ytiam Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Hi all, I have been searching for an answer to this but couldn't find one. My apologies if this has been posted before. I would like to purchase a POD HD 500x/ POD HD Pro X, or Helix. I am purely a bass player. Can the bass expansion pack with 28 amps and 22 cabs be used with any of these products. As a bass player this would be phenominal. If it cant be used now, are there any plans to make them available for any of these products in the future? I am happy to purchase now if it is certain that these models/ sounds will be available in the future. Cheers. Please say yes ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 ..... Can the bass expansion pack with 28 amps and 22 cabs be used with any of these products. .... I am happy to purchase now if it is certain that these models/ sounds will be available in the future..... Sorry - no. The Bass Expansion Pack is compatible with the models that are listed on the product info page. This does not include the POD HD series or Helix. It is unlikely that this pack will be available on the Pod HD or Helix in the future. Even if it were likely, it will never be certain which is what you seem to want. No future expectation is ever certain. Having said that, both the POD HD series and Helix include some bass amps. The quality of the modeling is much superior than in the Bass Expansion pack. If you want quality over quantity, you should continue to consider either the POD HD 500X/ProX or Helix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_Brown Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I play guitar and bass and use a 500x as with the press of a footswitch I can can amps & and any settings I need. Saves carrying two rigs around! As Silverhead said, the sounds are very good. I find with bass that The sounds I want are easily found in the HD amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoguyy Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 And if the standard set isn't enough for you. They do sell a Bass Pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytiam Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Hi all, Thank you very much for all the info. That many amps is a fantasy for any bass player but as you said the quality must of come a long way since that pack. Is the Helix also HD (Does the HD in POD HD500X mean high definition?). Or is the Helix higher again. It sounds like the sound quality of the Helix is fairly phenominal from what I have heard. Wondering if there is any advantage to the Helix over the POD or if the sound quality is similar and you can get the same bass packs. The Helix looks epic. Uber Guru. Thanks for the confirm it is not planned as I would forever be wondering. Now I can move on ha ha. Thank you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexKenivel Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 HD is just the name for this series of Pod. It seems like the HD won't receive anymore additions. The Helix is the newer, flagship device that is currently receiving continuous updates since it landed last year. The Helix has included everything from the HDs paid expansion packs. For playing bass, I can't get a better sound using the HDs bass expansion pack compared to the sounds I get from the originally modeled Bassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybone Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 The Bass Expansion pack is only for the PODxt range, with the POD HD range, the only applicable pack is the HD Bass Pack, but to be fair, the 3 amps in that pack (plus 2 cabs) are excellent. As primarily a bassist myself, if you can't find a great sound with these 3 (or the Bassman, B15 or HiWatt models in the standard model pack) then I'll be amazed. There's even some good guitar amps on there as well! ;) :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brue58ski Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I was always impressed with how the Bass Pod XT Live amps sounded when recorded. Never listened to them in a live situation though. These would also be found in a Pod X3 Live. I'm sure you can find a Bass Pod XT Live cheap and would recommend checking one out. The output options in the Bass Pod XT Live are impressive as well. For example, it has outputs specifically made for bi-amping. Also has a way to combine the direct sound with the amped sound. Pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybone Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 TBH, you would be better off going for the guitar version of the PODxt / Live rather than the bass version, it not only comes with the FX Junkie expansion pack already loaded, but has better expansion capabilities (or so I am lead to believe from what I've read in magazines/online/etc). I had a PODxt Live for a while, with the Bass Expansion Pack, but sold it to buy the HD500x. The HD500x does sound so much better in comparison to the PODxt. I did an A/B comparison when I first got the HD, same amp & cab model, same settings etc., and the HD just sounded head & shoulders above the PODxt. I still have my "old faithful" PODxt bean (with the Bass Expansion loaded), but the HD is the "go to". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brue58ski Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 TBH, you would be better off going for the guitar version of the PODxt / Live rather than the bass version, it not only comes with the FX Junkie expansion pack already loaded, but has better expansion capabilities (or so I am lead to believe from what I've read in magazines/online/etc). I had a PODxt Live for a while, with the Bass Expansion Pack, but sold it to buy the HD500x. The HD500x does sound so much better in comparison to the PODxt. I did an A/B comparison when I first got the HD, same amp & cab model, same settings etc., and the HD just sounded head & shoulders above the PODxt. I still have my "old faithful" PODxt bean (with the Bass Expansion loaded), but the HD is the "go to". I would disagree to a certain extent. Firstly if you're going to consider the guitar version of the XT Live I would definitely go with the X3 Live which not only has ALL of the XT expansion packs already included in it but is essentially 2 XT's in one package. The X3 Live has dual path capabilities where the XT doesn't. So no messing with model packs (everything available is already in it) and dual path capabilities. Two amps at the same time or two seperate mono paths for two different instruments. And you can find them for only a little more than an XT. Second, the main merits for going with the Bass XT Live (since he's only doing bass) are the outputs are configured specifically for different bass options. Mainly the ability to split the signal into variable high freq and low freq outputs for biamping and the ability to mix the direct signal with the modeled signal. Neither of these things are available on either the Guitar XT Live or the X3 Live. I should add that these output options aren't available on the Bass POD XT. Just the Bass POD Xt Live. But anoither reason would be price. It wasn't very popular at all so I'm assuming it's fairly easy to find one cheap. And it has all of the bass amps that are in the bass expansion pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybone Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Agreed, the X3 Live comes with all the model packs loaded, as well as including patches for Vocals & Acoustic guitars. Thing is though, both the PODxt & POD X3 are discontinued, the HD500x is still a current model. It sounds even better than either the XT or X3, and although they had more amp & cab models available, the HD is still an improvement on them with only a handful of amp & cab models. Again, these days, I am primarily a bass player, though I do bring out the old electric guitar every now and then. I am more than happy with the sounds that I get from my bass and my HDx, the effects sound great, and there are a ton of connectivity options on the HD500x as well. I would recommend that the OP gets a POD HD500x instead of these older models. If they have the available funds, then a Helix would be better still, but the HD500x is still a very capable piece of equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brue58ski Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Skybone, can you describe how they are better in the HD? I'm not trying to be argumentative, I really want to know. I don't play bass and am interested in what your thoughts, as a bass player, are. I thought, at least for recording, the XT/X3 models sounded great but I can't speak to the live aspect. To be honest I haven't really gone into the HD bass models that much at all. Did you ever get a chance to try the Bass POD XT Live and if so, what were your thoughts on the options that you could only find on the Bass XT Live like two outputs that you could assign to certain frequencies for bi-amping. Sorry for all the questions and if you don't have time, understood. But I truly do want to know your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybone Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I never tried the Bass PODxt Live, I briefly owned a bean Bass PODxt, but sold it because I was achieving a better bass sound from my red guitar bean PODxt. And yes, I did A/B them into a DAW. I bought my PODxt Live second hand, and bought the Bass Expansion pack for it. I used a Zoom B3 at the time, and was looking to expand on it's "limitations" (only 3 effects at once). The POD X3 was high up my list, but the second hand prices were relatively high compared to the PODxt. I had also heard that the Bass PODxt had limited memory etc. As I play guitar as well, it made sense to go for the guitar version & add the Bass Pack. From what I understand, the PODxt models were also used on the POD X3. The best way I can describe the difference between the sounds from the HD being "better" than the xt/X3, is that they have a far more "definition" (High Definition), the touch response is also far better and the effects work on the subtlest of settings. It simply sounds more like you're in the same room with the amp. I was mainly looking to go ampless on my bass rig, so good amp models were important. The XT models sounded better than the B3 models. Unfortunately, the B3 effects sounded better than the XT's effects to my ears. I started looking around for a replacement which had better effects, but was also a great amp modeler. Fortunately, my searches kept coming back to the HD500x. When I got it, I set it up so that I could A/B it against the PODxt Live, same guitar, same amp, same settings etc. and all into the same audio source. Needless to say, on that analysis, I kept the HD500x. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brue58ski Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. You actually answered every question I would have. Thanks again. And time to hook up my bass to the HD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skybone Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Glad you found it useful. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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