FlyingSquirrel

I would presume that it is possible, Garbage uses the rackmounted HD's, and does the same thing, so does Periphery with their backing tracks and click, with their Fractal units. Being that the 500X is in the HD family, I would presume it would be possible, I just haven't personally explored it. Here's some tutorials on the Sevenstring forum: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/live-performance-stage-sound/294223-rig-rundown-band-rack-continued.html http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/general-music-discussion/302235-does-anyone-know-place-user-who-makes-backing-tracks.html http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/live-performance-stage-sound/300009-backing-tracks-multiple-outputs-logic.html http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/live-performance-stage-sound/301675-i-have-axefx-backing-tracks-laptop-what-else-do-i-need-play-live.html

Any sound engineer who has had professional training already defaults to the board being "zero'd" or all knobs set to their neutral positions. That being said, most sound guys in dive bars & clubs, are not professionally trained. They just made the stereo sound good one day and the bar owner promoted them to the club soundman, and it went their head.

I'm very content with mine too, having upgraded from the XT Live with Metal Pack after 8+ years. In fact, I'm no longer using POD Farm for recording anymore as the 500X serves me quite well, and I don't have to go through the redundancy of copying my presets into POD Farm.

I do something similar, but in my DAW. I always create my presets based on my "perceived" needs, but then make the final changes/edits against backing tracks in Pro Tools. I'll tweak everything from effects paremeters, mix levels, boost level for solos, eq, up to the final preset output level. I have a few banks of "Control" presets, that I start from and never change, then I copy them according to song needs to different banks, make the edits in their new location. I use song titles for specialized functions, like presets with effects that are song specific, or I'll use a title like "Stock Crunch" or "Stock Clean" or similar. I keep all of my presets backed up on the cloud, my iMac, as well as a thumb drive for any "on the spot" saves or uploads that need to take place. 9 our of 10 times, FOH only has to set up a unity gain signal, give me what I need in my monitor or "in ears" and I'm good to go. They seldom do any final eq adjustments, and if so, it is to make it work best in that room, but once they've done that, all of my presets usually work for that room.

I would start by looking on Custom Tone, and specifically targeting the presets with the highest ratings. There really are so many to choose from, but the beauty is, you can try downloading dozens and dozens of them (I'd recommend creating an "audition" folder) and when you find one that nails it or comes close with minor tweaks, then save it.

Many folks just can't imagine playing live without a back-line, and that's what it comes down to psychologically for them. It's a hard sell to make that transition if only a portion of the band are making it. We're so used to hearing/feeling that high SPL on stage that when we don't hear/feel it moving all around us, we think something is wrong. Once you go D.I. and get it dialed in, same with the I.E.M's, the clarity becomes the turning point in which many finally ascertain the value of this approach, myself included.

How much would you pay for each individual hardware amp?

My old XT Live and the original version of POD Farm had the same presets once I backed up all of my XT Live presets into the same library folder as POD Farm on the PC. Not sure if there is a current equivalent though.

Eventide has some: https://www.eventide.com/AudioDivision/Products/PlugIns/H3000%20Factory.aspx

Eventide has a plugin, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=966246&gclid=CjwKEAjw56moBRD8_4-AgoOqhV4SJADWWVCcfYM2Rx04wTI4iZYyhEz0JHJq7_9LK9z43HABB-q1TRoCMavw_wcB&is=REG&Q=&A=details

I use lots of hand lotion when I'm not playing my guitar, and I live in a very humid environment (Seattle area), but I have a pellet stove that I heat my home with, and I work in an office, and I have a luthier shop in my garage. Still got lots going on that can suck the moisture out of your hands. Hand lotion hits my hands a few times a day. My finger tips get harder with continuous playing, and I've been playing for 42 years (I'm 49 now) but they just don't callous, they are just tougher/stronger on the tips.

I have my Live banks that are basically copied from Studio banks, but with minor tweaks according to the need on each individual preset. When I'm done, my live presets need no more tweaking. My studio ones work for the studio in the same fashion.

Carvin TS100, best one for the money, all tube, only 2U.

Best way I've found is to rehearse the gig like the gig will be performed. This is true both technically and musically. If you're going to play through a pa at the gig, then rehearse through a pa. If you're going to plug the POD to an amp at the gig, then rehearse with the POD to an amp. The only way you're going to perfect the scenario is by continuous troubleshooting of the scenario. Also, if your band has recorded at all, try to get a copy of the band mix sans your guitar. This will help you to set your preset volume levels for each part of the song, song by song. I set up all of my HD500X presets this way. Live, all I have to do is give them a reasonably strong signal with the master volume at about 2 or 3 o'clock, and they don't even have to eq my channel. They give me what I need in my monitor & I'm good to go.

Too bad that you can't just re-assign its functionality like another FS.

I have a first generation iPad and a Midi Mobilizer II that I'd like to use my controller to trigger piano sounds that live in the iPad. So far, the only free piano app that I've found that has realistic sounding piano's cannot be triggered from an outside source via Core-Midi. Anyone have any idea's? I'm even open to spending $$ on an app that will work on the 1st gen iPads up to about $10.

This is why I create/tweak all of my patches against backing tracks with drums/bass & keys if applicable to make sure that they exactly where they need to in the context of a band mix. I've found over the years that I tend to want to encroach upon the bass players frequency range, so by doing this, I've dialed back the low end here & there, up'd the mids & the highs as needed, still allowing room for the vocals to sit over the top of it. This has transformed the way I think about toneshaping, and whenever I play out the FOH folks love me because I just plug in, they get a unity gain signal going, feed me some to my monitor & 9 out of 10 times they never have to eq me.

Welcome to the fold. I would just recommend that when you build presets, start with just the amp, then take one effect at a time. If you've used lot's of pedals in the past, know up front that you may be limited on DSP if you're hoping to have one preset that serves all purposes., The beauty is though, you can create presets that are combinations of the amp + effects used for a specific purpose so you'll be able to just select that preset without having to hit an a/b box, then this effect + that effect + another just to do a clean tone, etc...

Yup. The application of "stereo" in most live situations that are the exception is actually more about spreading an image, so for instance, your mono guitar signal from the SM57 mic'ing your cab, or the xlr out of HD500X will hit FOH with a unity gain signal, they'll assign it to 2 channels, add a slight delay just to spread the image, then they'll pan them left & right accordingly. We're not talking about panning delays/reverbs, & such. 9 out of 10 times when you have a stereo guitar rig, the audience isn't hearing all the panning effects from their perspective that you hear from your 2 cabs right behind you because the context of your placement in relation to those cabs cannot be duplicated to every single seat in the house. So, say you have a chorus effect on one cab, and dry on the other. The audience member isn't going to notice & say, "isn't it remarkable that even though these are crappy seats, that I can still hear that the guitar player is playing a wet/dry stereo setup!". This is one of the reasons that I went to a completely mono setup after 25 years of playing in stereo with dual cabs & such, only to have FOH only give me one channel on the board anyway. As a result, I no longer have to deal with phase issues, I sit right in the mix in just the right way, and it serves the overall mix best, which is often the one thing that individual instrumentalists do not consider as they want to take up as much space in the mix as possible with no conseration of the other instruments within the band and the overall presentation.

ISP Stealth or Carvin TS100.

I have a couple of banks that I use for recording, those same banks copied and edited as needed for playing live at church through the D.I. monitoring through an Aviom IEM system, then those same banks copied and edited for connecting via the return of my Carvin Amp. Depending on where I'm playing, I just pick the appropriate banks, and my sound is reasonably consistent from venue to venue, particularly when I do the D.I./IEM route.

It depends on the value that you attach to the desired model. Supply and demand, that's business. I bought my POD XT Live 8 years ago with the added intention to purchase the Metal Pack simply so that I could have the Bogner Uber and Deizel VH5 models. It was the alternative to getting the HD147 Head which would have been too large for me to lug around, so I found the value of $49.99 for the pack to be worth it, especially considering the other models that were included. Since these are my "go to" amp models for recording, it was worth it to me. I'm considering the Vintage Pack simply for the JC120, and it would indeed again be worth it to me in the long run. Again, business is supply and demand. For you, the demand may not be as strong, for me it was. Either way, a lot of R&D went into creating the Supply, and thusly so, it is appropriate that Line 6 should be able to recuperate their cost and also turn a profit for doing so. Noone is twisting anyones arm to purchase them, so if the demand for you with regards to the supply isn't strong enough to warrant your expense, then you're free to omit yourself from the demand of their supply.

If I'm going to the expense to get the Arturia Audio Fuze, perhaps it's time to let POD Farm go & just keep the HD500X connected all the time.

I'll have to call & ask to be certain. Overall, I'd say I benefitted quite well as the UX1 was a gift and the POD Farm application that is being used with it was a free download. I mainly want to keep POD FARM so I don't have to drag out the HD500X. Normally, I only drag it out for live playing, or recording when the way pedal or volume pedal is being used, otherwise I just keep it in the box. If I end up losing POD Farm, I can still just keep the HD500X connected all the time, and invest in a feather duster for weekly cleaning, lol!

I'm still using the earlier version, so perhaps I'll be able to retain that.