glitz. Note that the new stuff are considered stereo effects, whereas the legacy ones are mono (at least for the reverbs). That being said, the stereo effects eat up more DSP, so you can run out of power if you use too much of the new stuff.

  • I've got an HX Effects arriving tomorrow and am wondering if someone out their with an HX / Kemper combo can assist me with the best way to setup and integrate the two. Is there a way to run the HX dirt patches pre kemper stack and the delays etc... in the kemper loop?


    Any assistance is greatly appreciated.


    Cris..

  • I've got an HX Effects arriving tomorrow and am wondering if someone out their with an HX / Kemper combo can assist me with the best way to setup and integrate the two. Is there a way to run the HX dirt patches pre kemper stack and the delays etc... in the kemper loop?


    Any assistance is greatly appreciated.


    Cris..

    Something similar to the 4 cable method, though it may be more than four cables. You run into the HX for dirt, send the output to the Kemper. Then have the Kemper loop plug into the HX send return loop. You should then be able to place the Kemper anywhere in the HX signal path. At the same time, you will also be able to position that loop anywhere in the Kemper.

  • I've got an HX Effects arriving tomorrow and am wondering if someone out their with an HX / Kemper combo can assist me with the best way to setup and integrate the two. Is there a way to run the HX dirt patches pre kemper stack and the delays etc... in the kemper loop?


    Any assistance is greatly appreciated.


    Cris..

    Here’s how I route my signal:


    Guitar —> HX Input
    HX Left Send —> Kemper Input
    HX Right Send —> Kemper Alternate Input (in back)
    Kemper L —> HX L Return
    Kemper R —> HX R Return
    HX L and R out —> FRFR speaker/amp


    Or if you like a mono setup, just disregard the Rs above.


    What I do is set up my HX Signal Flow like this:


    Compressor, Overdrive (Minotaur usually), then add a Stereo FX loop (this is where the Kemper comes in!), Tremolo/Phaser, Delay, Reverb, Looper


    So basically with my set up, I have my guitar going into the HX mono (of course), then I take advantage of the HX dirt effects, which go into my Kemper stereo (although the first set of Kemper blocks sums it all to mono, I believe), and then it comes back into the HX stereo (this way it takes advantage of my stereo delay in the Kemper), and the stereo effects of the HX like the delay and reverb.


    Works wonderfully!


    Originally I had the HX going into the Stereo Loop of my Kemper, but it didn’t make sense since I want the Kemper to mainly be my amp. But I realized that putting it through the FX Loop of the HX makes the most sense since it preserves the stereo signal in the stereo block effects in the Kemper (Mod, X, delay, reverb buttons).


    Note that if you go this route, when you plug your headphones into the Kemper, you’ll only hear the signal from the guitar to the Kemper... any stereo effects after the Kemper’s location in the HX signal flow won’t be audible. If you’re just using a speaker then you won’t have any problems.


    I really wish the HX had direct outs and a headphone jack like the Helix, because now i have a stereo DI box I use to go to Front of House.


    Anyway, good luck @CrisMitchell

    Edited 4 times, last by Amaze-B ().

  • Hi Amaze-B


    thanks for all the details. Would you say that the addition of the HX improves the effect quality vs. Kemper significantly? Or is is more the broader choice? How do the stomp boxes in front of the Kemper behave and and sound vs analog drive / compressor pedals?


    Sorry if I missed anything before in this discussion


    Cheers Sacapuntas

  • I got the HX really to add on to the pedals I already have. I use all the slots in the Kemper: 6-8 effects at a time (1-2 are usually passive effects like EQ). Plus, I used to use an external pedal called the Mod Duo in an FX Loop in one of the Kemper's slots, so that really reduced the number of switchable Kemper effects to around 5-6.


    Adding in the HX basically gives me 8 additional effect slots including a Looper. I use an old Line 6 HD500 for my Kemper midi controller, so I never had access to the Kemper Looper. But now I use the HX Looper, which is great.


    So now my options are vastly expanded: at any given time, I have 9 effects in the HX (you can use up to 9 at a time, depending on available CPU, but 1 is the Stereo FX Loop for the Kemper, so 8 switchable effects in the HX assigned to 6 footswitches), all of my 8 Kemper effects, and I have added in my Mod Duo at the end of my signal chain so that adds at least 2 more switches on at the end. But my Mod Duo is extremely powerful and is like an additional pedalboard that can have an insane number of effects. So that gives me a total of 8 effects in the HX + 8 effects in the Kemper.


    I also got the HX because I wanted more reverb and drive options, which I felt were lacking in the Kemper (don't hate, that's just my opinion). But yeah, I really like the HX and the sounds are pretty good compared to the Kemper. However, one thing that many people are noticing is that the Kemper delays are far superior to Line 6's, which I agree with since the update came out. I'm sure that when updates to the Kemper reverbs and drives come out, they will be amazing too! However, since I like multiple effects, I probably would still use my HX because of the number of expanded slots.

  • I thought when you have something plugged into the front input that the KPA disables the alternate input, no?

    Actually, you are right @Finally. It looks like I'm really just running mono into my Kemper with my current setup. I need to do more experimenting, but from what I've researched on these forums, there is no Stereo Send into the Kemper as my setup details. It's not a deal breaker for me, though, because I don't have any stereo effects going into the Kemper anyway. There's no point to it since the Kemper is like any amp and is basically mono in. Thanks!

  • Thanks Amaze-B for your in-depth answer. So probably for me as I do not need so much effects it may not worth it.

    @diego if you were to get the HX as a pedal add on, it would serve you well. I really like the ODs and Reverbs; plus there’s the Looper, too. So it all depends on what you need. The Kemper itself is really all you need if you want a simple setup. You can accomplish a lot just having the morphing function, which is pretty awesome!

    Edited 2 times, last by Amaze-B ().

  • Thanks to all that replied to my question ... i've had the HX and Kemper running now for about a week everything seems to work great, however i'm noticing an issue. There is a noticeable digital clipping happening on the HX, Level into the kemper is good and also into my UA Apollo if i disable all effects everything sounds great but as soon as i enable an effect i'm hearing clipping. Anyone else experience this?

  • Thanks to all that replied to my question ... i've had the HX and Kemper running now for about a week everything seems to work great, however i'm noticing an issue. There is a noticeable digital clipping happening on the HX, Level into the kemper is good and also into my UA Apollo if i disable all effects everything sounds great but as soon as i enable an effect i'm hearing clipping. Anyone else experience this?

    What’s your routing/signal flow like? With my set up, I’m not experiencing clipping really... but maybe you could consider putting a compressor or noisegate at the start to reduce your input signal?

  • At first I didn’t like the Kemper distortions and then I heard a great explanation for the lack of distortion options: someone on YouTube pointed out that distortions basically just up the gain and you can do that on each amp with the morphing function to get distortions unique to every amp. So along with my HX, I have a morphing pedal to add that extra grittiness.


    That being said, I like the HX distortions. Sometimes you just need an instant boost and that’s what I use the HX for. I actually love the Minotaur, which is the Line 6 version of the Klon Centaur. Combine the Minotaur with the Red Squeeze comp and you get an awesome boosted tone. The Teemah! is great too. Well worth the price IMHO.

  • I sonnt think upping the gain setting on a profile is actually a good idea. It gets you out of the amp "snapchat" mode and into digital modelling territory. You're better yet switching profiles with different gains.

  • At first I didn’t like the Kemper distortions and then I heard a great explanation for the lack of distortion options: someone on YouTube pointed out that distortions basically just up the gain and you can do that on each amp with the morphing function to get distortions unique to every amp. So along with my HX, I have a morphing pedal to add that extra grittiness.


    That being said, I like the HX distortions. Sometimes you just need an instant boost and that’s what I use the HX for. I actually love the Minotaur, which is the Line 6 version of the Klon Centaur. Combine the Minotaur with the Red Squeeze comp and you get an awesome boosted tone. The Teemah! is great too. Well worth the price IMHO.

    Agree. Love the Teemah. I'm using the HX in 4CM with a Mesa/Boogie Lonestar Special. It's euphoria for me. For the first time in my life I'm actually dialing in MY tone. The HX Effects is worth every penny no matter where you put it in your fx chain. The new reverbs are stunning as well.

  • Agree. Love the Teemah. I'm using the HX in 4CM with a Mesa/Boogie Lonestar Special. It's euphoria for me. For the first time in my life I'm actually dialing in MY tone. The HX Effects is worth every penny no matter where you put it in your fx chain. The new reverbs are stunning as well.

    Are there any other dirt pedals in the Helix as good as the Teemah? That thing is KILLER!

  • Are there any other dirt pedals in the Helix as good as the Teemah? That thing is KILLER!

    I really like the Kinky Boost and Minotaur as well. Honestly, I've been so enthralled with Teemah I haven't been around the dirt much more. I keep coming back to it.