HD500 Review

[mr_sooty]

. Put a mic on your favourite amp, run it to a desk or whatever and sit in another room playing it through headphones. It's never going to sound the same, is it?

This is true, and I tried to keep this in mind when making my judgements. I made some recordings with the Pod and compared them to some recordings I'd done with my amp, and it was definitely comparable. I did like the Divided by 13 model, probably the best clean tone I've heard from a Pod. But then I reckon if I had that actual amp it would probably blow my mind.

[bender]

Thoughtful review Sooty. I just picked up the HD desktop yesterday from RuBear and used for about 2hours last night. My experiences mirror Sooty's, in that I used headphones because I need this for quiet playing. I agree that there is something digital and metallic about the tones which I can't quite get rid of, and that the feel (of the amp/speaker pushing air) is missing. There is plenty of internet reviews loving these things and comparing them favourably to real amps. I am by no means a "golden ear", but I have to wonder whether these guys really hear tone the way I do.

Maybe its just something you get used to...

I think perhaps expectations should be adjusted accordingly. Put a mic on your favourite amp, run it to a desk or whatever and sit in another room playing it through headphones. It's never going to sound the same, is it?

I was going to post a comment about the problem probably being related to listening through headphones but you beat me to it Ed. I'm yet to hear any kind of headphone amp that sounds halfway decent.

[Bg]

Without listening thru an amp you're missing some of the dynamics Sooty, does your Dr Z have an effects loop? tis easy to plug it into the return if it does and change it to the mode where the hd works as a preamp, it sounds much more realistic IMHO...

But then it negates the ability to use it for silent practice, he might as well just use his amp... which I'm sure sounds a lot better than the dr z model

[hamo]

Meh. I have cloth ears, sure, but I don't mind it thru phones. If you're only using it for quiet practice, does it really need to sound just like the real thing?

[Slowy]

Man With GAS & Cash Auditions HD500 But Buys Golfclub.

Says it all really.

[hamo]

Man With GAS & Cash Auditions HD500 But Buys Golfclub.

Says it all really.

Yep, golf clubs are definitely expensive.

[mr_sooty]

The golf club was slightly cheaper than the Pod to be fair.

Regarding the headphones thing, it's worth noting that 90% of the time I'm using my amp, I'm listening to it mic'd up through in-ear monitors. Our amps are backstage (underneath the stage at the TSB) in roadcases to reduce stage noise, so I'm always using headphones - and it sounds brilliant. You can still hear the characteristics of the amp. I am much happier listening to my amp through in ear monitors than I was back in the days when I was using an XT Live through the same monitor system.

Anybody tried the amp modelling in Logic? I did some recording for a TV series a year or two ago and ended up using Logic modelling for all but one chord. I needed some feedback so I cranked up the real amp and played a big power chord, but I was well impressed with Logic's modelling for everything else. It had the best Fender tweed model I've heard, really sounded like a 5E3 was mic'd up in the next room. Their Marshall and vox models were great too. I was able to get a very authentic AC/DC sound by recording a track with the JTM45 model and doubling it with the Plexi model. Wasn't using headphones on this occasion though, just sitting in the control booth listening to it through the studio speakers. But still, much preferred the Logic models to the Guitar Rig ones the engineer also had.

[bender]

Meh. I have cloth ears, sure, but I don't mind it thru phones. If you're only using it for quiet practice, does it really need to sound just like the real thing?

But you don't tend to play clean (which is the issue) amirite?

[bender]

Anybody tried the amp modelling in Logic? I did some recording for a TV series a year or two ago and ended up using Logic modelling for all but one chord. I needed some feedback so I cranked up the real amp and played a big power chord, but I was well impressed with Logic's modelling for everything else. It had the best Fender tweed model I've heard, really sounded like a 5E3 was mic'd up in the next room. Their Marshall and vox models were great too. I was able to get a very authentic AC/DC sound by recording a track with the JTM45 model and doubling it with the Plexi model. Wasn't using headphones on this occasion though, just sitting in the control booth listening to it through the studio speakers. But still, much preferred the Logic models to the Guitar Rig ones the engineer also had.

Agree totally- it's my favourite one. The amp models in the Garageband iPad app are better than any of the others (apps that is) I've tried and sound halfway decent through headphones. They still lack the excitement factor though.

[jeremyb]

Without listening thru an amp you're missing some of the dynamics Sooty, does your Dr Z have an effects loop? tis easy to plug it into the return if it does and change it to the mode where the hd works as a preamp, it sounds much more realistic IMHO...

But then it negates the ability to use it for silent practice, he might as well just use his amp... which I'm sure sounds a lot better than the dr z model

Yeah but nah, I was kinda meaning if he really wanted a good idea of the toan of the thing to do a balanced review it needs to go thru a power amp and be heard that way as well

[RuBear]

We spend hundreds on mics, pedals, mixers, amps, guitars etc. etc. and then expect a headphone amplifier that's a relatively minor part of an overall pretty well priced product to be top of the line? The cost of that component is probably about $10.

Audiophiles would spend just as much on the headphone amp as the headphones to get a good sound, so we should probably do the same if we expect top quality sound.

While I had the HD Desktop (originally from BG) I found it perfect for my usage: Getting acceptable amp-like tones through headphones without expecting the world.

Was just wanting to try one temporarily as I didn't really need it. I would definitely go back and get another if I needed to do some recording.

[RuBear]

Yeah but nah, I was kinda meaning if he really wanted a good idea of the toan of the thing to do a balanced review it needs to go thru a power amp and be heard that way as well

re the balanced review thing he pretty clearly stated that he only used headphones and to keep that in mind.

OHNOESPODHDGOTBADREVIEWATTACKATTACKATTACK

[Bg]

Yeah I found it adequate though I honestly didn't find it a step up from the X3 and in some ways I liked it less. More than happy with a good interface now after relying on pods since pod v2

[jeremyb]

Yeah but nah, I was kinda meaning if he really wanted a good idea of the toan of the thing to do a balanced review it needs to go thru a power amp and be heard that way as well

re the balanced review thing he pretty clearly stated that he only used headphones and to keep that in mind.

OHNOESPODHDGOTBADREVIEWATTACKATTACKATTACK

Ugh I knew someone would think that, he might have disliked it thru an amp too, it just removes that digitally sounding bit you can get thru headphones.... But seriously, he's Rhett's buddy and obviously this is all a cunning setup and neither of them have actually tried one BECAUSEITISSOFUCKINGAWESOME1!1!!1j00

[mr_sooty]

if he really wanted a good idea of the toan of the thing to do a balanced review it needs to go thru a power amp and be heard that way as well

Doesn't that then just reduce the thing to a pre-amp modeller? I was more interested in how it sounded 'instead' of an amp. Sure, the cheap wine tastes pretty good if you mix just a little bit of it in with some really good wine, but the good wine still tastes better on its own.