Here are a few bullet points to consider, just off the top of my head. Axefx 2 vs helix lt dilemma over fractal audio systems forum. Fractal audio axe fx iii vs line 6 helix comparison and shootout taylor danley. We sat down with both units, tested them thoroughly, then took them home and played with each one for about a month to figure out which one is the better buy. My opinion on the axe vs kemper is what you have acsess to. I like the helix due to dual dsp chips and multiple amps per patch. The line 6 helix hx stomp is the smallest in the range is incredibly powerful for what it is. Includes patches based on the prs archon and line 6 litigator dumble style amps, and a dualamp patch with both. To me the helix sounds like its that tool that you take with you to a gig that you dont feel like bringing your entire rig to. Get our free ac30 patches this is what we used in this demo here. Discussion in beginnersfaq started by universeofthemind8, sep, 2016. Discussion axe fx 2 vs fractal fx8 vs kemper vs bias amp. I had an axe fx ii and it was a fantastic piece of gear. Note attack is nuanced, and responsiveness and character vary from model to model.
I know that i can get a good or bad patch on both so i really not talking about the patches. As an owner of both a helix and an axe fx ii i have to say that at this point the. Line 6 helix vs fractal axe fx 2 vs evh 5150iii amps. I recycled the dry tracks from the amplitube officially licensed amp models vs axe fx ii video. How i switched frome axe fx ii to helix helix line 6 community. Im pretty new to this type of technology so forgive my ignorance haha. Havent heard the boss or vox up close, but i consider these new line 6 verbs the best ive heard yet. Ive only been able to try axefx 2 and helix native side by side and while the axefx sounds just a little bit better, the difference is not night and day and i would be happy with either. Nab one of the best multieffects pedals and you can ditch your pedalboard and multiple pedals to enjoy a more streamlined setup. When i first bought the helix rack i was a bit disappointed with the default patches provided by line 6 but then i found your youtube channel and all the amazing sounds that are possible with the helix. Not only that, but it has both a global eq and global cabinet modeling. Feb 03, 2016 the new helix is about the price of the used axe fx. In this article, we look at 4 of the main candidates available the fractal axe fx, line 6 helix, kemper profiler and. So patches are not as flexible, but being able to switch between them quickly is a real benefit.
Im gigging helix friday with the same butter presets with scenes ive been. Hosanna hillsong united line 6 helix patch worship. The reverb and delay effects in the two units are different specifically the. Mar 09, 2017 line 6 helix, fractal fx8 or ax8 which one do you prefer. Good on line 6, though, showing the bassists some love. Its so intuitive you already know how to use it and it will let you integrate and control an entire rig of internal and external gear. Here i compare the big 3 guitar units and will hopefully help you decide which one will be best for you. Join the facebook helix users group too loads of advice. Fractal audio systems ax8 and line 6 helix a model. In this video we compare the line 6 helix and the fractal audio axefx iii. Ive never seen a company support their products the way line 6. Our mutual has tried both and settled on the kemper with native for. I currently own a helix floor and axe fx ii, and for obvious reasons controlling everything through the helix is a lot easier. I was not new to programming presets so i jumped right into it.
I had owned an axe fx in the past and i honestly think this is way. With the iii, axe fx accepted line 6 s challenge, creating their most streamlined ui yet and marrying it to their best simulations and effects. The differences are subtle but worth knowing and you choose the one that best suits your rig or your needs whether youre a professional or amateur player. In any case, hardware is a different ball game to software and only the helix lt of the two units featured here really seems to have effortlessly balanced the two halves of the equation.
When they released it originally, they didnt have a computer app to set up patches, supposedly because it was so easy to use from the actual unit that it was completely unnecessary. The new ones did add new features and such but the core dist algorith for the 5150 which is what most high gain folks use has not changed much. The interface on the helix is universally praised but for me, i prefer the sound of the fractal. After almost one year my patches were still not finished and i felt like i am unable to. These making editing patches really easy and the axeedit software is definitely better than the one line6 offers. Apr 25, 2016 helix hosts a more powerful processor than previous line 6 products, providing tactile, threedimensional tones. Explore the various tonal possibilities of helix floor, lt and native with custom choptones irs or the great tone matching from the best amplifiers.
Thats my understanding of the product, but please correct me if im wrong. Line 6 helix patch with snapshots that mimics the tones from hosanna by hillsong united. Helix mono vs stereo sound quality you can browse forums as a guest but you have to register before you can post. Axe change the official site for fractal audio presets. Warning about downloaded tones, patches and presets. I seen that line 6 sales artist patches for hd500x and that wouldnt bother me on the helix. Line 6 helixfx vs fractal fx8 page 5 the gear page. And the thing that makes it quite obvious for me is the the axe fx had no feel and hearable latency, otherwise i maybe havent noticed it at all because, like i said teh helix and the kemper were very similar. Jun 08, 2012 line 6 pro hd vs axe fx ii stick for me. Dunno, i might be crazy would be interested in your thoughts. I have had line 6 products since 2001, i have had my axe fx ii since late 2011 so i. I decided after some comments to give it another couple of days. I quickly bought the patches available along with the custom artist patches you started working on. I also already own 2 of the line 6 stage source l2t speakers, so again the upgrade to helix just made sense.
Ive played the axefx series since the axefx standard and now use an axefx 2 mk i. Discussion axe fx 2 vs fractal fx8 vs kemper vs bias amp vs. I have to start by saying, respectfully, that the assertion that a helix is nothing more than a pod xt with a slick interface couldnt be more wrong. Wow just got helixsound study vs fractal helix line 6 community. Just dont sale amps an fx s if this is updated like it should be and fractal doesnt put in a touch screen with a operating system easy as the helix. Axe fx vs helix vs kemper vs amplifire modelling amps. Hook up external effects, speakers and other gear using an array of essential connections. The official source for presets and cabs for your axefx. Kemper is the only one with seamless preset switching. Line 6 helix patch mf luke based on soldano slo100 steve lukather style impro.
I would never bash the axe ii as i recognize that it is indeed pretty awesome. However, that may be because you cant seem to find any axe units in the uk to trial. Specifically dialed in for worship music, and designed to be used in either stomp or snapshot mode. Line 6 firehawk fx guitar multieffects musicians friend. This compares the helix with the axe fx2 and my 5150iii 50watter. I do not have this problem with my gt10 high gain patches. I agree on this, i come from line 6 hd500x, helix native, helix floor, now to axe fx ii mark 2. Fractal audio ax8, line 6 helix floor, and headrush.
Click here to read about the differences between the line 6 helix, line 6 helix lt and the hx multieffects unit. Fractal audio axefx iii vs line 6 helix comparison and. Usually i build my presets during night, so most of the time i find myself using headphones, so as far as i put a stereo block at the end of the chain, the sound reaching my ears is wonderful, deep, with no harshness or noises. Helix hosts a more powerful processor than previous line 6 products, providing tactile, threedimensional tones. How do you like it compared to axe fx 2, fx8just comparing fx and kemper. While company reps are not necessarily as accessible or as patient. Im a longtime kemper user, and a former axefx2 and fx8 owner.
The reason i ask this recently i was playing listening to helix while another person was playing axe fx ii. Using helix xlr digital out to power cab plus i was so worried it would be so complicated it really isnt, thanks too youtube, lots of line 6 support and the line 6 community is great, and i had been researching the helix for about 2 yrs. Are you trying to decide between buying a fractal audio ax8 and a line 6 helix. The axeedit software for your computer on the other hand is really good and intuitive to use. Jeez, even the budgetminded zoom has stepped things up with the b3n offering a b7k emulation, a trace elliot model, and urei 1176demeter compressors. If fractal doesnt meet the new challenges of helix, theyll almost be forcing bassists to consider other options for ampcab sims.
Variax is the uniquely flexibile guitar from line 6. The main features of the fractal audio axe fx, line 6 helix, kemper. The axe fx is really worth a look also, they have a nice software editor for your to edit patches even the oldest axe fx, the first ones, sound very good and very similar to the newer ones imho. I would say that they codeveloped firehawk and helix, since helix was a complete groundup redesign of all aspects the aptlynamed hxmodel incarnation. But if i put a mono block and make the whole path mono, it starts to sound awful, and not clean and smooth anymore. Line 6 helix, fractal fx8 or ax8 which one do you prefer. The axe fx ii is powered by a pair of analog devices tigersharc dsps some. From what ive heard, the kemper is easier to dial and is more. Boss gt vs line 6 helix vs fractal ax8 shoot out by. If the relatively grainy, lodef modeling of older line 6 products disappointed you, its time for a fresh listen. I can dial in patches with the helix screen pretty easily. Record to your mac, pc or ios device with extremely low latency. Line 6 helix vs fractal audio axe fx ii high gain amps with same.
The difference between the line 6 helix hx stomp and the hx multi effects is that the stomp has got amp and cab modelling which means you plug it directly into an interface or pa system and get great guitar amp sounds. Over the last few years, digital modelling amps have become so advanced that they can now convincingly match the sound of real tube amps, effects and cabinets. While the axe fx redefined the professional modeler, the line 6 helix revolutionized the user interface players could expect from a highend modeling unit. Kemper since those are the two ive owned and used extensively. Its about as fair as we could make it since the line 6 guy dialled in the line 6 and the fractal guy dialled in the fractal, so no scope for bias sabotagelack of understanding on a unit as was raised in another thread regarding comparisons. Line 6 helix gearslutz gearslutz pro audio community. In this article, we look at 4 of the main candidates available the fractal axe fx, line 6 helix, kemper profiler and atomic amplifire. My honest experience with line 6 gear can be summed up fairly simply. The main difference in my older axefx 2 is that it has less preset and ir memory, which is a total nonissue for me as i can still put in 100 user irs and have 383 presets. Its quite straightforward using the software editor on a pc but the sounds are worth it. Line 6 helix vs fractal axefx iii how do they compare using the. However, both are excellent solutions that are way better than something like the mid market pod hd500 series.
Our pick for the top multieffects pedal is the line 6 hx effects, a cracking unit thats small but mighty. Note this is not to bash helix or line 6, i have been line 6 customer for many many years. And when youre ready to hit the road, firehawk fx delivers the bulletproof build quality that makes line 6 multieffects the top choice for professional touring guitarists. Our vetta ii amplifier includes a digital connection for the variax that lets you store settings for both your amp and your guitar in the vetta ii so that when you call up a vetta channel memory your amp and guitar can change sounds together.
At home i tend to use axeedit for any tweaks i want to do to my patches. However, setting up tones patches initially can take a bit of time. The helix hx fx will be 100 times more simple to program than the fx8. Helix does do some things that the axe fx cannot do yet. To me the line6 helix hardware ui is exactly how i would want the axefx front panel to be done. To start viewing posts, click the forum link in the menu bar above. The tools might be different, but this change in attitude means not only that use of modelling will become more common, but that manufacturers will seek to deliver more options to consumers. Given its superior sound, extensive number of available models, and strategically small footprint, this unit provides a fantastic value for anyone looking to get into the axe fx family, assuming you can live without a headphone output. Jan 10, 2017 if fractal doesnt meet the new challenges of helix, theyll almost be forcing bassists to consider other options for ampcab sims. Download presets and cabs, or upload your own creations. I have had line 6 products since 2001, i have had my axe fx ii since late 2011 so i think i can speak on the products. With all due respect to line 6, though, the hd500 is the first amp modeler ive truly enjoyed playing, and the first to suck me down the rabbit hole of transcendent playing, at that.
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