Members cratz2 Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I couldn't resist... so I bought an HD400 yesterday. Here's a PM I sent a fellow member who was asking about a TV Jones project of mine that he's interested in: I've been playing the HELL out of that Line 6 HD400. Frickin AWESOME! Honeymoon may fade, but I literally like every single model on it. The clean Fenders sound great clean, the Bassman sounds good with gain. The weirdo Supro and Gibson amps have a great low-fi vibe I bet Chris E would dig and I want to spend more time with. The Park model is probably my favorite model right now. Park was a side venture of Marshall because of import/export regulations. Sounds unbelievable for thick, but vintage rhythm tones on a bridge HB. I had no doubt the high gain tones would be great... it IS a Line 6 product after all. I'm absolutely stunned! Literally my favorite high gain tones ever, at any price! Like the Tonelab, I have this running into the FX Return on my Peavey Prowler which is a 2x6L6 amp. Lots of headroom and I put the EVM 12L in it to try to get good clean tones AND good gain tones. I literally could not be happier at this point. The main drawback is that like most modelers, the presets are basically useless. I understand whey they want to have some over the top stuff to highlight the 'versatility', esp in the store, but why they just don't offer maybe 10 useable tones out of the 256 presets, I'll never understand. I only like maybe 3 presets out of 200-and-frickin-56 presets. That's like barely one percent. Still, I have not been this happy with a brand new guitar-related purchase in my entire life. To show how much I'm digging playing the HD400, I've had it for about 28 hours at this point, and I've only plugged one guitar into it... My ugly Squier with the Dimarzio Chopper in the bridge and the Duncan Vintage Tele in the neck. I just can't stop playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I gotta hear this thing! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I have played with mine every day since getting it and I love it even more than on the first day. really awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 Yeah, I've always liked messing with modelers and have been doing so basically since the beginning and while they were certainly convenient, I always kind of thought of them as toys, this is the first one I've ever had that could easily be my only amp and I could live with it. I got some great tones out of the Tonelab, but overall, this is in a different league. It's not perfect... My recollection is that Vox tones are better in the Tonelab and reverb isn't great in either the Line 6 or the Tonelab, but I haven't exhausted the settings by any stretch. AND in the Line 6's defense, I ran the Tonelab into the Prowler with a Weber Blue Dog and I swapped in the EVM 12L to run it with the Line 6, mostly for better high gain chunk. Either way, as of this point, I couldn't be much happier and I've really only worked on about 3 models in depth whereas I know the Tonelab inside and out after ~4 years or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 One thing that confuses me and you can help me Cratz, is that there is supposed to be 256 presets but, on first look, I see "only" (!!!) 32 banks of four patches each (128). How do I access the next banks? (I know... I could read the advanced guide and find out but I'm lazy. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I'm not sure. To be honest, I haven't opened up the manual yet. I did do the three upgrades, but only one was to the unit itself... The 1.10 firmware upgrade. I clicked through all the presets... or I should say, I clicked until they started over... and I realized they all pretty much sucked and started working on my own tones. Took me a while to figure out how to get to the spring reverbs. If you are a reverb junkie, there are two groups of reverbs. Some are accessible from the 'reverb' section... those are studio type reverbs. Then under FX1, there are more reverb options like spring reverb and 63 reverb unit. I'm MUCH happier with the tones I'm getting of my own making. Most of the presets have 4 effects going on with swirling flangers and phasers and overly choppy tremolo stuff... That stuff's not me at all. I want an amp, a little reverb and maybe a dirt pedal in front and that's it. If you haven't loaded the software so, you really should. Being able to change the 'mic placement' of the model makes a big difference. I'm sure it's just an EQ difference, but on the cleaner tones, it really makes a big difference in my opinion. It's also surprising how different the cabs make with this. With most past modelers, the differences were obvious, but kind of sublte. With this, it kind of blows me away. Dialing in a Dr Z tone, then switching from the Greenback 4x12 to the Alnico Blue 1x12... that's a big difference. I've experienced those differences in real life though they were both 1x12s and in real life, those are quite different. The interface of the pedal itself is pretty awkward and I'm very tech-savvy. With the software, it's all right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I'm not sure. To be honest, I haven't opened up the manual yet. I did do the three upgrades, but only one was to the unit itself... The 1.10 firmware upgrade.I clicked through all the presets... or I should say, I clicked until they started over... and I realized they all pretty much sucked and started working on my own tones. Took me a while to figure out how to get to the spring reverbs. If you are a reverb junkie, there are two groups of reverbs. Some are accessible from the 'reverb' section... those are studio type reverbs. Then under FX1, there are more reverb options like spring reverb and 63 reverb unit.I'm MUCH happier with the tones I'm getting of my own making. Most of the presets have 4 effects going on with swirling flangers and phasers and overly choppy tremolo stuff... That stuff's not me at all. I want an amp, a little reverb and maybe a dirt pedal in front and that's it.If you haven't loaded the software so, you really should. Being able to change the 'mic placement' of the model makes a big difference. I'm sure it's just an EQ difference, but on the cleaner tones, it really makes a big difference in my opinion. It's also surprising how different the cabs make with this. With most past modelers, the differences were obvious, but kind of sublte. With this, it kind of blows me away. Dialing in a Dr Z tone, then switching from the Greenback 4x12 to the Alnico Blue 1x12... that's a big difference. I've experienced those differences in real life though they were both 1x12s and in real life, those are quite different.The interface of the pedal itself is pretty awkward and I'm very tech-savvy. With the software, it's all right there. Thanks Cratz. what you describe is so much like my own experience. I went through all the presets I could access and just a few were like I'd use them. Someone said they're more like a showcase of all the stuff one can do with it and some are literally unusable. That doesn't matter because most will be gradually chucked to be replaced by sounds I'll tweak to taste. I'm also not someone who stacks effects on top of each other. If I use effects at all, I'm likely to use a bit of chorus or some OD and delay and reverb. The 400's grouping of effects may seem like an hindrance to those partial to the 500 but it seems to me that they knew what they were doing and did it in a practical and usable way. There will be people who ask us why we didn't get the 500 to get "more" of whatever. there are less advantages to the 500 than people seem to think. It's the same good stuff arranged differently with more flexibility on the 500 but same quality and performance. No need to throw $100 just to get unneeded features and connectivity. I did download the editing software and it makes tweaking the 400 a breeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 Only thing I don't like about the effects configurability is that you can't have a dirt pedal AND the spring reverb or '63 reverb tank. Of course, most won't use them together and it's not really a huge loss, but I wish you could pick and choose ANY three effects as other than occasionally using a subtle chorus or a tremolo/vibrato, I never use any of the modulation effects... Still, I'm very very happy with it so far. I basically went through the first 10 banks and changed them all for clean to moderate gain, got rid of all the phasers/flangers/pitch shifting/harmonizers and kind of normalized them all... Basic amp, set with the gain somewhere around 25-50%, Tube Screamer option for dirt on most presets, for Fenders I went with the '63 Reverb tank in place of the dirt pedals, set all the delays for about 15% mix, 10% feedback and the times around 350-500ms, set all the studio reverbs to Hall at about a 10% mix for just some depth, not really for 'effect'. On most of those presets, I have the delay/chorus/vibrato turned off by default for now, mostly so I can just compare the amp models. They just ALL sound so damn good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 Thanks Cratz. what you describe is so much like my own experience. I went through all the presets I could access and just a few were like I'd use them. Someone said they're more like a showcase of all the stuff one can do with it and some are literally unusable. That doesn't matter because most will be gradually chucked to be replaced by sounds I'll tweak to taste. I'm also not someone who stacks effects on top of each other. If I use effects at all, I'm likely to use a bit of chorus or some OD and delay and reverb. The 400's grouping of effects may seem like an hindrance to those partial to the 500 but it seems to me that they knew what they were doing and did it in a practical and usable way. There will be people who ask us why we didn't get the 500 to get "more" of whatever. there are less advantages to the 500 than people seem to think. It's the same good stuff arranged differently with more flexibility on the 500 but same quality and performance. No need to throw $100 just to get unneeded features and connectivity.I did download the editing software and it makes tweaking the 400 a breeze. There are a few reasons for the 500. The biggest is "dual tone." Running two chains at once, like on the X3. Running multiple amps is a classic studio trick to thicken up the sound without overdubs. You could do the obvious and run a Twin Reverb for clean and a Marshall for dirt or you could be like Eric Johnson, SRV, Billy Gibbons and others who would use Marshalls for a thick clean tone and a cranked or fuzz-driven BF Fender for a tight, focused dirty tone. Etc. The next is obviously the four extra effects blocks. It's real easy to use up the banks, especially if you run the four cable method and have to use the loop. But anything like a noise gate, which is often necessary with the high gain models, or a compressor, or reverb or whatever start to add up fast. The XLR input can be a nice feature for scratch recording vocals or acoustics, but I would have to think anyone who was serious about recording mics would invest in a premium interface for them. As for the on-board interface, while, that does seem to be the biggest grip by most people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 There are a few reasons for the 500.The biggest is "dual tone." Running two chains at once, like on the X3. Running multiple amps is a classic studio trick to thicken up the sound without overdubs. You could do the obvious and run a Twin Reverb for clean and a Marshall for dirt or you could be like Eric Johnson, SRV, Billy Gibbons and others who would use Marshalls for a thick clean tone and a cranked or fuzz-driven BF Fender for a tight, focused dirty tone. Etc.The next is obviously the four extra effects blocks. It's real easy to use up the banks, especially if you run the four cable method and have to use the loop. But anything like a noise gate, which is often necessary with the high gain models, or a compressor, or reverb or whatever start to add up fast. The XLR input can be a nice feature for scratch recording vocals or acoustics, but I would have to think anyone who was serious about recording mics would invest in a premium interface for them.As for the on-board interface, while, that does seem to be the biggest grip by most people. Not denying that the 500 has a few more things that are good for some to have but I bought this thing because I wanted good realistic sounds for direct recording plus the few effects that i'm likely to use and it appears to be satisfactory for my need (maybe not yours). In this regards, the 500 offers nothing more than the 400. What's this "four cable method" you're talking bout? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crunchtime Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 Glad you like it. I'm not really into tweaking or effects so it's not something I'd get but, if I did I'd get the 500. I believe I read that you can only turn the cab sims off on the 500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members big_aug Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I got an HD500 today. I only had a little bit of time to mess with it because I was dropping my guitar off at the shop. I really liked it. I do agree that the interface sucks. I mean, I consider myself pretty tech savvy and I was having some problems navigating/setting up stuff. I didn't get to hook up to my computer to use the software though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 Glad you like it. I'm not really into tweaking or effects so it's not something I'd get but, if I did I'd get the 500. I believe I read that you can only turn the cab sims off on the 500. Honestly, I'm not really into tweaking either, I'm more attracted to the versatility of the modelers. I own three of my favorite amps, but to have all three plus 13 others in one package... pretty spiffy. I pretty much turn off all the effects except for the 'natural' ones that come on the respective amps... reverb, tremolo/vibrato... I used to be really attracted to the idea of being able to turn off the cab simulations, but honestly, I like how the different presentations are right there to be selected. Same thing with the different microphones. Once you get a good tone dialed in, the mic and cab are good ways to change the feel and the presentation without really changing the tone, if that makes any sense. But I understand that modelers definitely aren't for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 30, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I got an HD500 today. I only had a little bit of time to mess with it because I was dropping my guitar off at the shop.I really liked it. I do agree that the interface sucks. I mean, I consider myself pretty tech savvy and I was having some problems navigating/setting up stuff. I didn't get to hook up to my computer to use the software though. Definitely hook it to the computer if you get a chance. It's great for a starting point, then you can tweak from the HD later. Like I said, I went through and turned off pretty much all the effects on the first 10 banks except for the natural ones... reverb, tremolo and dirt boxes. That would have take probably fifty hours if I did it through the unit. On the computer, it took maybe 5 minutes. One thing to keep in mind is that whatever you do through the Edit software automatically stays, even if you don't 'save' the changes. Not a big deal, as long as you realize it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Glad you like it. I'm not really into tweaking or effects so it's not something I'd get but, if I did I'd get the 500. I believe I read that you can only turn the cab sims off on the 500. The 400 has the same switch to send the signal to either "amp" or "studio" and the balanced or unbalanced outputs. Isn't this a kind of cab sim offturning? (new word, I know). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 The 400 has the same switch to send the signal to either "amp" or "studio" and the balanced or unbalanced outputs. Isn't this a kind of cab sim offturning? (new word, I know). Did he just say 'offturning'? Well, on the 500, I think you can actually go into Edit literally turn off the cabinet modeling. On the 300/400, you can bypass the amp modeling AND the cabinet modeling, but you can't have the amp modeling on and the cab modeling off. Or as you said, the difference between the Live/Studio switch and the Amp/Line switch might adjust something in there... I haven't messed with that very much. Other than flipping them a couple times the first day, I've left mine at 'Line' and 'Studio'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jkater Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Did he just say 'offturning'? Well, on the 500, I think you can actually go into Edit literally turn off the cabinet modeling. On the 300/400, you can bypass the amp modeling AND the cabinet modeling, but you can't have the amp modeling on and the cab modeling off. Or as you said, the difference between the Live/Studio switch and the Amp/Line switch might adjust something in there... I haven't messed with that very much. Other than flipping them a couple times the first day, I've left mine at 'Line' and 'Studio'. I'm guessing here but it seems that putting the unbalanced output switch on "amp" would possibly still have the amps simul on but leave the speaker sim out so that it's not overly coloring the sound going to a "real" speaker. I will rarely use it with an amp so I'm all set with this. I bought it for direct recording. I have it plugged with the balanced XLR outputs to my desktop mixer. I'll try it direct into the sound card to see if I get as good a sound as what I get in the headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stingxnj Posted November 1, 2010 Members Share Posted November 1, 2010 I'm going to check the HD500 out. I wasn't moved enough to update my PodXT last time. Let's see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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