Line 6 HX Stomp

107
january 2019 Guitarist
reviewLINE 6 HX STOMP
LINE 6 HX STOMP
LINE 6 HX STOMP £558
What You Need To Know
What’s this? Didn’t Line 6 recently
introduce a HX Effects?
Yes, but it only had the Helix effects.
This unit has those, plus all of Helix’s
amp and cab sims and IR loading.
So, it’s more of an all-rounder then?
We reckon so. You could use it with
an amp and other pedals, but it could
also be your total rig.
Basically, it’s a Helix in a stompbox?
Well, yes and no. Line 6 says that it
sounds identical to the full blown
Helix, but, obviously, the switching
facilities are a lot more limited with
just three footswitches, plus each
preset has a maximum of only six
blocks, rather than eight.
L
ine 6’s Helix range continues to
expand at quite an alarming rate.
It’s not been very long since we
saw the HX Effects, which put all of the
Helix effects (although none of its amp
simulations) into one large-format pedal for
use with an amp, either as a self-contained
compact pedalboard or a constituent part of
a bigger ’board.
Now, for exactly the same price, we have
the HX Stomp, which includes both the
amp sims and effects, but puts them into a
pedalboard-ready box that’s about the same
size as a Strymon Big Sky or similar. While
there’s no pedal treadle and just three
footswitches, what you are getting here, as
Line 6 is at pains to point out, is something
that sounds identical to the Helix: it has the
same 24-bit/192kHz converters, analogue
impedance circuits, guitar inputs with
123dB of dynamic range, and is also stuffed
with all the same effects, amps, cabs and
IR loading. The difference is that those
are arranged here in just six blocks, as
opposed to its big brother’s eight, so some
of the more complex combinations aren’t
going to be available. However, Line 6 says
that the six-block limit keeps the interface
navigation elegantly simple and optimises
the system so you don’t easily run out
of DSP. Word is that there may be more
DSP-hungry models coming down the road,
notably polyphonic pitch-shifting and more
complex amps.
In Use
The size of this HX Stomp means that it
will easily slip onto a pedalboard, but it does
need a hefty dose of current, so you’ll also
be slipping its own DC-3g nine-volt power
supply on there with it, unless you have
something heavy-duty like the Voodoo Lab
Pedal Power 4x4 where you can double up
outputs to supply the necessary ampage.
The main inputs and outputs (various
mono and stereo combinations are possible)
are conveniently on the back panel, as is
the expression pedal/footswitch jack,
which has options for connecting up to two
devices. Send and return connections for
bringing external pedals into the HX Stomp
signal chain, or for a four-cable method
hook-up, are on the right-hand side panel.
The unit has full MIDI capability with
related socketry on the left-hand side next
to a stereo headphone jack – great for silent
practice or setting up your presets away
from your amp. A USB connection allows
use of the pedal as an audio/MIDI interface
for computer recording and also provides
access to the excellent HX Edit software as
an alternative to hands on the front panel.
Hands-on ain’t too bad at all, though, with
a user interface that keeps things really
simple, the main action being carried out
with three press/turn soft knobs that relate
to parameters directly above them in the
very clear display. Building patches and
changing parameters is straightforward
and, like other Helix family members, you
can just brush the footswitches to access
certain parameters.
Compared to one of the large Helix
floorboards, three footswitches might not
seem a lot for live work, but the pedal has
been set up to get full flexibility out of them
with four different working modes instantly
available. These allow switching of single or
multiple blocks (Stomp mode), switching
of presets (Preset mode) and switching of
Snapshots (Snapshot mode). Each preset
can store three related Snapshots, basically
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CONTACT Yamaha UK PHONE [phone] WEB www.line6.com
2. Connect the HX Stomp
to a computer via USB
and you’ll get access to
the HX Edit software,
which makes easy work
of all editing
1. The display is divided:
the Home/View and
Action buttons generally
relate to the top half; the
two Page buttons and
knob to the bottom
21
The pedal has
been set up to
get full fl exibility
from the three
footswitches
GIT441.rev_line6.indd 107 11/29/18 3:43 PM