Line 6 Helix Stadium Talk

[EOengineer]

Because I’ve been rocking the new telecaster heavily, the Agoura Deluxe Reverb and black panel Bassman are seeing mileage on couch jams. Fender on Fender!

I feel like I’m getting A TON more dynamic range and these models showcase, particularly when using a boost or light OD and EOB tones. That transition between clean and greasy feels so much more amplike to me in Stadium.

Try the deluxe reverb through the greenback 20 4x12 with a 421 and 160, through a vital boost in front or a triangle big muff if you really want to get crazy.

Now try it with the Bassman. Hell, put them in stereo.

 

[ibmorjamn]

Ritchie Castellano has new video on the Line 6 Stadium

 

[[Nathan]]

Unboxed it and spent 30-60mins on the Panama... honestly WAY better than I expected.
I recorded a quick track just to see how it holds up in a mix, honestly... easily the best first impression from a modelling hardware unit. My goto tubescreamer --> 5153 --> Cab (mesa with 57/121) --> Noisegate with Instrument Sidechain




I'll paste the reaper session here, yes theres mix bus mojo but nothing on the guitars. They seem to sit incredibly well. I'm totally day1 noobing but it has surpassed my day1 impressions so far.

I gotta dial the camera in and wipe the screen protector, potato photo but you can see the basic blocks. I know this is all frantic but I gotta bounce and figured some stuff is better than nothing (for now).

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Unboxed it and spent 30-60mins on the Panama... honestly WAY better than I expected.
I recorded a quick track just to see how it holds up in a mix, honestly... easily the best first impression from a modelling hardware unit. My goto tubescreamer --> 5153 --> Cab (mesa with 57/121) --> Noisegate with Instrument Sidechain




I'll paste the reaper session here, yes theres mix bus mojo but nothing on the guitars. They seem to sit incredibly well. I'm totally day1 noobing but it has surpassed my day1 impressions so far.

I gotta dial the camera in and wipe the screen protector, potato photo but you can see the basic blocks. I know this is all frantic but I gotta bounce and figured some stuff is better than nothing (for now).

View attachment 58912

View attachment 58911

sounding great. Definitely has a nice kind of "realness" to it that a lot of modellers dont seem to get easily.

Sending the Reaper police around to clip you around the ear for not putting fades on your regions though

 

[SlipperyBill]

Unboxed it and spent 30-60mins on the Panama... honestly WAY better than I expected.
I recorded a quick track just to see how it holds up in a mix, honestly... easily the best first impression from a modelling hardware unit. My goto tubescreamer --> 5153 --> Cab (mesa with 57/121) --> Noisegate with Instrument Sidechain




I'll paste the reaper session here, yes theres mix bus mojo but nothing on the guitars. They seem to sit incredibly well. I'm totally day1 noobing but it has surpassed my day1 impressions so far.

I gotta dial the camera in and wipe the screen protector, potato photo but you can see the basic blocks. I know this is all frantic but I gotta bounce and figured some stuff is better than nothing (for now).

View attachment 58912

View attachment 58911

Any interest in sharing your cab settings? Tone sounds awesome, i struggle getting the Panama not to sound boomy

 

[Lysander]

Unboxed it and spent 30-60mins on the Panama... honestly WAY better than I expected.
I recorded a quick track just to see how it holds up in a mix, honestly... easily the best first impression from a modelling hardware unit. My goto tubescreamer --> 5153 --> Cab (mesa with 57/121) --> Noisegate with Instrument Sidechain

Some great tones there!

Also, i didn't realize you got a regular Stadium?! Congrats, i think you're the very first one in here How you're you liking the form factor?

 

[[Nathan]]

Any interest in sharing your cab settings? Tone sounds awesome, i struggle getting the Panama not to sound boomy

Yeah, pretty standard stuff here. I used a Kiesel with Lithium pickups, its pretty bright and high output for passives which would help nudge it in the bright direction.

I exported the preset as well, nothing fancy. I've got the gate setup for this guitar so it'll probably need adjusting for yours.

 

[[Nathan]]

Some great tones there!

Also, i didn't realize you got a regular Stadium?! Congrats, i think you're the very first one in here How you're you liking the form factor?

You sir have a keen eye :), it was a nice surprise when it showed up (loaner unit, I also have one of these on order).
It's a tiny bit wider than the TMP but less thick. I think it weighed about 3.5 kilos, its a solid nugget when you pick it up, more hefty than you'd think.

I'm honestly loving WiFi editing, anything to reduce cables is a massive bonus.

 

[Southpaw-DD]

My Stadium (non-XL) is arriving Tuesday - I've been 50/50 this weekend thinking I'm going to return it unopened considering the accuracy comments here and on other forums. I'm also concerned that if there is a "discovery" identified in the Agoura modeling or a specific model that Line 6 won't elect to update the models that have been released already and/or won't want to acknowledge an improvement. I know they have been careful about that in the past which is understandable when users are relying on their presets for live shows and so on.

On the flip side, if the sound quality and feel is better than the OG Helix and HX Stomp, then I could buy-in to this as an incremental upgrade that might be worth the long-term commitment.

 

[Richard_G]

I've been 50/50 this weekend thinking I'm going to return it unopened considering the accuracy comments here and on other forums.

I'm one of those who DO care about accuracy. But I would NOT return a Stadium unopened because of accuracy comments here and on other forums.

 

[GTR37]

My Stadium (non-XL) is arriving Tuesday - I've been 50/50 this weekend thinking I'm going to return it unopened considering the accuracy comments here and on other forums. I'm also concerned that if there is a "discovery" identified in the Agoura modeling or a specific model that Line 6 won't elect to update the models that have been released already and/or won't want to acknowledge an improvement. I know they have been careful about that in the past which is understandable when users are relying on their presets for live shows and so on.

On the flip side, if the sound quality and feel is better than the OG Helix and HX Stomp, then I could buy-in to this as an incremental upgrade that might be worth the long-term commitment.

Really , I think I had read DI comments about the 5153 and that they were looking into it , he also mentioned they were talking to people in DMs so that why not a lot of comments in these threads
I can’t imagine if they found a couple of bugs that they would say let’s just leave it for now especially not in their brand new Agoura platform

I suspect if anything was found or reworked that it will show up in 1.3
Remember 1.3 was supposed to be released around NAMM and they are saying Mid March I think I heard so I am sure they are using that extra time to good use

 

[Orvillain]

potato photo

Sorry, pissing myself laughing at that phrase.

 

[Southpaw-DD]

I'm one of those who DO care about accuracy. But I would NOT return a Stadium unopened because of accuracy comments here and on other forums.

This is a fair comment based on what I posted, for sure. I'm usually not one to overreact to any online/internet comments, but I am a critical user myself and really picky about modeling devices. If there is already such a gap between old HX and new Agoura (e.g., Sterlacci's video and how much different they sound), that has me concerned.

Really , I think I had read DI comments about the 5153 and that they were looking into it , he also mentioned they were talking to people in DMs so that why not a lot of comments in these threads
I can’t imagine if they found a couple of bugs that they would say let’s just leave it for now especially not in their brand new Agoura platform

I suspect if anything was found or reworked that it will show up in 1.3
Remember 1.3 was supposed to be released around NAMM and they are saying Mid March I think I heard so I am sure they are using that extra time to good use

Great to hear there may be some back-channel analysis going on. Like I said, an improvement on feel even with the HX legacy models may make this purchase worth my while.

 

[[Nathan]]

Alright nerds who doesnt love a good A/B... which one do we think is Agoura/Legacy.



Here's a pic of the wav's if you're so inclined as well (A --> B)

 

[Lysander]

Alright nerds who doesnt love a good A/B... which one do we think is Agoura/Legacy.

B sound notably less muddy, so i'm venturing Agoura?

 

[dean701]

I love it when I click on a .jpg to play it.
A=stadium? Lol

 

[GTR37]

B sound notably less muddy, so i'm venturing Agoura?

My guess too

 

[Mooselake]

Alright nerds who doesnt love a good A/B... which one do we think is Agoura/Legacy.



Here's a pic of the wav's if you're so inclined as well (A --> B)
View attachment 58941

I liked B better, which is purely personal taste. I'm not familiar with either model, don't think I've ever tried either. But, based on things guys more attuned to high gain stuff than I am share, I'll guess A is OG and B is Stadium.

 

[[Nathan]]

A = Legacy
B = Agoura

No hype or anything added, settings matched (some old ones which arent there on Agoura etc).
I thought people were complaining about the new Panama? This is why you only partially intake the mob hype.

I don't think its crazy different but it feels like a nudge in the right direction, im happy with it. The Agoura stuff also feels better under the hands (as well as being represented a bit in the clips). I'm 2-3 days into this so im not saying this stuff as absolute truths, its just my experience so far.

Also attached non potato photo of the unit

 

[EOengineer]

A = Legacy
B = Agoura

I thought people were complaining about the new Panama? This is why you only partially intake the mob hype.

I wouldn’t call it complaining, but there were definitely 5153 owners raising questions and concerns in this thread. Were you not around for that?

“Mob hype” makes it sound like BS but several users did some pretty solid work providing audio examples demonstrating some possible issues with the top end in that model.