Line 6 Helix Stadium Talk
- Thread starter laxu
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ejecta
Shredder
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I definitely can hear a difference just not sure in mix depending or live that this difference would matter that much over what you can do in the Helix. I agree though the reverbs could use work. Definitely a nice sounding reverb from VP4. I’ll at times use my satellite board to augment the Helix for sure. Great to have options these days
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My ears are happy so far and I’m loving the interface. Also loving the fact that it will improve further with time - nice to invest in a box that’s got enough legs in it to evolve in a positive way from an already excellent start,
One niggle…. I don’t know why it was decided that the save button would be backlit and yet the home button and amp button are not?? Several others are either lit or not. My little guitar place is a dark dungeon and I would have much preferred they be backlit too as they’re completely invisible with my normal ambient lighting in there. My finger memory is starting to kick in so I can find them in the dark so I’ll live…. but IMO it’s a curious choice to light some buttons and not others. Or is that just me?
One niggle…. I don’t know why it was decided that the save button would be backlit and yet the home button and amp button are not?? Several others are either lit or not. My little guitar place is a dark dungeon and I would have much preferred they be backlit too as they’re completely invisible with my normal ambient lighting in there. My finger memory is starting to kick in so I can find them in the dark so I’ll live…. but IMO it’s a curious choice to light some buttons and not others. Or is that just me?
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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I think for me I'm NOT any sort of sound design expert. The dynamic reverbs in conjunction with other blocks can making some very nice ambience. Trying to really fine tune it is where I'm left scratching my head a bit and left wanting. The Plex Verb clip Orv shared is pretty shimmer rich and I don't shimmer at all. I have it set for just a luscious wash that completely envelopes the guitar in a pleasing way. Even when done with a high gain sound
I'm probably going to cross the streams at some point and see how I like it 
Karl Houseknecht
Roadie
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I agree that it would be interesting, but also unnecessary so long as Stadium is enjoyable. That's going to be my criteria: Can I get the tones I need and is it fun to play through? NOT: Is it better than Fractal?
The 2203 was super close for the OG Helix and Fractal. Where I want an improvement on Stadium is in the AC30. As long as I get what I want there, Stadium is a keeper. Because here's the deal: Proxy. In theory, I can match what I get from any other platform.
I think for me I'm NOT any sort of sound design expert. The dynamic reverbs in conjunction with other blocks can making some very nice ambience. Trying to really fine tune it is where I'm left scratching my head a bit and left wanting. The Plex Verb clip Orv shared is pretty shimmer rich and I don't shimmer at all. I have it set for just a luscious wash that completely envelopes the guitar in a pleasing way. Even when done with a high gain sound
You first need to move the low and high cuts completely out of the way. Then set diffusion to 100% and adjust damping to taste - typically around 6-8Khz works for me. I also set motion rate = 0 and apply low gain = +3db anywhere from 90hz to 200hz (to taste)
I do not know why the defaults are the way that they are. The best way to use this honestly is in conjunction with other reverbs in parallel (eg: shimmer reverb, particle verb etc. to get all those shimmery bits that we associate with gorgeous sounding reverbs. L6 should just create these combined reverbs and give them to us as a finished product.
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Using those settings will get you a core reverb sound that accentuates what is not as good about the dynamic reverb models as the competition.
Adding a shimmer or other verb in parallel in no way makes up for the fact that the primary reverb sound just isn’t as good. Their shimmer sounds aren’t quite as good either, but I tired of shimmer many years ago.
What you need in parallel… is an external reverb pedal…
D
He makes the Agoura model even brighter on one occasion but the high end sounds more pleasing to him (and to me on the clip) because it doesn’t have the “hashy” sound to it.
Still haven’t heard a comparison where I don’t prefer Agoura to Helix or find them equally good.
The cool thing is that all the last gen stuff will be there as they get updated to their Agoura counterparts
Karl Houseknecht
Roadie
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Yeah, that's the big deal here. Musical high end. I hear what he's hearing and it's pretty striking.
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Plex Verb is more of a modulated thing, rather than shimmer. But I get your point.I think for me I'm NOT any sort of sound design expert. The dynamic reverbs in conjunction with other blocks can making some very nice ambience. Trying to really fine tune it is where I'm left scratching my head a bit and left wanting. The Plex Verb clip Orv shared is pretty shimmer rich and I don't shimmer at all. I have it set for just a luscious wash that completely envelopes the guitar in a pleasing way. Even when done with a high gain sound
That's the block diagram. Now there interesting thing here is the "feedback matrix" - I'm going to assume that some kind of orthogonal matrix, Hadamard is pretty typical in reverb design.
Whereas the block diagram for the Reverb block:
Doesn't distinctly call out a mixing matrix, but I suppose it could be internal to the reverb tail block.
And actually, thinking about it ... the Plex Verb does sound closer in spirit to the Boss RV-5 Modulate mode that I love so much; and that is a feedback delay network based reverb, I am fairly sure. Because I've measured it a ton.
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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One of the biggest things of twitch induction from me from the HX world is the "Oh have you used the Mintoaur to goose the Adriatic delay?!?!?!?!" when the person has never used the thing I am trying to emulate
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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Bottom line for my dumb brain; it's pleasing to listen to.
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FWIW, I tried snagging a Stadium as a TGF Exclusive so I could demo it as a ‘regular guy’ and take requests from our members on specifics they wanted to hear, but @Digital Igloo probably saw my wall of text and nope’d da fuck out.
Going to repost because I disagree (And this is old Helix into Dynamic Plate with no EQ, compressor or parallel blocks of any kind, not Stadium):
I'm going to do more little ambient showcase clips to showcase that Line 6 made some great reverb algorithms, but I'm going to do the rest on my actual Stadium, which finally arrives tomorrow.
sashimi
Roadie
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I read all of the complaints about helix reverbs and I always wonder if I’m missing out on better reverb sounds outside of helix. But then I listen to some of the examples posted of better reverbs that helix can’t do, and as pretty as they sound, they are honestly nothing I would ever use. Just give me a relatively short spring, plate, and room that sound natural and work in the context of a mix and I’m happy. 
Sorry but that just doesn’t sound nearly as good as better reverb pedals. It isn’t close either.
If you’re happy with it, that’s great.
D
What's "not as good" about it in your opinion? Not even an argument, BTW. I genuinely like learning about what aspects of it others perceive and hear that I don't.
To be clear, I'm not caping for Helix and claiming it is the apex of multi-fx reverbs. It's not. There are less current-gen options than every top-tier competitor aside from Quad Cortex (Even Tonemaster Pro has more variety + they have a different type in the form of their convolution options). I really enjoyed the wide range of variants on both FM9 and Kemper, in particular.
And yes, dedicated hardware pedals have some very complex algorithms that I don't hear in Helix/Stadium yet.
But I just don't think it's so bad you have to add a hardware pedal in an FX loop if you want interesting ambient options. There are more than a few available right now, and the routing flexibility lets you roll individual ones on parallel paths with a combination of delays, filters and other wacky effects. Also, dual Dynamic Plate/Hall/Bloom combos create some really interesting undertextures as well. Cordy and Worship Tutorials have both shown that you can indeed get close to dedicated reverb pedal algorithms with what's already there.
It's a good starting point for me.
