DSP Disappointment?

[bbehrens]

I have put together a preliminary spreadsheet of the DSP usage in the Line 6 Helix Stadium. My DSP usage spreadsheet for the OG> Helix was pretty accurate, but could be off as much as .03%. The new Stadium estimates are even more generalized as all blocks are at least 1.25% (such as the Volume pedal and that was just .69% in the OG Helix).

Surprisingly, most of the DSP gains are in the Legacy amps from the OG Helix. Most of the other blocks are a little less DSP (percentage-wise). Though some are even MORE DSP intensive. Which is odd since the most of the blocks have not changed and the percentage of DSP used SHOULD be less since there is more DSP "room" in the Stadium.

This does tell me that they will be improving the DSP usage of ALL of the blocks in the (somewhat) near future. Or far future.

Eric Klein was right about those Agoura Amps. They take as much or more of the same percentage of DSP as some of the more DSP heavy Legacy Amp models in the OG Helix.

[theElevators]

Well, you pay for the "even more realism" I suppose.  I find the legacy amps are absolutely fine, and for more tweakability I am frequently playing around with a compressor before, after, and between the amp/cab.  Bands had no problems touring with the Helix Floor, bands like the Doobie Brothers, so this "even more realism" is such a marketing gimmick.... 

[bbehrens]

I think for Church guitar players such as myself, this is the platform to choose. The editing is SOOOO easy compared to the OG Helix, and in my opinion, other units as well. I seriously looked at the Axe FX but that is ONLY a rack mount unit. But I think that the Stadium still does not beat it for number of amp models, FX models, and DSP. Still, PROXY COULD be GREAT! Showcase has DEFINATE potential for practicing. And I really hope a DAW editor comes out eventually. I don't like re-recording to get the sound into my DAW when I can change things on the fly with the Helix plugin. I still have not figured out to organize things in the Stadium. On the OG Helix, I can dozens of full set lists for everything from Templates to Basic Amp Settings, to Reverbs, to Ambient. I have a great vintage Set list based on the top 50 guitar tones of all time (An old Guitar World article). I have thousands of presets on my computer, hundreds of worship presets for my church (and many variations of many of the songs as well). My favorites has outgrown 128 that the Helix can handle, and I regularly use about 150-160 Impulse Response files. Unfortunately, the Stadium can not handle these either. At least, I have not figured out if it can yet or not. Line 6 has been rather confusing on these.

 

I can add that there is a four Amp (2 per DSP - and there are STILL just 2 DSP paths in the Stadium), and eight (I think) Cab Block artificial limitations. 1 looper limitation and 1 Poly block (per type of Poly block limitations) I call them "artificial" because there might be enough DSP to accommodate more but Line 6 does not allow it in the editor. That being said, I HAVE found that having 20 stomp boxes is a little overkill for most anything that I can come up with. And I don't really get why people want to run a whole band through this box (though Line 6 has pushed the "run your whole Live show through the Stadium - Lights, Effects, and band" narrative with this unit).