Line 6 Helix

111
may 2016 Guitarist
review LINE 6 HELIX
of the 12 footswitches sit in the centre of
a colour-coded LED ring that shows its
status. But what’s really impressive is the
backlit LCD scribble strip above each
footswitch that displays the name of its
current assignment, whether that may be,
to call up a particular stompbox effect, a
preset or indeed anything else that you may
have assigned.
The Helix follows the usual paradigm of
having presets constructed from a signal
chain of connected blocks. There are 1,024
preset slots in total, stored in eight ‘setlists’,
each with 32 banks of four presets. Each
preset features four stereo signal paths with
a whole host of routing options to utilise
them, combined or separated. Each path
can have up to eight blocks, so there is the
possibility, with clever routing, for a chain of
32 blocks, DSP permitting. At present, there
are models of 41 amps, seven bass amps, 30
cabs, 16 mics and 80 effects in the Helix, but
this number is likely to expand with future
firmware upgrades. You can also load your
own impulse responses.
A computer-based Helix editor is likely
to have been released by the time you read
this, but editing is easy on the hardware
itself via the large graphic display and a
clear menu hierarchy accessed in the main
I
t’s been six years since Line 6 debuted
its HD amp modelling in a range of
floor pedalboards, which offered a
tangible upgrade in terms of sound quality
from the previous units bearing the POD
name. And since then, there’s been a lot
happening in amp modelling with the debut
of the Kemper Profiler, with its unique way
of taking a snapshot of an amp, and the rise
of Fractal’s Axe-FX with its dual Sharc
processors, both raising the bar in terms
of detailed sound.
Line 6 was never going to miss that
high-end party, though – especially
having become part of the huge Yamaha
corporation, with the increased R&D
muscle that the acquisition implies – and
has unveiled the Helix, featuring its HX
technology, another tangible upgrade in
sound quality.
With its solid-metal chassis and robust
pedal-treadle design, the Helix has a build
quality to stand up to onstage environments
and a set of connections to cover a whole
host of eventualities. Probably the most
striking thing when you fire it up is the
amount of information displayed and the
visual clues it could give you in a dimly-lit
stage environment. The main display is
large, colourful and informative and each
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Line 6 goes seriously upmarket with its all-singing, all-dancing
dual-DSP processor-loaded Helix. Is this the future?
LINE 6 HELIX £1,221
What You Need To Know
What? Another Line 6 floor
processor, then?
Well, yes, but this is the company’s
next generation – and has been four
years in development.
So, it’s not just an updated POD
or Firehawk under another name?
Definitely not. There’s a certain
family resemblance, but it’s a
level up from those and features
dual-DSP processing, which Line
6 says “provides massive power to
accurately recreate the dynamic
feel of tube amplifiers, not just their
sonic fingerprint”.
Is this ultimately just for
professional players?
It’s not cheap, so you might think
that, but consider what you’re getting
for your money. How much did your
amp and all those pedals cost you?
For a certain kind of player, this could
replace the lot…
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Neil Godwin
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GIT406.rev_helix.indd 111 3/16/16 11:52 AM