Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[JiveTurkey]

When you said that the Mustang models was fire, i was like..

As a side note, semi-related; I 10000000000000% wanted the TBP comparison test to be like one click away from the Mustang where it was like "Look! They just slapped the old crap in a new box!"

It wasn't. Darnit!

 

[SeeD]

Do some of you Line6 users long for a capture block?
As a long time QC user I love having the option, and just capture anything i want. When i sold my Axe Fx II and got the QC I was so happy to finally have that option, as I did not like the Kemper, but was longing for Fractal to have a capture block ( not just a Tone match ) but that don`t seem to happen any time soon

 

[sashimi]

I feel like I’m the only person who cares about tweed models

 

[mikah912]

JVM to me, is kind of like a real amp version of a modeller - loads of versatility and different tones in one box. In a modeller it doesn't quite make as much sense even though there are some unique tones in there.

Man, that OD1 Orange channel is like a Goldilocks Marshall tone that isn't quite covered by a JCM800 or 900 or Silver Jubilee. Juuuust the right amount of saturation and tightness without a boost.

Haven't found an exact equivalent on Helix yet, but I'm experimenting with the new 2203 and various pedals.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Proxy is the thing I most look forward to in the Stadium.

 

[SeeD]

#metoo

I hope it`s good!

When I play discgolf (as I do everyday in the summer) I use a Proxy as my throwing Putter

 

[mikah912]

Do some of you Line6 users long for a capture block?
As a long time QC user I love having the option, and just capture anything i want. When i sold my Axe Fx II and got the QC I was so happy to finally have that option, as I did not like the Kemper, but was longing for Fractal to have a capture block ( not just a Tone match ) but that don`t seem to happen any time soon

I care, but only so much as there are some capture dudes with sick collections and similar taste to mine that I'd like to sample again (Having used their stuff in the Kemper/Quad Cortex days of yore). @Deadpan is top of mind there. @JerEvil is right behind him. I love his demos and tone preferences, but I haven't gotten to enjoy @GuitarJon captures yet.

The dream, such as it is, would be @Burger doing for Proxy what he's done for Quad Cortex. He - more than ANYTHING else - kept me tethered to that platform because of how good his modded Marshall captures were.

 

[timbuck3]

The new audio engine, as great as it is, is the least interesting thing about Stadium! If audio clips are all you’re after then I think this product ain’t for you. You’re going to be sorely disappointed once the YouTube clips are out. Might as well start bitching in the forums now, get it all out, so that we can get a nice and pleasant launch in the Fall.

Go on…

Wow, come on. The bottom line is tones for people playing modelers.
I mean, we already have a bunch of companies doing the touchscreen thing and most people own their iPhone or some kind of phone system that’s had a touchscreen and for years so that whole end of it is cool but somewhat behind the times as far as 2025/26 is concerned
While that new touchscreen does look cool the interface, and hopefully the looper is much more advanced, which would be cool. I still feel like all that is definitely a positive, but I think this unit has to take the tones and the effects to a new level in order for it to really stand out

 

[SeeD]

I care, but only so much as there are some capture dudes with sick collections and similar taste to mine that I'd like to sample again (Having used their stuff in the Kemper/Quad Cortex days of yore). @Deadpan is top of mind there. @JerEvil is right behind him. I love his demos and tone preferences, but I haven't gotten to enjoy @GuitarJon captures yet.

The dream, such as it is, would be @Burger doing for Proxy what he's done for Quad Cortex. He - more than ANYTHING else - kept me tethered to that platform because of how good his modded Marshall captures were.

If it was something i missed, I just took my QC to my amp friends house and just made him laugh out loud when i captured his stuff, I said welcome to 2023 ( 2 years ago ) this stuff is good to have in a 2025 unit

 

[Orvillain]

Just fired up my Helix to mess around with some reverbs. It is kind of ridiculous how wet and moist Dynamic Plate can get, but Dynamic Hall just sounds terrible to me. Even when you open up the dampening parameter and try and get it as moist and bright as possible, it just falls flat.

(today has been a reverb comparison day!)

 

[timbuck3]

Fair point on the technical aspects (aside from "audio quality" - not sure what you mean there). I want to know more about that too, and I'm looking forward to those details being revealed as launch nears.

Modeling Chutzpah is pretty vague, but I'll repeat what I always say having owned all of the major platforms: None of them have better amp models across the board. Each of them has some I think are done more realistically and better sounding than their competitors.

I'm extensively shooting out my FM9 and Helix right now, and it only reconfirms that Line 6 got almost all of the major food groups right as of 3.8. Fractal will always have them beat in terms of depth/diversity/selection across every category but bass amps. I don't think anyone disputes that, but that also matter less and less to me. If anything, I try to avoid the virtual amp collecting like the plague because it's antithetical to productivity.

And effects quality and diversity in fractal as well. Maybe?

 

[mikah912]

Just fired up my Helix to mess around with some reverbs. It is kind of ridiculous how wet and moist Dynamic Plate can get, but Dynamic Hall just sounds terrible to me. Even when you open up the dampening parameter and try and get it as moist and bright as possible, it just falls flat.

(today has been a reverb comparison day!)

I'd really like to see them get some convolution stuff happening and then make it so it's easy to tweak the modulation and delays we add to it in a single block or two.

 

[SeeD]

I just HATE that we got to wait months for this unit to come out. I really hate to wait for things.
When it does come in some stores, I will check it out, I hope it`s good and fun to use

 

[Fireproof]

I just HATE that we got to wait months for this unit to come out. I really hate to wait for things.
When it does come in some stores, I will check it out, I hope it`s good and fun to use

Agreed. I have been out of the "gear shopping" game for a while now, and when I saw the Line6 youtube demo pop up and a sweetwater ad, I thought 'ooh - lemme go check it out.' But alas - we are months away...

 

[holoholo]

Do some of you Line6 users long for a capture block?

Personally:

 

[Orvillain]

Do some of you Line6 users long for a capture block?

Only if it is good as NAM, and has good file management. Better yet, being able to put together my own 2/3/4 channel amp, with various mode switches and the like, and plugging in the captures into each permutation. So I could make a virtual equivalent of a Synergy rack type of thing.

 

[SeeD]

Only if it is good as NAM, and has good file management. Better yet, being able to put together my own 2/3/4 channel amp, with various mode switches and the like, and plugging in the captures into each permutation. So I could make a virtual equivalent of a Synergy rack type of thing.

NAM is good. Hmm, that sounds fancy, might be fun to have something like that

 

[mikah912]

Only if it is good as NAM, and has good file management. Better yet, being able to put together my own 2/3/4 channel amp, with various mode switches and the like, and plugging in the captures into each permutation. So I could make a virtual equivalent of a Synergy rack type of thing.

Doesn't NAM have aliasing issues?

 

[Orvillain]

Doesn't NAM have aliasing issues?

I think it's only really significant if you take a capture and run it at a different sampling rate than it was made. But I don't really know tbh. I don't use NAM that often, I just regard it (after doing tests and comparisons) as the best capture tech out there.

 

[GTR37]

Yeah, the JVMs on Fractal are irresistible. Rectos too, although I've started to come around to the Helix one a bit (I always hit it with the Horizon Precision Drive in front).

I've come around on Helix to the VH4 channel 3 (sometimes with a boost, sometimes without) and 5153 as my main crunch rhythm sounds. The Ecstasy is just for fun when I want to throw a Plate on it and indulge my (non-existent) Sunset Strip glory days.

The JVM and the Splawn has kind of done it for me it’s great to have all the amps in the Fractal but a couple of good ones your set through the SLO in there to for leads

Actually , lately using the Bogren stuff and his Marshall pack and Rev C Recto are stellar