Line6 Helix Stadium

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Karl Houseknecht said:
You can say that without having heard it yet?
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It was not meant as a judgement. I'm not in the comparing business like many do on the various forums.
I like my Fractal devices and don't jump ship whenever something new and shiny arrives.
That's not meant to take a dig at other brands, I've never done so.
I just regard it as a waste of time, energy and built-up knowledge to keep comparing products.

Again, I just love my Fractal gear, have no issues with the UI and have complete trust in the company's strategy and innovation.

And while I understand the building of the hype, which ALWAYS happens upon a launch, we have to wait to see if the new product delivers, is free of bugs etc.

And also, 16 amps? Over the past almost two decades people have been requesting more and more modeled amp types, and now suddenly 16 amps are okay?

Henry said:
Presets include dry guitar clip. That's not a bad idea.
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Funny, I proposed that probably >10 years ago.
 
yek said:
It was not meant as a judgement. I'm not in the comparing business like many do on the various forums.
I like my Fractal devices and don't jump ship whenever something new and shiny arrives.
That's not meant to take a dig at other brands, I've never done so.
I just regard it as a waste of time, energy and built-up knowledge to keep comparing products.

Again, I just love my Fractal gear, have no issues with the UI and have complete trust in the company's strategy and innovation.

And while I understand the building of the hype, which ALWAYS happens upon a launch, we have to wait to see if the new product is bug free etc.
And also, 16 amps? Over the past almost two decades people have been requesting more and more modeled amp types, and now suddenly 16 amps are okay?



Funny, I proposed that probably >10 years ago.
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I will say, 16 amps would be plenty for me. They'd just have to be the 16 that I want. 😜
 
yek said:
That backpack seems to be very expensive ...
When I bought a Ciari guitar recently, they included a very high quality multi-purpose backpack, for free.

Anyway, kudos to Line 6. Being a convinced Fractal user doesn't mean I can't appreciate steps made by other brands. Even if nobody has hands on the product yet. Line 6 has always produced interesting stuff. Plus, Eric Klein is a nice guy.

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+1 on Eric Klein, good guy, sharp cookie.

I'm pretty well sold on the Fractal approach, ecosystem and community though :)
 
yek said:
And also, 16 amps? Over the past almost two decades people have been requesting more and more modeled amp types, and now suddenly 16 amps are okay?
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16 amps modeled on the new architecture. Along with the 80+ they already have. And they'll release more on the new engine as time goes on.

Honestly, I spend 98% of my time playing one amp model on both Fractal and Helix, and they'll have that one as one of the new models.
 
Read the page, watched the two videos, looks great. Lots of expansive ideas, touching on many areas and approaches, good stuff.

But, broken record time, Fractal has earned my trust and respect many times over. I've watched the firmware evolve, again and again, and the relentless drive, vision, and ability to improve is really something to see.

It's a great time to be an electric musician!
 
yek said:
...but some of the I/O and UI features are interesting.
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Been hoping hard for ADAT on next gen Fractal. Throw in AVB (open source)... even use it to connect Brains to next gen FC's

Make a remote studio monitor controller in the FM3/ FC-6 footprint... exploit it all! I'll help fill the coffers.

Won't buy these, but DELIGHTED to see them arrive!

No rest for the wicked MASTERS!

I'm sure they have plenty ready to roll.

Team Fractal... always!
 
My take on this is a good portion of us got into this because we're geeky with things. Line 6 has always been about Geeks and they really are great with styling and user interface. I typically have to try everything that comes out that looks cool. Fractal always wins in my book, but if I wasn't like this, I would have never tried the AFX standard years ago.

Where does fractal typically always win? Sound/Feel, durability and options.
 
Tremonti said:
My take on this is a good portion of us got into this because we're geeky with things. Line 6 has always been about Geeks and they really are great with styling and user interface. I typically have to try everything that comes out that looks cool. Fractal always wins in my book, but if I wasn't like this, I would have never tried the AFX standard years ago.

Where does fractal typically always win? Sound/Feel, durability and options.
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I'm actually a bit envious of the people who are minimalist in nature. One guitar, one amp, and they're happy. Unfortunately, I am wired the complete opposite.
 
I also watched the show. I noticed that half of it was boring introductions instead of getting to the point. Bottom line: I'm not impressed in the slightest. Features here, features there, and above all features I don't need. Because the most important thing for me as a guitarist is sound. Funnily enough, I watched my favorite DVD again before the presentation. Jeff Beck live at Ronnie Scott's. Afterwards, still impressed by the performance, I ordered the vinyl and then saw the Line 6 presentation. Admittedly, somehow the wrong order.

But the bottom line is that it's my personal opinion. For many others, it was probably a great presentation and the features presented will impress many. And that's how it should be. Everyone's needs are different.

And before anyone says that this is just the opinion of an old-school player, that's not true. I'm always on the lookout for the latest technology that makes live playing more enjoyable. With so many gigs a year, I have very different needs. Minimal equipment, perfect in-ear monitoring, seamless integration into existing FOH technology.

Most recently, I played a few shows with KLANG's in-ear system. It's a fantastic in-ear system with 3D audio. Seamlessly integrated into the DIGICO SD5 console. I'm already looking forward to the next shows with this technology. I'm also planning to build a small in-ear system for my own projects. But €10,000 is a bit painful.

I don't know what could be improved on my AXE FX III sound. Nothing. So I'm interested in other peripherals to make every gig even easier and more relaxed.

But there's still plenty of room for improvement. When the technician on site said he could feed my AXE FX III digitally via AES and save the DA AD conversion, I unfortunately had to say that I could only deliver 48 kHz, but the DIGICo and KLANG were running completely at 96 kHz and the console didn't have SRC.

I'm hoping for something completely different. How about an AXE FX IV with only 1U, no display, up to 96 kHz, and Dante connections? Editing would then be done with the editor via UDP/IP. Touchscreen? Yesterday's news. Reduced to the MAX. But that would be overkill for many and would have to be affordable somehow. But we can still dream. 😁
 
I hope that this new product launch doesn't start a Fractal vs Line6 bashing on the Internet. They each have their loyal fans, and each have their pros and cons.

I was a long time Line6 user, having owned both Helix Floor and Stomp. Knowing that my Helix was getting long in the tooth, and likely to be superseded I sold it last year and was fortunate enough to get a secondhand FM9 Turbo. For me that was a step up. The FM9 is not as intuitive, there's a learning curve and it takes me longer to setup a patch, but the power and tonal quality was a whole new world. Zero regrets. I saw the Stadium announcement this morning. Intriguing, but I won't be an early adopter. I never am with gear. No details yet on the processing limits, but with 4 lines and 12 blocks per line I'm assuming it could handle 4 amps at once if you really need that. Two is enough for everything I've tried to achieve tonally from my FM9 to date.

I don't have the money to drop on a new one, and the FM9 does everything I need, plus more. I haven't dabbled with captures, nor do I really need to. The tones from the FM9 are superb, and I have no kit that I'd want to capture. I have a Tonex One already, and that's been sat in a box for 7 months. Eventually I can see getting a Stadium XL though, probably a used one down the road. I like the 4 FX loops, I find that setup better than what's on the FM9. I like the ergonomics and interface. If they bring out a Stadium version of Helix Native then that's a big selling point, I do miss not having Native any more. It was super handy.

The coolest feature in the showcase was having songs loaded in which it could distil into stems, allowing you to mute or turn down the guitar track and insert your playing over the top. I have zero intention of playing live, I just noodle at home. So that would be something I'd use. I do that now but by using Hit’n’Mix RipX DeepRemix which is slow, and has to be driven on a laptop and then have the audio fed into my setup. Having that functionality built in would be awesome, especially if it can alter the pitch on playback too.
 
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