Has Anyone Replaced Their Pedalboards with Helix?

[eggwheat]

What cab are you using? I really like my JC-40 because it allows me to go stereo out while keeping signal through the speakers that I can use for my own monitoring purposes. Our vocalist doesn’t typically like hearing my loud and reverberated guitar in the mix very high. This works great for me being able to still hear what I’m doing

This: Powercab 212 plus

[andy_tchp]

The convenience of the Helix live is just huge.....Things like polyphonic pitch and the acoustic emulator. For instance I was taking an acoustic for just one song and the song is in D standard. I can do all that in the helix with my electric in E standard and one footswitch press.. another song was in F standard..again no capo needed, one footswitch press and I'm tuned F standard with all the effects there, tweaked and ready for that one song...incredible.

Fuck me...that's just remarkable!

Possibly now relevant to my interests.

I may be looking at recording some of my 'unfinished business' after effectively abandoning music for a few years. Seems like these Helix things can easily operate as an interface between me->My Macbook? I have nothing in the way of mics aside from my old 58 and this house is not going to be conducive to mic-ing my old amps anyway. Shit, I've never even used a 'proper' DAW (just demoed stuff (badly) with Audacity and an Edirol USB interface from the early '00s in the past).

Pretty spendy devices I guess but I have many more $$$$ tied up in 'desirable' amps that could be turned over (and a near-zero chance of performing live again anyway.)

[eggwheat]

I may be looking at recording some of my 'unfinished business' after effectively abandoning music for a few years. Seems like these Helix things can easily operate as an interface between me->My Macbook? I have nothing in the way of mics aside from my old 58 and this house is not going to be conducive to mic-ing my old amps anyway. Shit, I've never even used a 'proper' DAW (just demoed stuff (badly) with Audacity and an Edirol USB interface from the early '00s in the past).

Pretty spendy devices I guess but I have many more $$$$ tied up in 'desirable' amps that could be turned over (and a near-zero chance of performing live again anyway.)

Oh yeh it can absolutely do all that you need in that respect. I bought the helix main unit secondhand to save money. Like you I have a some nice 'real' amps..but I can totally see myself starting to sell them off now. Ive still got my 'analogue' live set up but its edging close and closer to the chopping block.

[andy_tchp]

Oh yeh it can absolutely do all that you need in that respect. I bought the helix main unit secondhand to save money. Like you I have a some nice 'real' amps..but I can totally see myself starting to sell them off now. Ive still got my 'analogue' live set up but its edging close and closer to the chopping block.

Yeah, nice... latency issues are a thing of the past with modern processors I take it?

Think I'll have to try out a Helix Stomp (I have minimal FX requirements, drive/delay/reverb and maybe one or two 'amp sounds') this week...

[Embenny]

Yeah, nice... latency issues are a thing of the past with modern processors I take it?

Think I'll have to try out a Helix Stomp (I have minimal FX requirements, drive/delay/reverb and maybe one or two 'amp sounds') this week...

Latency is a non-issue with a modeler that doubles as an audio interface, because your playing isn't even making a round trip (guitar->interface->computer->interface->headphones/monitors).

They allow you to use "direct hardware monitoring." The modeler, as the interface, can pipe the click track/backing track from the DAW to your headphones/monitors, but the tones you're hearing as you play are being generated from the device itself just like if you were simply playing live.

Those tones (and/or a dry DI) are also going back into the DAW, but the offset latency between what you're hearing, what you're playing, and how the DAW is lining up the new track vs the click/existing ones is a known quantity (equal to the buffer size) that is simply compensated for in software.

I don't have a Helix but my AxeFX is the same way. Direct hardware monitoring is a game changer, even though modern computers and audio interfaces can get round trip latency down to tiny numbers these days. Why deal with it at all when you don't have to?

[JamesSGBrown]

I use a HX FX at home- it’s great, but the fuzzes and drives aren’t great. Everything else is fab though.

[andy_tchp]

Yeah, nice... latency issues are a thing of the past with modern processors I take it?

Think I'll have to try out a Helix Stomp (I have minimal FX requirements, drive/delay/reverb and maybe one or two 'amp sounds') this week...

Latency is a non-issue with a modeler that doubles as an audio interface, because your playing isn't even making a round trip (guitar->interface->computer->interface->headphones/monitors).

They allow you to use "direct hardware monitoring." The modeler, as the interface, can pipe the click track/backing track from the DAW to your headphones/monitors, but the tones you're hearing as you play are being generated from the device itself just like if you were simply playing live.

Those tones (and/or a dry DI) are also going back into the DAW, but the offset latency between what you're hearing, what you're playing, and how the DAW is lining up the new track vs the click/existing ones is a known quantity (equal to the buffer size) that is simply compensated for in software.

I don't have a Helix but my AxeFX is the same way. Direct hardware monitoring is a game changer, even though modern computers and audio interfaces can get round trip latency down to tiny numbers these days. Why deal with it at all when you don't have to?

Yep, all of this makes sense.

I think I am still scarred from attempting to track guitars into some kind of DigiDesign interface -> PowerMac -> Monitoring via headphones well over a decade ago. A decidedly unmusical (and not in the good/deliberate way) and brain exploding experience.

[andy_tchp]

Well I bought one (just the Helix Stomp), hopefully it arrives soon and I can get to work. Two song ideas have appeared in the last week or so.

[Telliot]

I know people here tend to here fairly purist when it comes to amps and pedals, but is anyone using one or have experience using one? People seem to love them but I don’t know if they’re still as relevant 10 years on. I’m looking for something to record guitars and bass efficiently at home. Obviously stuff like this is riddled with terrible presets, but I think the idea is pretty great. Extra points for MIDI and audio over USB.

[Embenny]

I owned a Kemper rack for years before switching to an AxeFX 3, and still miss it. Sounded great, felt great to play. Just took me a few weeks to zero in on some profiles I liked.

The Kemper is just as good sounding today as it ever was, it's just missing some features I wanted and that the Fractal unit possessed, like the USB connection to simplify reamping, the ability to replace my full pedalboard, and the ability to edit presets and have them respond like an amp (you really just have to cycle through downloaded profiles on the Kemper, the editing abilities are more like post-production FX since it doesn't model any of the amp circuitry).

[JSett]

The bassist in my band uses one. Its way too complicated for me to be comfortable with but I've played through it with some choice profiles he got and it sounded damn near perfect really.

Really shines on his bass too.

That's all I can add to the conversation really. It's lovingly referred to as Sputnik 73 in rehearsals

[glennleaguesny]

I use one, and it's honestly the primary way I practice and record at home. It sounds great and makes tracking in an apartment super convenient. I have a couple amps in there that I like and they take pedals well. I like the stereo fx loop as well. I really have zero complaints about it at all and would buy one again if this one stopped running. We've used one for all of my band's releases and no one has ever pointed out that it doesn't sound like a real amp.

I don't typically use the effects onboard. I have pedals that I'm partial to. I just find it easier to dial in tones on a pedal than to mess with the computer app. So maybe I don't use it to it's full potential, but as a recording tool there's nothing better in my opinion

[Embenny]

The bassist in my band uses one. Its way too complicated for me to be comfortable with but I've played through it with some choice profiles he got and it sounded damn near perfect really.

Really shines on his bass too.

That's all I can add to the conversation really. It's lovingly referred to as Sputnik 73 in rehearsals

That's basically the ideal use case for the Kemper. You go through an unpleasant auditioning phase during which you're filled with anxiety and buyer's remorse because it sounds like crap and is clunky to use at first, but then you find "some choice profiles" and all of a sudden you've got a perfect-sounding, perfect-feeling amp you save and just go back to all the time.

Honestly, I ended up using just two profiles for everything - a JCM800 and a Morgan AC20 - and every patch was just more or less gain, more or fewer boosts and effects, plus whatever relatively minor knob twiddling got it sounding better with the Jag vs the JM vs the Gretsch.

I think the Kemper works best as a "set and forget" amp, much like a tube amp. You find a small collection of profiles that works for you (I've talked to some people who use a single one, I used only two), and massage that basic sound into multiple patches.

The AxeFX is much better geared toward tweaking and modularity. Swapping around cabinets, bi-amping/bi-cab-ing, seeing if you like an EF86 in the preamp instead of a 12AX7WA...because every little detail is modeled and modular, you can really play with it. Heck, you can audition different specific values of bright caps in a Plexi circuit!

You don't have to use it like that, but the interface (on a computer, that is) is so easy to use to make those sorts of changes that it invites you to try things out.

So my AxeFX patches are more varied, and evolve more over time. My Kemper profiles pretty much stayed the same from 3 months in to owning it until the day I sold it several years later.

I don't view either approach as superior...back then, I was moving around and didn't have the Kemper next to a computer most of the time. Now my AxeFX lives in a studio rack next to an interface and computer, and the size and sheer variety of my guitar collection is so broad that I find myself really appreciating that tweakability. In the Kemper days, it was all Jags, Mustangs and JMs, with a single Gretsch (with the lowest output, brightest TV Jones Classics), so the same sounds worked for everything. Now I have things like Flying Vs with high output pickups and a Harmony with thick sounding goldfoil humbuckers thrown into the mix, that really benefit from different amp models than the Fenders.

[Steadyriot.]

I’ve been using the Kemper Power Rack for years. Initially for live and studio use, later it stayed at home for just studio use as I got tired of lugging the rack case with midi remote around. Bought a Kemper Stage instead.
These days I use the Kemper stage as my full rig; so amps, delays, reverbs etc. all comes from within the Kemper and I’m very happy. In the past I used a full pedalboard with it and that was fun as well. It sounds like a ‘real’ amp signal chain.
I’ve used the Kemper alongside a Line 6 Helix and to my ears at least the HX sounded more digital (not worse, just more digital, like a digital vs an analog delay, both sound good but different). The HX has way more and intricate effects and routing etc. but that’s not my cup of tea.

Like others in the thread I have a few go-to profiles for live and recording, including the famous Morgan AC20. You can easily get lost in tens of thousands of profiles, but if you know what flavour of amps you like, you can nail down a few favourite profiles in no-time.

It really is a perfect studio tool, especially after all the updates the last 10 years.

With the Kemper Stage and a 10 month old baby I don’t have the time to focus on recording / playing as much as I used to (plus the baby took the music room so most of the studio gear is in storage at my parents house) so I’ll be selling the Rack but not without a little trepidation.

I owned a Kemper rack for years before switching to an AxeFX 3, and still miss it. Sounded great, felt great to play. Just took me a few weeks to zero in on some profiles I liked.

The Kemper is just as good sounding today as it ever was, it's just missing some features I wanted and that the Fractal unit possessed, like the USB connection to simplify reamping, the ability to replace my full pedalboard, and the ability to edit presets and have them respond like an amp (you really just have to cycle through downloaded profiles on the Kemper, the editing abilities are more like post-production FX since it doesn't model any of the amp circuitry).

Luckily after ten whole years (!!!) Christoph Kemper finally saw the light and added USB audio and reamping capabilities with the latest update! With the updated effects from a few years back it’s really become way more of a standalone unit than when they were released.

[Telliot]

I really appreciate everyone's input so far! After doing some more research I'm starting to lean towards the non-powered toaster model. From what I'm seeing, it seems to be more straightforward and intuitive. That said, I really hate (HATE) the stereo delay/reverb presets I'm hearing on YouTube demos, but then I'll hear something really nice that sounds useable for my tastes. There was a nice Magnatone demo I came across by ToneJunkie I really liked, for example.

Luckily after ten whole years (!!!) Christoph Kemper finally saw the light and added USB audio and reamping capabilities with the latest update! With the updated effects from a few years back it’s really become way more of a standalone unit than when they were released.

The audio over USB and Liquid Profiling are both pretty amazing. I'm amazed that after 10 years, Kemper is still offering free major firmware upgrades to his units, rather than releasing entirely new models and making the original ones obsolete. Very clever guy, and a great way to keep your customers happy.