pfsmith0

Yes, the parametic EQ has only a single band.

From my measurements you can see that plugging a mic preamp into the mic input will work just fine as long as you properly set the mic input trim to the proper value (i.e., don't clip the signal). It can be dialed in to have more gain or less gain than the Aux/Guitar inputs. I think that would be the cleanest and most straight forward way to get the microphone signal chain in.

Does the hum go away when you unplug the guitars?

Also, the Les Paul output is fairly high so select Input 1 = guitar and Input 2 = Variax to keep from overdriving the input too much. The default is Input 2 = same which doubles the input level. You won't need that with a Les Paul.

Yes, however, if you plug in just the left (or right) 1/4" jack then it will sum L/R to mono. But the XLR will always retain the stereo signal. So, depending on what FX you're using, you may get different signals at the 1/4" and XLR outputs. One solution is the use a dummy plug in the unused 1/4" jack. This will keep the signal stereo for the 1/4" connections, so it'll be the same as the XLR outputs. Each will only get one channel L or R of the stereo output.

Is there a global reset available that would put both units back to the factory setting? That would guarantee they'd both be starting from the same profile.

Does your guitar sound tinny in the headphones when you plug the headphones straight into the HD500X?

Disconnect the HD500 from the PC and see what happens.

I can't think of any reason why Audacity would playback all muddy unless the sample rate was too low. And make sure all it's Effects are turned off. And make sure it's playback channel doesn't invoke any SRS/Realtek/HD Audio effects built into Windows. I've found Audacity to be a nice robust no-frills recorder and playback device. You may want to check it's dither settings as well.

Perhaps PT11 has a way to attach notes/files to a project. At least then you can upload the patch to the PC and then attach it to the project.

Here's how I would do it: Electric Patch: Input 1: Guitar Input 2: Variax (to reduce noise) Use both Signal Paths A&B as you see fit. Put the mixer at the end of the signal chain and pan both Signal Paths A&B hard Left. Put only mono FX, if any, after the mixer. Acoustic Path: Input 1: Aux (so you still get the tuner) Input 2: Variax Use both Signal Paths A&B as you see fit. Put the mixer at the end of the signal chain and pan both Signal Paths A&B hard Right. Put only mono FX, if any, after the mixer. But you could also do this: Input 1: Guitar Input 2: Aux Keep Signal Chain A to only Input 1 Keep Signal Chain B to only Input 2 Put the mixer at the end of the signal chain and pan Signal Paths A&B hard Left/Right, respectively. Put only mono FX, if any, after the mixer. The advantage here is that a single patch could be used for both. Perhaps this will help tap dancing a bit. The disadvantages are: 1) you lose the tuner on Input 2 2) you only have 8 FX blocks total for both signal paths together.

If you're using the mixer block to add gain to your left channel, all it's doing is increasing the left signal in the digital domain.

Stereo consists of two signals. You can get this from the 2 XLR connections into your Focusrite, or the 2 1/4" connectors into your Focusrite, or via USB and selecting that PC input in your DAW. Summed mono is only 1 signal. The left and right channels are combined into a single channel and you won't be able to separate them in your DAW. But you'll still hear both channels. They just won't be spread. If you pan it then both channels will pan together. You get this by using only a single 1/4" connection into your Focusrite.

I viewed the POD purchase a little differently. Instead of giving me a pallet of colors for me to switch in/out as needed, it gave me a pallet to choose which one I liked to use. Otherwise, which stomp box should I get, which delay, which noise gate, etc? I didn't have the money or time to test them all out. Just give be this thing that's got a bunch of them and let me pick and choose. I pretty much stay with my one favorite patch, swapping in different FX as needed. Am I wasting resources? Probably, but I'm happy with what I can accomplish with my one patch. I get tonal differences with pickup selection, pick attack, and where I play on the strings.

Right, I get the same thing. I wish they would have used an optical TOSlink instead of S/PDIF. That would have solved this problem. I just use the PC for setting up the patches and disconnect it while playing.

A standard shielded RCA cable will work well as long as your audio interface also uses the same connector. Some interfaces use an XLR connector for this, in which case you'll need an RCA - XLR adaptor cable.

As mentioned above the problem with using the POD's USB to carry audio into the PC and using an audio interface to drive the monitors is that 2 ASIO drivers need to run at the same, which I bellieve doesn't work. That's why the POD audio needs to get to the PC somehow other than USB. S/PDIF is the best (minimizes the # of data conversions and it doesn't use any of the audio interface's XLR or 1/4" analog inputs). But if your audio interface doesn't have S/PDIF then connect the POD XLR or 1/4" outputs into the audio interface's XLR or 1/4" inputs. You'll use up two of them for stereo. Either will work fine for you but be sure to think about your future needs and get an audio interface with more I/O than you think you'll need. Your comments on interconnections in your last response above are correct. The main problem people have with audio interfaces is the drivers. RME and M-Audio have notoriously good drivers. M-Audio has notoriously poor customer service (in case something goes wrong which, hopefully, it shouldn't). Focusrite has great hardware but (I've heard) driver updates are slow in coming. Read reviews on other forums to get a feel for what you'll be getting. In my opinion hardware quality is good enough from several vendors now-a-days, so focus on driver stability/quality. That's where most of the frustration comes from (latency, audible clicks/pops, becoming obsolete as Win10 goes thru its various updates over time, etc). Oh, even using S/PDIF you'll still need to hook the POD up to USB in order to run Line6 Monkey, HD500 Edit, HD500 firmware updates, up/downloading patches/banks, etc.

Good point about the ASIO driver. I forgot about that. The M-AUDIO M-Track Quad USB is a great unit to use. It has S/PDIF (aka Coaxial) so connect it like this: Guitar -> POD -> S/PDIF -> M-Audio -> PC/Reaper -> M-Audio -> 1/4" out -> monitors. You still have MAudio 2 analog inputs (XLR 1/4" combo jacks) for mics. keyboards, etc. You can connect headphones to the MAudio to hear the Reaper output, or use the monitors connected to it. You can connect headphones to the POD to hear your guitar with or without invoking Reaper. Plug the 1/4" output of the POD into your guitar amp for loud live playing with or without invoking Reaper. Lots of options there. I'd say this is the way it was designed to be used for recording - with a separate audio interface.

Answer to your last question above. Oh, good, you have an audio interface. That is, by FAR, the preferred setup. Guitar -> USB -> PC -> Reaper -> Audio Interface -> Monitors. Or you can feed the 1/4" or XLR analog outputs of the POD into the audio interface. People have had success either way. If your audio interface has a S/PDIF input then that's the best way to connect the POD. If you use USB or S/PDIF then you can still use the 1/4" output to connect to an external amp if you wish. Plug in a dummy 1/4" into the other channel to sum left/right together so you get both channels into the amp, if you wish (I think this leaves USB and S/PDIF as true stereo so no effect on Reaper's signal). The XLR outputs are at mic level and meant to be used to drive mixers. You'll probably not use those. Yes, do it this way.

Answer for the question 2 above: yes you can plug the PC audio out into the POD but you'll get feedback since it'll also show up in the USB output (USB -> PC -> POD -> back to USB). To keep this from happening you can plug the PC audio out into the POD CD/MP3 input. That audio won't show up at the USB port. But now you'll get guitar tone /duplication/interference since the output of the POD will contain the POD guitar signal as well as the guitar signal coming from the PC (via Reaper). You'll get all sorts of phasing issues. Bad idea... This may work if you dedicate Path 1 to guitar input and Path 2 to PC input. Then select Path A = Left and Path B = Right. This way the two paths are kept separate and in Reaper only use Left USB input for recording. Plug a single monitor into the right 1/4" output (and a dummy 1/4" into the Left 1/4" output or Left/Right will sum together and destroy the separation between Guitar In and Playback out. You'll lose stereo during playback. In either case the POD is not setup as a playback device. You'd use the PC analog audio line output to feed into the POD. Both of these ideas are not normal setups but illustrate the flexibility the signal routing options available to you.

No, you can't set the POD as a playback device for the PC. The output of the POD only comes from POD guitar Input -> POD Signal Chain -> POD output.

Hi, Yes, the instruments plug into the POD an the POD to the PC via USB. In Reaper you'll need to select the POD as the input signal source. Now you can record your guitar with Reaper. But the monitors do not plug into the POD. The POD is not able to see Reaper's outputs. You'll need to plug the monitors into whatever you currently use. If you currently don't use anything then you'll need to setup Reaper to output to one of the PC's line outputs and configure adaptor cables so the monitors can plug into the PC line output. So now you have: Guitar -> POD -> USB -> PC/Reaper -> Line Out -> Monitors You can plug headphones into the POD to just hear guitar. You can plug headphones into the PC to hear whatever Reaper is producing. You CAN plug the monitors into the headphone output of the POD but you'll only hear the guitar thru the POD. The PC is not required.

I bet he plugged in the USB chord a little off-kilter and snapped off the flimsy plastic USB center post. This is easy to do. Several of us had to replace the USB connector on the POD motherboard to get the unit working again.

I'd start with setting the inputs of the 2 signal paths to Guitar/Variax. The default is Guitar/Same which doubles your input level. It caused me all sorts of distorted grief until I set it up Guitar/Same.

Yes, you should be able to do this in FS1-8 mode. Let me ask you something, what would you expect FS5-8 to do if you haven't assigned anything to them yet? I'm not trying to be a smart-alec but I need a little more info to steer you in the right direction. A footswitch won't do anything unless they're assigned to something.