boynigel Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Longtime LT user here who's starting to get the itch to migrate to Stadium. I'm wondering if anyone, based on their experiences, would suggest i wait a bit longer for more updates to come out. LT is still serving me well, and if i'm potentially walking into a minefield of bugs, stability issues, and any other weirdness with Stadium, given where it's at right now, i'll probably wait. i can do without the headaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Be aware that you’ve kinda tipped the scales in terms of the responses you will likely get. You’ve essentially asked to hear only from those who do have remorse. Don’t assume anything in general, based on the responses, about whether or not Stadium would be beneficial to you in its current state. It’s certainly beneficial to me right now compared to OG Helix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandesy Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Clearly, this is a “talk me out of buying…” plea. Sorry, bud, you won’t get that from me :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boynigel Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 wow, so much cynicism so far. i'm interested in hearing from both sides. i don't need anyone to talk me in to, or out of getting one. I'm just looking for peoples' experiences to help gauge how soon or not so soon i wait before taking the plunge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 On 6/30/2026 at 11:23 AM, boynigel said: i'm interested in hearing from both sides. .... Good. I'm just saying that the title of your post indicates otherwise and may result in one side responding more than the other. That's not cynicism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd2rk Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 As I'm sure I've done in the past, I refer you to The Gear Page>Digital and Modeling Forum where you'll have access to a MUCH larger user base - currently 3,074 posts in the "New Helix Stadium XL and Stadium" Thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boynigel Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 yep, i've a post there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandesy Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 It was humor on the internet, not cynicism! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boynigel Posted July 1 Author Share Posted July 1 k, thanks for letting me know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhogeboom Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 (edited) No regrets/remorse. Here's why. I play rhythm guitar with our church worship team. We've moved away from amps - replacing them with Kemper heads going direct to FOH. Given advancements in modelers, this January I decided to try moving away from my rather large/heavy pedalboard for a number of reasons: More control over my ecosystem. I'm not limited to the amps+cabs in the church Kempers. Have found some great clones from Signal Theory that work nicely with the guitars I play. The Helix also gives me greater flexibility in signal chain. I have a wide selection of solid drives and effects at the touch of the screen. The Helix allows me to put wet effects/modulation before OR after the amp+cab. I walk in, plug into the FOH, and play. Total set up time - 5 minutes. Workflow. Preparation for a weekend set is streamlined with the Helix Stadium software compared with programming the RJM PBC/10 on my pedalboard. I can quickly achieve the tones in my head and focus on my parts in the song set. I've also reduced the number of devices requiring software updates. Midi control. While I've been able to dial in my tones with the Helix effects and third party presents/clones, there are some pedals (like the Strymon TimeLine) that are hard to rival. I have a sidecar board (Pedaltrain Nano) with one or two pedals that sit in a stereo effects loop with preset selection and midi clock controlled by the Helix. Just finished setting that up today. I can place that loop anywhere in signal chain. Presets and tap tempo change automatically with the selection of song presets. Sound. I'm getting tone out of the Helix that I've struggled to get from my pedalboard through both live amps and the Kemper. Plain and simple. For me, it's a better tool for artistic performance. That could be me or that could be the Helix, but it's what I'm experiencing. I'm also getting rave reviews from other members of the worship team, our sound enginerrs, and from the congregation. I'm not getting any younger. Quite frankly, my old pedalboard and case (even with wheels and handle) were getting to be a pain to haul around. Heavy and cumbersome. The Helix sits on my desktop at home for practice and slides easily into a comfortable backpack for transport. The sidecar board and cables fit into an easy-to-carry soft case the size of shoebox. One trip from my vehicle to stage door (including my guitar). Support. Given the Line 6 commitment to the Helix thus far, I feel that I can count on them strongly supporting this platform going forward. So far, so good. I also see third parties providing really solid amp clones and presets. There is a lot of choice out there. That's all I got. I'm happy with my choice. It's confirmed every time I plug in. Edited July 1 by dhogeboom posted before finished 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwandering Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 On 7/1/2026 at 1:33 PM, dhogeboom said: No regrets/remorse. None for me either. Granted any issues there were in the early days didn't impact my uses cases, and I felt pretty comfortable knowing what I was getting into anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGordon Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 Right now, I largely have no regrets. There are still bugs in the system, but not as many as there once were, and the onboarding at startup is still a mess, with the whole loop of having to skip logging into Line 6, just to manually set the clock that keeps you from being able to log in at its default setting.....how this got past QA is totally beyond me, and why this hasn't been corrected just seems sloppy. BUT....the Stadium at the moment is a more feature complete beast than the Helix was at the same point in its life. Pretty much everything from the Helix, including the old pre-HX legacy effects the Helix had, are here, in addition to Agoura amps. Also, Proxy has the promise of letting you get "new toys" in between the official updates, provided of course that users upload clones to Custom Tone somewhat regularly. Yes, they vary in quality, but Proxy is still new, and there will likely be improvements in both user creation and the engine itself. There's also the fact that the hardware itself lets you put more stuff into patches, and if you use stomp mode, you get 2 extra switches with the ability to flip into preset mode to change between presets. The hardware also simply is improved in terms of output and digital conversion. The touchscreen is also one of those things I never knew I needed until I actually used it; it makes creating and naming patches much easier. The change from patches fixed in setlists to a general patch folder that you can, but don't have to, assign to setlists makes it so you don't have to switch between setlists if, like me, you have WAAAAYYYYY too many user patches for your own good, lol. The biggest issues I might have would be the reduction by half of the number of user patches from the Helix, and Agoura amps having no bias controls (another "why did they do this" decision). Agoura amps also seem darker in general, a tradeoff for more accuracy in feel and a more robust midrange. Thank god the legacy amps are still there as well, if you prefer the old amp models for certain patches/sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boynigel Posted July 4 Author Share Posted July 4 OP here. i took the plunge and brought one (XL) home last night. yes, it was a little confusing as to why i couldn't get a QR code to get logged in until i found out that i had to set the time manually. after that, i transferred all the presets from my LT into it with zero issues. sounds great and i can see the potential. i don't know if it's psychological, but my presets seem to sound a little better, even though they're all made up of legacy blocks. maybe it's all the extra headroom, or just in my head? looking forward to learning all the new features, trying out Augora models, and all the updates that will be coming down the road. should be a fun ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGordon Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 On 7/3/2026 at 11:54 PM, boynigel said: OP here. i took the plunge and brought one (XL) home last night. yes, it was a little confusing as to why i couldn't get a QR code to get logged in until i found out that i had to set the time manually. after that, i transferred all the presets from my LT into it with zero issues. sounds great and i can see the potential. i don't know if it's psychological, but my presets seem to sound a little better, even though they're all made up of legacy blocks. maybe it's all the extra headroom, or just in my head? looking forward to learning all the new features, trying out Augora models, and all the updates that will be coming down the road. should be a fun ride! I don't think it's in your head. Remember, the original Helix hardware is like 10 years old, so it follows that the new hardware has improvements in the D/A conversion and whatnot. Check CustomTone to download some proxy clones. There's also an old thread on the Gear Forum digital modeling website where people posted some proxy clones that haven't shown up on CustomTone. I uploaded some Metal Zone captures, but I don't think they turned out so good (maybe user error or maybe just cuz the Metal Zone is, uh, "special"), compared to other community clones I've heard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnsleyboy Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 On 7/4/2026 at 5:54 AM, boynigel said: OP here. i took the plunge and brought one (XL) home last night. yes, it was a little confusing as to why i couldn't get a QR code to get logged in until i found out that i had to set the time manually. after that, i transferred all the presets from my LT into it with zero issues. sounds great and i can see the potential. i don't know if it's psychological, but my presets seem to sound a little better, even though they're all made up of legacy blocks. maybe it's all the extra headroom, or just in my head? looking forward to learning all the new features, trying out Augora models, and all the updates that will be coming down the road. should be a fun ride! I've had my Helix floor for coming up to 10 years now, and I can honestly say that it has been a gamechanger. It was part of my 50th birthday present. My wife bought me a wonderful Fender Clapton Strat and then totally blindsided me with a mystery Helix shaped box which really blew me away. Wasn't expecting it and wouldn't have got it if I hadn’t been in a guitar shop a couple of months earlier with my eldest son and just happened to demo a Helix. He obviously clocked my massive smiles and filed it away for future use! With my (ahem) "55th" birthday fast approaching I just happened to mention last night that a new Helix had been brought out and OMG my wife asked me if I'd like one for my birthday! I am indeed a happy chappy. So @boynigelyour original question is resonating with me. 2 things are niggling at the back of my mind, I have about 10 patches that are absolutely sacrosanct to me. If I can't replicate them on the Stadium XL then all bets is off. How have you found the transfer to Stadium of your existing patches? I know legacy cabs are no more, so before I do anything there would be an exercise to do there just in case. The other issue is for anyone with Stadium and Variax. Part of my forthcoming present is also a JTV59 for which I will need to buy the special add on box (Grrrr) so does anyone have any experience with this? The JTV doesn't have the interface box, so all editing needs to be done through Helix which works on my original floor. Any thoughts please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 On 7/5/2026 at 7:55 AM, barnsleyboy said: …. The other issue is for anyone with Stadium and Variax. Part of my forthcoming present is also a JTV59 for which I will need to buy the special add on box (Grrrr) so does anyone have any experience with this? The JTV doesn't have the interface box, so all editing needs to be done through Helix which works on my original floor. Any thoughts please? No one has any experience with that yet because the required Expand D10 device is not yet available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnsleyboy Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 On 7/5/2026 at 1:32 PM, silverhead said: No one has any experience with that yet because the required Expand D10 device is not yet available. DOH! That probably explains why I haven't been able to find any YT videos!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeppssgtr81 Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Spent $2500 to realize Global EQ doesn't save, and marketplace presets cant be imported. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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