bjnette

Also, per the on-line video the usb chip controller also requires replacement. There is another video where the guy says it fixed it but doesn't show it working. You might be lucky and it is just the connector. I'd also buy it for less than $130 when you consider how much a new HD500 is at sweatwater!

Thanks for the heads up on jamkazam. It should work with the HD500 but the better the soundcard/interface the better the latency.

Cool dunncan thanks.

I am sure it is the case the AXE II is better than the POD. But by your, "Is it 10 times better?" "don't know" LOL It is natural to reinforce your purchase decision. We all want to be right. LOL And you have a great unit with the AXE. It is a tweakers delight and for sure you'll get great tones. There are plenty of top acts using the Axe. It is the Professional choice. Well Done

I am not sure what you exactly want, but go for something standard like an FX rack. Some can tilt back and hold a few rack FX. Or there is this, it might not be what you want and I do not know if it is a flimsy or a solid rack but I do like the simplicity of it for the studio. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pyle-Pro-Laptop-Computer-Stand-for-DJ-Music-Metal-Desks-Audio-Equipment-Racks-/161431134087?pt=US_Stands_Mounts_Holders&has To me this might be a better proven choice and tilt to your liking http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Studio-Desktop-Audio-Rack-Stand-7U-19-inch-Metal-Frame-for-Rack-Units-/310984483853?pt=AU_Pro_Audio&hash=item48681ea40d

While they are real cheap I'd go for a pair Sudio monitors like the KRK acrtive rokets. There much much better but very costly. Or even a Behringer Sudio Monitors are better than a powered speaker. Even as computer speakers they wouldn;t be as good as a pair of Roland Edirol micro series monitors. It will serve more uses, Your HD for practice,recording software monitoring, Parties! The reason is you want as flat as a response from the speakers as possible so in the studio you know what you hear is what is there and not colored by the speaker. Normal Hi Fi speakers tend to hype the bass and treble coloring what you hear so when you mix your record it doesn't sound good on anything else. Playing live is a different story

Glad you found the remedy!

Yes Reaper does it as I saw Reaper sending midi patch changes as the song progresses in a Fractal Axe II Video.

Yeah me too. They'l look great! But it is the looper function I don't use much that needs some labels! but like anything after a while you don't need training wheels. Those labels do look good though.

I haven't looked into it but thanks. I saw this on a Fractal video and didn't even think of it on the HDs with midi in. I am not so good with midi but the manual should give the info. Perhaps some of the HDPRO owners write midi data to switch patches when reamping to the unit?

No. Only the midi out, no option to run midi via usb

HAha No not many othe multi FX have the flexibility of placement! and editing as the HDs Haha,Thomas Nordegg interesting fellow, man that Sonica system! wow, but not for me He has just about as many FX as in the HDs. Uses the Axe, a couple by the looks of it. While the Axe would be good, you don't see videos showing how to create a patch. What I have seen to me makes it a littler more navigating to make a patch on the unbit. Of course it has software to make it easier. But on the unit the HD is much better to navigate

yeah the meters or even an overload peak LED would be great. On the FRFR, I have one but it is so heavy I got a couple of amps instead. I wish that the shelving and focus EQ on the Combo & tone stack was on the Studio Direct or another setting as they are tone controls. If you consider the FRFR a speaker in a cabinet the Studio Direct output is adding the cabinet and mic placement as if it is recorded. Thru the PA it could be made to sound like a mic'd up Amp. PA console to roll off the harsh There could also be cabinet resonations as well as speaker resonations in your FRFR which could use EQ I'd suggest a hardware EQ. Even a line level one would work. But do try the output mode of Amp stack and use the shelving and the focus. There will be some volume loss to be made up in the power amp. To me if you roll off the high shelf alot and lower the focus it sounds better then Studio Direct alas you also loose the cab and mic modeling. It might work for your setup it might not.

I couldn't hardly tell them apart, so I guess both are POD HD's LOL Okay then the result. Very close on a couple I thought the second sounded a bit better. But hindsight doesn't count. My first answer stands

If you build it they will come. I liked your idea, I cut up magnetic fridge business cards and calendars and made labels with a texta marker. It doesn't look as good as yours. On the HD500 we have also a layered narrow section in front of the upper and lower switches. A Special batch of labels that fit these could be cheap to buy and make. HD500_Labels1.pdf

That is what I like about the HD's you get great amp modeling and some decent FX to try out. . You can essentially try out the modeled pedal or FX and if you like you can always get those pedals for when you go on tour. I can actually try out some of Steve Vai's ideas with it and come up with my own too.

In front of amps. I think it might of been included mainly for mic inputs but it does work. For recording at home if dsp is an issue, I remove reverbs and add it in the mix. I'll also use preamp models and run IRs in my DAW, or Recabinet.

I saw a video of the fratal axe II being demo'd. It has been a while, I remember demoing them when I was getting the POD HD. Anyway even with two HD500s the editing on the unit is still way easier. I could believe how involved it is. The HD onboard editing is leaps ahead especially with the amp controls on the unit. with about the same size screen. No wonder the fractal guys bash the HD's. Anyway, the axe is still better with a few more FX the HDs don't have and tone match but the fiddly navigation just confirmed it for me the HD's are better where it counts. Sound just as good but way more tweakable. Two units is still only about a third of the cost of a fractal. Not that you need two units unless you owned a HDPRO and wanted a floorboard and some additional dsp.It would not look out of place on stage. For recording at home if dsp is an issue, I remove reverbs and add it in the mix. I'll also use preamp models and run IRs in my DAW, or Recabinet.

Bit of a bugger the 500X footswitches are turning out to be a degrade rather than the upgrade they were supposed to be. But seems warranty is handling the issue. I haven't had a prob with my HD500 in the two years I have owned it. Still lovin it both for the occasional gigs and at home in the studio.

The two mid rubber feet secure a vertical metal strengthening bar that supports the large sheetmetal face with foot switches when pressed with a foot to save the top buckling. You can remove the 4 outer feet no probs but those two inner ones will need a suitable replacement screw that fits to hold the plate. Not sure if taking the rubber off it will screw all the way in, if it does your in business. Depth of screw won't be an issue.

If it is random and not isolated to one particular switch, I agree there is an internal fault. You might try checking the ribbon cable from the footswitches to the mainboard. You might even be able to test by holding and lightly pressing components while with the othere hand switching and see if you can stablize it.

"That first thing is excellent info and can apply to a lot more than just guitar tone. I've tried to learn this over about the past year for guitar tone and recording in general, but for some reason I say to myself, "!@#! You!" and proceed to change more than one thing. :lol: I don't know why this is." Dunncan There is also knowing your tools so well you don't have to think about it and that is fine too! It is true the advice is also apt to fixing something, anything. Make one change at a time, otherwise which change fixed it? The sound engineer in reality applies this idea more at the mix and in particular to EQ changes or compression changes. Sounds louder but does it sound better at matched gain. The template is a good idea billbee, And true about touching the device in EDIT mode silverhead! and "send' to the HD unit

I thought a place to put up your tips and tricks. Simply stuff you found that works or successful. Lets keep it short and sweet to the point unless instructions are also needed then one instruction one post. I'll go first; Long posts don't get read as much. LOL When tweaking a POD HD take a leaf out of the recording engineers book; change only one thing at a time and toggle the change to hear if it sounds better. Don't be fooled by a volume increase as automatically sounding better; gain match the change to hear it. ( unless the change is increasing the volume) Don't forget to save. LOL Cheers

Man I notice even a different guitar or different pickups have an effect on the tone. Headphones cannot reproduce that amp interaction when you are with it in a room. More so for the PA, As mentioned there is enough modulation in the room so the effects are much more tamer. I personalty make patches and store them in a setlist based on monitoring method. eg. One for studio monitors, another setlist for 4CM into an amp and another via PA Sometimes depending on the size of room and PA the output mode of "combo" with most of the high shelf lowered and the focus down can sound a lot tighter even though there is less volume. There is no cab and this works fine especially if amped on stage. There are so many ways to get control of the tones and volume. It doesn't hurt trying out as many possibilities as you go, but of course once you get it where you like it keep it.

From my experience the EQs are subtle and take some frequency gain increases to make a difference,. You might just be over doing it. Try a narrow band in the frequency you like to cut thru and lowerering the high shelf to accentuate the desired frequency.