Line6 HX Effects Initial Impressions

BlockInlay

BlockInlay

Octavate.band
yes, I've sworn off Line6 many times. yet i keep coming back. Suggestions for alternative gear will be immensely appreciated.

First off, why did I want to go and buy an HX Effects? I recently joined a band and my Kemper just isn't jiving well at super loud volumes and I don't want to spend a ton of time tinkering with it. So I lugged my Orange TH50 to practice and it just sounded killer. I used my El Capistan and a Jekyll & Hyde OD pedal. The amp itself has two channels, A is super high gain and B is clean with a little bit of grit dialed in. The music we're playing (all originals) doesn't require a ton of effects but I'm playing lead and I need a variety of dirt, clean, delay, and some chorus.

I contemplated building a pedal board by adding a chorus, a noise gate, a tuner, a boost. I started doing the math and realized that maybe an HX Effects would be a better option price wise. So I ordered one new from MF (and got $50 off with free shipping).

Next post will be my actual initial impressions.
 
After receiving the HX FX, I pulled it out of the box and went to update the firmware before doing anything else. Upon turning the unit on for the first time, Boot Failure: res = -28 DSP init. WTF?

Turn it off and back on, same thing. Anger. On/off a few more times nothing. Tried to power it up in update mode (hold down the right arrow button), nothing. On/off a few more times and it finally powers up normally.


To update this thing, you need to download Line 6's updater along with the most recent firmware update file. I do that and get an error saying the correct drivers aren't installed. I find those and install and still the bitch won't update. The process starts and then the Updater crashes. I submit a ticket to Line6. I get them on the phone. Pete is a super friendly guy and walks me through a few things, but no fix. I tell him I'm rapidly growing furious, not with him, but with his company. He suggests I try a different PC, which I do and I get the same results. Anger rising.

I do some more digging online and see someone had a similar problem and they suggest also installing the HX Edit program as well, which seemed to fix this problem. Doesn't help. I talk to Pete again and he sends me a small program to capture any crash logs created during the Updater crash. I run the Debug program and then attempt to update the HX FX again and the update works! WTF? I attach the crash log file to my Line6 support ticket anyway and thank Pete for his help.

So, i've got the thing updated to 2.54 finally.
 
I tinker with the unit for a little while, after blowing about 3 hours trying to get it to work. Anger dissipating. I have it running via 4 cable method into my Orange via one HX FX loop and I have the El Capistan sitting in the second HX FX loop. You can create two separate FX Loop effects blocks and assign either or both to a foot switch. So I leave the El Cap on all the time and just use the HX FX to turn it on and off. Simple and convenient, works great. Upon first blush, I'm pleased with how this thing sounds and all my old legacy friends from the M13 are there to play too! Anger easing. I power everything off and go address the rest of my life for a bit.
 
A few hours later, I come back and turn on the HX FX. Boot Failure: res = -28 DSP init. FUCK OFF

On/off cycle the unit about 10 times before it finally boots and starts up normally. FUCK OFF.

Update my Line6 support ticket again.
 
I finally have a chance to sit down for a while and explore this thing. The user controls are very intuitive. Editing effects and changing effects is a breeze. I've watched and read enough to know the basics and having a print out of the manual is helpful. Initially, the operation of the FX loops had me a bit confused but I got that sorted out. The visual layout of the signal path is where I hang out when creating a new preset, it's a very user friendly way to build a pedal board, assign footswitches, etc. Being able to assign multiple effects to the same footswitch, all on/off or toggle, is a great feature that I've come to love on my Kemper footboard.

I have yet to see a global noise gate, which I grew accustomed to on my M13. Maybe I missed it or maybe a future update?


I've been mostly testing out the various effect types that I plan to use. The new distortions are a vast improvement over the M-series stuff (which I never used). Very pleased with these. The Minotaur (Klon Centaur?) and the Compulsive (OCD) are my favorites so far. The Vermin (ProCo Rat) is also quite tasty. I futzed around with compressors for a bit but I have a lot more to explore there. The Legacy Blue Comp Treble is still a good one with my single coil guitars, you just need to tame the default settings or your ears bleed. You can add a simple gain block anywhere in the signal path. I put one in the FX loop. I'm currently using it at 6 dB because 3 just didn't seem to do anything. Need to play with that further. It's an excellent clean boost for a lead part I have to play in one song.

The modulations are nice. I've only really played with default settings so far on a couple of choruses and rotary effects. One of the slow rotary effects is particularly nice when set to a low, subtle mix level.

The reverbs are modest but very useable. There are some traditional type reverbs as well as some whacky off the wall stuff (think particle verb). Those will be fun to dick around with at some point when I don't feel like practicing and need to go ocean exploring.

I have't touched the delays too much yet because I'm still in the honeymoon phase with my El Capistan.
 
Still having the Boot Failure issue. I saw on TGP someone recommended doing a factory reset of the unit and reinstalling the latest firmware. Did that, still get the same boot failure. Updated ticket again. I'm hoping to hear back from Line 6 some day.

One problem I'm not having that some folks are is a really loud hiss/white noise.
 
My initial impression is that that is a fuck ton of aggravation for something that should just be plug in and play. And considering the fact that you already own and operate a Kemper I don’t think this has much to do with user error or technical ineptitude.
 
Mark Wein said:
My initial impression is that that is a fuck ton of aggravation for something that should just be plug in and play.
Click to expand...

Agreed!

I'm all ears on reliable, great sounding alternatives that occupy a similar amount of space and fall within the same general $$ range. If this box didn't have all the legacy stuff that I'm familiar with, I wouldn't have bothered I don't think.
 
Yeah, I bought a Line 6 Firehawk FX a while back. No technical problems with it, but it takes a lot of fiddling to sound like I want it to. Maybe I'm not a digital multi effects guy.
 
Mark Wein said:
My initial impression is that that is a fuck ton of aggravation for something that should just be plug in and play. And considering the fact that you already own and operate a Kemper I don’t think this has much to do with user error or technical ineptitude.
Click to expand...

I wonder why they rushed it, knowing there would be a firmware update immediately following release. I feel like if they'd waited until Summer NAMM to introduce, they would have a completely different set of bugs to deal with.

Hopefully all this stuff gets worked out by December. Because I don't think I want to buy one before then.
 
What a pain in the ass. I know it is cheaper on paper than building a board with stompboxes, but when you factor in the time you have spent just getting the thing to work, it doesn't seem cheaper to me. One thing I can't deal with, and my wife gets on me about it all the time, is when things don't work. You follow the directions and it doesn't work. I think by now, I would have smashed that thin with a hammer. Like Mark said, you have a Kemper, so obviously, you aren't the issue.

I had the TC Electronic Nova System for a little while. It was built like a tank and even and idiot like me could use it. If I was looking for something like that, I would try out their G-System. You can find them for around $400 used. The only thing it doesn't have is dirt, but it does have a few loops for you to include your own pedals.
 
My other reason for leaning towards a multi-effects box vs a real pedal board is having presets. i like being able to make copies of things rather than bending over and twiddling knobs.
 
BlockInlay said:
My other reason for leaning towards a multi-effects box vs a real pedal board is having presets. i like being able to make copies of things rather than bending over and twiddling knobs.
Click to expand...

I saw this video last night, and it only makes me want one more:



I like how the DA switcher is broken up into 4 and 4 so you could use half of it in each loop of the HXFX.
 
I wonder if you just might have that 1-3% statistical defect. Can you swap it out for another one?
 
Interesting. Folks that have a unit with loud hiss issue are getting replacements AND a free Helix Native license. Not too shabby.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top