Line 6 Helix Stadium Talk

[EOengineer]

@metropolis_4 the chorii so far are plentiful but pretty underwhelming or overpowering in ways I don't like at all. With FAS; you load a block and they just work. The 4 voice chorus is pretty darn good I will say.

I’ve had some luck with the CE-1 clone for pre-amp chorus. If it’s too dark or muddy you can play with the impedance setting. The stock setting loads down your pickups which is accurate but not always desirable tonally.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I definitely prefer the legacy model in that video. Sounds much cleaner and more punchy.

 

[mbenigni]

This is very true of real amps as well. There are days when it sounds absolutely amazing and you can't imagine it ever being better, and then a few days later, you're like - what is this sorry excuse for a tone? How is it so bright (or so dark)? What happened here? Did the voltage change? Am I using a different cable?

Typically this is related to your position relative to your speaker cab, and your overall volume.

Sometimes I'll dial in a sound, and then stand up (or sit down, depending) and that's enough to throw me for a loop.

 

[EOengineer]

Typically this is related to your position relative to your speaker cab, and your overall volume.

Sometimes I'll dial in a sound, and then stand up (or sit down, depending) and that's enough to throw me for a loop.

The industry term for this is post chug clarity.

 

[holoholo]

What?? No more milk boiling? Just straight up?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Bruh

You treat FAS Originals this way?

Yes. Unless it's Boss. Original Amps Are Dumb™

 

[paisleywookiee]

Yes. Unless it's Boss. Original Amps Are Dumb™

I need to jam with you, man. Because I've never heard someone with such differing opinions on gear, that I still like the clips they've posted.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I need to jam with you, man. Because I've never heard someone with such differing opinions on gear, that I still like the clips they've posted.

 

[paisleywookiee]

View attachment 55183

Well, don't live in another fucking state!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Well, don't live in another fucking state!

My goal is to one day make it to our store

 

[synthpenguin]

@metropolis_4 the chorii so far are plentiful but pretty underwhelming or overpowering in ways I don't like at all. With FAS; you load a block and they just work. The 4 voice chorus is pretty darn good I will say.

Have you messed with Liquifier? I struggled with Helix choruses before, but DI suggested that and it quickly became my favorite.

 

[holoholo]

Yes. Unless it's Boss. Original Amps Are Dumb™

It’s interesting that you trust a vendor’s ears to model an amp but then not their own take on an amp. But we all have our own tastes I guess

 

[JiveTurkey]

What?? No more milk boiling? Just straight up?

It still has that Helix sound (that is your cue, Ben) but it sounds 'together'. It took work to get the disembodiement. Before; that was all there was. Fundamental notes being played, then sizzle and fizzle and crackling everywhere.

 

[I S]

What do you guys think of this?

Two cheers for your higher production these days. The room looks amazing and the video quality is superb! Plus, you seem like the nicest person ever. As for the comparison videos, I'm in the minority who don't care much. But I'm sure these videos will feed the algorithm nicely.

Keep it up!

 

[AlbertA]

Yes. Unless it's Boss. Original Amps Are Dumb™

 

[AlbertA]

Fundamental notes being played, then sizzle and fizzle and crackling everywhere.

Umm, are you guys just finding ways to not say aliasing?

 

[JiveTurkey]

It’s interesting that you trust a vendor’s ears to model an amp but then not their own take on an amp. But we all have our own tastes I guess

It's not 100% a case of trusting ears for originals. I definitely lean HARD towards FAS modeling and sounds by a margin I can't even begin to express. FAS Mesas are LIFE. Full stop. And the things Cliff and his vision shoot for are where I want to be. Period. I trust Cliff's ear FOR SURE and if I did use an original model of whatever sort; I would grab something from my FAS stuff and be happy. I didn't get into amp modeling to use imaginary amps, though. It's already imaginary enough as it is

Trying to sell me on an amp model from an open back budget combo is like me trying to sell you guys on the Mustang GTX as a powered monitor solution

 

[mikah912]

Yes. Unless it's Boss. Original Amps Are Dumb™

The originals are just modded versions of real life amp circuits they've already captured, tho. Cliff's FAS Stealth Blue, FAS Brown or FAS Modern, Line 6 Badonk or Aristocrat or Oblivion......these are all great amps you're depriving yourself just because of a couple of characters in the menu.

This is exactly why the Stadium menu lumps Agoura, HX and Originals all in the same menu with no way to distinguish. it already got you to give the Mandarin Rocker a try when it's not an Agoura amp (but is a very realistic take on Rockerverb already). One of their best high-gain models, in fact....

 

[Jarick]

On speaker impedance curves, I haven’t found a situation yet where I would want it turned off. It just sounds worse to me. Even running through the Blackstar amped 1 to a cab I prefer having the tube eq curve enabled to scoop the mids and boost the lows and highs a bit.

On the fractal I have the new suhr reactive load enabled as default for everything. I like consistency…same cab and same impedance curve so I can hear what the amp is doing. I suppose if I was recording different parts I’d want the cabs and curves to be different so the different parts sit in different spots in the mix.

But on the whole I find the speaker impedance worries overblown. Does it include modeling of a speaker impedance curve that reasonably matches a guitar cab? Then I’m good.

And that’s how things would work in the real world too…if you have a bunch of amps and want to run them through a load box you have one curve. Or if you go through a torpedo reload or ox box or whatever. The impedance curve isn’t the limiting factor so long as it’s reasonably similar to a guitar cab.

 

[mikah912]

It's not 100% a case of trusting ears for originals. I definitely lean HARD towards FAS modeling and sounds by a margin I can't even begin to express. FAS Mesas are LIFE. Full stop. And the things Cliff and his vision shoot for are where I want to be. Period. I trust Cliff's ear FOR SURE and if I did use an original model of whatever sort; I would grab something from my FAS stuff and be happy. I didn't get into amp modeling to use imaginary amps, though. It's already imaginary enough as it is

Trying to sell me on an amp model from an open back budget combo is like me trying to sell you guys on the Mustang GTX as a powered monitor solution

Hey, it's all good. They have plenty of "non-original" options. I'm not going to try to "convince" you of anything in the box relative to FAS amp and FX sounds.

Enjoy Stadium for what it is as long as you care to. Cliff's greatness is beyond dispute, and Fractal stuff will always be there if that's your number one boo.