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New: Zoom B3n Multi-Effects

#2,964
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Johno Dunn said:
I told her it’s what we all wanted. She just laughed.
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#2,966
Haven't popped by in a while - hi guys!

I know this is comparing apples and oranges, but out of curiosity, has anyone here compared the amp & cab sims of the B3n/ G5n to the amp sims of the Helix, Headrush or Kemper? I had a Line 6 Firehawk before my B3n & G3n and I actually preferred the amps of the Zoom units more. I wonder how they stack against the new higher end modelers though
 
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#2,969
Cider said:
Haven't popped by in a while - hi guys!

I know this is comparing apples and oranges, but out of curiosity, has anyone here compared the amp & cab sims of the B3n/ G5n to the amp sims of the Helix, Headrush or Kemper? I had a Line 6 Firehawk before my B3n & G3n and I actually preferred the amps of the Zoom units more. I wonder how they stack against the new higher end modelers though
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Here's my opinion, having owned a Helix and a Firehawk and a B3n and a GT-1b. This is only my opinion. My ownership of the B3n and Helix did not overlap, so there's that to consider.

TLDR: The B3n holds its own in terms of sound, but the added cost of the Helix comes with a lot of benefits.

B3n gets the sound right...or the idea of the sound, at least. I have zero complaints about the quality of the sounds (except, probably, the octavers). Helix gets every nuance of the whole amp right...the whole signal chain, really. Hell, the whole path from your guitar to the listener's ears. You can pick what mic you want your virtual cab mic'd up with. And how far away it's placed. And on and on with all these little details. People complain about "menu diving" a lot of the time, but to me, coming from the Helix, the number of parameters on the B3n's models just feels short, like there's something missing that I should be able to adjust but can't. With the Helix, they went the extra mile to make things as accurate as possible. With the B3n, it feels like they cut some stuff out to make it fit. For my personal usage, the B3n is good enough. Real amp vs B3n vs Helix, I highly doubt I'd be able to tell the difference. But there is a difference.

Honestly, if your concern is the sound and only the sound, I wouldn't say the Helix is "better" enough to justify the cost. What makes the Helix so much better, in my opinion, is the "extras". The ease of use, first and foremost. It's far more intuitive, it's got more buttons for easier navigation between patches, more switches for turning on and off effects, you can turn on multiple effects with a single switch. It's the best USB audio interface I've ever owned. You can have patches with more effects, you can put in parallel signal routes. The scribble strips are awesome. The main screen gives you a great view of the whole signal path. I'd have to compare the fx lists to be sure, but it at least felt like the variety of effects was better on the Helix as well. I'd say that's even more true after the latest patch hits, with the M13 etc legacy models. And Helix has the B7k Ultra, instead of just the B7k. I miss that. And the list goes on and on.

In short, you get a ton of value for your money with the Helix. It's really an amazingly fantastic unit in every way. But if you don't need the extra bells and whistles and you just want a great sounding mutli-fx unit, the B3n probably makes more sense.

Uh...........what was the original question? :)

I had to sell off my Helix a while back (new house, 4th kid + 3 months unpaid maternity leave for my wife + medical bills), but I plan on getting the Helix FX some time (hopefully) soon. There was recently a thread where somebody asked why people sell "the best guitar they ever owned" or something like that. Well, there you go. I sold my all-time favorite bass and all-time favorite pedal, because money. It sucks, but that's life.
 
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#2,970
ChubbyJerk said:
I had to sell off my Helix a while back (new house, 4th kid + 3 months unpaid maternity leave for my wife + medical bills), but I plan on getting the Helix FX some time (hopefully) soon. There was recently a thread where somebody asked why people sell "the best guitar they ever owned" or something like that. Well, there you go. I sold my all-time favorite bass and all-time favorite pedal, because money. It sucks, but that's life.
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Go big or go home! ;)

AxeFXIII, only $2499. LOL

Axe-Fx III Preamp - Effects Processor - Fractal Audio Systems

Axe-Edit-Mockup.png
 
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#2,971
jimfist said:
Go big or go home! ;)

AxeFXIII, only $2499. LOL

Axe-Fx III Preamp - Effects Processor - Fractal Audio Systems

View attachment 2895419
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Jeepers. I can't imagine that offering enough over the Helix to justify the added cost.

Of course, take that with a grain of salt, as I was reasonably happy after downgrading from the Helix to B3n. Well, maybe not happy, but...not like, super disappointed? I don't think I cried. Much. I mean, I miss the Helix, but the B3n is pretty damn good. And it fits in my gig bag, so there's that.
 
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#2,972
ChubbyJerk said:
Jeepers. I can't imagine that offering enough over the Helix to justify the added cost.

Of course, take that with a grain of salt, as I was reasonably happy after downgrading from the Helix to B3n. Well, maybe not happy, but...not like, super disappointed? I don't think I cried. Much. I mean, I miss the Helix, but the B3n is pretty damn good. And it fits in my gig bag, so there's that.
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This new AxeFXIII is totally over the top, but I won't even consider getting one for a lot of reasons: 1) wouldn't use it live much and don't record much; 2) too freaking big (3 rack spaces) and needs a MIDI pedal; 3) - most importantly - nothing new on the bass amp/cab/fx front - the B7k addition recently was nice, but not enough for me to care.

Of course, I could run my B3n in one of the loops of the AxeFxIII! :wacky:

Honestly, If I were to jump back into a high-end modeler/multi-fx, I'd have to give the nod to the Helix/Helix LT at the moment. They've got bass a lot of bass stuff well-covered. It would be my luck, though, for the AxeFXIII to roll out 20 new bass amps and cabinets in a major firmware upgrade. Then I'd be screwed.
 
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#2,978
Been playing around with the EP stompbox (exotic bb sim) last few days never ysed it untill now, great effect have it set on its own at aroind 50/50 gain volume with just s compressor in front, and also created a patch with it boosting the boss OD effect, boss at 25-30 gain and Ep at 20/25 gain, giving me a great Jj burnell sound, Both sound great my favourite patches at moment.
 
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