Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[laxu]

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

False alarm I guess, it loaded now but before just got stuck in the loading screen with an adblocker on. I'm using AdGuard.

It's spamming some YT log event endpoint like a mofo though.

I still don't like the design of the website at all. Those new sections put ugly controls in somewhat unintuitive spots so the navigation never feels natural in any way. There's also a typo in the "Discover Agoura" section where it says "Enhaced tube emulation".

 

[Mongillo19]

I still don't like the design of the website at all.

 

[GTR37]

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

Plus the Mesas. Can’t forget the Mesas.

Well you have a 1/3 chance in December perhaps

 

[GTR37]

Some of the 5153 clips in particular sound very cool and lively. I’m still sort of sweating that Plexi if I’m being honest. Every clip I’ve heard has been sooooo dark/wooly. I really need to get my hands on that to give it a run.

the other thing that should be noted , almost all of the clean amps used a 57 and they have that crisp sound to my ears
NONE of the hi gains sounds used either an Sm57 nor a MD421 both of which I would consider being a staple of hi gain guitar sounds, if not a single 57 , then certainly a mix or a 57/121. , so that in of itself , is going to bring a darker , warmer rolled off top end bite

 

[GTR37]

Hmm. Still not loving the Plexi. The Deluxe also sounds strange to me, particularly on the lower right focus view zone?

Anyway, will see what’s up once I have it in hand. Maybe it’s just the phone speakers.

the Plexi in the latest stopwatch video sounds the best of the clips I have heard of it tbh , unfortunate its not in the ISO clips

 

[synthpenguin]

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).

There's no one thing, but listening to all of the high gain samples in the player, overall I'm not a fan of how little bite they have. It makes them come across as a little muddy and lifeless to me rather than just dark (which I often like in a lot of contexts). But I truly think it's just setup rather than an issue with the amps themselves.

the other thing that should be noted , almost all of the clean amps used a 57 and they have that crisp sound to my ears
NONE of the hi gains sounds used either an Sm57 nor a MD421 both of which I would consider being a staple of hi gain guitar sounds, if not a single 57 , then certainly a mix or a 57/121. , so that in of itself , is going to bring a darker , warmer rolled off top end bite

Yeah, this is sort of what I was getting at before re: the cab choices, at least the ones listed in the sample player. fwiw I liked every clean sample.

 

[Fireproof]

False alarm I guess, it loaded now but before just got stuck in the loading screen with an adblocker on. I'm using AdGuard.

It's spamming some YT log event endpoint like a mofo though.

I still don't like the design of the website at all. Those new sections put ugly controls in somewhat unintuitive spots so the navigation never feels natural in any way. There's also a typo in the "Discover Agoura" section where it says "Enhaced tube emulation".

They really should update some things.

When you go to the home page - there’s a side scrolling object at the top. Yes it has stadium in the mix but when I visited it was on the Cabs.

Then you scroll down the page and you get Multi-Fx first. So obviously I picked that and that’s what Stadium is.

But is it there?? NO!! Starts with the Helix family and goes down from there.

So where is Stadium? Not there.

So I try the hamburger at the top. Click products. And I’m back to square one.

The only way you can find stadium is if you scroll way down the front page to “latest news” - or you happen to see that top object scroll from Power Cab Cl to Stadium.

Just creates unnecessary friction and difficulty for the user. Silly for the new flagship. Maybe it’s by design because it not shipping yet? I don’t know. But it should have a static place at the top of the home page AND should be listed as Stadium Family above Helix Family in the Multi-FX page.

My $0.02.

 

[laxu]

There's no one thing, but listening to all of the high gain samples in the player, overall I'm not a fan of how little bite they have. It makes them come across as a little muddy and lifeless to me rather than just dark (which I often like in a lot of contexts). But I truly think it's just setup rather than an issue with the amps themselves.

I agree. Just not a good representation of the amps IMO, the YT demos have had better tones.

Yeah, this is sort of what I was getting at before re: the cab choices, at least the ones listed in the sample player. fwiw I liked every clean sample.

Same here.

It's also weird the bass samples have drums on all of them but the guitar samples do not.

 

[synthpenguin]

It's also weird the bass samples have drums on all of them but the guitar samples do not.

Yeah, I found that a little odd too!

 

[AlbertA]

There's no one thing, but listening to all of the high gain samples in the player, overall I'm not a fan of how little bite they have. It makes them come across as a little muddy and lifeless to me rather than just dark (which I often like in a lot of contexts). But I truly think it's just setup rather than an issue with the amps themselves.



Yeah, this is sort of what I was getting at before re: the cab choices, at least the ones listed in the sample player. fwiw I liked every clean sample.

Oh I hadn't heard those high gain samples in the player - Yep those are dark for sure.

 

[laxu]

Fireproof inspired me to tear down the HX Stadium website.

• Loading screens suck. There's nothing on the website that really calls for having one, it could easily load things in the background or while scrolling.
• "Hear & learn about Agoura"
  • Inconsistent navigation. Are you supposed to back out from X at the top, buttons at the bottom, or the little left arrow?
  • Left arrow should indicate "previous section" in the horizontal slide layout, but not "previous view". At most it should loop to the last slide.
  • No link to "Discover Agoura" from the "Listen" section, but there is a "Hear Agoura" button in the "Discover" section.
  • Ugly, if functional buttons. I think Line6 can do better for their new flagship's product page.
• "Try hype & focus view"
  • Same inconsistent navigation.
  • Links to "Hear samples" section which is more inconsistency as it jumps to an entirely different area of the page, with no way to go back to the section you were on.
  • Could have a better implementation for Hype with some kind of highlights for areas you can click like you see for Focus view.
  • Clips are pretty short so you can't get much of an idea of the effects of hype and focus.
• "Total Control".
  • I'm sure Line6 intend to fill in Showcase here later, but they could at least have something about the wireless features and other control options. Now it just has nothing so why does this section even exist?
• The grid section with modals for different YT videos of different areas.
  • It's annoying to open and close all of these one by one to read more about them.
  • Could be easily redesigned so that the grid icons stay on screen and text/videos are toggled into view below the grid. No modals to close, faster to use.
• Images of HX Stadium
  • It mixes pictures of HX Stadium and XL, and especially the I/O panel pics can be confusing because they look like they could be the same device, but it's Stadium vs XL.
  • Some captions would help to showcase what you are supposed to be looking at.

 

[Whizzinby]

Fireproof inspired me to tear down the HX Stadium website.

• Loading screens suck. There's nothing on the website that really calls for having one, it could easily load things in the background or while scrolling.
• "Hear & learn about Agoura"
  • Inconsistent navigation. Are you supposed to back out from X at the top, buttons at the bottom, or the little left arrow?
  • Left arrow should indicate "previous section" in the horizontal slide layout, but not "previous view". At most it should loop to the last slide.
  • No link to "Discover Agoura" from the "Listen" section, but there is a "Hear Agoura" button in the "Discover" section.
  • Ugly, if functional buttons. I think Line6 can do better for their new flagship's product page.
• "Try hype & focus view"
  • Same inconsistent navigation.
  • Links to "Hear samples" section which is more inconsistency as it jumps to an entirely different area of the page, with no way to go back to the section you were on.
  • Could have a better implementation for Hype with some kind of highlights for areas you can click like you see for Focus view.
  • Clips are pretty short so you can't get much of an idea of the effects of hype and focus.
• "Total Control".
  • I'm sure Line6 intend to fill in Showcase here later, but they could at least have something about the wireless features and other control options. Now it just has nothing so why does this section even exist?
• The grid section with modals for different YT videos of different areas.
  • It's annoying to open and close all of these one by one to read more about them.
  • Could be easily redesigned so that the grid icons stay on screen and text/videos are toggled into view below the grid. No modals to close, faster to use.
• Images of HX Stadium
  • It mixes pictures of HX Stadium and XL, and especially the I/O panel pics can be confusing because they look like they could be the same device, but it's Stadium vs XL.
  • Some captions would help to showcase what you are supposed to be looking at.

 

[EOengineer]

the other thing that should be noted , almost all of the clean amps used a 57 and they have that crisp sound to my ears
NONE of the hi gains sounds used either an Sm57 nor a MD421 both of which I would consider being a staple of hi gain guitar sounds, if not a single 57 , then certainly a mix or a 57/121. , so that in of itself , is going to bring a darker , warmer rolled off top end bite

I’ve noticed the mics listed on their recorded samples are heavy on ribbon mics, so that’s definitely not going to help anyone looking for a bright plexi tone. The true test will definitely be a 57 on a greenback cab.

I understand the focus on ribbon mics though. For the modeling/mic adverse guitarist, ribbons do tend to “hear” more like our ears than a 57 shoved up on the grille…some rolloff and a slower transient response.

 

[mbenigni]

I know, I know, LOL, sometimes I can be a good guy and buy gear just because it's gear but I'm baiscally a bad guy.
I already own an Helix Floor and I'm not even palying digital these days.

I'll buy one in the future, I'm sure I will.

In all seriousness, I think you’re being the “good guy” by responsibly abstaining until you have a genuine need.

(But I’m probably going to be bad anyway.)

 

[banned]

I’ve noticed the mics listed on their recorded samples are heavy on ribbon mics, so that’s definitely not going to help anyone looking for a bright plexi tone. The true test will definitely be a 57 on a greenback cab.

I understand the focus on ribbon mics though. For the modeling/mic adverse guitarist, ribbons do tend to “hear” more like our ears than a 57 shoved up on the grille…some rolloff and a slower transient response.

Honestly, it could just be the preference of the guy recording the clips. He may have a preference for darker tones leading to usage of dual Ribbon mics.

 

[dean701]

If you guys are referring to this play window, these are the exact same clips as those found in the high-gain youtube video.

 

[dean701]

found the focus audition page. a little underwhelmed by all the of brit plexi variations but the Red Enema had some sounds I liked.
The Princess 76 sounds great on all options.

 

[AlbertA]

If you guys are referring to this play window, these are the exact same clips as those found in the high-gain youtube video.

View attachment 53887

damn you're right

 

[jmcecil]

Clean/jazz players be like “all that High gain stuff sounds fine, but I find the cleans underwhelming”
Djent guys be like “clean stuff is easy, but I find the high gain stuff underwhelming”
I’ve heard those two statements for not only every digital sim ever released, but for pretty much every tube amp ever released.
And for every one of the products the guys that can play figure it out and sound fantastic.

 

[dean701]

Clean/jazz players be like “all that High gain stuff sounds fine, but I find the cleans underwhelming”
Djent guys be like “clean stuff is easy, but I find the high gain stuff underwhelming”
I’ve heard those two statements for not only every digital sim ever released, but for pretty much every tube amp ever released.
And for every one of the products the guys that can play figure it out and sound fantastic.

Sure, guys like Pete Thorn can make a bag of wet hammers sound musical but that really isn't the point.

The constituents of this particular forum are very fussy with how faithful the amps are reproduced on devices.
It's one thing to make it sound good but another altogether to skip bringing the real amp that day and have the modeler make it a seamless transition with sound and feel. Hence the success of recent capture platforms.
I would say there are only a few current Helix amps that are true to form with regards to sound. The bright light is that the Placater and 2203 are in that pack. Which are my favorites. It has been advertised that Stadium has more of an amp feel which is a sticking point for many platforms. I think the Hotone sounds good but the feel isn't there. Valeton....same.
Steve Atkinson still leads the pack for authenticity with NAM.
If the new 16 Stadium amps can pull things closer, it is a huge accomplishment for Line 6....then comes Proxy which is very exciting....and hopefully NAM integration which would simply crush.