Line 6 Helix Stadium

[molul]

Maybe invite a few big name producers to an LA studio and do some A/B test with real amps with some famous guitarists rigs. I think we all roughly know what the amp tones will be like, but demonstrating how well they hold up in a demanding environment with minimal fuss would be a strong draw IMO.

That would be quite a way to make an impression. I think people like Rick Beato A/B testing and being amazed would boost sales.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

There's a group of people who won't trust anything that isn't some person in cargo shorts and flipflops playing in a low quality video/audio shot entirely with a smartphone.

I enjoyed this.

I think it’s not just about showing that it sounds good (which is easy for basically anything), it’s about showing HOW good it is (less straightforward).

Stock presets suck ass. We need to move more towards presets being more like templates that make configuring routing quick and easy. The current process on most HW units of having to start from a preset and then copy that to a new preset should be kept in the past. On a good modeller, it would be so trivially easy to make your own presets, or search and download something very specific that the unit shouldn’t need hundreds of random ass nonsense pre-loaded.

 

[Chocol8]

Why? They already have a significant back order and the product is months away from launch. I don’t think they need to do anything to boost sales yet, and any clips they do post will get criticized by the ignorant online mob. I see more downside than upside.

 

[HomespunEffects]

… Presets have been an achilles heel for a lot of modelers, so I hope Line6 makes some great ones out of the box.

I think they get excited to show what this new thing can do and the preset designers throw everything at it. It becomes a caricature. I mean Devin Townsend would be like “I can use this” but us regular mortal people want what we would get by plugging a guitar into the amp with no other effects or just a touch of reverb (not the caverns of Valhalla). Keep them simple.

Bah, just let me do it.

PS if you make a preset called “The Caverns of Valhalla” I want recognition.

 

[laxu]

I enjoyed this.

I think it’s not just about showing that it sounds good (which is easy for basically anything), it’s about showing HOW good it is (less straightforward).

Stock presets suck ass. We need to move more towards presets being more like templates that make configuring routing quick and easy. The current process on most HW units of having to start from a preset and then copy that to a new preset should be kept in the past. On a good modeller, it would be so trivially easy to make your own presets, or search and download something very specific that the unit shouldn’t need hundreds of random ass nonsense pre-loaded.

You and me would be fine with this, but you have to remember there's a bunch of people who want to do preferably zero work.

They want to buy a modeler, and they want it to sound like the heavens from the first chord. These are the folks who are buying paid presets, or their "I've gigged this for 3 years" preset is literally a marginally tweaked factory preset because that worked well enough when they first found it.

Line6 seems to want e.g Focus view to be a bit catered towards this group to get them to engage with the individual fx models more, even if it's at a "slide a finger towards corners of the screen" level.

 

[laxu]

I think they get excited to show what this new thing can do and the preset designers throw everything at it. It becomes a caricature. I mean Devin Townsend would be like “I can use this” but us regular mortal people want what we would get by plugging a guitar into the amp with no other effects or just a touch of reverb (not the caverns of Valhalla). Keep them simple.

Bah, just let me do it.

That's a common pitfall for sure. It's definitely easy to make a box give a strong first impression if you lather everything in delay/reverb, add a stereo widener at the end etc.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

They want to buy a modeler, and they want it to sound like the heavens from the first chord. These are the folks who are buying paid presets, or their "I've gigged this for 3 years" preset is literally a marginally tweaked factory preset because that worked well enough when they first found it.

I think a decent cloud and search largely negates the need for the device to have a library full of shite though.

Much better for a user to have their easiest method of preset selection to be from a cloud with thousands of presets that cater to exactly what they want (which they can even listen to audio examples of, read information about, maybe even see nice pictures), rather than just playing wheel of fortune through a load of totally unconnected random sounds with shortened names and metaphors before they get half way there. I think the whole “huge list of built in presets” is dated and not really an intuitive or quick way of achieving what those users want.

 

[AlbertA]

View attachment 46955

@Digital Igloo really? Meaningless? I guess I completely disagree.

Imagine this



Where they just talk about the knob's and the switch and replace all the pedal audio with just their breathing sounds.

meaningless?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Honestly; I get having no sound clips. Everyone knows what the Helix sounds like. This will be a "higher res" version of those same sounds. I don't know how you could unleash a batch of clips without the "it all sounds the same crew" chipping in with their masters on .75, presence on 1.3 presets that are dialed in to be YT friendly and nowhere near "what you would set the amp in real life" friendly. The HX is a known and proven quantity and it's really going to take getting it in the individual player's hands for them to see if it's a "step up" for them.

 

[OneEng]

I've seen people saying things like "You can't know what the gear actually sounds like because Pete Thorn makes everything sound good". You can't win no matter what. "Too good" is apparently a thing for them.

To me it's "If this great player got this great tone out of it, so can I." Hearing the best possible outcome to showcase the true capabilities. With that gear, the only thing holding me back is my knowledge of how to use it and my playing chops. Both which you can improve for no additional cost but time.

There's a group of people who won't trust anything that isn't some person in cargo shorts and flipflops playing in a low quality video/audio shot entirely with a smartphone. I can bet that you could take that Fractal stock preset sound, and if you just make it look like the person is playing through <insert fancy boutique amp>, then people would go "Wow, that sounds so good man!" because they are so heavily biased to what they see.

When the Stadium comes out, I can bet e.g Andertons will go through a pile of stock presets, then show how to dial in one themselves. Presets have been an achilles heel for a lot of modelers, so I hope Line6 makes some great ones out of the box.

I agree, yet this is likely that presets are the only way most people will "audition" the unit ..... especially in the store. Knowing this, I am confused as to why MOST digital amp makers don't spend much more time making sure that AT LEAST the first 10-20 presets are outstanding.

 

[JiveTurkey]

The SW vid posted shows Ben interactinb with the touchscreen for a brief second and that thing looks SLICK AF. I actually don't know if I really care for the skeumorphic/wtfever you want to call it angled amp view

 

[Chocol8]

I agree, yet this is likely that presets are the only way most people will "audition" the unit ..... especially in the store. Knowing this, I am confused as to why MOST digital amp makers don't spend much more time making sure that AT LEAST the first 10-20 presets are outstanding.

Even better question is why they would include any presets that are not outstanding? I would think 30 well done presets would be better than 150 mediocre to crappy ones. Heck, 10 well done ones would be better.

 

[Mongillo19]

The SW vid posted shows Ben interactinb with the touchscreen for a brief second and that thing looks SLICK AF. I actually don't know if I really care for the skeumorphic/wtfever you want to call it angled amp view

The Worship Tutorial guys also mentioned how nice the touchscreen is and that it is considerably better than the QC. They compared it to a smartphone

 

[JiveTurkey]

Even better question is why they would include any presets that are not outstanding? I would think 30 well done presets would be better than 150 mediocre to crappy ones. Heck, 10 well done ones would be better.

One person's outstanding is another person's

 

[JiveTurkey]

The Worship Tutorial guys also mentioned how nice the touchscreen is and that it is considerably better than the QC. They compared it to a smartphone

If there were poo switches; 1000% Bye Felicia to the others in that realm I'd say

 

[molul]

They compared it to a smartphone

An iPhone, in fact.

 

[Mongillo19]

An iPhone, in fact.

Not to be an ass, but solely because I haven't had an iPhone in about 15 years, are the touchscreens different between say android and apple?

Probably about to start a war

 

[molul]

Not to be an ass, but solely because I haven't had an iPhone in about 15 years, are the touchscreens different between say android and apple?

Probably about to start a war

I dunno. I've always had Android and never cared to try an iPhone xD

 

[synthpenguin]

@Digital Igloo really? Meaningless? I guess I completely disagree.

Imagine this



Where they just talk about the knob's and the switch and replace all the pedal audio with just their breathing sounds.

meaningless?

tbf this product was available for sale and in stock in stores when this video came out—the Stadium isn't even (officially) available for preorder yet. I'm sure Line 6 will provide plenty of audio demoes in the future.

When they do put out audio demoes, I personally hope they do the full UA-style marketing push with them, having the Beatos and Shulls etc do comparisons like someone else said, as well as demoes from people like Ola and Leon Todd and Pierce and WT. Some of us might roll our eyes at the sudden parade of influencer videos, or may not like one or any of those personalities, but for the average guitarist (someone who isn't spending time on forums lol) it does a good job of creating an impression that cuts through bias against modeling or a brand. Along with the interface, it's a big reason why those UA amp sim pedals had such a strong reputation before anyone had even played one, I think.

 

[dk_ace]

Honestly; I get having no sound clips. Everyone knows what the Helix sounds like. This will be a "higher res" version of those same sounds. I don't know how you could unleash a batch of clips without the "it all sounds the same crew" chipping in with their masters on .75, presence on 1.3 presets that are dialed in to be YT friendly and nowhere near "what you would set the amp in real life" friendly. The HX is a known and proven quantity and it's really going to take getting it in the individual player's hands for them to see if it's a "step up" for them.

This all day.

D