Video

I LOVE my pod! Bought it a few months ago cause i needed something compact for gigs and im absolutely blown away by the price point and the amount of stuff this workhorse can do. If I'm on the road, i can use all of my presets loaded onto the thing, and if im recording at home with my premium amp sims i can use it as a foot controller (even has expression!). You can't really go wrong with it, love this thing!

Yes, you can use FX presets along with the MIDI sends. Configure FX like you normally would and assign a MIDI channel like Alan explains in the vid and then when you hit the footswitch it will send the MIDI command to your software (Bias FX2 in the video), as well as enable that FX sound on the pedal.

@@tweakrr99 One more question if you don’t mind: my interface had MIDI ports on it, so I obviously have to connect the POD to the interface via MIDI cables, correct?

@@tweakrr99 One more question if you don’t mind: my interface has MIDI ports on it, so I obviously have to connect the POD to the interface via MIDI cables, correct?

@@jimmy5196 Yes, run a 5 pin MIDI cable from the HD500X MIDI OUT/THRU port to your interface MIDI IN and then it will show up in the software as the interface MIDI.

@@tweakrr99 Ok, I wasn’t sure if the HD500X transmitted MIDI through USB. Thanks so much for your help!

No, I don't think you can.

@@strictlyguitar Thanks

I just installed MidiOx via wineskin on OSX 14 and it works. Thanks @strictlyguitartv for the tutorial.

Yes, that's my understanding of how it works. The POD USB doesn't send midi so you need something with a midi port on it to receive the midi messages.

It will. I have the Cory Wong plugin so same concept will apply. Set up your midi commands on the POD. Then with Neural open, right-click on a button or knob, select the midi learn option and click on your POD button to send the message. I'll do a video on the Cory Wong plugin soon.

Great questions 1. You're correct - just use a blank preset and set up the buttons to send midi messages. You'll need to know what type of messages your amp and effect processor receive but once you figure that out you can program your HD500X to send the correct messages. And if you also want to use your HD500X for it's processing of your guitar sounds, just set up other patches for that. 2. That's the same conclusion that I came to. In my case, I ended up with two patches - one to control Overloud TH-U on my PC and the second to control Ableton Live with stop / start / record messages. You can really set up a stack of individual patches that do different things. I've just graduated to a Helix so I'm on a steep learning curve again, but I still have the HD500X and intend to keep using it for the midi capabilities. Thanks for the questions.

@@strictlyguitar Thank you very much for having taken the time to reply! I've been able to connect the HD500X to my other gear and the POD presets sound amazing through my Hughes & Kettner tube amp! However, the presets in my old gear (through the HD500X) are less loud and have less body than when I plug my guitar straight into the Sansamp pre-amp. So, somehow, even though I'm using blank presets (just midi to control the presets on the Sansamp and Intellifex), the HD500X changes the output sound from my guitar. I've already set the output to "line" and the master volume of the HD500X to max and still the volume is not the same level as the direct connection method. I hope I can somehow find a fix for this, because when this works, I'd have the best of both worlds!

@@strictlyguitar Hey Alan, I believe I'm encountering the same question that @rigte056 is describing in (1). I'm using a blank preset on my HD500, I've configured all the MIDI settings as per your (excellent) video, and FS1, FS2, FS3, FS4, Tap and the Expression pedal are working perfectly, but... how do I suppress the other buttons, namely FS5 (Preset A), FS6 (Preset B), FS7 (Preset C), FS8 (Preset D), and Looper from behaving like they do in their normal state (that is, not as MIDI controllers)? What I mean is FS5, FS6, FS7 and FS8, despite being configured to send MIDI messages, they still continue to change or select Presets in the Bank, thereby moving away from my "blank" preset I've just configured and ignoring the MIDI messages I've told those buttons to send? Or another example: Looper button will toggle on the setting I've configured in my plugin, but because it's moved into "Looper" mode, all those footswitches become controllers for the looper and my MIDI settings are ignored. I have to turn looper off for the MIDI signals to send correctly again. I'm probably not explaining myself very well... but do you get what I mean? (I might be missing something really simple here)

@@joe99173122 Thanks for your comment. Take a look at the HD500X Advanced Guide (not the basic one) on the Line 6 website. The appendix has a section around midi. I think pages B5 onwards show how to set it up to send midi messages. It looks like part of your question relates to using FS5 and up - checkout the box on page B5 of the guide where it talks about using Pedalboard Mode. It talks about the looper on page B8 and it seems the looper can only send fixed values. I think there's a compromise here by Line 6 - the HD500X is an effects unit first and a midi controller as a far second so some parts don't work as well as they should. I still think it's a great unit to control midi without the need to buy something else. I did have a Behringer FCB1010 and tried using that but found the HD to be easier. Saying that, I now have a Helix floor unit and need to sit down and program a patch to send midi to Ableton.

I don't see a problem with that. Bias probably won't even be able to tell - all it will see is incoming midi messages and it won't know they're from different controllers.

I don't think so. I believe the POD Go can receive midi messages to change patches, but doesn't send midi messages which is what you'd need if you want to control something on your computer.

And how did it go?

@@ferrykuijen1902 Didn't notice much difference before and after really.. perhaps they are too dark to notice the difference.

@@the_fleeing_dutchman ah I understand! Yeah that could be a very decent reason Thanks for the quick reply btw💪🏻 Groetjes🙌🏻

Thanks for the tip. I'm so glad people are replying with their tips and ideas. I'm actually tempted to buy a few packs of knobs and test different methods on them.

@@strictlyguitar Also, yesterday I tried out aging plastics-that would not react to tea and coffee-the brutal way: with a UV-C lamp (so basically _actually_ aging the plastics, just very accelerated). And success! I wrote a bit about it here: www.strat-talk.com/threads/aging-pickup-covers-once-again--a-little-experience-report.565641/

A couple of months ago I plugged in my 1010 and set it up to work with Bias. Much the same settings as this video, I think I may have used different values in case I wanted to use it and the POD at the same time.

Absolutely. Go to the midi settings page, select MIDI control assignments, Assign New MIDI Control and then Utility. This is where you'll see the option to switch scenes which is what Bias call Snapshots.

I know you can use the Helix to send CC's and PC's and there shouldn't be a problem doing it in Studio One. I use Ableton and I need to set up a separate midi track that receives the HD500x midi signals and I then route that channel to BIas. Studio One probably has something similar. The concept is the same. Good luck.

Hey Murray. Great question and I've been thinking about it this past week. I unfortunately don't have an answer. It's strange that it would turn on all the effects because you'd think they'd have to be individually mapped. Try changing the CC settings on those pedals and see if you can get it to work. One thing I discovered this week is it is difficult sometimes to program via the HD Edit program as it wasn't saving the midi messages properly. I ended up doing it on the POD instead. One thing to consider (and I"ve started doing this) is to use the scenes function. This allows you to turn on and off multiple effects with one footswitch. I've found for some of my usage, it's a simpler way to achieve the sounds I'm looking for.

@@strictlyguitar Hi Alan thanks for your response. Sorry I thought I’d replied last week but clearly I didn’t. The scenes function is good in the PC but unless I am wrong I don’t think it’s enabled on the iPad. I’ll try mapping the CC settings on the pod itself to see if that stops all the effects being turned out. Thanks again!

@@thefunkfactory You're probably right about the iPad version. Noob question - how are you connecting your guitar to the iPad?

hey , what do u recommend FCB1010 or line6 pod hd500 as a midi foot controller . i already have a line6 hd but i am thinking about getting FCB 1010. what do u recommend/? thanks.

Thanks for the comment. No, I don't use it as an interface, I have a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 that I use instead. I've always had a separate interface because in my early home recording days I had a condenser mic that needed phantom power so it's always been easier to use a standalone interface.

@@strictlyguitar is it possible to use it as interface and use the midi control capabilities as well?

@@fnkymnk_ Yes, I believe you can.

hey @@fnkymnk_ just an FYI, I don't think this will work. The POD doesn't send the MIDI messages via USB, unfortunately. That's why it worked for Alan, because he's using the Focusrite as the interface, and it has MIDI input ports, so the POD is sending MIDI signals via MIDI cable to the Focusrite, and then via that path it is getting sent to the plugin on the computer. Is that correct Alan?

Thanks ✌️