Line 6 Helix Stadium

[paisleywookiee]

The 2203 is considered to be quite good for line 6, right?

It is good. I love it long time.

 

[Mooselake]

You know. I wondered the same but didn’t say it. The @James Freeman 2203 model would have taken place during Stadium development. And that model stands on its own IMO.

Yep, and the GSG, the Vitriol, 2203, German Xtra channels, PV Panama Channels all came in the 3.6-3.8 window which possibly lines up with when Agoura was rounding into shape.

 

[paisleywookiee]

It’s probably asking too much at this point, but I’d love to see the newer treatment done to all of their Helix amps.

 

[EOengineer]

It’s probably asking too much at this point, but I’d love to see the newer treatment done to all of their Helix amps.

Those are recent enough additions that it seems at least plausible we could see that. Or more originals altogether.

 

[timbuck3]

Yep. I know they are sterile boxes of components, but a modeler/effects unit needs to fit the user in a way that's not completely dissimilar to the way the right guitar does.

I've used Line 6 stuff since the 90s. There was one product that came out pre-Helix I was disappointed with, but otherwise I've been a happy camper. And the way they have handled Helix with updates and support really makes them stand out to me. I'm going into Stadium with no cynicism towards YGG because they've earned trust from me. Sort of reading between the lines and splicing together many different things I've seen or read, one of the criticisms Helix gets compared specifically to Fractal is in the realm of transient response/"feel". Never played a Fractal so I'm going on hearsay. Again, reading between the lines I get the sense L6 feels they have closed that gap. So that's one area I'm hoping for enhanced experiences with Stadium. And maybe you meant the user experience writ large, including all the different tools and ways to employ them, which is all good too. But for me a lot will rest on Agoura's shoulders.

I play box valvetronix de and the box amps… katana artist gen2 and I have an old cyber twin combo and line6 combo with rube power section… and I just like playing at home.
I probably don’t need all the features of a stadium or fm9t but if I am gonna jump in to a modeler 2025/26 it’s gonna be the newest best sounding one TO ME that has what I need and has a gui I can get along with.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I'm totally content with my Axe III, and if my past rigs are any indication of how long I stay with something, I'll most likely stay with it for several more years.

But I gotta say, to someone like me who knows no electrical engineering, or anything IT-related, this is mind-blowing that these guys can create a device that does SO MUCH for, really what comes down to very little money, for what you get.

It is an amazing time to be a guitar player!

 

[DrewJD82]

And now the stadium will say oh my God it’s so great compared to the helix which will kill the helix sales so I’m sure they have to be careful about saying it’s good but it’s not that good because they don’t wanna take any sales away between now and Christmas from the helix that they’re going to discountimmensely

While new Helix sales are going to slow considerably, they know that already and account for it. There hasn’t been a single bit of “Oh but not quite THAT great to ditch your Helix!” because they want people to eventually ‘ditch’ it in turn for the Stadium. And the Helix family will continue to sell on the used market in the same way old AxeFX/AX8/FX8 continue selling now.

While that’s not bringing new revenue to the company, it confirms value for the products still exists simply because they’re great products that people have enjoyed for years and know they can get what they want from them, which builds legitimacy and faith in the companies.

 

[ian_dissonance]

I'm totally content with my Axe III, and if my past rigs are any indication of how long I stay with something, I'll most likely stay with it for several more years.

But I gotta say, to someone like me who knows no electrical engineering, or anything IT-related, this is mind-blowing that these guys can create a device that does SO MUCH for, really what comes down to very little money, for what you get.

It is an amazing time to be a guitar player!

This really could replace multiple pieces of equipment in my live rig. Right now I already have those pieces and redundancies. But the next time I need to replace a laptop or a floorboard I’ll be looking hard here. With showcase mode I’d only need switches for starting and pausing tracks. (As long as there are some more better ways to modulate parameters than Helix and they can be “sequenced” in Showcase)

 

[GTR37]

The silver lining is at least you never bought any of them

Now I’m starting to wonder if any of the newer Hx amps are downsampled versions of the Agoura amps.

It would not surprise me if some of the Latest like the 5153 , 2203 , Driipman
XTC were all being worked and developed on both platforms simultaneously

 

[GTR37]

Yep, and the GSG, the Vitriol, 2203, German Xtra channels, PV Panama Channels all came in the 3.6-3.8 window which possibly lines up with when Agoura was rounding into shape.

I think if you look at Metallurgy it quite possible those amps might also be in the first 16 as they already had all the 3 d graphics seen in the new focus screens

 

[deepskyone]

I don't get the hate for the name.

Next time the wife or another family members asks how my guitar playing is coming along I will reply: "Great! I will be playing stadiums soon!"

(Apologies if the joke has been made before. This hype train is too fast for me...)

 

[2112]

While that’s not bringing new revenue to the company, it confirms value for the products still exists simply because they’re great products that people have enjoyed for years and know they can get what they want from them, which builds legitimacy and faith in the companies.

There's also the people who will buy the old products used, enjoy them and in turn become customers for the new products.

 

[TSJMajesty]

There's also the people who will buy the old products used, enjoy them and in turn become customers for the new products.

Yep, I was thinking the same thing.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Morph and Chas FTW.

 

[the swede]

I play box valvetronix de and the box amps… katana artist gen2 and I have an old cyber twin combo and line6 combo with rube power section… and I just like playing at home.
I probably don’t need all the features of a stadium or fm9t but if I am gonna jump in to a modeler 2025/26 it’s gonna be the newest best sounding one TO ME that has what I need and has a gui I can get along with.

The thing is… in your case. You wouldn’t actually (probably) need to jump in on the latest thing. Getting a Helix (as an example) today in 2025 is not like getting a Helix in 2015.
Of course you’d probably want to chose the latest if it’s there.
All I’m saying is that some brands of modeling units doesn’t get old in the same way digital products got old in the 2000 to 2015 period.

I’d buy a used Helix LT if that format was what I wanted. Because I know it sounds as good and better than I’ll ever be able to fully utilize it for.

In the same way, the HX Stomp will always be relevant as a guitar pedal, just like any guitar pedal out there regardless of age. Modeling units are approaching the same level of sustainability as guitar pedals has always been.

 

[laxu]

The considerable but questionable G66 markup comes back to screw you again if you want to sell your used Fractal product, as the used market is (at least more) global. So you often can not get a reasonable part of that markup back.

I think most people just buy what's available in their own country out of convenience. I have bought some guitar gear back in the day from e.g eBay, before sites like Reverb existed, but nowadays just look at local sites and FB groups.

 

[Funk Soul Brother]

There's also the people who will buy the old products used, enjoy them and in turn become customers for the new products.

As long as they're OK with cleaning/fixing foot switches, the used Helix models should be a great deal

 

[saarangnarayan]

I think most people just buy what's available in their own country out of convenience.

That’s 100% the reason why I got a POD X3 Live back in the day. As soon as Fractal became readily available (relatively speaking of course), I made the switch.

As long as they're OK with cleaning/fixing foot switches, the used Helix models should be

Holy crap, this is still a thing??? I remember having such a hard time with my POD X3 Live because the switches would crap out mid-gig and I’d go crazy trying to switch to the correct preset. Eventually decided to get some analog pedals to do the job in a love setting along with the POD X3.

 

[Funk Soul Brother]

That’s 100% the reason why I got a POD X3 Live back in the day. As soon as Fractal became readily available (relatively speaking of course), I made the switch.


Holy crap, this is still a thing??? I remember having such a hard time with my POD X3 Live because the switches would crap out mid-gig and I’d go crazy trying to switch to the correct preset. Eventually decided to get some analog pedals to do the job in a love setting along with the POD X3.

Apparently so...

Wonder when Line6 foot last changed/upgraded their PCB mounted foot switches, but if you Google "helix switch problems failures" you'll verify the saga continues...

 

[EOengineer]

Apparently so...

Wonder when Line6 foot last changed/upgraded their PCB mounted foot switches, but if you Google "helix switch problems failures" you'll verify the saga continues...

Googling Bigfoot will also return some hits.

Consider for a moment the sheer number of Hx units that have sold over the last decade. Also consider that moving parts, especially those that get stomped on, are always the most likely to fail.

if you’re going to have failures on a device that’s probably sold hundreds of thousands (or more?) of units, you’re going to read about moving parts breaking. Footswitch, knobs, buttons, etc are all common culprits.

Fractal footswitch fail too, there are just WAY less devices out there.