Should you buy a Helix or Quad Cortex in 2024?

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Join my HX Stomp XL Giveaway at my Sweetwater landing page where you'll find all the gear used in my studio

[SteveSterlacci]

Join my HX Stomp XL Giveaway at my Sweetwater landing page where you'll find all the gear used in my studio

[ericvandruten]

anybody else hearing loud whoomps after about 9:35?

[forkless]

The upside of the Helix floor it is build like a tank, the downside of the Helix floor it is build like a tank.

[lucwilson]

FYI - Really bad pulsating in the audio starting at 9:36.

The pulsating stops by 13:16 but the voice audio gets boomy until about 13:39

[ac]

I think the scribble strips, and built in volume / expression pedal more than makes up for its size. I also love that the footswitches are a little more spread out. I never accidentally hit the switch above or below.

[truthfactreality]

The quad cortex is great but digital scribble strips should be standard on all these units with color leds too

[ParanormalResponse]

I tried them all and in the end I kept my MooerGE300. And that is because I had a year into it. Learned it inside and out. It competes and sounds just as good as any of those others. Work flow is number one, ease of use and editing. The mooer is easy, it sounds bad ass.

[TheGooseChaseMusic]

i love how you held the helix on your shoulder like a boombox.
(Great video!)

[teerexness]

I'm a Variax guy, so the Helix is a no brainer. I always set up with my MacBook hooked up so that I don't have to bend over to edit things. No back pain, no plumber's crack and I can also provide (um, control!) the break music. Best setup ever!

[MintyBitesBack]

You are 100% correct about the sound. It is almost if Helix is a dirty word in the amp modelling community but in honesty, I got a Tonex last year and it's really good, but I just sound slightly different, not really any better. No one apart from the player really cares... I personally think the Helix sounds great, it's just heavy and needs an update in regards to power (and would be nicer to be lighter...)

[trunks]

Personally I purchased the sweet foot power supply for the quad cortex and have had zero problems with it compared to the cioks dc7. I’ve own the helix the stomp and the cortex. I like them all. My winner is the cortex. Captures are fun as hell to play with.

[LivinginLosAngeles-reyx]

Its really great that we have stud musicians like Steve, John Cordy, Leon Todd, Pete Thorn, Rabea, etc to give us not just great gear reviews, but such centered advice. 👍

[sjsphotog]

Good stuff SS. love my Helix LT. can't beat Helix/ HX units for ease of use and great helpful community and tons of free presets online and great customer service and constant updates to add new amps and effects not just bug fixes. I myself don't own any amps so no need to have capture abilities but I can see how that is helpful if the amp you love isn't in the units you own . Keep it up

[jackprice]

Steve really well thought out points. What I like about you is you talk from a real gigging standpoint. That is very important. My HX Stomp with a few pedals has been a work horse. Minimal live tweeking ever needed with maybe an EQ change to fit FOH room characteristics.

[Mayshabona]

I personally think that if you're experienced in all of them, you can make all (Kemper, AxeFx, Helix, QC) SOUND very very close at the point that it's almost impossible to tell them apart; FEELwise, the device with less latency will probably be perceived as best under the fingers.
Said that, we need a video where someone with a great experience in all of them does the sounds (possibly very close to each other and with the same amp model or IR, which is most of the time 70% of the sound) and somebody else (maybe blindfolded) will try them out and judge.

I know there are a few videos like that but so far I've only seen videos where the guy making the sounds knew how to use well one or maybe two devices and nothing more...

[El_Maycol]

Helix floor power in a HX Stomp XL enclosure would be perfect

[ModManJam]

Similar to yourself I was a Helix floor user as I wanted everything on one preset and also I used to put my singer through the unit for some songs in our set. My singer no longer plays in our set and I wished to downsize to simplify the rig. HX Stomp XL is now my unit of choice and it’s perfect for my needs.
Any time I need another effect just for 1 or 2 songs I just copy my basic preset and remove/add the effects I need for that song, soon as that songs finished I switch back to my number 1 preset that covers the majority of my set.

Thank you for your lessons and advice over the years on this stuff. You’re the person who told me how to put a second guitar through the Helix floor some years ago in your comment section and your tips are hugely appreciated.

Keep up the content, cheers.

[Digiphex]

With the Quad Cortex could you program in yourself something like a Chase Bliss Generation Loss pedal?

[MrVyrtuoso]

We sound like ourselves no matter what we play because tone is in our mind, and we reach for that tone through the tone production techniques, knowledge, and facilities we possess. Try as we might to sound like others, we still interpret their tone through the grid of our own tonal biases so that we will at best sound like ourselves trying to sound like someone else.

Anyway, I'm convinced the hardware to get is the Helix, and then supplement that with NDSP plug-ins, which is exactly what I did. The NDSP plug-ins are more highly controllable anyway, even if their routing and chain ordering are limited and fixed.

[dandyism]

I’m kind of a line6 fanboy (own DL4, hx stomp, hx effects, m5) and if you already have a big Helix you’ll do great but pulling the trigger for one of them in 2024 is different considering fm9, QC, kemper stage at the same price range.