southpawpete

Brilliant answers - thanks guys Back to making tones!

So I've had my HD500 for a week and, after the expected learning curve, I'm really enjoying it. I swapped from a Fender Mustang 3 V2 and whilst I don't think the POD quite beats it on feel, the range of sounds offered and the really low 'unwanted noise' levels win hands down. But that's by the by. So far, I've been running a regular guitar lead from left unbalanced out of the POD into a powered cab. All sounds good (I only run mono patches so no worries about left/right). Last night I thought I'd try an XLR lead to see if there was any difference in sound quality. I ran it from the left/mono balanced out and the volume was way lower. Now, I can see a switch that sets the unbalanced outs from line to amp, but I can't see anything that lets me 'boost' the XLR output volume. Given that I'm still finding my way around the unit, am I missing something really obvious???

I always try to use my multifx units like a simple amp and stomp box set up, so rather than have a bunch of presets I'll have 2-3 different amps (like DunedIn Dragon said). The idea of having 8 stomp boxes available isn't (for me) about having 8 effects on - but it means I can have a cleanish amp and then the option of 2-3 different drive pedals, or chorus and flanger available. That's the big draw of the HD500 over previous units like the XTLive (or my most recent, a Fender Mustang). With them, it was one drive pedal per patch, so if you wanted a screamer and a rat you needed two patches. Not a big deal but if one day you decide you're not in love with your clean amp sound it's two patches to tweak (or 10, if you've got 10 versions with different effects in each). Now, I'll be able to have, say just 3 presets (clean amp, gritty amp, rock amp) and a ton of stomp options to tailor to each song. I play in a covers band doing soul, R&B and a bit of blues rock, so I don't need massively complicated tones - but variety is the spice of life, right?!

Thanks kpsion, That was my worry - choosing the 8 stomp box mode and then being tied to a single preset. As long as I can still get to other presets between songs (without bending over and fiddling with menus) that'll be fine.

I'm a leftie and used to own a Variax, which I stupidly sold a few years back. As Line 6 no longer see fit to produce a leftie Variax I'm looking out for a used model. In the meantime, has anyone experimented with getting a passable acoustic simulation out of the various eq and filtering options in the HD500? I'm picking mine up this week and this would be the icing on what I'm hoping will already be a very delicious cake!

Thanks PeterHamm, I think that's what I'll do too.

Hi guys. I understand there's two ways to set up the 8 main switches - either all as fx on/off, or a mix of fx and preset selection. My question is, how easy is it to change between the two modes in a live situation. I.E. can I be in preset selection mode, choose a preset, then swap to all f/x so I can toggle 8 different fx within that preset - then flick back to change to another preset? So far the only way I've seen to do this is by going into a menu, which would be a bit cumbersome on stage.