Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[DanRad]

@wharf rat and whoever else ordered from MF in hopes of getting a first-wave Stadium:

After reading reports on the FB group that MF was pushing people's orders back I chatted with them this morning. They're now saying:

-ALL Stadium orders are pushed back to a Dec 23 ship date based on instructions from L6.

-They do not, in fact, have 1000+ units in their warehouse waiting to ship, and they don't know when they'll receive the units they expect.

This could be junk info just like all of the other bad info they were giving out. But it doesn't look good for those of us who switched from Sweetwater in hopes of getting the Stadium earlier.

Well, maybe I'm glad my POS SW rep hasn't gotten around to canceling my preorder yet.

 

[GuitarGorilla]

Well, maybe I'm glad my POS SW rep hasn't gotten around to canceling my preorder yet.

I didn't cancel my July SW preorder since I had a feeling something like this could happen. At this point I'll just wait and see who ships first.

 

[Digital Igloo]

A guy on Facebook was bitching (maybe that’s too harsh a word) that he could only get two Agoura amp blocks, a tube screamer, and a poly pitch on one line before he ran out of DSP.
Dunno, that sounds like a lot of shit.

I know it’s just my use case showing, but I’ve never understood the obsession with poly pitching as an absolute necessity. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 90’s when this wasn’t even a possibility.

Yeah, he was actively trying to break it with two of the biggest Agoura amps. A cab would've fit on Path 1 anyway. And we're still optimizing.

When you create a new preset, we have new templates that evenly distribute DSP across the two paths.

Just watched this; very impressed. Everything sounds amazing, and the UI is awesome. I take back what I said about the skeuomorphic stuff.

 

[laxu]

@Digital Igloo I hope when the HX Stadium XL is finally out, we will see more focus on the smaller Stadium.

I'd really like to see especially what the scribble strip replacement on it looks like and how it works overall compared to the XL. I think that will be key for me deciding which model I'd rather have.

PS. After watching the few videos of the HX Stadium XL in use...has Line6 considered adding some sort of "zoom in" mode so it's easier to tap on the blocks? Say you have a simple preset that fits on one path, you could have some sort of bigger view of that where each block is simply a larger touch target. Or is the idea that people should use the capacitive touch function more to select blocks?

 

[Fireproof]

@wharf rat and whoever else ordered from MF in hopes of getting a first-wave Stadium:

After reading reports on the FB group that MF was pushing people's orders back I chatted with them this morning. They're now saying:

-ALL Stadium orders are pushed back to a Dec 23 ship date based on instructions from L6.

-They do not, in fact, have 1000+ units in their warehouse waiting to ship, and they don't know when they'll receive the units they expect.

This could be junk info just like all of the other bad info they were giving out. But it doesn't look good for those of us who switched from Sweetwater in hopes of getting the Stadium earlier.

Man that would really suck if true.

I left my SW order in place. So I will just take the first one that arrives and cancel the other.

But really wanted one for Thanksgiving break. Still holding out hope.

Based on DI’s video (filmed on 11/6 and referencing a couple/few weeks) - Dec 23 sounds unreasonable/incorrect. But who knows.

 

[GuitarGorilla]

Man that would really suck if true.

I left my SW order in place. So I will just take the first one that arrives and cancel the other.

But really wanted one for Thanksgiving break. Still holding out hope.

Based on DI’s video (filmed on 11/6 and referencing a couple/few weeks) - Dec 23 sounds unreasonable/incorrect. But who knows.

Considering that MF already jumped the gun and shipped prematurely once I wouldn't blame L6 for giving them a really safe ship date until the last minute. But I also wouldn't be surprised if MF reps either simply had bad info or were stretching the truth to get orders, and never actually had stock for most of us.

 

[Mongillo19]

I left my SW order in place. So I will just take the first one that arrives and cancel the other.

For sure. I thought it was bizarre SW was allegedly only getting 400 units or so in the first wave and MF/GC had thousands.

I think we are starting to see the reality

 

[ccc118]

Considering that MF already jumped the gun and shipped prematurely once I wouldn't blame L6 for giving them a really safe ship date until the last minute. But I also wouldn't be surprised if MF reps either simply had bad info or were stretching the truth to get orders, and never actually had stock for most of us.

It seems like every time I hear about someone checking in with MF/GC, they get different info. Their apology email about the early shipping said they would start going out 11/18. If that date wasn't accurate, it would have been better if they didn't mention one one at all.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yes; please ship me a $2000 modeler so I take possession Christmas day. What a shitshow that would be.

 

[jmcecil]

I don't really do social media. The little I do is simply to stay in the know. And of course the information available on social media is close to 99% nonsense. Irony.

 

[Digital Igloo]

@Digital Igloo I hope when the HX Stadium XL is finally out, we will see more focus on the smaller Stadium.

I'd really like to see especially what the scribble strip replacement on it looks like and how it works overall compared to the XL. I think that will be key for me deciding which model I'd rather have.

PS. After watching the few videos of the HX Stadium XL in use...has Line6 considered adding some sort of "zoom in" mode so it's easier to tap on the blocks? Say you have a simple preset that fits on one path, you could have some sort of bigger view of that where each block is simply a larger touch target. Or is the idea that people should use the capacitive touch function more to select blocks?

You'd have to have massive sausage fingers to not reliably tap blocks on Stadium's screen. Initial screen designs are all done in Illustrator so actual size within 1mm is a keystroke away. Super easy to know whether something's easy to tap or not. Plus, we tested a lot internally and externally. I wouldn't worry about it.

But yes, we'd love it if people took advantage of the cap-sense switches. They make everything so much faster; plus, you're able to stay in Focus view. Once you've built your signal flow, there really isn't much need to see the home screen at all. Holding the AMP button now jumps to the Cab block(s) so you can access Amp and Cabs from Focus view as well.

 

[Mongillo19]

Yes; please ship me a $2000 modeler so I take possession Christmas day. What a shitshow that would be.

 

[GuitarGorilla]

For sure. I thought it was bizarre SW was allegedly only getting 400 units or so in the first wave and MF/GC had thousands.

I think we are starting to see the reality

The reality:

 

[AlbertA]

Facebook

Yes; please ship me a $2000 modeler so I take possession Christmas day. What a shitshow that would be.

 

[Mongillo19]

From that video

 

[Fireproof]

You'd have to have massive sausage fingers to not reliably tap blocks on Stadium's screen. Initial screen designs are all done in Illustrator so actual size within 1mm is a keystroke away. Super easy to know whether something's easy to tap or not. Plus, we tested a lot internally and externally. I wouldn't worry about it.

But yes, we'd love it if people took advantage of the cap-sense switches. They make everything so much faster; plus, you're able to stay in Focus view. Once you've built your signal flow, there really isn't much need to see the home screen at all. Holding the AMP button now jumps to the Cab block(s) so you can access Amp and Cabs from Focus view as well.

This combo of touchscreen plus knobs and switches sounds super efficient and is the muscle-memory I’m looking forward to developing quickly.

This time around I won’t be using the computer at all to force my on device proficiency.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I know it's blueballs prior to release when people are looking for an extensive traditional runthrough, but I love these kinds of unorthodox players.

Yeah, quite a decent idea to get those on board.

 

[GuitarGorilla]

From that video
View attachment 54879

Thanks for the tip. I chatted with them and they confirmed that orders placed now will be in the first shipment that they expect to go out on the 18th. They seem to have good Google and Facebook reviews, so I placed an order with them. I'm forfeiting the 20% discount from MF/SW, but at this point I'll consider it a fee to not be additionally jerked around by call center employees of big box stores.

It will be funny if MF, SW, and Chuck Levins all ship my preorders the 18th in the end. If they don't accept returns I suppose I'll sell the extras on Reverb and make a small profit on due to the discounts.

 

[Mongillo19]

Thanks for the tip. I chatted with them and they confirmed that orders placed now will be in the first shipment that they expect to go out on the 18th. They seem to have good Google and Facebook reviews, so I placed an order with them. I'm forfeiting the 20% discount from MF/SW, but at this point I'll consider it a fee to not be additionally jerked around by call center employees of big box stores.

It will be funny if MF, SW, and Chuck Levins all ship my preorders the 18th in the end. If they don't accept returns I suppose I'll sell the extras on Reverb and make a small profit on due to the discounts.

Yeah my SW invoice has said 11/18 release for a few weeks now. Seems about right

 

[GuitarGorilla]

Yeah my SW invoice has said 11/18 release for a few weeks now. Seems about right

My rep said end of Dec for my mid July preorder, but nothing would surprise me at this point.