Line 6 Helix Stadium Talk

[2dor]

Would be really cool if Proxy could train models based of existing NAM reamps. I think ToneX also saves signals now to a folder on your computer which makes retraining easier. Would make it such a speedy way to add content to the platform, and it also means way less faff when updates and improvements come as you can just train off the original files (assuming the source signal has sufficient data).

As someone who's sitting on a few tens of GB of reamp data, I agree lol

 

[Gary_W]

I know I said I’d read the manual but…. That’s for the weekend and my brain needs spoon feeding in the meantime from anyone who knows :)

If doing a Proxy capture of a fuzz pedal, is there a way of telling Stadium that you’d like a low input impedance for the capture you’ve made so it does the right thing with your guitar volume?

 

[EOengineer]

I know I said I’d read the manual but…. That’s for the weekend and my brain needs spoon feeding in the meantime from anyone who knows :)

If doing a Proxy capture of a fuzz pedal, is there a way of telling Stadium that you’d like a low input impedance for the capture you’ve made so it does the right thing with your guitar volume?

I do know that send 4 locks into instrument level when you enter capture mode, but there’s no impedance switching hardware on those sends, so my suspicion is that something like a fuzz face clone probably won’t clean up like we’d expect. I haven’t experienced any clones or captures anywhere that get that right, likely because extra hardware is probably required to pull it off. Not really a Proxy issue as it seems inherent and kind of universal.

 

[GTR37]

I logged into the Gear forum yesterday, and the result surprised me!

Noizeman probably had a similar experience

 

[Gary_W]

I do know that send 4 locks into instrument level when you enter capture mode, but there’s no impedance switching hardware on those sends, so my suspicion is that something like a fuzz face clone probably won’t clean up like we’d expect. I haven’t experienced any clones or captures anywhere that get that right, likely because extra hardware is probably required to pull it off. Not really a Proxy issue as it seems inherent and kind of universal.

Thank you - understood but…. With the models of fuzz within stadium, there’s a variable input impedance so if you put the traditional fuzz face first in the chain. If you set it to ‘first block’ it acts accordingly. You can set the instrument input to something suitably low so I guess, when using a Proxy fuzz face clone you could just do that? Was just wondering if it’s possible to burn this in to the capture so the ‘first block’ behaviour works :)

 

[Gary_W]

So, how many clone blocks can you load simultaneously? Could I easily load, say, 4-5 cloned drive blocks in addition to, say, 2 Agoura amps and still have plenty of DSP juice left for FX?
IOW: How CPU taxing are clone blocks?

Also: How many clones can you save on the unit?

The 1.3 manual says

‘Due to the complexity of Proxy Clones, a Clone block can require approximately the same DSP usage as an Agoura Amp model. Up to four Clone blocks can be added per preset (two clones per main path’

I’ve come from a Kemper Mk1 so, for me, this is already a massive functional improvement as I can use cloned stomp boxes independently of cloned amps. On Kemper, it’s ’burn it all in together, that’s it’ which gives entirely decent results but I really like the flexibility on offer here……. I haven’t tried yet (don’t have suitable captures) but I guess I can use 2 stomp captures op path one and a stomp capture plus amp capture on path two. That’s awesome. I haven’t a/b with my Mk1 Kemper and don’t intend to - I’m enjoying the stadium sounds anyway and this is some serious icing on an already mighty fine cake IMO.

 

[dws2384]

So, how many clone blocks can you load simultaneously? Could I easily load, say, 4-5 cloned drive blocks in addition to, say, 2 Agoura amps and still have plenty of DSP juice left for FX?
IOW: How CPU taxing are clone blocks?

Also: How many clones can you save on the unit?

No. Probably two Agoura OR Proxy in each path plus a bunch of effects. I made this for someone on Reddit becuase they said it was ‘severely’ underpowered as they couldn’t run a poly pitch, 3 Agoura amps, and a dozen effects.

Even in that extreme scenario you can do the 3 amps, 1 poly pitch it and still get 2 drives and a reverb (top left photo).

3 Agoura amps you can you can get a ton of effects (top right photo)

2 Agoura amps and poly pitch, even more effects (bottom left photo)

2 Agoura amps and you can basically fill the entire rest of the chain (bottom right photo)

Proxy clones seem to be about as much as Poly or Agoura, so theoretically you could have 2 drives in path 1, 1 in path 2 with the amp and a reverb and delay block.

I also told this guy that with the multiple channels built into Agoura now he could just use snapshots to go between amp channels instead of wasting 2 extra blocks but he kept insisting it wouldn’t be enough power for him.

 

[EOengineer]

Thank you - understood but…. With the models of fuzz within stadium, there’s a variable input impedance so if you put the traditional fuzz face first in the chain. If you set it to ‘first block’ it acts accordingly. You can set the instrument input to something suitably low so I guess, when using a Proxy fuzz face clone you could just do that? Was just wondering if it’s possible to burn this in to the capture so the ‘first block’ behaviour works :)

I have a couple FFs laying around. I’ll try to create a cap this week and see what happens. Definitely expecting sub par cleanup.

 

[Sascha Franck]

My understanding is that a proxy clone currently eats up the same amount of DSP whether it’s a stomp or an amp, roughly on par with an Agoura amp.

In other words a cloned amp and a cloned boost will chew up DSP pretty quickly.

I’d be curious if this is how it works in the QC as well. I’m sure L6 is looking at optimizations but I’m not actually sure what’s possible there.

Ouch. That's quite a lot of CPU usage then. I've seen QC patches using plenty of captures - but in case Proxy captures need the same amount as Agoura amps, any such patches would be impossible to create on the Stadium. Quite a pity as I'd personally capture quite some dirt boxes.

Anyhow, another question: What controls do the capture blocks come up with? And what are the tweaking options?

 

[Sascha Franck]

but he kept insisting it wouldn’t be enough power for him.

Hm, given that my OG Floor patches all contained at least 2-3 dirt boxes (quite often more), that seems to be the case at least when it comes to Proxy.

 

[[Nathan]]

Is this the one and only chance you have to add/edit the metadata for the proxy captures?
(yes I read the manual but I can't see any other point where you can edit it)

I'm trying my best not to have to write out a novel on the touch screen. You can't do captures via the app it has to be on the stadium unit direct. When you initiate the proxy process it locks out the Desktop software and this is where you edit things. But is there a way to edit these once they're completely done? I feel like you really need a keyboard/mouse to do this when you're dealing with more than a couple captures.

 

[CakeEater]

Well I got exactly what I was looking for from Proxy. I took my AC30 kitchen-sink preset and:

• Replaced the AC30 block with the free AC30 proxy from @brianwahl,
• Replaced the IR block with the Cali EQ he had in front of it,
• And replaced the boost I had with the LA Studio Comp he was using.

Now my kitchen-sink patch just sounds better. This isn't to say proxy is inherently better than the Agoura AC30, Brian is just better at this kind of thing than I am. Plus because it's an Amp+Cab proxy I can't tweak the amps settings and IR endlessly, so this approach is perfect for me.

 

[fr8_trane]

I know I said I’d read the manual but…. That’s for the weekend and my brain needs spoon feeding in the meantime from anyone who knows :)

If doing a Proxy capture of a fuzz pedal, is there a way of telling Stadium that you’d like a low input impedance for the capture you’ve made so it does the right thing with your guitar volume?

Thats a great question. I saw someone on TGP cloned their harmonic percolator and they were shocked at how well it responded to the volume knob. DI responded that even L6 was surprised how well Proxy handles "some" fuzzes. Not sure of the technicalities involved with getting the best fuzz captures though.

Post and response below for accuracy:

Bro, what is this SORCERY? I cloned a Harmonic Percolator. I thought this wouldn't work as well as it does. The proxy model cleans up like the normal germanium pedal does. That is stupid.

This is probably an instance when I'm speaking too soon, but yeah, for whatever reason (perhaps the combination of phase/frequency and time domain processes?), Proxy seems to do pretty well with certain fuzzes, which are notoriously difficult to clone.

On a personal note i have been waiting for a digital fuzz that cleans up like a real fuzzface. Preferrably a capture of the Kingtone fuzz in Zonk mode so it doesn't disappear in the mix when I kick it in like traditional FF's do.

 

[EOengineer]

Ouch. That's quite a lot of CPU usage then. I've seen QC patches using plenty of captures - but in case Proxy captures need the same amount as Agoura amps, any such patches would be impossible to create on the Stadium. Quite a pity as I'd personally capture quite some dirt boxes.

Anyhow, another question: What controls do the capture blocks come up with? And what are the tweaking options?

I've only done direct amp caps, where you get gain, level, and I think a basic EQ not too dissimilar to Tonex.

Thats a great question. I saw someone on TGP cloned their harmonic percolator and they were shocked at how well it responded to the volume knob. DI responded that even L6 was surprised how well Proxy handles "some" fuzzes. Not sure of the technicalities involved with getting the best fuzz captures though.

Interesting. Do you happen to recall which fuzzes were the "some" fuzzes that responded well?

 

[fr8_trane]

I've only done direct amp caps, where you get gain, level, and I think a basic EQ not too dissimilar to Tonex.


Interesting. Do you happen to recall which fuzzes were the "some" fuzzes that responded well?

You'll have to ask DI.

 

[brianwahl]

Well I got exactly what I was looking for from Proxy. I took my AC30 kitchen-sink preset and:

• Replaced the AC30 block with the free AC30 proxy from @brianwahl,
• Replaced the IR block with the Cali EQ he had in front of it,
• And replaced the boost I had with the LA Studio Comp he was using.

Now my kitchen-sink patch just sounds better. This isn't to say proxy is inherently better than the Agoura AC30, Brian is just better at this kind of thing than I am. Plus because it's an Amp+Cab proxy I can't tweak the amps settings and IR endlessly, so this approach is perfect for me.

Thanks so much! Glad you’re liking those AC30 clones.

I prefer that AC30 (or the ‘64 top boost I have) to the Agoura model. Mostly because it comes down to me just liking those individual AC30’s more than the one they modeled for Agoura.

I’m really excited to hear the Agoura versions of the two vintage models they have at L6 - the ones that are currently still legacy HX models.

 

[wharf rat]

Speaking as a guy who actually uses the factory presets as a starting point for most of my at-home jamming, at what point will we get new factory presets with the new amps and possibly L6 captures?

I would have loved a few more presets just to see what the vision was for the Matchless and the Orange, and potentially some “factory captures”.

 

[EOengineer]

I prefer that AC30 (or the ‘64 top boost I have) to the Agoura model. Mostly because it comes down to me just liking those individual AC30’s more than the one they modeled for Agoura.

I’m really excited to hear the Agoura versions of the two vintage models they have at L6 - the ones that are currently still legacy HX models.

There was a Boston based studio I used to work out of that had an incredible pair of 64 top boosts that were absolute knock outs. The current Agoura AC30 is great but if I'm honest I really want to see those vintage examples show up. Nothing sounded like those amps when they got warm.

I wonder if L6 would model another AC30 though with one already existing in there.

 

[CakeEater]

Thanks so much! Glad you’re liking those AC30 clones.

I prefer that AC30 (or the ‘64 top boost I have) to the Agoura model. Mostly because it comes down to me just liking those individual AC30’s more than the one they modeled for Agoura.

I’m really excited to hear the Agoura versions of the two vintage models they have at L6 - the ones that are currently still legacy HX models.

Absolutely, while I only tried the A-30/6 last night, I'll definitely be purchasing the ’64 for comparison too. Also looking forward to the modded plexi and anything ÷13 in the future too!

 

[DanRad]

Speaking as a guy who actually uses the factory presets as a starting point for most of my at-home jamming, at what point will we get new factory presets with the new amps and possibly L6 captures?

I would have loved a few more presets just to see what the vision was for the Matchless and the Orange, and potentially some “factory captures”.

There are two new presets for the Orange and Matchless. Just scroll down the list.