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Apparently This Is How It's Supposed To Sound? I Think It's Unusable, I'd Appreciate Second Opinions.


BlueBrain
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On any distorted patch out of my HD500, I hear a sort of secondary distortion on top of the tone. It could be described as a digital clipping sound.  I thought it was subtle at first, now I can't un-hear it. It's on any patch where there's distortion, whether it's an effect before or after the amp, or just an amp with the drive up enough to get some crunch.  

 

It's not the guitar, input levels, output, etc - my trouble-shooting has been very thorough.  I thought maybe there was something wrong with my unit, but today I went and tested a second HD500 fresh out of the box and it sounded exactly the same.

 

Line6 support has reviewed this sound clip and says they think this tone sounds good, that the sounds I'm hearing are an intentional part of the modelling.  Forgive the lackluster playing: https://soundcloud.com/potential178/pod-hd500-unwanted-distortion

 

I found this video as well, and I hear the same "digital clipping" distortion on his tone between 0:10 and 1:00: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tM2tP2w0s3Y#t=10

 

So, I'm wondering what you think of this tone.  Does it sound fine to you?  Do you hear the second level of distortion I'm referring to?  Do you hear this on your own unit?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

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Aaaa-ha!  Found a big thread on this issue:

 

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1061955

 

Peeps are comparing it to crossover distortion, and although at times it may be the result of poor gain-staging, it's often most noticeable on simple patches with just a low-gain amp with the drive pushed up just enough to get a bit of break-up, so it can't be dialled out.

 

Whether it's an intentional part of the modelling or not isn't clear; however, nobody who can hear it likes it, and some give up on the HDs because of it.  Many others don't seem to hear it, even in the clips where some find it quite obvious.  I'm leaning towards selling my POD and picking up a tube head and a redbox.  

 

So, I'm still curious: do you hear it in my sample & in that video?  I'm wondering just how many people can discern the wanted part of the distortion in that tone from that unwanted "crossover" distortion.

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I hear what you are talking about.  Tell us exactly how you recorded your samples (direct, mic'd etc, what amp and speaker setup, what headphones) and maybe post the patch you used for us to try out.  I get the same thing on some patches too but I think it can be worked out.  It definitely sucks...

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It's really apparent when going direct out to your computer, but (at least for me) the digital clipping disappears if I send the signal to my amp and record with a mic. Annoying that it requires this work-around for something that shouldn't be an issue in the first place, but what can you do (besides sell the POD).

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Just listening out of the speaker I have attached to my computer (which admittedly, isn't great), I don't hear anything too objectionable. I hear it more with earbuds, but even then I don't find it completely objectionable. I do notice a slight sizzle or something, but I doubt it's anything most people would notice in a mix. But, yes, it probably is crossover distortion. It was discussed a lot years ago when the HD line was newer. With the deep editing parameters, you should be able to make it a bit more manageable for you.

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I have the same issue and find it unacceptable, I have now sold the unit after only 3 months. I got a joyo ac tone and it way ahead and it's analogue. I am a tube man through and through so I knew it was going to be difficult. I spoke to Blue Brain about it, he like me tried all sorts of fixes to no avail. Shame but there you go. Having had Line 6 stuff in the past I should of known better but hey.

 

On another note I do have the JTV 69 which so far has been reasonably ok

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Hey radatats, the distortion occurs on any amp, any output - it's not patch or output specific.  From what I've read on other threads, some people manage to reduce it in a chain of effects with a lot of tweaking, but it doesn't seem that it can be resolved on a simple slightly dirty tone.

 

Offashead, I think my unit is also going up for sale.  I'm not sure after this whether to not trust modelling in general, or just line6's modelling.  I think I'll go the route of collecting tube heads and recording with a redbox.

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Hey radatats, the distortion occurs on any amp, any output - it's not patch or output specific.  From what I've read on other threads, some people manage to reduce it in a chain of effects with a lot of tweaking, but it doesn't seem that it can be resolved on a simple slightly dirty tone.

 

Offashead, I think my unit is also going up for sale.  I'm not sure after this whether to not trust modelling in general, or just line6's modelling.  I think I'll go the route of collecting tube heads and recording with a redbox.

hey BlueBrain. having spent about 3 hours with the Joyo pedal, I seem to have found a little jem. Dead easy, no tweaking for hours on end, it cost £30 and It sounds great for recording. I just plug it direct, line in into the Boss unit as it has it's own modeling engine. It has a very nice tube sound too. Being analogue it can get a very hissy on very very high gain but the pedal is very versatile and for £30 quid it's a no brainer. I have a Vox AC4 and the little pedal is quite close. The pedal is a clone of the Liverpool pedal originally by Tech 21. Since having the HD, I seemed to come to a standstill forever messing about with it instead of actually doing something useful. To many options for me.

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This all takes time I find my self tweaking and messing around with pod 500 more than I play guitar. This is very frustrating and I myself am thinking of selling. Some times I can dial in some kid tones . But mostly saying no balls tone for this reason I will be looking for a better product with less hassles so I can concentrate on playing guitar

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Would be helpful if you posted your settings. I hear the distortion, but it sounds like your level is quite high. Most suspicious of your your channel volume. Have you tried backing it down to half of your setting. There are amp models where 50% channel volume is too high even with a middle in the road drive setting and guitar input level. Just a thought and a simple thing to change unless you already sold.

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Would be helpful if you posted your settings. I hear the distortion, but it sounds like your level is quite high. Most suspicious of your your channel volume. Have you tried backing it down to half of your setting. There are amp models where 50% channel volume is too high even with a middle in the road drive setting and guitar input level. Just a thought and a simple thing to change unless you already sold.

Hi Martin - thanks for the tip.  I've troubleshot EXTENSIVELY to determine that it's not resolved by levels in the chain, guitar type, input settings, output, etc.  It's just how the POD performs.  That's why I didn't share the settings or ask for tips to resolve it, I've already been far down that road.  At this point I'm just curious how many people actually hear the issue, think it sounds fine, think it's unacceptable, etc.

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This all takes time I find my self tweaking and messing around with pod 500 more than I play guitar. This is very frustrating and I myself am thinking of selling. Some times I can dial in some kid tones . But mostly saying no balls tone for this reason I will be looking for a better product with less hassles so I can concentrate on playing guitar

 

I hear you.  I expect to have to spend time tweaking to get a great tone on anything, but not huge amounts of time try to eliminate something that sounds unpleasant - that's unacceptable to me.  It's not how I want to spend my time when I'm trying to be creative.

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the Line6 guy told you the truth..
what you are hearing is an intentional part of the modeling..
 
real tube amps exhibit to a certain degree those little dirts, they are part of the game, if they disturb you so much the only thing you can do is to try to mask them with your chain of fx and settings..
 
I found an interesting video clip showing 12 cranked low-mid gain real amps
as you can see and hear all tube amps especially when cranked tend to be dirty to some degree
 

 

 

Hey there, thanks for the vid.  To me (and a producer buddy I shared this with) the dirt on these doesn't sound like the dirt on the pod samples.  The pod sample crossover distortion sounds digital and unpleasant to me.

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you're welcome

 

everyone has his own opinion

and to me it seems instead that the dirt of the pod samples of your clip is very similar to that of some of the amps shown in the vid I posted..

and all those amps are just cranked, not tweaked at all to give the best tone..

 

what I can say is that in my case with my equipment I don't feel/have the same your problem and personally I'm happy with the sounds I get from my HD500..

 

I agree.  I was very surprised at how close the HD sounded to the youtube.  Variax on Lester 1, Pulled up the amp on the HD and turned the drive up to 100 with no other adjustment to the amp and no effects.  Slightly different yes but I didn't even try to match the tones.  Just a quick comparison.  It made me very happy about my choice of the HD.  Lets also keep in mind the amps are from extremely different years and who knows what guitar the youtube poster used.  By the way, I played them both through my near field monitors at the same time.

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I hear that noise in studio/direct when running straight to PA very clearly, but when using DT25 it isn't there. My direct tones use full amps and my DT tones use preamp only. Power amp modeling issue?

 

Since crossover distortion occurs in the power section, yes it's a power amp modeling "issue" of sorts.  That's why you don't hear it when using preamp models.

 

Here's a good explanation of what you're hearing, along with a hint on how you might go about reducing it in the HD:

 

http://www.aikenamps.com/CrossoverDistortion.htm

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To me (and a producer buddy I shared this with) the dirt on these doesn't sound like the dirt on the pod samples.  The pod sample crossover distortion sounds digital and unpleasant to me.

 

 

Really? To me the distortion in the clips you put up sounds very similar to the distortion in the Youtube clip hurghanico put up... And to be honest, the both sound similar to what happens if I drive the input of a Fender amp really hard with it cranked. The thing is, though, I often don't get to turn up a real amp that much. With the HD, it's very easy to crank the models more than you ever would in real life, so you run into these sorts of things pretty easy.

 

All that being said, I still don't think the tone in your clips sounds bad. I kind of like it, to be honest. Now, if pristine clean is what you were going for, yeah, that's definitely not it. But for slightly broken up and chewy sounding, I liked it.

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I have not sold I love the pod its just frustrating some times its a great peice for the money, I am just over loaded, its a guitarist thing all way trying for perfection. I am triying to have digital with krk 10s, tube with blackstar ht 5 ; solidstate with Taylor k1, I guess I should take it easy get back to basics, but I do have one question I have asked before with no response, the k 1 has stereo input so would take 2 1/4 outs so how would you hook up the black star I need 1 more 1/4 out?the xlr are in to my interface to power krk, if I use the fx send it would cancel out the 2 1/4, and if I used the head phone jack same thing, can it be done, I am thinking the a spliter out of one of the 1/4? Thanks rock on

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the youtube poster used a Gibson '61 SG with bridge pickup, he recorded a loop with a Boss Loop Station and connected the FX to every amp..

 

a Shure SM57 was placed against the amp cloth, about 1-2 inches off-center of the speaker. An Apogee Duet A-D converter was used into Garage Band..

 

so I think that with your VAX Lester 1 you should have had very similar to the video results, as was the case..

 

IMO the Line6 programmers did a superb job in nailing the tones and behaviours of the real amps and FXs, so good that you have to really know (or discover) how to tweak properly the models as you should do with the real things to get good results..

 

not too easy and ready packed things here as it's not a toy, it's a professional device..

Well I disagree. Most of the valve amps I have owned needed hardly any tweaking, in fact most them had just a volume and tone control some had no tone control at all. The only one that had a gain control was the tiny terror. Most of these amps were very old but even now I have my recent AC 4 which has only volume and tone. I'm not sure whether the HD stuff is not a toy but it seemed like one to me.

 

I have the JTV 69 and although it sounded reasonable through the HD, when I plugged it into the amp, no effects, the guitar came alive, this same effect happened when I plugged in the Joyo pedal. With the HD it all sounded like a digital mess to be quite honest what with the crossover distortion? and all that. I just don't think Line 6 nail it, in fact no one nails it. The true valve sound I believe cannot be modeled as yet and possibly cannot ever be. Like I say though I am not young, grew up with valves and have stuck with them until this recent experiment, but it's back to analogue for me. It's strange though that the digital variax sounds real good straight through a valve amp but not so good through it's digital companion. Confused.

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using the word "tweaking" I probably spoke too approximately of what I wanted to say more in general and not only for the amp itself..

 

as in reality it makes much difference how it's done the whole chain to get a certain sound, the same happens in the digital world of the pod ..

 

which guitar are you connecting?

which pickups are you using?

guitar volume and tone are set as?

 

which effects are you using and in what order are they?

which of them are before the amp and which after?

which are the settings of each one?

which amp are you using?

which are the settings?

 

which cab are you using?

which mic and where?

 

and the list goes on .. each element contributes to a significant difference in the final result

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

what I know is that I heard c-r-a-p sounds from the 100% real tube things, and also from the digital counterparts..

and as opposed to that, I heard also really excellent sounds from both worlds..

 

this fact for me is more than enough to believe that given that someone has at least a decent equipment, at the end, the final results depends only on its real skills, which if missing can still developed..

Most of the above concerning the list I don't have to think about, just plug the guitar in turn the amps up and bobs your uncle, very simple. Live, the sound chap set the mic up and the whole show went through the PA, I just did the usual thing, play.

 

I do think and having owned many ancient valve amps that less is more, the biggest amp I owned was a Roost Session master from 1976 which was 100 watts it had a few more knobs to twiddle, the Ac 30 from the 60's had a few too, but these were relatively simple beasts and once sorted they stayed sorted. Most of them since have been 15 watts or less which I find to be on the money. I can pretty well play anywhere with these very simple amps/ combos. No matter what I did with the HD I knew it would not be able to cut it even without the crossover distortion, but I had a go.

 

There will always be arguments between the digital crowd and the tube/valve fanatics. I went to a hi fi event down in Windsor at the weekend and the bitchin about valves v digital was loud, clear and very vocal towards who's right and who's wrong. The answers  probably blowing in the wind. Me, I have never really used digital amps apart from a Line 6 spider which I bought and sold two weeks later, but I thought lets give them another try. Like I say. The Variax is quite a nice guitar, it still has the digital thing about it, but it's very versatile for what I am up to now. In my opinion the HD isn't, which is a shame. Maybe I should of gone with the stripped down 300 version instead. but it's to late now.

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probably that's the point..

 

you're used to playing live with a real amp not too close to your ears ..

so the air and the surrounding environment function as a filter respect to what you hear and perceive, masking some less pleasant nuances ..

 

is only the sound guy then that does all the "dirty" work and other things to make the most of what comes from the microphone attached to the amp..

 

especially if you use the pod for recording you have to think a little more as a sound engineer, and you should expect to grasp also some strange little nuances and dirts that you didn't note before when playing live..

 

probably if you just connect the pod to an external amp and play it live many of those little details will be lost in the ambience

 

Yes.  I think he's comparing playng a live amp and what you hear (and feel) from the amp itself to the HD.  Technically that's not what the HD is reproducing.  It's reproducing a recorded amp or amp through a PA, not a live amp.  In each case a mic is used.  So essentially the HD reproduces a miced amp, not a straight amp.  Two different things.  That's why it comes so close to that youtube clip.  He essentially used what the Line 6 gear was reproducing down to the same mic and mic position.

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"if you hear any amp from 3 meters distance on stage, and if you put instead your ear very very close to the cab, sure you'll hear some differences, even if not as many as a mic could capture.."

 

Yikes... :o

 

There is also the beam thing - most guitarists set their tone with their ears way off axis because they don't have ears on their knees.  So what if the audience gets ice pick treble beamed at them at least it sounds good to me....

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I don't know dude, I know I get really nice tone out of my POD. I agree the tone in your recording sucks, and when I went to SoundCloud the first thing I noticed was the audio "graph" (the visual they give you of the audio signal) was pegged all the way thru--it looked like a rectangle more than a wave form. In my experience, that happens when my input signal is too high for my recording device or software. Just a thought.

 

So again, I agree what you posted sounds pretty terrible, but I know first hand that this device is capable of producing really good tone. So, no offense, but your recording is not "just how the POD performs."

 

Hi Martin - thanks for the tip.  I've troubleshot EXTENSIVELY to determine that it's not resolved by levels in the chain, guitar type, input settings, output, etc.  It's just how the POD performs.  That's why I didn't share the settings or ask for tips to resolve it, I've already been far down that road.  At this point I'm just curious how many people actually hear the issue, think it sounds fine, think it's unacceptable, etc.

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everyone has his own opinion

and to me it seems instead that the dirt of the pod samples of your clip is very similar to that of some of the amps shown in the vid I posted..

and all those amps are just cranked, not tweaked at all to give the best tone..

 

See, it's that jagged surface distortion on the softer playing half way through my clip in particular - I can't eliminate it it (have tried, very thoroughly) and I don't hear that on recordings of real tube amps.  What I'm confused about is whether other players hear that distortion and just don't mind it, or whether they just don't really hear it at all.  To me there's a nice warm very slightly crunchy tone underneath, and this nails-on-chalkboard dirty distortion on the surface, and I can't record with that, not for any kind of delicate playing in a subtle mix.  Listen to my clip again from the mid point, do you hear what I'm talking about, and if so, do you think it sounds good?  Honest question.  https://soundcloud.com/potential178/pod-hd500-unwanted-distortion

 

 

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All that being said, I still don't think the tone in your clips sounds bad. I kind of like it, to be honest. Now, if pristine clean is what you were going for, yeah, that's definitely not it. But for slightly broken up and chewy sounding, I liked it.

 

No, I'm going for slightly broken up, and I like the tone in general, but particularly from the mid point on with softer playing, there's an unwanted distortion on the surface that just sounds wrong to me, and to others.  Listen really closely from the middle on, listen for that messy break-up that falls off about 3/4 of the way through each chord ringing out: https://soundcloud.com/potential178/pod-hd500-unwanted-distortion

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...

which are the settings?

which cab are you using?

which mic and where?

 

and the list goes on .. each element contributes to a significant difference in the final result

I realize you weren't asking me, just replying to the other post, but for reference, I tried with multiple guitars with different pickups, multiple outputs, adjusted input impedance, all the levels in the chain, and the sample is a simple amp with no effects in the chain, drive probably around 40%.  I didn't bother specifying anything because I hear this "crossover distortion" sound on almost every preset or new patch, whether it's a distortion pedal or a simple amp with a bit or a lot of drive.  Sometimes it's more obvious, sometimes it's kind of subtle, and sometimes if there's an effect like a flanger after the amp in the chain it's not there.

 

The ONLY thing I can do to eliminate it is by lowering the guitar volume or the drive on the amp to the point the tone is completely clean.

 

In my clip I think you can hear it most clearly on the light playing half way through - it's the rattly distortion on top that falls off 3/4 of the way through each chord ring-out.  https://soundcloud.com/potential178/pod-hd500-unwanted-distortion

 

Line6 says that's how it's supposed to sound, but it just sounds wrong to me, and to a few others with very pro ears that I've run it past.  I plugged into a Hughes & Kettner tube head at the store this weekend, dialled in a very slightly distorted tone like that, and most definitely didn't hear that sort of "crossover distortion."

 

I don't mean to be a troll with this post, I was honestly very curious whether other people hear it in the sample and if they do, whether they find it acceptable or not.

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especially if you use the pod for recording you have to think a little more as a sound engineer, and you should expect to grasp also some strange little nuances and dirts that you didn't note before when playing live..

 

Just to play devil's advocate here a bit: I shared the sample, and the video I linked to with a friend who used to engineer for years and then went on to produce big names in LA, now producing big names in Canada ... his diagnoses: "Yeah, that's digital. No, I don't have to try to filter that sort of thing out when recording from tube amps in the studio."

 

 

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I don't know dude, I know I get really nice tone out of my POD. I agree the tone in your recording sucks, and when I went to SoundCloud the first thing I noticed was the audio "graph" (the visual they give you of the audio signal) was pegged all the way thru--it looked like a rectangle more than a wave form. In my experience, that happens when my input signal is too high for my recording device or software. Just a thought.

 

So again, I agree what you posted sounds pretty terrible, but I know first hand that this device is capable of producing really good tone. So, no offense, but your recording is not "just how the POD performs."

 

A few thoughts:

 

1) in my experience soundcloud pretty heavily compressed the file, so not sure how much of the shape of the waveform may be a result of that,

 

2) regardless, that "crossover distortion" noise is audible via XLR outs with a prime signal level into my MOTU, USB, or headphones out, regardless of any levels in the chain.  The only thing I can do to eliminate it is drop the drive or the guitar volume WAY down until there's no distortion left at all.

 

3) I hear the exact same noise on the video link I posted

 

4) when I say it's "just how the POD performs" I'm quoting Line6.  They listened to the sample in their "lab" - and they apparently all agreed that it was "a good tone" and sounded how it was supposed to sound.

 

See, you're the first one (on here) saying it sounded terrible.  This is what I was most curious about and intended in the post: I wanted to know how many people actually HEAR that nasty distortion, and whether they think it sounds fine or unacceptable.  I think it's unacceptable, as does the profoundly amazing guitar player at the music shop (while trying out a new HD 500 at the shop to rule out it being a problem with my unit), as does my producer friend, etc.  I was baffled to have Line6 reply that the tone sounded good to them.

 

Anyway, I hadn't intended to argue that it's bad, I just wanted to know how many people hear it, but, yeah: "just how the POD performs" were Line6's words.

 

 

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 It's reproducing a recorded amp or amp through a PA, not a live amp.

 

That's something people need to understand. Hearing your guitar from a cab is totally different from hearing your guitar from a mic'd up cab or anything simulating that. A mic'd cab will only get certain frequencies of the cabinet, depending on position, and frequency response of the mic.

 

 

I don't know dude, I know I get really nice tone out of my POD. I agree the tone in your recording sucks, and when I went to SoundCloud the first thing I noticed was the audio "graph" (the visual they give you of the audio signal) was pegged all the way thru--it looked like a rectangle more than a wave form. In my experience, that happens when my input signal is too high for my recording device or software. Just a thought.

 

So again, I agree what you posted sounds pretty terrible, but I know first hand that this device is capable of producing really good tone. So, no offense, but your recording is not "just how the POD performs."

 

 

That would be digital clipping if that was the case, and that means he needs to turn down the final output stage of his chain to not clip, and/or put a compressor/limiter on the end.

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Just to play devil's advocate here a bit: I shared the sample, and the video I linked to with a friend who used to engineer for years and then went on to produce big names in LA, now producing big names in Canada ... his diagnoses: "Yeah, that's digital. No, I don't have to try to filter that sort of thing out when recording from tube amps in the studio."

 

The sound you hear isn't just because the POD is digital... It's because it's not dialed in correctly. There are ways to get a cleaner tone with the HD series, but you don't seem to be interested in actually finding solutions.

 

The thing is if you have the drive around 40%, that can actually be pretty high on a non-master volume amp. On a Deluxe Reverb, for instance, that very well may be past the point where you start getting power tube break up depending on what type of guitar you have plugged in. Have you tried adjusting the deep editing parameters on your tones?

 

Anyway, it's not my place to try to make you like the product. If you don't, you don't. I just think you're selling it a bit short.

 

Anyway, I hadn't intended to argue that it's bad, I just wanted to know how many people hear it, but, yeah: "just how the POD performs" were Line6's words.

 

 

I think you're making a bit too much out of what the Line 6 people said. They were affirming that nothing in your clip was the result of defect, but it is possible to have sounds where the crossover distortion isn't an issue. It's not always there. Forgive me if you said already, but what type of guitar did you use to record these clips?

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I don't know what crossover distortion is, or what digital clipping is, but have you ever played a Plexi? It has a similar kind of character to what you posted, but it really sounds to me that your post is mostly just poorly recorded.

 

My only point is this: the POD does not sound like your recording when I use it. I'm sure I could dial up something equally terrible if I tried, but I'm trying to make music. So I don't know what your point is. Many people use these things to make really excellent sounding music.

 

Is it easier to screw the sound up on these--or as others have said, with my old tube amp I could just plug in and go? Sure. More options certainly make anything harder to use. If I wanted easy, that's the route I'd go. But I'm trying to make music.

 

To me, and I'll grant you it's not everyone's cup of tea, the versatility afforded by these devices far outweigh the minuscule and I'll say "alleged" sacrifice in perfect tonal quality. I'd rather be able to switch between really good models of a Boogie and a JCM800 (in stereo) for a rock song, and go to an AC30 for something quieter, than have to choose one amp and try to make it sound close to all of the above. That to me is a true sacrifice...buying and lugging around a great tube amp for its tone, and then sticking a million pedals in front of it so it can sort of sound like AC/DC once in a while.

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I don't know what crossover distortion is, or what digital clipping is, but have you ever played a Plexi? It has a similar kind of character to what you posted, but it really sounds to me that your post is mostly just poorly recorded.

 

My only point is this: the POD does not sound like your recording when I use it. I'm sure I could dial up something equally terrible if I tried, but I'm trying to make music. So I don't know what your point is. Many people use these things to make really excellent sounding music.

 

Is it easier to screw the sound up on these--or as others have said, with my old tube amp I could just plug in and go? Sure. More options certainly make anything harder to use. If I wanted easy, that's the route I'd go. But I'm trying to make music.

 

To me, and I'll grant you it's not everyone's cup of tea, the versatility afforded by these devices far outweigh the minuscule and I'll say "alleged" sacrifice in perfect tonal quality. I'd rather be able to switch between really good models of a Boogie and a JCM800 (in stereo) for a rock song, and go to an AC30 for something quieter, than have to choose one amp and try to make it sound close to all of the above. That to me is a true sacrifice...buying and lugging around a great tube amp for its tone, and then sticking a million pedals in front of it so it can sort of sound like AC/DC once in a while.

 

Digital clipping is what happens when the volume exceeds the maximum amplitude that a digital signal can have. The bit-depth of a digital signal is how many bits are used to tell where the sample's amplitude is. If the volume is larger than the bit depth, then you lose that data of amplitube and it just clips to the top or bottom of the maximum decibel level that bit depth can give you.

 

Digital clipping is basically hard clipping distortion.

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That would be digital clipping if that was the case, and that means he needs to turn down the final output stage of his chain to not clip, and/or put a compressor/limiter on the end.

 

I get that sound regardless of output levels, via XLR/USB/phones, have tried five different guitars on the front, two different HD500s to confirm it's not a bug, adjusted input impedance, doesn't matter where levels are at in the chain, I hear it on presets and on very simple patches consisting of nothing but a low-gain amp with the drive up just enough for a bit of break-up.  The ONLY way I can seem to clear that clipping-type noise out of the tone is to lower the guitar volume or drive to the point there's no distortion in the tone at all.

 

I was just curious how many others notice the sound and are or aren't bothered by it, but folks are quick to assume it's just user error.

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The sound you hear isn't just because the POD is digital... It's because it's not dialed in correctly. There are ways to get a cleaner tone with the HD series, but you don't seem to be interested in actually finding solutions.

 

The thing is if you have the drive around 40%, that can actually be pretty high on a non-master volume amp. On a Deluxe Reverb, for instance, that very well may be past the point where you start getting power tube break up depending on what type of guitar you have plugged in. Have you tried adjusting the deep editing parameters on your tones?

 

I think you're making a bit too much out of what the Line 6 people said. They were affirming that nothing in your clip was the result of defect, but it is possible to have sounds where the crossover distortion isn't an issue. It's not always there. Forgive me if you said already, but what type of guitar did you use to record these clips?

 

I didn't specify the guitar or patch details, because I've tried five guitars on two HD500s, I hear that unwanted distortion on almost any preset or new patch other than perfectly clean ones - any guitar, any output, every level in the chain tested.  I wasn't looking for solutions in the thread because I already spent weeks on forums, back and forth with line6, out to the music store to check another unit, etc.  The ONLY thing that has worked for me to eliminate that unpleasant clippy sounding distortion is to have no distortion at all, either by lowering the drive or the guitar volume to the point the tone is completely clean.  

 

Line6 said specifically that they thought the tone sounded good, that they'd be happy with the tone.  That's what got me curious about how many people actually hear that distortion noise I'm referencing in the clip.

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I don't know what crossover distortion is, or what digital clipping is, but have you ever played a Plexi? It has a similar kind of character to what you posted, but it really sounds to me that your post is mostly just poorly recorded.

 

My only point is this: the POD does not sound like your recording when I use it. I'm sure I could dial up something equally terrible if I tried, but I'm trying to make music. So I don't know what your point is. Many people use these things to make really excellent sounding music.

 

Is it easier to screw the sound up on these--or as others have said, with my old tube amp I could just plug in and go? Sure. More options certainly make anything harder to use. If I wanted easy, that's the route I'd go. But I'm trying to make music.

 

To me, and I'll grant you it's not everyone's cup of tea, the versatility afforded by these devices far outweigh the minuscule and I'll say "alleged" sacrifice in perfect tonal quality. I'd rather be able to switch between really good models of a Boogie and a JCM800 (in stereo) for a rock song, and go to an AC30 for something quieter, than have to choose one amp and try to make it sound close to all of the above. That to me is a true sacrifice...buying and lugging around a great tube amp for its tone, and then sticking a million pedals in front of it so it can sort of sound like AC/DC once in a while.

 

Yeah, I hear you, I used to perform in show & tribute bands, I needed a wide variety of tone, hence I've been using Line6 from the original bean, the AX212, variax acoustic, and now the HD500.

 

I'm also trying to make music; record it, specifically, and I picked up the HD500 on spec because of course the versatility appeals, but I can pick a preset or set up a new tone that is nothing but an amp with a bit of drive, grab my strat, tele, ibanez or gibson, and via XLR, USB or phones, I hear that nasty little clipping sound on top of the tone, and I've spent heaps of time trying to dial it out, hunting forums, back and forth with line6. I assumed for the past two months that my unit was defective, just resolved recently that it's not.

Anyway, I realize it's working for a lot of people, so I was wondering if that's just because they don't notice or don't mind that clippy-distortion sound.  Almost all of what I find for recordings produced with the HD seem to be high gain, and of course it's harder to hear that sound in a high gain tone (though I still do) and even harder in a mix.  I finally found an extensive thread of people discussing this exact sound, calling it cross-over distortion, and it seems it is a particular issue on the HDs with low gain amps once the drive is up enough to get just a bit of break-up.  That's the exact tone some of us want, a nice warm light crunch, hence me only providing the short clip with one tone in spite of it being an issue I hear on almost all presets and amp models.

 

Anyway, just to be clear, it's not a recording issue.  The signal out wasn't too hot, and that sound is there regardless.

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/3jyhrwlgckfxqn6/test%20track.mp3

 

...

 

personally I don't hear any nasty clipping or crossover distortion

 

hope it helps

Hey, that was really nice of you to take the time to do that.  :)  Thank you.

 

The tone is higher gain than the type I was aiming for, I'd say try the Fender BDR normal with drive dialled in anywhere between 20 to 40ish, wherever it needs to be to just start to get a bit of break-up.

 

I'll listen to your sample a little later when I can give it more attention, can't at the moment, but first quick listen my impression was that I didn't hear the clippy sound.  

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I have the same suspect..

 

I'm tellin' ya, I hear that sound via USB, phones, XLR with a good signal to my MOTU, ... with any of the five guitars I've tried, on both the HD500s I've tried.  I've spent extensive time trying to "dial it out" but only thing that works is to stick with perfectly clean tones.

 

Whatever it is, it's not the recording.  The signal out to the MOTU for those recordings wasn't too hot, and it sounded exactly the same on phones.

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I'm glad if the recording can be of any help..

 

even if you said that you had the clipping problem with any HD amp, when I'll find the time I'll try to do a recording also with the Deluxe normal channel..

 

I have the impression your problem depends on something else like I dont know, it could be: a bad guitar or USB cable, or maybe buffer/latency not set properly for your computer, too many usb devices connected at the same time.. who knows?

It's not on the computer end, I get it via USB or XLR through a MOTU.  Not guitar, I've tried five.  Not the unit, I've tried two HD500s. I also hear the exact same thing in that video I posted.  I don't think I hear it on your sample.

 

From what I can tell, it's mainly an issue on low gain amps with the drive at the point of giving just a bit of break-up, though I often hear it on higher gain stuff as well.

 

This thread kind of went off the rails though, I hadn't intended for it to be about problem solving, I've already been through that extensively, including with Line6 support ... at this point I was just wondering whether people hear what I'm talking about or not.  I was curios whether I just have more picky ears at this point ... if people are getting that sound but just not noticing it or not bothered by it.

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It's not on the computer end, I get it via USB or XLR through a MOTU. Not guitar, I've tried five. Not the unit, I've tried two HD500s. I also hear the exact same thing in that video I posted. I don't think I hear it on your sample.

 

From what I can tell, it's mainly an issue on low gain amps with the drive at the point of giving just a bit of break-up, though I often hear it on higher gain stuff as well.

 

This thread kind of went off the rails though, I hadn't intended for it to be about problem solving, I've already been through that extensively, including with Line6 support ... at this point I was just wondering whether people hear what I'm talking about or not. I was curios whether I just have more picky ears at this point ... if people are getting that sound but just not noticing it or not bothered by it.

It's there. You're not crazy. It's not there on hurghanico's. I wonder if it is an issue with noise/ distortion from the 1/4" in? I assume hurghanico's using the VDI input. Mixer settings? Hurghanico's is boosted +6. Perhaps the output is under driven? I know it sounds stupid, but what do you have to lose?
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I know where Blue Brain is coming from as I have tried everything too. It now seems more are hearing it. It matters not to me anymore because the units up the road but it is interesting and I knew I wasn't alone when I first heard it. I don't use computers for music production, just my Roland boss standalone recorder, the HD was Line in. I didn't get around to using it through my amp because that's not what I wanted it for.

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