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chuberto

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Posts posted by chuberto

  1. You bought a budget wireless system four years ago and your issues are:

     

    a) The rechargeable batteries you bought don't last long enough.

    b) The hook is flimsy

    c) The battery door is fragile.

     

    My thoughts:

     

    a) What batteries are you using? Rechargeable AAs typically put out 1.2v and have a limited life cycle. How old are they? It is well known that rechargeable batteries don't last as long as non-rechargeable so if you want a good life from them you need to be using something pretty decent. I use Ansmann rechargeable batteries and they last three hours at band practice and still work for ages afterwards (although I always charge them before each session).

    b) It is flimsy. You should have seen that when you bought it four years ago but the whole item is cheap and flimsy.

    c) That's very well documented online. As per the wire clip. I immediately bought a Levy transmitter holder, not only does it replace the wire hook it holds the batter door securely closed.

  2. I always have my settings to give the highest latency. Yes, the highest. Everyone sits there chasing the smallest possible but if you're using hardware monitoring, Gearbox or going through a POD then you're not getting any benefit for running it like that. I keep it high and can then slap plugins, impulse reverbs and any other CPU hungry effects all over the place without any worries at all.

    • Upvote 1
  3. 2011-cannondale-scalpel-mountain-bike-03

     

    If Cannondale can build expensive beauties such as this and depend on a single sided front axle not to fail when travelling downhill at speed, I think you can rely on a single sided expression pedal.

  4. I'm very curious, does the Kemper allow dual channels - different model on each channel - so one can cross fade between them with a control pedal? I'm so totally hooked on the ability to instantly go from my rhythm sound to a lead sound with the pedal, that I absolutely refuse to give that up going forward. Maybe I would need two Kempers!

     

    No, not as far as I'm aware. It does however offer proper reverb/delay tails when switching between patches.

  5. Glad you're enjoying it!

     

    You've described the same scenario that I had with the HD500 and DT25. I could get great recorded tones but I struggled to be happy live. The DT25 brought me consistency live but at the expense of tones I was fully happy with. I always had at least one EQ in each patch just to remove the unruly frequencies but that limited my patches. 

     

    I used dual amp patches, so that I could swap from a rhythm tone to a lead tone, with a ducking delay trailing over the tone change but I'd frequently run out of CPU and would have to scale everything back again. I hoped the Global Eq would bring me some help, only to find out that it did nothing over the L6 Link. The Kemper solved everything. 

  6. "I don't think someone who spent 2500 or more on AXEII is interested in having his direct track Re-amped using the POD HD coming out sounding the same and better. Make no mistake about it, it will sound just as good or better using the POD HD."[/size]
     
    It's such an ugly attitude and there should be no need for this nonsense.
     
    How far do we go with this? Will the track you record with a £400 Mexican Strat sound better on a £3000 Fender Custom Shop? Would your favourite band sound better with more accomplished musicians in it? Will an Aston Martin get me to work in rush hour any better than my 10 year old Ford? Will I be happier in your house because it is bigger than mine?

     

    We don't need to prove anything to each other, we only need to justify our purchases to ourselves and those that rely on our income. I bought a Kemper and within days I'd nailed tones that I have spent 5 years chasing unsuccessfully with Line 6. I'm happy.  Your mileage may vary and the HD PODs may be exactly what you need. Bloody good for you. 

  7. Thank you for a description of the difference between these two products. I can definitely see the benefit of owning a gadget such as a Kemper. I am someone who loves to play around with different effects and amps. My POD HD500 suits that need quite nicely. I would love to play around with a Kemper or Axe FX but I would have to really impressed to spend the amount of money these devices cost.

     

    I know I will eventually need to move on from my POD HD500 and I hope to stick with whatever Line 6 has planned for the future. One thing is for sure, because of how happy I have been with all of my Line 6 products, they will be the first but not the only, product I consider. 

     

    It's all relative to your situation. I bought my HD500 when I was playing a '90s Gibson LP Studio and had not long bought a house. I'm now playing several USA PRS guitars and have a healthy bank balance, I'm 37 but have recently been to funerals of those of my age. I've no idea how long I'll be here so why wouldn't I buy something if I could? I'd been trying out some amps, such as a Friedman BE100 but I really prefer something programmable, small and with flexible connections and the Kemper did everything I wanted.

     

    Are you all done?

     

    2) Candidly, I have found this forum frustrating and some of the senior members, one in particular, has quite a snooty attitude and basically suggest that he can't be bothered to go into the details to help and that we should keep tweaking and figure it out. This is one of the most disappointing and unhelpful forums I have participated in, like it or not, agree or not, that is my opinion only and should be viewed as that. This is no way affects my view of Line 6 as a company.

     

    Good luck all, stay happy and healthy and keep playing!

     

    Gazza

     

    I must agree with this. I've been here for 4 years and I have lost track of how many posts I've made where I've suggesting my solutions to the OP's problems, yet I'm largely ignored/overlooked. No one has been rude but it's been difficult to feel part of a community. But then, most of the posters here join up to ask a specific question and then disappear so I can see how it happens, so please don't take offence. 

  8. I often wonder when a good, solid player goes from a POD to AXE-FX or Kemper is the difference really that noticeable? No matter what I play through I sound like "me"....sounds dumb, but my point is I have been playing since the invention of dirt. I gig regularly, have my POD dialed in, it sounds great. However, there is a little part of my brain that wonders would a Kemper or AXE-FX sound that much better? If so, how much, 10%? 20%? It certainly won't make me a better player (although some argue you can be inspired by gear). I still will sound like me.

     

    I think part of my problem is I get a little bored and want to try something new. I am hoping Line 6 comes out with a new fangled HD type pedal board. Why? because their price point is HIGHLY competitive, their stuff does sound great. It will remedy a little bit of my boredom with the product.

     

    BTW, my boredom comment is not a dig at Line 6 at all...it is like buying a car...they are great for N number of years and then you want something new...even though the car is fine.

     

    I posted previously but I don't mind talking about it again. I owned a HD500 for about 5 years and a DT25 for about 3. I've gigged and recorded with them and always found they sounded good and don't believe that I could learn that much more to progress my tones. I've been playing for 25 years and have owned a few nice amps along the road but found the POD's switching and all round capabilities quite compelling for band/live use, particularly now that I find myself as the lead vocalist too.

     

    As my guitar collection grew (being a grown up with a disposable income has its benefits!) in both quantity and quality I started to consider my amp and effects set-up. Each of my patches would have fairly extensive EQing to get them to where I wanted but I still found them wanting, even if only a little bit. Do you have days where you spend time dialling in a tone only to dislike it the next time you play? It got to the point where I was having more bad days than good.

     

    Fast forward to the most impulsive purchase of my life and the sudden ownership of a Kemper Powerhead. Due to my use of IEMs in my band and no desire to get into tap dancing nor four cable methods again, I'd looked at and ruled out many, many amps but the Kemper ticked every box and then some. But importantly, how did it sound?

     

    I confess I spent little time at all with the factory content so can't really comment on it. I'd added about £40 worth of amps from The Amp Factory in the first few days. Not because factory content was poor; listening to The Amp Factory samples was part of what made me pull the trigger on the Kemper and I'd downloaded it before the amp was ever plugged in! 

     

    Anyway, my initial impression was that the difference between the Kemper and the POD/DT combo wasn't as much as I'd hoped for, although I'd kind of expected that. After a few more days, I'd really made progress wading through the thousands of profiles I'd imported and was able to focus on the stuff that suits my tastes. It takes a little while to understand the difference between Line 6 and Kemper's intention. To summarise, Line 6 aim to make the Vox AC30 model (for example) sound authentic and also to behave like an AC30, throughout different levels of gain, tone stack interactions and master volume etc. Kemper's ambition is very different. The AC30 profiles are like a snapshot of one setting. No single profile covers the different settings of the amp and you need to spend time wading through them to find what you're after. So it's probably better to think of the EQ on the Kemper as an EQ pedal in the effects loop or the EQ on a Mesa MkIV. It certainly doesn't have a 'Cut' function on the AC30 models! 

     

    So that said, I honestly have found the tones much closer to what I want. I've removed the factory content and have about forty profiles loaded, all of which are tones that I'd use and sound great to me. I won't say they sound better because I don't think it's possible to measure but it's a different process. You can select a JCM800 profile which sounds great and copy the effects straight from another patch you've created in just a couple of seconds. With the POD, I never found the default settings of any of the amps were anywhere near close and I'd spend ages dialling in the settings after changing the amp model. 

     

    Anyway, I'm not ever going to beat on Line 6. I still have some of their gear (I'm using the HD500 as a midi controller and backup rig) but for me, the Kemper hasn't disappointed.

    • Upvote 1
  9. Meh. I don't understand these type of threads.

     

    I've owned my HD500 for close to 5 years and know it pretty much inside out. Since combining it with a DT25, I've been able to get pretty close to the tones I really want but there has always been a barrier where I couldn't quite nail the tones I want. In particular, I could never get the Marshall type tone I want. It could be Marshally enough, but not the right one.  

     

    6 weeks ago I bought a Kemper Powerhead. My initial thoughts were that it was a hell of a lot of money for a small improvement in getting closer to the tones I want. After a few days I had the tones dialled in just right, much to my delight. I flippin' love the thing now, the cleans, crunch and lead tones are exactly what I wanted and can be found with minimal reference to a manual or in depth menus; the thing is so straight forward.

     

    That said, I didn't feel the need to announce anything. I sold my DT25 but kept the HD500 as a midi controller/back up rig and still like Line 6 gear (I've still got a UX8, G30 and custom built Telecaster/Variax hybrid.

    • Upvote 3
  10. Contrary to what some have said, the POD HDs can do this if you get creative with your patches and it's exactly what I used to do.....

     

    I used to use dual amp patches. I'd start off with a noise gate, then a wah, then split the path. Path A would have a volume pedal, an amp and a delay, Path B would have a different amp and delay. Then after the mixer I'd put an EQ and reverb.

     

    I'd have the volume pedal and Amp B set to be turned on/off from footswitch 2. I was using my original HD500 with a DT25 so could get away using preamp only amp models to save CPU power but you can't turn off Amp A without affecting the DT amp, so the volume pedal was set to put the volume to zero on path A, effectively muting it. Set the bypass volume on Amp B to zero and you're good.

     

    Spillover worked perfectly but I would frequently run into CPU limits if I wasn't careful.

  11. I have a Kemper and use my HD500 as a controller. If works nicely although the only issue is using switches 1-4 to control the effects on the Kemper. It takes a little fiddling to ensure that the lights on the footswitches tally with the status of the effect it is set to control. Once done though, no problems at all.

     

    You can also run a cable from the Kemper to the HD500 to allow the tuner to still work.

     

    That said, I wouldn't buy an HD500 to use for this purpose, I'd buy a Behringer FCB1010 and fit the Uno4Kemper chip. Cheaper, more control and more straight forward.

  12. I think this is the first time I've moaned about a free update, so I am sorry guys! But I am a little disappointed by this one. As a HD500 into DT25 player, the only thing it brings me that I can see is the ability to buy new amp packs. Oh well, moving on!

  13. Unfortunately it does not operate on any of the L6 LINK outputs due to architectural limitations, however, it should work on the XLR, 1/4", PHONES and SPDIF outputs..

     

    Ouch. After all that waiting, I find out the only feature that 2.6 that is of interest to me doesn't work with my rig. Bummer. 

  14. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose? As a player, if I'm going to be tethered I really don't care whether the tether carries just power or all the other information currently carried by the VDI cable. A tether is a tether. And the shorter it is, the less range I have to move around while playing.

     

    I think you've misunderstood his post. He's not saying you'd want a mains cable for your guitar, he's talking about a full wireless PA. You'd just plug each active speaker into a power socket and point it in the right direction and away you go.

  15. Hi,

     

    Firstly, nice post above. I know how you feel, sometimes these issues can really turn you off playing. You get to the point where you focus more and more on your dislikes than you do on the positives until all you hear are the deficiencies. But there's no point getting angry, no matter how annoyed you get.

     

    I hope you find a solution, there are lots of options on PODs but as you already know, the 300 has the least. I got to the point with my 500 that I got a DT amp for it, it really wasn't doing what I wanted it to by going direct or into my amp. It's a shame because I think the POD is great at some things. For me, it isn't good enough at the tones I want, even with a DT. It does cleans and chugs the scooped stuff exceptionally and can do the vintage thing alright but those aren't really what I'm after. I really just want a great sounding modded Marshall type tone. Not necessarily a Marshall clone but that kind of ball park, with a midrange roar.

     

    Alas, I've admitted defeat with my 500, it just can't do what I want. I can't get close with a hard edged barky tone but there's always something missing. It's a great bit of kit for some stuff and is wonderful at switching and routing but my rig is now for sale.

     

    Hope you do better than me.

    • Upvote 1
  16. Look on Youtube, there're videos of people with oscilloscopes proving that there's no difference between wood types in guitar bodies and necks. I don't agree but when it comes down to the science of it, you've got no chance if people can prove the wood makes no difference.  

  17. As long as the old X3 models have a preamp-only option I think I'll be happy. If they're full models only, then the value proposition goes right out the window for me. I use the HD Pro as a Preamp/FX unit pretty much exclusively, so I hope they're good to go for live use (into a poweramp, then into a 4x12), because 50 bucks USD for 3/10 functionality is ridiculous.

     

    Everything I've seen says that the X3 models are straight copies, therefore if they were full models on the X3, that's what we'll get. I don't expect them to be preamp only.

  18. It's my go-to compressor. I tend to use it after the amp but prior to delay and reverb. I find it gives a wonderfully smooth, controlled sound for clean/effected arpeggios without imparting any real change to the tone.

  19. How can you only break one string a decade?!?

     

    I use 10s and am lucky if I can go one session of playing without breaking at least one string, usually high E or B. And to make matters worse, I've broken 6 tremolo arms in the past 3 years.

     

    Erm....  :huh:

     

    I play with quite an aggressive right hand technique, with 2mm picks. I change my strings fairly often, depending on the amount of band practices/gigs I'm doing; anything from twice a month to every six months if I'm not really playing it much. The last string I broke was whilst I fitted a new set, where I unwound the new string out of the packet carelessly and it snapped as I brought it up to tune. That was the first time I'd broken a string in about 8 years so I was quite shocked by it. 

     

     

    I use different gauge strings on different guitars, so it's not down to that and I've used Ernie Ball and D'Addario without any issue for years. If I was breaking strings routinely, I'd question whether the guitar saddles were defective or whether my technique required some attention. I'm not having a dig, if you play so aggressively that you keep breaking strings then that's down to you but when I saw Steve Vai throwing around some poor Ibanez and throwing it in the air by it's trem bar, he didn't break a string! :)

  20. I've had the capabilities to ADT (artificial double track) guitar parts for about 15 years. I tried it a few times but it never comes close to creating the desired effect. The sound of proper double tracking is still miles better. But to cheat, do what he says up there!

  21. I get where you're coming from Culpster but I think the key reason why most disagree with you is your viewpoint on the 500X. If the 500 was still being made, it'd (probably) come with the latest firmware loaded too. Would you argue that you never got new models free of charge? 

     

    The 500X isn't a replacement for the 500, it is the 500 (just made from the components available and relabelled to shift some more units and get press coverage).

     

    By purchasing a 500X, you're already receiving new amp models free, included within it. There's no need to be annoyed about it.

  22. A fellow Tesseract fan? :)

     

    The HDs are a fine bit of kit, you should be able to get a pretty good distorted Tesseract tone but with their pitch shifted arpeggio tones they use, I think you'll struggle to get it quite right. Close but definitely something missing.

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