Yesterday a rather large box appeared on my porch which contained a DT25 I ordered from Guitar Center. It arrived just in time for our weekly band rehearsal so I was able to put it through its paces. I usually use a Tech 21 power engine 60 for amplification from my pod HD500 and JTV59. Here are my thoughts for those that are interested in the comparison:

- The DT25 is as loud or louder than the PE60, but the dynamics of the DT25 are far more pronounced. When you play soft, the amp is quiet, play hard, and the amp reacts with a lot more volume. This will take some time to get used to because the PE60 doesn't behave this way at all.

- The PE60 is much mellower and does a decent job at projecting sound, but tended to get lost in the mix. I would struggle to really hear my parts through our bass, drum, keyboard, acoustic guitar, and 3 singers. It's alot to deal with, but the DT25 really projects and cuts through. At the same time you can definitely play softer and settle more in the mix when necessary.

- The "pre" versions of the models in the HD500 are much quieter than the "full" versions. This was a good thing because it allowed me to control the DT25 to a usable volume in our small rehearsal space

- Everyone in my band thought it sounded great. I know this is subjective, but it is a good sign. For example, we play some Beatles songs and our bass player said  I finally nailed the Rickenbacker AC-30 tone that I had in my head. The PE60 just couldn't get the AC-30 sound right.

- I always wondered what made AC-30s so special and now I think I get it. I have a patch for playing "In God's Country" by U2. It was always missing something and last night it finally came together with the DT25. I was always tweaking the delay settings, but it turns out it just needed a faithful AC-30 tone.

- The amp controls are also more dynamic. I dialed in a Fender BF Lux sound and was not happy with the initial sound until I realized that the drive had a huge effect on the overall volume. Much more so than when using the PE60. I know that may seem intuitive, but I was used to a different set of dynamics.

In general I love the amp so far. There are many more things I need to try with it. I still need to dial in and convert my tones from my previous PE60 rig. Like every piece of new gear there is a learning curve, but its worth the effort.