POD HD500 should I get it?

[habba1]

Hi guys I have another question for you all.

I have decided to upgrade my pedals as well besides the guitar. Currently I am using a metalzone from BOSS. It has serve me well over the pat few years but the distortion is a bit to high. Thus I plan to get a new POD HD500. What do you all think?

POD HD500:

POD[SUP]®[/SUP] HD500

• 16 HD Amp Models
• 100+ Effect Models
• Up to 8 Simultaneous Effects
• 512 Preset Locations
• 48-second Looper
• 1/4" Guitar Input
• 1/4" Aux Input
• XLR Input + Microphone Preamp
• Variax Digital Input (VDI)
• MP3/CD Input
• Unbalanced 1/4" Outputs
• Balanced XLR Outputs
• 1/4" Stereo Headphone Output
• S/PDIF Output
• 1/4" Stereo FX Send/Return
• 5-Pin MIDI Input + Output/Thru
• Expression Pedal
• Aux Expression Pedal Jack
• Chromatic Tuner
• Tap Tempo
• Assignable MIDI Footswitch Controls
• USB
• L6 LINK™
• Software Editor/Librarian
• Metal Chassis, Pedal and Footswitches

A few things to keep in mind is that I am currently using a Ibanez RG350EX (planning to change it to either JP60 or s470 from the other thread) and a roland cube 15. I know my amp kind of sucks and I'm planning to do something about it but it will will be after i get the pedal and guitar. Sorry

So should I get this?

Thanks

 

[J.custom]

It's an awesome pedal/recording tool, should get it! but you should ask yourself whether you need all those additional functions or not, if not just go for a HD300 or HD400. I'm getting my hands on a HD300 next week end, it's going to be my recording interface/secondary board. Sounds good! Oh and if you get it, might want to consider selling your cube and getting a pair of studio monitors. I think the Kurzweil ones would suffice. check them out at http://www.citymusic.com.sg

 

[habba1]

Ok. My idea was that to get a mutli fx pedal so I can play around with the effects and then find out which are the ones I need the most. Thereafter, I will start building my bank of analog pedals. Haha

Studio monitors, I haven't really looked into them. Can you enlighten me more about it. Are those better than the roland?


Thanks

You've been a great help

 

[zesn]

What Roland?
Studio monitors try to replicate almost exactly the sound you hear from your digital audio files (mp3 files etc.)
Don't expect anything too high from $100+ studio monitors though.

 

[J.custom]

Like what zesn said, studio monitors give you a better representation of the amp modelling on the hd500. I'd you play it thru the cube, it'll be like amp modeling on amp modeling, like trying to colour a black line with a blue pen, won't be that effective

 

[carboxymoron]

The HD500 is excellent, but I think it's overkill if your intention is only to use it to find out what stompboxes to buy. Maybe a stompbox modeler like the Line 6 M9 would be enough, although you can only have 3 effects on at the same time compared to the 8 on the HD500, it basically has the same selection of pedals on it. The HD500 is more like a be all and end all solution for those who want to use just one multieffects for both studio and live. Or, you might like the HD500 and decide not to build a pedalboard after all, haha.

You do not need studio monitors. They are "neutral" sounding compared to a guitar amp, so the idea is to use them with the HD500's amp modeling, but it's pointless if you wanna just hook up a guitar or some stompboxes later on.

 

[habba1]

Ok. Got it. So i think I will going forward with the HD500 and maybe consider getting a studio monitors.

Thanks guys

 

[J.custom]

I still think the HD500 may be a bit too overkill if you don't know what you're doing. I remember a few years ago, I was excited as hell when I got my Boss GT-8, but yet I had no clue how to tweak nice tones out of it. Sometimes less is more. As much as all the features really 'wow' you, you have to think, how often do I actually use more than 3 effects on at the same time? Don't even talk about 8, which is the max amt of efx the HD500 allows you to switch on simultaneously.

 

[habba1]

Ok. So the main difference in the HD500 and the HD300 is the number of simultaneous effects? Anything else?

Cause I have tried the 500 and its really impressive. But now after your comment my mind is starting to think rationally again haha.

Thanks

 

[J.custom]

The no. of amp models you can get are the same, it's mainly hardware differences and you get about 20+more effects with the HD500. Go to the Line 6 website, there's some sort of comparison chart there

 

[carboxymoron]

It really depends on your intention. If you only want to use the POD HD to find out what stompboxes to buy, then get a cheaper model?Or even the M9/M13 which has the same effects but no amp modeling. But if you think you might want to keep it and use it long term, the HD500 is one of the best all in one solutions.

For the full comparison between models you should refer to the official source http://line6.com/pod/compare.html

 

[17wil]

if the amt of efx you need at one go is less than 4, i suggest hd 400. it has everything 500 has to offer, number of efx, wah, looper functions just that it is limited in that you can only use 4 efx at one time and 24 sec looper, which is not that bad alrdy. it's like a cheaper hd500. unless you want things like 2 mods at one time, or say 2 drives, distortion + overdrive or bass octaver + phaser, then hd 500 is the one for you. no matter what, 500 and 400/300 interface is very different.

 

[AEnimic]

Buy it man. HD500 is such a useful device for modern day guitarists. Audio interface and a chance to experiment with effects? It's like buying a starter pack to everything that's gonna come about later in your journey through guitaring.

 

[habba1]

Personally I'm quite impressed with the amp modelling and excited to play around with it so definitely a POD HD haha . My main worry is that now I may only use a certain range of effects and not really use the rest but in a years time, I might want to start playing around with more effects. So then I'm afraid I might regret and say hey, why did I not about 100-200 more and get a POD HD500.

Please advise if I'm going down the wrong track as I'm really new at this stuff.

By the way, the POD HD500 has whatever the 300 and 400 has right?

Thanks

 

[AzNjT]

just get the 500, no compromise bro.

 

[habba1]

Just one question, can the POD HD500 be set to be in a multi FX only mode like the 300 and 400? Or do I have to set the amp units to a switch(fs1 - fs4) and manually off it when I do not want to use the amp units?

Thanks

 

[AzNjT]

Just one question, can the POD HD500 be set to be in a multi FX only mode like the 300 and 400? Or do I have to set the amp units to a switch(fs1 - fs4) and manually off it when I do not want to use the amp units?

Thanks

Course u can ;]

 

[habba1]

Just a quick question, not related to the thread, on the POD HD500 display, the amps are in the centre of the display right? So which is the 'pre' part and 'post' part?

 

[J.custom]

Not all the time. If I'm not wrong you can route them to be anywhere on the signal chain. Pre would most likely be in the effects loop I guess, post will be in front of the amp. Will be getting my HD300 tmw!

 

[habba1]

Cool

My friend is getting it soon as well. So I will be playing around with his before making the final decision. Haha