greghall

Nice! Can you post a picture of your board?

+1, that would be a brilliant feature on the Helix display

The Flashback X4 requires a MIDI Clock signal to set the tempo, but that isn't supported in Helix yet. Let's hope they add it soon!

The short answer is the master volume determines power amp distortion The pre-amp is a digital model - so the channel gain determines how distorted the tone going into the power amp sounds. The channel volume simply increases the volume of that tone rather than increasing the distortion. At lower master volume settings, the power amp tubes don't distort the tone more - they simply make the pre-amp tone louder. At higher master volume settings, the tubes start to add distortion. If the level of the channel volume is set high, the tubes will start to distort at the lower master volume setting, so it's generally a case of playing around with the gain, channel volume and master volume to find what sounds best to you. I tend to set the master high, around 75%, the gain around 40% and the channel volume around 50% when playing live (mic'd through the pa - I'm using pedals in front of the amp now, instead of the PODHD). For home use I just turn down the channel volume to about 30% then adjust the master to get the volume I want. Hope that helps

Actually that's normal (or it always has been with my DT25 anyway) - and it depends on where the master, channel volume and gain are set. Low volume mode isn't a volume control as such, it switches in power amp modelling so that you can turn the amp down and still get a good tone. Position (topology) 1 is the quietest of the 4 topologies in full power mode, so this 'effect' is most noticeable on that one.

Set the pan on both A and B channels to centre, i.e. zero (that's what I meant by 50% - but it was a bad way of expressing it :-) To mute channel B, turn the channel B volume level down as far as it will go, until it says mute. Hope that helps

I had a Spider Jam for a while, and found that plugging the POD into the CD/MP3 input with the POD in Studio Direct mode sounded best with that amp. You are basically bypassing the amp modelling in the amp and just using the POD that way. Some of the later Spider amps have a way to disable the amp modelling when you power on the amp, so you can plug the POD into the amp input, but I can't remember how.

Yes Sort of ... the amp remembers the amp model, topology and class settings, but the gain, bass, mid, treble and reverb and volume levels are per channel (whatever they are currently set to). The DT is a two channel amp with different options per channel. This is why Zap has set up his amp with a clean channel and a drive channel - so he can change the topology (amp model) without having to change the other settings manually every time. I only switch between the 2 channels when playing live, so this really isn't an issue for me :-) I set up mine using the MIDI function on the HD500 - just a patch set up to send MIDI messages - I've not tried the DT Edit or the iPhone app, but I think others have used these successfully. Regards

I left channel A with the default amps, and set up channel B with the Solo Clean, Solo Crunch, Plexi and the Uber - it works great. Regards

MIDI control messages can be set per footswitch/expression pedal, per patch on the HD500, so you can certainly select a Nova Drive preset by using an individual footswitch (FS 1 - 8). You will have to set up the MIDI control for each HD patch you use. As far as I'm aware, the MIDI CC commands are not sent on patch select, so it won't set the Nova Drive preset automatically on patch change. Regards

Andertons video: http://www.andertons.co.uk/multi-fx-units/pid29665/cid693/line-6-pod-hd500x.asp?playVideo=pAI2rOT-QuY&utm_campaign=130709podhd500x&utm_content=1062376505237&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emailvision

In fairness the HD500 has been around a longer than a year, and the X looks more like a minor hardware upgrade. I would hope that this will extend the life of the HD series, with more firmware features in the pipeline.

I don't think there are any definitive rules - there is so much flexibility and creative potential :-) But, here is a suggested basic 'start with' list : 1. Switch from full to 'pre' amp model. 2. Think in mono! The DT is a mono amp, so dual amp patches, stereo effects, etc aren't going to sound the same. 3. Centre the mixer channels. i.e. both at 50% (or set channel A to 50% and mute channel B if you aren't using dual paths). 4. Having switched to a 'pre' amp model, you have probably lost your original tone (back to defaults), so mute your effects, set the DT topology you want, then adjust the tone controls and gain and volume settings. You might want to record your studio direct tones before you start, so you have reference tones (I suggest two recordings for each patch, one with effects on and the other with all the effects muted). 5. Then individually adjust each effect - again these sound quite different through the power section of the DT. The amp models and effects respond very differently when put through the DT (compared to studio direct), particularly at volume, so you need to do 4) and 5) at your gig volume level. I've found this process takes time, but after a while it becomes instinctive, as you get more of a feel to how the amp responds. Taking regular breaks to rest your ears also helps. Hope that helps. Enjoy!

No, the cab sims are associated with the amp setting, you can't run then independently.

The DT can be controlled by any MIDI device, but I'm not sure I would risk using a laptop or iOS device when playing live. Just pick your favourite two amp models, and work with those :-)