# Line 6 HX Stomp for home recording?



## scratchNdentPrestige (Dec 30, 2018)

I am working on recording some stuff at home for my own amusement. I am using Reaper as a DAW and for the time being a Zoom R24 as an interface. The Line 6 HX Stomp looks like something I could use at home as sort of a budget Helix for recording/practice, and at the same time take to band practices to use through a PA or powered PA amp, or even a spare bass amp. Anyone use one of these for home recording?


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## RobertVII (Dec 30, 2018)

I haven't tried out the stomp yet but I have the Helix Rack unit and I'm a big fan of it. The biggest difference between the stomp and the other models is the stomp only has one Sharc DSP chip while the other helix models have two. This limits tone shaping only slightly. I've been using the rack unit for close to 2 years now and I barely use the second DSP chip. The only time I do is when I make ambient clean patches and have a crazy amount of effects on it. Getting back to the stomp I believe has all the ins and outs you would need to record and practice with. I recommend using some third party IR's with the stomp if you purchase it. I personally use the ones from OwnHammer and it made a huge difference in tone for me. Hope this helps!


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## Asdef (Dec 30, 2018)

Hi. I downgraded from Kemper to HX Stomp. I’m very happy with it. If you know how to cook your sound - it is a great piece of gear. First impression was a bit bad - helix family sounds a bit upper mid/high in terms of the sound. But It is capable to sound good.


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## GunpointMetal (Dec 31, 2018)

The sounds are great in the HX stuff. The Stomp is artificially (software-side) limited to 6 blocks (including volume, FX loop inserts) per preset, though, whereas the Floor/Rack can load 8-12 blocks on the same DSP, depending on what you choose of course. Which means if you have a "djent" rhythm patch (gate-comp-OD-gate-amp-IR) you have to switch presets (and ditch an FX) if you want to use a delay with a your tone, and patch changes are NOT instantaneous, which for me, makes it a no-go for actual live use. I would imagine that doesn't really matter if you're just jamming, or using it as FX only with an amp. If the majority of the time its for recording, Helix Native might be a more useful option because you're not limited to 6 blocks/preset. If the block limit and switching gap are a non-issue, it's perfect for what you described.


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## scratchNdentPrestige (Dec 31, 2018)

GunpointMetal said:


> I would imagine that doesn't really matter if you're just jamming, or using it as FX only with an amp. If the majority of the time its for recording, Helix Native might be a more useful option because you're not limited to 6 blocks/preset. If the block limit and switching gap are a non-issue, it's perfect for what you described.



Thanks for mentioning the Helix Native - I downloaded the free 2 week trial version of it and am going to mess around with it a bit and see what I can get up to with it. When playing with my band I barely use any effects in practice, and even less live so I guess the HX stomp 6 block constraint wouldn't limit me there much. It would give me the ability to annoy my bandmates with some new effects though, so that is one potential fun factor for me. 



RobertVII said:


> I personally use the ones from OwnHammer and it made a huge difference in tone for me. Hope this helps!



Yep this was pretty helpful - I am checking out the ownhammer website, and I guess no reason not to try some of the free ones they offer. It looks like the line6 player packs they have are pretty affordable at $19 too.


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## Bentaycanada (Dec 31, 2018)

Asdef said:


> Hi. I downgraded from Kemper to HX Stomp. I’m very happy with it. If you know how to cook your sound - it is a great piece of gear. First impression was a bit bad - helix family sounds a bit upper mid/high in terms of the sound. But It is capable to sound good.



I wanted to do this, but the Helix just didn’t live up to my KPA tonally. I am going to grab a Stomp soon, if the LT didn’t make me downgrade, then I doubt the Stomp will. I am going to spend more time with it and see where I end up.


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## IbanezIsLife (Dec 31, 2018)

For ambient sounds, Helix > Kemper. With that being said, I'm about to list my Helix Floor to get a Kemper. The distorted tones are better in the Kemper and that's what I play the majority of the time. Both different yet fantastic pieces of gear.


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## Asdef (Jan 2, 2019)

Bentaycanada said:


> I wanted to do this, but the Helix just didn’t live up to my KPA tonally. I am going to grab a Stomp soon, if the LT didn’t make me downgrade, then I doubt the Stomp will. I am going to spend more time with it and see where I end up.


Agree and know that.
To pair the tone - I just used global eq (not only) to match the tone as possible as it was.
Basically I tried to kill helix harshness in the upper mid/high range and surprisingly it worked well.
I don’t like stock presets/tones at all.


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## Ralyks (Jan 5, 2019)

I've actually been considering the HX Stomp myself for home recording, given the price range and fairly positive things I've heard. I'd probably upgrade to a Kemper or something down the road, but the Stomp seems like for recording and the price, it will get the job done.


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