ajseesink

Hi, I just wanted to share my story and perhaps help others with my idea of using (in my case) the HD500X on my MacBook Air M1 with MacOS Monterey. Let me first say that I’m totally unhappy with the support we HD500(X) users don’t het from Line6. I myself use a HD500X and I love the sound that it can produce. However when I ask support when drivers are updated, the answer is “we don’t know”. Nice way to treat your customers. First my setup: MacBook Air M1 Studio One 5 as my DAW A Presonus Studio 24c audio interface A Line6 POD HD500X Normally my guitar is plugged in in the HD500X. The HD500X is connected at the Studio 24c audio interface. This still works, but with buying an Apple MacBook Air M1 I can’t program the HD500X anymore with the Line 6 software. The reason is the USB driver isn’t compatible with the ARM processor that Apple uses. So the patches I programed in the HD500X are still there and usable. Any new sounds I want to create, I need to program that manually. In my case there were 3 options that crossed my mind: Sell the HD500X and by something new Program the HD500X manually Use the HD500X as a pedalboard. The 1st situation was the one that immediately came up in my mind. Until now I haven’t. Why? I actually love my HD500X because of the sound it can produce. So I hesitated to sell it and look for other solutions. The 2nd situation is an option. However programming the HD500X manually is not very user-friendly and very tedious to do. It makes no fun at all. The 3rd option is what I’m trying out now. While I couldn’t program the HD500X, I was looking for another solution. I came up with using VST3 plugins in my DAW (Studio One 5). There are very good VST3 plugins on the market. The one I’m trying out at the moment is TH-U Metal (€80). There is a 15 day trial so why not try it out. I must say that I really liked the sound of the VST3 plugin I used. It’s very close to what the HD500X produces. You can use TH-U also standalone or even change the tube the amp uses. Setup a complete rig and all. But when playing I had to manually switch on/off the effects I used with the mouse. For example I use a distortion pedal with an Mashall like amp. I had to use my mouse to switch on/off the distortion. Well here’s the option where to use the MIDI interface from the HD500X. I could manually program the HD500X to sent MIDI signals to the TH-U plugin when hitting the FS1-FS8. So actually I can use the HD500X as an pedalboard for the TH-U plugin. When I hit FS1, it will send a signal to put on or off the distortio. It’s perhaps an expensive solution to use the HD500X as a dump pedalboard, but I still have a little bit of hope that Line6 will bring out drivers some day so I can use the HD500X to its full potential again. There are more VST plugins that can be used the same way. Bias FX2 and Amplitube for example. I even think Line 6 Helix works about the same way. But because of the bad support from Line6 I myself won’t buy any Line6 anymore. I hope someone can use this the setup I know use. Or perhaps I started something where others have similar solutions. Let me (us) know. Have fun!

I've sent a message last week to support and got the following answer :( I've given up all hope on drivers for the POD HD500X Hi all available information concerning macOS11/12 and M1 hardware can be found in our FAQ : https://line6.com/support/announcement/104-apple-m1-macos-11-and-12-compatibility-with-line-6-software/ https://line6.com/support/page/kb/general-faq/apple-silicon-m1-chip-compatibility-r985/ there's no additional information yet available Best regards Ampeg/Line 6 Support Europe

Is there any news on the Line 6 drivers for Apple M1 series? It's been two years now that Apple released the new computers with the M1 chip, but until now no support from Line 6. An Ear deafening silence. I'm a bit afraid I need to sell my HD500X and use effects software with my DAW software.

The assumption with rosetta is correct. However this doesn't count for drivers. To use the full potential from the HD500X Line6 needs to rewrite the drivers for the ARM processor. Apple doesn't accept Intel code on M1 for drivers. That is becuase of the M1 kernel. Unfortunately Line 6 still hasn't after 2 years (!!!!!) rewritten the drivers for the Apple M1. So you cant use the HD500X, just like me, in the Apple M1.