Digital_Igloo

HD has had L6 Elektrik, Doom, and Epic models (all XT) for years, so there's a precedent. EDIT: I'M WRONG. A bunch of artist endorsees and a ton of other people begged for their favorite XT models (mainly the metal ones) and since we'd done a lot of work getting both XT and HD models working together in Firehawk FX, model packs were a no-brainer. I won't lie, tho'. The whole "undermining HD with XT models" debate isn't unheard of in these hallowed halls. But when it comes down to it, XT models sound great, are on countless major label records, and take up less DSP, so you'll have more room for HD effects. Win-win. There are currently no plans to "unlock" model packs in future shipments of HD500X/Pro X, but I suppose anything's possible.

You could create two parallel paths and assign the tone or volume knob on Variax to blend between the two. It's not quite preset switching, but it's seamless.

Pre-only versions of XT models have never existed, and we weren't able to create any when porting them to the model packs. HD models will have both full and pre-only versions.

Absolutely. I have nothing but mad respect for Meambobbo—his guide is a great resource. Hope he sticks around, even if it is to smack us around a bit. ;)

Awesome!

Paris Hilton pressing a space bar?

When 2.6 is released (we're still on track for the end of March for HD500X/Pro X and HD500/Pro/Bean shortly thereafter), Global EQ will be found on the last page of the Setup menu. Pressing ENTER will bypass and enable it; knob 1 selects the band for adjustment; knobs 2-4 adjust the select band's parameters. With proper Hz/kHz and dB values. ;)

Wait. They're actually replacing the pipes themselves with PA systems? Not just replacing the traditional manuals and stops with digitally controlled ones and MIDI sequencers? If what you're saying is true, my mom will be crushed—she's played pipe organ professionally for longer than I've been alive.

8 setlists x 16 banks x 4 presets = 512 presets total, all overwriteable.

No, you're right. Modeling's big hurdle isn't sound quality, it's perception and context.

Reader's Digest version: For an "amp in the room" sound? No. For a recorded sound? Yes, it already has.

The point of my first post is that modelers can indeed act, react, and sound 100% exactly like a real tube amp, if you're used to listening to said tube amp mic'ed up in a different room. If you expect modelers to act, react, and sound 100% exactly like a real tube amp, and you're used to hearing them in front of you, then you'll likely be disappointed forever. It's not a limitation of modeling technology, it's a limitation of physics. Think about it—hearing a band playing in an arena is very, very different from hearing a recording of the show. Until technology can audibly convince everyone they're actually at the venue—and not listening to a CD in their living room—some people will continue to eschew modeling, because they don't have the proper context. When double-blind A/B listening tests can fool golden ear recording engineers (and POD HD has on occasion), I'd say we're already there. But again, you have to compare a mic'ed up amp from another room, not an amp in the same room. DT25 and DT50 are meant to scratch that "amp in a room" itch. L2 and L3 are for those of us who've grown up with modelers, or are used to hearing them in proper context. Since this new generation of guitarists is generally comfortable recording direct on their laptops and iPads, it's safe to say the "amp in a room" itch will become less common as years go by.

Let's say... Frank is a weekend warrior and demands the experience of being in the same room as a warmed up, properly biased, roaring tube amp Bob is a golden ear session musician and demands the experience of being in a studio's control room while a warmed up, properly biased, roaring tube amp is mic'ed up in a separate tracking room Frank will likely never find tonal bliss with modeling, no matter how far the technology advances. Bob's probably been very happy for years.

There are zero sonic tradeoffs—this is nothing like data compression. All code can and should be optimized, and POD HD500 was optimized from the outset. Adding a Global EQ would be impossible without optimization because... what happens to all the presets that are at 99% of capacity? So our gurus dug in and figured out a way to further optimize enough of the DSP code in a POD HD500X/Pro X to accommodate an additional 5-band Global EQ. Surprisingly, they were able to optimize enough to also squeeze it into HD500, HD Pro, and HD Bean. Bonus. Please, everyone stop with this 4% nonsense. There is no 4%. If you see a bit more DSP available, cool; it's just as likely that you won't. Not enough to write home about, and certainly not enough for us to talk about in ad copy.

Where did this 4% come from? I said that because some optimization was required to accommodate the Global EQ, there's a chance you might (MIGHT) get a bit more DSP—a few percent perhaps. Certainly not enough for an extra block, but maybe enough to add that one model where before you couldn't (dependent on the model, of course). Then again, you may not notice any difference at all.

Yep, Orange is HD. It cleans up very nicely, from either the Gain knob or your guitar's Volume knob. Dig into it, though, and you get that classic Orange bite.

Yeah, we wanted the release numbers to be consistent.

The new amps should correctly recall appropriate DT topology, yes. Only the new HD amps will have preamp models. As the POD Farm models never had preamp versions, they won't. Being full models only, they may not work as well as HD models with the DT amps.

In context, please. FW 2.6 and model packs will hopefully be available for HD500X and HD Pro X by the end of March, with support for HD500, HD Pro, and HD Bean shortly thereafter (hopefully no longer than a week or two after the others). You're all trying to get me fired, huh? ;)

Hopefully no longer than a week or two after HD500X and Pro X. Those two get the update first because they're current products. EDIT: Clarified

Already built in. Firehawk will read AMPLIFi tones from the cloud automatically. When people start building Firehawk-centric tones with HD amps and effects, they'll appear as matched tones as well.

I'm not going down this rabbit hole (not an engineer), but really... If it was as simple as a lookup table, don't you think we would've done dB and Hz/kHz in the first place?

Don't know—that was right before my time. Regardless, we've heard the pitchfork mob, loud and clear.

Yes, Global EQ is stereo. It affects everything. Uh oh... :blink: Well, that's definitely our fault. Some Setup menu parameters are global and some are per preset, and the manual's required to figure out which. Future products will not have this issue. Kinda like they'll all have power switches unless there's a really good reason to omit it.

Or none of you will know 'til... right now! :D Global EQ is global; that is, it's applied to all setlists and presets, at the end of the signal path. Its bypass state is global as well; it's important that the user never have to worry whether or not a particular preset has Global EQ applied. 1. Press and hold VIEW to open the Setup menu. Using the 4-way, cursor right to the last page. The header reads "GLOBAL EQ:OFF" 2. Press ENTER to enable Global EQ. The header reads "GLOBAL EQ:ON" 3. Use the encoders below the screen to adjust Global EQ: Knob 1 (Band Select): Low Cut, Low, Mid, High, High Cut Knob 2 (Freq) Knob 3 (Q) Knob 4 (Gain): -12.0 dB ~ +12.0 dB NOTE: Q and Gain disappear when Knob 1 (Band Select) is set to Low Cut or High Cut.