Line6 Helix LT Guitar Processor

I've had this unit for about three years now.
It sounds amazing through headphones/speakers. I haven't used it with a tube amp, so I can't give my opinion on that.
I used it mainly for experimentation and figuring out what kind of effects I would actually use and for playing around with tones, and it's very useful for that.

Nothing I've tried comes close to it in terms of usability. Don't get me wrong, you still have so many options that you might end up having a hard time knowing which to choose, but the user interface is second to none. That was the main attraction for me, no need to dive into a million menus: just choose an effect/amp, tweak it with the encoders and that's it.

Quality wise, I have only one complaint: the expression pedal gave out rather quickly on my unit. I didn't break, but it just stopped registering movement(maybe the optical sensor got covered with too much dust).

However, Line6 replaced the unit on the spot when I told them about the issue, so kudos to them. Best customer service ever. I think they issued a lifetime warranty for Helix LT expression pedals.

HXEdit, the editing software works great and is really useful if you keep your unit on the floor.

The looper could use some extra time on the loops, but it's serviceable.

All in all, I don't think you can beat it. It has more effects and amps than one person can realistically use, but that means that everyone can find anything that they need inside. It's very intuitive and doesn't get in the way of playing as much as other menu heavy units. Snapshots and presets give you a ton of flexibility. If you do need to tweak things, it's the best user interface I've ever seen on a processor.

The price is amazing for what you get(trust me, I'm looking at building an analog pedalboard with the features that I used on the Helix and the bill is stacking up quickly). The HX Stomp does almost everything that the LT does, but I have a feeling you lose some of the ease of use and a significant part of the processing power with that product.

Oh, and for a home guitarist, an aux input is invaluable. It doesn't have one, but you can use a split stereo cable and the effects returns(there are two of them), if you aren't using the for external pedals.

A straight forward device.

The main reasons I decided to get the Helix LT;
- The user interface is very easy to understand and use
- Lots of support and user patches available on line
- Ridiculous amount of effects at one time

The only downside for me was surprisingly enough (and I still don’t know why), I received the unit from Thomann with firmware version 2.30.0 which from what I’ve read was released in 2017.

So one of the first things I had to do was update the Helix firmware to 3.11.0 because many of the effects listed in the manual were not present in my Helix.

The firmware update was interesting to say the least since. Apparently going from 2.30.0 to 3.11.0 is a little problematic and requires a reboot halfway through the process.

After this reboot I had this message on the Helix LT "Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!". Luckily like I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of support for this online and after searching for answers, everything was working normally at version 3.11.0.

I am a gigging musician and I play weddings, city festivals and the occasional acoustic gig.
I use the Helix LT straight to the mixing board and out to Front of House.

Pros:
many different sounds/amps/effects to choose from
Once you find your sound, its consistent every gig
Snapshots are a life saver
Dynamics are great
processor Interface is very intuitive (can also hook up to PC to make it even easier)

Cons:
My Helix LT was part of a manufacturing series that had a faulty foot pedal. I had to contact Line6, and then Thomann for instructions on repair protocol.
HOWEVER, the service was super great. E-mail replies were speedy and Line6 threw in a little extra something for me for the inconvenience.

Conclusion:
This processor is worth every penny/cent/whatever. I'd recommend it especially for gigging musicians who need a wide array of sounds at a push of a button.

I bought the LT because the full model was a bit too expensive. Having used the LT for a couple of months now I have no regrets. This unit can do everything I need and a (whole) lot more.

Sounds are just great. There's loads of youtube demo's on this, so I'll just leave it to this. Anyhow, describing sound with words is not so easy :-)

The IR loading possibility is nice, but the tones you can get out of the standard unit are so tweakable that I don't think I'll ever need the option.

Where the unit really shines is the patch creation. For simple stuff you have a great guitar tone in just a few minutes. Based on the type of guitar you may need to change the amp settings but the out-of-the-box settings are very usable. Then add pedals/effect where-ever you like them and tweak the sound to your liking. Snapshot functionality is a great option and I use it a lot for playing songs with my band. I use the upper 4 switches for patches and the lower four for snapshots. Works fantastic.

If you want more complex configurations no problem. Parallel routings, multiple cabs, different sound for line and xlr or even the fx out. All is possible with the simple and intuitive interface.

Overall a great unit. I bought it together with the Thomas flight-case. A bit more expensive but as I use the unit in bars where the floors may not be as clean as at home this was a good investment.

Overall, worth the money and if you don't need all the extra inputs and outputs as in the full model this unit can do everything you want. Scribble strips ??? Nice indeed, but I don't miss them and the LT has a wonderful (maybe even better) system for that.

Thanks Line6 for a great product. Next time maybe add the MP3 input again (sounds stupid, but I liked that in the HD550X) and some bluetooth for wireless editing.