Line 6 Helix Stadium

[Southpaw-DD]

I'm at the point where I'm comparing and buying/selling gear based on stripped down amp playing feel mostly, followed by sound and FX capability in the latest modelers/devices. I don't really care about precise accuracy to one specific amp at that company's headquarters (other than it being true to the circuit and sounding good, in general). Profiles/captures are frustrating because you are relying on someone else's choices with levels, DI box connections or a loadbox that may or may not be ideal, speakers, volume they were working at, pickups (hot or not), and on and on.

If Agoura "feels" great and supersedes my experience with other digital only devices, I'll jump on the wagon. I sold my HX gear previously because I thought the feel was lacking something (in my hands) even though the sounds were great. Kemper felt better to me, but I got fed up with the software/hardware experience and profile chasing. I want to limit to one digital hardware solution or maybe plug-ins only in the near future - I like amps and pedals too much to throw more money on digital gear.

My ideal product may be an interface/control box that works with a plug-in or standalone Stadium app - would be cool if the app set the external interface impedance and other settings based on the signal chain. Of course, that would only work in live/standalone mode for real-time, not DAW tracks. The "Stomp" version may be in the ideal price and feature range for what I need.

 

[paisleywookiee]

And it'll even make it to the full macOS. Let's hope they allow for some ways to switch all the translucent BS off.

You can, from what I’ve heard.

 

[GTR37]

Yeah, I don’t care about audio clips. It’s going to sound good. Jon is going to sound like Jon doing a catchy ass radio metal riff, and the rest will dial stuff to sound 90% like the last thing they demo’d and it will all sound good. At this point if you’re not getting sounds you like out of modeling it’s you, IMO. I want to see the routing, how it’s handled in the screen, how quickly we can assign 10 things to one footswitch, how the breakout box works with showcase mode, maybe some live eq displays of HYPE on a couple of amps to see what’s going on.

John I would like to hear clips from because your right he is like an encyclopedia of cool riffs

 

[DLC86]

Also, a big part of Agoura (and this is echoed repeatedly by beta testers) is its immediacy and how it responds under your fingers; clips do nothing to help convey this.

Maybe you can capture that as a NAM profile and share it so we all can load it on our PCs and try it out

Just kidding... Or maybe not

 

[timbuck3]

@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?

I kind of think, given the unit to guys who have everything and the kitchen sink and can afford anything and the kitchen sink and put out their videos where they have 100 A behind them and every effect on the face of earth at their feet to represent the stadium or even talk about it
Why you ask?
Because they already have everything they would ever want ever need they can just get anything they want. They have just piles of modelers and effects and what not so while they might have a good inventory of stuff which many people think makes them qualified to say oh this sounds great or that sounds great. The helix is I should say the stadium seems to be an all in one product so to me seeing it reviewed by people who for instance don’t have mega paddle boards or mega amplifiers and are just average Joe’s so to speak without a ton of gear and on a budget would be much more. I think the kind of people you’d want this to take and go through it
I’m just putting it out there and it’s just my opinion and I’m not exactly the most eloquent writer/speaker but are there any other guys getting tired of seeing the same people who have a ton of everything and can afford everything and have everything given to them review another Product that they’ve been given?

 

[eggpl@nt]

I kind of think, given the unit to guys who have everything and the kitchen sink and can afford anything and the kitchen sink and put out their videos where they have 100 A behind them and every effect on the face of earth at their feet to represent the stadium or even talk about it
Why you ask?
Because they already have everything they would ever want ever need they can just get anything they want. They have just piles of modelers and effects and what not so while they might have a good inventory of stuff which many people think makes them qualified to say oh this sounds great or that sounds great. The helix is I should say the stadium seems to be an all in one product so to me seeing it reviewed by people who for instance don’t have mega paddle boards or mega amplifiers and are just average Joe’s so to speak without a ton of gear and on a budget would be much more. I think the kind of people you’d want this to take and go through it
I’m just putting it out there and it’s just my opinion and I’m not exactly the most eloquent writer/speaker but are there any other guys getting tired of seeing the same people who have a ton of everything and can afford everything and have everything given to them review another Product that they’ve been given?

 

[timbuck3]

I kind of think, given the unit to guys who have everything and the kitchen sink and can afford anything and the kitchen sink and put out their videos where they have 100 A behind them and every effect on the face of earth at their feet to represent the stadium or even talk about it
Why you ask?
Because they already have everything they would ever want ever need they can just get anything they want. They have just piles of modelers and effects and what not so while they might have a good inventory of stuff which many people think makes them qualified to say oh this sounds great or that sounds great. The helix is I should say the stadium seems to be an all in one product so to me seeing it reviewed by people who for instance don’t have mega paddle boards or mega amplifiers and are just average Joe’s so to speak without a ton of gear and on a budget would be much more. I think the kind of people you’d want this to take and go through it
I’m just putting it out there and it’s just my opinion and I’m not exactly the most eloquent writer/speaker but are there any other guys getting tired of seeing the same people who have a ton of everything and can afford everything and have everything given to them review another Product that they’ve been given?

Of course it’s going to be a good product. A lot of thoughts going into it as with most flagship modelers from all these companies it’s gonna sound good according to the people that designed it it’s gonna be new as far as having some new things that I can do via the screen It’s gonna be full-fledged. It’s gonna be cool. It’s not gonna be for everybody. Some people would prefer the sound some people may not, but I kind of agree with people that have said that they’re not gonna put out examples of their apps so it basically just comes down to buying it and trying it for yourself taking a chance Getting some skin in the game by purchasing it taking it home seeing if it’ll work with your system if it’s the kind of thing you enjoy if it’s a sounds you want and if it is great in line 6 will probably continue to advance it for many years to come And that goes for fractal that goes for the tone master pro all these units so this is exciting time to be a guitarist. I agree and all I’m saying is just get ready for the whole overload of YouTube influencers and studio guys. That will get this unit from line 6 and say it’s the next best thing in size bread
You have to take these kind of people reviews with the salt don’t you think?

 

[timbuck3]

Yeah, I don’t care about audio clips. It’s going to sound good. Jon is going to sound like Jon doing a catchy ass radio metal riff, and the rest will dial stuff to sound 90% like the last thing they demo’d and it will all sound good. At this point if you’re not getting sounds you like out of modeling it’s you, IMO. I want to see the routing, how it’s handled in the screen, how quickly we can assign 10 things to one footswitch, how the breakout box works with showcase mode, maybe some live eq displays of HYPE on a couple of amps to see what’s going on.

Very well said this is kind of what my too long of posts was trying to say thank you for your comment

 

[molul]

Of course it’s going to be a good product. A lot of thoughts going into it as with most flagship modelers from all these companies it’s gonna sound good according to the people that designed it it’s gonna be new as far as having some new things that I can do via the screen It’s gonna be full-fledged. It’s gonna be cool. It’s not gonna be for everybody. Some people would prefer the sound some people may not, but I kind of agree with people that have said that they’re not gonna put out examples of their apps so it basically just comes down to buying it and trying it for yourself taking a chance Getting some skin in the game by purchasing it taking it home seeing if it’ll work with your system if it’s the kind of thing you enjoy if it’s a sounds you want and if it is great in line 6 will probably continue to advance it for many years to come And that goes for fractal that goes for the tone master pro all these units so this is exciting time to be a guitarist. I agree and all I’m saying is just get ready for the whole overload of YouTube influencers and studio guys. That will get this unit from line 6 and say it’s the next best thing in size bread
You have to take these kind of people reviews with the salt don’t you think?

Did you use voice-to-text for this post and the one you self quoted?

 

[Frodebro]

I kind of think, given the unit to guys who have everything and the kitchen sink and can afford anything and the kitchen sink and put out their videos where they have 100 A behind them and every effect on the face of earth at their feet to represent the stadium or even talk about it
Why you ask?
Because they already have everything they would ever want ever need they can just get anything they want. They have just piles of modelers and effects and what not so while they might have a good inventory of stuff which many people think makes them qualified to say oh this sounds great or that sounds great. The helix is I should say the stadium seems to be an all in one product so to me seeing it reviewed by people who for instance don’t have mega paddle boards or mega amplifiers and are just average Joe’s so to speak without a ton of gear and on a budget would be much more. I think the kind of people you’d want this to take and go through it
I’m just putting it out there and it’s just my opinion and I’m not exactly the most eloquent writer/speaker but are there any other guys getting tired of seeing the same people who have a ton of everything and can afford everything and have everything given to them review another Product that they’ve been given?

Honestly, it doesn't matter to me if any of the reviewers has a warehouse full of gear. What matters is their competence in demoing the featured unit, and clearly demonstrating its capabilities. That's their job, and one of the reasons they have all of that gear is because they have established themselves as worthy demonstrators and the manufacturers want them to demo their stuff.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Honestly, it doesn't matter to me if any of the reviewers has a warehouse full of gear. What matters is their competence in demoing the featured unit, and clearly demonstrating its capabilities. That's their job, and one of the reasons they have all of that gear is because they have established themselves as worthy demonstrators and the manufacturers want them to demo their stuff.

Hopefully someone with a room full of gear could muster a review that includes stuff like “here’s how we use the Stadium as the brain for our shows with our IEM monitor rig” and less “here’s how the Marshall JCMIDONTFUCKINGCAREBECAUSEIDONTLIKEMAESHALLS sounds with the TS-PLEASEGODNOEVERYONEKNOWSWHATITSOUNDSLIKE sounds while I play some pedestrian fucking 0h3h5p0 and 12h15p12h15 shit”.

 

[AlbertA]

Yeah, I don’t care about audio clips. It’s going to sound good.

I guess we are cut from very different cloth. I default to proof over promises. I would apply the same standard to any other company.

 

[Mikael Dez]

Hopefully someone with a room full of gear could muster a review that includes stuff like “here’s how we use the Stadium as the brain for our shows with our IEM monitor rig” and less “here’s how the Marshall JCMIDONTFUCKINGCAREBECAUSEIDONTLIKEMAESHALLS sounds with the TS-PLEASEGODNOEVERYONEKNOWSWHATITSOUNDSLIKE sounds while I play some pedestrian fucking 0h3h5p0 and 12h15p12h15 shit”.

0-3-5 rocking out with my fucking cock out im such a rocker oh wait here comes the octave change 12-15-12-15-12-15 FUCK YEAH IM A ROCKER AND I ROCK

 

[sashimi]

I'm in the sound clips and YouTube intro songs are useless to me, I usually skip the intro songs to just see what the unit does and does not, most of those guys after a while sound the same to me.

 

[Mooselake]

I enjoy the clips and there are a few of the clip generators out there whose opinion on the playing experience aspect of it I'd like to hear. Pete Thorn and Tim Pierce come to mind. Pretty much any of them will make it sound good and I'm sure I'll listen to them all.

 

[Orvillain]

Marketing working with everyone to make sure people are on track with realistic deadlines.

This genuinely gave me a chuckle!! hahaha!

 

[Digital Igloo]

I kind of think, given the unit to guys who have everything and the kitchen sink and can afford anything and the kitchen sink and put out their videos where they have 100 A behind them and every effect on the face of earth at their feet to represent the stadium or even talk about it
Why you ask?
Because they already have everything they would ever want ever need they can just get anything they want. They have just piles of modelers and effects and what not so while they might have a good inventory of stuff which many people think makes them qualified to say oh this sounds great or that sounds great. The helix is I should say the stadium seems to be an all in one product so to me seeing it reviewed by people who for instance don’t have mega paddle boards or mega amplifiers and are just average Joe’s so to speak without a ton of gear and on a budget would be much more. I think the kind of people you’d want this to take and go through it
I’m just putting it out there and it’s just my opinion and I’m not exactly the most eloquent writer/speaker but are there any other guys getting tired of seeing the same people who have a ton of everything and can afford everything and have everything given to them review another Product that they’ve been given?

Oh, I get it. "Blues Lawyer," "Blues Dentist," "Blues State Senator"... There's definitely a type that can afford to fill their den with expensive gear.

And a cynic might look at Helix Stadium and go "Oh, they're catering to this niche group of wealthy people and leaving the rest of us out in the cold."

EXCEPT:

1. We certainly didn't land that way with Helix/HX, which if you remember started out THREE TIMES the cost of our previous flagship, POD HD500X. And today you can get Helix love for as little as $179.
2. When building a new platform, it's much easier to start at the top and then scale down.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Clips? Meh. I know what the Helix sounds like today and I love and use it. It's apparently going to sound and feel better than that. I don't need clips. This isn't uncharted territory.

Same thing for when the Axe-Fx II and III came out. I had the Axe-Fx Ultra and II and those sounded great. Clips were meaningless. Were the new ones going to suck?

 

[timbuck3]

Oh, I get it. "Blues Lawyer," "Blues Dentist," "Blues State Senator"... There's definitely a type that can afford to fill their den with expensive gear.

And a cynic might look at Helix Stadium and go "Oh, they're catering to this niche group of wealthy people and leaving the rest of us out in the cold."

EXCEPT:

1. We certainly didn't land that way with Helix/HX, which if you remember started out THREE TIMES the cost of our previous flagship, POD HD500X. And today you can get Helix love for as little as $179.
2. When building a new platform, it's much easier to start at the top and then scale down.

I didn’t really mean that me nowadays pretty much anybody can afford this if they save up or whatever I’m in you after your prices are gonna go up that’s just life that’s the way it is
But that last post was pretty spot on with wanting somebody to use or at least demo all the features of the stadium in a real world context not just say here’s a Marshall here’s this. Here’s an AC 30 sound because we know it’s probably gonna sound decent to be in with I mean, if the helix was satisfactory for so many people this is only gonna be the same and probably better. It’s all those extra features and what it can do for somebody in a band situation on their stage is what’s really gonna count for a lot of people

 

[molul]

Clips? Meh. I know what the Helix sounds like today and I love and use it. It's apparently going to sound and feel better than that. I don't need clips. This isn't uncharted territory.

Same thing for when the Axe-Fx II and III came out. I had the Axe-Fx Ultra and II and those sounded great. Clips were meaningless. Were the new ones going to suck?

Actually, I just remembered about Boss GT10 "cocked wah" sound. That was an example on how a new unit sounded worse than its precessor.