Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[mikah912]

With the Twin it's pretty noticeable IMO - and yeah, defenitely some compression kicking in. But that's possibly cool, especially for live applications.

I could see it being the sort of thing you crank up just before soundcheck or recording takes where it makes things a smidge more palatable for a mix.

Definitely wasn't how I envisioned it working from how they first mentioned it at the June launch. If we're talking about making an amp sound how people think it sounds rather than how it authentically sounds, I immediately thought of Plexis and JCM800 2203s being perceived as gainer, more compressed beasts like the 80s sounds that came from so many hot-rodded Marshalls or ones boosted with ample EQ or drives in front.

But the Hype I've heard on those sounds - in this video and on Line 6's Stadium page - just seem to add a bit of volume and compression even when cranked to 10.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Focus zones like a sumbuck while avoiding Hype control like the plague.

 

[Lysander]

But the Hype I've heard on those sounds - in this video and on Line 6's Stadium page - just seem to add a bit of volume and compression even when cranked to 10.

Note how the top-end harshness of the Super Lead goes away with hype over 9.0. The real amp does that, but most people who never played a tube amp associate that fiz with "digital".

 

[mikah912]

Focus zones like a sumbuck while avoiding Hype control like the plague.

Hey, I'm open to having my mind changed, but that will be like 30th on my list of things to run through once I get my XL.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Wow it is subtle - i could only barely tell any difference for the Twin Reverb and Super Lead in those clips. Feels like it's mostly baked-in compression and EQ?

Super hard to tell in that "demo" where there's talking over it with volume reduction of the clip. But yeah, subtle. I suspect more audible when you're the one actually playing it.

 

[mbenigni]

...like a sumbuck...

Google will allow it.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

What is a sumbuck? I know what a Timbuk is, but a Sumbuck?

 

[mbenigni]

Hey, I'm open to having my mind changed, but that will be like 30th on my list of things to run through once I get my XL.

I don't believe you. If for no other reason, it's one knob and you will turn it.

 

[mbenigni]

What is a sumbuck? I know what a Timbuk is, but a Sumbuck?

It's where yuppie sumbitches get their coffee. In Alabama or somewhere.

 

[mikah912]

Note how the top-end harshness of the Super Lead goes away with hype over 9.0. The real amp does that, but most people who never played a tube amp associate that fiz with "digital".

Good catch! Odd that you have to go through the entire range of the parameter to get there, but I heard it upon listening. Was hoping to catch a similar change around 9.0 with the Bogner Ecstasy Red, but Paul Hindmarsh started narrating like 10 milliseconds before it got there.

I'll try to stay open-minded about it until I have a chance to play it in my environment.

 

[JiveTurkey]

YOU SEE ZOLTAN; SUMBUCK IS A WORD/PHRASE YOU USE IN LIEU OF PROFANITY

 

[Orvillain]

YOU GODAMNED SUMNABUCK!!!

 

[JiveTurkey]

I'm gonna need to see some @James Freeman oscilloscope measurements.

 

[Fireproof]

Wow it is subtle - i could only barely tell any difference for the Twin Reverb and Super Lead in those clips. Feels like it's mostly baked-in compression and EQ?

What’s cool is the hype button does slightly different things for the different amps. And to me, it sounds like the original spirit of the hype button was to move from 100% authentic which includes some potentially non-desirable characteristics of an amp (which may be things like harshness or fizziness, or excessive treble, or something) to something that may be a bit more pleasing or more what we are “accustomed” to hearing after some of those things have been dialed out or corrected post-amp.

 

[banned]

I think Hype is (perhaps more than anything else) something you won't be able to properly evaluate, or appreciate, until you're holding the guitar in your own hands and turning the knob. Just listening to online audio clips, the change in volume alone is enough to keep my ears confused.

100%

I know on the regular Helix, changing the Sag knob is evident to me - the player - but not evident to anyone else.

 

[mikah912]

I don't believe you. If for no other reason, it's one knob and you will turn it.

The new parameter I will be doing exactly that with is the Z PrePost that changes where the negative feedback/speaker impedance characteristics are in the amp topology, I believe.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

YOU SEE ZOLTAN; SUMBUCK IS A WORD/PHRASE YOU USE IN LIEU OF PROFANITY

Ah, so it‘s like when my mom used to say „Scheibenkleister“ instead of „Scheiße“.

 

[mbenigni]

What’s cool is the hype button does slightly different things for the different amps. And to me, it sounds like the original spirit of the hype button was to move from 100% authentic which includes some potentially non-desirable characteristics of an amp (which may be things like harshness or fizziness, or excessive treble, or something) to something that may be a bit more pleasing or more what we are “accustomed” to hearing after some of those things have been dialed out or corrected post-amp.

Yes, and this (and simple curiosity) is why everybody, irrespective of what they type on TGF, will at least try it very early on. It may as well be called the "Mo Betta" knob.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Ah, so it‘s like when my mom used to say „Scheibenkleister“ instead of „Scheiße“.

I'm afraid to google this

 

[mbenigni]

The new parameter I will be doing exactly that with is the Z PrePost that changes where the negative feedback/speaker impedance characteristics are in the amp topology, I believe.

You're gonna turn 'em both. :)