The HX Effects is legit

[jlpete87]

I had an AX8 for a few years. While I really liked it, all I used was the Friedman models and various effects. I ended up selling it to buy the real deal (JJ Jr), but I liked the grid/block/scene system of being able to trigger multiple effects at once, and so on. I was thinking of adding a few more pedals and building a bigger board, or I could just sell them all and get one of these and have everything I could ever possibly need or want from an effects standpoint. I did email Dave today and he said I should be able to use a TRS cable for the channel switching, so I think I'm good there. My needs are relatively basic. Drive, Delay, Wah, Phaser, Chorus and occasional tremelo is pretty much all I use, but being able to trigger multiple effects at the same time and have everything in one box seems tempting. I did have a POD XT Live back in 2005, but I haven't used any Line 6 products since.

 

[MartinC]

I did have a POD XT Live back in 2005, but I haven't used any Line 6 products since.

Me too ... but I just bought an HX Effects a few weeks ago. Couldn't be happier. Chalk and cheese. Memories of the XT Live are that it was ok sound-wise ... especially for its time. But it was painful to navigate. HX Effects is incredibly easy to use. It still takes a bit of tweaking, but results are fantastic.

 

[jlpete87]

That's good to hear. The Pod XT Live really came to life when I paired it with an Atomic Reactor 112. If you're not familiar, it was a 1x12 cab with an 18w tube power amp. It had an insert for the POD bean, but it worked with the XT live as well. It looks like Sweetwater has a SKU for the HX Effects that includes Helix Native for free, so I think that's the direction I'll go. Thanks for the responses!

 

[bbgie1223]

One of the main reasons I just changed from Katana Artist to Boss Nextone + HX Effects was that I was totally over plugging my laptop into the KA to fine tune amp settings, and make any useful changes to effects. The HX Effects user interface on the unit itself is nothing short of genius and as far as I can tell so far, lets you change any setting. A totally liberating experience from my perspective. So I would have to agree with your comment and felt the need to rave because I think Line 6 have done such a sterling job of negating the need to link up to another device in order to build a pedal board ... to me, a quantum step forward from the process and expense involved in building a physical board, and from being tied to another device.

Hey Martin. How are you liking the HX into your Nextone?

 

[MartinC]

Hey Martin. How are you liking the HX into your Nextone?

Hi Andy. Short version ... loving it.

The Nextone itself is great for what I am using it for ... a clean to clean-ish platform, with a variety of playing volume scenarios. It's great for mild OD ... not so good with classic rock levels of gain or higher.

So far I have just used the HXFX direct into the front of the amp ... no 4CM ... I am intending to try 4CM so that I can use light OD from the Nextone, push that with OD/Distortion from the HXFX, and still have delay, reverb and looper after all of the OD.

An observation ... when the HXFX is in the signal chain and switched on, the overall tone with no blocks active is a tiny bit louder and has added sparkle to it. I used to have a Tumnus Deluxe that had a switchable buffer. With the buffer engaged but the Tumnus switched off, that's exactly what the buffer in the Tumnus did too ... a bit more volume and more sparkle. I don't know if the HXFX is buffered in the same way, but that's what it sounds like. I called this an observation because, whilst I like the extra sparkle, some people don't like anything on their pedalboard to change their amp tone at all.

I don't actually play with a wide variety of effects ... mostly OD, delay, reverb, tremolo and sometimes the occasional phaser or uni-vibe. I also don't play with high gain either. So the following I have found to produce REALLY great lighter OD tones: Kinky Boost, Heir Apparent, Dhyana, KWB. The Vermin Dist model is about as overdriven as I need to go, and it can be EQ'd into a really great lead tone that makes a Strat neck pickup sound like it's on steroids.

I have explored delays and reverbs less, but liking the Ducked Delay a lot, after a bit of a learning curve with all the parameters (thanks Jason Sadites for the YouTube clip on that!). Reverb I am just using a basic room reverb.

The harmonic tremolo is excellent. Probably not in the same league as a real Fender Brownface, or a Supro 1310, but really usable.

The 6 button looper has not let me down yet, and the tuner in the default mode is very easy to use and as accurate as I need (much more accurate that a TC Polytune headstock tuner that used to be my standard, everyday tuner)

Last thing I would say is just to repeat ... it's SUPER easy to use. Some models have a lot of parameters to get your head around (back to the ducked delay) but the actual driving of the unit itself is just brilliant.

 

[Break123]

How are the overdrives on the HX? anything similar to a maxon 0d808?

 

[bbgie1223]

Hi Andy. Short version ... loving it.

The Nextone itself is great for what I am using it for ... a clean to clean-ish platform, with a variety of playing volume scenarios. It's great for mild OD ... not so good with classic rock levels of gain or higher.

So far I had just used the HXFX direct into the front of the amp ... no 4CM ... I am intending to try 4CM so that I can use light OD from the Nextone, push that with OD/Distortion from the HXFX, and still have delay, reverb and looper after all of the OD.

An observation ... when the HXFX is in the signal chain and switched on, the overall tone with no blocks active is a tiny bit louder and has added sparkle to it. I used to have a Tumnus Deluxe that had a switchable buffer. With the buffer engaged but the Tumnus switched off, that's exactly what the buffer in the Tumnus did too ... a bit more volume and more sparkle. I don't know if the HXFX is buffered in the same way, but that's what it sounds like. I called this an observation because, whilst I like the extra sparkle, some people don't like anything on their pedalboard to change their amp tone at all.

I don't actually play with a wide variety of effects ... mostly OD, delay, reverb, tremolo and sometimes the occasional phaser or uni-vibe. I also don't play with high gain either. So the following I have found to produce REALLY great lighter OD tones: Kinky Boost, Heir Apparent, Dhyana, KWB. The Vermin Dist model is about as overdriven as I need to go, and it can be EQ'd into a really great lead tone that makes a Strat neck pickup sound like it's on steroids.

I have explored delays and reverbs less, but liking the Ducked Delay a lot, after a bit of a learning curve with all the parameters (thanks Jason Sadites for the YouTube clips on that!). Reverb I am just using a basic room reverb.

The harmonic tremolo is excellent. Probably not in the same league as a real Fender Brownface, or a Supro 1310, but really usable.

The 6 button looper has not let me down yet, and the tuner in the default mode is very easy to use and as accurate as I need (much more accurate that a TC Polytune headstock tuner that used to be my standard, everyday tuner)

Last thing I would say is just to repeat ... it's SUPER easy to use. Some models have a lot of parameters (back to the ducked delay) but the actual driving of the unit itself is just brilliant.

That's great! Thanks for taking the time for your response.

 

[Break123]

Can i plug in and use a Maxon 0D808 in the extra send return input on the helix hx effects along with wiring it in the normal 4CM method?

 

[MartinC]

How are the overdrives on the HX? anything similar to a maxon 0d808?

There is a TS808 model.

I have a preset with just OD models in it that I use for trying out and comparing different ODs. It's all about personal preference, but my favourite OD in that preset is the Kinky Boost (Xotic EP). Others that sound good to me are the Heir Apparent, Dhyana and KWB ... I have found that all of these sound their most amp-like in their lower gain settings. The Kinky Boost wins it for me because it has a much nicer bottom end for the lower registers than the others, particularly with a Strat neck pickup. They can all be made to sound very similar on the higher registers. I should say that the above is all with an HSS Strat plugged in.

 

[MartinC]

Can i plug in and use a Maxon 0D808 in the extra send return input on the helix hx effects along with wiring it in the normal 4CM method?

I haven't done that myself (I switched entirely to HXFX) but the signal flow capabilities should let you do that. Some posters in this thread have experienced noise issues when putting some drive pedals into one of the loops though.

 

[Backsnack]

I love my HX Effects. It just needs a good spring reverb pedal and I’m set.

Go whole hog (bear, in this case) and get one of those giant Surfybear real spring tank reverb CHONK pedals.

 

[Backsnack]

Just got an HXFX as well. Going to pair it with an Amp1 Iridium and RevivalTrem. All analogue amp-voiced drives with a metric ton of effects on tap.

 

[j_el_jee]

I had an AX8 for a few years. While I really liked it, all I used was the Friedman models and various effects. I ended up selling it to buy the real deal (JJ Jr), but I liked the grid/block/scene system of being able to trigger multiple effects at once, and so on. I was thinking of adding a few more pedals and building a bigger board, or I could just sell them all and get one of these and have everything I could ever possibly need or want from an effects standpoint. I did email Dave today and he said I should be able to use a TRS cable for the channel switching, so I think I'm good there. My needs are relatively basic. Drive, Delay, Wah, Phaser, Chorus and occasional tremelo is pretty much all I use, but being able to trigger multiple effects at the same time and have everything in one box seems tempting. I did have a POD XT Live back in 2005, but I haven't used any Line 6 products since.

Did you move on this yet?

I’m watching this thread with similar interest around using the HX with my XTC3534. I’m mainly interested in the following features: drives, EQ, delays, NOISE GATE and amp switching.

Can any of you using it 4CM with a high gain tube amp comment on the noise gate effectiveness?

Im coming from a GSP1101 which works great for me in a 4CM config with this amp and I love the simple noise gate... and this unit is over 10 years old.

 

[j_el_jee]

Also the folks having noise issues, please clarify, is this strictly an issue w the HX extension loop? Or also evident when using 4CM *without* using the extension loops? In the latter case.. has anyone troubleshot your routing of signal cables vs power cable(s)?

 

[ldizzle]

I've never had any noise issues at all... but I've never run the loops.
I traded out my well toured M9 for the hxfx when it first came out. It's a wonderful unit for a swiss army knife of fx.

 

[j_el_jee]

I’m building a new pedalboard rig with an HX Effects as the controller for MIDI. It’s been ran 4cm with a Mesa Mark V:25 and a Bogner Ecstacy 3534. So far so good. Because I intend on using expression pedals, I am going to use a Voodoo Lab Control Switcher to do amp switching. Sounds like that might avoid some grounding issues, along with clean power to my board, a Goodwood Audio pedalboard interface and hopefully good planning. I’m in early testing stages.

Wondering if during your testing you've used the HXE to switch the 3534, and if there's a hum present? I also have a Voodoo Lab control switcher but in the interest of simple setup won't be using it or expression pedals, so I want the HXE to switch the 3534 channels & boost.

Even if it did, looks like this is the fix..

I had an issue with my Suhr Eclipse and the HXFX switching.

I wanted to use the FX Link on the eclipse to switch channels from the HXFX, so I got the proper cable and it definitely induced noise/hum. I lifted the ground on the TRS cable on the HXFX side (only because I could open up the 1/4” end and unsolder the ground wire and the 1/8” side is molded). That did the trick for me!

 

[Long2Play]

Wondering if during your testing you've used the HXE to switch the 3534, and if there's a hum present? I also have a Voodoo Lab control switcher but in the interest of simple setup won't be using it or expression pedals, so I want the HXE to switch the 3534 channels & boost.

Even if it did, looks like this is the fix..

I did not run it that way. I did run it by itself in the effects loop and got a loud ground loop. I’ve since moved to powering the HXFX via a Strymon Zuni plugged into the same outlet plus a Goodwood Audio TX Interfacer. Problem solved. I did run the HXFX in the loop of my Mesa Mark V:25 and had the HXFX do the control switching. Clean and quiet on that rig.

 

[Ed_Saxman]

This is new a Premium MIDI Layout made for Line 6 HX EFFECTS devices!!

Requires MIDI Designer Pro 2 (IOS app, sold separately)

Full tactile control over your HX EFFECTS using Bluetooth or USB.

Embedded support for the iRig Blueboard. Two of them!

Now Available! : https://line6.com/support/topic/58853-new-hx-effects-wireless-midi-controller-ipad/









Hardware requirements:

- HX EFFECTS

- MIDI Designer Pro 2 (IOS)

- iPad

- MIDI Interface (Yamaha MD-BT01 for wireless, or Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter for wired)



Recommended MIDI Interfaces:

- Wireless: Yamaha MD-BT01, CME WIDI Master

- Wired (MIDI to USB): Roland UM-ONE MKII + Apple CCK USB3

- Wired (using Helix USB): Apple Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter



Optional support (included):

Embedded support for the IK Multimedia Blueboard Bluetooth LE Modes:

Mode B: (Half/Full speed, Undo/Redo, Play/Stop, Rec/Overdub)

Mode C: (Snapshots 1-4)

 

[Ed_Saxman]

Addded some nice Cheatsheets today!

Cheatsheets:

1 - Main View





2- Setlist View





3- Preset View





4- Blueboard View

 

[CarlGuitarist]

I’m thinking of going back. Would really like to try 4CM with my Archon amp but I’m a bit nervous about the ground loop issue resulting from the switching jack ground not being floating. Is there any guaranteed fix for this should the problem arise?