The Best Amp Modeler In 2024 REMATCH! (Things Change....)

Thanks for watchingour ranking of the following 8 amp modeler / multi-effect units: Fractal Audio FM9, Line 6 Helix, Fender Tone Master Pro, Ampero II Stage, Headrush Prime, Boss GT1000, St. Rock Amperium Live & Neural DSP Quad Cortex (nano Cortex?). Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Cheers!

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[JoeHansRobles]

0:00 Intro
1:07 What are we going todo today
2:38 Nothing todo with companies paying
3:33 Disclamer
4:15 ToneX not included
6:51 One more thing
7:57 8 - Prime by HeadRush
10:35 7 - GT-1000 by Boss
13:36 6 - Amperium Live by St. Rock
15:35 5 - Ampero II Stage by Hotone
17:38 4 - Tone Master Pro by Fender
21:43 3 - Quad Cortex by Neural DSP
25:58 2 - FM9 by Fractal
38:58 1 - Helix by Line 6
41:20 Outro

Great job!

[Sheriff_Riff]

As a professional musician with many different gigs every week (in France), I chose a HeadRush Prime for several reasons. I knew it wasn't the best of all, but that wasn't a big deal. I needed a tough board with many switches with a large gap between them, an expression pedal, two different signal paths, IRs, and amp sims from others. Plus, Bluetooth and the vocal signal path were necessary for a few events.

The HeadRush Prime was the only one that met all my requirements. I worked on one preset for about 3 or 4 months to find the right sound.

Today, I use it almost every day, in many situations, both indoors and outdoors. I play many different kinds of songs with one rig.

Guitar > Gate > Wah > Pitch > OD 1 > OD 2 > Dist > Amp 1 > Amp 2 > EQ 1 > Dim D > EQ 2 > Slapback > Delay 2 > Spring Reverb > Console.

I don't use any amp sims from the unit.

One and a half years later and after more than 100 shows, I still don't regret my purchase.

In the studio, I've worked a bit with Neural DSP, but it's a bit too synthetic for my ears (SLO 100, Mesa, and Archetypes). Sometimes, I use UAD ones. Otherwise, I use my HeadRush Prime.

And I've had a lot of good feedback about my tone.

[SonovaBish]

I think Line 6's major update on the cabinets and microphones was awesome. Now it's easier to get different tones out of it.

[rushrulz]

Haven't found anything I can't do with my Helix yet (in 6 years). Add in Native and the constant updates (3.5 was amazing) and you just can't beat it. I will play my tube Marshall or Boogie amps for a while then pop back to the Helix and always shake my head as how good it sounds and how it just has everything. It really does deserve to be at the top.

[mkbmkbmkb]

Agree 100% on Helix Native being a huge benefit. As someone who switched from Helix to Fractal, and now is back to Helix, the primary reason was Helix Native. When I'm writing/mixing in my DAW I am using Helix Native because it's a million times easier than re-amping and tweaking Fractal presets constantly. Also, if I want a wacky filter effect or something, I can find it on the Helix and spent 2 minutes dialing it to taste. On the Fractal, you can probably get that exact sound but often times you have to spend hours trying to build it from scratch. On the flipside, Fractal's IR management is leaps and bounds better, the fact that you can add a noise gate anywhere in the chain but triggered by the Input block, you have separate volume controls right on the wardware unit for the multiple outputs, etc, make me really wish Line 6 would hurry up and put out a new version

[Gautier_]

I'm thrilled with my GT-1000. It is certainly a little more complicated to program but once you understand how it works, it's great. It is compact and the sound change is instantaneous. It has more effects than the Quad Cortex and is of very good quality.

[perryadams]

The 3.5 update on the Helix line makes it a completely new unit, honestly. Before that, the cabinets weren't the easiest to get sounding good; after that update, I no longer use IRs.

[picksalot]

I've got an HX Stomp, and Helix Native. The Stomp sits on my desk, and the learning to use the Knobs directly on the device made a big difference in my ability to dial in great sounds. I got Helix Native on sale, and being able to get something very close to the full Helix Floor experience/power in software, is mind-blowing!

[jezmot]

TMP user here, in Aus I can get it for cheaper than the Fm3/9, QC and Helix, and being a previous helix owner I said why not and bought the TMP. I absolutely adore this unit, I can only see it improving, really great tones, the selection is a tad limited right now, but even if they never added another model, I’d still be happy! Well worth the money, glad to see it climbing the ranks :) thanks for the great vid guys!

[samizdat]

I got a used GT-1000 for $450 and integrated the ToneX pedal in the loop. It's fricken awesome.

[JohnZeeX]

When I was buying a modeler it came down to the Headrush Pedalboard and the Helix. I tried both and while the Helix had more amps and pedals, I found the ones on the Headrush to sound better and respond more naturally. So I bought the Pedalboard and loved it. Then they released the Prime and I bought that the first day it was out. Amazing, amazing device. So yes, you can get modelers with more amps/cabs/pedals in it, but the sound quality of the Headrush products just sounds better to me.

[burtsgurt]

I have had my Helix LT for a long time and have tried a few of the other modelers as well. I much prefer the UI and functionality of the Helix.
I’m pretty excited to see what Line 6 does next. Hopefully the next gen Helix is slightly smaller though!

[sinnertrain]

TMP fan here. It took a lot of tweaking and the firmware updates, but it sounds killer now and provides a wide variety of tones from clean to dirty. Its good for bass and acoustic guitar too. PS - I'm using the TMP exclusively for direct recording in my studio.

[StumbleDuub]

I got a Quad Cortex in May this year but switched back to the Helix now. The QC was a great device, but for me, the Helix suits my workflow better. The Helix is built like a tank and is awesome for gigging or touring due to its build quality and better power supply. For me, the Quad Cortex had some major issues: a poor external power supply with low-quality cables, not enough space between the footswitches, the Quad Cortex often freezes, and there are grounding issues when using it on stage in a case with rubber feet (you can read about this in some forums online).

The Helix is an absolute game changer for me, even though it has been on the market for so long, thanks to regular updates and especially because of Helix Native. This allows me to use my sounds from the Helix directly in a DAW without needing to bring my Helix from the rehearsal room.

The great thing is that today you can buy almost any amp, and they all sound fantastic!

[msi]

Always appreciate a re-evaluation video like this. I have had most of the modelers on this list with exception to the fractal stuff. I ended up sticking with the quad cortex mainly because I use a lot of their plugins and kept my fingers crossed for when plugin compatibility became a thing! The current plugins are absolutely phenomenal by the way you should absolutely mess around with them more or do some full videos on them they certainly warrant a good look!

[StratsRUs]

When I first bought my Helix a few years ago, it underwhelmed me.
But after all the updates, it is totally loveable ! Got Native recently and Softube Marshall too.The BOSS GT1000 Core is truly great too.

[assislucian]

Helix! The best purchase I ever had… I was using a big analog pedalboard… I don’t know why I didn’t tried the Helix before… no way back.

[GoncalvesGaabriel]

Damn you both really got interesting points to explain your decisions. Unfortunately, amp modelers in Brazil as so expensive, we are still using captures around here. You paved the path to take a good decisins when I move abroad and get one. Thanks for the video and success

[markvv]

In my research I chose for the ampero stomp. Reasons include:
- Size
- Stereo capabilities (I can run acoustic and electric separately live)
- Power did not need 3000mAh only 800mAh so can easily run on power supply.
- more slots than the line 6 stomp 8 vs 12.
- Price, great value for money!
- it has allot of stuf in it and works very smooth. It has never crashed or whatever on me. And sounds just fine for me. Amazing actually.
- never hardware than a stomp and they update their software.

[Tognar]

Yeah. Headrush doesn’t deserve last. It’s the easiest to use and get good tones quickly from. If you struggle with parameter fatigue, this one is for you. Spent less time tweaking and more time rocking.