I, too, am tempted by the Helix and have added it to my cart several times but just can’t complete the purchase!
I know a lot of people are “put off” by QC and their slow progress and not getting updates out when promised, but I didn’t get a QC for what it was going to be, I got it for what it is and how it sounds now (or when I got it). Since then, it’s gotten some pretty substantial updates that are making it harder to move away from it.
I’ve had my QC for 3 years, which is a lifetime for someone like me (I’ve had almost 200 amps and over 25 modelers since 2003). Most amps or FX only last 3-6 months before I move on to something else, but this has kept me happy for a long time and is continuing to do so.
When I get a pedal, no matter what it does, I set it up and then typically leave it alone until I need a new tone. Some of these tones I’m using on my QC are 3 years old, I just replace the amp block every once in a while with a new/better capture. It’d be the same way with the Helix Stadium, I’d set it up and not touch it (other than live tweaks) and wouldn’t use 85% of the other stuff once I have it dialed in.
Yeah, I’ll probably, eventually, get a Stadium…But not the XL, I don’t need or want an expression pedal. But I’m almost more tempted by the new Kemper Stage Mk.2. It has everything I’d need, plus I can capture my stuff and be in the same place I am with the QC.. but the QC is MUCH easier to use.
Wow… That’s a lot of gear that you’ve had the pleasure of playing through!
I have no experience with any of Line 6’s modellers (except Helix Native) but I reckon only considering tone, the Stadium is not guaranteed to sound “better” — it’s more of an evolution than a revolution compared to the Helix Floor. Agoura is reviewed as “Helix finally playing in the same league as Quad Cortex”.
So if you’ve already used Line 6 gear before, don’t you kind of know what the overall sound character will be like? At that point, it feels like the remaining differentiators are things like ease of use, workflow, available FX, and other features rather than sound.
I have sufficiently held off from the Helix stadium purchase (very proud of myself). I just don’t think I’ll be able to ever get away from the sound and feel of the QC that I love.
one thing that will be interesting to follow is to see how much DSP the “proxy” captures take up once available for the helix stadium.
Will it be like the V2 neural captures? I love that QC has kept V1 and has the option of V2 captures. My fav amp (Revv G50) I feel does not need the V2 captures. I’ve captured both ways and V1 sounds amazing and takes up way less DSP. I’ve actually got 4 different V1 captures of that amp in my kitchen sink preset which I doubt I could do if using the V2 captures.
Makes sense this is a master volume amp and I run the master down low so I don’t really utilize any sag from the power section. But if I had an amp that needed the V2 captures it’s available.
I love we have access to both. Curious to see how many line 6 can run in a preset since they don’t have gapless preset changes at the moment
I have both. Stadium is good, but it’s basically a slightly upgraded Helix. It’s better, but not dramatically better. Pitch shifting is good, but you can only use 1 poly per path, whereas on the QC, I can stack 4 or 5 per path, enabling better tuning options via stomps/scenes.
Looking forward to Proxy and showcase. We’ll see how it compares with V2 captures…
Hard to compare here with the pitch shifters since the QC only has a polyphonic octaver, but all the other pitch shifting is monophonic. Which isn’t the most accurate what to compare their DSP
I don’t know about much else but the dual rec sounds fire in both QC and old Helix. It plays amazing if you go in fx loop of a tube amp and let it rip.
My thoughts on the subject. I think that, purely in terms of sound, both devices will be on par with each other, at least in a band context. You’ll be able to create great sounds with both of them. The big advantage of the Stadium (as long as they haven’t reimplemented the seamless switching of the Helix) is likely to be Showcase, which has been available since yesterday.
Those who have been accustomed to pressing twenty buttons for every small sound change throughout their lives will probably not need it. However, those who, like me, want to worry as little as possible while playing, to return to the effect device at the right time, and then also have to press the right button for the next sound, will find Showcase to be a great revelation. Anyone who has ever switched instead to the fat solo lead sound, the clean ballad sound in the middle of a hot show because they pressed the wrong button will know what I mean.
I bought the Stadium XL hoping that the sound of the amps had been vastly improved and that I could have an all in one unit. They were not much better than the old Helix. I like the layout and features on the XL and wanted it to work. But it did not. The Quad Cortex amps still sound and feel so much better to me, it is not even close IMO. I did not sell my Quad to get the XL and I will be returning the Helix. Just to be clear I am not one of those people who generally just looks down on Line 6 products. I played a Line 6 Vetta live for a a few years and the a DT50 head with the HD500 for at least five years. I still have the the DT50 and HD500 and love the sound I get out of them though a 4-12 cab with two Vintage 30 and to two of the Vetta Celestian 90s. I just wanted/needed a smaller rig.
I’m a studio rat. Features aimed at live use/gigging does not appeal to me at all. I’ve been using an ElevenRack since 2010. Other products have come & gone but I haven’t found anything that sound substantially better, until ToneX came out. For me, captures have a depth I don’t find in any model… so I guess Kemper would have replaced my ElevenRack a long time ago if cost of entry wasn’t so high. & that’s another thing, if we had YouTube back then like we do now, I probably would have found a way to get a Kemper.
So when Tonex came out I got into that. It was fine & still is for studio use. Keep in mind when you buy the OG pedal you get ToneX max & Amplitude Max. There isn’t a better value for a “studio guitarist.”
Well, they announced Stadium in June or July & I caught a bad case of GAS. I wanted it. Not enough to pre-order but enough to watch damn near every video that came out on YouTube & watching all the Stadium videos, the Quad Cortex videos & Fractal videos started populating my feed. So the field expanded & I had a decision to make.
Cyber Monday came & I was able to get Helix Native at a very reasonable cost. I spent a couple of days going through the presets. I came to the conclusion I’d rather use Amplitude with ToneX captures. I still have Native, it isn’t going anywhere. I’ve gone back to it a few times giving it another chance but it’s the same. Captures have an amount of depth I don’t hear/feel in models.
I ended up buying a Quad Cortex & a Level 3 Kemper Profile Player. The idea was I’d see which I preferred & send back the one I don’t. I’ve had both of them now for a couple of weeks & I think I’m going to keep both. I don’t care what anyone says about Kemper. The way they’re approaching profiling is the path I’m most interested in. Even before Liquid Profiles the depth of controls they give you when creating profiles as well as the controls they give you to play the profiles is unmatched.
I think Neural is developing their product along the same line of thinking. They don’t give the end user that control, but they’re giving the user a complete model based on their captures. Maybe one day they’ll give the end user the tools to make a complete model, who knows.
Maybe Proxy will give us something along those lines. If it does, I’ll be picking up a Stadium. If it doesn’t, I won’t.
