This HX effect pedal is awesome! I'm still early with using but I manage to get the basics down but the sound is a wow factor; at first I brought the stomp pedal but it required must extra detail to program for simplicity so i return an exchange for this pedal which has the window scripts. Michael Berry was awesome with sales in assisting me with a satisfying choice for selection. Sweetwater is that good place for musicians pit stop.

Bought mine in 2019 and continued with updates. Have tried to "upgrade" a few times with other multi-efx but didn't last. Most recent foray was with Fractal VP4. Maybe the Fractal is more pristine, and yes has more depth of efx in the reverbs and shimmer dept, but for what I do the Helix EFX workflow is more flexible, easy, and efficient. Having 8 blocks with snapshot capability is outstanding. I only use time based effects in my amp loop, so can't comment on the drives, but for all of those uses this cannot be beat….still.

I'm a minimalist at heart so I wanted a neat, clean, and small pedalboard to go with my PRS Archon 50 Combo. This thing does it all and the effects sound great. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's easy once you figure it out.

I've had my HX FX for maybe a couple years now, and while I don't use the distortion effects, the rest are all great, the software works great, and it's great value for the money.

The one thing that's always annoyed me is how noisy it is. It's so noisy, I'd ruled out putting it before the preamp (because adding that gain to the noise was unbearable). But yesterday, by a fluke, I disconnected the usb cable briefly, and the noise disappeared.

I've seen many threads about the noise. Anyone who's having that problem, is your usb connected? Try unplugging that.

The noise is acceptable post-preamp anyway, so I've just been using it at line level all this time.

This is basically the best thing you could ever buy if you want to add pedals to your rig but dont want to spend pedals money for the cost of 5 pedals you have essentially an infinite amount of pedals and for any pedals this doesnt have such as some boutique pedals you can get those and run it with them. But basically for anything you could ever want this has it.

I never thought that I could possibly move away from a traditional pedalboard. Well, this has completely changed my opinion forever. Just did my first two gigs with it and the performances went off flawlessly. I achieved so many more sounds with the single push of a pedal. No more tap dancing. I've heard people complain about the drives. I don't know what they are talking about. I've owned just about every drive on the market, including artist deals with several companies. I achieved any and every sound that I needed for the gig easily and convincingly. I actually preferred the sound and feel of these drives over traditional stompboxes, somehow. For my money, this is the best utility box on the market at any price point. They are currently blowing these out at $? That's insanity. You won't believe what you are getting for that price. Enjoy!

I use real amps so I downsized to HX FX from the Helix. 4CM method with my IR-X or amps, its glorious. Love it! The gigging guitarists best friend. Well done Line 6.

For me, this is perfect. Couldn't be better.

I've been playing guitar for 45 years. I used to shy away from digital effects processors because I thought they sounded thin and "artificial" compared to analog pedals. I was wrong. The effects from the HX Effects are amazing once you tweak them to suit your tastes. There is a bit of a learning curve, but the software is quite intuitive. You can dial everything in using the pedal itself, but the software makes it much easier. This is an extremely powerful and musical tool that has more features and effects choices than anyone would ever use. I am very impressed with it, so much so that I've retired my analog boards. Plus no more knobs getting moved whenever I transport analog boards to a gig!

I got this thinking, instead of buying a Belle Epoch Deluxe with Ext Tap Tempo, and either a Bigsby or a WhammyDT, and if it's close to them, I'd save money as I wouldn't have to build a board with power and patch cables, but I found a ton of other effects I didn't see or plan on using, the EQ options are crazy. I'm using some sweet drive sounds by either parallel processing or by only driving the mids and treble (I'm a bass player).

The loopers are freaking great, no one talks about the Shuffle Looper, it's awesome and you have a ton of control.

I haven't even touched the stereo and legacy stuff yet, I know there are stereo modulation effects that can be set back to mono that aren't in the mono screen, like the Leslie's and similar stuff.

Using the momentary switch options for modulation and octaves or pitch shifting, and oscillating delays, is an absolute blast.

Way beyond what I was expecting and am completely satisfied with my purchase. Quite the money saver if your buying to skip a board. And the drive sounds are great, I don't have what they are emulating or even know most of them, but can confidently say I like most of them and they don't sound or feel digital.

The amp control output isn't floating so I got ground loop him with most of the amps I own.

I returned it.

Got my HX Effects a few days ago, and I'm impressed with the quality of the effects. And HX Edit works for me on Mac without a problem. The routing flexibility is what I wanted (guitar into HX, loop out to amp and back to HX, then stereo out to DAW). But the HX is noisy, even with no effects engaged. I'm a long-time Line 6 lover, dating back to the mm4 and dl4. I've been happily using an M13 for a LONG time. I got the HX Effects with the intent of upgrading from the M13, and incorporating beat-sync effects when tracking into Cubase. I haven't played with a lot of the HX effects yet, but the ones I've checked sound great, including the legacy effects I've depended on from the M13. But the HX Effects is noisy, and it's not subtle. As long as I'm using clean to mildly crunchy amp settings after first hitting the HX, it's acceptable. But using a high-gain amp or distortion pedal after the HX, nuh-uh. I've swapped every cable in the chain, used the shortest cable possible at every step, and checked multiple cables at every step. The noise is definitely coming from the HX. Simply putting the HX in the chain adds at least 10db of noise (using Apollo interface and Console, noise without HX is below the -60db minimum meter level; with HX, noise level hovers at -50db).

I still haven't figured out how to get the HX to "see" the tempo from Cubase, which is a major reason I bought this. But assuming I can achieve that, I'm nevertheless disappointed that the HX is so noisy. I have super high-gain analog distortion pedals (Strymon) that have vastly better signal-to-noise than the HX. I would gladly pay much more for a multi-effects unit without the noise. I'm kinda baffled that Yamaha/Line6 haven't fixed this noise problem.

Excellent choice for using with my own two amps I own two of these units they are so easy to program and all the pedals are pretty much spot on look at the reviews listen for yourself you will know it's the real deal I would recommend for anyone

I already own a Helix Floor but I wanted to get something smaller with just the effects and no amps. This was the perfect solution for me. Sounds are top notch (same as the floor) with the unit being very flexible to fit all my possible needs. It will definitely save some real estate on your pedal board. Highly recommend....

To preface this, I usually don't bother with reviews but I was blown away I felt the need. This unit replaced my entire pedalboard, including drives.

I had been back and forth on picking one of these up for a few years and finally bit the bullet when I saw sweetwater had a demo unit for sale (Which looks absolutely brand new!). I was hopeful, but this exceeded my expectations. I was planning on keeping a few analog drives/fuzz and my EQD avalanche run but after one day with the HX effects I quickly realized I don't even need to!

All of the effects sound amazing and I can dial in just about any sound with this unit. As someone who plays a lot of shoegaze and ambient music, being able to switch directly between snapshots is an amazing feature. No longer do I have to adjust knobs and tap dance pedals between different parts of songs.

The interface is very intuitive, and although you do have to do some light menu diving to dial in your tone, once you've got it it's saved and you can access it so easily. My only complaint is that the power supply is ridiculously short and bulky, but is easily fixed with a cheap extension cable or by purchasing a third party supply.

Bottom line, if your even considering getting this… do it! You won't regret it. I spent so much time on forums listening to people talk about how it doesn't have the same mojo as some of the analog pedals the unit is emulating, but that is pure malarkey. This unit will get you 95% of the way there and I can guarantee in a blind test or in a mix you would not be able to tell the difference. The ease of use, endless combination options, sound quality, and value for what you get is amazing.

Also sweet water is amazing. As I said got a demo unit and I would have no idea as it looks brand new.

so I had this about a year now, multiple practice sessions with band, one gig so far with it (darn covid)......nonetheless, I tried the hx stomp first and it sounded thin to me, granted I probably didn't dial enough but definitely not the same as a tube amp, although the preamps sounded good thru my mesa. I digress, so after getting fed up with the constant GAS of new pedals and changing my board around etc, plus tap dancing, it's not practical unless you have midi or one of those fancy pedal looper devices, especially when changing tones mid song

so I figured I'd try the HX since I am a tube snob but thought the stomp effects were decent. GAME CHANGER!! midi with my amp is perfect too, I bought a suhr micro midi and I can use snapshots to not only activate multiple effects, but change amp channels too, all with push of one button. I even convinced my buddy to switch over who's also a tone/pedal snob. he loves it and sold almost all his pedals. granted dirt effects still sound better to my ear with a pedal (barely) but you have a loop for that, and the audience doesn't care, all the mod/verb and delays are great. honestly, I've been watching all the new gear stuff for the new year, and I'm getting bitter about it haha. same effects, different package, there's already millions of over drives or delays ...but these companies keep coming out with the same crap with a slightly different box with some new lame feature they are trying to market that's basically been done. tired of it, this is a great solution for a guy like me who's a hobbyist in a cover band. this device will make you reevaluate your gear and pedal collection. my previous board was easily worth 1500, and didn't scratch service of what the HX can do

Buying for a second time since I wasn't gigging for a while and sold my first one. Nice and portable great effects , hands free editing is very handy

I wanted an upgrade and boy did I get it. A lot to work with but I'm getting the hang of it. Much potential for any application.

Line 6 has packed a LOT of power into a small package. This thing is a game changer for me. It not only has MANY great sounding effects, but it can also control my whole rig with ease. I was able to down size my main rig Big Time, and it has never sounded so good. For the very reasonable price, you get so much power. This one little pedal is providing all of my front of amp effects, all of my in loop effects, as well as channel and feature switching for both amps, weather I run them independently, or in a WET-DRY-WET configuration WOW!!!

The Effects are amazing
The Midi Control is Amazing
The Build Quality is Amazing

Thanks you Line 6 and Sweetwater!

I've only had mine for 3 weeks now, but wow! The connections are endless! Love that it has its own effects loop! This pedal can been extremely simple as a stomp box of a programmers delight!! If you love your amp and want a 1 stop shop pedalboard, this is it! And of course Sweetwater makes it super easy to achieve! Warranty, support and Service is TOP NOTCH! Thanks Josh Pippin!

Tons of horse power! You can completely recreate so many sounds with this single unit. There certainly is a learning curve because there is so much can be done but there are lots of videos on YouTube to help you find your way.

I bought this to downsize my pedalboard. I utilize multiple different drive pedals and stack delays and reverbs, so needless to say i was doing a lot of tap dancing. With this unit I can have all the pedals I need on one setting and when i need to switch I click over to the next setting and it changes the FX and both of my amps, all with one switch.

The only con I have for this is I wish they would have seperate amp and expression pedal connections. hence the minus half a star.

If you are like me and run stereo amps and want an expression pedal connected and control the amps channels then you will need to utilize the MIDI port and get an adapter.

Also, the first one I received was broken. Sweetwater did an excellent job getting me a replacement. Best customer service I've gotten in a long time. Thank you.

I was looking for a multi effects unit to replace my rack unit from 30 years ago. I did not was anything with amp modeling - I have the amps that I want to use. I also wanted a unit that would split the signal so I can use stereo effects. I wanted something that would do modulation and delay effects and the HX effects does that and more.

I think the unit that I bought had problems from the start and eventually it stopped outputting normally so I sent it back to Sweetwater so that they could look at it. There was an I/O board problem and that's what was going on the entire time I had it. Rather than have me wait for the unit to be repaired, Sweetwater replaced it and fast-tracked the shipment of the replacement unit. I was okay with waiting, so it was a nice gesture on Sweetwater's part - if I was a pro player it's good to know that they'll do everything they can to take care of you purchase.

I get it; not every electronic unit is going to work properly no matter what the manufacturer QA is. That's why I purchase this kind of stuff from Sweetwater, knowing that if there's a problem they'll make every effort to correct it.

This setup is hit or miss depending on your goals and setup. I have had mine for a year and I like it for only 2 things, modulation and delay/reverb. The drives are very lacking. Ya they drive your amp, but they lack all the substance analog drives have. The sag and push of the front end doesnt happen. As well it doesnt force your amplifier to move more air. The newest update has given nothing but issues to people but I have not bothered with it. Is this an all in one pedal board to replace the real thing? Not by a long shot but delays, reverbs, and modulation effects are good. Dont throw away your favorite drives for this.

I really like Line 6 equipment. It's very well built and durable for gigging. I have a Helix and really love it. It's taken me a long time to tweek it to my guitar armada, but it really is great through the 212 Helix amp.
I got the Effects based upon the Helix. I wanted to use it with my tube amps and my Orange CR120. They sound great and I really liked the array of effects.
I will give the positives: great sounding effects. Agree with some assessments about the reverb, it OK. Easy enough to modify for each guitar and gives you tons of options. Foot print is great.
Dislike: power adapter is weird, cost is kinda high, doesn't provide output options.
It's a great place to start instead of doing what I did for many years: buy pedals that weren't quite the sounds I wanted. This will give you a large amount of solid product. If you want stage control, go with the Helix and amp.

Long time podhd500 user and used it only for effects, no amp modeling. I loved it and it served its purpose but after 9 years of use it was time for an upgrade. I now own the HX effects and it was a heck of an upgrade. The effects sound amazing and are just as good as boutique pedals. I run it into a tube amp and it does the job perfectly. This is worth every penny and you will be satisfied.

P.S. the reverbs are top notch and are in strymon territory.

It is crazy what this can do! Wish the tech support or at least tech support videos were better. This thing is complicated for a guy like me! I'm a mechanic not an IT type guy. The videos teach in a way it seems that the viewer knows a lot about this. They need to teach in a way to assume the viewer knows nothing about it, like me!
What I have figured out to this point shows me this thing is amazing!

First the negatives:
Before Sweetwater sent me this they updated the firmware which was good of them. The unit gets here and five of the presets don't work so we did a factory reset and those five presets got moved to another two banks but still didn't work. Exchanged the unit for another one but this time they didn't update the firmware. Same exact presets don't work. So I updated the firmware. Still the same problem. Okay, that's fine. I'll live with it. If I ever have to sell it down the road might I be correct in stateing that ALL of these Line 6 units do this and I'm the only one who caught it? Maybe a later update will fix that but I'd sure like those five presets to actually work. I can't get ANY sound out of them no matter what I do. Yo line 6 wtf? However, two more foot switch buttons on this thing would make this totally worth the money or even a pedal. Right now it's probably worth $300 and more than half the effects aren't really usable.
Now the positives:
Finally the distortion "pedals" sound good! And the Reverbs and Delays are amazeballs!

I use the HX effects 4-cable method with a Suhr PT15ir amplifier. The sounds are incredible.
I can use Helix Native to modify Helix Floor presets to be used with HX Effects easily.
The user interface is easy despite not having a large screen like Helix.
It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.

I have been looking for a way to trim down my pedal board. After one week with this unit, I sold nearly all my pedals! Tons of effects, and the options are nearly limitless. The unit is well built, .. very sturdy. I am still learning, but the ability to hit one button and use numerous presets has been wonderful. No more tap dancing around my pedal board turning on and off several effects. I am thrilled with this unit and would highly recommend it!

Great effects pedal, still learning how to use it.

Definitely best used in 4CM. Sold all my pedals because this thing replaced them. It"s transparent and doesn"t take away from your amps tone at all

This thing is insane. I didn't want a helix or a full modeling unit because I've got an amazing mesa boogie dual rec roadster, I just wanted effects. Specifically the ability to have banks for each song if I want. From my pc altering everything is simple, on the board it just takes a little more time to scroll. I plan on adding a volume and wah into it as well!
The ability to change amp channels is also huge!
This can run both directly into the amp And effects loop, AND control it's own effects loop... that's some crazy inception type stuff.
Honestly the delays and reverbs alone make this worth every penny. Plus being able to easily switch to different presets for them is all you'll need. The looper works amazing too with effects on it.
My only knock, and ive not tested the latest update 2.8, is some of the OD and compression pedals cut the volume too much and I have to throw like an eq in on it, if there was more of a master volume level so you didn't have to tweak all of the db levels that'd be great

TL;DR: For the full retail price, it is not quite disappointing, but I should have asked for a price match. It sounds great and is very flexible, worth using as part of a pedalboard, or replacing a board for some people! Power supply is large and sideways from normal, power cable is proprietary and very short. Plan accordingly.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Full review:

Playing electric cello and bass guitar through this. With the cello I use an IR block to load 3rd party acoustic cello impulse responses, and my NS NXT4a cello sounds *amazing* even with a bow, which is how I expected it to sound out of the box, but no, you need a pedal like this to make it useful. I also use it with distortion and other effects. The pitch shifting is about as good as the pedals they're based on, but pretty bad for polyphonic pitch shifting. The SubnUp and others seem to do better, but it's good enough for single note parts. Also the lack of a freeze-type effect is disappointing (I use an EHX Superego that I plan to put in one of the FX loops).

Routing is good, so I have a pitch shifter down an octave, then through some compression and drive and then out of Send1 to my bass amp, and the other path goes to overdrive, delay, reverb and then to my guitar amp. Pretty cool way to do a wet/dry rig or full stereo rig, but it uses a send loop, instead of the main L/R (even if each path only has mono fx). What a pain...

The sound is good. I was mostly worried about drive/distortion fx, but I compared the "Vermin" to a ProCo RAT2 right next to it (before the HXFX, not in a loop) and I'd say the filter on the HXFX is a little more "vocal" but that could be based on an older ProCo model. It doesn't sound "fake" at all. The difference between the ProCo and the Line6 was like comparing a RAT and a clone/modded RAT. A bit different? Yeah, but the Line6 didn't *feel* like a facsimile when playing, which is awesome. I also comprared the (metal zone) effect with my MXR Fullbore Metal pedal, and again, it didn't feel like "analog vs digital" it felt like comparing 2 slightly different voiced pedals (I don't own a Boss MetalZone to compare).

The modulation/delay/reverb choices feel a bit slim and underwhelming, but they work, and the routing options more than make up for it. Not only would you have to buy $2000 worth of pedals to recreate some of these patches, but you'd need a loop switcher too like the Boss ES-8 for another $700, nevermind that the Line6 is way easy to program...

On the topic of programming, though, I'll say that the knobs don't feel super sturdy, but from the tilt of the unit you won't stomp them by accident. They also are endless encoders (nice) but don't have super smooth response. Feels loose in the fingers, but the parameter doesn't move as much as it felt like you moved the knob. Sometimes I give it a good twist and it doesn't go that far, or sometimes I want to just go up from 5.5 to 5.6 and it jumps to 5.7 instead, so they're not very accurate. USB is possible, but when connected to USB it makes the craziest digital noise. I would rather create patches in Helix Native (if it were cheaper) and then load them on the HXFX but you can't. Same FX, but different file format. But you can play with sounds on the computer and then recreate them 1:1 on the hardware which is cool.

Lastly, it is advertised as iOS compatible, but it isn't so much. It can send MIDI data to an iOS device, but that seems to be all, no 2 way connectivity, no programming the unit via app, and no audio goes to the iOS device or comes out of it. So I can open a Moog Model D app and program the HXFX switches to send MIDI Note On data, and play some bass notes with my feet, but that's not very useful... I don't know what the purpose of iOS compatibility is here... Maybe it just worked with the Mac CoreAudio firmware so they just stuck it in the info, but I don't think it's useful at all.

(And capacitive switches sense skin contact, so bare feet sometimes do things you don't want, but that's not a problem with the product, just a heads up.)

I bought the HX Effects to use with an amp and to use as a master control for my pedalboard. I have been using the Hx Effects for months now and it is awesome! The ability to load CAB SIMS changes everything. It sounds so good just sending the sound straight to the house mixer, that I haven"t used my amp in a long time! The overdrive models are surprisingly good and I usually use at least one per song. I had originally planned on using this with multiple pedals but now I hardly have any. Thanks Logan Miller for your expert advice and excellent customer service! ...Keep sending Candy.

I really like this processor. The short story is that it's not perfect and there are some areas where my standalone pedals/amp FX are clearly better, but there are plenty of areas where it's just as good or better than my other FX boxes, too (the overdrives surprised me and are awesome!). Get it to use as the centerpiece of your rig and then add-on a few must-have standalone pieces. Also, the routing options are awesome and make adding other pedals a simple process.

Keep reading for the long story:

My only other foray into the Line 6 product line was a DL4 I bought back in the mid 2000's. I loved that unit but never gelled with the other 4-button pedals they had back then. However, the DL4 remained a big part of my effects arsenal even as I transitioned away from live performance and into studio production/engineering. I was intrigued by the Helix when it first came out, but I really didn't need amp modelling on that scale and was more interested in the re-worked effects. When the HX Effects was released, I figured I'd give it a try, especially since it has routing that makes it easy to use in a studio situation. I was hoping it could be a one-size-fits-all effects unit for guitars/synths/bass and anything else, and HX FX delivers. It hasn't replaced all of my analog pedals, but it covers almost all of the other bases at a reasonable cost so that I can focus on buying the standalone pedals that inspire me the most.

I have the HX effects connected to a patch bay that allows me to send any of my synths or guitars through it before heading to my interface and/or send the signal to an amp in my tracking room. This elaborate setup makes full use of one of the best parts of the HX Effects: the versatile routing options. I can set it up to run line level signals, instrument level signals, stereo effects loops, midi in/out, etc. to keep pace with any situation. Best of all, it's so intuitive and easy to use that my clients and I can be creative without having to pause to work out technical details. This is the primary reason I bought the unit. I love being able to add chorus to analog synths that don't have internal effects and then switch to another patch that is setup for a guitar in a matter of seconds.

The sounds themselves are really good, too. As with any unit that does so much, there are some patches that I like and some that I don't like as much, but overall the quality of the various models is excellent. The Space Echo Model (Cosmos Echo), Kinky Boost (Exotic Boost), and Teemah! (Timmy Overdrive) are highlights for me when tracking guitar into my blackface-style amps. Overall, I'd say the overdrives are just as useful as my analog pedals and I find myself using those pedals less and less. The myriad modulation options with midi-sync are so fun when building synth layers. The Microtubes model has me wondering if I should sell my SansAmp since I don't use it as much for tracking bass, anymore. Also, the fuzz models are absolutely great. Having a pedal chain ready at the push of a few stomp-switches is invaluable in the studio, too. I can build a guitar patch for a song and come back to it a few days later without having to take pictures of five different pedals and put them all back in the exact same chain.

My least favorite area is probably the more normal reverb options (Spring and plate), even though I like the crazier reverbs quite a bit. It's not that they don't sound good, they do. Playing through a vintage Deluxe Reverb and a Tone King Sky King, I was able to get two Spring Reverb patches dialed in that were very similar to the reverb on those two amps. But there was still a bit of perceived depth that was lacking. For live use, this wouldn't be an issue, but in the studio it means that I sometimes opt for plugins for reverb (which is often the more practical choice when tracking, anyway) or prefer the reverb on the amp . Similarly, a/b-ing the tremolo on the Sky King vs. the tremolo options on the HX Effects left me clearly favoring the Sky King. This shouldn't be a big knock on the HX Effects. The Sky King is an incredible amp. But that is another place where the HX Effects falls a little short compared to the real thing, at least to my ears. To be fair, though, I've never used a tremolo pedal of any brand that sounds as good as that amp.

There are a few other small things I'd like to see with the HX Effects, although these are relatively nitpicky. I wish the overall output volume control for any effect that has a volume were automatically on the first page so that I can quickly turn up or turn down a pedal without any menu diving. This would make scrolling through overdrive pedals a lot easier without haveing to spend so much time matching volume levels with the previous patch. In addition, I wish the master output volume were more easily accessible. Finally, the HX effects doesn't do amp modeling, but it would be cool if Line 6 released overdrive patches based on the preamp sections of their amp models. Lots of stompbox makers and amp manufacturers have "amp-in-a-box" type pedals. I'd love Line 6 to enter that game. Maybe in a future update? C'mon, Line 6, make it happen!

I bought this because I wanted to expand my pedal board without breaking the bank. I was very excited to see line 6 release an effects only version of the Helix. I have a fractal axe-fx, so I wasn"t looking for another modeling console. I have to say the effects are as good if not better than the fractal! Also, it is so user friendly! I haven"t attempted to connect to a computer because the unit is so hands on. This really took my rig to the next level. I have only scratched the surface of the HX effects capabilities, but I am so impressed with this unit.

I will like to know if this is possible to have GK2 behind line 6 guitar effect? Like Roeland GR 30 , Roeland GR 30 has GK 2 .I, would like to know if this one too has same function.

I have been using a Helix Lt for about a year. The HX Effects took me about 5 minutes to learn how to program. Sounds great thru my amp. Love being able to creat new sounds in a few moments. I would highly recommend to anyone wanting all Effects in a small footprint device and playing thru a tube amp.

Picked one of these up to give me some more options for on the fly effect control with my Boss Katana (mainly). Only had it a couple of days so far, and have not had the chance to dive super deep into it, but even with just some surface level playing around I have had no trouble dialing in some great sounds.

The interface and controls are very simple to figure out, and after just a little bit of practice become second nature. You can dial in everything from some great verby clean P&W sounds, good old gritty classic rock and heavy drop tuned metal tones.. you can also dial in some absolutely wacky sounds (bitcrusher, i'm looking at you).

You have to try one of these out.

well built, feels sturdy.

I bought mine right when it came out from Sam Hillman. (Thanks buddy!)

This thing goes above and beyond what I expected. There's a learning curve for sure for some of the very in depth features, but once you get around that, this thing can do anything.

As for reliability, this was on the entire Van's warped tour for my band in 2018 and it worked like a charm every day in the heat and coming out the back of that hot and awful semi truck. Never skipped a beat.

It's great because if you have an amp that uses quarter inch connections for channel changing and fx loop changes, this thing can be programmed to change channels for you in a preset, or even have a dedicated button for channel changing. Totally made me rethink my approach to effects.

The effects are also fantastic, I run this through my Bogner uberschall and ecstacy heads and i was impressed with how it didn't effect my tone honestly. Im not sure where the other reviews are saying it's a tone sucker. I definitely don't have any issues with that and was pleasantly surprised. It goes leaps and bounds over my old Line 6 M13 (still a classic).

Not to mention you can use this as a midi hub as well. If you want an all on one pedal for your tube amp to bring it into a modern world of functionality and sound quality, I'd highly recommend this pedal. As a touring musician, I trust this thing to make make me gas money and pay my bills.

I run this unit out of a Mesa MK5 35w head, 4 cable method. I have had no problems with the Mesa loop or any tone loss. The effects sound great, I run delays and verbs through the loop, and all others in front. It takes a little time getting used to the setup, just watch the Line6 and YouTube videos. I took a 1/2 star away because if you can run 9 effects in your chain, there should have been 9 buttons, not 6. Although you can setup one button to run multiple effects like Delay and Reverb at the same time, which is great for leads. All in all its a great sounding unit and fun to work with.

Great sounding effects unit and with a quick review of the online videos is easy to use. I really like the foot print and the flexibility of this unit especially when you compare it to the Line 6 M13. You can also use it with some of your favorite overdrive pedals(my preference), is a nice complement to your current pedal board and could easily serve as your pedal board.

So if you are looking for a great effects unit but don't need the amp, cab and mic modeling this is an excellent option. For me I have more effects then I would ever need or use at a reasonable price especially when you consider the cost of building a pedal board. That said I still use both the HX effects and my pedal board but very happy with my purchase.

The Line 6 HX Effects is remarkable. The effects are truly musical and the software is powerful and flexible.
I have replaced all my stomp boxes with this unit and can't wait to use it on my next gig.
And as usual, Sweetwater completely delivered. They had even installed the latest firmware before shipping.
Thanks to Joseph Secu for the fine service!

I wanted to like it, but the HX noticeably degrades the sound quality of my guitars when placed before my Mesa Boogie JP-2C, even when in bypass mode. It is worse when placed in the effects loop (if you have a Mesa amp, I would definitely not recommend the HX). I'm using Mogami platinum cables in both scenarios. By contrast, I've noticed barely any degradation when using good quality analog pedals (e.g., Seymour Duncan's Vapor Trail).

The HX is physically attractive and seems well made on the outside, but unfortunately sacrifices tone for tech.

There is a lot of hype around the line 6 helix products, so I figured this would also be fantastic, especially to replace most of my pedalboard. However, compared to stand alone effects this unit is extremely lacking, especially when run in mono. The reverbs are much better than what line 6 released in the past but compared to neunaber, Strymon etc the reverbs still fall short. Two of the overdrives were very useable, but again there is a huge difference in emulation quality compared to stand alone overdrive pedals. The delay section is fantastic on this though, definitely a great delay pedal… I need it to be more than a quality delay pedal.

Four cable method was a tone suck. Presets wouldn"t save half the time, had to reboot for changes to keep. Delay mix was 100% while reading was 11%. Pedals are way too close together. My a last try with line 6. G-system while dated works better for me.

I'll keep this review short and sweet.
Everything you would ever want or need on a massive Pedalboard packed inside of an INCREDIBLE UNIT the size of a piece of NOTEBOOK PAPER......not to mention, it weights less than 5 pounds.
Any tone you would ever use!!!
Loving the SMART HARMONY....Dual Leads without a 2nd Guitarist, The UNIVIBES that give you the Trower Bridge of Sighs and Hendrix tunes that sound BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL!!!!
Just way too much to list.
Built in Tuner, Tap Tempo for your Delays, 9 EFFECTS AT ONCE......if you need to run that many.....ALL the LEGACY and M-Series Effects, Stereo and Mono Effects....It just keeps going and going and going.
The reason I did't give 5 Stars.
1st, if you can run 9 Effects at once, WHY NOT GIVE IT 9 SCREENS AND BUTTONS???
2nd, if, like me, your NOT A TECH WHIZ, there is a little bit of a learning curve even with all the Videos available online for this unit.
3rd, I think Line 6 will get enough Feedback about the unit NOT HAVING 9 different Screens and Buttons to where they will be forced in to re-structuring the Layout of this unit which will us, with the Original ones STUCK with what they have......unless....LINE 6 DEVELOPS AN ADD ON SECTION that will power either via MIDI or the USB port on the back and offer it....for FREE to those of us who purchased this incredible FX unit right out of the gate.
I've been a Line 6 Fan for years, my back up Amp is a Flextone lll that has all the Effects I need built in and controlled only by the ORIGINAL FBV Shortboard...which you can't get parts for anymore so I take REALLY GOOD CARE OF MY BACKUP AMP!!!!
This is just another incredibly remarkable product from a remarkable Company, LINE .
now, go ditch those oversized, overweight Pedalboards you have and buy this Line 6 Helix HX!!!!!

Like many people I was always a skeptic of line 6 gear. Sure they had their fair share of underrated products. But in the last couple of years they have really stepped up there game because this Pedal is amazing! I had a full pedalboard running into a kemper profiling amp, but i wasn't satisfied with what the pedals were doing, also I was frustrated with the patch cables that would randomly die at the most inconvenient times, and i was tired of tap dancing on 3 pedals at once to get the desired tone for the song. When I Bought my kemper, the rack nor the remote was available and buying the remote by itself is a pain and expensive. So I was looking for a way to control my kemper and I figured since this had Midi, I could just use this. Well when I got this and plugged it in, it blew my mind. The overdrives on this thing are amazing, and it responds so well with the kemper sound wise. Programming it for midi can be a bit of a pain, but once you do it, you can pretty much make it do anything. Presets and Snapshots on this thing are a game changer for me. I can build song specific presets with "Snapshots" of sections of the song in them, So I can choose to keep tap dancing, or I can program the preset so that its set up, by intro, verse, chorus, solo.. whatever. and all i need is one foot tap to change, instead of multiple. I've only really scratched the surface of what this thing can do, Can't wait till i can dive in more with it. One negative i'll say is the power supply. Its 9volt with a 3 amp minimum so really no normal power supply can run it. I've heard the one spot can but you need all these adapters and converters. It would of been easier if they would of just made this with an IEC cord. However, on the plus side, this has replaced my entire pedal board of boutique pedals. I'm still keeping them, and making a back up board (because as good as this thing is, certain pedals just do something magical and i cant seem to get rid of them) So all thats on my pedalboard now is this, an expression pedal and a line 6 wireless (also a mind blower) If you have any midi gear, or if you wanna do amp switching and use some pretty amazing sounding effects. Get this thing - plus it looks sexy on the ground with those scribble strips.

Ok I was super stoked to buy this unit because it seemed like the answer to all guitarist needs, small footprint, controls everything, un-compromised signal path and stellar world class studio quality effects all in one unit.

First the Good

Looks and feels great, definitely pro level build quality
Effects sound great!!
Super intuitive and easy to program once you understand it.

The Bad
-Sucks tone
-Thins out your sound
-adds high end to your signal
I tried running it thru the front of the amp only, Thru the effects loop only and in the 4 cable method in which I planned to use it.( I read the Manuel to make sure to set up all the ins & outs correct (Instrument level/Line Level etc I tried every setting)

Thru the front of the amp the HX effects seemed to add a considerable amount of high end to the signal. I figured maybe its buffered and I was getting back some lost signal from my 20 foot cable run? NO it was just a little to much High end to be that plus my signal seemed to thin out a bit. It was also near impossible to get unity gain with my amp with the HX Effects bypassed.If I turned off all the effect I was using on the HX Effect I'd loose a considerable amount of volume. The Analog Bypass talked about in the manual where you hold both the Tap Tempo & Mode buttons at the same time worked strange to me when using the 4 cable method, It bypassed the HX Effects alright but sent the signal to the return of my amp so it bypassed my amps pre amp. Not very useful I just wanted to Bypass the HX Effect and use my amp dry. Not possible in the 4 cable method. (Unless there is a routing option I'm unaware of?)

I called Line 6 and they informed me that they had some reports of added noise/high end and asked if I'd send them some sound samples. I just didn't want to do R&D stuff for Line 6 at this time so I returned the unit. Maybe I'll return to it once the bugs are figured out.

All the +'s this thing offers mean nothing if your signal path is compromised.

I have been playing guitar since the late eighties and I have bought and sold many effects pedals. I sold most of my pedals to fund this beast. Make sure you update the firmware right away and you will have no issues. The effects are great. The only pedals you might want to keep are your favorite OD's especially if it's nuanced to your amp. It's built like a tank and it feels like quality material. Ive ran it in front of the amp and 4CM and both sound great.


Download the full manual and go over it to get the most out of it.

Over all good. Easier programming from the panel than an AXE FX or Eventide H9. The algorithms aren't as good but major improvement from the M series and for the price you can't beat it. The overdrives are alright but lack depth next to other digital drives and seem a bit compressed but I've only used it thru one amp so far. The HX phaser algo is one of the best I've heard so far including analog phaser shifters and the delays will actually pitch shift when you fool with delay time unlike the H9 and AXE FX. I'm not getting rid of my H9s or Drive pedals but this pedal does a lot and somethings better than my other pedals. It has quickly become the center piece of my rig. I'm not sure how the footswitches will hold up which was a major concern with they're previous pedals. Line 6 doesn't support their discontinued products so when they're out of parts you're out of luck and I doubt one could mod the foot switches with heavy after market switches since they are touch sensitive. However I'm using in my rack via so it isn't getting stomped on.

I have only scratched the surface on this pedal so far and I am loving every minute I spend on it. It is super easy to use right from the start. So far I have tried the 4 cable method, ran into 2 amps in stereo,
and straight in and out to an amp, and the sounds you can get are great. I bought this over the firehawk and I believe I could not have made a better choice. I asked a lot of questions before my purchase and Anthony Longano answered everyone to my satisfaction. Thanks Anthony. I have never used an expression pedal so that is why I chose this over the Helix LT. I mainly wanted it for the effects, and the flexibility for hook-ups, and this is all I wanted and more.

First off, let me say, wow! This thing is amazing. I recently purchased a Boss GT-100 which I frankly wasn't that impressed with. I found the navigation tedious and found it difficult to efficiently get a tone I liked. I also discovered I didn't need all of the amp models.

Enter the Line 6 HX Effects. I've never owned a Line 6 product before but know they have a solid history, especially with their Helix systems. I wanted something that offered all the various effects I was looking for without getting too complicated or dipping into the amp modeling world. When I read about the HX effects, it seemed to fit the bill.

It arrived yesterday and after playing around with it for the evening, I was very impressed. The variety of tones you can get from this thing is amazing. There are plenty of great overdrives, distortions, delays, reverbs, modulations, etc to keep you entertained and allow you to really tonally shape your sound. If you have a great amp that you want to keep your base tone, the HX effects can really help build on that.

I found navigation to be very easy, and altering settings and parameters is fairly straight forward. The capacitive touch feature is super nice, you just lightly touch the pedal of the effect you want to edit, and you can edit it without having to turn it on. You can set entire banks of effects quickly and easily, so you have your "pedal board" ready to go for each individual song. I found most of the pre-sets are pretty bizarre, but that's really to just showcase what the HX Effects is capable of. Spend some time dialing in a few base pedal boards for your situation and you will be very happy. The HX effects also offers true analog bypass with the press of the MODE and TAP button at the same time if you want to straight up skip the effects pedal. Throw in a tuner, MIDI capability, and external effects loop, and you have a seriously powerful feature set. My only wish is that it included an expression pedal for volume and wah, but that's not a huge deal and something I can add on. I also found that the pedal does slightly rob you of your straight-into-the-amp sound, but with a little EQ play, you can fix that right up. I use the four-cord method which definitely helps.

Overall, I think Line 6 knocked it out of the park with this pedal. Whereas I dreaded using my GT-100, I am very excited to crank up my guitar and play through the HX Effects.

Mine was the solution to everything for about 10 days, then, pffft!!! It won"t boot up!!! I need reliability!!! No more Line-6 TOYS for me!!! BOSS pedals are back on my board forever!!!

It Replaced my Boss CP-1X, Empress Ecosystem, GFI Tempus, Strymon DIG. So you know how good it is. Especially the newly issued reverb, stacked it with the particle reverb you can do a lot. Shimmer is so-so, but I hear some good one in the YouTube, so I think with some proper dialing I can get a good one.
Not yet tested the drive section much. I am running a loop through my Riverside to add some taste. (Will consider change to Nutube preamp pedal if it appeared in the future).
I am now just keeping the Riverside, some strange delays and Empress Reverb (not the best sounding but good for strange stuff). Really simplify my board a lot. Luv it !

Let me start by saying that I've only just scratched the surface of all the sounds and functionality the HX effects can delivery as I've only had it for a two days, but I'm already blown away.

I have used the Line 6 M5 unit for a few years as part of my overall signal chain for mainly the modulation and pitch effects and had intended on using the HX effects as an upgraded replacement to this unit. After swapping in the HX effects for the M5, I'm now questioning the rationale for even keeping the rest of my pedals (Fulltone OCD, Big Muff Pi, MXR analog delay, Boss DD7, and EH holy grail nano) on my board. The quality of the effects on the HX unit is amazing and is as good or better than those pedals, in my opinion. And I've not even got into the meat of all the modulation, delay, distortion, etc effects the HX unit has to offer.

The ability to have multiple effects on simultaneously was a driving factor for me to upgrade to HX effects, but the ability to save bank presets of effects (basically each serves as separate and independent pedal boards), as well as the ability to modify the signal chain (or order of effects) is fantastic. These reasons are why I'm contemplating if I should even keep my other pedals around. I can achieve the same desired tones and sound textures with just this one unit!

The interface if fairly intuitive and was able to get up and rolling within 5-10 min after watching the HX effects overview video (which I recommend watching). The unit is well-made with the housing constructed of metal.

I highly recommend this unit to anyone looking for a well-designed, great sound multi-fx unit. It will not disappoint.

I have have been disliking my large and a cluttered pedalboard and was looking into multi effects with looping to use with my amps. Saw this on the 2018 NAMM videos and ordered one immediately. I was honestly leery of the price until I added up the costs of all the pedals it would replace. For me this is a perfect solution. I still run 2 OD pedals I can't live without in the loops and my favorite compressor in front. That's it for my pedalboard. Selling off about 10 pedals now and will raise more than enough to cover this purchase. The HX has almost unlimited routing options plus it can run parallel signal paths. Best tone options I have ever had. Incredible effects plus a tuner, looper, and noisegate. The only negative is that I had a few setbacks with the firmware update and there isn't much support on forums because the HX is so new. I had to try several times to get through the update. That said, this is still my favorite purchase in years.
And as always, Sweetwater rocks.

I recently did a couple of revamps of my conventional pedalboard and began looking into a good multi-effects rig. I didn't want amp modeling, just effects to use with my tube amps. I also wanted something rugged. The one must have effect for me is a Leslie sim. Most rotary models are lacking in one way or another. My pedal of choice for this has been the Mini-Vent. I needed something very close to that quality. So when NAMM came around and Line 6 announced the HX it seemed like a good option. I carefully listened to demos and decided to take a chance and order one.

Well, once it arrived it took me less than an hour to have a custom setup that fulfilled my needs and then some. The Leslie rotary sims are very good and with a little tweaking I got them very, very close to the Mini-Vent. The Mini-Vent still has the edge but in the context of playing with a band there is essentially no difference.

Where I really got surprised was with a couple of other effects I had not been using regularly. I set up initially with the EP-3 model for delay and the '63 Spring Reverb for reverb. Wow! Those two are so natural and music sounding that when we ended a tune at rehearsal the keyboard player said, "That reverb wash at the end was incredible! Where did that come from?" It was such a natural sounding reverb that it didn't seem to be a guitar effect. I'm now using reverb live for the first time in many, many years. I have tried various dedicated reverb pedals but nothing sounded as smooth and realistic as this. I also had a compressor, and OD, and a tremolo set up. All very smooth and very natural sounding. There is no real awareness that an effect has been engaged, the sounds are so organic they just meld with the material I'm playing.

When you add in the very easy editing and saving, and the excellent build quality this is a perfect solution for effects. One power connection, easy expansion and routing, you can't beat it. Line 6 will also have an editor app that allows adjusting and saving presets in a few months. I play blues, old style R&B and soul, and Motown stuff and this is the perfect pedal for all that. I'll more than pay for it in liquidating my now unnecessary conventional pedal boards.

The HX Effects replaced my midi switcher and m-series pedal. Many features of the m-series were great but a lot was crippled or lacking that is addressed with the helix fx such as: true midi capability, number of effects at once, extremely customizable I/O routing options, and most importantly, high-fidelity preservation of dry signal tone when turning up the mix/wetness parameters.

This box sounds amazing. I would skip the m-series now because this has all of those legacy fx plus the helix fx. It is better in every single way.

I'm a Helix owner. Pre-ordered as soon as it came out and have been a fan since. Love it! As such, I was super excited when the HX Effects was announced.

Having fantastic tube amps from Jackson Ampworks, Morgan and the trusty Fender Princeton Reverb in my quiver, there are just times when you want to plug into an amp instead of a modeling pedal/unit. The HX Effects fits the bill perfectly by offering all the great sounds/effects models from the Helix, in a medium/small form factor that you can use in conjunction with existing stomp boxes you may already have, or as part of an existing pedalboard.

The reason I give 3.5 stars is because of the LCD/strip readout. I'm not sure if it's an isolated issue/defect with my unit, but all of them have a varying degree of "brightness" and contrast so they don't look uniform. The screens look different at different angles which is really noticeable when looking at the blank channel strips. It's especially bad on screens 3 and 6 (moving from left to right, top to bottom). Screen 3 isn't even uniform itself. It starts darker in the top left corner and gets brighter as you move diagonally to the bottom right corner.

Aside from the screen issues, the HX Effects is a great sounding, competent, compact and complete solution for guitar/keyboard/instrument effects and, in my opinion, more than justifies the asking price.

I've only had this two days and I can give it 5stars. I've got a great pedal board or had and bought this to augment it and use as a controller. I thought I would be able to use a few effects and control everything. I've wound up keeping one. Yes one pedal. A clean boost at the end with a buffer. Brent mason has the same one. Same place on the board. Comparing to the same pedals on my board. The compressors are great. As of now using the red and deluxe. The overdrives. I love the jimmy. All I've used. Noise gate is excellent. The delays. I had what I thought was the best. Cost almost as much as this. I like this better. Awesome delays Reverb. I hate reverb. Lot of delays and mod I havent used but tried and was emperesed. The control is easy to set up. Is laid out great. Works awesome. I havent got into the IRs but a good friend has a helix and says they are awesome. Snapshots are great. You can't go wrong with this. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Go for it