Line 6 Helix Stadium Pre-Launch Discussion

[Richard_G]

The Mesa Update:

1. California Tweed
2. Blue Angel
3. Maverick
4. Mark I
5. Fillmore
6. TA-30
7. Subway Blues

Don’t use all your brutal at once, now.

Hang on! I happen to like my Blue Angel!

 

[Digital Igloo]

I just have to say... the weirdly aggressive response from some people (not here) to the mere existence of the Hype knob has been... extremely weird to see.

If you're talking about those guys on Reddit, yeah... dumb.

 

[dbagchee]

I would never reach for an original model on anything but a Boss.

Badonk would like a word with you.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Badonk would like a word with you.

 

[EOengineer]

Hang on! I happen to like my Blue Angel!

I actually would love all those amps as a total unapologetic Mesa fanboy, but if L6 could start with only the things I like that would BE GREAT.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I would love the Badlander

Maybe the best modern Mesa. I'd love a model of that.

 

[Mongillo19]

Maybe the best modern Mesa. I'd love a model of that.

It's so good.

I still prefer the classic Dual Rec.....and I guess by that I mean the Multiwatt.

But man, the badlander fits so perfectly in a mix

 

[ian_dissonance]

I just have to say... the weirdly aggressive response from some people (not here) to the mere existence of the Hype knob has been... extremely weird to see.

Everyone complaining about it is going to leave it set at 6 for recording/mixing.

 

[luckymethod]

See, that sounds a little fake to my ears. Reminds me of some Boss amps.

it's an hx stomp, what do you expect. The helix was great for its time but the model were never particularly good, there was a lot of copium from users (including me at some point) for a long time. I still have it and it's great for what it does but cmon, let's not pretend it sounded all that great.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

See, that sounds a little fake to my ears. Reminds me of some Boss amps.

I don’t get the love for the Catalyst amps. There, I said it.

 

[banned]

it's an hx stomp, what do you expect. The helix was great for its time but the model were never particularly good, there was a lot of copium from users (including me at some point) for a long time. I still have it and it's great for what it does but cmon, let's not pretend it sounded all that great.

Ok buddy....sure.

 

[banned]

I don’t get the love for the Catalyst amps. There, I said it.

100%

 

[DanRad]

So, I think I'm going to go with this for a stand for the XL when it arrives. That should put it at a good height to make use of the touch screen, and it will be easy enough to move it to the floor when I need to use the foot switches, you know, with my feet.

 

[mikah912]

I don’t get the love for the Catalyst amps. There, I said it.

Easy. They are evocative of Fender, Marshall, vox and other iconic amps, but with much more straightforward tonal range and built-in boosts that can save you having to add an extra block.

 

[Mooselake]

I don’t get the love for the Catalyst amps. There, I said it.

Since it's been mentioned, I'm having a lot of fun with the Voltage amp. I have a preset template where in one instance I have the new 2203 model and one the Voltage. They pretty much do the same thing but have subtle differences that by switching back and forth every few days keeps them both sounding fresh to my ears. So far the other Catalyst models haven't really grabbed me but I haven't given them a ton of time either.

DI would probably cringe at me saying this, but I tend to think of the Catalyst-derived amps, as well as some of the other L6 originals, as being similar to an Augora amp with some liberal hype baked in, in the sense the algorithm designers likely started with basic topologies from real world amps and smoothed over some of the rough edges. I get that that's probably not what's going on in Agoura+hype situations, but from a simpleminded bedroom user perspective it probably covers the impact to me.

 

[synthpenguin]

Everyone complaining about it is going to leave it set at 6 for recording/mixing.

There were people saying no professional would use it because they don't know exactly what it does, and like.. this seriously underestimates how much pro guitarists and mixing engineers love their opaque magic processing boxes lol

 

[mikah912]

Since it's been mentioned, I'm having a lot of fun with the Voltage amp. I have a preset template where in one instance I have the new 2203 model and one the Voltage. They pretty much do the same thing but have subtle differences that by switching back and forth every few days keeps them both sounding fresh to my ears. So far the other Catalyst models haven't really grabbed me but I haven't given them a ton of time either.

DI would probably cringe at me saying this, but I tend to think of the Catalyst-derived amps, as well as some of the other L6 originals, as being similar to an Augora amp with some liberal hype baked in, in the sense the algorithm designers likely started with basic topologies from real world amps and smoothed over some of the rough edges. I get that that's probably not what's going on in Agoura+hype situations, but from a simpleminded bedroom user perspective it probably covers the impact to me.

I don't think he would cringe at all. As far as I can tell, that's the exact design philosophy of Line 6 Original amps. They make them so you don't have to think about anything but volume, gain and your basic bass/middle/treble EQ.

Sometimes, that's exactly what I want. Maybe that will become less attractive as new amps launch with focus zones to eliminate guess work that made these Originals necessary in the first place.

 

[synthpenguin]

I don’t get the love for the Catalyst amps. There, I said it.

I think they sound good (I especially like Clarity with the boost engaged), and I think they successfully achieved the apparent goal of sounding polished and mix-ready (rather than fake), but that's not exactly what I want from an amp when just playing through it.

 

[banned]

I don't think he would cringe at all. As far as I can tell, that's the exact design philosophy of Line 6 Original amps. They make them so you don't have to think about anything but volume, gain and your basic bass/middle/treble EQ.

Sometimes, that's exactly what I want. Maybe that will become less attractive as new amps launch with focus zones to eliminate guess work that made these Originals necessary in the first place.

Yes, please less originals and more actual amps - including boutique amps - Naylor, Cornford, Fryette etc.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Yes, please less originals and more actual amps

I'd actually prefer way more originals. But then, I'm not the target customer at all.