Recording Troubles

[Smorman]

Static everywhere... no matter what I change it just seems to put this fuzz sound.  NO I don't want to use a noise gate.  With the Spider 3 I was able to record with any fuzz shshhshshshsihishing in the background, so when I spend 500 bucks on this HD500X I should be able to record even more?  So enlighten me anyone?  Is there some secret to not having the fuzz without using a noise gate (I lollipoping hate noise gates... doesn't fix the problem just masks it.  I can still hear that fuzz when I play)

So to recap here.  lollipop Noise gates, I can only get clean sounds for recording, but I play metal and punk, so do I have to go back to the Spider?

[ColonelForbin]

Wow, there are so many possible factors I don't know where to start!

 

I've had issues similar to what you describe, but it was coming from bad power in my 100+ year old building.

I just recently upgraded my rig to include a JTV59 and a DT25, so I am rebuilding all my patches from scratch,

and dumping the noise gate on all of them. I know how you feel, a noise gate is just a filter, and it does filter unwanted noise, but also filters tone and details that would prefer to not be filtered out!

 

I guess, take a stab at some of these ideas to make sure everything is set up right for direct recording, and maybe simplify some patches for testing before going all in? For my background, started the lin6 adventure with an X3Live, went for the HD500 in 2010, and just added the JTV and DT25 in January 2014.

 

1.) make sure output mode is set to studio/direct.

2.) assign the HD500 as your soundcard

3.) double check the recording software settings and the HD500 settings - make sure they are all in the same bit rate and sample depth. IE, you will have issues if your recording software / device is expecting 16bit/44.1kHz, and your POD is digitally sending it 24 bit/48k.

 

Ok, that's the obvious up front stuff. Next, go to a blank patch in the HD500. I would guess you are using a regular guitar, plugging in 1/4" input on the HD500? Double check the settings on the POD regarding the "Z value" of the input. I had left it to auto most all the time, but I did notice that tweaking this setting will alter the overall tone of the guitar when you start changing that value. Check the input pad setting, see if on/off makes any difference.

 

Check the output setting - line or amp, make sure when doing direct USB recording, that the speakers are attached to the POD and not the computer. If you are hearing static or noise at this stage, you have another problem more like what I was dealing with, in terms of grounding issues, bad power, etc.

 

If possible, make sure the computer and the POD are connected to the same power source.

 

So, with no amp model, no fx, and everything as it should be up to this point, you should hear no fizz, no buzz, essentially you should be hearing dead silence.

 

Take that empty patch, and assign an amp model - go with a high gain, noisier type amp model to give it a proper test. Mesa Rectifier, maybe Plexi, Bogner, etc.

 

You may get some amount of noise from the amp model, but for now just ignore it and leave out the noise gate.

 

One note worth mentioning - the 'master volume' on the HD500 does not impact the recording volume. The 'mixer' block does increase / decrease the recording level, which can be useful to know. You can turn up the mixer to send hotter to recording, and turn down the master volume for relative playing volume.

 

Ok, so at this point if you have all of that in order, record something. Now, I don't know if your issue was you are hearing digital 'fizz' that you don't like, which is a part of the HD programming, or if you have wiring / power / pickup related issues, that the HD modelling is doing unwanted things to.

 

I realize that's all pretty vague, but with this thing it helps to eliminate any obvious issues so we can focus on comparing equivalent concepts. I have been doing a bit of recording at band practice lately, with a little Tascam that had onboard mics plus stereo line inputs. I run a mono from my DT25 to one of the line ins, I take a mono off the mixer for vocals and anything else in the mix, and then point the onboard mics at the drum kit, or even just into the room to get an overall mix.

 

In general, I am happy now with the overall sound of the JTV+HD500+DT25 as it pertains to recording, but I have had a fair bit of struggles prior to going to the JTV, when using 1/4" inputs to the front of the HD500, and using 1/4 outputs to various amps.

 

In general, you should be able to at least get an accurate rendering of what an amp model with zero fx sounds like. Once you hear what you like there, add FX - SLOWLY - one at a time, and spend the time tweaking each effect to sound good on and off. So, for example add a compressor, and it doubles your signal level, then go into a stomp box that also boosts your level, all of a sudden you may end up clipping the recording.

 

Hope that helps! One thing I can say, is when I first got my HD500 I was really mesmerized with the new amp models, and with the ability to direct A/B comparison between the HD500 and the predecessor X3L, I noticed a substantial increase in the amp model quality - but with it came a whole slew of additional parameters, settings, and choices - many of which I still do not fully comprehend.

[ColonelForbin]

One thing to clarify about the input impedance - it seems to relate to the first effect in the signal chain. I believe before they added the feature to tweak this setting, it was globally set to 1M. I don't know what that means, but I suppose it could be causing issues, if the first effect is set to something that doesn't play nice with the Z setting.

 

• Guitar In-Z (Knob 3) - Select the input impedance of the Guitar input. This feature affects tone and feel because your guitar pickups are being loaded as they would be by an effect pedal or a tube amplifier.

 

I would guess a wah, compressor, drive, and noise gate would all possibly require different settings, so that's why they added the AUTO option, so as you change patches, it switches itself up.

 

• Note: The Guitar In-Z setting affects the GUITAR IN input only. Please see the Impedance Ratings table at the end of this section to reference the input impedance of each individual model.

 

Now that I am using the VDI from the Variax, it has changed my thinking about how the signal goes from guitar to HD500, in terms of the A/D and D/A conversion steps.

 

Take a look at pages 2.4 - 2.7 in the latest HD500 manual; they actually have a chart with all the relative input-Z values based on effect, amp model. It states that all preamp and amp models are 1M.

 

Then for example, each effect seems to have it's own value: (these are all in that chart)

 

Screamer 230k
Color Drive 136k
Buzz Saw 230k

Facial Fuzz 22k
Jumbo Fuzz 90k
Fuzz Pi 22k
Octave Fuzz 230k
All Other Distortion Models 1M

 

All Dynamics Models 1M

[ColonelForbin]

Here's another little nugget of information I didn't realize as well:

 

About Source Input Signal Routing:
It is important to note how POD HD500 actually routes Source Inputs 1 and 2 through Amp & FX Blocks that are positioned “Pre†position. The following behaviors apply:
• In a configuration with no Amp or FX Blocks in Pre, Input 1 is fed only to Path A and Input 2 only to Path B. Therefore, this is the best configuration if you want to retain discrete Input Sources into Paths A & B.
• Placing an Amp Block or an active mono FX Model in Pre results in a “mix-down†of Input Sources 1 & 2, feeding the same, combined signal into each Path A & B.
• Placing a Stereo FX Model in Pre results in the left channel FX output being fed to Path A and its right output to Path B.*
• The Mixer Block’s Volume and Pan options provide independent control for Path A & B outputs before they are fed through any Blocks positioned “Post†the Mixer.
• By setting Input 2 to “Same,†this effectively routes your Input Source to both stereo Paths A & B (which is how you can feed one guitar input into two Amp Models and/or parallel FX, for example).
*Please also see “Model Types and Mono/