Over the years I have become more and more frustrated with my sound. I've owned Fender, Vox, Marshall, Mesa Boogie amps and just sold a 50 watt Marshall plexi. Instead of buying another high priced, limited, one-dimensional amp, I decided to try a modeler and I'm so glad I did! The Helix is easy to learn, the software is great, and the sound is amazing. You'll have to learn to use the Helix and work at it a bit, but if you've spent any amount of time or money trying to get that elusive tone you hear in your head, the Helix will not let you down! There is a huge community of users and many experts on Youtube that you can draw upon for tips, tricks and expertise. Bottom line, this is not a toy. It's a serious piece of gear capable of amazing tone and effects. I'm so glad I got one. I haven't felt this inspired to play in a very long time.

Right out of the box rack didn't work I can go on about a million reasons why it showed up like that but it makes me question the amps ability to be a reliable but music friends hasn't given me problems though so see how the next one is.

I used to use the Axe FX, but switched to this because it has an easier to use interface, and I can also use the plugin version to write and record to my computer. I can then take the exact same effects I used to record, and use them for live shows with the rack. Makes the whole "studio to stage" process so much easier.

Best guitar effects I've ever owned. Can get a million tones with it. Software gui makes it easy to find what your ears love.

I don't know how else to say it, the helix is amazing. My band tracked all of our guitars and bass on our last record with an old red rack POD XT Pro, and with real HW pedals in front of it and enough tweaking it sounded pretty good. Helix absolutely blows it out of the water. Sound quality seems on par with AxeFX and significantly better than Kemper or Positive Grid. Usability is second to none; despite it being a very powerful box I learned the entire thing in an hour or two... without looking at the instruction manual! The pricetag is worth it!

So, I bought this unit strictly to put in my studio rack as, Hopefully, a way to offer more amps and effects than I could possible afford to my customers. lets keep in mind I did this before with a Line 6 Pod HD Pro. The HD Pro got used for one metal record before I sold it due to the fact that even with 3rd part IR's in my DAW I couldn't get rid of the synthetic sound, Not good stuff... And of course I was never going to pay the sticker for an Axe FX and the Kemper is a one trick pony that isn't worth it to me. I had moved on from the Modeling idea and just kept recording real amps. When I heard of the Helix I was of course intrigued Yet hesitant. I finally, after a certain couple actually good Demo videos, took the plunge. It didn't hurt that my Sweetwater Sales engineer had good things to say. Right off the bat it has usable sounds. The internal cabs suck so I use 3rd party IR's. It actually sounds like a mic'd cabinet is in another room. You could shoot this thing out with a real amp and no one would know which was the real amp or which is the model. It responds like a real amp as far as dynamics and feel. My guitarist was blown away on the feel. I will say that the amps are not dead ringers right out of the box. It took me some time to get the JCM to sound like a JCM, but once I experimented and tweaked and tweaked I've got to say I'm 90% there. Close enough to where in a mix you'd never notice. I only gave it 4 Stars is because I haven't dove in to it all the way yet and want to see how many amps I can actually tone match. great buy for a studio though! The navigation and PC editor are great. Even the actual screen and controls on the unit are easy to use. The display is gorgeous!! I knew my way around this thing in a few hours. It sucks that some people wont use it just because of the brands history. I say whatever sounds good use! who's gonna know unless you tell!