Finally, the POD HD and DT50 have landed, and I’d be fibbing if I said I wasn’t really excited. After what seems like years of users hoping that Line 6, the pioneer of amp simulation / modeling, would release its next generation of amp simulators and a Vetta III, the POD HD and DT50 emerge from Line 6 as the potential leaders of the pack again. Now prepare to get your guitar world rocked by HD tonal goodness!

Line 6 has taken a long time about this, and rightly so. Rushed products wouldn't have given users what they wanted, and we certainly wanted a lot.

Firstly, Line 6 went back to the drawing board for the POD HD and modeled some great amps to give us 16 unique sounding amps that are tonally the most sought after guitar sounds. Sure, we can all think of more than 16 amps that we'd want to own if we were rich, but a lot of the amps are all based on a small selection of amps from the '60s and '70s, just tweaked a bit here and there to sound slightly different. After all, Jim Marshall started off modifying Fender amps to get the sound he wanted for his first amps, and who are we to argue.

Then there’s the DT50, which can work in two ways:

Firstly, the DT50 is a standalone tube hybrid amp (but with a difference). For those of you who just want a simple two-channel amp but also want a lot of tonal variety, this amp is for you. It’s got no LCD displays or deep editing menus at all, and it has all analog controls for 2 channels with 4 distinct amp tones selectable for each channel, but with settings you can mix and match for 16 different combinations. Some switches are shared between the channels, but their settings are remembered on a per channel basis -- there are no presets, since the unit auto-remembers where you left those switches. The knobs (like bass, middle treble, gain, and so forth) are all manual like a standard tube amp, and the amp responds to where the knobs currently are.

The DT50 will come with sample settings to sound like Classic American Clean, British Crunch, Class A Chime, and Modern High-Gain. If I had to guess (comparing them to the POD HD available tones), I would say those settings relate to something similar to a clean Fender tone, a Marshall plexi or JTM, a Vox AC30, and an Engl or Mesa Boogie.

Second, if you hook up a POD HD, there’s a whole world of new possibilities as the POD HD and DT50 integrate seamlessly -- this is where the POD HD plus DT50 becomes a Vetta II replacement. The POD HD provides the FX and preamp models, but the DT50 sets up its power amp settings (Class A or AB, Pentode / Triode, and NFL setting) to match the POD HD’s preamp with the correct sounding power amp, and voila: your DT50 sounds like the real amp that the POD HD is simulating. All of the amp control information and audio goes over the new Line 6 Link connection, which is essentially a standard XLR cable. DT50 amps can also be daisy-chained for some stereo FX or for more power / volume, again with a simple XLR cable.

So what do these POD HDs give us? Here are some specs and features for you. Line 6's Web site (line6.com), however, will have lots more information if you want to shoot over there for the full specifications.

POD HD specs:

• 16 HD amp models:
• Clean Red:  Fender Blackface Twin Reverb
• Clean Green:  Hiwatt Custom 100 (DR103)
• Pawnshop Red: Supro S6616
• Pawnshop Green: Gibson EH-185
• Blues Red: Fender '59 Bassman
• Blues Green: Fender Blackface Deluxe
• Boutique Red: Divided By 13 9/15
• Boutique Green Dr. Z Route 66
• Class A Red: Vox AC-15
• Class A Green: Vox AC-30 TB
• Crunch Red: Marshall JTM-45 MKII (KT66 Valves)
• Crunch Green: Park 75
• High Gain Red: JCM-800 (2204)
• High Gain Green: Bogner Uberschall
• Metal Red: Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
• Metal Green: ENGL Fireball 100
• HD300 - 80 M Class FX (from the Line 6 M9 / M13)
• HD400 - 90 M Class FX (from the Line 6 M9 / M13)
• HD500 - 100 M Class FX (from the Line 6 M9 / M13)

What does the DT50 range of amps give us? Here are some features, though again, the company's Web site is the place to get full specs.

DT50 features:

• Line 6 HD amp modeling technology integrates with Reinhold Bogner’s uniquely (and extremely) versatile tube sections
• Reconfigurable analog circuitry: Negative feedback loop, operating class (Class A, Class AB), Power Tube mode (pentode / triode), Low-Power mode, 2-channel design
• Tubes: Two 12AX7 preamp, two EL34 power amp
• 12" Custom Celestion G12H90 speaker
• Front panel: (Channels A and B) Drive, Bass, Mid Treble, Presence, Reverb, Channel Volume, Channel switch, Voicing switch, Pentode / Triode switch, Class A / Class AB switch, Master volume, Power, Standby
• Back panel: MIDI I/O; Channel footswitch input, L6 LINK in and out / thru, FX loop with Level control, balanced direct out, speaker outs (4 ohm, 8 ohm, and 16 ohm)
• Connect a POD HD multi-effect pedal to control all DT50 Voicings and parameters from the floor while taking advantage of POD HD’s collections of FX and HD amp models
• DT50 112 features a 12" custom Celestion G12H90 speaker
• DT50 212 features 12" Celestion Vintage 30 and custom Celestion G12H90 speakers
• DT50 412 cab is cross-loaded with two 12" custom Celestion G12H90s and two 12" Celestion Vintage 30s

Rowbi is a hobby guitarist based in Cambridgeshire UK, and is also a Line 6 Community 'Line 6 User Expert'.
Rowbi's Blog: www.rowbinet.co.uk
More info on Line 6 User Experts: http://line6.com/community/docs/DOC-2120