Line 6 Helix Stadium Talk
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GTR37
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I asked for this even virtual A/B. Just for only amp blocks
So you could have 2 a path one on one off
He said they had discussed it but other fish to fry first
ejecta
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I do too for freelance and at my full time job. Cool program. Been trying out the VRay plugin for it. It’s a nice render.
bucephalus
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Oh what plugin is that???
He used a Super Bass the most, so the Brit Megabass would be the best place to start.
EOengineer
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After spending a couple hours with Fractal’s AM4, I missed Agoura. Dont get me wrong…the Fractal sounds great but I prefer Agoura and think I’m getting a better understanding of why.
The two digital modeling products that are leading the pack in terms of tone and playability for me are Agoura and Tonex (V2). I think what I’m responding to is a difference in the time domain that affects how the model reproduces notes and chords over time. You hear people talking about sag, or bloom, or compression…it’s that sort of thing. There’s a solidity to sustaining chords that feels and sounds noticeably better.
When I migrate back to Hx or Fractal’s amps I lose that behavior and it makes the models less realistic/fun to play. They feel more static. I do prefer Fractal over the Hx amps by a WIDE margin, but Agoura takes the cake.
Obviously just my opinion.
I do love Fractal’s amp selection though. The Mesa and Marshall stuff is REALLY well represented.
The two digital modeling products that are leading the pack in terms of tone and playability for me are Agoura and Tonex (V2). I think what I’m responding to is a difference in the time domain that affects how the model reproduces notes and chords over time. You hear people talking about sag, or bloom, or compression…it’s that sort of thing. There’s a solidity to sustaining chords that feels and sounds noticeably better.
When I migrate back to Hx or Fractal’s amps I lose that behavior and it makes the models less realistic/fun to play. They feel more static. I do prefer Fractal over the Hx amps by a WIDE margin, but Agoura takes the cake.
Obviously just my opinion.
I do love Fractal’s amp selection though. The Mesa and Marshall stuff is REALLY well represented.
GTR37
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wow that's a pretty strong end't , I have always loved the fractal stuff and have AM4 on the way , I also have Stadium floor on order but that won't be until likely January, it cool that it holds it own and then some
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That's an interesting statement. Any of this just honeymoon period do you think? Because I'm not gonna lie, I feel a little bit similar when it comes to Stadium versus Axe III.
And I still prefer Axe III over the legacy HX models. But Agoura? I honestly feel like it might be better.
![[Nathan]](/data/avatars/m/0/613.jpg?1726885163){kind=avatar}
[Nathan]
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Glorious riffage
Chocol8
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Don’t have a stadium yet, but the first place I would start is a JBL D-120 or K-120 IR/cab sim paired with a TR or similar amp (US Double Black?) vibrato channel. Bass rolled back to 1-3, mids 5.5-7 and treble 7-10 but usually dimmed when loud. Volume as high as you can get and still be mostly clean, 4-6 usually, although higher for the early stuff when he did overdrive the twins with P-90’s and humbuckers. Bright switch permanently off. Reverb low but audible.
Guitar would be a lot of Strat style middle pickup, or later a split HB in the middle.
ejecta
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Sent a PM so not to clutter the thread
EOengineer
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That’s a fair question. I guess that cant be ruled out but I’m at least trying to be objective.
Yup. Amp-wise my preference is Agoura > AM4 > Hx. I feel firm on that now.
Before I get flamed, Fractal sounds great. Going from Hx to Fractal I immediately notice the top end solidity I was endlessly chasing in HX. In general the amps sound and feel more together on the Fractal side. Way better experience IMO.
Going to Fractal from Agoura, Agoura gives me the solidity I was looking for in Hx and it feels better than the AM4. When I go back to the AM4, there’s a “sameness” to that top end and pick attack that feels a little artificial to me. Don’t get me wrong - it feels nice to play but I feel like it’s less accurate. Agoura feels more like an amp IMO.
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Mooselake
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I've been trying to be guarded with what I've been saying here, in part because I'm cognizant of the possiblity of the honeymoon effect, and in part because I my modeling experience is limited to Line 6 products and a few NDSP plugins from a number of years back, which relegates me to an observer role when it comes to Fractal versus Line 6 observations and preferences. All I can say is every time I venture into Agoura space, I think it sounds better than what I remembered from the last time. How long that lasts, and whether it ever reverses direction, remains to be seen. All I can say is that bottom line, I've been having a hoot with Stadium, which I suppose for someone like me is the point of it all.
Mooselake
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I've been trying to find words for what I perceive as the Agoura v OG Helix difference. It's a very subjective thing, of course, mired in psycho-acoustics. To me it all sort of comes back to my sense that all the overtones seem to lay together more musically, or more like I would expect. And it's the stuff in between the lowest notes and the highest harmonics on the top end that seem to sing a little more rather than just exist and take up space, or worse, sometimes getting a little grating. And I feel like I can hear it in a lot of the clips that are showing up here and there. I don't have an opinion wrt to Fractal stuff because I've never played through their gear. I haven't encountered any head-to-head shootouts between the two and I'm not sure I'd pay much attention if I did see one. I don't have any qualms about saying that after a little over a week now I prefer Agoura to the OG Helix models. The most succinct way to summarize it that Agoura produces sounds that are somewhat more natural and lively, even compared to some of the very good OG models that appeared with the last 2-3 OG firmware updates.
At the risk of being greedy, I hope they still have as much headroom going forward as OG Helix had when it first appeared. It might be unfair to actually expect that because I suspect a lot of OG Helix lessons learned resulting in improvements made their way into Stadium as-launched. But I also don't foresee the Helix gang being inclined to rest on their laurels and adopting a purely turnkey approach going forward.
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It'll be interesting to hear your impressions a few months down the road too.
My feeling on HX/Agoura/Fractal (haven't played Agoura though) is that certain amp models are going to shine on each platform and appeal specifically to different players. If it feels good in the moment and you're just playing, then it's a great model and no point comparing with anything else. My initial impressions with the AM4 are very favorable, and a lot of that is because it's new and it does feel different in many ways. I've noticed better response up on the higher frets with certain models and the tone is less grating on the ears compared to HX stomp, at least that is my impression.
Karl Houseknecht
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After the last couple of days working with Stadium, I think I might have to eat some crow about my criticism of the reverbs. I know these algorithms haven't changed, but something about how they sound has changed. I'm going to guess it's two things:
Now, if I could just get a "Stadium Stomp" for my acoustic/lap/pedal steel stuff, I'd likely ditch Fractal altogether.
- Better default settings
- The default setting for the Glitz reverb sounds straight up awesome. Better than my years of continual tweaking produced. This is the cloud reverb I've been looking for. I almost hate to say it, but it's better than what I am getting with Fractal.
- Same with Dynamic Hall and Plate. I don't hear that lumpiness of the Motion that I was hearing in Helix. Different default settings? The Focus View "presets"? Something has changed here.
- Better hardware / aliasing / headroom...or whatever
- Could be these things contribute to better fidelity in the reverb department.
Now, if I could just get a "Stadium Stomp" for my acoustic/lap/pedal steel stuff, I'd likely ditch Fractal altogether.
GTR37
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The only thing I hear in the Helix reverbs is they can sound a bit metallic on the top end , that said you can low cut them and probably minimize it , same thing with delays , i mean most Eventide delays set the cut off at 2200 KHz and the reverbs have top end trimmed to
