Mini Helix - HX Stomp...

[Woodinblack]

21 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

The point is many people wanted a mini box with Helix technology, wishing the HX was perhaps smaller and had the amp models, but buying it anyway because it was the only option available. Then Line6 come out and release what they actually wanted in the first place!

Well, that is invariably the problem of buying things. If you buy something that isn't quite what you want and something else comes out later, that is a normal part of purchasing. This stuff we have today is complete junk compared to what is going to be out in several years, so it is down to whether something is out that does close to what you want, when you want it, knowing that at sometime later, you can guarantee that something better will be out.

Well, that is in the real world, I suppose in the guitar / bass world it will be 'oh these new helixes aren't a patch on the original mk1s from just before the 20s'

 

[Woodinblack]

3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

2 folk have just bought the HX, both used purchases? (which is to my point).

I was about to buy it full price, and then I was offered it second hand. There aren't many second hand stomps around at the moment so that is hardly a comparison.

So I am not getting your point at all.

So your point is that line 6 are bad people for not making a product that you wanted them to make and instead making something else? I really really don't get your logic. By that same logic are Zoom also not bad people for also not making a helix?

 

3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

8 folk have just bought a new Stomp. Clearly they decided to go for this over the HX. Quod erat demonstrandum

Just one person's view of course.

so how many people have an HX? I am guessing it is a lot more

Yes, load of people have gone out to buy the new thing that just came out this month, at the same time, rather than something else which they could have bought any time, thus demonstrating that that new thing is so much better than all the other things. That is totally unheard of, obviously or would we have loads of multi page threads where people were all buying the newest thing that had just come out like, oh I don't know, a new zoom b3n or a flea jazz bass or some amplifier etc. That would be crazy

 

[Al Krow]

35 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

So your point is that line 6 are bad people for not making a product that you wanted them to make and instead making something else? I really really don't get your logic. By that same logic are Zoom also not bad people for also not making a helix?

Line 6 are wonderful people. They are after all owned by Yamaha who make (along with Ibanez) some of the best basses on the planet. I guess that's just a Japanese thing.

And they are making exactly the product I wanted which is the Stomp. I was never really tempted to upgrade from my B3N to the HX. It was not a difficult decision at all (apart from the slightly eye watering price) to upgrade to the Stomp.

My point is more around product life cycles. They have cannibalised HX sales by introducing the Stomp so soon, which I don't think is fair on HX owners. But as a Stomp owner I'm cool with it. If you're cool with it as a HX owner then we're all happy and there has been no evil done in the world today (by Helix anyway).

[MarshallBTB]

I put some cab impulses on my HX Effects, job done ! Been considering the stomp but I'd miss the extra footswitches too much, things like the looper and editing effects on the fly work so well with the HX Effects. 

Been thinking about trying an LT when people starting flogging theirs in favour of the little stomps...

Edited November 27, 2018 by MarshallBTB

[Apeneck Sweeney]

4 minutes ago, MarshallBTB said:

Been thinking about trying an LT when people starting flogging theirs in favour of the little stomps...

You might want to pop over to the marketplace.

[Al Krow]

2 hours ago, Dood said:

My Helix LT is up for sale. This is a moment of madness, but I gigged with just the HX Effects this weekend and it did what I needed it to. @Al Krow knows about this weird urge I have to make a tiny pedal board so LT will make way for HX instead.

Dood, buddy, you should've gone to specsavers. The HX isn't really geared to tiny pedal boards. You come across this thing called the Stomp? 😂

 

[Dood]

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Dood, buddy, you should've gone to specsavers. The HX isn't really geared to tiny pedal boards. You come across this thing called the Stomp? 😂

 

Brilliant!! 😂🤪😂🤪😂🤪😂

I sat there for ages trying to talk myself in to the stomp, but HX on paper won me over. I preferred the 9 effects at once and 6 buttons.

[Al Krow]

7 minutes ago, Dood said:

I sat there for ages trying to talk myself in to the stomp, but HX on paper won me over. I preferred the 9 effects at once and 6 buttons.

Ok it's clear from what you've just said that the HX is the thinking dude's Stomp 😊

But for the rest of us size matters.

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by Al Krow

[Dood]

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Ok it's clear from what you've just said that the HX is the thinking Dood's Stomp 😊

But for the rest of us size matters.

 

Fixed  I spend way too much time thinking 😂

 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Line 6 are wonderful people. They are after all owned by Yamaha who make (along with Ibanez) some of the best basses on the planet. I guess that's just a Japanese thing.

Well, I think they are more american aren't they. I mean they are owned by Yamaha, but only currently, they started as their own company.

 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

And they are making exactly the product I wanted which is the Stomp. I was never really tempted to upgrade from my B3N to the HX. It was not a difficult decision at all (apart from the slightly eye watering price) to upgrade to the Stomp.

Frankly, if they hadn't made the stomp I wouldn't have noticed they made the HX, so it worked for me too!

 

[Woodinblack]

Maybe when they make the stomp pro, which has twice as many blocks and twice as many buttons, at the same price - I might be in

 

[krispn]

Line 6 have always evolved their products from pods to spider amps to the M series pedal boards but maybe not so quickly as the recent trend. Maybe they’ve been inspired by Darkglass with their recent slew of products?

The buy out by Yamaha may actually be the cause for this ‘cannibalism’ of the HX line - getting all the variants out in such quick succession. I’d suggest that it’s been Yamaha’s decision rather than Line 6 to ‘saturate’ the market Q.E.D. But again getting everything out before the next NAMM cycle could be seen as a shrewd move  - they know their audience and how fickle they can be. 

I’m not familiar enough with the range and all the variations on the feature sets but Yamaha have come out guns blazing with the three models and made their statement. If folks are happy with their units (whichever ones they end up with) then result. Early adopters often run the risk of being left behind by newer kit but when has that ever stopped anyone!

[CameronJ]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

My point is more around product life cycles. They have cannibalised HX sales by introducing the Stomp so soon, which I don't think is fair on HX owners. But as a Stomp owner I'm cool with it. If you're cool with it as a HX owner then we're all happy and there has been no evil done in the world today (by Helix anyway).

But this is the thing. If HX Stomp was really at risk of cannibalising sales of the HX Effects then Line 6 quite simply would not have released it. The people for whom HX Effects is ideal (i.e. folk who need more than 6 blocks, want at least one footswitch per block, don’t need amp models, have comprehensive MIDI switching needs, have amp switching needs, don’t need another audio interface and don’t need a headphone practice amp) are looking at HX Stomp with no GAS whatsoever. 

People who willfully bought HX Effects but wanted the features of Stomp can cry “shafting” all day long. But if Stomp had been released first there would undoubtedly have been a ton of annoyed guitarists saying they had no need for the amp sims (because they want to keep their existing head & cab) , wanted more effects blocks, more physical footswitches, amp switching capability and scribble strips. 

Line 6, and the music gear industry in general, will always prioritise the needs of guitarists over bassists. They outnumber us several times over. Arguably, when bassists look at the current HX options, the majority would gravitate to HX Stomp over HX Effects but Line 6 are more than aware that the vast bulk of their sales are from guitarists, so it made absolute business sense to prioritise the release of HX Effects before HX Stomp.

And yet, with all this said, looking at the bigger picture, both HX Stomp and HX Effects are primarily aimed at guitarists. Line 6 simply know that the portion of the guitarist market who have any interest in amp modelling whatsoever is relatively minute. Compare that to the huge portion of the guitarist market who have a serious interest in effects and pedalboards and it’s a no brainer. Anyone with any common sense would develop and release Effects before Stomp.

[HazBeen]

I am about done with the entire discussion. To each their own, after the initial "ooh Stomp is shiny and small" I realised it has ZERO use to me over HX and to quote @CameronJ I am looking at the Stomp with no GAS at all. I would go full fat or LT before Stomp, simple as.

Last thing I will say on the subject, it is getting boring.

[Bearfist]

Utterly blown away by this thing, i thought it would be good but its surpassed all expectations. The problem is i'm now wondering what i could do with the big one?!

[Dood]

17 hours ago, MarshallBTB said:

I put some cab impulses on my HX Effects, job done ! Been considering the stomp but I'd miss the extra footswitches too much, things like the looper and editing effects on the fly work so well with the HX Effects. 

Been thinking about trying an LT when people starting flogging theirs in favour of the little stomps...

I do really like that you can still load impulses in to the HX - and, given that its possible to make impulses, they don't necessarily have to be cabinet ones either! 

See below..

17 hours ago, Apeneck Sweeney said:

You might want to pop over to the marketplace.

Thank you Apeneck! Indeed, my LT is up for sale in favour of HX, thank you for the 'bump'  

[Al Krow]

20 hours ago, HazBeen said:

I am about done with the entire discussion. To each their own, after the initial "ooh Stomp is shiny and small" I realised it has ZERO use to me over HX and to quote @CameronJ I am looking at the Stomp with no GAS at all. I would go full fat or LT before Stomp, simple as.

Last thing I will say on the subject, it is getting boring.

Well I'm sorry that you, as a mod, are finding the comments of your fellow BC'ers so boring! 

For me, this has been one of the more thoughtful / balanced discussions of some of the pros and cons of the Helix HX vs Helix Stomp I've seen on any of the threads; it has certainly deepened my appreciation of the HX and its capabilities for a start!

Edited November 29, 2018 by Al Krow

[Woodinblack]

Well, I got my HX today and I am really impressed so far. Played through the presets and cobbled together some patches.

one thing I hadn’t realised that is fantastic is that I had gone down to two songs that I needed my 12 step for, and each of those are just a couple of chords, so I could trigger those from the hx, which frees a large amount of room on the pedalboard!

[RedVee]

I am just following this thread as I don't know diddly squat about anything that is Helix related. It is informative and interesting though for members who are not up to date on these kind of things.

Edited November 28, 2018 by RedVee

[MarshallBTB]

5 hours ago, Dood said:

 

See below..

Thank you Apeneck! Indeed, my LT is up for sale in favour of HX, thank you for the 'bump'  

Ahh very tempting, unfortunately  it would be a 2019 purchase for me. Sure you'll flog yours easily enough, they're great units. 

[Al Krow]

A little plug for the first bargain of Xmas. Not entirely sure why @Bearfist is not returning it to the retailer for a full refund, but if he's happy to give a £50 discount on something that's almost brand new then it would be churlish to turn that down right?  

 

Edited November 30, 2018 by Al Krow

[Woodinblack]

pmt still have the extended 10% off thing don't they?

I know what he means though - going through the stuff on it yesterday there was a nagging 'you would have more blocks if you had an LT'

 

[Bearfist]

41 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

A little plug for the first bargain of Xmas. Not entirely sure why @Bearfist is not returning it to the retailer for a full refund, but if he's happy to give a £50 discount on something that's almost brand new then it would be churlish to turn that down right?  

 

Thanks mate, I'm feeling nice I guess 😀

29 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

pmt still have the extended 10% off thing don't they?

I know what he means though - going through the stuff on it yesterday there was a nagging 'you would have more blocks if you had an LT'

 

Didn't notice it when I ordered my floor from them earlier although I think they have a deal on the LT?

Yeah I loved the stomp but really thought it would just add to what I had but when I realised how good it actually is and I could get the x7 tone pretty much bang on which is basically my always on it got me thinking, it took up a lot of blocks on The stomp to do it but I still had a few more ideas so I might as well just give in and go for the big one. 

Edited November 30, 2018 by Bearfist

[Owen]

On 27/11/2018 at 14:54, Al Krow said:

Just set up an effects patch per song and you can cycle through 26 songs. That's 90 mins of material sorted. Simples. 

What have you replaced it with? 

I bought a B3n thinking it would have the same sounds. It did not. So that went back. I will buy another. Or maybe something else. You know how it is. 

[Woodinblack]

5 hours ago, Bearfist said:

Didn't notice it when I ordered my floor from them earlier although I think they have a deal on the LT?

They do but their deal on both the LT and the HX take it down to the price that is everyone elses normal price!