colmac2000

One other thing that might affect the tone you get in 4CM. This caught me out for ages...the volume knob on the HD500 which is part of the amp controls....I didn't realise that if the amp is bypassed or disabled, this knob still controls the volume passing through the amp block. This bypass volume is stored as a separate value in the patch (separate from the 'Amp on' volume level). So, if you happen to have turned this down and you are using 4CM with the modelled amp bypassed or disabled your tone will sound dull and lifeless and not have as much gain as you would expect. Just another thing to check...

By tone suck I mean the life going out of the sound...sounding duller, losing any sparkle. I discovered recently though that my main issue was that I had the bypass volume for the amp block turned down - putting that back to 100% pretty much cured the issue. I hadn't realised that this value was stored separately from the activated amp block volume and is applied, even if the amp block is disabled. I wonder how many others are having the same issue without realising it :) I think the impedance setting only applies when you have a modelled pedal with an odd impedance rating first in your chain...like a fuzz face. That can change the tone, even when the pedal is bypassed. Setting the input z to a value, rather than auto, gets around this 'feature' if its something you don't want. I think this is a case of Line 6 being too authentic for their own good! Yeah, my settings are as you stated. It's just a side effect of running the master volume on the pod up full...makes everything loud. :)

Just wondering how others manage this sort of thing. I have the Pod set up in 4CM and I mainly use the amp tone and add in fx from the pod but I do occasionally want to use the pod amps. My amp is a TH30 and has no master volume. Thing is, I have found that I need to run the master volume on the pod at 100% to really avoid tone suck with the amp...but that means the pod amps are brain-meltingly loud in their default settings. I need to drop the level to almost nothing and sometimes drop the master volume in the amp settings. It's not ideal for getting the best tones from the pod amps. Plus when I switch between the pod amps and the real amp I get a nasty pop. I guess there's nothing much can be done...just wondering if others have similar challenges...

Yeah, this one moves 2 or 3mm, right over to the edge of the buttons. It just feels really loose, almost as if it could drop off. I don't think it will but it was sold as perfect condition and I think it has been really well used or maybe something dropped on that button. Also, the box is all ripped and has obviously changed hands quite a few times. Might try and return it and just invest in a new one or one from a better seller.

I just bought a used HD500x which is in excellent condition except the D-Pad (cursor button to the right of the screen) is very wobbly. It seems to work fine but I'm sure it is a lot wobblier than the HD500x I used to have (I sold it to help fund a Helix LT but decided to go back to the Pod). How wobbly should they be? Just a bit concerned it is on the verge of breaking completely...

Just to finish this thought...I recently played through a 1x12 valve combo that had exactly the same thing going on. So I think it does come down to particular amp characteristics (real or modelled) and also the speakers you use to listen to it. I found it much more obvious through the 1x12 combo and through FRFR than through a bigger guitar cab - I guess down to the frequency ranges that are being emphasised.

Ah. ok...IR Select...D'oh!

And the answer was? :)

I think that was one of the matchless models with a hedgehog overdrive in front of it...but tbh now that I've become aware of it, I'm hearing it on most of the amps.

I did a clip of this to show someone what I am hearing - what do you guys think? I just can't get rid of it and now that I have tuned in to it I can't stop hearing it. The clip is just recorded on my phone and it is through a Magnum 44 into a 2x12 - so, no cab modelling on the patch. I have tried various guitars, pad on and off, all the input Z values etc... https://soundcloud.com/gearaddict/recording-1

Nice...maybe I'll get a discount if I buy 6 at once :) Another option :) Are you using the JBL with the Helix? What made you go with that one? Looking at the spec it seems to have a lot of bells and whistles I wouldn't need (bluetooth, routing options).

Thanks for all the help on this. I'm pretty sure the b-hype isn't going to work for me so that will be going back. I suspect there might be something faulty about that particular one. In terms of what to do next, I'm not sure whether it is worth trying the Alto, given that it is a similar price point...or whether I should bite the bullet and go for the DXR10 which seems to be the weapon of choice. My issue then is that it's starting to feel like with the increased weight, fan etc I'm starting to lose some of the benefit in going down the FRFR route. Especially if ti doesn't sound as good as a power amp -> cab setup and I need to spend days of my life trying different cabs, IRs, mics, mic placements etc... ...I'm starting to wonder what the benefit is in going FRFR at all :) I guess I had some naive idea that I'd be able to replace my 2x12 with a 10kg 10" speaker cab and still have it sound great...probably asking too much!

Well, the tweeter seems to be working. Someone kindly sent me a bunch of patches that they use live and those sound very muddy through my speaker, and a lot less bright than the patches I have been working on. I think there might be something wrong with the speaker so I'm probably going to return it and maybe try an Alto TS210. At least quite a lot of people are using the Alto so I know it should sound ok. The b-hype 10 is a bit of an unknown quantity.

Ah - good points there. It is a B-stock speaker so I guess there could be an issue with the tweeter. Might be tricky to check but I'll have a proper listen. Also, I didn't notice that there was a line/mic switch on the back (D'oh!). I'm not sure where it is set. I did have the Helix output set to Line and that sounded worse, so it's set to mic atm. I'll set them both to Line tonight and see how that sounds. I'll try the volume thing too. Got some things to try - thanks!

Thanks for the tips...the problem I have with the FRFR speaker is more to do with it sounding compressed and muffled...it just doesn't sound open and clear...

Ah, OK - at least it's not just me. I did used to have a valve amp that did something very similar. It was annoying at bedroom levels but wasn't noticeable at rehearsal / gig volumes. I didn't notice it with the Helix until I tried it through the FRFR speaker but now that I've heard it I can't stop hearing it! On the b-hype speaker - it doesn't have a particularly high wattage but is rated with quite a high db rating (~120db) and it is super loud. I'd be surprised if it can't handle a band setup. What it sounds like up loud is another question! I've only tried it at loud-ish bedroom levels so far.

Oh - and another thing I just noticed...has anyone else heard a kind of low frequency crackling, or more a kind of fuzz-like farti-ness behind the bass notes and kind of tailing off at the end of notes? It makes chords sound a bit messy. I can hear it even with the cabs switched off, when I'm going into a tube power amp -> real guitar cab, so it seems to be to do with the amp modelling. At first I thought it was an artifact of some kind but now I'm wondering if it is an intentional part of the modelling...or maybe I am overloading something? Dunno.

I suspect the problem might be the speaker tbh - everything just sounds muffled and processed, even though it sounds fine through headphones. Has anyone got any experience of the db technologies b-hype speakers? I don't have anything to compare it to and it would be really annoying if I bought a Yamaha DXR10 or something only to find it is basically the same (I know it would be better but maybe not a completely different sound).

Ah, the man himself :) Yeah, it does have an eq switch but it is set to 'flat'. Switching to 'boost' definitely makes it worse. Taking the high cut out seems to make it fizzy rather than clearer. If I add in an eq bock and boost the highs then it livens it up a bit but it starts to get a bit harsh. It sounds quite a bit better through headphones than through the speaker...which makes me think the issue might be the quality of the speaker. Unfortunately I don't have a way of checking that without buying a DXR10 or something - bit of an expensive option! :)

At the moment I am at bedroom level but it will need to work in a loud band context...

My first foray into FRFR...I picked up a db Technologies B-Hype 10 as a bit of an experiment to see if I might be able to wean myself off my current power amp -> 2x12 setup. I can't seem to get it to sound clear and natural - it sounds really muffled and compressed. Are there any basics that I might be getting wrong? I'm not sure if the problem is the particular speaker (it is an entry level one, so it might just not be great) or whether all FRFR speakers just sound different. I am also suffering a bit from option paralysis now that I have to worry about mic selection, cab selection etc and every change can have a massive effect on the tone. Can anyone recommend some basic settings that ought to sound good (for a basic rock tone)? I downloaded the Glen Delaune stripped down patches but they still sound quite muffled and compressed to me...some are better than others though. Any ideas? Thanks!

So do you then have to reduce the channel volume of the modeled amps right down to 1 or 2 (most of them are 8 by default) in order to match them with the real amp pre-amp? That's what I'm having to do.

I'm a new Helix LT owner and I'm hoping someone can give me advice...I'm running it in 4CM with an Orange TH-30 and I'm finding that the TH-30 pre-amp seems to attenuate the signal so much that I have to crank the main volume on my Helix right up...which means all the modelled pre-amps are then far too loud. And if I turn them down via the channel volume, I'm struggling to get sufficient signal for a direct feed for the PA. Anyone else find that the TH-30 pre-amp is much quieter than the modelled amps in the helix? And how did you deal with that? Thanks!

Indeed. Equally though, I wouldn't advise someone to go out and buy a Xbox One if they mostly love playing Japanese RPGs. The primary purpose of both the PS4 and the Xbox One is playing video games but one is better at some things than others. I just didn't want the guy to get the impression that rushing out to buy a Pod HD just for the cab sims, without considering other options, would be a great idea. As I said, I don't have any personal experience of them so I wasn't saying I hated them. I have to say, I've never had so many grumpy responses to genuine queries or well meaning comments as I have on this forum in the short time I have been trying it. I'm outta here.

Just thought it might not be that helpful to suggest someone use the Pod solely for the one thing that it's not very good at. I wouldn't have said cabinet sims was the 'primary purpose' of the Pod. Especially when there are much better and much cheaper solutions out there for doing just that, such as the H&K red box or various software tools that can load impulse responses (which the pod can't).