helikyler

31 minutes ago, pianoguyy said:

First, I will say to you the same thing I have said to numerous people - 

Buying this device with no intentions of using the amp modeling is like buying a Ferrari for the purpose of driving from the garage to the end of the driveway to pick up your mail. 

 

 

 

 

No, the knobs don't work that way. 

 

 

If you say so...  but it's an excellent pedalboard with a built-in expression pedal. I don't need an amp emulator but it's worth the $ for the effects, recording interface, looper and the compact package. Several years into owning it and I'm still learning new things I can do with it beyond the driveway.

As usual, thank you @hurghanico for your helpful response. I'm going to give an EQ effect a shot and adjust as you say. I don't think I'll need to do a ton of tone adjustments once I set it up, so not having the big knobs available won't be a big problem. I'm happy to drive my Ferrari on the road and not use 6th gear, which I think is a better metaphor.

For anybody still following this thread  (or stumbling upon it later), I did finally achieve what I was going for, thanks to advice from @hurghanico. Here's what I did:

1. Changed output mode  to "Studio/Direct" (I know, doesn't make sense)
2. Changed input z to 3.5m or 1m, depending on the guitar I use
3. Turned Global EQ off
4. 1/4" out mode set to "AMP"
5. Master volume at full

This basically renewed the POD HD500X in my eyes... I  almost sold it. You can see his suggestions and explanations to me in this thread: 

Happy PODing to all of you!

Hey all. This is going to sound dumb but I would love to get some (constructive) thoughts on this...
 

I  use my POD HD500X as a pedalboard for its great reverbs, delays, overdrive, modulation, etc. through my VHT Special 6 Ultra combo for guitar and pedal steel guitar. My pedal steel does not have an onboard tone or volume control, which is pretty common for those. Many players use a compact preamp mounted to their steel guitar so they can make tweaks to volume and tone on the fly. I don't intend to use amp emulation most of the time but I may do it on occasion to go direct to the board at church or a gig.

• Question: what is your best method to use the HD500X as a pre-amp? 
  • Subquestion: can I use the hardware knobs to modify treble/mid/bass/presence/volume (sound) without emulating an amp or cabinet?
  • Subqueston:  can this be done without using a pedal chain slot?

Currently I am using the HD500X with Studio/Direct output mode and input Z set to 3.5m or 1m to neutralize any color to the signal (many, many thanks to @hurghanico for their invaluable advice!) . But I'd like to be able to shape the tone and maybe add a little boost, ideally without using one of the available blocks in the pedal chain.

May you have a very Merry Christmas, strong health and the unmistakeable peace of the presence of the Lord this season!

Thanks! I will pay it forward then. Have a merry Christmas, stay well and peace to you! 

On 12/4/2020 at 9:22 AM, hurghanico said:

1) make sure the POD output mode is set to Studio/Direct, the other output modes of which some colour the signal matter only if you use/enable the cab models (which you don't need) when you connect the POD to a guitar amp instead of a flat response system, Studio/Direct doesn't colour the signal at all.

 

2) make sure the Global EQ is off

 

3) the Guitar Input is affected by its impedance setting, to get an unaffected/transparent bypass signal set the impedance parameter to 3.5 megaohm or 1 megaohm (avoid the AUTO setting).

 

the impedance of the other POD inputs (AUX, RETURN) is fixed to 1 megaohm (good one for the purpose)..

 

4) if you connect the POD to the front panel input of your amp the 1/4" OUT switch near the pedal should be set to AMP,
if you want to use the POD preamp models (bypassing your amp preamp) and connect the POD directly to the RETURN input (probably on the rear panel) of your amp the 1/4" OUT switch should be set to LINE.

 

5) set the POD master volume knob quite high if not at max.

 

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All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

Hey man! This was fantastic advice! Even the studio/direct setting helped tremendously but also I would have never thought to tweak the input impedance! You literally saved the HD500X for me. I have been unhappy with my tone for years with it and thought it was my VHT but it was my settings!

Is there any way I can send you a thank you or return the favor?

KB

Hurghanico thank you so much! I'm going to try this all tonight! I was so discouraged after much searching that I listed my HD500X for sale and started looking for a Helix product or even considered jumping to Bias FX. If I could sort this out it would be great! 

Many thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yes, I understand that. However, seeing as the bypass in tuner mode sounds pretty clear, it's entirely (physically) possible. If Line6 didn't provide some way to let a signal pass through virtually unaffected for live playing, that's pretty lame. It's obviously a floorboard and not a desktop or rack unit, and the line out has a switch for "amp". To me this was a massive oversight. I only ever wanted the modeling for recording or certain times when an amp on stage wasn't possible.

I am looking into the effects only units now though. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hey all, I know this is a common topic but I still haven't found a satisfying answer so I'm going to ask it...

How can I remove the tone coloring that occurs on the HD500X when in stompbox mode and all effects (and amp models) are OFF?

I can tell when I go to the tuner and use the bypass mode that with all effects off, the 500X is still affecting my tone. In tuner bypass mode, the signal to amp is dry and unaffected do the 500x *should* be capable of not coloring my signal. In regular play, with all fx off and the amp model disabled, the tone is darker and the signal is weaker. This is really frustrating because what I wanted the 500X is for it's stompbox effects not an amp modeler. I know about the 4 cable method and using the modeling for the preamp toy amp, but that will be a last resort. I just really want the effects and my amp's tone!

Please help!

Kyler in Boise

Keywords: pod, hd500x, hd500, hd-500-x, fx, f/x, tone, coloring, colored, true bypass, darker, signal, fx loop

Ed_Saxman thank you for all that info! That is going to be super helpful. I too have found that sometimes the stack power amp mode sounds better to me than combo even though I'm using a small 112 combo.

I'm going to check out all of these settings and work from there. Thanks again!

Also, I have some reading and experimen to do on just what Input Z and Q do and how to effectively use them. I think the high and low cuts are making sense to me now (where to "draw the line" and cut out whatever is higher or lower than it).

That's some good advice, I'll keep that in mind. However, I'm using the HD500X in pedalboard mode so I would rather save the available effect slot, I'm already running short (2 overdrives, a comp, a delay, reverb, tremolo, wah and one more I can't remember, maybe the amp counted as one). Plus I can adjust the global EQ on the fly just as easily. It seems like most of the Line 6 products produce an extreme high and extreme low tone that are outside of a natural amp's typical range, making the emulations sound digital. Having a starting point with the global might just be my ticket. But I was unaware of the MFEQ effect so thank you for that and taking the time to explain this stuff to me... I will give your method a try!

I'll give it a try again but I was already aware of these threads and what you guys are saying before I last tried it... I sat there with the looper playing a riff and moved the mic settings around with no cab selected and I heard what I heard... I was also deliberate to consider the momentary break in sound when turning the dial between mics. But, I'll try again to be sure!

One of the main reasons this is a concern to me is that I'm still getting some super high tinny or fizzy sounds with the emulation off and I'm trying to keep my methods of removing this as logical as possible. That way when I go creating new patches I don't have to do 783 things to make it sound good all over again. I wanted to make sure the mic simulation wasn't contributing to these undesirable tones. My next thing to try will be tweaking the high and low cuts on the global EQ for my amp.

Sorry to resurrect a yr old thread, but I've been trying to find a solution to my tone problem for live use. And this thread came up in my searches.

 

I've found the mic sims absolutely stay on even when switching to "power amp" output mode. You can scroll through the different mic models while playing live (cabs turned off) and hear the sound change. I hate this, as with my old X3 Live the mic and cab sims would automatically turn off when in power amp mode. I can not get to a totally satisfying tone when playing out through my ART SLA-1 and into my guitar cabs. There is a whoofiness I can't seem to get rid of no matter how much eq I apply. And why I went to an FRFR setup. Ultimately it's going to drive my off this product entirely, and on to another manufaturer's product. I'm on the wait list now!!!!

 

Bad design flaw Line 6. 

I agree with @benjamman ... I just picked up a HD500X because I loved my X3 Live and after I let it go a couple months ago I almost immediately regretted it. No other multi effects processor that I've tried could could hold a candle to it with regards to quality of reverbs, delays, environment simulations (cavern, room, etc.) and overdrives and a lot more. But, I'm getting off topic...

I also am using the "Combo Power Amp" setting into the return of the effects loop of my VHT Special 6 Ultra - just two cables, one from guitar to GUITAR IN on the HD500X and one from the Left Out/Mono to the RETURN. This way I'm effectively bypassing the preamp on the Special 6 and using the HD500X completely to control the tone and output of the combo amp. I can tell the power amp is not being simulated and I've turned the cab sim off, but I can definitely tell that the mic sims are still working in this mode. Especially because out of all of them, the SM57 Off-Axis sounds best to me. But... I don't want it at all because I'm using it live with a real cab, power amp and (sometimes) a real mic.

Anybody know how to definitively turn off cab and mic sims on the HD500X?