Line 6 HX One

[NoirBass]

interesting!

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/line-6-hx-one-demo/
 

 

[velvetkevorkian]

Neat, although the value proposition seems a bit wild to me. It seems like a tiny slice of a Stomp's functionality but at 50% of the price?

[fretmeister]

GuitarGuitar have them on preoder for £249.

 

It's a lot of money, but I don't think it's expensive compared to other things anymore. There's 100% analogue drive pedals for £400+ these days.

 

World has gone mad / whatever boomer / etc

[tauzero]

£250 for one selectable effect. £500 for 9 selectable effects on the HX Effects. Doesn't seem like much of a bargain.

[Sibob]

So they've basically re-released the M5 but with the HX engine.

Apparently the M5 was popular in studios where you only need one effect....'apparently', but I can't really see that this was the use-case for this as they also now have the HX Native multi-effects VST.

 

I guess at £250 it puts it in the 'boutique pedal' category, but with a LOT more functionality compared to many of those types of pedals. But it's a dangerous game....the 'boutique' market is mostly analogue and quirky digital pedals, not these utilitarian multi-fx type offerings.

So yeah.....not exactly sure who this is for?!
And that is from someone who loves my HX Stomp!

*EDIT*
Link is dead now, and Line6 website isn't updated, so looks like Sweetwater did a little leaky leak.

 

Si

Edited October 24, 2023 by Sibob

[jimbobothy]

it’s on Peach as well folks:

 

https://www.peachguitars.com/line-6-pedals-hx-one.htm

[thisisswanbon]

This surely can't be £150 better than the Zoom MS60B though... seems ludicrous pricing to me!

[tauzero]

After my initial post on the subject, it does occur to me that it's a little more useful than I originally thought - it does mean that if you want different settings for a particular effect, you don't have to choose between twiddling knobs on stage and finding a compromise setting. But it still doesn't look like much of a bargain to me.

[Greg Edwards69]

3 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

This surely can't be £150 better than the Zoom MS60B though... seems ludicrous pricing to me!

Having owned the M5, MS60B and now a Helix LT, I think yes, it is £150 better than the zoom. 

[MartinB]

5 hours ago, Sibob said:

So yeah.....not exactly sure who this is for?!

 

It might be me! I already have a compressor, drive and pre-amp that I'm very happy with. I have an MS-60B for one-off modulation, and I was thinking about buying/building a loop switcher to toggle its position between the pre-amp's FX loop and in front of the pre-amp (e.g. for use as an envelope filter). The HX One looks like it will do all of that in one box.

The HX Stomp and HX Effects do a lot more for double the price, but they'd make all my other pedals redundant... not sure I'm ready for that!

If the HX One did, say 3 blocks instead of 1, it'd be absolutely killer... but it's not in Line 6's interests to provide too much functionality at the entry level.

[thisisswanbon]

3 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Having owned the M5, MS60B and now a Helix LT, I think yes, it is £150 better than the zoom. 

Appreciate the reply Greg, but I respectfully disagree (also owned 2 MS60B's and 2 x HX Stomps).

 

Neither blew my socks off, but I found the zoom filter and synth sounds to be a huge cut above the HX stuff, and The dirts, fuzzes and distortions were more than passable on the zoom.  With the ability to stack effects in the zoom, I'm not sure how it's justified.

[LukeFRC]

13 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

This surely can't be £150 better than the Zoom MS60B though... seems ludicrous pricing to me!

My thinking too. 
MS60b can do a few things per patch? 
I’ve had the HX stomp, thr Zoom B3n and B3 (I think the MS60b is same gen as B3) and while the stomp subjectively sounded better -esp drives- the zoom was good enough - esp for one off things.

 

I have a pedalboard with thr things I need - MS60b or MS70cdr I can see myself having to add, or try, the thing I don’t think I need but want to try - press a pedal and “bam” there’s a reverb delay reverb thing happening…

But if the HX one is one effect …for me the fun in my hx stomp was trying different arrangements, and splitting signals - what one effect am I buying it for in the HX universe that would be  better than finding a standalone pedal for the same budget to do it? I’m struggling to think of anything HX did better on its own - amp models were cool maybe? Synth things buy a FI or C4, cabs - an IR loader or Two notes m+ … drive/fuzz/od - is simple to do in analogue… etc

I guess if I had a midi setup and I could do more things via midi? But - if I’m set up with a midi system to do this I imagine I would want something with more functionality 

[Greg Edwards69]

8 hours ago, thisisswanbon said:

Appreciate the reply Greg, but I respectfully disagree (also owned 2 MS60B's and 2 x HX Stomps).

 

Neither blew my socks off, but I found the zoom filter and synth sounds to be a huge cut above the HX stuff, and The dirts, fuzzes and distortions were more than passable on the zoom.  With the ability to stack effects in the zoom, I'm not sure how it's justified.

That's fair enough. It's all subjective anyway, depending on one's needs.

 

For me, I had two MS60B's on my board at one point (one for each pickup of my Attitude bass), and I bought the M5 specifically for one effect - the Attack synth - which works brilliantly for Muse's Time Is Running Out.  I could never get that type of 'flat' synth sound out of the Zoom - they always had that squelchy filter, and it didn't track that well.  Perversely, synths were the weak point of the helix for some time before that added the legacy effects from the FM4 last year - it still ain't perfect, but I can get more or less any synth tone I need now.

 

The drives and amp modelling are in a different league from the MS60B IMHO, and the plethora of eq options is worth the admission price alone - I'll never fear dodgy acoustics again. Oh and the pitch shifting on the MS60B is dreadful - the Helix tracks right down to my open E string with ease.

 

Don't get me wrong, the MS60B is great, and I wish I had kept one as a backup device. But for me, the way I use it and the sounds I want to create, the Helix algorithms sound much better IMHO.

 

I do think it's an unexpected release. It's almost as if Line 6 has created their version of the Eventide H9, after Eventide's H90 was released as their version of the HX Stomp. But I'm sure Line 6's research would have found a number of reasons to create such a product. I doubt they would have released it if it was destined to fail. It's clearly not aimed at most of existing multi-effects users like us.

[Sibob]

1 hour ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

That's fair enough. It's all subjective anyway, depending on one's needs.

 

For me, I had two MS60B's on my board at one point (one for each pickup of my Attitude bass), and I bought the M5 specifically for one effect - the Attack synth - which works brilliantly for Muse's Time Is Running Out.  I could never get that type of 'flat' synth sound out of the Zoom - they always had that squelchy filter, and it didn't track that well.  Perversely, synths were the weak point of the helix for some time before that added the legacy effects from the FM4 last year - it still ain't perfect, but I can get more or less any synth tone I need now.

 

The drives and amp modelling are in a different league from the MS60B IMHO, and the plethora of eq options is worth the admission price alone - I'll never fear dodgy acoustics again. Oh and the pitch shifting on the MS60B is dreadful - the Helix tracks right down to my open E string with ease.

 

Don't get me wrong, the MS60B is great, and I wish I had kept one as a backup device. But for me, the way I use it and the sounds I want to create, the Helix algorithms sound much better IMHO.

 

I do think it's an unexpected release. It's almost as if Line 6 has created their version of the Eventide H9, after Eventide's H90 was released as their version of the HX Stomp. But I'm sure Line 6's research would have found a number of reasons to create such a product. I doubt they would have released it if it was destined to fail. It's clearly not aimed at most of existing multi-effects users like us.

Fully agree that, being somewhat of an update of their old M5, it's now essentially a budget H9.
Interesting, but then the Helix range has always been a bit of a mess from a marketing perspective.....as good as they are of course.

 

Si

[fretmeister]

I think it's a great idea.

 

I only ever take a Nano+ board and all but 1 space is permanently spoken for (tuner, compressor, drive, octave, HPF underneath). The last space gets swapped around to whatever I need for the gig, but that can lead to compromises. Filter / another drive / phaser / synth etc.

 

The HX One would let me keep the board as it is all the time and not have any compromises either.

 

I think the price is reasonable too. I don't mean cheap, but the humble Ibby TS9 now costs £120 with zero R&D need, a TS808 is £170!

It's still a lot of money but that doesn't mean unreasonable.

 

[Greg Edwards69]

1 hour ago, Sibob said:

Interesting, but then the Helix range has always been a bit of a mess from a marketing perspective.....as good as they are of course.

I kinda agree with that sentiment. As as said, it's an unexpected release, and previous releases have been similar and not quite what I thought they could/should be. The Stomp XL for example could have been so much more. I get why they developed them, but I think they could do better by engaging more users on forums and social media.

 

56 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I think the price is reasonable too. I don't mean cheap, but the humble Ibby TS9 now costs £120 with zero R&D need, a TS808 is £170!

It's still a lot of money but that doesn't mean unreasonable.

It's also £50 cheaper than a Darkglass B7K, and the emulation of that pedal is excellent. Come to think of it, that (and the sansamp BDDI model) could make it a viable direct to FOH backup rig solution, as the output can be set to line level too.

[fretmeister]

That's a very good point. The BDDI / Paradriver etc is a single effect and is £300 these days.

[krispn]

The price comparison to a Stomp is fair but as mentioned how many ‘boutique’, single application pedals are over£200 these days. I had to catch myself the other day looking at the new UA 1176 pedal thinking it was affordable because it’s under £200 then I did a quick wait it’s nearly £200!!

 

I had the old M5 years ago and it’s handy. Phaser for a Lizzy track, tube drive for Clash song, chorus for an intro, fuzz etc you get the idea. In an ‘average set’ in my pub band I can easily get by with no fx but this type of unit makes it a fun tool but it’s up to the player to judge if it sounds better than the many compact multi fx boxes out there or is worth the money. It looks the part!

[Greg Edwards69]

2 hours ago, krispn said:

I had to catch myself the other day looking at the new UA 1176 pedal thinking it was affordable because it’s under £200 then I did a quick wait it’s nearly £200!!

I was completely unaware of that pedal. Thanks.  If there's one effect I wish the Helix had, it would be the 1176 compressor. It's got a great LA2A model, but really needs the 1176 to pair with it.

 

Actually, what I would really want to see, is a model of the Origin Effect Cali76 Compact Bass, as this has a hpf sidechain feature that would be incredibly helpful.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Greg Edwards69

[krispn]

4 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

I was completely unaware of that pedal. Thanks.  If there's one effect I wish the Helix had, it would be the 1176 compressor. It's got a great LA2A model, but really needs the 1176 to pair with it.

 

Actually, what I would really want to see, is a model of the Origin Effect Cali76 Compact Bass, as this has a hpf sidechain feature that would be incredibly helpful.

UA just released a stand alone LA-2A pedal as well 😀

Edited October 26, 2023 by krispn

[Baloney Balderdash]

Frankly the recently released HoTone Ampero Mini seems like the superior unit for this kind of thing.

 

And it is cheaper as well.

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Greg Edwards69]

7 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Frankly the recently released HoTone Ampero Mini seems like the superior unit for this kind of thing.

 

And it is cheaper as well.

I've been toying with the idea of getting one as a "get me through the gig" backup to my Helix LT, and as a home practice device. But I'm waiting to see what the first proper firmware update brings as there's a couple of features I'd love to see added/improved (global eq, darkglass model and pitch-shifting).   It's a real shame they didn't include Bluetooth as well, that would make it a perfect practice device IMHO.

[MartinB]

On 24/10/2023 at 21:54, MartinB said:

The HX Stomp and HX Effects do a lot more for double the price, but they'd make all my other pedals redundant... not sure I'm ready for that!

Well I was all set to get an HX One, and then I started reading about how much more an HX Stomp can do... and realising how much of the extra cost would be covered by selling the pedals it would replace... I think you can see where this is going 😆

[Greg Edwards69]

On 25/10/2023 at 13:24, Greg Edwards69 said:

I kinda agree with that sentiment. As as said, it's an unexpected release, and previous releases have been similar and not quite what I thought they could/should be. The Stomp XL for example could have been so much more. I get why they developed them, but I think they could do better by engaging more users on forums and social media.

 

It's also £50 cheaper than a Darkglass B7K, and the emulation of that pedal is excellent. Come to think of it, that (and the sansamp BDDI model) could make it a viable direct to FOH backup rig solution, as the output can be set to line level too.

Hah. And as if by magic, 3.7 brings a $1,249 Noble Bass DI model to the HX series. An HX One dedicated to just this one effect could be a fantastic tool for bass players to keep in their gigbags.