Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[GTR37]

Can I also say how amused I am at the subtle trolling of people demanding clips to post a 60 second video of Paul Hindmarsh flipping through 22 pictures of models and not playing them

 

[BenIfin]

They have chosen well for the first batch of Agoura Guitar and Bass Amps.

I dare say with all the channels also being in these models, they would cover an enormous amount of ground for an enormous amount of players.

 

[Sleezy E]

Hey @Digital Igloo I see the d-10 has an optical "output"

Would it be possible for the Stadium to slave an optical adat.. like an 8pre and effectively use Stadium as a dedicated studio interface?

Follow up question... can the d-10 also run a simultaneous Variax signal while its transmitting/receiving via optical?

 

[mikah912]

Maybe? We care less about checking all the boxes than we do continuing to focus on the amps people want us to make, whether they already exist as HX models or not. I suspect there'll be some HX amps we may never get to because other never-been-in-Helix amps are higher priority.

Love to hear that!

How are you determining which amps those are?

 

[GTR37]

I'm not people, just a person, but I would be not at all displeased if a Marshall 4140 appeared in an update. But I don't know if there is anyone else out there who does and would elevate it to "people want" status, lol.

And I'm sure I'm not alone in this one, but I'd really look forward to an Agoura Grammatico GSG showing up someday.

Ya the GSG would be cool I think that’s like a Dumble based amp correct ?
I might also be in the minority but a Matchless , DrZ and Divided Duo
Are also cool models

 

[StarF666]

I might also be in the minority but a Matchless , DrZ and Divided Duo

100%

Especially the Matchless is a long time Helix favorite.

I'd really like to know how they decided for the AC30CC. I don't think it's a bad amp and maybe theirs is one of those golden samples but for most of us it's not the first thing that comes to mind when you think AC30. I'm sure nonetheless it will sound very good.

 

[timbuck3]

Trainwreck please

 

[Blix]

Trainwreck please

Derailed Ingrid was one of my absolute fave models in the LT I had:

 

[HotRats]

I hope these graphics will be more detailed and make use of the great screen

I was actually joking

 

[timbuck3]

Derailed Ingrid was one of my absolute fave models in the LT I had:

Sweet.. love the trainwreck amps

 

[HotRats]

I’ve never had a preset sound good through an amp and cab just by defeating the cab modeling. Seems like an “emergency only” type of feature to me.

Idk, I've played for years with presets that went both to a real can before the IR and then to the foh after the IR.

Currently I do the same with a real amp, something pretty common these days.

I do it finding the right IR/cab that works best with the sound dialed in for the real can, so there's that.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I suspect there'll be some HX amps we may never get to because other never-been-in-Helix amps are higher priority.

Some existing amps are fine "as is" anyway.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

"global" blocks or any other solution to the same need are a must have for those who play live.

I used to think that was the case because it looked that way on paper. But every time I've tried to implement it and then use it in even rehearsal conditions it was a giant liability. It's better with amp blocks than effects, but even then you can get yourself in trouble when you just want maybe a little more gain for on an amp for a particular preset, but oops! You forgot to unlink the global block and now ALL your presets have more gain. Or you tweaked a delay saved as global and forgot to unlink, etc.

I messed up so many presets that way that I just stopped using them and ultimately went with units where it wasn't implemented. And I don't miss them. How many times do I actually edit my amps live? Like zero. Those have been dialed in for basically years.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I'd really like to know how they decided for the AC30CC. I don't think it's a bad amp and maybe theirs is one of those golden samples but for most of us it's not the first thing that comes to mind when you think AC30.

Yeah, I've been wondering this aloud since the initial video when I saw it there. It's not really a highly regarded version of that amp, particularly for a big chunk of the crowd that's going to be using it. I'd have expected maybe a 90's Korg era version if they wanted a modern take, or even the current hand wired (ala Fractal). Like you say, it's probably going to sound good. I hope so, anyway. I made the Essex A30 model work, but it isn't my favorite model of one.

 

[molul]

I used to think that was the case because it looked that way on paper. But every time I've tried to implement it and then use it in even rehearsal conditions it was a giant liability. It's better with amp blocks than effects, but even then you can get yourself in trouble when you just want maybe a little more gain for on an amp for a particular preset, but oops! You forgot to unlink the global block and now ALL your presets have more gain. Or you tweaked a delay saved as global and forgot to unlink, etc.

I messed up so many presets that way that I just stopped using them and ultimately went with units where it wasn't implemented. And I don't miss them. How many times do I actually edit my amps live? Like zero. Those have been dialed in for basically years.

That could and should be taken care of easily. Being it a risk, a global block parameter shouldn't automatically update on change. The user should do it manually. It could be done when saving the preset, and with a confirm dialog warning the user that global blocks will be updated, with a big red text so you're aware of what you're doing.

On the other hand, I back up my setlists after every rehearsal if I changed anything. Having backups is a bless.

 

[ian_dissonance]

I used to think that was the case because it looked that way on paper. But every time I've tried to implement it and then use it in even rehearsal conditions it was a giant liability. It's better with amp blocks than effects, but even then you can get yourself in trouble when you just want maybe a little more gain for on an amp for a particular preset, but oops! You forgot to unlink the global block and now ALL your presets have more gain. Or you tweaked a delay saved as global and forgot to unlink, etc.

I messed up so many presets that way that I just stopped using them and ultimately went with units where it wasn't implemented. And I don't miss them. How many times do I actually edit my amps live? Like zero. Those have been dialed in for basically years.

A feature not working for you personally doesn’t make it a bad feature.

 

[laxu]

I'd really like to know how they decided for the AC30CC. I don't think it's a bad amp and maybe theirs is one of those golden samples but for most of us it's not the first thing that comes to mind when you think AC30. I'm sure nonetheless it will sound very good.

Maybe Digital Igloo can spill the T, but my guess is the AC30CC was a personal favorite of one of the developers so they wanted to make an amp model of something they are familiar using.

I'm of the mind that I don't care what it's based on. If it sounds good, it's good.

 

[GTR37]

Maybe Digital Igloo can spill the T, but my guess is the AC30CC was a personal favorite of one of the developers so they wanted to make an amp model of something they are familiar using.

I'm of the mind that I don't care what it's based on. If it sounds good, it's good.

I thought it was Sam’s
He had the Jcm800 too I believe

 

[HotRats]

I used to think that was the case because it looked that way on paper. But every time I've tried to implement it and then use it in even rehearsal conditions it was a giant liability. It's better with amp blocks than effects, but even then you can get yourself in trouble when you just want maybe a little more gain for on an amp for a particular preset, but oops! You forgot to unlink the global block and now ALL your presets have more gain. Or you tweaked a delay saved as global and forgot to unlink, etc.

I messed up so many presets that way that I just stopped using them and ultimately went with units where it wasn't implemented. And I don't miss them. How many times do I actually edit my amps live? Like zero. Those have been dialed in for basically years.

I understand that perfectly but I think there are several easy solutions to the issue:

• a global preference, where you tell the unit whether to propagate changes to global blocks automatically or not;
• a prompt when exiting the preset: "do you want to propagate changes to all global blocks? Y/N?";
• a direct command you have to actively send in order to propagate the changes to all global blocks;

Edit: to me the global block feature is not necessary practical while on stage, during or before a gig, but also at home when tweaking presets.
When you have lots of presets based on the same template and you, for example, find your new favourite IR and what to update them all, is much easier to do via global blocks.

 

[banned]

I don’t know of that many amps that you are really missing to be honest
On the Marshall front maybe a Jubilee and some sort of hot rodded Splawn , Friedman or original Ben Jose like Mikah suggested

Obviously the Mesa camp is not represented at the moment but I am sure that will come

Out of the gate for the hi gain crowd a 5153, Revv, SLO, XTC is a pretty strong lineup

I agree - not much missing. And I like many of the existing HX amps like Voltage Queen, Trainwreck, Lonestar etc. These NEED to be Agourified.