The amp is nice. Plugged in directly, it has some really nice warm tube sounds. Going through the POD HD500X was initially problematic. I had bought an AES/ABU cable (not the Line 6 one) and it was awful via the LINK connection - crackles, sound drop out, hiss, you name it. I substituted a regular XLR cable and it seemed OK. Not sure if the sound is the best it can be, so I am waiting on the Line 6 cable to arrive next week. I am now working on modifying the patches I had already created for the DT25.