Waiting For Helix Stadium?

Hi everyone - my first post here.

I’ve pre-ordered a Stadium XL. The TL DR is that I’m excited about lots of the bells and whistles which is moving me over from a Kemper. This is a bit of a leap of faith which I didn’t see coming!

I’ve never actually tried a Helix or any of the other current digital gear out there beyond my current Kemper ownership…. History-wise, I had a first generation Pod rack back in the old days, a bass Pod and finally a Pod XT. I then went Vox Tonelab before going real amps for a while then settled on Kemper - I’ve been a happy toaster user for 12 years and believed I’d go that way when I finally upgraded.

The reason that moving back to L6 after all these years is looking likely for me? I don’t play live any more but I *might* have the chance of some very small cafe gigs (myself and my daughter). A unit that has a better looper which can cope with vocals and guitar plus have backing tracks built in is really appealing to me for this reason. In terms of playing, I’ve played much less in general the last few years and really need to get myself back into the game. I’m hoping that learning a new toy will inspire this.

Other things - The new focus view with dragging in vague directions on the amps / fx is looking really great - with my Kemper, I do not really tweak beyond the basics and I know that perhaps I should - I instead just load a different profile. Focus looks like a good match to my brain. I like the idea of a touch screen plus lots of physical controllers.

I am hopeful that the actual sounds in the new Stadium are a step forwards vs my Kemper and, as I’m upgrading from 12 year old hardware they should be! Not just with the new L6 modelling method but also the upcoming cloud based capture which should *at least* match my current Kemper and hopefully outdo it. I’ve got no guarantee of this but logically it will do so.

Reading on this forum, Kemper seem to get a lot of stick and seem to be considered to have fallen behind sound-wise. Me in my bubble has had no exposure to competitor gear - my toaster still sounds good to me still and my original intent was to upgrade to the Kemper MK2. Although I’m sure they’ll get the sounds even better vs what I have now, I’m struggling to want to upgrade to a unit where the only benefit to me would be to improve the core sounds. I don’t use tons of effects per patch so the extra slots there aren’t really an upgrade that I need. Also, as mentioned, I’m in a bit of a rut and something that has *exactly the same functionality*, as good as that is, isn’t causing me to hit the ‘buy now’ button. I shouldn’t go looking for inspiration in gear but it’s worth a try! For sure, you can argue the sound is the most important thing but for what I do, I’m not unhappy with the sounds I get now in the original. It’s all the other cool stuff here that is driving the change.

I feel bad as my toaster had constantly and incrementally improved vastly over those years - delays, reverbs, fuzz etc really weren’t great at first but they’ve had a really good track record of updating for free. It’s been a solid platform for me and I’ve never considered moving till now. I’m glad to see that Helix has had 10 years of improvements too - that’s important to me. I get the impression that the last upgrade greatly improved the core sounds due to the cabs being redone for instance.

Enough from me - I’m looking forward to learning more as their (very good) teaser campaign continues and hopefully I’ll get my mojo back learning a new toy this side of Christmas.
 
Hi everyone - my first post here.

I’ve pre-ordered a Stadium XL. The TL DR is that I’m excited about lots of the bells and whistles which is moving me over from a Kemper. This is a bit of a leap of faith which I didn’t see coming!

I’ve never actually tried a Helix or any of the other current digital gear out there beyond my current Kemper ownership…. History-wise, I had a first generation Pod rack back in the old days, a bass Pod and finally a Pod XT. I then went Vox Tonelab before going real amps for a while then settled on Kemper - I’ve been a happy toaster user for 12 years and believed I’d go that way when I finally upgraded.

The reason that moving back to L6 after all these years is looking likely for me? I don’t play live any more but I *might* have the chance of some very small cafe gigs (myself and my daughter). A unit that has a better looper which can cope with vocals and guitar plus have backing tracks built in is really appealing to me for this reason. In terms of playing, I’ve played much less in general the last few years and really need to get myself back into the game. I’m hoping that learning a new toy will inspire this.

Other things - The new focus view with dragging in vague directions on the amps / fx is looking really great - with my Kemper, I do not really tweak beyond the basics and I know that perhaps I should - I instead just load a different profile. Focus looks like a good match to my brain. I like the idea of a touch screen plus lots of physical controllers.

I am hopeful that the actual sounds in the new Stadium are a step forwards vs my Kemper and, as I’m upgrading from 12 year old hardware they should be! Not just with the new L6 modelling method but also the upcoming cloud based capture which should *at least* match my current Kemper and hopefully outdo it. I’ve got no guarantee of this but logically it will do so.

Reading on this forum, Kemper seem to get a lot of stick and seem to be considered to have fallen behind sound-wise. Me in my bubble has had no exposure to competitor gear - my toaster still sounds good to me still and my original intent was to upgrade to the Kemper MK2. Although I’m sure they’ll get the sounds even better vs what I have now, I’m struggling to want to upgrade to a unit where the only benefit to me would be to improve the core sounds. I don’t use tons of effects per patch so the extra slots there aren’t really an upgrade that I need. Also, as mentioned, I’m in a bit of a rut and something that has *exactly the same functionality*, as good as that is, isn’t causing me to hit the ‘buy now’ button. I shouldn’t go looking for inspiration in gear but it’s worth a try! For sure, you can argue the sound is the most important thing but for what I do, I’m not unhappy with the sounds I get now in the original. It’s all the other cool stuff here that is driving the change.

I feel bad as my toaster had constantly and incrementally improved vastly over those years - delays, reverbs, fuzz etc really weren’t great at first but they’ve had a really good track record of updating for free. It’s been a solid platform for me and I’ve never considered moving till now. I’m glad to see that Helix has had 10 years of improvements too - that’s important to me. I get the impression that the last upgrade greatly improved the core sounds due to the cabs being redone for instance.

Enough from me - I’m looking forward to learning more as their (very good) teaser campaign continues and hopefully I’ll get my mojo back learning a new toy this side of Christmas.
Welcome and thanks for sharing. Many of us here also had the POD, PODxt, etc. probably familiar territory.

Helix is awesome. Stadium seems like it should be awesomer.
 
I didn’t get any private code from musicians friend this time… the last one I used at gc to secure the xl at a discount… I wonder if they don’t ship out these over and over
I think they keep sending them until you bite. First few were for 15%, but didn't work with Stadium. Then it went to 20%, but still didn't work with Stadium. Then I got several I didn't even bother to check. The last 20% one I didn't bother with until the last warning it was about it expire. Decided to try it for shits and giggles. To my surprise it worked!
 
I hedged my bets preordering both the XL and Reg at launch, but I want the scribble strips of the XL.

There is nothing really to “wait” for imo. Neural is still developing metronomes, Tonex is Tonex, and FAS isn’t going to do a Plugin Player or TS UI in our lifetime anytime soon and the AxeFXIII is still the baddest piece of kit in the game anyway.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk Fighting GIF by UFC
 
I was waiting... but I decided to wait longer for the probably-eventual Stomp successor, and I got a Tonex as something to expand my HX Stomp in the meantime. At least that's the plan right now lol...
 
Models are like gym memberships. Today at the gym there is two guys that were both talking about being members of three different gyms and each one they pay close to 90 bucks a month for two people them and their spouse so that’s like 300 bucks a month just on gym memberships.
In my mind, I thought it’s kind of like people buying a helix, a fractal and a camper. They kind of want all three.
 
Models are like gym memberships. Today at the gym there is two guys that were both talking about being members of three different gyms and each one they pay close to 90 bucks a month for two people them and their spouse so that’s like 300 bucks a month just on gym memberships.
In my mind, I thought it’s kind of like people buying a helix, a fractal and a camper. They kind of want all three.

I do have a Helix (and Stomp XL), a Kemper power rack, and all three current gen Fractal devices. And a GT1000. And a shitload of tube amps.

I identify as gear curious.
 
Models are like gym memberships. Today at the gym there is two guys that were both talking about being members of three different gyms and each one they pay close to 90 bucks a month for two people them and their spouse so that’s like 300 bucks a month just on gym memberships.
In my mind, I thought it’s kind of like people buying a helix, a fractal and a camper. They kind of want all three.
Or multiple guitars, or multiple overdrive pedals, etc
 
Yep. Sold my FM9 and waiting for the Stadium. Can’t wait.

Primary reasons.
- Looking forward to the agoura models. I’m sure they are going to be awesome.
- Love the form factor of the non-XL. It’s the Goldilocks size for me.
- I always got a long with the editing flow / methodology of Helix. Fits the way I think better than Fractal.
- Looking forward to Showcase. Should be fun to play with.
- Looking forward to the Focus and Hype features. I’ve never been one who needed to get “accurate” sounds of particular amps. Just tones that sound good - so those features should work well for me.
- And probably most of all - I love editing on the device and away from the computer. And with touchscreen. I was never going to be able to do that on the fractal (although I know you can). And it was my favorite feature of the QC. So that big touchscreen is gonna be a lot of fun for me.

I'm pretty much in the same boat. While I prefer many Fractal effects...I just don't see them deliver in the workflow department the way Line6 will, and who knows when Fractal's next gen boxes will come out.
I'm in the same camp as well. I just sold my FM9, though I am hanging on to my FM3 for now. Fractal has many practical and sound advantages but not in terms of workflow. The new UI on the new Stadium looks like a big improvement on the UI the Helix already had. That and the improved amp sounds I am hearing on the demos so far may eliminate the "Amp Advantage" that Fractal has had up to this point. I am really looking forward to trying out the Stadium to see if it lives up to my expectations.
 
I was comfortable selling my FM9 ahead of time because I didn't even truly perceive much of an "amp" or "tone" advantage. I think people have really been sleeping on the improvements and additions to the Helix line as of recent.

That 2203 model is so versatile that I can get it to stand in for a number of Marshall-variant models that I used to use on Fractal. The Cartographer cab that was added also is an incredible and well-balanced set of IRs that work for so many different tones. The current default microphones for it do it no justice. I've also finally given the Catalyst originals a good shake.

Anyways, I'm just using a combo or OG Helix and Hotone Ampero II (for when I don't want to take anything more than what I can fit in the gig bag) for everything until Stadium drops.
 
I pre-ordered the Stadium XL at Sweetwater at full price. After hearing that other people were getting discounts, I called back and asked if they were willing to discount it at all. They said no discounts, so I cancelled my pre-order and got a 15% discount ($330 off) on the XL @ Musician's Friend. They're telling me now that October 19th is the day I will receive it. 3 Weeks to go! :crazy
 
I pre-ordered the Stadium XL at Sweetwater at full price. After hearing that other people were getting discounts, I called back and asked if they were willing to discount it at all. They said no discounts, so I cancelled my pre-order and got a 15% discount ($330 off) on the XL @ Musician's Friend. They're telling me now that October 19th is the day I will receive it. 3 Weeks to go! :crazy
That date sounds optimistic to me… but I hope I’m wrong! :)

@Digital Igloo?
 
That date sounds optimistic to me… but I hope I’m wrong! :)

@Digital Igloo?

Considering they don't even have a release candidate yet for the 1.1 firmware, much less final firmware....... I'm gonna say "nah".

If I remember correctly with the original Helix launch, we went through the same lead-up, with hundreds of units sitting in their distribution centers until they had a release 1.0 firmware they could flash them with there. Only then, did they move them on to retailers to ship to us.

Nowadays, they don't have to flash them at the warehouse because we can get the new firmware via WiFi, but they do have to have a 1.1 firmware on their servers for us to download when they send them off to retailers this time around.
 
Wishing I would have put in a pre order, at the time I didn't think I would be as wanting as I find myself now.

I guess my hope now is I can convince someone that did put in a pre order and for whatever reason they can't afford it at sale time or just changed their mind to let me snag the order.

Or just wait for the third or forth batch for them to be in stock :sick:
 
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