The day it all changed for me.

[JiveTurkey]

Have folks gone back and tried or listened to older gen modeling now that they've been "converted"?

The odd thing for me is that the better the really good stuff gets, the more acceptable I find the stuff that has obvious short-comings. Still hear the short-comings, but also recognize how small they are in the grand scheme of things. Fractal stuff is still my favorite, but I'd be more than happy to play live with a POD XT or Zoom MS-50 as long as I had an hour or so to get a patch sorted; and more than happy to use them for recording with cab disabled running into IRs.

We've been at the hair splitting phase for quite some time I think.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

We've been at the hair splitting phase for quite some time I think.

Rename Digital and Modeling sub-forum to "The Split Ends"?

 

[Sascha Franck]

Have folks gone back and tried or listened to older gen modeling now that they've been "converted"?

Defenitely. Even so much that I'm using my trusty GT-10 for a certain kind of gig, pimped with an AMT Pangaea loaded with some allround IR.
No issues at all.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I keep this clip on my Soundcloud as a simple reminder that the POD HD500 could sound pretty darn good as is - everything, including cab and 'verb, is from the POD:

 

[TheOtherDave]

For me, as a live audio engineer, it probably changed with the Pod. I’ve never heard one sound great in isolation, but I’ve heard albums where they were used that sounded great, and one of the guitarists at my church still uses a Pod HD 500 — as I understand it, the crappiest of all Pods — and he sounds pretty dang good in the mix.