colmac2000

Thanks for those. Some pretty convincing tones in that second one - although they are still on the bright side, I guess. Maybe it's just a matter of taste. It does seem odd to me that the out-of-the-box amp tones aren't really useable without one or two parametric eqs after them - which made me wonder if I was missing something. I think it probably just takes a lot of tweaking though. I might just stick with my existing base amp tones and just use the POD for effects in 4CM for the moment.

So I had a go at switching out the 'pre' amps with the standard ones but I couldn't hear much of a difference. I also downloaded Peter Hanmer's free patches from his website (http://www.peterhanmer.co.za/hd500x.htm) and they sounded pretty thin and fizzy to me too. I'm aware that his patches at optimised for direct use and I'm going into a power amp and cab so it might not be ideal. So far the best results I have had are with the Mahadeva model, which I think is the Bogner Shiva one...it comes closest to having the body and depth I am used to from the Switchblade. I'm still not feeling like I'll be able to switch over to using the digital models fully. They just don't seem to fill the cab, if that makes sense...the straight valve amp just feels much fuller and open. Does anyone use the HD500 models via a power amp and cab for live use? I could probably do with some tips. Is the Helix that much better?

I have it set up so I can toggle between the POD amp sims and my real amp's pre-amp (in the POD FX loop block). I was thinking that if the POD FX block is switched off then this is effectively exactly the same as running striaight from my guitar, through the POD and into the effects loop return of my amp. Is that not right? I think I did try going straight from the POD output to the effects loop return (2 cable method) and I didn't notice a difference. I'll try it again though.

Thanks, that looks like a really useful resource. Most of the tweaks he suggests seem to relate to the cabs and mics though but I'm going into the power amp of my Switchblade without any cab sims active. He does suggest using the full amp sims rather than the pre versions which I had been using, so I'll give that a try.

I just got a Pod HD500X to try and replace a load of pedals and generally simplify things :) I have followed the guides from Tyler Johnson and Tony Hanmer and I now have it set up in 4CM (with a H&K Switchblade 100 Head) and I have started to play with the digital pre-amps, comparing them to the Switchblade's and find some good ones. With a view to maybe not bothering with the 4CM and going straight into the loop return of the amp. Anyway, it seems to me that all of the models sound very fizzy and toppy. I have tamed a lot of that with a parametric EQ (as per Tony Hanmer's guide) but still...I wonder if I'm missing something...why would line 6 make them all sound like that? Any advice gratefully received. :)