Community: Message List

Re: Have we figured out what Volume pedals work with the HD 500 yet?

support@line6.com — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:27:11 GMT

I'm not sure your post "clears anything up." But rather muddies the waters again.

Mission did indeed start sending out "resistor kits" when these problems occurred a few years ago, and back then it was "resolved." But that was long ago, with a different pedal design that was in place before the POD HD500 came out.

If you ordered a brand new pedal from Mission Engineering, (at around the date of your post) it will have a resistance range from 0 to 10k, so if you want to utilize the full sweep of the pedal for any parameter (yes, any parameter, not just volume) you assign to it, be prepared for a trip to Radio Shack.

And by the way, the suggestion to utilize the on-board pedal for volume, and the Mission pedal for "other parameters" just doesn't work very well if the "other parameter" happens to be a wah-wah, since there is no button on the external pedal to engage/disengage it.

Until the "interface" problem has been resolved between Line 6 and Mission Engineering, the temporary "resistor mod" described makes the pedal work as intended, and it can be just as easily removed when the problem is resolved.

Re: mission ep1-l6

support@line6.com — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 01:14:13 GMT

Here is an update to my previous post regarding the incompatibility of the POD HD500 with a Mission EP1-L6-RD external expression pedal.

I won't go into all the details of why the Mission EP1-L6 pedal is really not compatible with the POD HD500. But I did have phone and e-mail correspondance with both Line 6 and Mission Engineering on this matter.

Suffice to say, at the time of this post, apparently Line 6 would need to provide a means to calibrate the external pedal, like can be done with the internal pedal. And/or perhaps the firmware in the POD HD500 needs to be changed to handle an external pedal that ranges from 0 - 10k ohms rather than 0 - 6.8k ohms. (This is why only about 70% of the pedal throw is utilized.) This behavior is exhibited not only when trying to use the pedal to control volume, (as Mission seems to believe) but with any and every parameter you choose to assign to it.

Until something like that occurs, what about us folks that want a quick working solution right now?

It's easy. Go down to Radio Shack and spend a dollar or two for a 22k ohm resistor (21.25k is what I calculated was required, but 22k works just fine) and connect it spanning the two input jack wires inside the pedal. Now the pedal will range from 0 - 6.8k ohms making the POD happy! And if warranty is a concern, then put the resistor (they are very small, and can be installed inside the jack) in a "special" cable you use to connect the pedal to the POD.

And, if Mission or Line 6 ever resolves this issue in the future (which is likely I should think) then just take the resistor out. Easy!

The entire pedal throw is now utilized, and the transition is smooth from heel to toe, with just a hair more control at the heel end, which when used as a volume pedal gives me more control at the lower volumes. Perfect!

Additionally, for users of the M9 and M13 Stompbox Modelers, this "modified" pedal still works great.

Admittedly, we should not be having to make any modification to a very expensive pedal to make it compatible with a Line 6 product for which it was designed. But that's life, and a $1 resistor saves the day.

Have fun!

P.S. By the way, if you have a Roland EV-5 pedal, you can make the same modification to it to make it work the same. I know it's plastic and some folks hate that. But you may already have one, and it is cheaper, smaller, and lighter, and it does work with both my POD HD500, and my M9 Stompbox Modeler. (As I recall, the Roland EV-5 uses a TRS cable, and I did "snip" the ring wire to make it work with Line 6 products.)

Re: Have we figured out what Volume pedals work with the HD 500 yet?

support@line6.com — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:18:47 GMT

The very best pedal I have found is the Mission Engineering expression pedal EP1-L6. It has solid construction and a very natural and smooth pedal feel. It works perfectly out of the box with the M9 Stompbox Modeler. However, to make it work optimally with the POD HD500 you will have to make a trivial modification. At the time of this post (3 January 2013) the current production pedals do not work well without the described modification when used with the POD HD500.

See this post for details...

http://line6.com/support/message/403359#403359

Re: Pod Hd500 Power supply cable too short!

support@line6.com — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 02:44:01 GMT

Black electrical tape is not a good idea. When it gets warm, it slips, and your connection is insecure, as well as a gooey mess. Please read my post just above for the optimal solution.

Re: POD HD500 Patches with DT25

support@line6.com — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 03:36:25 GMT

STPL,

Your configuration is pretty much what I have been using in a church setting now for several months (a DT25 head, two cabinets and the POD HD500.)

No question at all, the DT25 is about the sweetest thing you could hope for; small, light and sounds great. (My intent was to buy my brother a white EVH III 5150 Mini for his birthday, but availability was lacking, and when I went to the music shop and played with and tested the DT25, I was sold. In fact, I couldn't leave the store without ordering one for myself as well! When we took delivery, we spent the first week dialing in the settings to emulate the EVH 5150 III. In this way, I felt that not only had I gotten my brother a "5150" as originally intended, but also an amp with a lot more versatility.)

Anyway back on topic... I set all my patches to use the "pre" models, and definitely turn the cabinet emulation off. The only reason I use a double stack, is because it puts the speaker up off the ground. Only I can hear the sound from the DT25, as it acts more like a stage monitor (ala Lincoln Brewster). And yes, I use it in normal mode, not the "reduced volume" setting. And what I hear from the DT25 is almost exactly what I hear in the house system, although I had the sound engineer give me a very slight treble boost in the house mix due to some loss of clarity due to dispersion through the venue.

I also put a volume module in every patch assigned to the pedal, so that I can slap the pedal to the heel and cut the sound before switching amp topologies that cause a loud pop. And as you know, in church it doesn't take much at all for a sound to be considered a "loud pop." And feed the house from the XLR out on the DT25 not your POD HD500.

I have my Outputs set to Combo Front, but I believe it should be set to Studio/Direct. But when I change it to Studio/Direct it really sounds awful, and the Combo Front setting makes the house system sound much more like what I hear out of the DT25. (I have a question regarding this in to Line 6 for a recommended setting, but no response yet.) On that same page it says my Focus = 570 Hz, Lows = -50 and Highs -75. I have no idea how these settings got set, as I didn't set them that way. I assume they were defaulted to those vaules.

As mentioned above, for the last two years I was using an EVH 5150 III at church (yes, no kidding, but obviously "Hot For Teacher" is not on the worship song list) and it sounds sweet as well, maybe just a hair sweeter to my tonal preference. I ran an M9 Stompbox in the effects loop to gain access to nice effects, tuning and a master volume (notoriously missing from an EVH).

Admittedly, I prefer the tone from the EVH 5150 III, but to get 95% "there" with a DT25 for so much less money! Something to be said for that. And now my EVH 5150 III is not parked (well, yeah, it's heavy!) at church, so I have access to it for the non-church endeavors.

The DT25 is a home run for sure! The POD HD500... well, pretty good but has some issues. But the DT25... home run, for me.

Enjoy,

John

Re: mission ep1-l6

support@line6.com — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:03:45 GMT

I just received my new sexy red Mission EP1-L6-RD today. But the thrill of a new toy faded a bit when I plugged it in. While the casing is absolutely top quality, I expected it to be the optimal solution for use with my POD HD500.

It isn't for one reason only. It is not calibrated correctly. Yes, I get a 0% value reading when the heel is in the down position. But it peaks at 100% far before the toe position. I would guess it only utilizes about 70% of the available "pedal throw."

It works great with the M9 Stompbox Modeler, utilizing the entire pedal throw distance when calibrated! But not so with the POD HD500.

For the price of this pedal I expected more, but I don't believe my unit is defective.

I suppose if the pedal throw doesn't matter to you, it will be fine. But part of the reason I upgraded from an inexpensive (and slightly modified) Roland EV-5 to this pedal, was to have the very best designed specifically for the POD HD500.

It falls short of my expectations, as it doesn't perform like it was designed specifically for the POD HD500.

Having said that, I do believe the solution falls to Line 6, and not to Mission. (Hint: external pedal calibration)

Re: Pod Hd500 Power supply cable too short!

support@line6.com — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:29:13 GMT

This post just has some of my thoughts and solution tips regarding the included power suppy cord for the Line 6 HD500...

I absolutely agree that a 6 foot cable is too short. It is a rare venue that 6 feet is sufficient, except a moderately large one, with stage power outlets all over the place.

So what I did was I purchased a 6 foot extension cable similar to this one here available from BixNET.com (priced at $8.95 at the time of this posting.)

6 Ft DC Power Extension Cable with 5.5 x 2.5mm Connector

So now the problem was that I didn't want a "disconnect" to occur during a performance. So what I do in these cases, is I use cable shrink wrap (available at electronics stores) and heat shrink it over the connecting jacks. They will NOT inadvertently separate, and yet if you choose to at a later date, you can easily cut the shrink wrap tubing off, and again have the original two cables "unmarred."

So now I have a 12 foot cable!

When you choose your cable, make sure it has 5.5 x 2.5 mm connectors. I also insisted on the same 16 AWG cable, which incidently is the same gauge of wire utilized in my Line 6 HD500 provided cable.

I chose this solution route because I was not able to find an entirely new transformer cable that had the right specifications (9 volt DC, 2.5 Amp min, with negative center) and a robust 16AWG round cable. If your search is more fruitful, I wouldn't really worry about voiding a Line 6 warrenty with a reputable and properly "spec-matched" transformer cable. On the other hand, you can avoid the whole warranty issue completely for about about $9, and some cheap heat shrink wrap.

Regarding having a switch, I don't mind not having a switch, since bending down to throw a small switch isn't much different than bending down and unplugging a cable. In live situations, with minimal setup time and sound check time, it's also just one more thing to not worry about being set "right." And putting a switch on the plug that is up to 12 feet away doesn't help me much.

I do commend Line 6 for using a new modern "power switching" transformer (as utilized in laptop computers) since they do not heat up and are really lightweight. And while the thing is a huge plug wart, I prefer it over the "transformer in the middle of the power cable" for the following reason: With a transformer not co-located with the electrical outlet jack itself, it means there is the possibility of the transformer "finding" itself on stage laying next to some audio/instrument cables. (I think it is one of the laws of thermodynamics that a transformer will search for, and lay next to an audio/instrument cable.) And even with expensive "monster" cabling, this will generate a hum in the sound system that takes time to isolate and remove. But I've never seen anyone lay audio/instrument cables over or near an electrical outlet. (And while the wart can "see" all the audio cables it so desires, it is stuck there by the plug.)

Take care,

John

Re: 4 cable method ???

support@line6.com — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 03:26:30 GMT

This post is just a tip for everyone that uses this four cable method...

At one time I was using a Line 6 X3 LIVE with my EVH 5150 III amplifier. The most notable missing element in the EVH 5150 III is a master volume, (as are obviously any pre and post-amp effects you might want) and a Line 6 X3 LIVE gave me that and a bit more.)

Now with 4 cables, and a desire to be setup and dialed in as quick as possible at the venue, I wanted to color code the cables, and the jacks so that I could just "connect the dots," so to speak.

You can buy Avery Color Coding Labels #5472 from most office supply stores. One package contains more red, green, yellow, and blue dots than you could ever use for this application. These paper dots are 3/4" round and have a removable self-adhesive backing. You can easily cut the center out of these paper dots with an exacto knife, remove the jacks on your Line 6 X3 LIVE, put these dots over the jack hole, and replace the jacks. It looks very professional. I was able to do the same with the jacks on my EVH 5150 III as well.

In addition, I use Planet Waves instrument cables, which allows you to also color code the cables with a "rubberband-like" ring. They supply these rings in green, yellow, and grey. I used grey to mean blue, and I easily fabricated a red ring from an old red (right channel) RCA jack, by just cutting a small loop of the red sleeve material off.

Even without the Planet Waves instrument cables, there is no need to think about cabling up, just connect the dots!

Enjoy,

John

Re: Firmware Update 2.01 Failed: Code 8000000A

support@line6.com — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 08:28:32 GMT

I had this same error code (Code 800000A) problem. I use a MIDISPORT 2x2 adapter (it has two MIDI ports) connected via USB to my Mac. I corrected the problem by ensuring that the little button on the MIDISPORT was set to the USB (depressed) state, and that the MIDI cables were connected properly (i.e. the MIDISPORT PORT A OUT was going to the M9 MIDI IN, and the MIDISPORT PORT A IN was coming from the M9 MIDI OUT.)