But how do u use it? It says I get the Peavey 5150 head sounds but I dont see the preset or anything. FUCK!

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Mine didn't come with any presets for the new amp models - I had to create them from scratch. The new amp models are also mushed in the middle of the other amps when you scroll through the amp models, and they all begin with the prefix 'MS-.' There's a document on Line6.com you are able to get access to if you login there that tells you what metal shop amp is based on which real life amp. The 5150 II's is named 'MS-Criminal.'

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You got any cool config files that I can check out?

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Let me know if you have Line 6 Edit and what kind of tone you're looking for and I could PM you some of my patches. My advice to you is to just experiment the hell out of the settings and use the POST EQ to sweeten up the tone to make it sound even better. My patches are real straight up - no fx at all but good amp setting and post EQ used. I don't use effects as much as I used to. But if you're gonna trade any metal patches it might as well be with me dude, http://line6.com/customtone/ is a fucking goddamn joke.
I'll tell you right now my favorite amp models in the Metal Shop pack are the 5150 II and the Powerball. Big Bottom is also great, kind of like a Triple Rect with more bass. Apart from that I love the Lunatic [the ultimate for Suffocation/Cryptopsy tones] and the Soldano, both which are factory installed in there. I have to say after figuring out the correct way to hook up the XTLive a few months back and using a power-amp with it I fell in love with it all over again.

[Still not gonna satisfy my lustful curiosity for a Randall Cyclone or Ampeg VHT though... but good for now.]

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Gear, Bones.

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I just bought the metal pack on tuesday. It's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I left for my dad's house for thanksgiving very early weds morning, so I haven't spent a lot of time checking them out yet. I thought it was kind of wierd that the amps were all labelled "ms-", but whatever works. There are plenty of places to swap presets with people, but be warned: most people have terrible patches, lol. Maybe they work well for their setup, but with a different guitar, pickups, amp type, etc.. they aren't really plug-n-play. There are so many differences between setups, that you'll have to retweak anything you get to really sound good.

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What were you using to amp the POD before that? I typically use the FX return on my Yamaha DG80-112, but I've considered either selling the Yamaha or just somehow scraping the money up to get yet more gear and get a separate power amp and cabinet. I just wonder how much of a difference it would make, if I only got another 1x12 cab. I've thought about making my own 1x15 cab, though. That'd be nice.

I've heard a lot of great things about using a POD through a power amp, and that's pretty much what I'm doing with my FX return on the combo.. I don't know, maybe what I really need is a 2x12 or something, but I'm just a bedroom player.

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The 5150 is Mississipi Criminal.

Basically I had a Marshall 4X12 cab and I was too lazy to clean it up and get it functional again [it had been sitting in a shed since I moved to my new place.] My PODxt was one of the only pieces of gear I had left after I sold alot of it off, and what I ended up doing was using the PODxt on the 'studio direct' output setting into a practice amp for a few months. Pissed off at the crappy tone I was getting no matter how much I went at it, I decided to see what would happen if I started using the cab again in conjunction with a Yamaha power amp I had laying around... so this summer I went and resurrected the cab [literally, it was covered in dust/spiderwebs/leaves and I had to rewire two of the speakers because they were dead.]
It was an improvement but I could tell it was still not enough. After a couple of weeks of creating and wiping out presets, I realized I had the output setting on 'combo' instead of 'stack' - when I set it to stack, I immediately went to my favorite amp models and started creating keepers right away. The difference was supreme.
I guess you could call me a 'bedroom' player, since I don't do recordings/go rehearse/do all that other band stuff anymore. However I enjoy playing much more now than ever before due to the fact that I now am able to play with the best tone I've ever owned.

The point I was trying to make was I suggest anyone using similar gear to try and go for as much of a 'flat-response' system [i.e. power amp & a cab] as possible... it's really amazing how much running stuff into amps colors your tone... BROWN, and I don't mean EVH's sound.

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Ah, so you were plugging into the normal guitar input on the combo? I've been running into the FX return, bypassing my combo's preamp, so it tends to sound pretty good. Basically, I'm probably doing what you are.. using a Yamaha power amp (it's a Yamaha combo amp FX return that I plug into), but just a 1x12 speaker. My guess is a 4x12 would definitely sound a lot better, lol. I tend not to play at extremely loud volumes (we share a house with 2 other people, and I've also got a 2-yr-old son). I'm thinkin about building my own 2x12 or even 2x15 cab and getting an old power amp off ebay, but I still do like the tones I get through my combo's power amp and speaker.

I totally agree with you about using a power amp, though. It sounds much better than plugging the pod into the normal input on your amp. If you don't use a POD (or any other modeller) this way, it's really not going to sound great. That's probably why so many people hate digital gear.. because they don't know how to use it.

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