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.

I will note that for my setup, I have acoustic guitar through a similar type of preset. I route the left channel to my guitar cab, and the right-channel to the PA. The cab acts as a monitor for me -- and doesn't sound great -- but the PA does sound like I expect.

Don't know why they dropped 7; could have been they have a dependency on some third party library that doesn't support it anymore. But, whatever you do, don't replace your 7 with 10 as it is nearing EOL; if you are going to stick with Windows, go to 11.

Yep. My perspective is: cool, some new things I'm probably not going to use on this amazing platform that I do use pretty much every day.

Yes, this will work. I have done this (albeit just with a single 112+). Use input 2 on the PC for your mixer signal, and set it to unprocessed.

Word. If cycling power several times resolves it, I don't see how the unit is faulty or even damaged . . . but 1 power cycle should be sufficient if enough time has passed between off than on.

This is an issue that confuses many when first using the AES/BEU cable to change the settings on a PowerCab+. The Helix does not switch presets on the PC+; it changes the settings that make up the currently selected PC+ preset. Note the changes aren't saved. So, yes, you will see "PRESET NAME (edit)" on the PC+ display. If you want to verify the settings, you can go into the menu on the PC+. Note this has nothing to do with MIDI; that is not transmitted through your AES cable. If you want to change the PC+ presets, you can do this easily with MIDI. (and a MIDI cable). I use both a Helix LT and an HX Stomp XL. For one I use AES, the other I use MIDI. And for the presets I share between the two, I have them both configured.

I think no, because there is no USB host in this picture. Both the Mustang Micro and the PC+ are USB clients. Now, I may be wrong and the Mustang may also act as a host, but I'm skeptical. Alternatively, you might be able to run the headphone output through a 1/8" to 1/4" cable (as TS not TRS) to the back of the PC and turn the output up high . . . and then get something. But that input is balanced, not unbalanced, so I'm not sure what the outcome would be. (and if you use TRS to connect from a stereo output, you definitely get a bad outcome). A few variables here, and would it sound good? I doubt it.

I believe the original premise of this topic was: Upgrading from 3.7 to 3.7.1 sounds different. It seems to have morphed into "things sound different between 2.x and 3.7.1". I understand why somebody doesn't want to deal with redoing all of their presets, but we shouldn't be surprised that it sounds different. There are a massive number of changes implemented and I don't believe Line 6 implied "everything will sound the same".

This certainly works for me. My Helix presets all set the FRFR or a specific speaker, and it moves between them without a problem (using AES).

This is an element that confuses me about the capture offering. The ability to buy and trade captures seems a no-brainer. But the actual people who want to make captures seems like a very small set of people. I think 99% of buyers of gear want the stuff to (have the potential to) sound amazing and don't have the gear or interest to do captures.