MerlinFL escribió:

 

Good one Daf - I had suggested the same thing way back in the beginning when I discovered no acoustic sim patches were on the original software.  I can and do get excellent acoustic sounds on stage even without a tweeter, but I did suggest adding a switchable tweeter controlled by the POD HD unit and only engage when using an acoustic model which would require the POD HD to "know" or "sense" when an acoustic patch was being sent into the HD unit as well as having one or two acoustic amp models like they had four offered on the Vetta.  Just using EQs is not my idea of a live answer to an acoustic guitar.  Recording studio - yes, but not for live applications as the DSP limits causes problems when wanting to add FX to the signal chain.  One $5.00 piezo tweeter like they built switchable into the Lowdown bass amps combo I tried out had, would even be good enough.  Automatic switching would be what a Flagship unit should do in my opinion, but a manual switch to get the true full range would be good enough for now until a better improvement could be made.

 

If you want any of my acoustic patches - please ask and I'll link you to them on Custom Tone.  I think you might be pleasantly surprised with how they sound even without a horn and just the Dream Rig gear.

 

The other option would be for others to od as I have done because of my band situation where I play mainly bass, and also guitar (mainly acoustic rhythm 6 & 12 string).  I run all my gear into a single space rack mixer, then send the signals to my bass gear and only the POD units go to the guitar amps for all electric guitar sounds. 

 

One other thing I've found, that when running in output mode Studio/Direct - it allows me to run my POD HD units directly into my bass cabinets if I have limited space, and with just a little Q tweaking which I've made a Set List for such situations - they sound very good running through full range speakers even if those aren't as Flat Response as the PA might be.

 

Not for everyone as I do more than just play one instrument - I'm required to play guitar, bass, keys, Taurus bass pedals, and other synth patches from my Roland GR-55 units on both my 6-string bass & older Vax 700 guitars.  It's a complicated set up but the end result is a true wall of sound with everything running.  The acoustic models run through both the POD HD units and into ym bass gear which do have horns and tweeters in those cabs.

Hi Neal. Those are great suggestions, and they could be implemented for sure at the amp design, although I do not really know at what price. But I think Line 6 really missed this point, which is a real shame, as the concept behind the dream rig is that "you'll discover limitless sonic possibilities. With the press of a single footswitch, you can change your instrument type, tuning, amp tone, effect chain and more—instantly transforming this powerful system into virtually any rig".

But it is not any rig, at least an acoustic one. Specially, when the flagship guitar contains very good acoustic models, and the flagship pedal can process those signals accurately.

I would like to try your acoustic patches and thank you very much for sharing your work with me. I am very sure that your knowlege is great and you know very well what you do, but I do not expect an accurately acoustic performance coming from a DT amp, specially when comparing to a PA system or an acoustic amp. There are serious physical limitations that avoid doing so. One of the most important limitations is the absence of tweeters, and the frequency response of the speaker. The GH12-90 speaker is a custom one made specially for Line 6, but I have heard somewhere that it is very similar to the G12K-100 speaker. You can see how the frequency response of this speaker is at http://celestion.com/product/19/g12k100/ and, as happens with the mayority of guitar speakers, which are made to emphasize midrange frequencies, the frequency response within the high range (5khz to 20 Khz) is very poor. Those frequencies are needed for a good acoustic tone to sound nice, and it is very unlikely that with the aid of heavily applied EQ's the tone can be compensated at those frequencies.

Ok, someone can said that you can go to a PA system for the acoustic tones through the POD HD 500 FX loop, which is what I do, but I think it is against the concept behind the "dream rig", as "all you need is suposed to be there" (that has not been stated by Line 6, of course).

Best Regards,

Daf

MerlinFL escribió:

 

One other question Daf - do you think this is the best sounding most advanced guitar system in the world?  That is the statement on the Line 6 flyer.  That is what prompted me to create this post.  I wanted all things like you & I have discussed plus opinions about that specific claim based on all the gear we might not have ever tried but read about and does this statement hold true?

As far as this, I really like the things I can do with this rig, which are summarized at Crusty's post. To have an authentic british rock tone and then instantly to have an authentic reggae tone by pressing just a button is something amazing, combined with a different tunning and most important, with all dynamics and response that a guitarist could expect from a tube amplifier. It just makes the life "simple" and I really like it.

I wrote "simple" because in fact, it is not as simple as I wish. For me it is the most advanced guitar I have tested, but I live in Colombia and I do not have too much oportunities to probe high end equipments. But the term "best sounding" can be very subjective, and I remember my first gigs. My first guitar was a customized Carvin with DiMarzio pickups, and the rest of my rig was completed with several stomp pedals (like, a compresor, an OD, a Chorus, a flanger, a digital delay, a Distortion, a Harmonist, a reverb, an acoustic simulation, everything from boss, a 10 band equalizer (behiner I think, I do not remember well as I do not have it yet)), a wah and a volumen pedal, and a VOX AC 30 amp. Wow, just amazing tones!!!! I got really amazing tones from that rig, and most important, very easy!!!! simple!!!!

That is something I miss also with this rig. It is quite difficult to get a good tone, and most important, at a consistently way. There is too much work involved when creating tones.

Another thing I miss, and I do not understand the reason, is that the Low power mode of the amp does not work with this rig as it works for the amp alone. In low power mode, you need to have different patches in order to get a similar sound you get with full power mode. Or, if you do not want to complicate yourself, then buy a good power attenuator. A real shame, as you cannot take advantage of that amazing characteristic of the flagship amp.

Best Regards,

Daf

Well I only have 2/3rd's of the 'dream rig' and im extremely satisfied. I have a korean JTV69 (got one of the first batches about 20 months ago), and a Pod hd500. I love the implementation of the tuning knob, and the capacity for customizing patches, tunings, and models.

I dont have a DT50/25 as I use alot of acoustic guitar models as well as a guitar synth live and therefore use a Traynor k4 amp (300 watt tri-amped combo FRFR amp with 5 speakers). I think a DT would sound poor with acoustic guitar models and synths.

Anyhow, all companies engage in 'puffery'. And theres a fair degree of truth to the claims in my opinion. The only thing close in terms of functionality to a JTV/POD hd500 combo would be a Roland VG99 or Gr55 system (guitar modelling, alternate tuning, amp modeling all in one package). The vg99 system is actually more powerful in many ways having two distinct guitar modelling chains, each with a MUCH more robust fx chain capacity (not too mention superior fx IMO) and adds COSM HRM synthesis plus guitar to midi conversion. That said, since getting the JTV/pod hd500 combo, I keep my vg99 at home (the amp modelling in the pod is better to my ears and its a smaller stage footprint. When I need a bigger sound, I add a roland gr55.

Antares has the upcoming Autotune guitar, but the jury is out on its functionality, especially in regards to its modelling.