grandinq

I got it for the versatility. In my band I wanted to access different sounds easily. I already had the hd500 and the DT25, and this completed a great live rig. I love being able to go from one completely different setup to another with one patch change. At first I thought I'd mainly use LP and Strat sounds but I love getting different textures from models I would have never actually played like a Gretach or Rikenbaker or a coral sitar. Although my go to guitar at home or for recording is my PRS, my JTV59 is a fun guitar to play in its own right. In my live setup I found the acoustics most disappointing. I send the acoustic signal into a pa speaker, but despite various EQ experiments I still find the acoustic models don't cut through well and tend to sound brittle. They are the least likely sounds to pass off as the original.

I thought I would revive this thread with some good news and bad news. The good news is using the DT25 as a power amp for the Axe Fx can send really good. There is a thread on the Fractal forum where somebody describes how to setup the hd500 as a midi controller for the Axe allowing you to navigate some scenes and use the expression pedal and looper: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/pod-hd500-control-presets-scenes-and-looper.80425/ Basically it boils down to a patch he created for the pod to send midi messages to the Axe. Very helpful! So I tried the next step. I disabled the cab block on the Axe, send the out from that into the power amp in on the DT and use the DT topologies. I can save a topology setting to my pod patch as well as class a vs a/b or triode/pentode. Again, very nice. Then I hit an old limitation. I use a jtv59 in a live setting and connect it with the vdi cable. To get to the Axe I wanted to use the s/pdif out from the pod. Of course, I cannot send the dry s/pdif signal to the Axe and use the L6 link from the pod to the DT at the same time. The workarounds would be: use a 1/4 cable from the Variax into the Axe instead of vdi, use the 1/4 and the vdi (with vdi just acting as a power cable to the pod), use a cable from the fx send of the pod to go to the axe. None of these are what I want. I don't like having two cables coming out of the jtv. I don't like relying on the jtv battery, just a psychological thing. The fx send I swear sucked the life out of the tone, although it was late at night and I should go back fresh to compare. The other alternative is to not use the jtv, as this setup sounded great with my PRS, but I need the versatility of the jtv live. I am wondering if there is a way I can have the midi out from the axe go into the DT as a way to send topology changes. I actually don't have another midi cable to try this out at the moment. I also wonder if this will cause some annoying delay as when I select a program on the pod it would then send the PC to the axe which then sends the topology change to the DT. In the end, as radats said on another thread, I'm trying to get the most of out equipment I already have. It would be great if I could afford an atomic clr for my axe, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Great sound! I have never been able to get a tone that big out of the Plexi model, so I use the P75. Is the overdrive pedal the key there? The DT25 is such a great sounding amp.

Interesting! I love hearing how people approach this equipment in different ways. I'll play around with it. The biggest hurdle for me would be for that particular song is that I am switching from a patch that is mag humbucker and P75 amp to a Strat model in neck position with a Deluxe amp. I can't make all those changes with the pedal. I could definitely try it on some other songs, though -- thanks!

Greetings! Last Saturday my band played a short set at a benefit show. This marked the debut of my dream rig (HD500, DT25, JTV-59) in a public setting. I am happy to report it held up very well. On that afternoon, my HD500 started doing some strange things, but silverhead chimed in and I was able to mend that. I originally wanted to use the cab out from the DT25, but the sound man refused, and I yielded. He ended up doing a great job in miking the amp. As I have worked with this rig, I have settled in on the tones I want. I still love that I have all these amps and guitars as my disposal, but I have hit upon a few combinations that fit with the music. I have also benefited from the advice from these forums, In particular, on all my tones I have cut down on the Bass in the amps, brought down the Resonance and Thump to zero. These changes have allowed my guitar to sit in the mix well. Here's a clip with most of one of our original songs. It's from a camera phone, but sounds pretty good with decent speakers. I am using the Variax Mags bridge pickup, and the amp is a P75 Bright Pre, Top II, Pentode, greenback cab, and a tube drive in front. The lead tone is the same with more gain and output on the tube drive and some delay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF_1d0bJSfA

Thanks so much silverhead! That did the trick. My dream rig of DT25, JTV-59, and HD500 totally rocked last night!. The soundman wouldn't use the cab out from the DT25, and I was skeptical about miking it, but the result was great. I might have some pictures and video later.

Thanks. I will try that!

Greetings! I have a gig tonight and my HD500 has just started a strange behavior. The display every few seconds switches to the "momentary" screen, the screen that gets shown if I were to adjust an amp parameter like bass, mid etc. There has been no effect on the tone, but it is quite annoying looking down and not seeing the usual display (I keep on on the setting where it shows the status of the four footswitches and lists the patches on the current bank) It is also showing patches as having been edited after it returns from the momentary screen. There has also been a few times where it gets stuck on the current patch when I try to switch. I have rebooted the pod and nothing changed. In 4 years there has never ever happened. Any ideas before I hit the stage?

I'm intrigued by this idea! I am saving up for an Axe-Fx to use for recording. My live setup is the classic Dream Rig of DT25, HD500, and JTV-59. I hadn't really thought about using an Axe-Fx live because I wasn't going to buy a power amp, speaker, and foot controller (Axe is pricey enough on its own). But if it could work well with the DT, that could open up another world. Keep us filled in!

I've been experimenting with recording with my DT25/HD500/JTV rig, and I've found success for tones I'm looking for. Here's my setup: Pod and DT connected via L6 link. XLR cable from the Cab Out on the DT25 into soundcard. At first, I thought this setup would sound pretty much like a Pod direct. I had read some things over the years here on the forums that led me to believe that if you use the Cab out on the DT25, that would be adding the same sort of simulation with going direct from the Pod itself. The key for me is the DT setttings that allow me to customize the tone more. In particular, playing around with topologies has proved interesting, as well as trying out Class A and Class AB. I've attached a shortHD500 and DT25 Cab Out.wav clip. The Patch is just the 75 amp with a Blackbird cab and a tube drive pedal. The guitar is JTV model Lester 1.

Well done! Your tones are right up there with the Helix videos. I don't have the $ for Helix anyway but I have been thinking a lot this summer about my hd500/DT25 tones and they are right where I want them.

I don't think that will work. I used a dedicated midi interface, the Uno, to update my DT25

I live my 59. I grew up playing Gibson style guitars so it feels great to me. I haven't had any issues with tunings, weird overtones, knobs or the pickup switch. My bandmate who is quite particular about guitars, played it and said I should get rid of all my other guitars. I won't be ditching my PRS anytime soon, but I have done some rehearsals with just the 59 and it worked great.

I may have added to the confusion. I was using topology and voicing interchangably.. My bad....

In LVM, the power amp section is modeled as well. So maybe that his what you are hearing. You could try doing the full Treadplate model rather than the pre, as that has the power amp modeling. I am not a big fan of full models on the DT25 -- they have a muddiness to them to my ears-- but it's all a matter of individual taste.

I was using the voice memo app on my phone, so yeah, not great quality. But I tell you, they were the same. Might have been a slight difference in volume. When using the Pod, you have the master volume on the Pod and DT to deal with, so balancing them to duplicate a sound requires addressing that. Also, there is the matter that I am sure I didn't put my phone in the exact same place for each sample. I have uploaded the patch here, as you can't upload tone files to the forum: http://line6.com/customtone/tone/1131975/ It is extremely basic. I even left out a noise gate because the DT doesn't have one in stand alone mode. Try the Angel F-Ball as another hi gain option. I love the sound of that one with Top III.

I am not sure what to tell you, except that a few years ago this was a very hot topic around here. I thought similarly myself at one time. The key is knowing exactly what settings are used in both. For example. the DT25 has an option for a digital boost, accessible via midi. On the Pod, I believe the equivalent of that is setting input 2 to "same." The DT25 also has a cab simulation as well, also accessible via midi. I set up a Pod patch using only Treadplate Pre with the DT25 manually switched over to Top IV., and dialed in some eq/drive settings. I then set up Channel B on the DT25 to the same settings. I have attached a short sample of me playing with each. I can't tell the difference. Let me know what you think. DT25 IV sample.mp3 POD tread.mp3

Greetings! The DT25/HD500 is a great combo -- you are going to love it. The equivalent to Topology (Voicing) IV on the DT25 is the Treadplate. With your amp connected using the L6 link, on your POD, select Treadplate Pre. Interestingly, when you do that, the Pod will change the DT25 to Topology III. You would have to then manually switch the DT25 to IV, or you can do it in the HD Editor if your Pod is connected to your computer. You might even like the sound with Topology III better. It is much brighter. With the Pod connected to the DT, you can now have all sorts of fun, switching around from Pentode and Triode, Class A and A/B, changing the default Topologies on the preamp models, trying out different cabs (or no cab). There is a lot to play with, and no rules!

Are the Flummox demo videos up yet? I want to pre-order! :P :P

Just voted for it.

Too expensive right now for me. Like others I want to hear more **sounds** from it; I have seen enough about the interface. It's cool and friendly; I get it. But the sounds have to be compelling for me to want to buy it. Right now I love my HD500 and DT25 rig and it sounds pretty great to me, so I need to hear something amazing to make me save up $1500 for it.

Greetings! I have been reading so much about Helix lately, and of course I want it (though with DT compatibility done better, which I voted for the other day on Idea Scale). Yet, today I had some "me" time alone in the house, and was able to crank up my "original" dream rig of DT25/HD500/JTV59. I started playing around with the Panama preamp. The reputation it had was that of a buzzing like a swarm of bees. But when put through some DT magic, I was able to get out a rich lead tone. I played around with different topologies and cabs, but I ended up like top IV and the deafult Uber cab. The key for me was to use topology IV so it wouldn't be so over the top bright. The other key was keeping the gain low. I love a high gain lead sound, and I was amazed at good this preamp could sound with a gain of just 42%. I put the input 2 source at Same to give it that extra digital punch that I like in a lead sound (usually I don't keep it on Same). Anyway, I uploaded it to Custom Tone. I haven't been on there in ages. I recall being able to add comments to the tone, but there was no option. Anyway, the tone pretty much explains itself. I didn't have time to try and record a sound sample, as I preferred to spend my time enjoying the yummy tone! Here it is: http://line6.com/customtone/tone/1109012/ I know it's hard to compare tones, but I figured with the same amp/JTV combo it would be easier.

It's really suit to taste. If you are using the "pre" amp models, then there is no mic modeling. Most people prefer the pre to full versions for the DT, but there's no rule about it and it's really what sounds best to you. Same goes with cab settings. The pre models were meant to have cab emulations, and in my opinion add a lot to the sound. Having said that, you can also try the amp with no cab and judge how it feels to you. Lastly, there are the 4 topology settings. Each amp has a default topology, but once again you should play around with them. I like top III when I want some extra bright punch, Oh, and don't forget to experiment with Class A vs A/B, and there's Pentode and Triode. There's a lot of options, and a lot of fun to be had!

Two more questions popped into my head, (even as I earlier proclaimed that I wouldn't be buying it): 1. Can the XLR and 1/4" have different output modes, as in studio for one and amp for another? 2. Has the looper been upgraded, or the same basic one as the HD had?

This is overwhelmingly fun to read about! I am sure when some sound samples come out I will be drooling even more. Alas, this is out of my price range. It is a good thing I love my DT/hd500/JTV59 rig. It is actually the DT support that makes me feel less bad about not getting this. I understand the midi workarounds to change topology, but that feels clunky to me. I don't want to add cables to my setup -- got enough cables already. Or am I just rationalizing about something I can't have ?