I fought tooth and nail against buying an HX Stomp but your many videos on it convinced me to bite the bullet and I have to say it's easily the best piece of gear I've bought in the last 10 years, and this update just reaffirms the value that it continues to provide
@@playmoreguitar5393 I got mine specifically so I didn't have to lug around my 40lb pedalboard and my Fender Blues Jr to band practice every week. just a small pedalboard built around the HX Stomp and plug right into the mixer at the studio
I had an MX5 before the stomp and I have to say that there are some sounds that have been more difficult to get out of the stomp, but line 6 is closing that gap a lot with these and it has a lot more to offer in other areas (quantity/quality of effects being the biggest). The stomp editing interface is really awesome though and why I never went back to the mx5. Line 6 keeps updating this thing in big ways that make it feel like you got a new product every time.
Until now I just automatically used an IR for presets, but now this has just totally changed that. The new cabs are so alive and clear. And the mic placement display looks great. No more endless scrolling thru different IRs getting ear fatigue looking for a perfect sound. 😎
I checked out the new Cab Engine Parameters and some of the new Effects on a Test Preset I have. I swapped out to a new Dual Cab, changed and moved/angled one of the Mics, swapped to the Pillars Distortion, and instantly got one of the best sounds I've ever gotten out of my HX Stomp. The sound was open, clear, big, wide, and no high end harshness or fizziness. Yay! 🎉 It was the easiest Preset I've ever dialed in, and took very little time to do it. I couldn't stop playing, it was so addictive. Yes, kudos to Line 6 Helix and all the very talented people there. The 3.5 Update truly is a game changer! 👏👍😎
I have the same impression, though I still have to update and listen for myself. Jason Sadites also has a video on the cabs and just like here, you can hear there's probably more clarity in the new cabs, something that I always found missing in the old ones. I always thought the stock cabs sounded kind of muffled and mushy, as if someone put a fluffy blanket over them. That's why I preferred IR's. Until now, that is. I hope!
What I notice most of all is increased dynamics, my picking and strumming translates way better. I have fine collection of Celestion IRs that now have to take a step back!! I wish they would have added a pan/blend control on the dual cab in order to find the right blend fast between the 2 speakers, especially when you run them center panned. It's fiddly to do via volume levels. It should be easy to add.
They make literally every amp model sound immediately good out of the box now. Makes me try and give a chance to waaaay more of the amps, cause now I don't need to find an IR that somewhat matches it to sound good within the first seconds.
I went back to stock cabs about a year ago. Nothing wrong with 3rd party IR's but having more tweekability was more important for tone shaping. Looking forward to the new cabs.
I'm just blown away that the cabs and IR's take up so much less DSP. Since I've been using my stomp as a dual IR loader with my loadboxes, I can now have one dual IR block and still run lots of DSP hungry wet effects.
The A/B comparison around the 3:00 mark, the main thing I am noticing is the new cabs sound more three dimensional..The stock cabs sound flatter, less depth. It does not seem to be only an EQ type difference.. It is almost like you can hear the air moving better.. There is definitely more presence on the new tone, but it is smooth enough that it is not fizzy or piercing. There's a sense that it is a speaker cone moving air, almost like there is some early reflection stuff, but not quite that.. Especially if you have them completely dry, the new cabs sound better than the originals by a mile.
I'm not quite hearing the low end changing that substantially but I am hearing the high frequencies resolving in a smoother way than it has in the past without having a high cut. It will be interesting to see how these work in a track or in a live situation. Thanks for posting as always
Love the new cabs. They won't be replacing my York Audio IRs at all, but they offer up even more options and tweakability to work alongside my YA collection. I've noticed in comparison to the York stuff, the new cabs sound more 'raw' and 'unprocessed' - a bit like throwing a mic on a cab in the real world. The York IR mixes, on the other hand, sound more mix-ready to me. Each has its charm.
Happy with the updates and less DSP utilization. Yes the cabinet blocks are much easier to dial in. One thing I have observed is that when you compare a legacy cabinet with a new cabinet with mainly identical settings, they sound pretty much the same...yet none of the youtubers have demonstrated a direct comparison for some reason. Interesting...
@@johnnathancordy yes....and no... lol. Lots of fiddling on settings back and forth so difficult to visualize. Love your channel and your playing... thank you for everything you do for us!
Excited to update and try them tonight. I think they do sound better in your hands. The dsp usage being so much less is such a great feature of the update!
This is a great update. The cabs sound amazing, that Sunn Normal model takes dirt pedals VERY well. And the new stock presets are actually usable and helpful. I'm loving it. Great video as always John.
They sound really good 😊 haven’t had a chance to use them yet but looking forward to seeing if I can match the IR’s that I currently use 👍 I think the dsp savings will be noticed a lot on the stomps more than the LT and Floor but feel like the device that could benefit most will be the pod go if they bring these new cabs over there. It could easily turn into a good alternative if you have more dsp to play with!
This has been an awesome update! Such a useful tone for being able to tweak the amps to the tone in your head! As you said, the reduced DSP is a win. But for me, I can be bothered with 3rd party IRs etc, so love being able to just get my helix to do what I need!
That dsp suck before this firmware update was big for some of the presets I would like to do. Now it is amazing, Hx stomp has more potential than ever! 🙂
John, excellent editing and presentation on the long awaited updated for the year. You still carry the torch best to me. 2 unrelated but important Questions- could you share the brand of Joggers (pants or I believe you guys call them "trousers") you're wearing? And graphic wise, what effect did you use for that font to flicker in and out? So cool. Great as always.
I watched a ozzy tribute band play last week the guitar player sounded amazing so I made my way to the stage to see what Amp and pedals he was using and all he had was small pedal board with a stomp on it Icould not believe what I was hearing sounded amazing
I can't help but wonder if the 66-80% DSP savings is a result not having to model speaker impedance curves in real time. IR's are popular but I suspect they are a less accurate representation of the speaker than Line 6's traditional "modeling" approach. This might only matter for those who can feel the difference under their fingers (not sure if I can or not).
Nice. I'm liking these new cabs as well as absolutely love the Pillars/Plumes drive. For some reason it just sounds a lot better to me than regular the tube screamer. On the cab front I was wondering if you pan mics when playing lead? I see that some say that lead guitar should fit in the mix and not sound as if it is spread across it yet, guys like Randy Rhoads put all kinds of pans on his leads for early Ozzy stuff. Interested in opinions here if anyone has them.
Well, put in the time and see what you like. The option of placement AND different mikes per snapshot is huge in my book. I just reworked a preset using 57s and 421s in different combinations that really reflect some earlier studio work pretty spot on, and now that can be used live, instead of using different IRs per snapshot. FWIW
Hey John, I have a question I hope you happen to see and have a moment to answer. I'm considering getting an HX stomp to combine with my QC, just for effects. Have you ever done this? Can the 4 cable method work for putting pedals on the front and back end of the QC signal? That would be a cool video I bet, QC with Helix effects would be amazing.
You can definitely do this. Put the QC in the HX stomps FX loop. The QC can now be used as an FX block on the HX stomp and placed before or after anything.
With the improvement in the IRs, does this mean you'll stop using your previous presets in their current configuration? Is there a 'go to' cab that you now prefer?
I feel like my drive pedals outside the stomp respond way different now and it takes way more gain for them to break up. Almost in a disconcerting way. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Those nasty frequencies that have been plaguing line 6 since the early pod days are gone! I can set up a tone so fast now, now only tweaking for fun instead of just to make it not sound bad. I'm a little heartbroken there is still no Nobels.
Right?? There’s always been something in the high end that sounds “plastic” to me, for want of a better word. Always assumed it was a hardware thing, a conversion artifact. 3.5 has me questioning that.
As a user that relies on an outside pedal for my tone and the stomp purely for effects, I feel a bit slighted by this update. They should have made verb and delays cut down on dsp
Unfortunately, you’re in the minority of users with that setup . And I’m sure they will make that update at some point, but they’re going to focus on the bread and butter first.
They can't update all things for all people every time and your use case is pretty uncommon. Also, it's not always as simple as "just update the reverb to use less DSP." There are likely practical reasons why redoing their cabinets saved on DSP beyond just setting out to achieve that as their main goal.
Anyone else not getting the new cab/mic view on HX edit? Is it only available for the floorboard or should it work for the stomp and I'm just being dumb?
No, they are not better. They are a diferent set of tools. If the old cabs got you the result you want(ed) in your musical context they were right set of tools for the job. If the new cabs get you what you want in whatever music you are making now then they are right set of tools for the job. There's nothing wrong with the models on the original PODs either. They are just tools for you to use. Think of modellers as timbre toolboxes and not as 'good vs bad' and you are on a winner.
Not necessarily better, more direct in sound. As if the cab is being bypassed…. I think the tweakabikity is fantastic! But whether it’s better or not, is subjective.
![Do the Line 6 Helix Factory Presets Kinda Suck? [not anymore!]](/img/n.gif)
I fought tooth and nail against buying an HX Stomp but your many videos on it convinced me to bite the bullet and I have to say it's easily the best piece of gear I've bought in the last 10 years, and this update just reaffirms the value that it continues to provide
Here here!
I may just do the same soon. So over lugging my amps around, now that I am a bedroom rock star, its even worse for me to plug amps in..
@@playmoreguitar5393 I got mine specifically so I didn't have to lug around my 40lb pedalboard and my Fender Blues Jr to band practice every week. just a small pedalboard built around the HX Stomp and plug right into the mixer at the studio
The size/power ratio of the HX Stomp is competely unbeatable
I had an MX5 before the stomp and I have to say that there are some sounds that have been more difficult to get out of the stomp, but line 6 is closing that gap a lot with these and it has a lot more to offer in other areas (quantity/quality of effects being the biggest). The stomp editing interface is really awesome though and why I never went back to the mx5. Line 6 keeps updating this thing in big ways that make it feel like you got a new product every time.
Until now I just automatically used an IR for presets, but now this has just totally changed that. The new cabs are so alive and clear. And the mic placement display looks great. No more endless scrolling thru different IRs getting ear fatigue looking for a perfect sound. 😎
The stock cabs sound better than all of the IR’a that I spent money on. It’s a bittersweet experience…
There’s definitely more clarity and definition. They somehow feel more ‘springy’ if that makes sense and the dual function is a winner!
I checked out the new Cab Engine Parameters and some of the new Effects on a Test Preset I have. I swapped out to a new Dual Cab, changed and moved/angled one of the Mics, swapped to the Pillars Distortion, and instantly got one of the best sounds I've ever gotten out of my HX Stomp. The sound was open, clear, big, wide, and no high end harshness or fizziness. Yay! 🎉
It was the easiest Preset I've ever dialed in, and took very little time to do it. I couldn't stop playing, it was so addictive. Yes, kudos to Line 6 Helix and all the very talented people there. The 3.5 Update truly is a game changer! 👏👍😎
A comparison with the ua pedals and the helix with the new cabs would be awesome!
DSP savings are such a bonus. Fewer compromises, more possibilities.
Particularly important if you are using just an HX Stomp as your complete rig.
The new cab sounds more clear and lively to my ear. There’s certainly more tweak-ability with the new cabs, and that’s always nice.
I have the same impression, though I still have to update and listen for myself. Jason Sadites also has a video on the cabs and just like here, you can hear there's probably more clarity in the new cabs, something that I always found missing in the old ones. I always thought the stock cabs sounded kind of muffled and mushy, as if someone put a fluffy blanket over them. That's why I preferred IR's. Until now, that is. I hope!
Feels better. Like there’s more harmonic complexity.
Have to agree the new cab parameters are a huge update. Had a chance to update late yesterday… looking fwd to tweaking later today. Thx
What I notice most of all is increased dynamics, my picking and strumming translates way better. I have fine collection of Celestion IRs that now have to take a step back!! I wish they would have added a pan/blend control on the dual cab in order to find the right blend fast between the 2 speakers, especially when you run them center panned. It's fiddly to do via volume levels. It should be easy to add.
The blend option is absolutely a 100% must. Please so I don't keep having to place two separate cab blocks all the time...
They make literally every amp model sound immediately good out of the box now. Makes me try and give a chance to waaaay more of the amps, cause now I don't need to find an IR that somewhat matches it to sound good within the first seconds.
I find there's a certain fizziness? In the high end of a lot of the stock cabs, seems gone now. Excited to update!
New Cabs = NEW LIFE for sure! keep the vids coming
I went back to stock cabs about a year ago. Nothing wrong with 3rd party IR's but having more tweekability was more important for tone shaping. Looking forward to the new cabs.
I'm just blown away that the cabs and IR's take up so much less DSP. Since I've been using my stomp as a dual IR loader with my loadboxes, I can now have one dual IR block and still run lots of DSP hungry wet effects.
The A/B comparison around the 3:00 mark, the main thing I am noticing is the new cabs sound more three dimensional..The stock cabs sound flatter, less depth. It does not seem to be only an EQ type difference.. It is almost like you can hear the air moving better.. There is definitely more presence on the new tone, but it is smooth enough that it is not fizzy or piercing.
There's a sense that it is a speaker cone moving air, almost like there is some early reflection stuff, but not quite that..
Especially if you have them completely dry, the new cabs sound better than the originals by a mile.
I'm not quite hearing the low end changing that substantially but I am hearing the high frequencies resolving in a smoother way than it has in the past without having a high cut. It will be interesting to see how these work in a track or in a live situation. Thanks for posting as always
Yeah, that's how I hear it as well. 👍
Love the new cabs. They won't be replacing my York Audio IRs at all, but they offer up even more options and tweakability to work alongside my YA collection.
I've noticed in comparison to the York stuff, the new cabs sound more 'raw' and 'unprocessed' - a bit like throwing a mic on a cab in the real world. The York IR mixes, on the other hand, sound more mix-ready to me. Each has its charm.
Happy with the updates and less DSP utilization. Yes the cabinet blocks are much easier to dial in. One thing I have observed is that when you compare a legacy cabinet with a new cabinet with mainly identical settings, they sound pretty much the same...yet none of the youtubers have demonstrated a direct comparison for some reason. Interesting...
Isn't that what I just demonstrated?
@@johnnathancordy yes....and no... lol. Lots of fiddling on settings back and forth so difficult to visualize. Love your channel and your playing... thank you for everything you do for us!
Excited to update and try them tonight. I think they do sound better in your hands. The dsp usage being so much less is such a great feature of the update!
It’s like the blanket came off, my experience is the same
This is a great update. The cabs sound amazing, that Sunn Normal model takes dirt pedals VERY well. And the new stock presets are actually usable and helpful. I'm loving it. Great video as always John.
They sound really good 😊 haven’t had a chance to use them yet but looking forward to seeing if I can match the IR’s that I currently use 👍
I think the dsp savings will be noticed a lot on the stomps more than the LT and Floor but feel like the device that could benefit most will be the pod go if they bring these new cabs over there. It could easily turn into a good alternative if you have more dsp to play with!
This has been an awesome update!
Such a useful tone for being able to tweak the amps to the tone in your head!
As you said, the reduced DSP is a win.
But for me, I can be bothered with 3rd party IRs etc, so love being able to just get my helix to do what I need!
Beautiful playing !
That dsp suck before this firmware update was big for some of the presets I would like to do. Now it is amazing, Hx stomp has more potential than ever! 🙂
Finally I can ear that "nasal" quality that I was missing from the stock legacy (at this point?) Cabs... Way more realistic and less compressed
John, excellent editing and presentation on the long awaited updated for the year. You still carry the torch best to me. 2 unrelated but important Questions- could you share the brand of Joggers (pants or I believe you guys call them "trousers") you're wearing? And graphic wise, what effect did you use for that font to flicker in and out? So cool. Great as always.
wow!!!!! was in no hurry to down load but defo on it now - Great Vid cheers!
I watched a ozzy tribute band play last week the guitar player sounded amazing so I made my way to the stage to see what Amp and pedals he was using and all he had was small pedal board with a stomp on it Icould not believe what I was hearing sounded amazing
That's "Crazy ! .....but that's how it goes ! "
Yeah man I’ve had that experience a couple times and you go and see it’s a small modeler. Nuts.
I just got my HX Stomp about two weeks ago and then this drops. 🤯
Couldn't download new firmware through PC. Did it through my phone and e-mailed it to myself and Bob's your Uncle.
Bob's your uncle!
I can't help but wonder if the 66-80% DSP savings is a result not having to model speaker impedance curves in real time. IR's are popular but I suspect they are a less accurate representation of the speaker than Line 6's traditional "modeling" approach. This might only matter for those who can feel the difference under their fingers (not sure if I can or not).
Good update and a step in the right direction.
Your videos got featured on a site called gearnews, congrats !
Nice. I'm liking these new cabs as well as absolutely love the Pillars/Plumes drive. For some reason it just sounds a lot better to me than regular the tube screamer. On the cab front I was wondering if you pan mics when playing lead? I see that some say that lead guitar should fit in the mix and not sound as if it is spread across it yet, guys like Randy Rhoads put all kinds of pans on his leads for early Ozzy stuff. Interested in opinions here if anyone has them.
Well, put in the time and see what you like. The option of placement AND different mikes per snapshot is huge in my book. I just reworked a preset using 57s and 421s in different combinations that really reflect some earlier studio work pretty spot on, and now that can be used live, instead of using different IRs per snapshot. FWIW
I mainly listen to the live Tribute album as it's fantastic.
@@StratsRUs You are spot on on that. One of the best!
Hey John, I have a question I hope you happen to see and have a moment to answer. I'm considering getting an HX stomp to combine with my QC, just for effects. Have you ever done this? Can the 4 cable method work for putting pedals on the front and back end of the QC signal? That would be a cool video I bet, QC with Helix effects would be amazing.
You can definitely do this. Put the QC in the HX stomps FX loop. The QC can now be used as an FX block on the HX stomp and placed before or after anything.
Hey John great stuff!! Will you be putting out some custom presets for this update soon?? :P
There is more clarity and definition. Amp in the room guys should be happy. Seems like it breaths more like a real amp than the old cabs.
Exactly!
With the improvement in the IRs, does this mean you'll stop using your previous presets in their current configuration? Is there a 'go to' cab that you now prefer?
Great video as always! How do you build this drums and bass tracks?
Is the reverb just Hxstomp or are you adding some additional reverb in your DAW? I've never gotten the stock reverb to sound so smooth.
Is it possible that some of these changes will appear in Pod Go in a few months?
Is this update for the Pod Go too?
I feel like my drive pedals outside the stomp respond way different now and it takes way more gain for them to break up. Almost in a disconcerting way. Is anyone else experiencing this?
What do you use for monitors with your Stomp?
it might be an improvement, but free IR from kohlekeller studio still sound way bigger than the new cabs...
Those nasty frequencies that have been plaguing line 6 since the early pod days are gone! I can set up a tone so fast now, now only tweaking for fun instead of just to make it not sound bad. I'm a little heartbroken there is still no Nobels.
Ah good to hear you're digging it!
Right? Still no ODR-1 how?!
Right?? There’s always been something in the high end that sounds “plastic” to me, for want of a better word. Always assumed it was a hardware thing, a conversion artifact. 3.5 has me questioning that.
@@gregalon it kinda pisses me off we've been trying to tell Line 6 that for 10 years and they act like we are crazy
As a user that relies on an outside pedal for my tone and the stomp purely for effects, I feel a bit slighted by this update. They should have made verb and delays cut down on dsp
Unfortunately, you’re in the minority of users with that setup . And I’m sure they will make that update at some point, but they’re going to focus on the bread and butter first.
They can't update all things for all people every time and your use case is pretty uncommon. Also, it's not always as simple as "just update the reverb to use less DSP." There are likely practical reasons why redoing their cabinets saved on DSP beyond just setting out to achieve that as their main goal.
My condolences
GameChanger
With the same settings old cab and new cab sound exactly the same...
Hey genius red light versus gold light means nothing to me. I don't know what cab
I'm listening to you keep flicking back-and-forth
WAGMI
Murphy’s law. I just purchased some Ownhammer IR’s less than two weeks ago. Anyone want to buy them at half price? Seriously. $15 USD
Anyone else not getting the new cab/mic view on HX edit? Is it only available for the floorboard or should it work for the stomp and I'm just being dumb?
It's working for the stomp for me
You have to update HX edit separately. Had the same problem
@@liamtahaney713 All updated and still nout...
No, they are not better. They are a diferent set of tools. If the old cabs got you the result you want(ed) in your musical context they were right set of tools for the job. If the new cabs get you what you want in whatever music you are making now then they are right set of tools for the job.
There's nothing wrong with the models on the original PODs either. They are just tools for you to use. Think of modellers as timbre toolboxes and not as 'good vs bad' and you are on a winner.
Not necessarily better, more direct in sound. As if the cab is being bypassed….
I think the tweakabikity is fantastic! But whether it’s better or not, is subjective.
Second!
first