Line 6 Helix Stadium

[paisleywookiee]

And today you can get Helix love for as little as $179

And by this we can assume there will soon be a $199(?) POD Express Turbo with Stadium tones?

 

[LP59]

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 think that's the single greatest innovation that came from Fractal Audio. They discovered that there's a significant market out there for a guitar amp sim/multifx in the >$1500 range. It's not just rich hobbieists who are willing to pay that much for a high quality product.

 

[Frodebro]

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.

We already know what HX modeling sounds like, and this is a refinement of that. If there was no established history for sound quality, sound clips would be extremely important.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

I wonder if some new fuzzes will be added with Agoura modelling?
Fingers firmly crossed =)

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

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

For sure. But that was in the before times. And it was Boss.

 

[paisleywookiee]

We already know what HX modeling sounds like, and this is a refinement of that. If there was no established history for sound quality, sound clips would be extremely important.

Yeah I don’t really need to hear clips; I like the Helix already, and this is better.
Helix Backyard BBQ Stomp is a day one purchase for me.

 

[banned]

Looks like there's no mention of improved OD modeling with Agoura? Any updates on the OD/Dist. pedal modeling front?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Looks like there's no mention of improved OD modeling with Agoura? Any updates on the OD/Dist. pedal modeling front?

I know I‘ve said this before… the SD-1 and TS models - at least to me - are the weak points of the current Helix firmware. I would definitely be delighted if they were completely overhauled. But Eric already stated that Helix Stadium 1.0 doesn‘t have new FX.

 

[Lysander]

Oh, YouTube.
Never change

 

[ian_dissonance]

Oh, YouTube.
Never change

View attachment 47043

I’m glad that’s the only time I’ve ever seen that particular guy. Yeesh.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Actually, I just remembered about Boss GT10 "cocked wah" sound.

And it's not even true. Run it through a better cab sim and it's pretty decent. What has been really bad with the GT-10 is its converters (or maybe the op amps, no idea). Tried to use it in 4CM with my Laney LC50 (pretty nice sounding amp IMO, even got it modded a bit) and I couldn't even remotely manage to keep the amp sound the same as without the GT. I actually suspect the input stage to be the culprit as the DIs I recorded (hence nothing bit the input was in the signal chain) didn't sound great, either.
But on its own, it's really not too bad. Heck, I used it for a run of gigs last year because it was the most practical solution (the big board was in another van for some days). Sounded absolutely decent through an AMT Pangaea (working as a cab IR loader).

 

[Mikael Dez]

Now I’ve ordered another!

 

[StarF666]

View attachment 47044

Now I’ve ordered another!

I just made my girl friend order three in a row.

 

[Mikael Dez]

I just made my girl friend order three in a row.

“Why can’t you make me feel like the Stadium does?!”

The Helix Stadium was directly responsible for divorces and breakups across the world in 2026 - Stadium users became obsessed with the world class orgasms in Agoura, many even stating “it’s actually better than the real thing!”

 

[Mooselake]

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...

Yep. I'll certainly listen to the clips and watch some of the reviews, but L6 team Helix is a known quantity to me, and wise or not, I feel they've earned the benefit of the doubt with me. Even if I overhype the player experience part in my mind, the productivity additions have me extremely interested, even though I'm not a gigging musician. I might even be a buyer if it was OG Helix modeling with some spec improvements and the revamped workflow tools.

 

[ChordInversion]

I thought it was the pros, yep, but wanted to know the full answer before giving my opinion :)

I don't know if Line6 is "powering" many bands, but for instance I saw Smashing Pumpkins using Helix Racks a few years ago (although mostly for effects, because Billy won't allow digital amps on stage xD).

On the other hand, I'd say arena bands usually have a tech guy who makes the programming for them, unless the musicians are nerdy enough. And if they are, I'm sure they would appreciate a way friendlier UI.

So again, I don't see why the Stadium wouldn't be embraced by that market if emulation quality ended up being identical. And there's also profiling, which Fractal still doesn't have.

The only remaining reason seems to be "not having to learn another interface", but how long will that happen? They will eventually have to learn a new interface when a new Fractal device is released (at least I hope they don't do like Kemper and take UX very seriously, for their own good), and Stadium's seems quite joyful to learn, kind of like when you switch from Pro Tools to Studio One xD

There's one more reason. Not only does Fractal have top tier modeling, they also have by far the biggest range of modeled amps. That can matter to people who have become accustomed to that range and don't want to heavily tweak one of a small range of models until it is "close enough."

I may be alone in simply not liking profiling at all (I have a thing about needing amp controls that work like amp controls), but I doubt it. For people for whom it matters, I suspect it matters a lot, because it seems someone brings it up in pretty much every online conversation about modelers. That's totally their right - we like what we like. I suspect there are plenty of people who don't have rigs they want to profile and have no interest in crowdsourcing their sound. I also suspect that finite resources and varying expertise will eventually result in modeling and profiling continuing to have distinct leaders that aren't the same company.

 

[Chocol8]

will eventually result in modeling and profiling continuing to have distinct leaders that aren't the same company.

There is no reason any top tier modeling device can’t also run top quality captures, so I could see the top of the market converging. If there are two different top dogs, I think they will be different market segments.

Maybe Tonex for the low price, fewer features market, and Line 6/Fractal for the top tier super flexible high featured all in one devices. I don’t see a top tier capture/profile only leader like Kemper has been. It just doesn’t make sense anymore unless the market turns away from modeling. I don’t see that happening in the next 5+ years.

 

[Lysander]

There's one more reason. Not only does Fractal have top tier modeling, they also have by far the biggest range of modeled amps. That can matter to people who have become accustomed to that range and don't want to heavily tweak one of a small range of models until it is "close enough."

Hell, i'd argue Fractal has too many amps. I think the AxeFX III is close to 350 models now, which is just insane.

But yeah, if you want the ultimate in options and flexibility, it's really hard to go wrong with Fractal. It comes at a cost thou.

There is no reason any top tier modeling device can’t also run top quality captures, so I could see the top of the market converging.

Note that Cliff is notoriously against capturing, and remains steadfast convinced modelling is a superior approach. Other brands, though? Seems we're there already.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

AxeFX III is close to 350 models now

Not really like 350 amps though. Once you add up all the different Plexi’s with their various input options, the Mark amps with their different configurations, the 10 or so Friedman’s, as well as the multi channel stuff like the VH4, JVM’s, JMP-1, it’s more like just over 100 IIRC. Still not to be sniffed at but it’s pretty comparable to something like Amplitube when you do it like for like.

 

[Chocol8]

Note that Cliff is notoriously against capturing, and remains steadfast convinced modelling to be a superior approach. Other brands, though? Seems we're getting there already.

Yep, that is Cliff’s preference, not a technical limitation or a good business limitation. Personally, I think if he sticks with it, it is going to cost him sales. There have been a LOT of Fractal and Line 6 customers running their devices along with a Tonex Pedal or One over the last couple of years. I bet most of them would prefer the capture tech, for amps and/or effects, be built into their next device.