I have a POD HD on my studio that I barely use but I will never sell it because it's such a decent safeguard. The donzes of amps and specially the hundreds of effects are like an ultimate swissknife that can solve pretty much any tone problem you might face. For example, last month I had to mix a surf music track from a punk band and the POD HD covered my ass like a boss. Was it 10/10? Nope. But it was at least a 7/10 and the band was super pleased with the results for only a fraction of what a real Fender 63" Tank Reverb would cost.
i'm still using hd500 to this day in my live rig. it is bolted to a pedalboard with an ISP stealth running into my custom cab. i found a tone i liked pretty fast for my band, found a couple tricks and tips online, set it, and never changed anything. computer editor was critical. ENGL fireball with a lot of processing before it was the ticket. i never cared for the cab sounds. they aren't good. what i found disappointing was how i couldn't find another high gain amp I liked. so it's the one tone, plus or minus modulation and delay. this is fine for my single band, but trying to get a hot marshall sound for a less aggressive band was a hassle. right now i've got a pretty filthy tone that works live. on record, not a chance i'd use it. i've got better software. most of it free. from the stage, can anyone tell? no. it sounds amazing in a band mix. for how easy it is, no tubes, no failures, presets... it's hard to beat. trying to replicate HALF of the gear i'm using at any given time would cost thousands. the 2 gates i use in any preset cost more than i paid for my hd500 used. one of these days i'll update to helix. it's infinitely better. we all know that. but for my use, i'm not in a huge hurry. it gets the job done. this was an upgrade from my flextone 3XL combo. completely aside, and quite divisive i'm sure, i've always liked line 6's mesa sounds better than the real thing. maybe it's all that processed metalcore i listened to. but they tame all the ugly. a recto is a bitch to dial in. treadplate just seemed to do the work for you. as usual man, fantastic and thorough analysis
You said everything I was going to say. Thanks! lol I just spent a while re-tweaking my models to fit a new FRFR cab, and now I'm liking it even more. "There ain't nothing wrong with this here piano..."👍
This is a well thought out and balanced review to let the potential G.a.s. or first time buyer make an honest judgement before parting with there hard-earned, thanks
Ah yes, just in time for my lunch break. And in top form with that riff selection! Apt comparison at the 46:21 mark that most would not make talking about the "stylization" of the models on the older PODs. Just like with the original DKFH samples that appeared on albums like Ziltoid, there's something about those obviously fake tones that manages to sound good without having to sound realistic and super high fidelity.
For sure. DKFH samples are a guilty pleasure for me, I've heard a lot of bands use them, Undead Corp for example. And just like super processed tones, its a pretty niche thing but i like the sound of it.
Great review! I am an early adopter of the the HD Pro, it was a present. Like you said, great clean to classic rock crunch. High gain..... still looking for a good IR to pair with the unit. Although I make due. I’m stubborn and will not get a Helix, due to Line 6s lack of product support for the HD series. It had such potential but they just didn’t listen to their customers. Will wait for a true AX8 replacement before spending more money on a modeller. Can’t wait for th shootout!! Hope you can offer some good IR’s to pair with the HD? Cheer!
The Helix sucks for the price they want for it. At that price point it makes more sense to get a Fractal or Kemper. I am partial to the Kemper but the Fractal units are just as good but they operate differently.
New sub here. Just finished watching your POD series. You really have a great channel. I think the worst enemy of the HD500 was the presets, Line 6 need to fire the guy who make those
The truth is that if you want to have "reactive" modeler, that changes tone depending on guitar, volume, pickups etc, then you cant do proper presets. Every rig is different, every guitar is different, pickup heights, settings etc. You can do a modeler that is "non-reactive", meaning it will produce a certain tone without your guitar/speaker setup affecting it, so then if the preset sounds good on one guitar it won't sound bad on another.
I always got very usable tones from my HD500 for me it was huge because my tube amp/pedal rigs were a bit convoluted and noisy and I got decent tones in one package. I wouldn’t mind owning the rack version or bean version
I regret for selling my X3 in order to "upgrade" to HD Bean. What a foolish move. X3 provides 8 input channels via USB. Different stereo/mono options for Tone 1 and Tone 2 separately. Most importantly, it's possible to record DI via channels 7/8 and then re-amp it as you wish. Unfortunately, on HD bean, there are only 2 channels that can be recorded via USB, 1 & 2 which basically is the wet left and right channel. It can deliver DI signal only via its SPDIF out, where you need to have an audio interface with SPDIF input. Then it loses the point of being an audio interface. It's difficult to run out DSP on X3. It's possible to blend tones nicely with the Dual Tone setup to a mix-friendly level. Great series! Proper in-depth review of the POD family. Keep up the good work!
They also caught a lot of shit from users whose footswitches and wah/volume pedal were breaking. On the original 500 they mounted the footswitches to the board. On the X, they mounted them to the chassis and wired them to the board.
It's better than people give it credit for. But you need to turn off the cabs and use a Mooer Radar, or direct to DAW with custom IRs as it's let down in tone is definitely the cab sims. I have the HD500 and for metal it pulls decent modern tones. But you definitely need to dual tone, and tweak for days. Edit: haha! Just got to the part of your vid that did the IRs :P
I actually like how the HD sounds compared to XT, but hate the interface of the HD. I am actually eyeing the HX Stomp as I watch these videos. It seems be a great option for studio.
Wow.. so thorough and articulate. This is so helpful and useful. Thank you so much for taking the time. As someone with a PodXT that's about to die I'm looking for something to replace it. Unfortunately I'm from the PodXT generation so I'm way out of the loop on the state of the art. Do you have recommendations for a current budget modeler for home use? I don't want to spend thousands. Any insight appreciated.
Some of the Pre amp models can be used as a regular amp model. For example the Mesa Dual rec pre amp has a really smooth sound like Metallica's black album. There are a couple other pre- amps that are usable as a full amp but I forget. I bought the amp pack just to get the Jazz Chorus and the Soldano SLO100 model which sounds awesome too. My fav cab is the uber cab. I use two blended with the sm57 and the 421 mic.
i was with line6 from the beginning first pod to the HD500 even had the bass pod. Then one day I gave up and bought a rockerverb 100 from orange and never looked back.
HD500 new was $500, Rockerverb is $2000. It's not a fair comparison man. Also it's apple to oranges comparison (one being a floor modeler and another a combo amp). I recently bought used HD500X for $260 and the amount of possibilities it provides is insane for the price. Maybe tone wise it's only 85% of the real thing, while newer modelers are 95%, but the whole package is awesome. Anyway, I would love Rockerverb too, enjoy it man! :)
Great video, thanks! It would be cool to see some HD to Helix comparison. PS. HD500X owner here, had thoughts to upgrade to Helix/stomp, but after a few Amplifire demos want to check Atomic stuff. Does it really can be compared to new line6?
Any1 know any other effects processors that have a mic and guitar input that can be used and have different effects chains simulataneously like on the Line 6 pods? They seems unique in how they are able to do that.
Crazy shit, helix was around before hd.... I saw an interview with one of the engineers, and he confirmed that helix was around back then, but the market crashed. So the put it on the back burner and released the HD series as a way to work around the crash.
Bean shootout yay ! Really enjoyed this so far. POD 2.0 en later a POD X3 user. Switched to Kemper as an early adopter. Don’t miss the microtransaction bs and constant hardware upgrades at all. Curious to know which PODs are still worth it slapping an IR loader on it - like a Mooer Radar for instance. Would you take a POD and a Radar as a back up for live use or even dare gigging with it as your main rig. Great job Ryan - keep it up bro !
Bias FX and Bias Amp software on a tablet is the future as far as I am concerned. You access to everything and not limited to stomp box processing power or hardware engineering aspects. Line 6 POD HD = master programming engineer to operate and tweak this thing. Dead in the water especially with $$ expansion packs we call firmware updates on other sites.
My biggest disappointment with the HD series is that L6 never made parameters be assignable to MIDI controllers, or even to footswitches which were assignable to MIDI controllers. It was far less useful than the X3 Live as a result.
The biggest problem with the Pod HD is the Cabs and mics. With a third party IR these things sound damn good. I prefer the HD to the Helix. The Helix still has that digital noise in the midrange that you cant dial out.
I know what you mean (squirrels!), but it's not digital noise. It's just a simulation of crossover distortion that is rough and not perfect, so it sticks out.
@@johanndaart7326 It is basically a digital artifact similar to what happens when a compressed audio file is played back. Like an MP3 with a limited bitrate. I do think there are some usable cabs in the Pod HD. The Uber cab is pretty good and I like the xxl cab when combined with a second cabinet to get the highs back. The thing I love about the Kemper is I dont have to spend any time tweaking to get a good sound.
@@brpadington It's not an artifact man, it's bad crossover distortion, that I don't like too. It sits in the fizz range, so you don't want to touch it with parametric eq, because it will affect tone badly. Because it's in a fizz range, 2,5-5k, you can't cut it out with low pass eq, it's too low. This fizz/sizzle is not an artifact, it's present in EVH tone often too, listen to the intro: ruclips.net/video/-EwJ9PkcZk4/видео.html This doesn't change the fact, that this fizz is unwanted and in real amps it blends with tone more and it's not as unpleasant as in HD / Helix.
@@brpadington Yep, every modeler does it more or less badly, because simulating it in more natural way would demand more DSP. Kemper and Fractal have it too, but it doesn't stick out so much as in Line 6, it blends with the tone as it should and the fizz is harmonically related to what you play. In Line 6 this fizz is harsher and unrelated to what you play, it's like a "cold cloud of fizz" hovering over your tone. Also crossover distortion happens mostly when the power amp is really cranked up (that's why EVH has it often, he pushed amps to their limits). Some of the Line 6 amp sims broadcast crossover distortion even at light gain in the amounts that are not proportionate. Edge of the breakup tone shouldn't produce heaps of crossover like it does on Line 6 or EVH monster amp push tones. Then there's the argument, that professional producers aim to eliminate this in their recordings with mic selection and positioning techniques. It's part of the guitar tone that needs to be tamed, meanwhile Line 6 says "it's natural". Helix has better cabs, mic positioning and IR's, HD never had enough tools to deal with this fizz properly.
I would reccomend trying out the mooer ge 200 for as cheap as it is with loading your own irs it quickly dethroned my pod hd bean as my heaadphone jamming tool of choice even if the effects are very very hit and miss the amp sounds with the irs are just soooo much better.
its usable for classic metal tones but for modern djenty tones or anything like that it is completly useless. i get closer to the tones i want with freeware vsts
I still don't find the helix a great modeller. I hated most hi gain stuff on it minus the friedman and maybe the mark model. I like the marshalls a bit but s-gear kills it for nothing...
I think there were firmware updates that brought the total count to like 24? 28? Then they did the packs at the end of life, which was bullshit because they weren't even HD. SLO being one of the firmware added amps.
HD was the worst Pod. Low powered processor, percentages for frequency settings, and the worst, defective power amp modeling. For effects only or just using the preamp it was good, but turn on the cab (which activates the power amp) and it was crap. You can hear this as an annoying buzzy tone when using a distorted amp. People thought they just need to adjust the tone or EQ it, but it was buried in the power amp section. People wasted hours trying to tweak it.
I have a POD HD on my studio that I barely use but I will never sell it because it's such a decent safeguard. The donzes of amps and specially the hundreds of effects are like an ultimate swissknife that can solve pretty much any tone problem you might face. For example, last month I had to mix a surf music track from a punk band and the POD HD covered my ass like a boss. Was it 10/10? Nope. But it was at least a 7/10 and the band was super pleased with the results for only a fraction of what a real Fender 63" Tank Reverb would cost.
The main reason the X was released was that processor that the HD500 and HD Pro used was discontinued, so that's why Line 6 did the partial upgrade.
i'm still using hd500 to this day in my live rig. it is bolted to a pedalboard with an ISP stealth running into my custom cab. i found a tone i liked pretty fast for my band, found a couple tricks and tips online, set it, and never changed anything. computer editor was critical. ENGL fireball with a lot of processing before it was the ticket. i never cared for the cab sounds. they aren't good. what i found disappointing was how i couldn't find another high gain amp I liked. so it's the one tone, plus or minus modulation and delay. this is fine for my single band, but trying to get a hot marshall sound for a less aggressive band was a hassle.
right now i've got a pretty filthy tone that works live. on record, not a chance i'd use it. i've got better software. most of it free. from the stage, can anyone tell? no. it sounds amazing in a band mix. for how easy it is, no tubes, no failures, presets... it's hard to beat. trying to replicate HALF of the gear i'm using at any given time would cost thousands. the 2 gates i use in any preset cost more than i paid for my hd500 used.
one of these days i'll update to helix. it's infinitely better. we all know that. but for my use, i'm not in a huge hurry. it gets the job done. this was an upgrade from my flextone 3XL combo.
completely aside, and quite divisive i'm sure, i've always liked line 6's mesa sounds better than the real thing. maybe it's all that processed metalcore i listened to. but they tame all the ugly. a recto is a bitch to dial in. treadplate just seemed to do the work for you.
as usual man, fantastic and thorough analysis
You said everything I was going to say. Thanks! lol
I just spent a while re-tweaking my models to fit a new FRFR cab, and now I'm liking it even more. "There ain't nothing wrong with this here piano..."👍
This is a well thought out and balanced review to let the potential G.a.s. or first time buyer make an honest judgement before parting with there hard-earned, thanks
Been waiting for this one!!
Thanks for all the hard work \m/
Thank you pod jesus!
Ah yes, just in time for my lunch break. And in top form with that riff selection! Apt comparison at the 46:21 mark that most would not make talking about the "stylization" of the models on the older PODs. Just like with the original DKFH samples that appeared on albums like Ziltoid, there's something about those obviously fake tones that manages to sound good without having to sound realistic and super high fidelity.
For sure.
DKFH samples are a guilty pleasure for me, I've heard a lot of bands use them, Undead Corp for example.
And just like super processed tones, its a pretty niche thing but i like the sound of it.
Great review!
I am an early adopter of the the HD Pro, it was a present. Like you said, great clean to classic rock crunch.
High gain..... still looking for a good IR to pair with the unit. Although I make due.
I’m stubborn and will not get a Helix, due to Line 6s lack of product support for the HD series.
It had such potential but they just didn’t listen to their customers. Will wait for a true AX8 replacement before spending more money on a modeller.
Can’t wait for th shootout!! Hope you can offer some good IR’s to pair with the HD?
Cheer!
The Helix sucks for the price they want for it. At that price point it makes more sense to get a Fractal or Kemper. I am partial to the Kemper but the Fractal units are just as good but they operate differently.
New sub here. Just finished watching your POD series. You really have a great channel. I think the worst enemy of the HD500 was the presets, Line 6 need to fire the guy who make those
The truth is that if you want to have "reactive" modeler, that changes tone depending on guitar, volume, pickups etc, then you cant do proper presets. Every rig is different, every guitar is different, pickup heights, settings etc. You can do a modeler that is "non-reactive", meaning it will produce a certain tone without your guitar/speaker setup affecting it, so then if the preset sounds good on one guitar it won't sound bad on another.
I always got very usable tones from my HD500 for me it was huge because my tube amp/pedal rigs were a bit convoluted and noisy and I got decent tones in one package. I wouldn’t mind owning the rack version or bean version
Watched the first 7 minutes of the video and bought a POD HD for 11,000 yen! Now Im back to learn more about it
I regret for selling my X3 in order to "upgrade" to HD Bean. What a foolish move.
X3 provides 8 input channels via USB. Different stereo/mono options for Tone 1 and Tone 2 separately. Most importantly, it's possible to record DI via channels 7/8 and then re-amp it as you wish.
Unfortunately, on HD bean, there are only 2 channels that can be recorded via USB, 1 & 2 which basically is the wet left and right channel.
It can deliver DI signal only via its SPDIF out, where you need to have an audio interface with SPDIF input. Then it loses the point of being an audio interface.
It's difficult to run out DSP on X3. It's possible to blend tones nicely with the Dual Tone setup to a mix-friendly level.
Great series! Proper in-depth review of the POD family. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! Stick around, my X3 is likely the next on the chopping block after I finish the next POD video.
I'm still using mine since 2012...
OMG, dude, soooo well done. Thank you.
They also caught a lot of shit from users whose footswitches and wah/volume pedal were breaking. On the original 500 they mounted the footswitches to the board. On the X, they mounted them to the chassis and wired them to the board.
Great video.
It's better than people give it credit for. But you need to turn off the cabs and use a Mooer Radar, or direct to DAW with custom IRs as it's let down in tone is definitely the cab sims.
I have the HD500 and for metal it pulls decent modern tones. But you definitely need to dual tone, and tweak for days.
Edit: haha! Just got to the part of your vid that did the IRs :P
I actually like how the HD sounds compared to XT, but hate the interface of the HD. I am actually eyeing the HX Stomp as I watch these videos. It seems be a great option for studio.
What a great video. Very helpful.
Wow.. so thorough and articulate. This is so helpful and useful. Thank you so much for taking the time. As someone with a PodXT that's about to die I'm looking for something to replace it. Unfortunately I'm from the PodXT generation so I'm way out of the loop on the state of the art. Do you have recommendations for a current budget modeler for home use? I don't want to spend thousands. Any insight appreciated.
Some of the Pre amp models can be used as a regular amp model. For example the Mesa Dual rec pre amp has a really smooth sound like Metallica's black album. There are a couple other pre- amps that are usable as a full amp but I forget. I bought the amp pack just to get the Jazz Chorus and the Soldano SLO100 model which sounds awesome too. My fav cab is the uber cab. I use two blended with the sm57 and the 421 mic.
always great vlogs,cheers
I managed to find one opened box still had the screen sticker on it at Guitar Center for $169, for the price I feel like it was a steal
Found one for 140. Great value.
A great Job bro
i was with line6 from the beginning first pod to the HD500 even had the bass pod. Then one day I gave up and bought a rockerverb 100 from orange and never looked back.
HD500 new was $500, Rockerverb is $2000. It's not a fair comparison man. Also it's apple to oranges comparison (one being a floor modeler and another a combo amp). I recently bought used HD500X for $260 and the amount of possibilities it provides is insane for the price. Maybe tone wise it's only 85% of the real thing, while newer modelers are 95%, but the whole package is awesome. Anyway, I would love Rockerverb too, enjoy it man! :)
I lost my shit at the baseball theme or whatever that is at 25:02
I just laughed for a solid 5 minutes
Thanks I just got one ☠️🤘🏻
Great video, thanks! It would be cool to see some HD to Helix comparison.
PS. HD500X owner here, had thoughts to upgrade to Helix/stomp, but after a few Amplifire demos want to check Atomic stuff. Does it really can be compared to new line6?
Can I plug this in with a MIDI switch floorboard controller? I have a Nektar Pacer, and I wonder if I can use it to select effects in the POD HD.
29:09 that sounds great
Analog pedals are the best for me. I also have a pod hd and I could get some decent tones, but the feeling when I play was crap.
So you can bypass the cab simulator and use e.g. Moore Radar IR pedal instead?
Any1 know any other effects processors that have a mic and guitar input that can be used and have different effects chains simulataneously like on the Line 6 pods? They seems unique in how they are able to do that.
00:00 ... Plague Scythe blessings. 😜
Crazy shit, helix was around before hd.... I saw an interview with one of the engineers, and he confirmed that helix was around back then, but the market crashed. So the put it on the back burner and released the HD series as a way to work around the crash.
HDx not the og HD.
Helix is copywriter 2008.. did “og” had come out before 08?
It's a decent unit, but damn, am I glad I upgraded to a helix.
My HD just broke, can anyone recommend a replacement?
Bean shootout yay ! Really enjoyed this so far. POD 2.0 en later a POD X3 user. Switched to Kemper as an early adopter. Don’t miss the microtransaction bs and constant hardware upgrades at all. Curious to know which PODs are still worth it slapping an IR loader on it - like a Mooer Radar for instance. Would you take a POD and a Radar as a back up for live use or even dare gigging with it as your main rig. Great job Ryan - keep it up bro !
An IR and powered cabinet test is on the shootout, so keep an eye out for it in the coming week!
I got rid of my Axe FX the Line 6 Helix blows it away. Line 6 is always great at amp sims. There IR"S are always iffy but we can load are own...
Bias FX and Bias Amp software on a tablet is the future as far as I am concerned. You access to everything and not limited to stomp box processing power or hardware engineering aspects. Line 6 POD HD = master programming engineer to operate and tweak this thing.
Dead in the water especially with $$ expansion packs we call firmware updates on other sites.
My biggest disappointment with the HD series is that L6 never made parameters be assignable to MIDI controllers, or even to footswitches which were assignable to MIDI controllers. It was far less useful than the X3 Live as a result.
I have the hd pro x. I have 46 models but it did have 22 at first had to unlock the others.
I still use the pod hd through my interface lol.Line6 gave us all the model packs a while back.Im not sure if u can still redeem it.
love this shit
SYL! \m/
I believe the term you were looking for was Cluster Fuck
That'sTheJoke.png
🤷🏻♂️
Ok
Share your presets?
told you, the "expansion" models are complete garbage
The biggest problem with the Pod HD is the Cabs and mics. With a third party IR these things sound damn good. I prefer the HD to the Helix. The Helix still has that digital noise in the midrange that you cant dial out.
I know what you mean (squirrels!), but it's not digital noise. It's just a simulation of crossover distortion that is rough and not perfect, so it sticks out.
@@johanndaart7326 It is basically a digital artifact similar to what happens when a compressed audio file is played back. Like an MP3 with a limited bitrate. I do think there are some usable cabs in the Pod HD. The Uber cab is pretty good and I like the xxl cab when combined with a second cabinet to get the highs back. The thing I love about the Kemper is I dont have to spend any time tweaking to get a good sound.
@@brpadington It's not an artifact man, it's bad crossover distortion, that I don't like too. It sits in the fizz range, so you don't want to touch it with parametric eq, because it will affect tone badly. Because it's in a fizz range, 2,5-5k, you can't cut it out with low pass eq, it's too low. This fizz/sizzle is not an artifact, it's present in EVH tone often too, listen to the intro: ruclips.net/video/-EwJ9PkcZk4/видео.html This doesn't change the fact, that this fizz is unwanted and in real amps it blends with tone more and it's not as unpleasant as in HD / Helix.
@@johanndaart7326 So you are saying it is the fault of the unit not properly copying the natural distortion in the amp? Interesting.
@@brpadington Yep, every modeler does it more or less badly, because simulating it in more natural way would demand more DSP. Kemper and Fractal have it too, but it doesn't stick out so much as in Line 6, it blends with the tone as it should and the fizz is harmonically related to what you play. In Line 6 this fizz is harsher and unrelated to what you play, it's like a "cold cloud of fizz" hovering over your tone. Also crossover distortion happens mostly when the power amp is really cranked up (that's why EVH has it often, he pushed amps to their limits). Some of the Line 6 amp sims broadcast crossover distortion even at light gain in the amounts that are not proportionate. Edge of the breakup tone shouldn't produce heaps of crossover like it does on Line 6 or EVH monster amp push tones. Then there's the argument, that professional producers aim to eliminate this in their recordings with mic selection and positioning techniques. It's part of the guitar tone that needs to be tamed, meanwhile Line 6 says "it's natural". Helix has better cabs, mic positioning and IR's, HD never had enough tools to deal with this fizz properly.
I miss SYL so much :(
Devin is planning to play some SYL songs on the Empath tours, though nothing can replace the legendary Hoglan/Stoud/Simmons lineup.
You look look you are in Black Sabbath 👍
I would reccomend trying out the mooer ge 200 for as cheap as it is with loading your own irs it quickly dethroned my pod hd bean as my heaadphone jamming tool of choice even if the effects are very very hit and miss the amp sounds with the irs are just soooo much better.
its usable for classic metal tones but for modern djenty tones or anything like that it is completly useless. i get closer to the tones i want with freeware vsts
Well no I get really nice djenty with mine
1) You get better tones with VSTs, because a lot of djenty tones are done with them. 2) Who wants to play the same boring djent anyway...
I still don't find the helix a great modeller. I hated most hi gain stuff on it minus the friedman and maybe the mark model.
I like the marshalls a bit but s-gear kills it for nothing...
I think there were firmware updates that brought the total count to like 24? 28? Then they did the packs at the end of life, which was bullshit because they weren't even HD. SLO being one of the firmware added amps.
HD was the worst Pod. Low powered processor, percentages for frequency settings, and the worst, defective power amp modeling. For effects only or just using the preamp it was good, but turn on the cab (which activates the power amp) and it was crap. You can hear this as an annoying buzzy tone when using a distorted amp. People thought they just need to adjust the tone or EQ it, but it was buried in the power amp section. People wasted hours trying to tweak it.
Don't forgot bogner alchemist
The end of finishing this video because of foul expletives
Got mine today. Saddly dicovered that POD HD sounds like sh1t. Gotta sell that crap on Reverb and re-buy my POD XT.