Yeah, my hankering for the floorboard form factor led me to the Helix. I still check in here from time to time and miss some things about my old KPA, but oh well. Worth noting that Atomic keeps expanding their floor line with the Amplifire 12 and the Ampli-Firebox.
Posts by burningyen
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Why does it seem there is such little or no value placed on commercial profiles in an after market sale?
I think it's because the sellers suspect that the original profile sellers don't approve of the resale. -
Ben, are you back or just checking in
I check in daily, still curious what Kemper has coming out next! -
aka LFO
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Any Kemper folks out there got a Helix yet? Want to compare thoughts.
My thoughts:- Overall, the quality of the basic amp tones is equivalent to the Kemper. There are a few extra-special MBritt and TAF profiles that I'll probably never be able to replicate in the Helix, but that's ok. It's too bad there's no Pure Cab and almost no far-field IRs on the market.
- The wahs, distortions, delays and modulations are equivalent to the Kemper's to my ears. I like the Univibe and fuzzes more than the Kemper's, but the Kemper's pitch FX are way better than the Helix'. No user scales, no formant control, no Pure Tuning. The compression and reverb sound quality is equivalent, but I like the subcategories on the Helix more than the presets on the Kemper. I'm talking pre-v4.0, obviously.
- Editing is easy but, for me, still not quite as easy as on a Kemper. Part of it is because the joystick is too easy to mis-twist and part of it is just a function of the additional routing flexibility. The Kemper can have all of its easy-access buttons and knobs because of its inherent routing limitations. On the other hand, selecting amp models on the Helix is a little easier since the selection is clearly much more limited compared to the Kemper, and there aren't any submenus to navigate.
- The additional routing options and parallel amp capabilities aren't a huge deal for me except that the routing enables gapless switching among totally different sounds,with delay/reverb spillover, within a single patch. I still prefer the gapless and spillover-enabled switching between rigs on the Kemper, though.
- The capacitative footswitches are awesome.
- The LED switch rings and scribble strips are incredibly helpful for gigging.
- Somehow the Helix' 14.6 lbs feels a lot heavier than the Kemper lunchbox' 11 lbs, maybe because of the larger size. The size of it was kind of daunting at first. But it's well-designed. The curved sides make it very easy to pick up. And when you take into account the weight of the expression pedal and footswitch I use with my Kemper, the weight difference is only about a pound.
- Being able to process both my guitar and vocals in parallel is awesome.
- Being able to assign the expression pedal to any parameter(s) on a patch-by-patch basis is huge for me, although Kemper has now announced that feature for v4.0.
- USB audio.
- Pedalboard form factor.
- Variax integration.
- Synth.
- Variable rotary speaker speed, not just fast/slow.
I did a clip comparison here:
http://www.thegearpage.net/boa…-comfortably-numb.1633530
and decided to keep my Helix and sell my Kemper. Happy to discuss in more detail.
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As he says in his post, he plans to use it for the amp sims direct for fly gigs. Believe it or not, some people like the Helix' amp sims as much as Kemper's.
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Nope, different protocols.
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For the record: the KPA emulation is the closest thing I heard for a univibe simulation.
To my ears the Helix gets closer: -
No, still rocking the Helix. There are aspects of the Kemper I do miss but on balance I'm still happy with the switch.
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Cliff on the AX8:
Quote from cliffc8488The floodgates will be opening soon. Two 40 ft. containers are inbound with one due any day and the other not far behind. Thank you for your patience while we're dealing with massively underestimating the demand for this product.
Frank Ritchotte on the Helix:
Quote from Frank RitchotteThe answer is the demand so far exceeded even our most optimistic projections that it is taking some time to ramp to these new levels. I cant say how many but I will say we have sold an incredible number of units out of the gate for a high end product like this and it has actually accelerated significantly. We always bake in some upside to even the optimistic plans but when that upside is not enough you get a slight gap. We have a steady and predictable flow coming now so I expect to actually be able to get some on shelves (clear all customer pre-orders with all retailers) in the next month or so. We want to get em out there too!
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Some users have said here that I can not control the Kemper, are you sure about that?
I think everyone in this thread is in agreement. You can use the all-in-one Helix ($1,499) to control a Kemper with MIDI, but you can't use the Helix rack foot controller ($399) to control a Kemper. -
Not currently possible.
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I agree that the pitch FX are not up to the level of Kemper's. That much is objectively true. But all the other FX, to my ears, are at least as good as Kemper's. I prefer the Helix' Univibe and Fuzz Face, for example.
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It does a good job masking the still mediocre amp modeling with tons of fx.
You can hear it unmasked here:Not that I expect to convert anyone here.
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Back when I was clamoring for this feature, my primary intended use was to simulate feedback by using the harmonizer (e.g. octave up) and setting the expression pedal to control the mix. Now I wonder if it could also be used as a workaround to set the Rotary Speaker speed somewhere between Slow and Fast.
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On a Line6 M9 and on the Eventide H9 you can control more than one parameter at the same time with an expression pedal.
On a Helix too. -
Im only seeing Rot. Sped Fast or Slow. Nothing in between
Is there a way to adjust the speed manually?
No, and it doesn't look like Kemper is inclined to offer that feature: Rotating speaker rate parameter continuous setting -
