wolbai

Yep. The Lead parts should brought down in the mix - but that is a hard thing to do for me :lol:

The Lead parts are centered in the recording. Not very experienced with recording, but for Lead parts I mainly center them, otherwise the keys tend to come undefined and less articulated (searching for words - English is not my first language) to me. Occasionally I double the sound track of Lead parts also. Guitar Rhythm tracks are sometimes good to pan them somewhere in the stereo panorama.

Looking forward to listen to some recordings and ideas how to use the DR from other DR-user here !      

Tboneous,

I mean using the Direct Out Link of the DT50 instead of mic'ing the cab for recording.

It seems to me that my type of recording is pretty much more basic compared to yours: I never ever had mic'ed my amp with FOUR mics. But the tones you have recorded speaks for itself ... I consider your type of recording as a professional level.

As I am pretty much more basic I record - if at all - with the DT50 only  via the Direct Out Link. And this happens mainly in the Bands rehearsal room. We ocassionally do a ONE Take of songs at rehearsal and I later mix it up in Cubase. But the environment is pretty basic. For example we record the Drums only with one mic :D  and with a lot of unwanted instruments in nearly all the mics (exception is my amp ---> Direct Out) ...

We did the following recording, I think, 1 year ago. I have cut it together to the Leadparts I am playing. As I am a "preset fetishist" :D , I am using 4 presets in this song. I use 2 amps: the Marshal Plexi for the Rhythm-parts and the Mesa Boogie for the Leadparts. I played it with my JTV69 with a Warmoth neck. The Outro part consists of that inspiring Octo-Verb I sometimes can go grazy for. I also use the Harmonizer in one part. You can hear that the sound with Harmonizer is somehow scratchy. This is because of the power attenuator I have used while recording. (I have recently given up using a power attenuator - but that is another story).

All in all: the Direct Out Link of the DT50 is not too bad I would say. I use the Direct Out and sometimes the Radial JDX Reactor (DI-Box with a 4x12 cab emulation) for gigging. Not really Funky - it is more the Retro-road:

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=12447248&q=hi&newref=1

Yeah, theres no way to get distortion from the power amp and then have pristine clean reverbs etc after that, with or without an attenuator. Unless you take the line out from your attenuator, run that through you're verb and delays, then send that to another power amp - not overly practical.

WITHOUT a power attenuator I am pretty okay now with the overall tone including effects like reverb, delay etc. This is going to be provided by the DT50 as any other tube amp using its serial effects loop.

And even on Clean presets with the BF DBL (pre amp models) where the power section stays pretty undestorted, the usage of the power attenuator with mod-, delay, reverb effects had generated remarkable negative tone coloration to my ears.

As my technical knowledge is limited I think it is not the power section which causes the tone problems to me. It is the power attenuator which somehow cuts the amplitudes generated by these type effects. And I don't talk about bedroom level. I talk about 95 - 100 dba volume levels.

The MUTING of channel 2 on the POD HD doesn't show negative tone coloration so far to me. In combination with a significant lower Master volume setting AND some parameter-adaptions on specific amps which needs a high Master volume setting to get their power section saturated (to compensate unsaturated power section where needed), I consider the overall tone superior to the former one.

Again: not contra to power attenuators in general. They can help to adapt to the overall volume level you need/want to play. But to me the ones I have used (Rivera Rockcrusher, SPL Reducer) seems to have problems with the type of effects I have mentioned. I consider these ones as high end products.

Nothin? No " your stuff sucks TBone!" No "that was good, but check out these tones"...no thoughts, no questions, no answers, no contributions?....nothin!?!? Come on Dreamers, where ya at?

I listened to your tunes today. Although this is not my music style I go for: very good recording, tasty and decent guitar playing and good tones - impressed my friend!

Unfortunately my DT50 stays in the bands rehearsal room. So I mainly do recordings with the HD500 direct into an audio interface at home.

Any experience with recording through the Direct Out of the DT50 too? 

If you don't want to have experience by ear (which you may consider as speculation) than I am afraid you have to join the Line6 developers team to get answers to your questions :D

Clearly speaking: Line 6 does not give that type of details you are asking for in my opinion. (May be some of the Line6 Experts which have participated as beta testers can answer your detailed questions)

But I can confirm that my ears (speculator :D ) tell me, that L6 is using cab/sims in their standalone mode and in the 4 original voicings. This is more or less confirmed by the fact of the latest DT-firmware release which gives everybody a more detailed view how a DTXX is designed. So if you want to go for the 4 Voicing to make them sound the same over the POD HD, you should go for standard cab/sims ON when using Line6 combos and cabs.

If you use the DT-amp HEAD and a none-L6 cab, then the story might be different:

Assuming you have a 4x12 cab, I would start with cab/sim OFF on all amps where a half stack is the standard rig, because your own one should do it better than a cab/sim. But if you want to use the BF Double (= Fender Twin) on the same 4x12 cab, I would start with the standard cab/sim ON with the BF double amp model. As you are using a different (none- L66) cab, you have to experiment at that point a bit, because your speakers (which I don't know) are likely different to the Line6 speakers used in their cabs.

Hope my comments still helps, although they are based on speculation respectively experience on learning by doing ...

Like to give an update how my story with a power attenuator has continued in the meantime ...

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

I have tried in the meantime to minimize all the negative aspects which have come along using a power attenuator sound wise:

I mainly tried not to use effects like Reverb. I have tried different power attenuators (high end). I have tried to lower the Master Volume on the DT50. This all doesn't helped really. After playing more than 1 1/2 years with a power attenuator, I have faced the fact that to my ears:

- Modulation effects

- delay

- reverb

- effects like Harmonizer

very negatively affect the overall tone when at lower levels (I don't talk about bedroom levels; I mean rehearsal volume level in a 5-heads Band).

Other effects like Dist / OD / Compressors do not so much negatively affect the overall tone.

It seems to me that mainly MOD-effects, Reverb and delay are changing the guitar signal in a too "extreme" way so a power attenuators (and may be the speaker interaction as well) can  not handle the signal properly.

2 weeks ago I have reached a point where I was so frustrated with my sound after a gig that I decided to restart from scratch.

I first played the DT50 an the HD500 without a power attenuator and I tell you what: I have forgotten how good it sounds without a power attenuator! This was the point where I started thinking of finding a constellation with my DR playing without a power attenuator.

I then measured the former volume level at rehearsal level with my power attenuator and with a good VU-meter. It ended up with 95 to 102 dBa with Master Volume at 1 o clock depending whether it was for Rhythm or Lead parts.

Next I have identified the lowest Master Volume level where I accept the overall tone for most of my amp models I am playing. This Master volume level is 2,5 (I think this is 8.30 in clock terms).
This is already pretty loud.

As a next step I did some tests to reduce the mixer level in the POD HD presets: I reached the point where a complete MUTING of channel 2 doesn't sound negative to my ears and this lowers the overall volume of course. (The mixer is the one I see less or no impact on sound coloration).

I then measured the overall volume level again with the VU-meter. And this brought me to a overall rehearsal volume level which is similar to the former one when using a power attenuator.

I also tested the LVM mode in the DT50:

at 11.30 clock level the LVM with PRE amp models (I do not want to maintain two type of presets: one with pre amp models and one with full amp models). All in all there is a noticeable tone deterioration, but still acceptable - especially in comparison with my former solution using a power attenuator with mod-effects, delays, etc.

This Master volume level brings even lower dBa-level of 89 - 99 dba.

In both options (standard mode and LVM) I feel the need to adapt parameters depending on the amps I am using. All the amp models where the power section of the DT50 has a significant contribution to the overall tone, needed to be adapted. These are in my case: Plexi Lead, Park-75. On those presets I have modified the Drive-parameter of DIST or OD-Pedals, or compressor parameters, or the Drive-parameter of the amp model itself.

I finally don't come to the overall conclusion that a power attenuator has generally too many negative tone impacts to use it and that this applies to everybody. Without ANY effects (or only with DIST/OD pedals) I completely see the benefit for me. However using MOD-effects, delays, reverb effects quite regularly it turns out, after a long learning curve, that this is not the right thing to do any more for me personally.

Any thoughts?

You can find the specs here:

http://line6.com/support/docs/DOC-2322

The neck plays extremely good to me, because of the pretty thin shape. It supports faster playing and easy move between positions.

I have a JTV89F and a JTV59. The pickups of the JTV89F are hotter. Harmonics are better on the JTV89F. The JTV59 has a more mid-tone.

I would not say that the 89F is mainly intended for metal guitar players. I play all type of classic rock on the 89F and it sounds pretty good to me. And I seldomly using the drop tunings too.

Compared to the JTV59, I consider the 89F as a even more versatile guitar, because of the FR. Finally it is a matter of personal taste (body style, fretboard, etc.).

As I am also more or less not touching the tone knob, I have assigned the amp vol to the Tone knob to get some additional volume when needed.

There are some things I have found out so far using the tone knob to assign and control amp and/or effect parameters:

- Not aware that there is way to assign globally to all presets / Variax models. I do this on a preset level.

- Tone knob assignment works not with magnetic PUs. Only when choosen with a Variax model (maybe self speaking - but this wasn't to me).

- The amplifier-volume can only be assigned permanently, when I assign lowest amp-vol to MAX and highest amp-vol to MIN but not the opposite. Doing the opposite, the tone of the choosen Variax model is also affected when switching between presets, although tone is locked. I suggest to try this setting with the mix-parameter on the delay FX. Maybe this works for you.

- Switching the PU-position within ONE Variax Model terminates the tone knob control and original Tone is affected too.

I have played POD X3 Live and later the POD HD500 with a FRFR-system (RCF 310). Since 2011 I migrated to the so called "Dream Rig".

Not promoting anything here: But the "FRFR-system-road" (regardless what FRFR-system you use) cleary means considerable time spending on EQ-ing the FRFR-system to make it sound "right" or get it through the mix in the Band. The simple reason for that is: these FRFR-systems are made for a pretty much wider frequency bandwith than E-guitar rigs are.

Playing the "Dream Rig" (with a DT50 amp as the output system) time spending on tweaking / EQ-ing has been remarkably reduced to me. A lot of the amp sounds just sounds instantly right to me. Never found myself to increase / decrease any frequencies with a Studio EQ, etc. in my presets (the only exception is Acoustic sounds ---> direct to FOH and back to a floor monitor).

I am always astonished and wondering when user are claiming for more DSP-power  to setup the ultimate dual amp presets with another 8 slots for FXs.  Sorry this is not my needs I am looking for. But each to their own ...

I bought my HD500 in Sept 2010. And I am willing to spend after nearly 3 years with this amazing piece of gear some money in a new generation of POD HD with really ENHANCED functionality (from my perspective).

But the enhanced functionality I am looking for is improved sound quality in the amp models and the FX.

Not shure, if the +20% DSP-power of the HD500X enables the L6 developers to improve their algorithms in the future ...

Another major disappointment I see for many users (not for me) is the fact that the new HD500X is not capable to support different Output modes (studio Direct for FOH; Combo Power Stack for the amp).    

So all in all: no reason for me to switch to the HD500X for me. BUT Line 6: the first release of the POD HD is now nearly 3 years! Time to come up with a REAL next generation model with REAL enhanced functionality to cover the EXISTING customer base. And that makes me thinking ...

No. The HD500X has the same limitations in signal routing to Output modes than the HD500.

- 20% more DSP-power

- new footswitches

are the only new featurers I am aware of.

Hi Rewolf48,

(5) for 6-string and (4) for 12-string is exactly what I mostly prefer at the moment too.

Regarding compressors:

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

Place Compressors pretty early in a signal chain - for Acoustic and e-guitar sounds. Honestly speaking I am not sure whether this is "right". But at least to my ears it sounds "right" :D

Would be great, if other users chime what compressors they use for Acoustics, what parameters they are setting and how they place a compressor in their signal chain.

+1 for the usage of a Compressor and some EQ-ing.

Acoustics sounds are more challenging to me than E-guitar sound, because of their more complex frequencies and the various playing styles.

The Acoustic sounds may need different EQ-ing when playing:

- open position

- Alternate tuning

- finger picking

- strumming with pick

For gigging, I often cut frequencies lower than 80Hz (-12) and increase at 1.1KHz  and 2.2 KHz a bit.

I prefer using the VETTA COMP with SENS = 33% and LEVEL = around 70% as the very first effect in the signal chain.

I think everyone needs to fiddle a bit around to adapt it to the audio system and to the room the Acoustic sound is played.

Some of the POD HD Acoustics are pretty useful for recording AND gigging to me.

I find myself very often using the Gibson J-200 (no.5). Here are two recordings I did some where last year:

Dust In The wind (not very accurate playing):

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11430015&q=hi&newref=1

Here Comes The sun (with alternate tuning):

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11364076&q=hi&newref=1

For 12-string Acoustic I prefer the Guild (no. 4). The recording is also from 2012. I played the hell of a lot of different guitars tracks in that recording. The smart thing is the alternate tuning. It is originally played with a Capo on the 7th fret. With the alternate tuning I play it in the open position :-)

Hotel California:

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11620039&q=hi&newref=1

Playing Acoustics on a E-guitar for giging was one of the door openers for me to the JTVs.

The flip side of the medal is that I have my strings pretty low on all of my guitars. That is not the best for Acoustics. Especially when playing alone you hear the string noises.

I think it is also helpful to use thicker string when playing Acoustics on the JTVs. That is I guess the reason why Line6 has 10s - 46s as the standard setup. 9s sound a little bit too thin for my taste.

Hi kenaucre,

congratulations being a new DR owner !

I see that you have just recently got all the components at once. That is a lot of stuff to assimilate ... Retrospectively I was lucky that I got mine with severals months of interruption. This helped me to deal with each single piece step by step. But I still had a hard learning curve to go through. And after approx. 2 1/2 years with the DR I still have the one or another issue where I don't feel that I am at the end of my personal learning curve

Normally everyone turns into that honeymoon phase where everything as stellar / exciting / thrilling / etc. first. Then - sooner or later - it turns into a frustration phase where user struggle heavily with some fundamental issues like:

1. How do I get the original 4 voicings on my DT25/DT50 sound the same over the POD HD as playing the DT25/50 standalone ?

2. Why is there so a big difference in the overall volumes of the models and how can I level them ?

3. Do I use pre amp models or full amp models?

4. What Output mode shall I use with my DT25/50?

5. Should be the cab/sims on or off ?

6. How to I power the Acoustic sounds ?

7. etc.

If you ask me for some simple generic tips:

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

- Take your time and be prepared to go through a learning curve of 3-6 months depending on your experience.

- Don't get confused with the great flexibility of the DR

- Don't try to understand everything at once. Go step by step.

- Use the L6 forums: read the Threads to your specific questions and don't hesitate to ask a question. Use also the OLD read-only forums from Line6. There are a lot of good Threads in.

- Don't expect that there is that much clearly right or wrong how to use the DR in the manuals or in the forums or that you will find answers on all your questions in the manuals. There are often more answers to the same question and you

have to make up your own mind on some of them.

- Start with basics: learn how to create your own preset from scratch; don't rely on the existing ones in the POD HD or from customtone. These presets can give you an "inspiration" to your own ones. But they are heavily related to the guitar

player, or to specific purposes they were made for, like recording or gigging, and this seldom fits to your own capabilities and needs. Start only 1 amp and try to figure out how this amp sound best to you. Then add effects to your preset.

May be you also need to learn how to place the effects in the signal chain (depending on your preveious experience) and how the sounds is changing, if you place them differently.

Probably all things you may be already aware of or have already read somewhere else ...

Actually I am going to use the EXP-1 pedal and the JTV-tone knob controller in a song from Stevie Winwood which my Band is going to play in the near future. But in a version with his old friend Eric Clapton.

I will use the Marshall Plexi Lead amp model. The guitar sound I will do for that song will be mainly Clean. I add some sustain with a Tube compressor which is assigned to EXP-1 as the controller.

And I have assigned the delay mix parameter to the JTV-tone knob. For the recording I have used the Full amp model. The POD HD is linked to an audio interface over the XLR-connections. For live-performance I will the pre amp model.

I am playing my JTV 69 with the Strat model. I am using the position 4 + 2. Clapton uses very often the rarely used ones: 2-3-4 and sometimes pos. 1 (he plays a lot in position 3 - I saw him recently in a concert with big vidoe screens).

Another astonishing thing is that he is playing solos only with 3 fingers. His pinky is only in use when he is playing chords.

In the past I have only used the positions 5, 2 and 1. The amazing thing is the these positions 2-3-4 really makes the Clapton sound to me.

What I have realized is that when switching between position having the Tone-knob somewhere in between for the Delay mix, the tone is NOT going locked any more. This is somehow a flipside of the medal.

I thought that a recording is a good supplement to get an idea how the POD HD EXP-1 controller and the JTV Tone-knob controller can be used. These are just some phrases - nothing sensational - where I throw in the tube compressor and the delay mix with the controllers while playing. The overall sound is pretty clean and somehow a "Saturday morning recording" after two pods of coffee ;)

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=12416855&q=hi&newref=1

Any thoughts ?

Hold the VIEW-button 2-3 seconds and scroll right to 7/10 menue (Variax).

Set TONE to 100% (if not) with knob "4".

LOCK the TONE on your selected VARIAX-Model with knob "3" by scrolling and select "Tone" with locked sign.

This only of course works with VARIAX models. And not, if you play the magnetic PUs.

1. I read somewhere (I think) that the hd500 tuner doesn't work with the vdi connections? Or is that just with the modeled sounds?

Tuner works in both ways: VDI or 1/4 connection.And it works with modelled and mag-sounds.

2. Is there any reason I would use the VDI connection and the regular 1/4 output at the same time, or is that just overkill?

The best advantage of the HD500 is to use the VDI-connection. Start with that. You don't need therefore any battries, because you get power over the VDI-cable.

3. Can the VDI connection stand up to live use? It's basically just an ethernet connection going into the guitar. Not that I'll be jumping around onstage or anything, but is it secure enough for general usage?

The VDI-connection is a reliable link. I gig with it. No problem. Buy a separate VDI-cable. The existing one is only for home usage and download/upload to the PC.

4. I've been using the 4cm with my hd500 and a fender mustang III v2 with great results, does having a variax in that equation change anything?

no change. If it works with the HD500 then it works with the JTV as well. The only thing that can happen, is that the choosen JTV models makes a change of your preset necessary to adapt the volume, the level of distortion, etc.

Not shure if Line6 has mentioned that somewhere in their specs: The DT25/50 is not designed to be an appropriate acoustic guitar output section. This may lead to some kind of disappointment for new users, if they are not aware on that.

But the solutions using the DR with some additional equipment (mainly a FR-PA or FR-active speaker) was pretty simple to me. With the exception of a stereo cable, I had already everything in the Band equipment.


I haven't touched the L2M system from Line6 so far. All I know that you can switch the frequency according to E-guitar and Acoustic-guitar - so this is some kind of automatically EQ-ing which I guess is configurable via a POD HD preset and therefore switchable between presets over the Line6 Link.

But all other FR-systems I have used so far, for ALL the guitar tones (E-guitar and A-guitar) leads from my experience into a more intenisve EQ-ing exercises where the user needs some experience to get - especially the E-guitar - sound good. So this may turn into the same disappointment for some users. Using different output systems normally leads into an instantly "right" sound with little EQ-ing efforts.

(Before I changed to the DR solution, I played a L6 POD X3 Live and then the HD500 with a FR-active monitor system. I have had a hard time with lots of EQ-FX in my signal chain in the presets. Tweaking time has reduced significantly to me since I am using the DT50 for E-guitar and - as I already mentioned - a FR-active monitor (routed to the PA-mixer) for the Acoustic sounds.)

At the very end this discussion moves into that never ending story "whether a FR-system can really cope with a guitar amp for E-guitar sounds or not" (I don't want to stress that now).


katiekerry: "Even the electrics sounded bad, could barely tell the difference between models."

I disagree: my BF Double (= Fender Twin Reverb) or Plexi Lead 100 (= Marshall Plexi Lead 100 Watt) or Treadplate (= Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier) presets sound VERY different and close to the original amps.

YEP - meat to the bone please!

I hope this is going to be my HOMEBASE-forum in the future !

One thing which is in mind and speaks for that forum also, is:

this forum is by far more capable to transport the complete aspects of "Gigging" or "Recording" or "Home usage" with the DR than other forums which are picking up normally single topics which are important as well.

But being also realistic: there will be always some kind of overlapping to the existing forums I guess. But this is not bad to me.

Finally the future content of this forum will show its justification ...

Acoustic guitars have a wider frequency spectrum than E-guitars. Therefore the amps and their speaker cabs are designed differently to cover the different frequency bandwiths. If you play E-guitar over a FR/FR-system you have to heavily EQ that system so it sounds (a bit) like a guitar amp (mainly by cutting the frequencies below 100HZ and above 6-7 Khz). Especially the frequency range > 6000 Hz is important for Acoustic guitar sound. Normal E-guitar speakers are limited to 6-7 Khz.

If you use a POD HD and if you don't already use the FX-Send for external pedals, you simply can use that FX-Send function.

I am using NO AMP in a POD HD signal chain and some effects like COMP, chorus, some EQs and at the very end of the signal chain it is routed to the FX-loop.

The FX-loop is a stereo device, so you really have stereo sound from the stereo effects you are using and route it to the PA-mixer.

I then route via the FX-Send on the POD HD to the PA-Mixer and back to a RCF-speaker (FR/FR speaker) which is my floor monitor on stage.

On the Mixer you should have then 2 channels and you can pan them nicely in the stereo panorama for your Acoustic sound.

Hi Tboneous,

"I always keep the mixer set centered @ 0db. Do you find that a +7db colors your tone?"

All about the levels of mixer I do comes from my ears. There are guys in these forums which can explain this to you pretty much more technical than I do (I am just a guitar player :D ):

From -7db to +7db I haven't heard any negative tone colorations with all the amps I am using. I consider the mixer as a good tool to fine tune the overall volume between presets without sound coloration when used not in extreme ways. This is my chain I try to get the right volume level Mastervolume ---> Ampvolume ---> Mixer.

Mastervolume and Ampvolume colors the tone. How much depends on the amp you are using

You change the entire preset for lead work? So you go from a BF to a Plexi for example to do your lead? I have found it a bit smoother to keep my amp the same and turn on a tube screamer and maybe a comp boost for my lead. That way the only leveling that I have to do is to the output of the screamer and the comp. I'm lazy that way! I hate leveling stuff. I just want to ROCK OUT!!!

Normal I stick to one amp in a song for the same reason you do. But there are several songs where I change the amp between the songs. Especially when there is a sparkling clean Rhythm part which moves into a Gain / Hi-Gain Leadpart with a demand for sustain. Of course you can use a Fender Twin and get the Leadpart done by pushing a distortion pedal (screamer, Tube driver, etc.). But this does not sound to my ears really tube driven, creamy distortion which you will get from the pre amp or power section of an amp which is designed for that.

Apart of that: I have never found a better Clean amp like the BF Double amongst all the amps I am really using. I also tried the Hiwatt. But the BF Double is unbeatable to me for cleans. But this is for shure subjective an a matter of taste.The flip side of the medal with the BF Double is that you cannot get a sustain Leadtone from the pre or power section itself without any distortion / Overdrive / Compressor-pedal AND that this amp (= voicing 1 in the DT50) has a pretty lower volume level compared to others I use, for example like the JCM800.

Another aspect is that I normally change some effects between Rhytm and Leadparts. I tend to add subtile delay level or chorus to the Leadpart to thicken up the sound. And for some amps where I like to get a bit of more sustain in some parts I add a Overdrive pedal or the Tube comp in front of the amp. All these differences in effects and amps I am assigning to ONE preset. So my songs normally consists 1-3 presets.

But this is just my way to use the 512 preset lots on the HD500.

I fairly understand when you say that you don't want to level presets. But unfortunately this is the consequence using different amps in one song and different presets to me.

Why do you not like using external fx?

One of my initial reasons to go for a HD500 was to get rid of lots of external pedals for simplification reasons. And I still try to stick to that, although not all effects in the HD500 are stellar to me. I put some hope in the new HD500X once the developer have really change the algoritmns to get better sound quality with the new enhanced DSP-power. But this for the moment not the case.

All in all there is no real other reason to me not to use external pedals.

"Last question...What output do you use with the DT? if you are using Stack or Combo Front, do you adjust the focus or Low/high? I use combo front with no adjustment to the preset parameters. Though I have heard others claim that the studio/direct sounds good too."

I am using the the default settings with my DT50/212 when connected with the Line6 Link. I think it is "Combo Power Amp" and I haven't changed any settings in Focus / Lows / Highs.

I think it is pretty much a matter of taste (ears) what output mode you are choosing. The Studio Direct mode does not sound good to me with my DT50, but pretty good when I am recording with my HD500 directly into an audio interface.

It is more the cab/sims you are using or not (ON/OFF). Until now I stick normally to the standard cab/sims ON. But this heavily depends what real cabs you are using with your DT25/50. For example, if you have a 4x12 cab with you DT 25/50 and playing a Marshall Plexi Lead amp model, I would switch off the cab/sims in the HD500, because the real 4x12 cab should do this better than the cab/sim in the HD500. If I would choose a BF Double (the real amp is a Twin Combo with 2x12 speakers) I would use the standard cabs/sims ON in the HD500.

But now I realize that I am going to another story and there are also no fixed right or wrongs here. The only thing which is clear to me (which wasn't before Line6 has anounced the midi-interface to the Dt25/Dt50) that the DT 25/50 really uses cab/sims with the original 4 voicings in a standalone mode.

Thoughts?

Hi Tboneus (Mr. Rambling :) ),

You come up with a lot of additional and very relevant DR issues where I tend to suggest to have separate Threads.

Some points I like to pick up

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

"To that end, I, so far, only use 3 different amps, Hiwatt, Gibtone, and Phd Motorway.":

Although I am a Cover Rock Musician and the only guitarist in my Band I strongly recommend to use as less amps as possible. I mainly use the BF Double (for Clean), Plexi Lead / Park-75 / JCM800 (for 70s Classic Rock) and the Soldano (for Hard Rock / Hi-gain 80s).

"exp 1 is my amp channel volume. Tip: set the min value @ 20%. Max value @ 70% this makes the sweep more manageable. You can feather your volume without big jumps or dips in volume"

I have levelled my presets for Rhytm versus Lead parts. The Difference is normally +7db on the mixer. This does not lead me into big volume jumps, but I think I have to do it a little bit similar to you. May be not starting at 20% for MIN but for 30%. 70% is good for most amps as MAX. Amp volume normally tends to color the tone, so I try to balance with the mixer (it depends on the amp to choose). Unfortunatelly some amps I have to raise the amp volume to 100% (like the BF Double) so they are balanced with a JCM800. This means there is not that much to change amp volume wise with a pedal.

"I am going to use an external Wah. Why waste a block? I've got a Vox Wah that has never let me down."

I try to avoid external pedals by using the HD500. Although the WAH on the HD500 is not really stellar. to me. I have generate some postive effects by lowering the mix to 85% and reduce the other parameter around 20 - 90%. That sounds a bit more natural to me.

"Also thinking of getting rid of reverb in the fx chain and just using the reverb on the DT. Again, why waste a block?"

Fair point to save a FX-block. And if you can live with one type and one level of reverb this is fine. It ease when gigging, becuase partially you need to get rid of reverbs in some location in your presets.

My latest experiment is picking an amp model and creating different presets with the amp in triode, then one in pentode then one in triode class A then one in triode class A/B and so on.

This is a wide area: did some testings in 2011: The Triode reduces the overall volume. I would say around 10%. If I remember correctly, Clean sounds get more vintage with Triode. I try to avoid Class A and Class A/B switching, becuase it generates that popping sound. I have choosen Class A/B to all of my presets.

For recording and writing...

I find inspiration for new songs while using HD edit along with the workbench. I use the custom slots on my JTV exclusively for my recording tones. I spend many nights into the wee early hours having a ball making stuff up! All my "rules" for my setup go out the window when it comes to recording. Wherever the inspiration takes me is where I go!

Although I do COVER Music with my own spicey taste in it, I do recordings too. What I at least can confirm: the recording presets are WAY different to live gigging presets. And it is not only the pre amp versus full amp change.

This seems to be one of the ongoing repeated stories:

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a lot of new users try to configure / use the channel B on the DT/XX together with the POD HD/XXX. The main reason I have heard so far is  " ... that it sounds like the DT/XX standalone ...".

So I like to confirm as RealZAP already did: channel-B is NOT needed to generate ANY sound you want to create on a DT/XX using the HD/XXX as the controller (especially not to get the 4 original voicings of the DT/XX). All you are going to use normally with a HD/XXX is channel A on the DT/XX. And this is set automatically via the Line6 link.

Not sure, if the existing manuals doesn't mention that. If not, it really should be changed by Line6, because a lot of new users struggling with that.

Unfortunately this "channel-B exercise in the learning curve" (I call it this way) is often a symptom to me that users do not get the HD/XXX together with the DT/XX sounds as it does in a standalone mode (playing the DT/XX standalone). And they are trying to "fix" that with deadlock-solutions (I call it this way) like using the channel B on the DT/XX. And the channel B approach is clearly the wrong direction I can tell from experience.

And at that point this leads into another step in the learning curve: "How do I get the HD/XXX and the DT/XX sound as the DT/XX standalone ?".

The very basic starting point is: just use the standard settings in the assigned pre amp models (like cab/sims ON) as a good starting point in your HD/XXX and do NOT use the LVM on your DT/XX, if you want to get the 4 DT/XX voicings.

It is not so complicated than it may look like. And I like to encourage user to search for already existing Threads for more details : There are very good ones out there - especially in the OLD L6 forums (read only mode).

May be this sounds a bit arrogant what I am saying - that is not my intension ...

If you mean "Midi = POD HD500" this is how it works directly at the POD HD screen (not HD Editor):

- choose the FX or Amp where you want to assign a parameter to the JTV-Tone knob

- double press the "Move-Button"

- choose the parameter you want to assign by moving the "1"-knob clockwise or counter clockwise

- choose "2"-knob to assign a controller by clockwise scrolling and assign to "Variax Tone"

- you need to lock the Tone where you want them to be (something between 0% - 100%); this locks the tone so the JTV-tone does not change with the parameter you have assigned.

P.S.: your JTV has to be connected to the POD HD