pfsmith0

I think it would be much more convenient to set it up as a single stereo track. That way they'll always stay together when apply various mixing tricks.

What a great find! I've never realized the Vintage Pre had that feature.

I believe the OP is just using the HD as a general audio interface, trying to get the mic'd amp into Audacity. This can certainly be done with the HD using USB. Plug the mic into the POD's XLR input. Setup a blank signal chain. Select the mic input. On the PC, select the POD HD ASIO as the recording input. It should work.

Yes, plug the Focusrite 1/4" into the POD right 1/4" and the Focusrite XLR into the POD left XLR. I can't check right now but if you use the POD's left 1/4" (leaving the right 1/4" unplugged) then it'll sum L/R to mono. I'm thinking/hoping using the POD's right 1/4" (leaving the left 1/4" unplugged) then the mono summing does not happen. But if I'm wrong, then just plug a dummy 1/4" jack into the unused POD 1/4" output and the L/R summing won't happen. So you could always do that (POD right 1/4" to 2i2, POD left 1/4" into dummy 1/4" jack going nowhere, POD left XLR to 2i2, POD right XLR disconnected). Or, if you don't care about preserving the L/R stereo signals then just plug the POD left 1/4" into the 2i2 1/4" and be done with it. In this case the POD L/R output will be summed to mono. So, yes you can still do this.

The 2i2 only has two inputs so you'd either: 1) plug Pod's 2 XLR connectors (left/right) to the 2i2's two XLR connectors. or 2) plug Pod's 2 1/4" connectors (left/right) to the 2i2's two 1/4" inputs Then USB the 2i2 to your computer. Wait, does the Pod HD Pro X have both XLR and 1/4" output connections? If not, use whichever it has. Regarding question #4, the problem is playing guitar thru an amp w/guitar speakers doesn't always sound the same as playing guitar thru an amp model and monitor speakers. This is due to lots of things (monitors, location of monitors, amp model not dialed in, etc). What you're describing, playing the guitar thru the HD and monitors or playing guitar thru the HD into DAW and then thru those same monitors, those two scenarios should sound the same unless you've added DAW effects.

+1 to piano guy's experiment. Alternatively, don't plug the guitar in at all. No guitar and no guitar cable. And no amp. And no USB cable. Only headphones plugged into the pod which, in turn, is plugged into the AC power mains. Turn it on with a blank signal chain. Is the radio still there? If no, invoke an amp and fiddle with the gain/volume controls. Any change?

If the power supply doesn't support enough current then the voltage will droop below it's rated level. That's an easier way to tell if the supply isn;t up to par.

See this thread. I like the Gator bag.

It may help a little to plug everything into the same outlet.

See this if you want to see the frequency response and distortion differences between Full and pre-amps. Some pres have more gain, some less. Some are brighter and some are darker. Some are louder and some are quieter. Basically, if you just treat them as another sound palette then you'll be fine.

They both use the USB interface so your signal will only go thru one set of data converters either way, but I assume the Audient unit has better data converters than the POD (same price but POD = interface+models while Audient is only interface, so they can afford to spend more on the data converters). They both use ASIO but Audient is probably "better" since that company focuses on DAW interfaces and high-end recording. "Better" means lower latency but maybe also stability, although I've never had stability issues with the POD. Since you're getting the Audient anyway, I'd use that until you fill it's 2 channels with other stuff, in which case put the guitar thru the POD.

I plotted the frequency of the Soldano amps here and the Treble control DOES do quite a bit. The problme is there's not much guitar content up there, so you may not hear much going on. You may notice more with a keyboard.

And don't forget that on Setup Page 8 you can select SPDIF to output the dry signal while the XLR/TRS/headphones output the wet signals. It is entirely possible you're hearing two different signals when you're switching things around.

I am 99% sure your power monitors do not have SPDIF inputs. You'll need some sort of audio interface to use SPDIF. Then you'll need some sort of software to rout the SPDIF input to the analog outputs to drive the monitors. Most audio interfaces include software as part of the package, I think. But why do you want to use SPDIF to drive your monitors? SPDIF is usually use for recording purposes. The problem is data conversion. SPDIF is digital. Your powered monitors are analog. You'll need an ADC somewhere in the system to convert. That's what the audio interface does. Recording on your computer requires a digital input so SPDIF is a natural fit. But if you can get an analog output from the HD500 then that could go directly into the powered monitors with no other hardware. That's what the HD500's XLR and 1/4" outputs are for. I would just use those and forget about SPDIF until your're ready to start recording, in which case a whole 'nother world opens up for you with lots of decisions to be made.

I think this was the FIRST TIME I got a Best Answer! Thanks!!

If you need a mic level signal coming out of your HD500 then you should set the mic trim to mid gain. According to the data here, the mic trim has gain anywhere from -20.5dB to +23.7dB when the output is taken from the XLR connectors. Setting the trim to the middle will get you close to 0dB. Mic level coming in and mic level going out.

You will need a guitar-midi converter to do this. Jamorigin works very, very well. Much better than you think something like that would. I'm amazed each time I use it. They have a free trial on their webpage. I am not associated with them but am a very impressed and happy customer. The HD500 would be used as a soundcard in this case. Plugin your guitar and point the Jamorigin software to the HD500 audio out. It should work very well.

Set the inputs to Guitar and Variax and see if that helps. You're probably overdriving the input.

OK, I see your bass has active electronics. If the Pod is clipping it'll clip at 0dBFS, That is, fullscale. If it's the bass' active electronics clipping then it'll clip at some value lower than this. With Audacity you can tell where fullscale is. I'm not sure about Reaper. I use Sonar and I'm not sure about that either. If you can dual in the pads and gain to 0dB then it should pass thru directly to your Reaper meters. 0dBFS in = 0dBFS out. f you see clipping at 0dBFS then it's probably the Pod.

Do you have a way to record the bass thru the Pod's USB, say into Audacity (it's free)? Looking at the waveform it should be easy to tell if it's clipping since the peaks will all be flat at the same level.

You'll have it easy. First, you're right. Your sound is at the mercy of the sound guy. Plus, your monitoring will likely be subpar. But on the other hand, your audience isn't there to listen to you. You don't have to tweak the last 20% of your tone cuz no one cares (except maybe you). Just get something close and have fun with it. Expect it to be a trial/error situation. Bad tone on 1st night isn't going to kill the show, but learn what's missing and try something a little different for show #2. Also, learn to program the thing w/o a PC and Edit software. You may be called on to do something specific on the fly (during rehearsal usually - like invoke a heavy tremolo or something you weren't expecting. You will be expected to know how to use your gear.

For neutral sounding headphones take a look at these links: http://www.wirerealm.com/guides/best-studio-headphones-for-mixing-mastering http://ehomerecordingstudio.com/best-recording-studio-headphones/

Plug headphones into the POD to see if you can hear the vocals there. That will tell you if the POD is setup correctly. If you hear the vocals then it's a DAW problem. If you don't hear vocals then it's a POD problem. That will at least narrow down the focus for a solution.

This info may also be useful. I was curious about this myself so I measured the HD500 and reported the results there.

+! to hurghanico. Plus, Guitar In had that pad switch while Aux does not. I did fairly extensive measurements on IO here and saw no differences between Aux and Guitar In other than input Z and the pad.