Line 6 Helix Megathread - 2.80 update

[GunpointMetal]

I caved and bought a few packs from York Audio last weekend and don't get the hype at all. They're fine but I don't see why they're necessarily better than competitor's offerings, or even some of the free IRs around.

I got the Mesa OS 4x12, 2x12 (the discount one), and DV-77 packs and all have a harsh peak in the high mids depending on the speaker/mic mixes and all seem to lack low end.

What specific IRs or mixes from these packs are people using? With some fettling and changing amp settings I managed to get a combination of mic mixes from the DV-77 and OS4x12 packs sound good but none really worked on their own despite sounding great on various YouTube channels.

I was pulling decent sounds with all of the mixes, definitely not noting any weird mid spikes, especially compared to Bogren and ML which both have some extra high-mids. Are you changing your amp settings when you're trying out new IRs or are you just dropping them in to a patch you dialed in with something else and hoping for the best. At headphone volume I think the differences are negligible, and I think some of the Bogren Digital one's work better in some full mixes without doing much, but the DV77 Fredman mix at band volume is beautiful. I always adjust my amp settings when I'm changing IRs, though. A few presets I'd like with Ownhammer IRs definitely needed some mids and presence dialed down with the York and the Bogren ones, but I find that's more because the Ownhammer Mesa OS IR I was using is just scooped and dark comparatively.

 

[lurè]

Do you guys use Mixes or Singles with the York Audio?

 

[CanserDYI]

Okay who at Eminence Digital is smoking crack and charging 50 bucks for the DV77 pack?

 

[drb]

I was pulling decent sounds with all of the mixes, definitely not noting any weird mid spikes, especially compared to Bogren and ML which both have some extra high-mids. Are you changing your amp settings when you're trying out new IRs or are you just dropping them in to a patch you dialed in with something else and hoping for the best. At headphone volume I think the differences are negligible, and I think some of the Bogren Digital one's work better in some full mixes without doing much, but the DV77 Fredman mix at band volume is beautiful. I always adjust my amp settings when I'm changing IRs, though. A few presets I'd like with Ownhammer IRs definitely needed some mids and presence dialed down with the York and the Bogren ones, but I find that's more because the Ownhammer Mesa OS IR I was using is just scooped and dark comparatively.

This was running HX Stomp line out -> Precision Drive -> 5153 50w Stealth -> back into HX Stomp to load IRs. Yeah I ended up being stuck with the amp at noon settings, if I run mid, high, or presence above ~12-1 o'clock it tends to sound bad, like the particular frequencies accented by the IR get out of control and begin to sound a bit scratchy and white-noisy.

 

[GunpointMetal]

This was running HX Stomp line out -> Precision Drive -> 5153 50w Stealth -> back into HX Stomp to load IRs. Yeah I ended up being stuck with the amp at noon settings, if I run mid, high, or presence above ~12-1 o'clock it tends to sound bad, like the particular frequencies accented by the IR get out of control and begin to sound a bit scratchy and white-noisy.

The "scratchy and white-noisy" thing makes me think something is going too hot back into the Helix. You're also not getting any power amp sound in that signal chain to the IR, whereas I'm using full amp models into the IRs so there is some sauce from the power amp modeling as well.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

I caved and bought a few packs from York Audio last weekend and don't get the hype at all. They're fine but I don't see why they're necessarily better than competitor's offerings, or even some of the free IRs around.

So true I have given up on buying new IRs for years now. No matter how much people online try to hype them up as the best thing ever.. None of them are better than the other. They are all stuck at IR quality level.

I think the start of my disillusionment began when when I bought Fractal's Cab Lab 3 and some Fractal Cab Packs in 2017. I fell for the Ultra-Res marketing talk, expecting them to be the shit. Imagine my reaction when I realized they were actually pretty average IRs with nothing special to them except for the propietary format.

After that I bought packs from all the big players in the IR game and none of them were exceptional compared to the other, or even comparing them to older IRs, so eventually I stopped buying them altogether.

It's all about picking an IR that fits with the mix, dialing in the "amp" right, and playing with the OD or EQ before the amp. Don't need to buy any new IRs at all.

 

[drb]

The "scratchy and white-noisy" thing makes me think something is going too hot back into the Helix. You're also not getting any power amp sound in that signal chain to the IR, whereas I'm using full amp models into the IRs so there is some sauce from the power amp modeling as well.

My Ownhammer IRs sound just fine, as do the stock Helix cabs. Sorry I made a mistake in that signal chain, there's a Captor between the amp and the HX Stomp so I do have resonance and presence controls.

I probably need to just go back with fresh ears and an open mind. I find that any new IR sounds gross and alien at first.

 

[GunpointMetal]

My Ownhammer IRs sound just fine, as do the stock Helix cabs. Sorry I made a mistake in that signal chain, there's a Captor between the amp and the HX Stomp so I do have resonance and presence controls.

I probably need to just go back with fresh ears and an open mind. I find that any new IR sounds gross and alien at first.

It's possible, or maybe you just don't like the sound of that speaker. I haven't found a single Orange IR that I can make sound good, but a lot of people love those cab impulses from various people. For me, whenever I get new IRs I don't even mess with them until I can get it at the spot at band volume and then I just jump between amp models at stock settings until something sounds cool and adjust from there. I want to get as a good of a "raw" sound as I can with them.

So true I have given up on buying new IRs for years now. No matter how much people online try to hype them up as the best thing ever.. None of them are better than the other. They are all stuck at IR quality level.

I think the start of my disillusionment began when when I bought Fractal's Cab Lab 3 and some Fractal Cab Packs in 2017. I fell for the Ultra-Res marketing talk, expecting them to be the shit. Imagine my reaction when I realized they were actually pretty average IRs with nothing special to them except for the propietary format.

After that I bought packs from all the big players in the IR game and none of them were exceptional compared to the other, or even comparing them to older IRs, so eventually I stopped buying them altogether.

It's all about picking an IR that fits with the mix, dialing in the "amp" right, and playing with the OD or EQ before the amp. Don't need to buy any new IRs at all.

There's definitely something to be said about dialing to the cabinet. There's only so many ways to mic a speaker when you have a sound you're after. I like to try different speakers, and I like to try IRs that have the extra production sauce from time to time for fun and educational purposes. If I just want a Mesa 4x12 V30 with an SM57 on it, I think the stock cabs can do that fine.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

There's definitely something to be said about dialing to the cabinet. There's only so many ways to mic a speaker when you have a sound you're after. I like to try different speakers, and I like to try IRs that have the extra production sauce from time to time for fun and educational purposes. If I just want a Mesa 4x12 V30 with an SM57 on it, I think the stock cabs can do that fine.

True. But it's such a weird thing how IRs are sold and marketed. Buying an IR pack is like buying the lottery. All the product demos have always been 100% useless for me, because it will always sound different once you use it with your rig. So what's the point of all those demos? You never know whether the pack is good or not until after you've bought it...

 

[Emperoff]

Same here. Finally tried York Audio impulses and wasn't blown away. Not that they're bad or anything, but I really didn't notice a dramatic difference over my existing ones. They all seem pre-filtered in the lows and highs to make them "mix-ready" which is a trend in most companies. Cool if you're recording, but not so much when jamming.

 

[GunpointMetal]

True. But it's such a weird thing how IRs are sold and marketed. Buying an IR pack is like buying the lottery. All the product demos have always been 100% useless for me, because it will always sound different once you use it with your rig. So what's the point of all those demos? You never know whether the pack is good or not until after you've bought it...

I mean that’s the same when you buy a preamp or a cab or a mic. You’re still going to have to turn knobs and adjust EQ to make it do the thing you want it to. There’s never going to be an IR or EQ setting that’s got an “instant awesome” button. NDSP has made a lot of people think so just by being loud, lol.

 

[drb]

OK I'm going to eat my words here and say I had a quick blast this morning and found some sounds I liked. It still sounds like it's missing low end but I'm happier now. I also found that these IRs really like the 5153 50W Stealth's unboosted red channel far more than the blue channel boosted with a Precision Drive, which is cool because I wasn't getting much use out of the red channel prior and now it sounds fantastic with the tight, high-mid focused IRs.

I also found that taking the mids down on either channel by ~2. Also, reducing high and presence to taste has made it far more agreeable, although there's a fine line between too much high and and then a blanket over the sound.

Is it a normal thing that some IRs are more sensitive to EQ changes on the amp than others? It's a really interesting phenomenon.

 

[lurè]

When i Had the Precision Drive I didnt like it at all with my Mark IV.

I've tried to replicate a boosted Mark sound wit helix native and the best OD to my ears was the precision drive

 

[CanserDYI]

I still find the Horizon drive to be the best model OD in the helix.

 

[bigcupholder]

there's a fine line between too much high and and then a blanket over the sound.

Is it a normal thing that some IRs are more sensitive to EQ changes on the amp than others? It's a really interesting phenomenon.

It's always a fine line between too much treble and not enough. It's not specific to IRs.

An IR is a really detailed/nuanced EQ. That's it. It's possible there's some characteristic EQ spike or scoop on a particular IR that lines up with a characteristic EQ spike or scoop of an amp and makes it seem more sensitive to changing settings.

 

[drb]

I'm fairly new to physical gear so the Precision Drive is the only real boost I've ever used but up until now it has been absolutely perfect for what I wanted.

I really need to try out the boosts in Helix properly, so far they've all sounded really good so I just use whatever takes my fancy at the time I'm creating a preset.

 

[A.JohnHayes]

I still find the Horizon drive to be the best model OD in the helix.

Agreed. I like changing the attack settings on snapshots, especially for lead, to have a wide range of tones.

 

[thebeesknees22]

the minotaur or heir apparent tend to be my go too's for OD's, but I'm kinda all over the place and don't really have a set one yet. It just depends. More often than not i go for the minotaur though.

 

[Chri]

the minotaur or heir apparent tend to be my go too's for OD's, but I'm kinda all over the place and don't really have a set one yet. It just depends. More often than not i go for the minotaur though.

That’s because the Minotaur is a fucking hype beast!

Seriously though, it works so well on pretty much every amp model in the Helix. I use it in high gain patches as a boost, I use it on clean and overdriven patches to kick up the drive for garage rock stuff a la The Strokes. It’s just so good.

There’s a reason the Centaur is so sought after. I ain’t ever paying money for a real one though. I’m content with Line 6’s mythical beast.

 

[thebeesknees22]

That’s because the Minotaur is a fucking hype beast!

Seriously though, it works so well on pretty much every amp model in the Helix. I use it in high gain patches as a boost, I use it on clean and overdriven patches to kick up the drive for garage rock stuff a la The Strokes. It’s just so good.

There’s a reason the Centaur is so sought after. I ain’t ever paying money for a real one though. I’m content with Line 6’s mythical beast.

haha so true
it's definitely made me tempted to go after one of the klon clones like the archer ikon, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet since other things came up.