Community: Message List

"Gearbox are no longer made" ??? What am I supposed to use?

support@line6.com — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:28:39 GMT

I'm reinstalling all my software after a computer virus wiped me out. I was attempting to get Gearbox back on my PC and when I search for it on this site I get the message "Gearbox are no longer made". Aside from the poor grammer, what is the deal with that? I have a X3 Live and build/tweak my tones exclusivly on my PC thru Gearbox. What am I supposed to use as a PC interface if Gearbox is no longer available?

Re: POD X3 Live - Tone 2 stuck on same tone on every channel

support@line6.com — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:08:37 GMT

That's the opposite of what I would expect, but I think you have it right. Upon close examination, tones are saved with pan information as part of them. That's not very intuitive though. The pan setting ought to be part of the characteristic of the bank/channel/tone location, regardless of what tone gets called up. But its not - the pan is attached to the specific tone. But here's part of why that was the wrong design to implement: If you save MicToneX as panned hard right, then place it in 1/A/Tone2, then lock it, watch what happens on your other banks when you toggle around. If you toggle to 2/A, for instance and that location has tone 2 panned hard left, the onscreen Gearbox still shows 2/A/Tone2 as hard left. But if you listen to the headphones, you observe that the sound is actually panned hard right (because its MicToneX which has the hard right as part of its structure. Due to this design, the Gearbox indicates one thing while something totally different is what is actually happening.

Smetimes I think these PODs completely have a mind of their own. This is another example of that.

Re: POD X3 Live - Tone 2 stuck on same tone on every channel

support@line6.com — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:16:48 GMT

One more question on this. The manual is vague about it, but when you lock a tone into "tone 2", should it just be the tone itself that is locked in, or should it keep all of the characteristics of the bank/channel where that tone came from? In other words, if I have a mic tone in Bank 1 / Channel A / Tone 2 that I lock down, and 1A has tone 2 panned hard right, am I stuck with a hard right pan no matter what bank I switch to? Like if I switch to 2A, and that's set up so that tone 2 is centered, should I get my locked down tone 2, but now it would be centered?

I can see what my unit is doing, but it's not what I would expect.

Re: Shouldn't I be able to hear a POD X3 Live thru my PC speakers when the X3 is connected via USB to the PC?

support@line6.com — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:46:09 GMT

I see. The part about avoiding the lowest quality output is really only an issue if there is a particularly poor quality item in the chain, that's easy enough to remedy - if its even a problem at all. What I don't like about this is that it requires either 1) a change in wire routing whenever I want to use the POD for recording and desktop monitoring, or 2) a mixer or something allows for easier method of doing that routing. But that, of course, means another piece of equipment taking up space.

Anyway, I get it. Line6 doesn't want an extra sound card in the process. I though latency might be part of the potential problem, but I have tried routing thru the 2nd sound card and it's not a problem. Nor is a degradation of sound quality. I wish they'd give us the option to just use the USB this way because it gets rid of extra cables. Maybe it's not even Line6 that makes the call on this. Maybe its just the way the PC works. I'm not a tech guy so I don't know.

Thanks for the help.

Re: Shouldn't I be able to hear a POD X3 Live thru my PC speakers when the X3 is connected via USB to the PC?

support@line6.com — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:40:58 GMT

Yeah, I know I can run the headphone jack to the PC and get the sound in that way, but that seems redundant considering that there is already a USB connecting the two. I know that the POD becomes the sound card when connected, so the question is - why would I need a separate output? I mean, the USB ought to be able to carry the signal. Maybe it won't and I don't understand bandwidth and all that stuff. I just thought one connector ought to do it.

Shouldn't I be able to hear a POD X3 Live thru my PC speakers when the X3 is connected via USB to the PC?

support@line6.com — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:02:05 GMT

To clarify, I have no connections between the PC and X3 other than a USB. I'm assuming the USB can carry the guitar signal out to the PC and it should play thru the PC speakers just like any other sound source. That is not happening, though.

I also have RIffworks Line6 version and same deal. No sound out of Riffworks from the PC speakers when I play back a Riffworks project.

I can hear Riffworks, and the guitar (via X3) thru the X3's headphone jack, but that doesn't let me hear the sound thru the desktop monitors like I need it to.

Please advise.

Re: POD X3 Live - Tone 2 stuck on same tone on every channel

support@line6.com — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 23:13:40 GMT

Yes, I wish I had known about that feature. Now I can mix and match mic patches with whatever guitar patch I want and not have to commit to any particular combinations. I guess my accident lead to something good here. Thanks again.

Re: POD X3 Live - Tone 2 stuck on same tone on every channel

support@line6.com — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:24:35 GMT

You, sir, are correct. I've never heard of that feature and have no idea how I changed it, but all is fixed. Thanks so much.

- R

POD X3 Live - Tone 2 stuck on same tone on every channel

support@line6.com — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:41:38 GMT

This just started after updating to the latest drivers: On screen (Gearbox on my PC), everything appears correct. On Channel 1A I create Tone(GuitarX) for Tone 1 and Tone(MicX) for Tone 2. Then on Channel 1B I create Tone(GuitarY) for Tone 1 and Tone(MicY) for Tone 2. Etc. for the entire unit. I then save the bundle, open the bundle, and put it back onto the X3. Everything in Gearbox looks fine. Now here's the mystery - if I flip around to different channels by double clicking in Gearbox (the Hardware Memory Window), everything looks fine. What it says on Gearbox matches what the X3 says (and both reflect what I intend). But, if I flip channels on the X3 unit, Tone 2 on every single channel says the same thing as whatever I had on the first channel I started with before flipping around. For instance, if I'm on Channel 1 (like above) and Tone1 is Tone(GuitarX) and Tone2 is Tone(MicX), and I step on the toggle to change to channel 2, I now see (on the X3): Tone1 is Tone(GuitarY) and Tone2 is Tone(MicX). And no matter what channel I switch to, Tone2 is stuck on Tone(MicX). So basically, Tone2 is always whatever I last successfully switched it to in Gearbox. If I turn the unit on and off, same problem. If I re-load the bundle, same problem. The only way I can get the Tone2 that belongs on each channel is to pull up Gearbox and click on screen for it. This is not particularly useful or feasible in using the X3 in a live situation.

Line 6 rep, please chime in sooner rather than later. I need this to work very soon. I've never had this issue before. The X3 has a mind of its own like no other electronic product I've ever seen, but this is one that I can't find a work-around for. Please help.

Re: PODX3 Live Power Usage - Does it really need 2 Amps AC?

support@line6.com — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:20:41 GMT

I realize its AC. There are some AC units out there (Voodoo Power Pack AC, for instance) but most are limited to 1.2amps or so. The solution I am working on is a cusom one with a guy named Joseph Logsdon. Here's his store on ebay:

http://stores.ebay.com/joseph2442?_trksid=p4340.l2563

I have three pedals that need AC power and a couple that use DC. We're trying to build something that will feed them all and get all the wall warts out of my life.