LINE 6 HELIX LT

At about half the price of the Kemper, but fulfilling essentially the same tasks, the Helix LT is an exemplar of affordable floor-based digital amp and effects processors. For those interested in diving a bit deeper, similar competitors at the same price point include Mooer’s GE300, Boss’ GT-1000 and the Headrush Gigboard.

In addition to providing all the requisite amp, cabinet, microphone and stompbox emulations to play with, what sets the LT apart for us is the very practical connectivity built into the hardware. As well as having an onboard expression pedal, two additional pedals can be connected. Moreover, a quarter-inch jack can be connected to the footswitch input of your amp to control that via the LT. There are also four separate effects loops on top of the requisite MIDI loop, stereo XLR and jack outputs. Possibly our favourite feature of this kind is the full soundcard functionality. The LT can be connected to another device via USB for digital recording, and it boasts a single mic input for capturing other sources. We can really see this being of interest to beginner home recorders, as much as we can for pro musicians who like to demo on the road. Line 6’s idea to pair the LT with its two-by-12 Powercab powered speaker cabinet effectively solves the “getting to a guitar cab” issue presented by digital multi-effects in an elegant, simple and cheap way.

Finally, the sound. In this reviewer’s opinion, at least 95 percent of all punters and players would struggle to accurately tell the difference between this and a Kemper – or any modern digital processor and tube amp, for that matter. This unit sounds great, and offers tremendous value for money to amateurs and pros alike.