BlueViolince

I play electric violin, so I don't know how these amps compare to each other for guitar, but I hope somebody can help me out. I've determined that from all reports, the acoustic model will be useless to me. I've used the Hiway for quite some time, and I love it. Beautiful clean tone, no matter how hard I play. I have played through a JC 120 in the past, but too long ago for me to remember exactly how it behaved. Only that it was one of the better amps I had plugged into, having tried various Fender and Marshall combos, which didn't ring my bell. I am also curious about the Orange model, but that would just be a bonus. So, who can tell me how these two models compare to each other? I'm looking primarily for flat response, tons of headroom, with controlled low end.

Here's a link to upvote my ideascale suggestion for switchable linear/log taper on the expression pedal. Clicking the link will upvote, FYI. http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Pod-HD-500-500X-expression-taper/714268-23508?submitted=1#

96k is noticed more on drums than guitar or vocals, IMO.

I've had the 60T(FRFR-ish) version for years. It sounds great with the Pod, and translates to mix very well.

I would like to disable it so that I can usefully assign it to MIDI control.

I never had good results that way, amsdenj. The tone and functionality that is attached to the amp models is part and parcel of the HD. If you haven't, try the Hiway amp/cab combo. Set Res to zero, ER to 100, then adjust from there. My EQ on that model is fairly flat, with a few tweaks, and I get a good violin sound. I did set my master high-pass to 100 Hz, which you may want to set lower, maybe 60 Hz to get more body. I am using the 4038 ribbon mic and 412 Hiway cab. It is about as neutral as any model in the pre-2.60 firmware. Can't say about the new vintage models, since I'm using the first-gen 500.. I am eager to try the jc120 model, as well as the orange. May end up being unusable as a standard clean acoustic tone, but you never know. If not, the Hiwatt still works for me.

Look for the effect dsp load chart. I don't remember where it is, but it can be Googled if you need it. From what I remember, the highest load blocks are reverb, pitch, and dual amps. Lowest load are eqs and comps. Delays don't seem too bad. I have a few patches with one full amp, five or six delays, one reverb, and one compressor. The last block is my fx loop. No DSP limit. Out of curiosity, what fx and amps are you using on that patch?

We hope for perfect conditions, but we prepare for worst case scenario. Global EQ is for the realists among us who know that not every room has good balance, and not every engineer knows how to fix all the problems.

So this will likely not replace the Hiway w/ Hiway 412 cab for my violin... Oh well.

This just started happening tonight, after working fine for a few months. I have my HD500 connected to an M5, Whammy 5, and Source EQ through a MIDI Solutions Quadra Thru. Was playing a few songs before I noticed that the tempo leds were falling out of sync. Never happened before. Tried resetting tempo a few times, but it kept on happening. The leds would flash in sync as I was tapping the HD500 tempo switch, and then after a few beats, they would lose each other. Has anyone experienced this and found a reason/solution?

That's a little randomly specific, spaceatl...

Visual Sound has the right angle adapter, you just have to cut and solder the wires in reverse. It's the green plug.

I wouldn't put it in front of the input. It would negate the benefit of the high-impedance settings. I keep mine in the fx loop, right before the return. I use the 250K version.

I try not to ever build tones with just headphones. I use them for checking stereo field on delays, modulation, and reverb. Best to use as many monitoring options as you have when adjusting settings.

I think the newer AKGs are not the same as the older ones, then. I don't know what the numbers are, but I'm just telling you my experience. I know the ATs are very neutral for their price range. Better for mixing, but they also make tonal adjustment easier. I always have to cut High frequency settings after tweaking with the AKGs. That's all I know.

I have used both Audio Technica ATH-M50 and AKG K240S headphones. The AKGs darkened the tone too much; I suspect it would do better with a headphone amp. Fine for practicing, though, so I will probably hang onto them. The ATH M50 were much better; they seem to give a more accurate representation, with less tweaking needed between headphone and FRFR amp. Only downside is that I would like to have an open back version so that I can hear my kids getting into mischief.

It's called making money. They could also sell each model separately, but they would make less profit from us piecemealing our model libraries at $5.00 a pop. Most people will probably end up buying at least two, if not all three packs for this reason. I could justify it, myself.

So it's either/or, as far as sending MIDI commands with patch changes vs within a patch? Both have their usefulness to me, but can you do both?

Power Engine 60T. I think it has more high end transparency than the regular PE60, but I haven't done an A/B.

They had room for one more parameter, and the "Suck" control did not rate well with focus groups.

Another idea is to put a volume pedal before and after the amp, both tied to the same footswitch. Or a volume pedal and a compressor. Or EQ and compressor. Try different things. Have one turn off with say, FS2, and have the other turn on with the same switch. I did this for one of my patches. I put a volume pedal at(for example) 65% after my amp. I put a compressor set for boost before the amp. I set the footswitch to turn on the compressor, and turn off the volume pedal. Boost going into the amp, and full volume instead of 65%.

What guitar do you use? What's your venue of choice? What effects do you use? How much high-end hearing loss have you sustained(a serious question)? What's your favourite musician and album? What's your favourite amp? If I knew the answers to all of those questions, I still might not know what sounds good to you. That tells me that the Line 6 engineers are bad at guessing. Guilty as charged.

If you are griping about usability issues and poor workflow, then why wouldn't you try the Amplifi? It is aimed at people who don't want the complexity of the HD series. There are people who enjoy tweaking everything to get their tone. Others like to plug and play. Two products for two types of players. I highly doubt that Line 6 will modify the HD architecture the way you want them to. I also highly doubt they will go through the trouble of changing the default settings for the amps to suit your nebulous request of "sound good out of the box". That is what CustomeTone is for. Have you looked through the user files? I wouldn't go to a music store, plug into an amp, and then not adjust the knobs before I decided not to buy it. If you want the right sound without adjusting knobs, get an acoustic guitar. Not trying to pick a fight, but everything you are complaining about has an answer. Either within the unit, or on the website, or in a different product. It's a $500 multi-effect/modeler. There are higher-end, more expensive units out there, and there are cheaper, easier to use units as well. Most people here seem to enjoy chasing the tone. I've had mine for three years or more, and I still make tweaks that improve my sound. Free of charge. I got my Pod to have everything in one box, and I can still gig without the extra pedals if I so choose. I have EQ pedals, volume pedal, and an M5 on the side, but I don't need them to have my core sound. They are there to make my workflow smoother, and a little more adaptable.

I use the Hiwatt amp with its corresponding 412 cab for my violin. It seems to be the flattest amp model, with the benefits of the IR and ER functionality. No supplemental EQ needed. YMMV.

I'm just going to drop this here, since I've already mentioned it before. I don't understand the rationale behind the way all the EQ was set up from the get go. But I also don't feel that adjusting EQ by ear is an unreasonable prospect. You can mix by numbers all you want, but ultimately it has to sound right. And you can do that with the Pod. Well, you have to. But calling for so many dB boost/cut at such and such a frequency is great when you're talking to your FOH guy, and maybe not so crucial when you are tweaking patches using your ears. It's a bit idiotic to have percentage instead of using the industry standard terminology, but I'm not gonna get all butthurt by it. At the end of the day, my Pod still sounds great, and does its job more cleanly and efficiently than anything else in its price range. Yay, new firmware! Model packs, woo hoo!