POD Go vs POD HD 500X

[matonanjin]

Now that, seemingly, all the new release hysteria regarding the POD Go has subsided I am wondering about changing from my HD 500X to the POD GO.   Should I do it?  A Guitar instructor that I follow has quite a few patches for the POD Go for sale.  Those are almost enough reason to change.

 

But I am concerned about the huge learning curve I wrestled with for the 500 X.  But then I suspect I now have a lot of the terminology and concepts mastered and perhaps those will provide a basis to start with the Go?

 

What say you?  Is the POD Go enough of a technology upgrade, better sound, etc., to justify changing?  Am I going to face a huge learning curve again and maybe i should just stick with my HD 500X?

[grdGo33]

Yeah a lot of people will act like 12 year old girls and buy all sorts of products their idols are selling, so you really have to be careful not to fall in the fanboy/fangirl trap, be it that your idol is a rock star, a boy band group, a teacher, a company, etc.

 

So in your particular case, I think you should question the inherent value of choosing a product based on your idol's merch.  It might seem super exciting to you to sound like your favourite guitar player, but that won't happen by buying a pedal or a bunch of patches.  So I'd just cross that off the equation.  But hey, maybe that's really important for you, and if that's the only option you have to get specific sounds...  It may still warrant buying a Pod Go.  YMMV.

 

As for which processor to buy...  It's really a personal choice, really depends on your personal taste & requirements .  You really have to do your homework, there's already a bunch of threads here discussing, there's lots of comparisons on YT, and like you said, every new unit on the market will have some hype attached to it which you have to try to ignore, and the worse, lots of paid reviews where shills are literally paid to give a great review for a product...!   Doesn't necessarily means that it's a bad product, just that you can't really trust everything you read or hear.

 

Besides wanting to buy the patches, what are you looking for?  What are your specific requirements/uses?  What do you think your 500 is lacking?  What are you trying to improve?

 

 

 

 

 

[silverhead]

On 1/7/2023 at 2:08 PM, matonanjin said:

Now that, seemingly, all the new release hysteria regarding the POD Go has subsided I am wondering about changing from my HD 500X to the POD GO.   Should I do it?  A Guitar instructor that I follow has quite a few patches for the POD Go for sale.  Those are almost enough reason to change.

 

But I am concerned about the huge learning curve I wrestled with for the 500 X.  But then I suspect I now have a lot of the terminology and concepts mastered and perhaps those will provide a basis to start with the Go?

 

What say you?  Is the POD Go enough of a technology upgrade, better sound, etc., to justify changing?  Am I going to face a huge learning curve again and maybe i should just stick with my HD 500X?

 I find the sonic quality of the POD Go to be superior to the POD HD series. Others have a different opinion but I think must users would agree on that the POD Go (and Helix) provide better tone.

 

But that alone may not mean you should make the move. A couple of things to consider:

 

- was the HD500X your first experience with a digital modeler? If so I expect that the vast majority of your learning curve was the adaptation from analog to digital. The move to the POD Go will be much easier. On the other hand if you were already familiar with the digital modeling world when you got the HD500X you might find the learning curve for the  POD Go to be similar.

 

- are you a heavy DSP user with the HD500X? Do you use dual paths a lot, and/or multiple instances of the same type of FX in your preset(s)? If so you will find the DSP capacity and routing capabilities in the POD Go quite restrictive. On the other hand, if your HD500X presets are typically single-path and involve just a few well chosen FX then the POD Go should be great for you.

 

 

[voxman55]

On 1/8/2023 at 3:02 PM, silverhead said:

 I find the sonic quality of the POD Go to be superior to the POD HD series. Others have a different opinion but I think must users would agree on that the POD Go (and Helix) provide better tone.

 

 

I generally concur although I'd suggest perhaps the following caveats.  Notwithstanding the more recent sampling rate upgrade to Helix, when Pod Go was launched it had the exact same amp models as Helix and these are superior in quality to those in the HX500.  Those Helix fx models that came over to Pod Go from Helix are also sonically superior to the legacy version.  However if you compare the legacy effects in Pod Go with the equivalent FX in the HX500 you should find that these sound much more similar because these are effectively the same modelling generation.  There are other factors in that the underlying modelling architecture in Pod Go is different to that in HX500 so even when comparing the exact same legacy effects in both units side by side, I suspect there will still likely be some differences.  Some folk may hear no discernible difference whilst others might favour one or the other so what's 'better' can be quite subjective & simply down to personal taste.    

[SiCantwell]

These are all good points.

I made the switch when my beloved HD500X became unreliable and I had some gigs coming up.

I love the Pod Go. It seems simpler to program and edit. The Snapshots give you a flexibility within patches, setting up a clean rhythm and a dirty, louder lead without a pause, instantly switching effects or maybe increasing the amount of delay. Or all of the above. Now we can name and color-code the Snapshots, which is nice.

Some people are impatient with the number of effect blocks in the Go, but I've never found that limitation to be a problem. I use relatively simple patches for blues or classic rock sounds, so maybe that's why.

Plus the Go is smaller, useful when playing on small stages. And lighter, easier to pack in my gig bag.

On the other hand, if you're happier with your 500X, you can keep the money. You can probably rig up your own patches to mimic the sounds your instructor is getting.