rwandering

Variax is a discontinued product and it speaks volumes about Line6 as a company that they are continuing to support it at all. Each additional product SKU is a very expensive effort. They are providing a solution that meets several objectives whether you care about them or not. (I don't care about Variax, but I care about AES and digital outs). I would turn this question around. Why would they support a separate SKU for a very small audience?

Where are you hearing this stuff? Your questions are answered in the manual. Yes, it has an A/C adapter.

You get 8 blocks. I believe it was fewer in earlier firmware. But I've had a Stomp and have a Stomp XL, and it is 8. Yes, you can get a wet and dry from it; either through USB or using a block for send.

Oh, sorry, I missed an important point: dual outputs over TRS from the guitar. I don't know if they have silent TRS connectors like that. FWIW, I have a PRS with two separate TS jacks, and built a cable with two silent connectors for that. I get away without a switch. The other guitar is a single piezo pickup (also with a silent connector on its cable). I put both of the piezos into a Radial JDI (merged), and send the output to the PA. The magnetic from the PRS goes into the HX Stomp XL guitar input. When I switch guitars, I unplug them just so there is no noise (or feedback) from them.

Assuming the guitars are only played one at a time, is there a reason they have to remain plugged in? I use silent guitar cables and unplug/replug the guitar when I switch. I don't need a foot switch mute for that.

Whether the preorder is legit or not, my Sweetwater account shows a Stadium XL order.

They literally had this forum on their live stream graphic and Erik said they read everything (generally, never mentioning this site), and yes, he did call out some communities. I think both things are true: the (frequent) questions on this site for Line6 will not be answered and Line6 gathers intelligence here.

I am definitely getting one of the new units, and probably the XL. A few comments. Wow. This new product looks amazing, and that Line6 really listened to the customers and has leap-frogged the competition. Of course, I'm assuming it will sound amazing. I am very excited to play through it, and have an XL on order. I think the naming of the form factors is a little counter intuitive, but that's the least important. There is a benefit to being able to say "Floor" vs "LT" without ambiguity, because "Stadium" is both a product family and a SKU. Update: Erik called these "Floor XL" and "Floor" in the intro video. I'm guessing they'll have smaller versions in the future (like the HX Stomp) given how successful that form factor appears to be. I wish it still had AES/BEU onboard, but I do like that it has expanded digital I/O capabilities. I wish the smaller one had scribble strips, but I suppose that the product differentiation might not support a whole separate SKU. I always use a pedal when live, so the XL has what I need (and so much more). I will probably sell my LT and keep using my HX Stomp when onstage space is at a premium (until and if they release a new small Stadium). As much as we say "nobody from Line6 reads this board", the live stream suggested otherwise, so hey Line6, this ones for you!

I am assuming yes . . . though I'm kind of conflicted about the way this is implemented today. I wish they had the ability to select a PC preset from the HX.

I really doubt we will see a Powercab with a Nexus port, but that would certainly be cool. I will say I am disappointed that the AES/BEU isn't built into the Helix Stadium, but I'll bet the users of that are comparitively very few. I'm betting it is the long term plan.

The level I was referring to is that I believe the level of the DI into the DAW from USB 7 is low. Regardless of that, I would use a send block from the Helix to send the DI signal directly to the amp without the reamp box (and of course, make sure the send is at instrument level).

You may want to be more explicit about your signal chain. I record DI and have reamped into the Helix and out to an amp without any issues (though it has been some years since I did that). You need to be sure that the Helix to the amp has the right level. In my experience, though, the Helix DI signal (coming in through USB) is low. Simply sending it back to the Helix didn't cut it. I recall it needed to be boosted first. This seemed antithetical to me since I figured the whole point was to record it and be able to reamp it with the exact levels. (And maybe my helix is defective), but I changed it so I record the DI from a Helix send, and then more recently I get it off of a DI box. And since then I no longer use the Helix as an interface . . . but the point is that the recorded DI signal goes back to the Helix at the right level and everything works as expected.

While I suppose it can come down to mic technique, I think you would prioritize some kind of small mixer to balance the mic signals on the way into the helix.

This is just a weird thing about the PowerCab. If you want to change to a new preset, you need to use MIDI. L6 Link: you have all the control you want (i.e., you can change the models), but you can't change to a different preset. Any change modifies the currently selected preset (though it doesn't save that preset). Practically there is no difference, but if, for example, you would like to glance at the display on the PC to validate the preset, you can't do that with the L6 link. Note that a lot of people get confused by this because the first set of presets are named identically to the speaker models. MIDI: you can set the specific preset you want, and the PC changes to that preset.

HX Stomp XL is the same.