I was in the same boat a while back.  I was playing mostly direct to PA and I found a few things that helped get consistent tones.  1. I purchased a $12 XLR Y-cable and that seemed to bring the fullnes back to some of the patches and I didn't have to worry about how they were panned going out of one XLR to the board. 2.  I bought an EV exp112 powered speaker.  It was at the right price point for me about $500 and had  few feature I really liked.  That was I could have 2 inputs and blend them right on the speaker so if I want to just goof around I can hook up a mic and plug in my guitar rig or acoustic I could use it as a basic PA.  I can also blend a band mix with my rig if I want and tweak my monitor mix there on the unit.  It sounds very good, has 1000 watts of power and has gotten very good reviews.  I'm looking in the near future to get a second and a powered sub so I can have a fully functional PA based on that series of speakers. Highly recommended!

QSC K-10.  Fantastic tone and plenty of volume.

I own a K8 and like it very, very much. In the pop/rock bands I've played in, I've been totally satisfied with it, even when using it as my only amplification when I haven't been able to plug into the PA. It might not be quite enough for a crazy loud metal band, or maybe it might be... I've never run into its limits, so I don't know what its limits are.

If you use it as your only amplification, I suggest putting it on a speaker stand close to ear level.

Unless you use crazy low drop tunings, the K8 also has more than enough bass for a guitar in a band context. If you use a 12 or 15-inch speaker and crank the bass, it could step on the bass player's territory & make the overall band sound muddy.

Hi guys. I've read all the coments, but i have a little bit different problem. I want to connect my pod HD 500 XLR outputs stereo to a PA and simultaneously to use the unbalansed outs to put in something for stereo monitoring on the stage. Is this possible, and how to do this?

Thanks.