amsdenj

Regarding gain staging, here's a simple approach. First consider the placement of effects in the signal chain. Of course there are no rules, and you have to use your ears to find what you're looking for. But a typical signal flow might follow this pattern: Static Tone Shaping: Tone shaping comes first, including guitar tone and volume and pickup selection, followed by compression to control pick attack and sustain. Dynamic Tone Shaping: Next comes variable tone shaping devices like phase shifter, Wah Wah or Univibe, possibly Flanger too. These are modulation devices, but modulate phase or tone more than frequency, and therefore can go in front of distortion. Distortion and Overdrive: Overdrive, possibly gain staged for different boost/distortion and voicing levels. One should be for controlling metal lead distortion, and another for tailoring the overall amp sound. The second should clean up well when turning down the guitar volume while the metal distortion will often need significant bass and treble cuts and won't sound good with the guitar volume turned down. This section can also be handled completely by the amp if it has sufficient gain staging options like S-Gear. Using overdrive pedals however can give more control over the amount of distortion and overdrive, as well as the tone shaping. Amplifier: The actual guitar amplifier, especially if its a digital amp or a plugin into a DAW would typically come next. This allows all the modulation and ambient effects to be “in the air†and not over impacted by the amp itself. Modulation Effects: Mod effects like flanger and chorus. More classic tones came from pedals before the amp which provided most of the overdrive. In some cases, these effects were produced after the recording, especially flanger for a more pronounced effect that is operating on the distorted signal rather than being distorted by the overdrive. Flanger might go before or after distortion depending on how pronounced the effect should be. Chorus would generally be after distortion in order to simulate doubling or Leslie effects. Speaker cabinet. Mic Room Ambience Ambient effects: these go last. Usually Delay comes before reverb. Looper: You generally want the looper at the end (post) so that it records everything you hear. Its also not a good idea to put more than one signal at a time through a distorted amplifier. This is because when one signal is loud enough to cause distortion, the amplifier has no headroom left for the other signal and it will be ducked away and not be heard. That can be an interesting effect, but wouldn't be typical. You can use the looper at in the pre position if your tones are clean and you want the recorded and played signal to go through exactly the same signal chain. Another good use of the looper in the pre position is for hands free tone setup. For gain staging, start by turning off every effect except the amplifier. Put the Looper in the pre position, and record a short loop where you play pretty hard, ensuring your guitar is pushing the POD at its maximum. Then start at the head of the signal chain and work towards the tail, setting the levels for each effect, one at a time. To set the gain for an effect, turn the effect on and off, and use the effect's level or output control to get the on and off levels more or less the same. Turn the effect off and move to the next effect in the chain. This will ensure that you're not getting a lot of gain buildup when you turn on multiple effects that might result in some internal digital clipping. You'll also find that effects have sweet spots where they work best with a certain input level. If they are under or over driven, the effects may work ok, but not deliver their best results. It can take some experimenting to find the sweet spot, and set the effect controls to get the tone you want. Your ears can quickly tire and you may need to take rests or you may get less predictable results. Its ok to have an effect or two add some gain in the signal chain. I use the vintage pre right before any Fender model to provide extra gain, and a high pass filter to roll off some of the bass. That makes the Blackface amps distort much better and makes a nice switch from clean to driven. But be careful about having a compressor, distortion effect and the vintage pre all adding some additional gain, and all on at the same time. That might push the front of the amp, or even one of the effects too hard.

If you're set to FS5-FS8 mode, you can think of the bank switches and the Looper switch as "shift" switches to temporarily change the functions of FS1-FS8. I use this mode all the time as I don't change patches in a song that often, and two presses isn't that much more difficult than one. The bank switches change the FS5-FS8 mode to ABCD patch selection until you change the patch, then they revert back to controlling effects (or MIDI devices). The Looper switch also changes the MIDI CC messages sent be each footswitch so you can use them for different purposes. This way I also get 16 footswitches into Apple MainStage, treating the Looper switch as a mode shift switch. I have to turn the looper playback all the way down - I can't seem to find a way to turn the Looper off in a patch - although the manual and view display seem to indicate FS4 does this - but it doesn't seem to do anything but control the effects block.

Try S-Gear - www.scuffhamamps.com. And you can use it very nicely with a HD500X for an even more flexible rig. I think this comes close to beating anything but the very best tube amps.

Make sure you using the right expression pedal EXP 1 or EXP 2 to control the Wah. Which one to use depends on which position the expression pedal switch is in when you configure the Wah. Look on the HD500 to see which light is on, when the toe switch is pressed it will go to the other EXP controller. That's the one you want configured to control the Wah

I like the HD500X as a live unit, either as-is or into a computer. But you might like S-Gear for recording. See www.scuffhamamps.com. I have this setup with Logic Pro X or MainStage using the HD500X as an audio/MIDI interface, and provide a nice selection of front of the amp effects into S-Gear. Its a nice combination that allows the HD500X to be used by itself for simpler, no-computer live settings. I've also learned a lot from looking at how Mike Scuffham designs his digital amplifers, and how this translates to Bias on an iPad and the HD500X. Basically he appears to be revoicing the amps for increased gain, reducing bass a lot to clean up the mud, and reducing the high end to avoid fizz and ice picks. This can be done quite nicely by putting the Mid Focus EQ, or Vintage Pre just before the amp block in the HD500. Then use the high and low pass filters to adjust the voicing as desired, and control the gain into the amp front end. This works great to add more gain to the blackface and bassman Fender amps.

I probably does. Balanced and unbalanced shouldn't be mixed. I use a cable with XLR on one end and 1/4" TRS on the there to go from the HD500X XLR out to balanced 1/4" on the PA. Works fine.

When connecting the HD500X to MainStage, I want to be able to use the Looper switch as a "mode" switch so I can get two different functions on FS1 to FS8. For example, I set System > Utilities > FS Mode to FS5 - FS8, that makes all 8 footswitches available to control MainStage. I use these to control 8 front-of-the-amp effects blocks into a MainStage track with the S-Gear plugin. Then I use the Looper switch as a mode switch in order to send another set of MIDI CC messages with FS5 - FS8, I configure these footswitches to control the MainStage looper plugin, and the next/previous song. FS1 - Undo FS2 - Clear FS3 - Next Song FS4 FS5 - Record/Overdub FS6 - Play/Stop FS7 - Previous Song FS8 So the MainStage looper is mostly setup similar to the HD500X looper, and I have two extra footswitches to navigate the MainStage concert. I'm not currently using FS8, but it could be used to control something else in MainStage. My question is on FS4. The HD500X Advanced Guide on page 8.2 says FS4 can be used to turn looper mode on and off. The presentation mode display shows the looper icon on FS4. However, FS4 doesn't do anything different when the Looper switch is lit - it still sends CC 54, the same as if the Looper switch was off. I need to be able to turn the HD500X looper off entirely since I'm reusing its footswitches to control MainStage's looper and I don't want both loopers running at the same time. I currently do this by simply turning the HD500X looper playback volume all the way down. But it would be nice if there was some way to turn the global Looper block on and off, just like any other block - perhaps by selecting it in the signal chain and pressing the enter key. Is this a bug? Is the manual incorrect on page 8.2 and is describing the Looper switch, not FS4? Is there some other way to turn the HD500X looper off? Perhaps sending CC 99?

I did some experimenting tonight and found that the Flip Top bass amp with no cabinet model is the flattest amp, and works reasonably well with a Variax 700 acoustic. Its a little darker than with no amp, but pretty transparent with the tone controls set at 50%. The voicings probably aren't great for acoustic guitar since its a bass amp. But I do recall that Ampeg bass amps used hi-fi boost/cut tone controls, not the all boost controls used by Fender. This is an option to explore until version 2.6 comes out.

Check you Preferences and Java version. Maybe that's the problem.

I'm using a stereo power amp into a Fender Tremolux cabinet that has two Eminence coaxial, full range speakers and crossovers. This setup covers everything including acoustic guitar (Variax 700 Acoustic), mandolin, electric guitar and bass.

I found the answer in the advance manual of all places. The foot switches do respond to received MIDI, but on specific CC numbers, not the ones you configure in the MIDI control page. All I need to do is change all the MIDI mappings in MainStage to use the default CC messages assigned to the foot switches, then I think it will work. Will try that tonight. The more I dig into and use the POD HD500X, the more I like it.

Odd, the POD 2.0 could be completely controlled by MIDI - I created a Palm Pilot application to do exactly that many years ago. What API does the HD Editor use to interface with the POS - its not MIDI since its done through a USB connection. Is that API or the protocol it uses available?

I meant the MIDI controls for all the different amp and effect parameters, not just the hardware switches and dials.

I don't use the Apogee GiO with the HD500X. Rather I have two basic setups - Apogee GiO into MainStage using S-Gear for the guitar amplifier, or HD500X for everything. What I'm looking for here is a bit more hybrid in that I want to use the HD500X to replace the Apogee GiO to provide: 1. an audio interface 2. some before the amp plugins (compression, univibe, distortion, etc.) 3. MIDI control for MainStage and S-Gear MainStage and S-Gear provides flexibility and tones that compliment what's provided in the HD500X. But this is complex to setup and use. The HD500X doesn't sound as good, but it's close and certainly is simpler and easier to use. I use MainStage for backing tracks and the excellent looper, the HD500 looper is too short. So my issue is I want to use some of the HD500 foot switches to control the HD500 front of the amp plugins, and some to control MainStage and S-Gear though MIDI. I have all that working, but pressing the foot switches configured for MIDI don't reflect the control state in the foot switch light - they're always off. This isn't a big deal, but would be nice to have an option to echo back the MIDI control to the POD in order to change the foot switch light state. That's they way the GiO works.

I think we sometimes suffer from too many choices. I try to settle on just five patches, Acoustic (no amp yet, waiting for 2.6), Clean (Twin), Blues (Bassman or Deluxe), Crunch (AC30) and Metal (Marshall). I do find myself continually tweeking even just these four - usually to make them warmer. Its nice to hear other people have the same issues with constantly changing patches. I do suspect it has more to do with ear fatigue than something that's actually wrong with the patch. I also find that playing in context rather than by myself seems to make the patches sound better. Maybe that's part of the problem - its just not possible to set a patch by yourself, in your living room, at low volume, and expect it to translate to a full band live setting.

The older POD's provided documentation for the various MIDI control sequences so you could write your own programs to interface with the POD. But I don't see a similar document for the HD500X. Anyone know where I can get one?

That sounds like it would work, but using up effects blocks just to control lights seems like a waste. I have the effect blocks full, but don't switch them on and off with the the foots witches as they control things in MainStage instead. Rather I just reach down and turn them on and off at the beginning of a song with the POD controls. Its not that bad having the lights not display the state of the control in MainStage because 1) MainStage (or Logic Remote) does show the state properly, and 2) you can clearly hear the impact of the choice (otherwise why have it?). Just wondering if I was missing something simple. Just got the HD500X last weekend.

I'm using the Vintage Pre and various combinations of EQ now, but that doesn't make any use of the drive, bass, middle, treble, and presence knobs on the HD500, and the EQs are mostly tailored for electric, not acoustic guitar or mandolin. The POD X3Live was more flexible for this, but doesn't have the HD quality. I'll try the Hiwatt, using a spectrum analyzer to see how to use it with acoustic instruments. Hopefully this is only temporary until 2.6 comes out. I delayed getting an HD500X until I heard about this update as it now has the same capabilities as the X3Live, but with better quality models.

I've been able to configure HD500X foot switches to control things in MainStage from the POD, but haven't found a way to have the foot switch lights indicate the state of the MainStage control. I could do with with the Apogee GiO by having MainStage output the MIDI CC message back to the device. This didn't do anything with the HD500X. Is there any way for MIDI to control the foot switch light status?

Until the 2.6 release comes out with acoustic model, I need something to provide more tone control for my variax 700 acoustic. I know a Fender Twin in the normal chanel with bass and treble all the way down and middle all the way up is reasonably flat. But is there a better choice for an acoustic pre-amp in the HD500X amp models?

I've owned almost every POD Line6 has created, updating with each new model. When the HD500 came out, I really wanted to upgrade and get the better tones. But I play a combination of Variax 700 Acoustic, mandolin and electric guitar, and even some bass, and the HD500 just didn't have the required models there were in my X3Live. At the time, I said if Line6 ever added bass models, an acoustic preamp and global EQ, I'd get one. In the meantime I discovered Mike Scuffham's truly wonderful S-Gear (www.scuffhamamps.com), and all but concluded I was all done with PODs becase of the flexibility of an Apogee GiO, a MacBook Pro, MainStage 3 and S-Gear. The sound, ease of use (after a lot of setup), and flexibility were just fantastic. Then there was the 2.6 upgrade announcement. So I went out and picked up an HD500X thinking if it didn't do what I wanted, I'd take it back. Basically this is what I was after: 1. A simple, non-computer hardware device that was easy to setup and gig hardened 2. The ability to great tones and effects, especially on the Variax 700 Acoustic and mandolin 3. A workable mic input for those occassions when we needed one more (the mic input on the X3Live wasn't functional because of the sensitivity of the trim pot) 4. Acceptable clean, blues, crunch and metal electric guitar tones 5. A good audio interface to drive S-Gear with the ability to use some of the HD500X front of the amp effects (S-Gear has great chorus/flanger, delay and reverb, but that's it), and the ability to configure the foot switches so some control internal HD500X effects and others provide MIDI control of S-Gear or MainStage. Well, I was more than plesantly surprised. The Apogee GiO is a very nice sounding interface. But the HD500X sounded better to me, a little fuller, and cleaner. I was able to get good acoustic and mandolin tones. Once the new acoustic amp is available, they should be even better, and provide usable hardware tone controls on the unit. The mic input works and sounds great. And the setup with S-Gear and MainStage works perfectly. I find the HD500X front of the amp effects somewhat nicer than the pedalboard effects in MainStage/Logic. And they also work with the S-Gear standalone app which is convenient. I couldn't reproduce the S-Gear tones in the HD500X. S-Gear sounds more transparent, richer, no fizz, fantastic tone, live feel, and great behind the amp effects. But I could get different, and very servicable tones from the HD500X. They're different than S-Gear, and that's fine. Its nice to have the flexibility. Overall, very happy with the HD500X and looking forward to the 2.6 upgrade. Thanks Line6 for sticking with it.

Standard 2.5 to Platinum 2.5 Upgrade

I see that POD Farm doesn't really need the drivers unless you're using it with an X3 as the input/output device. I never do that, so I really only need the drivers for editing convenience. Hope Line 6 addresses this as Mavericks was introduced before the products were discontinued.

Ok, on Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks), doing the steps above causes Line 6 Monkey to show the Drivers are not installed, and attempting to reinstall the latest version no longer works. Tried it on two different machines. So now I have no working drivers and GearBox doesn't even partially work. Guess I'll try Line 6 support before the end of the year. I've been thinking about updating to the POD HD500, but don't because: 1. its been in production for a while now, and I don't want to get caught with old technology at this late date 2. not enough bass amp models 3. no mic preamp models 4. no acoustic guitar amp models I use my POD L3 Live with a Variax 700, mandolin, electric guitar and some bass for performances. So I need the flexibility.

But does the old 7.2.9 driver work with Pod Farm 2.5.6?