Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[EOengineer]

Was a joke, settle down. I’m in headphones.

 

[AlbertA]

Was a joke, settle down. I’m in headphones.

 

[EOengineer]

 

[banned]

Now I'm dying to know - what show / character is this? ^^^

 

[synthpenguin]

Now I'm dying to know - what show / character is this? ^^^

Homelander from The Boys

 

[synthpenguin]

tbh I have not been a huge fan of a lot of the higher gain demoes, BUT it's very subjective and there are a lot of variables.

My thought is that I can already get a lot of great sounds that I like better out of the current Helix amps, and there's almost no chance that any of these will be worse. So, at this point, I'm more interested in waiting to hear demoes from guitarists whose sounds I like, and after they've had the opportunity to setup those tones themselves.

 

[paisleywookiee]

tbh I have not been a huge fan of a lot of the higher gain demoes, BUT it's very subjective and there are a lot of variables.

My thought is that I can already get a lot of great sounds that I like better out of the current Helix amps, and there's almost no chance that any of these will be worse. So, at this point, I'm more interested in waiting to hear demoes from guitarists whose sounds I like, and after they've had the opportunity to setup those tones themselves.

Yeah I haven't been either, but I'm in the same thought process of "well, I really dig Helix tones, so it can't be worse". Honestly, I hear a ton of absolute shit demos from everyone (every device), and I know better.

 

[EOengineer]

tbh I have not been a huge fan of a lot of the higher gain demoes, BUT it's very subjective and there are a lot of variables.

My thought is that I can already get a lot of great sounds that I like better out of the current Helix amps, and there's almost no chance that any of these will be worse. So, at this point, I'm more interested in waiting to hear demoes from guitarists whose sounds I like, and after they've had the opportunity to setup those tones themselves.

I’ve really liked some of the high gain tones I’ve heard. There’s so much variability in players, presets, etc that I really refuse to change course until I have the unit in hand and have experienced the models directly.

Even if I don’t love all the tones, which I shouldn’t because I don’t love all amps and mic chains, there still might be things happening with feel and dynamics that change the calculus.

 

[mikah912]

tbh I have not been a huge fan of a lot of the higher gain demoes, BUT it's very subjective and there are a lot of variables.

My thought is that I can already get a lot of great sounds that I like better out of the current Helix amps, and there's almost no chance that any of these will be worse. So, at this point, I'm more interested in waiting to hear demoes from guitarists whose sounds I like, and after they've had the opportunity to setup those tones themselves.

My main issue with the demos is that they've all been clipped so short. My favorite high-gain tone thus far - in part because it had time to breathe - was the background music to today's official clip on the system clock/timer. That was tasty! But yeah, no one watches a Rabea/John Browne/Leon Todd/Sonic Drive Studio video for 15 seconds of out-of-context riffing.

But like you...I'm not worried at all. I've been really getting into the Line 6 Voltage (modded Plexi) and Oblivion (modern high-gainer) models from the Catalyst lately, and wowsers....they're amazing.

 

[laxu]

The clock needs a countdown feature to the end of your set. "That's all folks! We are now off to the bar!"

 

[synthpenguin]

Part of me kind of wonders if they're overcorrecting with cab block choices etc to avoid what could be perceived as excessive brightness when isolated. Listening to the various high gain sound samples in the player, it seems to be a trend.

A lot of people will associate any brightness with "digital harshness" or "sounding digital" when they know the amp is digital, even when it's realistic and a lot of what makes many rock and metal tones work, so I can understand dialing in darker tones to compensate for that. I mean, we see a lot of people doing deep post-IR high cuts to get rid of "harshness" and killing their sounds in the process, so while obviously Line 6's sound designers wouldn't do that and know better, that sort of compensation isn't unheard of.

 

[JiveTurkey]

The clock needs a countdown feature to the end of your set. "That's all folks! We are now off to the bar!"

 

[synthpenguin]

Yeah I haven't been either, but I'm in the same thought process of "well, I really dig Helix tones, so it can't be worse". Honestly, I hear a ton of absolute shit demos from everyone (every device), and I know better.

Yeah, totally. And I mean, a lot of the Helix firmware update sound demoes have been GREAT, especially in recent years (go listen to the 3.70 demoes!). A lot of factors at play.

Even if I don’t love all the tones, which I shouldn’t because I don’t love all amps and mic chains, there still might be things happening with feel and dynamics that change the calculus.

Agreed!

My main issue with the demos is that they've all been clipped so short. My favorite high-gain tone thus far - in part because it had time to breathe - was the background music to today's official clip on the system clock/timer. That was tasty! But yeah, no one watches a Rabea/John Browne/Leon Todd/Sonic Drive Studio video for 15 seconds of out-of-context riffing.

But like you...I'm not worried at all. I've been really getting into the Line 6 Voltage (modded Plexi) and Oblivion (modern high-gainer) models from the Catalyst lately, and wowsers....they're amazing.

Yeah, this is a good point, and yep the tone in that video is one of my favorite high gain ones so far too.

 

[laxu]

@Digital Igloo your Helix product page fails to load if people are using adblocking. Boo!

 

[synthpenguin]

The clock needs a countdown feature to the end of your set. "That's all folks! We are now off to the bar!"

Applause SFX starts to fade in when you hit 30 seconds left

 

[Digital Igloo]

@Digital Igloo your Helix product page fails to load if people are using adblocking. Boo!

Which ad blocker? I have like three or four active and it loads just fine here (Safari on macOS Sequoia).

 

[AlbertA]

Which ad blocker? I have like three or four active and it loads just fine here (Safari on macOS Sequoia).

I think it's this one:

 

[synthpenguin]

fwiw it works fine with my ad blocker

 

[AlbertA]

tbh I have not been a huge fan of a lot of the higher gain demoes, BUT it's very subjective and there are a lot of variables.

There haven't been a ton - but what aspect didn't you like?

For the record - I've liked most of the sound demos so far (main ones I didn't like were some of the guitar summit done in a hurry ones).

 

[EOengineer]

I hope they get the Friedman BE-100 in there. The Placater absolutely crushes in Helix.

Plus the Mesas. Can’t forget the Mesas.