I've been kind of "putting up" with an issue with my HD500, but now I'd like a solution. I often play live with my POD direct in through one of the SLR outputs. When I'm in a situation that calls for this it sounds awful. I will take time at home setting up a patch using my 2-12 Celestion speaker cab, and the tone is nice. It has a nice naturally compressed sound, and a little of the mid-highs rolled off. Sounds warm and creamy. As soon as I plug it in direct all that warmth - that sounds analog - goes away and the device sounds harsh, nasty, and digital in a BAD way. There's this high-mid RASP that's introduced to the sound that is completely unacceptable. In the POD I've tried different speaker cab types, mics, and mic placements, and nothing works. It's REALLY awful when I'm using in-ears through a personal mixing monitor system. My "tone" completely kills any creative, inventive vibe because I'm HATING my tone. Is there any solution to this?
EDIT: One other question - Is it possible to run more than 8 effects in the chain in the HD500X? Say I have a couple of effects not controller assigned, e.g., EQ and noise gate. Those take up two in the signal chain, but they aren't assigned. Is it possible to run those two FX, plus 8 others that are assigned? If it is possible I haven't found a way to do it. Thanks!