Concerns With Hooking Up Hd500x

[FsT4WrD]

I have a Spider IV 75 with multiple pedals and a Digitech RP355, I am looking to replace the RP355 with the HD but with hours of researching I can not seem to find how to include my current pedals and I have read that the HD500x is not a simple plug in and play with just an instrument in port on the amp. My amp does not have the connections to use the 4CM, I only have the FBV port on the back.

 

Kind of lost, I really want the HD but it seems I have to replace my amp and don't know if I can use my fav pedals with the HD or how to wire them.

 

Thanks for any info

[FsT4WrD]

Ok, well now that the all the pdf manuals are etched into my brain :blink: I see that my spyder amp will work fine, but as far as running my pedals, manuals are a little vag as for as input and output order. I have seen many youtube vids that people are using a pedal board with the POD but no real How to and which order.

 

Any help would be great thanks

[ColonelForbin]

From what I can tell doing a quick search, there is no FX loop on the Spider IV.. Problematic, but not without an alternate option - this may seem counter-intuitive, but you may have good results getting the appropriate cabling to connect your HD500x out to the "CD/MP3 input", which I would guess is probably an 1/8" stereo jack.

 

The reason I say this, is because you will want to bypass ALL of the preamp / input stages in the Spider, if possible - to hear "just" the HD500x tones.

 

Not to say you can't rig this gear together any way you choose, and with the output modes on the HD500x, you can run right into the front guitar input on the Spider. However, for optimal recording tones, whereby the Spider becomes a powered monitor for the HD500x, you want a clean feed straight to the poweramp of the Spider, which should be accomplished by using that CD/MP3 jack.

 

Not to disregard your favorite pedals, and of course with the programmable FX loop block in the HD500x, you will have very customizable options for where and how to place external FX in the signal chain - HOWEVER - do yourself a favor, and start with just the HD500x, and try creating patches using the onboard FX, and run your HD500x in 'studio direct' mode.

 

This will allow you to do direct recording via the USB out on the POD, to your computer; while monitoring that tone with the Spider, using the CD/MP3 jack. As it's designed to be a playback option for already mastered CD's and MP3 files, it should (hopefully) give a nice clean, direct feed to the poweramp, and that is *crucial* to getting a sense of what the HD500 sounds like without shaping or coloring it with additional processing, eq, preamping, and other potentially unwanted tonal shifts.