I recently bought a pod HD500X and a DT25 as my first step into modelling, I loved the interaction with the two but I struggled to dial in any decent sounds on the pod. Anyway I was offered a decent price on a Helix so the pod is now on Ebay.   I'm a little confused with amps and mics, on the pod there was an option to turn off mic sims if you were going into an amp rather than a FRFR system but I can't find similar on the Helix.   I've found that I prefer the full amp models over the preamp