Recording - December 2017 - 52

REVISITED

Line 6

Helix LT
and Native
The groundbreaking effects processor
takes on exciting new forms
By Alex Hawley

Line 6 is raising the bar for digital modeling with the
Helix family. The Helix multieffect processor from Line 6
is designed to be the nerve center of your guitar rig, focused
on creating customizable guitar tones in a powerful,
studio-quality, road-ready unit. I reviewed the original
Floor unit in July 2016, and the product line has grown
considerably since then-it now includes a Rack version
(used with or without the Helix Control pedalboard), as well
as the new Helix LT and Helix Native. For the past several
weeks, I have put Helix LT and Native to the test.

Helix LT
Helix LT is made with the same dual-DSP processing and
award-winning HX modeling as the flagship Floor and Rack
units and comes loaded with the same 62 amps, 37 cabs, 16
microphones, and 104 effects as the flagship models. The LT's
52

RECORDING December 2017

I/O and internal routing options offer countless applications
for live and studio use. The back panel comes with 1/4" jacks
for a second expression pedal, guitar input, two send/return
pairs, a stereo output pair for an amp or an interface, and a
headphone output. There are also stereo XLR outputs, a Variax
digital guitar input, digital output via AES/EBU connection,
MIDI I/O, USB, and a standard IEC power jack.
Helix LT lacks surprisingly little when compared to the flagship Floor model; it's missing a few physical connections, such
as S/PDIF I/O, an XLR input, a third expression pedal jack, Aux
In, and two additional sends/returns. The front panel lacks a
dedicated headphone volume knob and the LCD scribble strips
above each foot switch. The LT makes up for it with brightly colored LEDs around each switch, which correspond to the effects
displayed on the LCD screen. If weight is a consideration, the LT
model is 12.5 lbs., compared to 14.7 lbs. for the Floor unit. In
interface workflow, depth of sound selection and sound quality,
the LT matches up with the flagship Floor unit bit-for-bit.

In use

Despite having such a powerful and customizable feature
set, operation comes naturally. Jumping through some presets
is usually a good place to start for an all-in-one configuration.
Pushing the preset knob on the top left of the LT will take you
to the eight different Playlists available, which are navigated
via the joystick/encoder to the right of the LCD screen. Each
Playlist can store 128 presets, so there should be plenty of
custom tones to go around.
The first two Playlists are Factory presets, which, based
on the names, are modeled with various amps and artists in
mind. For the most part, Factory 1 focuses on classic
amp models, while some of the more unique effects
are in Factory 2. The list covers everything from
crunchy Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen inspired
tones to metal and jazz.
Most of the presets load by default with an abundance of gain, some even with distortion pedals
automatically activated. That's perfect for heavy
rock or metal, but as a cleaner player, I often needed to roll back the gain and disable some pedals
before I felt like I was at a good starting spot. It's
worth taking time to tweak your presets to taste.
That being said, there are some fantastic clean
presets. One favorite example is '08A US Deluxe
Nrm', which is based on a Fender Deluxe Reverb.
This particular preset has more of a rounder character than some of the others, and is loaded with
a 1x12 cabinet, miked with a 414 Condenser, and a '63 Spring
Reverb pedal activated by default. The other pedals in this preset, which aren't turned on when it's loaded, include the Red
Squeeze compressor, Minotaur drive, and Optical Tremolo.
Of course, you can tweak and add in different effects to the
chain as well. Activating pedals works just as if you had the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2017