Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[Sascha Franck]

I asked this in a previous post, not sure if here or in the Stadium thread, but it got lost and I'd like to know: do you people know if Helix LT's 1/4" output is balanced?

I don't think so. The manual says you should connect a TS plug.

but that also requires the device at the other end of the cable to have a 1/4” balanced input as well.

Or you could just get an adapter cable, which usually makes life a little easier as XLR cables and inputs are around pretty much anywhere.

 

[Lysander]

I asked this in a previous post, not sure if here or in the Stadium thread, but it got lost and I'd like to know: do you people know if Helix LT's 1/4" output is balanced?

Impedance balanced, but, yes.

And if it is balanced, is there any downside to using a TRS cable?

You'll get the same benefits as XLR outputs when it comes to noise rejection but, unlike "real" (fully differential) balanced outs, they can still run into grounding issues.

 

[molul]

In basic terms, a balanced 1/4” output is the same as an XLR output, only with different connectors. So a balanced 1/4” output requires a TRS cable to work as an actual balanced output, but that also requires the device at the other end of the cable to have a 1/4” balanced input as well.

It would be connected to the mixer, so that would be covered. Thanks!

I don't think so. The manual says you should connect a TS plug.

Damn It would be nice if the Stadium had a balanced one. It would help a bit for using Showcase.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Damn It would be nice if the Stadium had a balanced one. It would help a bit for using Showcase.

Well, there's always DI boxes. My personal experience also says that more often than one might expect, proper line levels don't exactly profit from being balanced too much. YMMV.

 

[AlbertA]

The older I get the less patient I become. Damn, I wish all future Helix Stadium products were available from day one. I really want the new features, but I‘m pretty sure the floor version just isn‘t the right thing for my use case. I need something that either fits on my desk or in my DAW. But I also don‘t want to wait several years for the Stadium SKU that suits my needs best.

I think Apple's releases have spoiled a lot of us.

 

[Vic Winters]

We were going to wait to announce this but screw it. If you count models like we did with Helix, Stadium currently has 39 Agoura amps/channels, not 16+6. (The 50th Anniversary Ampeg SVT has 5 channels alone.)

Any chance for a Placater Clean + Dirty in one?

 

[Sascha Franck]

I think Apple's releases have spoiled a lot of us.

You mean like their excellent launch of Apple Intelligence?

 

[AlbertA]

You mean like their excellent launch of Apple Intelligence?

 

[GTR37]

Preset 1: Caverns of Valhalla
Preset B: Plain Vanilla
Preset III: Messy Mark Eye Vee
Preset fore: All the Mids!

1a U2ube critic
1d Timbuck3 where art thee?
2a Hot tub time machine
2b Freeman’s bright caps
3a no direct sunlight

 

[laxu]

I think Apple's releases have spoiled a lot of us.

Apple has had for years stuff like "this feature coming later". Their OS releases are pretty buggy, and the upcoming iOS visual design looks like it will be a shitshow of bad design.

Let's not hold Apple too high here. I like their hardware, but they have really lost the plot on software.

 

[Sascha Franck]

and the upcoming iOS visual design looks like it will be a shitshow of bad design.

And it'll even make it to the full macOS. Let's hope they allow for some ways to switch all the translucent BS off.

 

[AlbertA]

Apple has had for years stuff like "this feature coming later". Their OS releases are pretty buggy, and the upcoming iOS visual design looks like it will be a shitshow of bad design.

Let's not hold Apple too high here. I like their hardware, but they have really lost the plot on software.

That's not what I was referring to - I was referring to hardware launches, their announcement and their delivery being mostly a short time between announcement and delivery.

 

[laxu]

That's not what I was referring to - I was referring to hardware launches, their announcement and their delivery being mostly a short time between announcement and delivery.

Yeah that's fair...as long as you don't want any customized options (mostly for Macs) because sometimes those take a few months from launch.

 

[Elf]

... I do honestly think at this point sound clips are useless. I understand why people want them but I also understand why line 6 isn’t giving them to us yet. There will be plenty of sound clips available in a few months for the bedroom tone experts to criticize, but at least then people will have access to the stadium so that it can defend itself so to speak. Why give people a chance to start crapping on it before it’s even out, based on some over compressed youtube video played back through an iPhone speaker?

I'm in the sound clips and YouTube intro songs are useless to me, I usually skip the intro songs to just see what the unit does and does not, most of those guys after a while sound the same to me.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Yeah, I don’t care about audio clips. It’s going to sound good. Jon is going to sound like Jon doing a catchy ass radio metal riff, and the rest will dial stuff to sound 90% like the last thing they demo’d and it will all sound good. At this point if you’re not getting sounds you like out of modeling it’s you, IMO. I want to see the routing, how it’s handled in the screen, how quickly we can assign 10 things to one footswitch, how the breakout box works with showcase mode, maybe some live eq displays of HYPE on a couple of amps to see what’s going on.

 

[Southpaw-DD]

I'm at the point where I'm comparing and buying/selling gear based on stripped down amp playing feel mostly, followed by sound and FX capability in the latest modelers/devices. I don't really care about precise accuracy to one specific amp at that company's headquarters (other than it being true to the circuit and sounding good, in general). Profiles/captures are frustrating because you are relying on someone else's choices with levels, DI box connections or a loadbox that may or may not be ideal, speakers, volume they were working at, pickups (hot or not), and on and on.

If Agoura "feels" great and supersedes my experience with other digital only devices, I'll jump on the wagon. I sold my HX gear previously because I thought the feel was lacking something (in my hands) even though the sounds were great. Kemper felt better to me, but I got fed up with the software/hardware experience and profile chasing. I want to limit to one digital hardware solution or maybe plug-ins only in the near future - I like amps and pedals too much to throw more money on digital gear.

My ideal product may be an interface/control box that works with a plug-in or standalone Stadium app - would be cool if the app set the external interface impedance and other settings based on the signal chain. Of course, that would only work in live/standalone mode for real-time, not DAW tracks. The "Stomp" version may be in the ideal price and feature range for what I need.

 

[paisleywookiee]

And it'll even make it to the full macOS. Let's hope they allow for some ways to switch all the translucent BS off.

You can, from what I’ve heard.

 

[GTR37]

Yeah, I don’t care about audio clips. It’s going to sound good. Jon is going to sound like Jon doing a catchy ass radio metal riff, and the rest will dial stuff to sound 90% like the last thing they demo’d and it will all sound good. At this point if you’re not getting sounds you like out of modeling it’s you, IMO. I want to see the routing, how it’s handled in the screen, how quickly we can assign 10 things to one footswitch, how the breakout box works with showcase mode, maybe some live eq displays of HYPE on a couple of amps to see what’s going on.

John I would like to hear clips from because your right he is like an encyclopedia of cool riffs

 

[Deleted member 490]

Also, a big part of Agoura (and this is echoed repeatedly by beta testers) is its immediacy and how it responds under your fingers; clips do nothing to help convey this.

Maybe you can capture that as a NAM profile and share it so we all can load it on our PCs and try it out

Just kidding... Or maybe not

 

[timbuck3]

@Digital Igloo really? Meaningless? I guess I completely disagree.

Imagine this



Where they just talk about the knob's and the switch and replace all the pedal audio with just their breathing sounds.

meaningless?

I kind of think, given the unit to guys who have everything and the kitchen sink and can afford anything and the kitchen sink and put out their videos where they have 100 A behind them and every effect on the face of earth at their feet to represent the stadium or even talk about it
Why you ask?
Because they already have everything they would ever want ever need they can just get anything they want. They have just piles of modelers and effects and what not so while they might have a good inventory of stuff which many people think makes them qualified to say oh this sounds great or that sounds great. The helix is I should say the stadium seems to be an all in one product so to me seeing it reviewed by people who for instance don’t have mega paddle boards or mega amplifiers and are just average Joe’s so to speak without a ton of gear and on a budget would be much more. I think the kind of people you’d want this to take and go through it
I’m just putting it out there and it’s just my opinion and I’m not exactly the most eloquent writer/speaker but are there any other guys getting tired of seeing the same people who have a ton of everything and can afford everything and have everything given to them review another Product that they’ve been given?