The beauty is the flexibility of the HX and DA settings in my opinion. I've found that I really like the 3 toggles set to HX mode... of course I'm a huge Hendrix fan! You can really get those rich tones that he used. However, like you mentioned, adding pedals for your various needs is just icing on the cake... or I should say more syrup on the pancakes!
One thing to keep in mind, and Les has mentioned this in the various HXDA posts that he's so thoughtfully shared here, is that you'll most likely roll your volume and tone back on your guitars using this amp. Especially for those clean tones. If you're not used to doing this, it may take a little bit to find your specific sound. I mention it because I never used to do this much with my previous amps. Maybe I'd back off the volume and tone a little to say 7, 8 or 9 but using my DGT w the HXDA I find I'm playing with a guitar volume and tone sometimes set at 3! That would be the lower end of the spectrum of course. It really is a beautiful thing, though, as the amount of tones you can get out of this thing with just the guitar and amp is nuts.
Adding pedals has resulted in sonic bliss for me. I've really been enjoying the El Capistan through this amp. I find I don't need a compressor. Les turned me on to the Plimsoul but unfortunately it seems to need servicing otherwise it has been formidable gain pedal. I've recently acquired the Blackstar HT pedal and I found it has added a nice extra tube circuit with awesome tube distortion that goes into high gain territory while adding another channel for clean/crunch/boost. I look forward to trying my Red Witch Fuzz God II that's on order and should be here in the next couple days... :biggrin: