line 6 · rack modeler

Helix
Rack

Line 6 Helix Rack
start learningthe Helix Rack
not connected
plug in over usb
firmware
helix 3.80
reviewed
aug 13, 2026

real amps, each read from its schematic, ready to send to your Helix Rack.

installs straight to a slot

If your modeler is a floorboard with a built-in expression pedal, read the Helix Floor guide. The sound engine is the same but the controls and jacks are not. Helix Control is a controller and makes no sound without a Rack.

the guide

7 chapters

your Helix Rack models → the real amp

01

6 of 49 real amps8 of 49 real ampsevery Helix Rack model

top for your Helix Rack

02

read this first

03

five things that explain almost every problem.

  1. 01

    the footswitches are not in the box.

    Helix Control is sold separately. Without it you drive the rack from its front panel and from HX Edit.

  2. 02

    save, or you lose it.

    Nothing is saved until you press SAVE twice. Until then, an “E” beside the preset name marks it as edited. Change preset while the E shows and the edit is lost, with no warning and no undo.

  3. 03

    the cab block goes off when you feed a real amp.

    Cab block ON into anything full-range: headphones, an FRFR speaker, the desk, your computer. Cab block OFF into anything that ends in a real guitar speaker. A cab block is a speaker simulation. Into a real cab it stacks two speakers. Left off into a full-range system, you hear a raw amp with no speaker at all.

  4. 04

    eight snapshots per preset, and they switch instantly.

    A snapshot is a saved position of the controls inside one preset: which blocks are on, and where their parameters sit. Nothing loads or unloads when you change snapshot, so it happens instantly and delay and reverb tails carry through. A preset change reloads everything and cuts them.

  5. 05

    four amps in total, and no more than two on either path.

    Four in total, and no more than two on either path. A wet/dry/wet rig hits the two-per-path half of the rule first.

presets for your Helix Rack

04

49 with a factory model matchpresets for Helix Rack

learn · 8 lessons · 49 min

05
  1. 01what you actually bought4
  2. 02making a sound, correctly6
  3. 03the controls you will use7
  4. 04plugging it into things7
  5. 05how presets are built, and what runs out8
  6. 06snapshots, and why your sound cuts out6
  7. 07what the models are5
  8. 08playing live6

reference · 14 pages

06
  • controls and footswitchesinteractive
  • inputs and outputsinteractive
  • specifications
  • levels
  • cabs and IRs
  • rig setupinteractive

open the reference

which one to buy

07

which Helix should you buy?

five full-size Line 6 modelers that share a sound engine and differ in chassis, connections and generation. These are the lines where they differ.

Helix Stadium XL Floor · Helix Stadium Floor · Helix Floor · Helix Rack · Helix LT

compare them

installing presets

08

presets install straight into a slot you pick.

full steps

Line 6 · Helix 3.80

A 3U rack version of the Helix processor, driven from its own front panel or from Helix Control. Helix Control is a 12-switch footboard, sold separately, that connects over a single Cat5 cable. The engine is the Floor's, with studio I/O the Floor does not have.
questions and answers