Skip navigation
Up to Discussions in POD Farm / POD Studio / TonePort
120 Views 7 Replies Latest reply: Jan 28, 2013 5:26 AM by anouchirvan RSS
guitarplayinfool Just Startin'
guitarplayinfool
2 posts since
Apr 1, 2007
Currently Being Moderated

Jan 1, 2013 9:41 PM

Anyone done this?

I'm currently using Logic as a live mixer for my band.  We are using presonus firewire 8x8 interfaces to go in and out of my 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM.  We play with prerecorded tracks, a set at a time, in logic via aux sends with the click track in them.  We use Roland edrums to trigger Steven Slate software drums, a pod hd500, a bass pod xt, and shure 87a's in a channel using the Logic eq, compressor, gate, platinum verb, and stereo delay for vocals.  We pump our mix through 4 QSC KSubs, and 4 QSC K12's tuned with a Driverack px.

 

The show has worked flawlessly so far, but as a studio engineer, I don't feel the vocals sound as good as the guitar, bass, or drums... so here's what I'd like to try:

 

I wonder if the preamp models on the line6 pod farm will give the vocal channels the life that I'm looking for, but more importantly, not be so intensive that it tries to crash my stable DAW environment I have going on.

 

Has anyone trusted the POD farm plugins enough to use them in a live setting using the DAW? 

Tags: pod, logic, plug-in, 6, line, mac, farm_plugin
  • hulbert Iknowathingortwo
    hulbert
    375 posts since
    May 12, 2011
    Currently Being Moderated
    Jan 3, 2013 8:17 PM (in response to guitarplayinfool)
    Re: Anyone done this?

    Hi,

     

      This isn't about the sound (as I don't have experience with different physical preamps - so I can't really give a comparison between the pod farm ones and others) but I just thought I'd let you know (just in case you aren't using the 'standalone' version of Pod Farm) that the plugin version of Pod Farm (for use 'in' the DAW), will have a delay between the original vocal and the then effected version of it.

    If you have the standalone version (not sure if you have standalone version - just thought I'd write just to let you know it really will make a difference), you will get pretty much no delay between the vocal and the effected output of it, so it will be in time with everything.

     

    Concerning crashing, I run my DAW (for recording) with a number of tracks, plugins (including a number of instances of the plugin of Pod Farm on different tracks) running, and also have the standalone version of PF on outside of the DAW, and it works fine, although I'm only inputting one track at a time.

     

    I have standalone running at the quickest setting (least delay) (there's a slider to select how much delay you want - so that if the computer can't handle everything - and give glitches/pops, this will delay it slightly, but run things smoother etc.) and I don't get the DAW or PF dropping out - unless I have 'loads' of tracks and processor intensive plugins on at the same time. I know of a (not Pod Farm) plugin which used to really affect my daw, so if I use it I would now bounce the track and then turn the plugin off. Pod Farm seems to be quite good in that respect - I can load a number of instances of it in the DAW and it stays ok.

     

     

    I'm running a 2 core at 3ghz and with 2gb ram on Vista 64.

     

    I hope this helps,

     

    Hopefully someone else can give their opinion on the preamps. I tend to keep mine set on the one setting, but will change it later when I get round to the proper mix.

     

    God Bless,

    David

  • anouchirvan Just Startin'
    anouchirvan
    38 posts since
    Jan 22, 2011
    Currently Being Moderated
    Jan 25, 2013 5:12 AM (in response to guitarplayinfool)
    Re: Anyone done this?

    I use Line 6 UX2 sound interface with the bundled POD Farm 2 in standalone mode as well as plugins in Reaper.

     

    I didn't experienced more mic latency in plugin mode compared to the standalone as described by a poster above.

     

    I also play/sing along with backtracks I've previousely recorded.

     

    My only problem using this in live is that switching the presets with a mouse isn't really practical so I'm looking for a simple momentary footswitch compatible with UX2's 1/4" jacks but it's not easy to find any info on that

    • hulbert Iknowathingortwo
      hulbert
      375 posts since
      May 12, 2011
      Currently Being Moderated
      Jan 26, 2013 3:20 AM (in response to anouchirvan)
      Re: Anyone done this?

      Hi anouchirvan,

       

         That's great. I have always found a delay when using the plugin in real time, but that's good if you are getting it to equal standalone. Maybe some extra ram/ cores might make the difference?

       

      God Bless,

      David

      • anouchirvan Just Startin'
        anouchirvan
        38 posts since
        Jan 22, 2011
        Currently Being Moderated
        Jan 27, 2013 11:05 PM (in response to hulbert)
        Re: Anyone done this?

        Hi David,

         

        I'm on W7 x64 with 4 GB of RAM.

         

        Actually, I don't understand what is really different between standalone and plugin operations. In both methods you want to hear what you play, no ?

        In plugin mode, when you arm the track for recording and push the monitoring button, it is as is the DAW lets the sound pass through it and I don't see why the DAW would introduce any additional delay (at least noticable) that if the FX would be applied elsewhere (i.e. in standalone).

        I should have mentioned, when using in pluging mode, to add the mic in addition to guitar I have to open the mixer view (so I have first to open the POD soft) in order to set the right inputs (guitar & mic) to the right channels but at the same time I deactivate any FX in the way to the DAW because the track's plugin will take care of applying the FX. Otherwise I'd have the FX applied twice which you can distinguish clearly. Here is what I think is the signal path:

         

        Guitar&mic => POD mixer input settings but no FX (dry) => DAW => plugin's FX (guitar & mic each goes to its own track, thus to its own FX) => back to Line6 for output to monitors.

         

        The first time the signal gets through the POD, where no FX is applied (i.e. dry), it is as is the POD is in standalone mode. That is the signal pass twice in POD. Maybe I could avoid that first passage but I don't know how else I could set the mic to the correct input channel ! With guitar alone, curiousely I don't have to do it first on POD that is I don't open POD before opening the DAW.

        • hulbert Iknowathingortwo
          hulbert
          375 posts since
          May 12, 2011
          Currently Being Moderated
          Jan 28, 2013 1:32 AM (in response to anouchirvan)
          Re: Anyone done this?

          Hi,

           

              Standalone uses a different method of working with the audio than the plugin does. It uses it's own path. In my setup it is noticable. If I listen via the plugin on a project, I can hear a delay, wheras if I use standalone, it is not there. I can't really remember what its like when just having the one track - I can only remember trying it with lots of tracks running at once. I expect that the better the specs etc., the quicker the plugin will be and so maybe it can't then be noticed.

           

          I suppose the best way to see the effect of tracks/cpu/ram etc. would be if different people with different specs all had the same tracks etc. and then routed the audio so that a snare  playing  would go out to output and then record it back into a mic and onto another track and then see how far out of synch on the timeline it is. One day I'll try this. I've thought about doing it but never got around to doing it . I know some people have though.

           

          By the way, you mentioned having to have standalone open to use mic + guitar. Does it not allow you to open standalone, then set the inputs and then close standalone and record into daw?

           

          Anyway,

           

          God Bless,

          David

          • anouchirvan Just Startin'
            anouchirvan
            38 posts since
            Jan 22, 2011
            Currently Being Moderated
            Jan 28, 2013 5:26 AM (in response to hulbert)
            Re: Anyone done this?

            As far as I remember I may have used 2 or 3 instances of POD plugin in my DAW without CPU problem. Of course I can see the CPU raising each time I add a track and its FX.

            Obviously however, at any instant I am playing and recording just one track. So it is that track's delay that count when its plugin is used.

             

            Regarding your suggestion to close the standalone POD after setting the right inputs (guitar and mic), you may be right but sometimes the POD crashes when I do this, so I prefer to set the inputs and rather than closing it, I just minimize it into an icone after reducing the channels' output volumes (so I'll only hear what passes into the DAW's plugin and comes back to POD - not the direct sound from the standalone POD).

More Like This

  • Retrieving data ...

Bookmarked By (0)