Dec 29, 2012 11:47 PM
An easier way of equalizing output volume?
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Here's another question to add to my many...
First.. Pod Hd pro> pwr-amp stack..
For live performance i cant run over and adjust the volume for each patch so...My XT Pro took me forever to adjust all my presets to have equal output volume... I had to set up an SPL at a measured distance... And adjust each patch accordingly.
There's got to be an easier way with the HD? New technology??
Anyone?
No... SPL isn't always a good measure either... as percieved volume can change depending on whats playing and the situation.
It's a thorny one and I don't think there is a magic bullet. I always leave a bit of headroom on my preset Volumes so I can make a fast, last minute tweak if I need too.
One way to get the patches into a ballpark is using the looper. You hook up and turn the amp up to gigging volumes.
I start off by recording myself playing on my cleanest (or most dynamic) preset, as hard as I might do for a gig (usually a little harder than when practicing).
I then leave the loop running and work through the remaining presets - playing each, adjusting the volume and saving - so that they are all at approximately the same level to my ears.
This gives a reasonable default for the patches but then the acid test is playing with the full band ... do my tones dominate or are they too quiet? Are solos cutting through? Again, I will make tweaks.
Some things just will never change...The physics of your monitor and the interaction of your tone in your situation is something only you can balance...
The same old fundementals of leveling a POD apply mostly like they always have...get the tone, leave room on the channel volume and use the channel volume to balance...If you used an SPL meter to ballpark the level and it worked for you...I don't see why it would not work again...But like Zap stated, a meter alone isn't really going to do it...It's one measure and not a bad one to have...but there is more complexity...
There is some addtional control with the mixer that are new and if you are using a tube amp or a DT then the channel volume can actually play into the tone more than it did in the past...
I like Jim's suggestion of using the looper...I use that quite a bit to check patch levels...But like Jim mentioned, the acid test is the real situation and little tweaks are almost always needed...
Yeah I thought so.... I use the SPL just to get some baseline amongst the 40 to 50 patches I have...I leave plenty of headroom for the fine tweaking... It's just a tedious process to start all over....
Thanks
Many use this trick that should get it into ballpark territory. Hook up the pod to a mixer and using both headphones or some form of monitoring devise. Using the PFL, or input metering on the mixer, set each patch for a standard setting that is the same for each patch. You can while listening to your monitor dial in the volume for the percieved level. The metering will get you really close and listening should finish it up.
The one thing I have found is that the dirty patches will sound very close to the same when the meter says they are the same. The clean patches will usually need a bump in level to equal the output of the dirty patches. The compression that occurs when distortion is created increses average output volume even though in reality it's not producing a whole lot of volume. Dirty channels can be set to a standard 0 and the cleans will usually need to be pushed further to level out volume wise.
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