wolvenmoonlight Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I've been using my Pod HD 300 for some years now. But if it wouldn't have been for the fact that my Pod XT was stolen, I'd probably still be using it. I was mosty using the Metal Pack addon which I loved. But since I had to buy a new device either way, the then brand new HD series seemed like the most sensible way to go instead of buying another XT. I bought the HD 300 because it was cheaper and I really didn't see myself using the extra features in HD 400 or HD 500 anyway. I really like it, but just like with any Pod I found it hard to get a decent metal sound without hours of tweaking. I came to miss the Metal Pack I had in my XT. But there was still a lot of features and quality in the HD 300 that made me stick with that one instead of going back to XT. And now it turns out Line6 decided to release the Metal Pack for the HD series. Not for HD 300 though unfortunately. But the combination of the HD generation sound and the Metal Pack for XT/X3 would obviously be perfect for me. So I have to upgrade to either HD 500 or HD 500X. Or the HD Bean (desktop model). I can't imagine the HD Bean being available yet when I bought my HD 300. I'm sure that would have been my first choice. I mostly use Pod for recording/practice at home. So the whole floor board design is kind of meaningless in my case. Plus the HD Bean is significantly cheaper than any of the floor board HD models. So it kind of feels like my obvious choice would be the HD Bean. But I get a bit confused, I can't find much info on HD Bean. What firmware is it? Is it a desktop version of 300, 400, 500 or 500X? And how come it's even cheaper than Pod XT that reasonably must be considered a legacy product by now? Am I missing something here? Is there something fundamentally wrong with HD Bean that made it unpopular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceatl Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I have the HD Bean...I love it. It is the same as a 500 without the Variax input...Also there is no FX loop...Has all the same amps as the 500...The announcement of the model packs reads that the HD Desktop update will come later...I have had no issues with my HD bean... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niba Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I faced similar decision just a month ago. HD300 was advertised by the time as having the same amp features as the bigger floor models. However there many things that I did not like in it and I definetely agree that needed hours of tweaking. I was considering going to different brands all together like 11rack. I pulled the plug and got the HD bean. WoW. I don't know about you but my HD300 was very noisy. The Bean is quite. I transposed the patches that I had and suddenly with the same settings it sounded better all ready. The deep editing of the cab is an enormous plus and makes huge difference. before it was kind of loose sound rather now I can make it the way I want it. The other thing I am very exited about is the news from the NAMM about the update. There will be a Metal pack as far as I heard. I am running a Jfet booster in front and tube preamp after it... huge change in dynamics, I got the idea from a topic in The Gear Page. The Bean takes the booster a way better than the HD300 which was clipping. Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel_brown Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I have 2 beans. One is brand new in the box as a backup. When they stopped producing them I wanted to make sure I had a spare. They're the same as the HD500 and Pro, just no FX loop, no midi, and no Variax connection. They're still available for a good price on eBay, either used or brand new B Stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvenmoonlight Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thank you guys for your help! Sounds like I'm getting a HD Bean. I just got suspicious. There's no product page for HD Bean on Line6's site. It's very cheap compared to the floor board models. So I was worried it's the black sheep in the HD family. Like maybe it was so bad Line6 decided to take it off their site. And maybe the resellers dumped the price hoping to clean their shelves from it. But maybe it just went out of production. It's not like Pod 2.0 is featured with a product page at Line6 either. And there was certainly nothing wrong with the classic 2.0. If it's out of production it also makes sense that it's cheap. I can only assume Line6 wants to go in a future direction where they want to sell floor models for live performance, and rack mounted Pro models for home/studio recording. And the Bean design is going to be phased out. That's the only reason I can think of to why they never bothered to effectively advertise HD Bean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joel_brown Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 IMO - Probably the biggest reason the bean isn't as popular as the other units is because of the 4cm method most people seem to use. The bean can do the 4cm method but it's a little tricky to configure. Also when using the bean in the 4cm method, you lose stereo capability. Which most people don't seem to use live anyway. I personally use the pre models on the bean and go into the FX return on a pair of Marshall amps in stereo and don't use the 4cm method. It's a lot cleaner configuration because all my cables are behind the amps and only 1 cable to a footswitch on the floor. There's a nice stand for the bean from Line6 that holds it on top of the amp and a nice padded case for transporting. My only complaint is: I wish it had a midi connection like earlier beans did. I already owned a nice midi pedal board but had to buy the Line6 FBV pedal board for the HD bean. I was surprised when they stopped manufacturing it. Everyone seems to want floor boards now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eudoxia Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 For practice I love my bean. I have a shortboard to give me all the foot controllers for Exp pedal and looper. Mount the bean on a short mic stand and the controls are the same height as an amp face so I can easily reach over and make adjustments. The output is sent to an FX return loop on a simple clean sounding SS practice amp and I have great setup to jam on the couch (or whereever) with killer tone. To have everything easily accessible is a big deal for me than having to bend over and fuss with a computer when I'm playing with amps and effects. I wish they would fix the tuner loud sound problem, the last update was supposed to but has not. -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncann Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 What's the tuner loud sound problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelForbin Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 The update will be released for the 500x first; and no word on how long HD500 users will need to wait.. And like Tom Petty reminds us, "The Waiting is the Hardest Part!!" I've been on the HD500 since 2010; just recently (finally) snagged a HD500x! Super stoked; the new footswitches are awesome. The footswitches on my old HD500 were just starting to show symptoms of going out; press on FS7, sometimes takes a few steps to get it to activate. And I always had mis-step issues with the proximity of the FS4 / FS8 switches to the tap/tuner switch. March can't come soon enough! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eudoxia Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 This is the issue http://line6.com/support/topic/9855-pod-hd-desktop-huge-volume-spike-w-tuner-problem/?hl=tuner+problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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