Line 6 Helix

Helix

Real. Smart. Control.

HelixTM is a new kind of guitar processor: it’s not only a tour-grade multi-effect pedal that sounds and feels authentic, it’s also the most comprehensive master controller for guitar systems ever built. Start by recreating the tones in your head with the new HX modeling engine—the new amps, cabs, mics, and effects will feel familiar to anyone who has ever spent time in the studio getting the best guitar sounds from both vintage and modern gear. Have a pile of oddball pedals that you rely on for your personal sounds? No problem. Take advantage of the most comprehensive I/O and routing capabilities ever built into a multi-effect and easily integrate them into the Helix environment. Once connected, create custom setups and footswitch labels that make your external pedals feel like they’re all under the hood. And now with new Helix 2.0 firmware, you get additional models and features that deepen the Helix experience.  Whether you spend your time in the studio or on the stage, Helix is the next-generation guitar processor you’ve been waiting for.

Real Tone

It feels and sounds like your analog gear

When it comes down to authentic sound and feel, Helix represents a giant leap forward for guitar technology. The dual-DSP engine provides massive power to accurately recreate the dynamic feel of tube amplifiers, not just their sonic fingerprint. Each stage of an amp’s circuit has been measured and matched back to the original, so that each model reacts and interacts just like the real thing. This level of dynamic circuit detail extends into areas like power supply ripple, individual tube sag, and control over B+ voltages. Once these elements are captured, you get classic bloom and gooey compression on some amps, and a powerful gut punch on others. Additionally, you can load custom impulse responses to personalize your rig setup. Helix 2.0 firmware introduces five new amp models based on* the legendary Mesa/Boogie® Mk IV and Marshall® JCM 800, as well as new distortion, EQ, modulation and delay effects.

Smart Interaction

So intuitive you already know how to use it

Massive power traditionally comes with a steep learning curve, but Helix challenges that way of thinking. Touch-sensitive footswitches allow you to select an effect block for editing simply by touching it. In combination, the large 6.2 inch 800x480-pixel LCD display all but eliminates menu-diving and provides the same level of control you would expect from an external editor. Colored LED rings and customizable scribble strips complete the user interface, letting you know what each footswitch is doing at a glance. When it comes to creating tones, Helix is as fast as you are.

Part of the goal in developing Helix was to allow guitarists to interact with technology in ways that are more intuitive, making the creation of tones easier. This means that—for the very first time—you won’t have to stop playing to tweak a knob. With Pedal Edit Mode, you can edit any parameter you like using your foot: simply select the block that you want to tweak, and its parameters spill out onto the footswitches. Select a parameter, and tweak the value using the expression pedal. 

Giving you the ability to touch a footswitch and quickly tweak parameters or easily assign or learn controllers, Helix is the fastest tone creator of its kind on the planet. But that’s only part of the story—it’s also the most flexible. Helix has FOUR stereo paths per preset, allowing you to design complex routing scenarios for each patch. Creating variations on wet and dry routing schemes is as easy as loading a template or tweaking the joystick, and using the onboard effects models in conjunction with the 4 freely-assignable effects loops means that the tonal possibilities are truly huge. 

Helix 2.0 firmware includes the new Snapshots performance feature, enabling you to instantly recall, switch, and control selected elements of your tone within individual presets. Depending on how they’re set up, Snapshots can act as eight variations of the same tone, eight drastically different tones, or any combination thereof—all within the same preset.

Control of your entire rig

Integrate and control internal and external devices

As the most advanced guitar processor ever made, Helix can become the nerve center for your entire guitar rig. Easily integrate traditional effects pedals and other hardware into your environment, creating a seamless hybrid rig that incorporates the best of what software and hardware have to offer.

Helix has the most flexible audio routing ever seen on a guitar processor, thanks to its dynamically allocated DSP. Use the four effects loops to connect four separate pedal chains, or split them up and use them as freely-assignable inputs and outputs. In combination with four stereo paths, this means that you can process multiple instruments at once, send wet and dry signals to different places, and create large integrated systems that take advantage of both digital and analog I/O at the same time.

When you need to incorporate external devices via MIDI, Helix offers more flexibility than any multi-effect ever. In addition to powerful real time MIDI control, Helix can send up to six separate commands at patch recall that aren’t assigned to a footswitch, which means you can change a patch on a synth, start a sequencer, and turn up a fader on an external mixer, all with one press of a footswitch. Add three expression pedals, CV/Expression out, and external amp switching, and Helix can be the command center for any size rig.

Finally, Helix 2.0 firmware features new Variax® control enhancements open up new performance possibilities—toggle between two guitar models with a footswitch, control the Variax tone knob with an expression pedal, assign a momentary footswitch to drop D, and more.

Helix

Helix is like no other guitar pedal that you’ve ever seen before. It represents a new way of thinking about guitarists and technology, and it gives creative musicians the tools to quickly recreate the sound they hear their head, without sonic compromise.

THE NEW MODELS IN HELIX 2.0 FIRMWARE INCLUDE:

New Amp Models

• Cali IV Rhythm 1, based on* the Rhythm I channel of the Mesa/Boogie® Mk IV
• Cali IV Rhythm 2, based on* the Rhythm II channel of the Mesa/Boogie® Mk IV
• Cali IV Lead, based on* the Lead channel of the Mesa/Boogie® Mk IV
• Line 6 2204 Mod, Line 6 Original based on* a hot-rodded Marshall® JCM® 800
• Line 6 Fatality,Line 6 Original based on THALL

New Effects Models

• Distortion > Wringer Fuzz (Mono, Stereo), based on* Garbage’s special BOSS® FZ-2
• EQ > Cali Q Graphic (Mono, Stereo), based on* the Mesa/Boogie® Mk IV’s 5-band EQ
• Modulation > Harmonic Tremolo (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original
• Delay > Vintage Digital (Mono, Stereo), Line 6 Original

* All product names used herein are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Line 6.  These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development. 

Mesa/Boogie is a registered trademark of Mesa/Boogie, Ltd. 

Marshall and JCM are registered trademarks of Marshall Amplification Plc. 

BOSS is a registered trademark of Roland Corporation.

Helix –Next Generation, Tour Grade Guitar Processor

• Dual DSP-powered HX modeling engine with 4 discrete stereo signal paths, 45 amps, 30 cabs, 16 mics and 72 effects
• Imports 3rd party 1024/2048 cab IR’s (impulse responses)
• 12 capacitive-sensing footswitches and customizable scribble strips—touch to edit, hold to assign, press to engage
• Hands-free Pedal Edit mode lays out effect parameters across switches and expression pedal
• Near-instant footswitch and controller assignment
• Up to 3 expression pedals, CV/Expression out, external amp switching and deep MIDI control
• Extensive I/O for seamless integration with your entire rig - 10 inputs 12 outputs (including four fx loops), plus 8-in/8-out USB audio interface
• AES/EBU, SPDIF and VDI interfaces
• Industry-leading 123dB of dynamic range on the guitar input, for tremendous depth and ultra-low noise
• Tour Grade construction