Line 6 POD HD Thread

[CTID]

I made a video to share some of my experiences and tips with the Pod HD series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IncBD7vzhDM&list=UU3lbb3dFK9cRdDDsOoI94Pg

Great video, but I do have one suggestion: Back when I got my HD500 I used to use 3 Noise gates as well because I didn't know exactly how the hard gate operated. But after tinkering with it for a bit, I can definitely tell you that you can get just as tight with one hard gate as you can with 3 noise gates. More so, if you'd like. I have it set so it's just right to gate when I'm playing through a tube half-stack, but when I'm playing it through my interface, it's inhumanly tight.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

The above suggestion is good, but it doesn't work for me. By that, I mean I hate trying to set up the hard gate.

 

[Alice AKW]

Laziness does not a good tone make

In all seriousness though, the Hard Gate is a lot easier to work than people would think. Just sed the hold and decay to zero, then adjust the open threshold to the lightest amount of signal you'd use (Me personally I set it to open when I just strum the strings with my fretting hand) and then the close threshold is your tightness factor. Closer it gets to your open threshold, the less notes will hold, but the tighter it will be.

 

[CTID]

Exactly. It looks a lot more intimidating than it actually is. Once you get a feeling for what the controls do, it works a lot better than the noise gate does. It's completely transparent, as well. As in, when the gate's open, everything your guitar tone should be is coming through, and then it clamps down to shut out all noise; whereas the noise gate is more of a filter in the sense that it just shuts out noise gradually below a certain threshold.

I started using the hardgate because in a live scenario, 3 noise gates was still allowing a bit of a squeal in tight parts. Plus you free up two effect blocks to have other effects running. So not only does it work better, but it allows for more versatility through the added effects you can run.

 

[MF_Kitten]

I kinda still prefer the regular gates, but I'm oging to try the hard gate out some more. the problem with it is that it cuts TOO hard. I want there to be a softer decay, and I only want to reduce the noises that I don't want, and to clamp down when I stop playing, etc. The hard gate risks cutting off sustain more, and can lead to sputtering noises.

Also, the DT880 Pros are nice, but I prefer my DT770 Pros personally. More low end, less "powdery" high end. Less balanced in tone, but it works better for me in terms of listening and monitoring. I would never mix on any of the headphones though! Only set I would mix with is Sennheiser HD380 Pro. Those things have such a good stereo imaging, where the things in the middle of the stereo field end up being where it should be in terms of levels. That's a huge problem with most phones, and I noticed a huge difference between the Beyers and those specific Sennheisers. In the Beyers, things panned hard left and right are SO FAR TO THE SIDES! It's stupidly wide, like the source of the sound is so far to the side that it's slightly BEHIND your ears. Sounds nice in some contexts, but you don't quite get as much of the "in front of you" sound. The HD380 Pros sound like the source is more in front of you, and it never sounds further to the side than "next to you". It sounds more like a set of speakers in front of you in an empty space, or something. So I feel like I can trust them to show me how the mix actually sounds in terms of balance and panning and levels and everything. The EQ is flat enough that you can play it back through speakers without the "WTF happened there?!" effect that you get with most phones.

 

[Alice AKW]

So I'm back to messing with this thing...

[sc]https://soundcloud.com/alice_akw/pod-hd500-uberschall-tone-2[/sc]

 

[triface]

So... I found out why some of my patches suddenly seem to stop working...

I was importing stuff and I didn't realize they used the pedal as a volume control...

You guys wouldn't believe how hard I facepalmed earlier.

That said, these patches sometimes don't go to the desired volume based on where the pedal is. I have to rock it a little to get it to recognize it. Is there a better solution to this?

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

So... I found out why some of my patches suddenly seem to stop working...

I was importing stuff and I didn't realize they used the pedal as a volume control...

You guys wouldn't believe how hard I facepalmed earlier.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread or not, but has anyone compared the POD HD to the POD XT/X3, both running through a power amp? From what I can tell, the X3 still sounds pretty damn good through a power amp setup, and I'm wondering if it can keep up with the HD.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I wasn't sure if this deserved it's own thread or not, but has anyone compared the POD HD to the POD XT/X3, both running through a power amp? From what I can tell, the X3 still sounds pretty damn good through a power amp setup, and I'm wondering if it can keep up with the HD.

Dunno how helpful this'll be, but I found using VST plugins that the X3 improved more than the HD did, but the HD sounded better.

 

[herbmystic]

I've been using my pod hd for about a week now and I'm really enjoying it.
At first I felt a bit overwhelmed with the interface, but that lasted about 5 minutes. I still prefer to run it into reaper to use cab IR's and EQ's though.

I actually stopped reading about the guitar scene for about 6 years (and only played occasionally) so when I started getting back into playing the technology that went into modelers seems to have came out of nowhere. The fact that so many pros are using Fractals and Kempers live instead of tube amps was quite surreal. It makes sense now though considering ease of use, versatility and sound.

I also had no idea what "djent" was...

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I've been using my pod hd for about a week now and I'm really enjoying it.
At first I felt a bit overwhelmed with the interface, but that lasted about 5 minutes. I still prefer to run it into reaper to use cab IR's and EQ's though.

I actually stopped reading about the guitar scene for about 6 years (and only played occasionally) so when I started getting back into playing the technology that went into modelers seems to have came out of nowhere. The fact that so many pros are using Fractals and Kempers live instead of tube amps was quite surreal. It makes sense now though considering ease of use, versatility and sound.

I also had no idea what "djent" was...

You forgot maintenance, but yeah. I highly suggest you check out Nick Crow's Tube Driver and Ignite Amps TPA-1 power amp. They are VST plugins and they give the tone a lot more life and realness. Even though you are using a power amp plugin, you should still use the full amp model. In case you're curious, my signal path is:

Guitar -> Line 6 POD HD500 -> Computer -> Reaper -> Nick Crow Tube Driver -> Ignite Amps TPA-1 -> Ignite Amps NadIR -> Ignite Amps PTEQ -> ReaComp -> ReaEQ

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Dunno how helpful this'll be, but I found using VST plugins that the X3 improved more than the HD did, but the HD sounded better.

From what I've heard from sound clips, they both have quite the improvement from IRs, but I'm curious if it's worth it to get the HD500 or save a few bucks and get the X3.

I'm convinced that the POD HD will sound more versatile due to the better cleans and low gains, but for high gain they both sound good for different reasons.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

From what I've heard from sound clips, they both have quite the improvement from IRs, but I'm curious if it's worth it to get the HD500 or save a few bucks and get the X3.

I'm convinced that the POD HD will sound more versatile due to the better cleans and low gains, but for high gain they both sound good for different reasons.

The X3 was immensely better after using plugins, whereas the HD500 was marginally better. It was still really good, but it didn't have the level of improvement that the X3 does.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

How are the crunchy Marshall/Vox tones on the X3?

 

[Ocara-Jacob]

How are the crunchy Marshall/Vox tones on the X3?

Not nearly as good as they are on the HD.
I have both, and I can't stand the mid-gain tones on the X3. They sound really flat and lifeless.

 

[Curt]

Having owned the x3, the mid gain tones were decent, but the HD is far better.

 

[Ocara-Jacob]

The best amp model to use for mid-gain stuff (and some slightly saturated clean stuff too) is the Orange AD-30 or whatever they call it in there. It's nice. Pair that up with the 4x12 treadplate cab + 57 on axis and use the EQ to cut some harshness around 3k... Best midgain tone on the X3.

 

[jmeezle]

Anyone selling their Pod HD Pro rack? I have an HD500 but I'm looking for a rack unit. Thanks!

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

So i was worried about the possible event that my power amp dies at a gig so I decided to get a DI box- with cab sim so i could use my same cab-free Pod patches. I don't want to have to manage to sets of patches (one w/ cabs, one without - i realize the output modes may cover this).

But anyway, this thing has a nice cab sim! Sounds better than any pod impulse to my ears. Its also quiet when used with a line level signal (technically allows speaker level signal but noisy and i wouldn't trust it for that, even though manual says it's OK). I'm gonna try it out at the next gig to see how it compares to my normal mic'd up tube power -> guitar cab. Promising so far though - feels solid too, and fits in the back of my rack - $40 for a backup solution!

But if the pod dies, i'm screwed!