Helix Stadium Unveiled: My Thoughts on Line 6's Latest Move.

A Millennial's Meltdown (or, Mild Melancholy?)

Yesterday marked a decade since Line 6 unleashed the monumental Helix, and to commemorate this milestone, they've dropped the Line 6 Helix Stadium. This comes less than two weeks after Kemper unveiled their controversial Mk. II, and in a world still buzzing from Fractal Audio's beloved multi-effects units and the ripples of Neural DSP's Nano Cortex. So, as a millennial guitar player who literally grew up with Line 6, how am I feeling about all this?

Let's rewind a bit. My personal Line 6 odyssey began with the original Spider amp – no "2," "3," or "4" for me. Yes, I'm that old. From there, it was a pilgrimage through the Line 6 catalog: the iconic "bean" POD, a PODxt rackmount, a POD HD300, and most recently, both a Helix Stomp and a Helix XL. It's safe to say, my formative guitar years were drenched in Line 6 tones.

Now, before we dive deeper, let's address the elephant in the room: approximately 80% of my current playing time is spent through a Fractal Audio FM-3. This context is crucial, as my feedback on the Helix Stadium will inevitably harken back to the recent Kemper release and the fascinating, and sometimes frustrating, differences in approach between Line 6 and Kemper this past month.

First off, and I believe many will agree, the Helix Stomp is arguably Line 6's greatest triumph. Its seamless integration into a pedalboard, its standalone capabilities – at one point, my entire rig consisted of a Helix Stomp and a Strandberg headless guitar, and honestly, I had an absolute blast with it! The Stomp nailed portability and versatility in a way few others have.

However, where the Helix lineup truly left me wanting was in its amp modeling. Line 6's effects, on the other hand, have always been nothing short of marvelous – there's simply no debating that. And the looper in the Helix? Absolutely top-tier. I fully expect the Helix Stadium to be the next big buzzword in the pedal community for the coming quarter, especially within the worship scene, where its all-in-one capabilities will undoubtedly shine.

But here's where I might invite some flak: apart from making it smaller and slapping on a touchscreen, what has Line 6 truly done differently than Kemper, aside from perhaps running a savvier marketing campaign? The Kemper Mk. II was widely panned for essentially being a Kemper with fourteen-year-old software and minimal internal upgrades. Yet, the original Kemper earned its revered status over those fourteen years by delivering groundbreaking features that are now almost standard. So, tell me, how is the Helix Stadium not essentially the same product, just with a touchscreen and a downsized form factor?

Both the Helix Stadium and the Kemper Mk. II are projected to sell in the $1800 range. Honestly, if I didn't already own my Fractal FM-3 and couldn't go the Fractal route, I'd be leaning towards the Kemper all day long. And here’s why:

At this point in my musical journey, I have some cherished analog gear that I'd love to capture a perfect "digital fingerprint" of. My beloved Marshall Silver Jubilee, for instance – as a blues-jazz player, it's my absolute favorite amp, and I've yet to find a digital recreation I truly love. I run mine very much in the vein of Wayne Krantz. I also have a Dumble clone that I'd kill to have a well-done digital profile of. And finally, and this is purely personal, the next digital unit I acquire, I'd ideally want everything my Fractal has, but with Kemper's architecture, in a rackmount form. I'm sure at some point, my beloved FM-3 Mk. II will be relegated to being an effects processor as amp recreations continue to improve.

However, I digress. To wrap this up, as a long-time guitar player who has embraced modelers for most of my life, I find myself genuinely underwhelmed by Line 6's latest offering. A part of me genuinely wishes this was a re-imagining of the Helix Stomp. I don't believe I'm alone in this sentiment; I'm confident that at some point, the new hardware and software will filter down to the Stomp ethos. I truly believe that is Line 6's most promising path forward, especially for the players who gravitate towards that more compact and integrated approach.

But hey, I'm just a guy on the internet with an opinion. Still, Line 6 remains a company with significant sway in the marketplace, and I'm genuinely curious to see where this takes things going forward. Or, perhaps, it will go the way of the original Spider line of amps. Either way, we live in an absolutely amazing time to play guitar, and the digital frontier continues to expand in fascinating, if sometimes familiar, ways.