DTR, you don't have to use the dual gains at all. They're there so players can blend channels; here's why:
The old 4-hole Plexis had a bright channel and a normal channel (I forget what they called it). Lots of Fender amps had a similar layout. They weren't channel switching amps, they simply had two different physical input channels. You plugged into the normal channel if you liked that, and the bright channel if that was what you wanted.
However, in the old days, players discovered they could use a jumper cable to combine the two channels, and then adjust the two channels' volume controls top get the balance between a bright and a bassy sound as they wanted.
Here's a very clear and basic discussion on how players would use the two input channels on a Marshall to do that:
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/jumpering-marshall-amp-channels/
All the HXDA does with the two gain controls is let you do that very same thing, but without having to use a jumper cable. So anyone who wants to use the "normal" and the "bright" channels together can, and those who don't want to don't have to.
Very simple to grasp if you're at all familiar with old Plexis, which is what the HXDA pretty much is.
If you simply think of it as being like the middle toggle switch position on a Les Paul or 594 with both pickups on, you can use the controls on the guitar to blend the pickups. It's the same with the two gain controls on the HXDA. You simply use them as you like, to blend the two channels.
The guy that sold his HXDA and regretted it probably didn't know much about old Marshalls, or what he was doing, for whatever reason, and didn't do much experimentation, because it's not hard to dial in an HXDA. I can't get a bad sound out of it!
I'll grant you that players who simply set all the controls to noon on an amp, and don't turn knobs, probably don't need an amp as flexible as the HXDA.
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Just not right now.
