EOengineer

I see that the iPhone 5s is not explicitly shown as supported with the SonicPort and I am hoping I can get some feedback from users about their experiences with using this configuration. Im not really looking to use the MobilePod software, I will be using Bias (positive grid) instead, so it is ok if MobilePod is broken. I go way back with L6 gear, but got burned bad on the way they implemented their PodFarm licensing, and swore them off after losing $300 in software purchases...so I am a bit hesitant to support them right now. As a software engineer, I have a gut feeling that they are struggling with either getting money to fund software development, or they have just made some bad choices as to how to ensure an acceptable level of forward expansion. What is your read on whats happening with L6 software offerings right now?

Allow me to clarify. I believe stated this originally, but perhaps not. I had 2 XT devices. One was sold. The 2nd one, containing the licenses, I owned until it died : )

This. I understand software licensing, as I stated in the topic starter, I'm a software engineer. I paid for all the model packs, I paid the $100 for the PodFarm 1.1, and maybe $50 for 2.0? I forget the upgrade cost. All of that I'm fine with. Here is the flaw in the "license belonged to the hardware" model that is being thrown around...if the licenses hadn't been disassociated from the hardware prior to the hardware dying, it's all gone. All of it. Support was unwilling to help. Nothing was offered. I was simply given the answer that nothing could be done. Where would iLok be if you lost all your licenses every time their hardware failed or someone lost the USB key? That's all I have to say about it anymore really. Nearly $300 invested in software that disappeared due to poorly manufactured hardware.

I will start by saying that I have been a strong supporter of Line 6 from the beginning, and have enjoyed many of the products immensely. Some pieces I even consider potential favorites in hindsight. Started with the original red bean, moved on to the XT, and because I was so thrilled with the support and lifecycle of that product, ended up purchasing an XT live, and a Vetta for various gigging/engineering duties. My favorite purchase was PodFarm, which was hugely useful in production work across many sources and settings. I have to say something feels amiss right now. I lost the ability to use Podfarm last year after selling my XTL, which was tied to the software license. My Vetta went on the blink about 18 months after purchasing it, my other XTL started freezing and becoming unresponsive,the USB port bailed and eventually just died. I hung in there and looked past it, because I so appreciated the XT series devices and lifecycle. Being a software developer myself, I know how resource intensive it can be to continually dedicate resources to aging hardware. I really felt like Line 6 went above and beyond to continue to add value to that product. That was enough for me to stay on the Line 6 wagon, even amongst the hardware issues. The combination of loosing my PodFarm capability, and what I personally feel to be a lackluster release and support of the HD500 has finally convinced me to pursue offerings from other companies. The license scheme for that product was a nightmare, and I still read stories of people feeling burned by it. Furthermore, I just dont see any meaningful movement on Line 6 on the software front, as if the software development shut its doors. Instead we have all kinds of full range speakers and new platform releases...I can't help like some of us are being left in the dust here as Line 6 tries to find its identity. Get back to making software guys. Its what you did best, and its what people want from you.

I just made the leap into FRFR and HD500 a few weeks ago. I had many of the same questions as the OP. now about a month in, I can say I am really enjoying the flexibity, and surprisingly authentic tone produced by this set up. I loved all my pods for recording, the HD is the first one that has tempted me to use it instead of my plexi or mesa combo. While the experience and feel is initially different than playing while standing next to your amp, it's REALLY accurate to what that amp sounds like miced up through FOH. I've also noticed as the volume goes up, so does the interaction between the guitar and amp...making it feel even closer to a tube amp. I'd say try it, but be patient. You may initially resist it. I did.

I probably should have mentioned that I'm a POD veteran. I appreciate the suggestions though, those were all things a verified prior to posting. I build all my patches from scratch, and am shocked that I cant get what I'm looking for out of the AC30. So weird. Maybe I should post a sample, though I doubt that's going to help much.

Weirdest thing. The AC30 is one of my favorite models when playing through my headphones (Sony 7506). It's bright, and jangly, with that super snappy midrange vox thing...but I just can't make it happen through my RCF 312A. Just getting dull, spitty raspy crunch with the "on the verge of breakup and slightly past" type tones I usually associate with the AC30. Anyone using it FRFR? My deluges, park75, and rectifier tones sound GREAT. I've rolled the bass back a bit, brought the "cut" up, tried different mic options. I'm a bit confused.

Haha, gotcha. I wasn't sure if you were being sarcastic, or not. Even so, my god, my plexi on 8 would level the block. I'm surprised you are getting such little gain through the plexi model with the SG. I'm sure you've already checked the pad switch and all that. Hmm...other than throwing the tube comp in front with a transparent threshold and a couple dB gain boost, I'm out of suggestions.

I'm not terribly interested in recording you a clip at that level, nor are my neighbors and their neighbors. I am familiar with the videos you posted though, and can tell you that for me the podHD plexi gets as much or more gain than is shown in that clip. The plexi is a very sensitive and responsive circuit, and though I don't think the HD is super close accuracy wise, it's apparent gain and crunch does change dramatically between different pickups and guitars, which is true of the real deal. My strat has considerably less crunch through that model than my les Paul...like night and day. That video is a good example of a plexi with PAF humbuckers. If you are playing a set neck humbucker equipped guitar and can't get that much drive, something else is going on.

Well this stayed nicely on topic.

I'm wondering what experience you have with real Marshall plexi amps, because when I compare the POD HD plexi to my own REAL plexi, the POD has significantly more gain and compression. If anything, I would argue that the Line6 high gain models have TOO MUCH gain and compression, even with the master volume parameter backed down. The JCM800 is another great example of an amp that should be bright and crunchy, but is instead very dark and mushy, even with a treble boosted EQ in front of it.

Having been a line 6 customer through every rendition of the Pod, original bean to current HD500 (as well as Vetta and amp farm), I've become accustomed to periodic updates as a mechanism to fine tune their devices functionality more closely to the expectations of their customers. We all wonder, and make wish lists, but I'm wondering what everyone REALISTICALLY expects if another update were to take place. Part of me expects that they are done with new amps, and will instead clean up some of the EQ presentations, maybe retweak a few cabs. Part of me wants to go for broke and hope they add amps and retweak the cab/mic models, but I want to focus on what is realistic here. What are you guys guessing?

Powered speakers for live sound have really come a long way. I've really come to appreciate my RCF, even thinking about getting another. I haven't heard the recent L6 offerings. I tweaked a pretty nice Park75 tone this evening that seemed to sit somewhere between my plexi, and my recollection of an old roommates jcm800 2204. Really digging the versatility with this rig.

I am, however, struggling to get an AC30 tone that is even usable. The plexi isn't thrilling me either, though I love both through the cans. Any frfr players using these?

Dave's journey reminds me of my own, a long one. I'm not going to hash it all out because Dave's experience is pretty consistent with mine. I have to say I'm very impressed with one of the high gain tones I dialed in today. It is based off the rectifier model, of which I owned and gigged a "real" one for 10 years, and now very well. While I've been openly critical of the version of the rectifier L6 modeled, the tone I've created honestly sounds better than that amp did THROUGH THE PA many nights. Like I said in this threads opening post, I tried FRFR years ago with an XT Live through a Mackie 450 and it was awful. I'm honestly shocked at how much better this high gain tone is working and feeling.

Thank you for your input and encouragement. FRFR certainly is a different animal, but I came in expecting that, and had no intention of trying to mimic "amp in the room" feel, which is where I see many people finding disappointment with FRFR. For now, the key to success seems to be a combination of expectation management, and a pseudo scientific approach to the technology. My goal is to tweak a versatile set of convincing tones to deliver straight to the PA, while using what I know about micing/mixing guitars in a studio setting to push for a level of consistency and refinement that is not practical when gigging a plexi or Mesa combo night after night. I will update here as I keep working, and hopefully we can all learn something together.

So I'm surprised to say that I'm making progress. I sat my podHD/RCF combo next to my mark III yesterday and started building. I wasn't so much trying to capture that "amp in the room" sound so much as to have a quick reference for what the "real" amp sounds like. Sometimes our memory of tones gets a bit skewed. What I discovered was that the "real amp" filters off pretty aggressively after 4.5kHz, maybe even sooner. It also didn't have the HUGE low end we come to remember from our tube amps. Next it was time to build. I started from scratch with the PodHD. My goal was to get one good clean, and one good high gain tone. I built the clean around the deluxe bright channel. It was immediately apparent the regardless of which mic model selected, there was WAY too much top and bottom in comparison to my real combo. Now this is expected, the same thing happens when I drop a 57 on my amps in the studio. You have to filter. I threw the mid focus EQ post amp, backed its gain way down, and tightened up the HP and LP parameters until things matched a bit more closely. I think I ended up tith the HP at about 35, and the LP around 60-65. I did the same dialing in a rectifier tone and received pleasing results there as well. Careful attention should be paid to cab/mic types, as they pretty dramatically reconfigure the mid range content of the amps, so be sure to test various options to alter upper midrange response. I'm going to keep tweaking, but things are sounding a good bit better after doing a real comparison.

Just to update... ...received my RCF 312A last Monday, and have spent about 6-10 hours throughout the week tweaking and building from scratch. The Verdict? So far I'm not a fan. I'm going to spend a few hours over the weekend to see if I can reconcile things. Here is a bit about my setup and what I'm finding: I'm using a custom shop strat and a Les Paul straight into the HD500 in studio/direct mode, running balanced into the rcf. I'm keeping the pod master knob at about 75%, and varying the channel volume parameter to adjust relative volume between amps. Through the powered speaker, everything is awfully cold and harsh. It seems like the models all lose their identity. The super clean fender tones have none of the bounce and snap you get through a good set of headphones, the Marshall's are dull and lifeless with a very compressed non crunchy feel (even the plexi), and the ac30 sounds nearly broken the moment it starts to overdrive. I've dealt with the abundance of highs and lows (the lows are OUT OF CONTROL) with the mid focus EQ post amp, which helps a bit with high gain tones, but still leaves everything very cold/dark/flat. I LOVE the HD through my Sony 7506 cans, but have yet to reproduce that experience through a powered speaker. I am an audio engineer by trade, and have really been surprised at how poorly this setup performed compared to my plexi or my mesa mark III. I think it's back to real amps for me, and the pod will go back to headphone sessions. Bummer.

Thanks for the input folks. I went ahead and scooped up a RCF 312a which should be here Monday. I will report back with results.

Nobody?

Im going to linit it my contribution to 3, knowing it probably involves a TON of work for line 6 to even model 1 amp well: My first choice would be the Mesa Mk2C+, just an incredibly versatile, toneful sound all from one lead channel. Gets brutal crunch that rolls back very nicely into a soft creamy crunch. My 2nd choice would be a real JCM800. Mesa seems to be stuck on this modded Marshall that belonged to the guitarist in vertical horizon, and while it may be neat sounding to them, it's about the worst jcm800 I've heard. When you think jcm800, you think super bright crunchy broken glass, not bassy midrange and mud. Anyone remember the pre 2.0 XT jcm? It was great. I'm not a fan of bringing old models into the HD, but maybe remodel a more traditional 800? A real rectifier: having owned a few, mesa goofed their choice of rectifier. Their model accurate to the 3 channel... but Nobody loves the 3 channel amps they based their model off of. The real magical dual/triple rectifier were the low (pre #500) serial number dual channel models. Less fizz, more midrange bite, more crunch...especially loaded with EL34s. Even the red channel on the tremoverb would be a great representation. I hope this post doesn't come off too negative. I love L6, and have been with them on every pod version...and I hope this is viewed as potentially helpful feedback. Changing those 2 amps for better versions of those amps would go a long way towards really topping this podHD experience off.