My HX/DA #2 is set up just like my last one in my earlier post, except that the Master needs to be set a bit higher on the dial, which isn't surprising -- there are often differences in the tapers of potentiometers that will vary from one unit to the next.
However, it sounds the same once it's dialed in, which is to say, very fine indeed!
In addition to my tips on setting up the amp with the guitar volume relatively low compared to how most players do it, which allows you to vary the amp gain by the guitar's controls (see my earlier post above), I can offer these tips on dialing in an amp (works for me, maybe it'll work for you):
I zero out all of the controls. Then I turn the master about halfway up. At this point, despite the master being up, with all other controls set at zero, you shouldn't hear anything.
Gradually bring the gain control up, we're going for a clean sound. Bring the treble up and rotate it to find where you want the top end dialed in. Don't worry over it, we're going to adjust the other controls to bring up the midrange and bass, so do the same thing with each one, one at a time.
At that point, tweak them relative to one another to get a balanced clean sound with your guitar. You should now have a pretty good sounding clean tone. Time to set the presence control - the presence lifts the high end generally. Too high and it sounds a little too squeaky or ringy; too low, and the amp sounds a touch dull. Find where you like it. It's going to vary from time to time depending on instrument and the room, or even the location in the room! That's the point of the presence control - it helps with the easy stuff like that once you've basically set up the amp. The idea being that it's an easy way to adjust for a different instrument or a "live" or "dead" room, without having to change all your settings.
Now what I do with each guitar is set the gain so that with the guitar volume halfway up, I get a crunchy rhythm tone. I can then go higher gain by simply turning the guitar volume up, or a cleaner tone lowering it a bit.
Each guitar and pickup type makes the amp react a little differently, and it's fun to tweak the tone to match.
On the HX/DA I change the HX and Bass gain blend, and also use the HX and DA switches, to get tones for each guitar. I like to dial in a "juicy" fat tone with this amp, and it's pretty easy to do that. For obvious reasons, I use less DA gain with, say, a Singlecut, and more with the Artist V which is essentially a CU22 type. But I also need that treble control and presence control when switching to something with 408 pickups. They have a lot of treble.
My rig also includes an overdrive and a clean boost, so that I can vary the amount of push the amp is getting, and vary the kinds and textures of the distortion. I really think a clean boost pedal of some kind is a nice way to further shape the tone hitting the amp, not only the volume!
I dunno if these tips help, but I hope they do!
