POD HD first impressions

[glassjaw7]

Just got the HD500 from Steve (Ancient Alien-great seller BTW!)

I really like this thing! Having a blast so far. The amp sims are WAY better than my old pod pro, and I actually liked that thing. They really did improve the tech a lot. I am playing it through my Dual Rec's clean channel set pretty neutral, so that is definitely contributing to the sound. Next step is a power amp and I'll have a small grab and go rig. I know it's not Axe-fx quality, but for the price I got it for I can't complain.

The JCM, Plexi/45 models are my favorites with the greenback cab sim. Awesome lead tones can be had here. The Fender Bassman and Deluxe are really great sounding as well. I'm still trying to get the high gainers (recto, uber and Fireball) to sound right. They have just a bit of the nasally "cocked-wah" sound happening, but I'm sure I can dial it in with a little more time. The Treadplate (recto) sim is surprisingly close to my actual recto tone.

The fx are great for a 'multi-fx' unit. That was the one thing that I really didn't like about the older units, but the M-series fx they ported over for the HD series are pretty cool sounding. Love the Fuzz Face and Big Muff sims and the chorus/delays/verbs are nice and very usable. Cool synths too!

Again, I'm running it into a nice tube amp which is contributing to the great sound, but I highly recommend the HD for the price. YMMV

 

[Audioholic]

clips please! oh and congrats

 

[kasperjensen]

Great stuff.

I have been reading mixed reviews on the HD series, and I really can't make out what to believe. But if you say that it's a big step up from the Pro series, then I don't see what there is to lose.

How is the looper?

 

[Spaceboy]

Yeah, I had problems with that "cocked wah" sound. I could get the high gain patches to sound great for more straightforward metal tomes, but when it came to do anything a bit techy, there was too much sizzle to keep te notes clear. I really don't even use the rest of the unit, so it's too much for me when I could spend less and get a more satisfactory metal tone from something more specialized and less versatile. It's a great piece of gear though.

 

[glassjaw7]

Great stuff.

I have been reading mixed reviews on the HD series, and I really can't make out what to believe. But if you say that it's a big step up from the Pro series, then I don't see what there is to lose.

How is the looper?

It gets a in my book. I just love the plexi model through greenbacks with a touch of verb and delay. It's lead heaven!
That and the Deluxe Reverb clean are worth the price of admission for me. When you think about it, people spend more on a couple fancy stompboxes. With this unit you're getting so much more than that, even if not every model sounds perfect.

The looper is really good. I use the looper on the DL4 regularly and this one is much better. It does the 'sound on sound' thing better. Not a garbled mess like the DL4 can be. It has a much longer loop time (48 seconds on the 500) and you can record a loop with one sound and switch to another tone to play a lead over it.

One thing I noticed is that it doesn't clean up quite as well as L6 claims. It's not like rolling back the volume on a good tube amp. It gets those "jumps" in the volume and gain levels for a lack of better explanation. As if the gain level is increasing with the guitar's volume knob, but not in a perfectly smooth transition. It jumps up in gain levels, and feels a bit sterile when cleaned up.

Overall, I really can't complain. It totally destroys my Pod Pro.

Here's a decent example of one of the plexi tones available. Close to what I'm getting, but mine sounds phenomenal through my recto!

 

[glassjaw7]

Yeah, I had problems with that "cocked wah" sound. I could get the high gain patches to sound great for more straightforward metal tomes, but when it came to do anything a bit techy, there was too much sizzle to keep te notes clear. I really don't even use the rest of the unit, so it's too much for me when I could spend less and get a more satisfactory metal tone from something more specialized and less versatile. It's a great piece of gear though.

I fixed that nasal tone on my Uberschall patch. Got it sounding somewhat in the new AIC realm. Not quite there yet, but it's getting better.

The Fireball patch is extremely tight and punchy for modern metal, but it's a wee bit thin and sterile.

The Recto sounds close to how my recto sounded stock, but it's a little stuffy.

For only a couple hours of tweaking though, I'm happy with it!

 

[Bevosss]

It's pretty awesome for the price I reckon. I run mine into the fx return on my Herbert, and it kills. I only use the Twin, Park 75 and Uber, and I tweaked them to clone my Diezel sound...I'd say it's 99.5% exact for the twin against Ch1 and the park against CH2, maybe the slightest difference if I smash the strings amazingly hard, but I can't say there's anything noticeably different otherwise...and I'm anal about this, I spent ages tweaking the sims controls and switching back and forward with a loop pedal, until I couldn't tell which I was on with my eyes closed.

The Uber model I actually prefer! It's wickedly tight without being too dry, and sounds huge through the Diezel...although I believe they fucked up it's sound in the latest update from what I've read, so I haven't gone there. I do prefer having the control over a real amp, but my Herbert settings were well and truly gig tested and I could trust them as a default standard.

Glassjaw, I recommend you run it through the fx return on the Recto on the power amp stack setting under outputs, you will really notice the difference on the high gain sounds I think...you can go 4 cable method too, just check it for unity gain at inputs/loop/output.

I expect to be using my MAK4 for the high gain sounds once it arrives, but I was very surprised how good the HD500 sounded...made the wait quite bearable.

 

[Shask]

Ive had one for about a month and I like it a lot. I mainly run it 4CM, which is the main reason I wanted it.

It is a cool unit overall, even without the amp sims. Lots of cool stuff this thing can do. Real flexible command station for a rig.

I think the amp sims are pretty good also. Much more realistic than the PODxt.

 

[Chris O]

I'm pretty impressed with mine so far. I blasphemed...I sold my Axe-Fx and replaced it with the HD300 and a Flextone III. The Axe was awesome...no question. It was more then I will ever need. I got buried in what it could do, but had a helluva a time making it do what I wanted. I also shredded my ankle a couple weeks ago. I sold my Axe, bought the HD300 and the Flex III and put some money in the bank for my likely surgery.

The Pod is easy ti use, and I can't think of anything under $350 that touches it sonically. I've always done well with Line 6 though. Even people that hate them found that they (begrudgingly) liked the tones I can get -- all the way back to the original Flextone & Pod.

I'm happier now...I will say that. I can get good tones easily. The Axe was more than I was willing to spend time with, but I'm glad the new owner is super stoked to have it.