I'm returning mine. I had an issue with the expression pedal (weird dead zone), so I would return it anyway as defected, and then I thought to myself:
Do I really want to replace it with another XL stadium?
Fearing that the issue with the expression pedal is a manufacturing problem and will be facing it again some time in the future, at first I decided to return it and pre-order the non XL version. No on-board Expression pedal, no scribble strips, fewer thing to risk of failing in the future, that will affect the re-sale value of it. Cheaper, so much easier to sell it as used in the future, much lighter and smaller. I don't really need 4 fx loops and 2 instrument inputs, a/b & c/d external controls is very nice but I can live with just one expression and switch my amp's channels with a midi relay if i'll really really need both.
The following days I realized that I didn't really miss stadium. At least anymore than the OG helix I sold to fund the stadiums purchase.
Key factors for this:
I liked the wifi connection. Did not have many issues. Do really need it? No. My desk is close, running a cable is not a problem for me, using the device as a daw requires a cable anyway so, I could live without it.
Same with Update over wifi.
Touchscreen is a very nice feature. But I have the unit in the floor in order to change snapshots etc so I use the app anyway. Bending over all the time is something i hate, that's why I loved the edit mode in the og helix.
Showcase. I loved it. I loaded stems of songs over wifi, muted the guitar track, and programmed the stadium to change snapshots for the different parts. I enjoyed it especially in some songs with a lot of sound changes such as tool songs with different overdrives, delays on/off, and effects on/off, for only a bar. I think they should also add the ability to activate/de-activate an effect in a song or change the values of it within the same snapshot. Like activating a wah and program the movement of it in a solo. It took me a lot of time and a lot of bending over to do the programming and place the change of snapshots at the exact time because there is a little delay between the changes, and because you can't do it via the app currently. Also had many crashes and bugs, but the result was really satisfying. Like having a guitar tech backstage. Also Sharing the songs could be a nice Idea, but a little difficult due to copyright I suppose.
But I would not rely on showcase in a live situation with a full band, only in a one man show situation and only if the bugs are completely sorted out.
Will I miss it? Maybe, but I can do the exactly same thing by connecting my hx stomp to my pc and using gig performer. Also this way I can even move the wah in the solo sections by midi. And organizing it in songs setlist etc.
Focus view: cool idea. It gives you an idea of what everything does. In some cases I wasn't happy with any of these 5 default settings though. It would be very cool if changing the values of an effect or an amp would also rotate the actual knobs in the image, and not just having a static picture to look at.
About the xy axis feature: Ok kind of cool, but realistically how are we supposed to use it live? I mean if the unit is in the floor, should we bend over to use it? This thing can only work if you have the unit in a stand and use showcase for everything else.
I think that a usefull feature they can add, is the ability to link the screen with a phone or tablet. That way you can use your phone to control the stadium, and touchscreen isn't even needed! Also the stadium remains in the floor.
So it all comes down to tone, feel and amps. For my style of playing (high gain stuff), stadium did not do well.
I liked the revvs. And the cali 2c++ (kind of). But in my case (hot output active fluence pickups), it took me a lot of tweaking to dial-in a sound I liked, and even then, the feel it was a little strange. It had a cocked wah sound and feel. More organic and more dynamic that OG helix, but still. I felt the same way with the legacy amps, so I don't think it's agoura, but something in the inputs? I had better results with passive pickups, or the fishman's passive voicing. But still the mid honk was there. I kind of missed my og helix a little bit.
I liked the two channels in the same amp feature, but in some cases there was a pop sound tiny gap between changes.
I wanted the amps to sound great right away, with minimal tweaking, And not having to add comps, eqs, etc. And I really don't care about how close the modeled amp sounds to the real thing. I just want to like the sound.
If it wasn't the issue with the expression pedal I'm not sure If I would keep it or not. Probably I would, and be patient about it waiting for line6 to fix stuff. But all things considered, I'll probably not even pre-order the Non-XL for now. Maybe I will buy it in the future. When things are sorted out, and the device is stable, and updated with all new features. Made some backups. I haven't turn on stadium for days. And I really wanted to like it.
For the time being, i think will miss fiddling around with something new to me. So I went ahead and ordered a used fm3 MK II from reverb, at about 20% cheaper than new. It will be my first fractal product (Any advices?). I 've always heard nice things about fractal, but did not want so bother with tweaking that much, or option paralysis etc.. Then I realised that I was already tweaking too much with stadium in order to get a nice sound.
I wanted to compare it with stadium before deciding if I'll preorder the non XL. Fm3 will be shipped tomorrow.
I know that fm9 would be a closer match, but considering that fractal will announce new products some time this or next year, it seemed like the right choice. It still leaves me room to buy a non stadium XL or a stadium Stomp in the future.
p.s. Sorry For the long post and my bad english
p.s.2: I made some videos about the pedal issue in order to show the dealer the problem. I'll also post it here for anyone interested:
