Go Big

The HX Stomp XL enters the Line 6 family, answering the call for increased switching flexibility over its smaller sibling, while retaining the powerful core of the larger floor-based Helix devices

- Trevor Curwen

LINE 6 HX STOMP XL approx. £599

CONTACT Yamaha UK PHONE [phone] WEB www.line6.com

What You Need To Know

1.It looks as though someone has stretched an HX Stomp!

That’s exactly what it is – an expanded version that adds five footswitches to make a total of eight.

2.Does it still sound the same?

Yes, it has exactly the same models and the same presets. And it even has the same connections.

3.So, what’s the point of it?

Well, the HX Stomp gave you Helix sounds in a smaller form that would easily fit into a pedalboard, but was perhaps limited by having just three footswitches. This unit adds switching flexibility while still being smaller than the larger Helix floorboards.

Until now, the Line 6 HX Stomp has been the perfect fit for anybody who wants to buy into the Line 6 experience but doesn’t want a huge floorboard – or the price tag. As a pedalboard-friendly unit with Helix sounds (all the same effects, amps, cabs and IR loading as the flagship processor), it also sports the same 24-bit/192kHz converters, analogue impedance circuits and guitar inputs with 123dB of dynamic range.

The HX Stomp is, however, lacking some of the more complex Helix sound-building combinations, something few would consider a drawback, considering it has a great range of sounds regardless and comes at a much cheaper price. Nevertheless, a compromise that could put off potential users is the fact the unit has just three footswitches. While there are ways to make these footswitches work for you, the players who yearn for the flexibility offered by a larger number have had their prayers answered by the introduction of Line 6’s new XL version, which ups the footswitch count from three to eight.