I gotta get mine re capped there's a constant low hum. It's probably the large caps.
I miss it dearly....

 

Absolutely great preamps. With a proper bias they scream. Thunderous palm mutes.

 

We guitarists are very finnicky dudes. We can tell a digital modeller apart from a mile away... As long as we're told it's not a real amp

Seriously though, when something sounds right out of the box it's usually a very good sign. I don't think people should waste their time struggling to get good tones out of something that can't provide them without a truckload of tweaking (unless they aren't any good alternatives around).

Honestly, I find the quality of current amp simulators quite amazing. It doesn't really matter if they sound close to the real deal or not anymore, they just sound good enough for whatever you may need to record or play live. The only reason I don't go with an all-digital rig is because I don't trust sound techs for shit (and I'm one of them). Tube amps are cool, but carrying around a 30kg head plus its road case is not.

 

Last edited: Aug 20, 2017

Here is another AXE vs Helix soundtest to the one who say it doesnt sound anything like AXE or Kemper but you need to use IR not the built in cabs blocks.
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/4-axe-fx-and-helix-native-amps-compared.1857962/

 

I love my 5150 Mk II and 5150+, It's James Brown's work after all, Which explains why I have nearly every Amptweaker pedal.
The EVH 5150 III is really damned good also, I never thought I'd say that I really like the high-gain sounds which are coming mostly from a Fender amplifier but with that one they definately proved me wrong in a great way.

I've not tried any version of Line6's Helix so I can not comment, I intend to do so but I can not see the Helix dethroning my Kemper.
I also have a long list of Line6 gear, Most of which I still have, I rarely trade things in or sell them on second-hand but instead just hoard
as much as I can.

My absolute favourite high-gain sounds by anything Line6 is one which is only found in (and therefore I can only achieve it by using the by now discontinued IIRC) Tonecore series, It's the Über Metal pedal and in particular the Pulverize mode (It's the second out of three voicings with Metal before it and Insane after it). I have four Über Metal pedals which I picked up for peanuts when they we're just trying to get rid of them. The originals weigh a ton and could definatelybe used as a murder weapon if one we're to twat someone in the skull with the thing, The later ones weigh a lot less and have a universal case/housing which all the Tonecore pedals share when they offered the module and base unit seperately, So with a simple few minutes of DIY you can get two outputs on it (same with the other pedals from that series/range which do not come with both outputs visible such as the Echo Park does as it is the delay box from the range with proper stereo out. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone has an Über Metal or notices one used for real cheap and fancies one).
The Metal mode/voicing is perfectly useable and is great for less agressive, heavily down-tuned br00tality where the Pulverize mode/voicing really excels. The Insane mode is just a crummy as it is in all other Line6 devices which feature it.

The Über Metal with my Two-Notes TOREPDO C.A.B. is a really neat, very small portable setup (or any high-gain box which you like, The Seymour Duncan Palladium Gain Stage is a more recent high-gain box I picked up that I really, really like for just one example of many others. I'm a bit of a whore for high-gain amps and pedals).

The one other thing with the Über Metal is the on-board gate works really well whereas every other pedal gate or not, I always end up using at least one of my trust Boss NS-2 pedals to sort out unwanted crud/tighten things up, The Über Metal is the only high-gain distortion box with an on-board gate which I find just grand. The Amptweaker pedals by James Brown have on-board gates which are quite tweakable but still I always reach for an old faithful instead as for me personally they do the job Obviously YMMV as with all things guitar gear/sound wise.

My favourite rectifier sounds which do not come from the real thing are two probably quite bizzare sounding and rip the piss if you want to as I can more than take it, First was the original Roland Micro Cube which does a mean dual rectifier's red/third channel set to modern mode/voicing...Can't get the same from any other of the Cube amps (and i've literally tried everyone of them). The second is a really tiny little 5-watt solid-state amp head which many stompboxes dwarf by Hotone, It's the 'Heart Attack' from their Nano line. It does a great fine red/modern high-gain rectifier impression and has an FX Loop amongst other great features at such a cheap price, Sounds beast into most of my 4x12" cabs, Should find them for about 90 quid/euro/dollar.

I really ought to get around to profiling my goto small setups and high-gain pedals into certain amplifiers, I shall get around to that soon.

I'll be trying the Helix, Helix LT and plugin when I can and give my opinion then instead of speculating along with listening to youtube videos and such, Other than to become somewhat familar with how to navitage the thing...Do they still do that super faggy "pilot's handbook" thing instead of calling it a damned manual? I hate all the "pilot's handbooks" i have

All the best to all as always, Useful to hear opinions, Especially when it is something you had no idea was released as in my case.
So appreciate the indavertant heads up to all, Cheers

Dean

 

if it sounds good ... USE IT

 

I do not get why so many people here are bashin this software.
I took some time yesterday and setup helix native, my kemper, TH3 (which is my favourite Amp vst), Bias and S-Gear (which i think sounds only ok but has the best respons and feeling if you play it).

To keep it fair I used 1 of my favourite common IR with the kemper and any of this softwares. I did not mess with the presets. I just compared the amps. In my opinion helix native is a winner. I am not shure about the price of 400 bucks.
But for me this pice of software leans more twords my kemper than to any of the other used Amp vsts.
Native Helix sounded allways better or on par with the used amp vsts.

The real impressive about helix native is the - feeling if you play.
The responsiveness if you play dynamic or use the volume knob is really outstanding for a vst. In my opinion.

I did this test with a friend we played the whole afternoon yesterday and made a kind of a blind test. You know he played clicked through the amps ask which 1 i like best which one sucks .. than i played....
Nothing sientific just had fun with the softwares.

We both are impressed by the helix native software.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 20, 2017

I can only speak for myself but I shall explain it: because it's disappointing. I've spent endless hours using their earlier stuff. I loved it. I expected the Helix to be much better and it just isn't. I could just as well buy a HD500 or even X3 use some IRs instead of the L6 cabs and get very similar results. I know that because that's what I did for quite a while. To me it's strange to see people viciously defending the Helix here because years ago noone took anything L6 serious. You reduced yourself to some sort of outcast admitting to actively use a POD/Vetta (or the worst: a Variax!).

Now this software comes around almost identical to the earlier products and now it's responsive and dynamic? It was before. Given, not as good as they definitely improved in the lower gain areas (as I wrote before) which are the obvious ones you check for response and dynamic behaviour. But ultimately the Helix is another evolution not a revolution. I wonder if people would've treated the HD-generation differently if L6 had thrown an IR loader on there because small inconveniences (like a separate IR loader) seem to be a huge downer for guitarists...except for real amps then it's okay to carry a humongous 4x12 and a heavy head to and from the stage...

Personally I am just disappointed as I expected more. It would take me roughly 5-6 minutes to setup the four basic sounds that I need for my music to gig with a Helix. More would be better as I could use my preferred IRs. But it's basically still all the same as before which has been overtaken by most of the competition. If I had to choose L6 I'd take a Vetta II combo again, throw my Armin upgrade on there and be done with it as there's not much to gain by going for the Helix for me in that shootout. No wait, I'd choose the Helix, sell it, buy a used Vetta II combo for roughly half the price and a nice amount of Death Wish coffee and Laphroaig with the rest ;)

And for the 5150: yep it sounds bad to my ears. The Peavey 5150 I've tried sounded nothing like the encounters I've had with EVH 5150 IIIs. Worst thing ever was a 6505(+?)through a 4x12 loaded with these Sheffield-speakers though - just a nasty sound. But that's a matter of taste which is not debatable. I am not saying it's a bad amp, I am saying I don't like it. If we'd all like the same sounds there would be no 5150, no Rectifiers, no Framus Cobra, no ENGLs, no Carvins, no Mark whatnots, no...you get the picture.

 

i don't remember a pod sounding like crap .. they were awesome better than some fools idea of a crappy mic in front of a rattly old half destroyed crappy cab.. they had AIR and sparkle and were on millions of records now heres the helix native and that demo for it on the Line 6 site sounds as good or better as any thing out there it to me it sounded wicked good as good as it gets so good on ya line 6 for bringing an affordable great sounding guitar rig to the recording masses without the $1200 price tag and infact i think ill get it myself. GUITAR GEAR SNOBs go hang ya head in shame ya pack of wall'ys... like i said if it sounds good USE IT what goes down on the track sets the pace in this race..

don't listen to Chat room Trolls

 

Last edited: Aug 20, 2017

You've clearly not read what I wrote or failed to understand it, congratulations.

 

Man you have no idea how I despise those Sheffield speakers that peavey designed, I do not know how they managed to screw up a guitar loud speaker so badly. I have ranted for the better part of two decades how much those speakers are just the shits. I couldn't find a single good use for them, Sounded useless in all cabs and combos I tried them in. I will not go on about those awful peavey guitar speakers. It's not like I'm not a fan of peavey in the speaker department either. I find their own bass drivers, horns/tweeters in bass guitar cabs to be fine and their PA/full range loud speaker/sound reinforcment systems to be solid, dependable and give decent results. I'll actually copy and paste what I wrote fairly recently in an unrelated thread about those god damned peavey shit-field speakers (I live near and know people from Sheffield, It's actually a pretty cool city up in the Northern part of the UK, I'm North West right near Manchester, So it's not far drive):
The thread is this one https://audiosex.pro/threads/large-...for-vocal-vo-recording-under-500.30971/page-3 and my tirade

So yeah that is the "love" I have for those wretched drivers, You aren't alone. I don't know many people whom even if using a Peavey cab do not/have not switched out for something more suitable such as G12-75T, Vintage 30's, Seventy Eighty by Celestion or a model by Emminance or Warehouse Guitar Speakers/WGS...etc.

All the best

Dean

 

@Death Thash Doom
You obviously enjoy this speaker a lot
Did you know that redwirez offers IRs of this masterpiece?
I also have no grudge or dislike for Peavey. My 2nd amp was a Peavey Supreme XL - which I even lend to a guy for his first studio recording. Liked the JSX too. I just don't get along with the number-amps...and this speaker.

If you're ever not quite happy with the 1x12 EVH cab try to get a 1x12 Thiele with an EV12L. It's not for everyone as this speaker is really brutally honest and does not work for everything (esp. not with every amp) but if you like it you can get rid of all other cabs (in case you're not a studio in need of several cabs...). I was lucky to have an absolute gear-fanatic guy as neighbor where my band rehearsed and tried it together with a Mesa Roadking. You can paint it green and put a sticker on it: HULK SMASH. This thing was just brilliant with this amp. And he sold the stuff for a JVM and a TT2x12..was far from bad but to me the Roadking+Thiele EV12L...

Can't wait to have the 9 Euro to buy the IRs by cabIR of this cab...

 

And I don't understand how you can like this piece of shit.

I guess we have different tastes.

Not liking a piece of software doesn't make you a troll. Learn the meaning of a word before you use it.

 

I was lucky enough to purchase two Road Ready Thiele cabs. After experimenting, I kept an EV Force (not as bright as 12L) in one and an Eminence Delta Pro12a (even less bright) in the other. I do want to try the Eminence Neo-Dym speaker next....which is 15lbs lighter !

I have to agree with the overall shity-ness of Peavey guitar speakers I've tried. A Peavey Bravo sounds incredible as soon as you rip the Blue un-Marvels out of there.

For $399 this VST should be light years ahead of any competition.....

 

Did you do a real test for yourself? A real time shoot out on your gear? I did not have any expactations after i read the comments here. Thats why i set up a test right away with the amp sims i have. And like i said "blind tested them" with the same IR. 2 pople allways chose helix native as one of the better amp sims. Just by sound. And chose it blind by playing as the most responsive and "real amp like feeling" sim. Just saying. I am not saying it is worth 400 bucks but it kicked bias ass for example really hard. Bias sounded often like a toy compared to the helix native. But like you said taste ...

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 20, 2017

Is any of these comparable to real amps?! I don't think so
you will loose your response and feeling of your fingers with these amp sims. If you mic it , It may be comparable. It may sound good in the mix but one can easily identify the difference

 

Nothing is comparable to the feel of a tube amp when playing live. For studio usage, they are wonderful tools

 

I hear you, Whilst I do not have a Thiele cab but I shall keep an eye out in case one comes around, I do have two Electro-Voice musical instrument series/range 1x12", The first is the regular EVM12L Classic (the exact same I believe spec wise as the original one, They just stopped producing it for a little while) and then after that I also grabbed one of EVM12L BlackLabel which is an even heavier take on the original/classic 12L. They weigh a ton but sound fantastic, I have them in a 2x12" which rarely gets moved as it'd give most people a hernia just attempting to including myself ;) I've put my back out moving it many times.

Edit: Man, That was a nice deal, If I had a JVM and someone offered me a RoadKing in exchange...I wouldn't blink! Sick score, A RoadKing will not die and always sound great, I can't say the same about Marshall amps beyond the JCM2000 DSL which is the last Marshall I bought, Like and still love to this day (A DSL50 head). IMextremelyHumbleHonestO The quality went right downhill, Some JCM2000 TSL's which a very close friend, Electronics engineer and fellow musician and studio mic monkey like me, The times that we've opened up and looked inside to find a right mess...These are clearly not constructed by the same team as the earlier JCM2000 series stuff. I think it was whilst Jim was having to take a back seat with age/health. The JVM's which I've seen we're not pretty either especially for the price, I know for certain that alot had to be changed in order for Joe to put his name to a signature version of the JVM, The difference is very noticable inside and sound wise. So that sounds like a damned hell of a sweet setup you had between the compulsive gear switching player friend that was next to you and your crew in your old rehersal rooms. Speaking of brutal speakers, I did get a ModeFour 400 watt ridicously oversized base/strait front cabinet which had those really rather good 100 watt Celestion's inside, The cab was simply too oversized to be lugging around, So what I did was remove those G12-100K's and replaced with some older Celestion's I had laying around not in anything (2xG12-75T's on the bottom and a IIRC I put up top a Marshall/Celestion Vintage along with G12 Heritage, All same impedence but it took the power handling down to around 300 watts IIRC), I made it clear that it was fitted with mis-matched speakers but I still got a really fair price on it, I put two in the bottom of one 4x12 and the other pair in a 2x12, They are decent, Marshall ended up releasing them for outise of the ModeFour, They also released a similar one which is again a 100 watter, The G12T Hot 100 I think it's called, It's similar but not the same. I'm a big fan of deliberately mis-matching speaker's in a 2x12, 4x12 as it can make a mediocre cab much more interesting and useable, It can be hit and miss though!

You are not wrong, They are damned great and worth the exta shekels than the majority of other 12" guitar speakers will run a player.
I can easily run any of my bass amp heads into that 2x12 without worry of blowing out/tearing apart a cone, I don't use them for bass guitar though, I just sometimes like to use both valve amp heads along with a clean solid-state preamp and power amp with a distortion pedal creating most of the actual gain, MarkBass in particular as I really love the VLE and VPF filters along with the extra range of the tonestack, It really aids with the heavily down-tuned stuff that I use mostly, The most beastly being a 30" scale neck thru, string thru Schecter which is still a guitar and not one of those guitar/bass type of things, It comes standard tuned an octave lower than standard E without no unwound strings on it, So that is a hell of a lot of fun for 6-strings and I also have an Ibanez M80M which has 8-Strings and is packing a 29.4" scale length. So I guess you can picture what sort of sounds I'm after/aiming for but not copying any specific rig/setup gear wise. I find the immediate rapid tracking of the solid-state setup with those immensely effient speakers combined with a decent, monster high-gain all-valve amp hit with a Maxon OD/Ibanez TS but class AB using solid-state rectification with the valve power amp (or it just doesn't track fast enough) works really well blended. I'll usually put an SM7b, MD421 and R121 on both cabs plus run a safety clean DI too, Then mix when it comes time to mixdown. It is just a case of making sure to get rid of all the phase problems which can arise before recording anything, Then as you'll no doubt know, Each mic does alot of the EQ work with it's level and relationship phase wise to the others, So some high-pass filtering and then some mild EQ on a bus/group of all them together. I do have plenty of good old 25.5" guitars though, So it is not always monsterously low proggy/djent and brutal/tech death that I'm upto, I love me some thrash as it's what I grew up on and also pretty much any/all of the bastard offspring sub-genres within metal, However there are a few that I just don't dig, Never have and never will.

I can't wait to go and treat myself to those now immortalized due to RedWirez Sheffield impulses, I do not know what they we're thinking when capturing that set which should by rights be removed off of every hard drive and other storage medium in the universe and go full Hilary Clinton on destroying any trace of that magnificent, so good that it was impossible to get a useable sound out of them, Peavey Sheffield drivers. I've just looked and you aren't joking either, They really do offer them as something someone may wish to buy!!!
Two-Notes, As much as I love them have also made that same almost unforgivable sin, It's called 'Eddie' http://store.two-notes.com/index.php?id_product=34&controller=product&id_lang=2

Anyway I am sorry for going off topic but yes dude, EVG12L are fanstastic, All players should try if possible/hunt down some good quality impulses if available of them for the platform (Two Notes own aren't WAV or other standard audio file format for example), Your Helix will probably repay in kind.

All the very best your way, had some flashbacks and great laughs Polymetrix, Cheers

Dean

 

Last edited: Aug 20, 2017

Still got my loved Plexi which I will never sell and an engl e670, good luck finding the real one if you compare them to my Kemper profiles
Without starting to sweat...

 

Yep, gave it about an hour and a half before I realized I was wasting my time. Never heard a Line 6 product that I liked.