cruisinon2

Something is very wrong, then...it's service time.

Don't hold your breath...I seriously doubt this one's even getting off the drawing board.

You can analyze/rationalize it any way you like, but the output mode is global. It is what it is. Like I said, the output modes are nothing more than EQ curves applied to optimize the sound for one connection method vs. another. The POD neither knows nor cares what routing method you're using. The whole point of the 4 CM is to allow use of either models, or your amp for your basic tone. If you're ONLY using amp models and the FX loop to "slave" the amp for power, then the 4CM is pointless...just go straight to the FX return. But, then you lose the ability to get your tone from the amp. You have to decide what's more important to you...being able to use the amp for your tone, or relying on the modeled amps and using the amp only for power, because either way, you're stuck with one global output mode and you tweak your patches accordingly. It's a modeler...use the models. Forget the amp for tone. Less set-up time, fewer cables, less fuss.

+1 for everything that's been said already. Running into the front end of any amp with a unit like this is a noisy mess. If you've got an FX loop, use it. Try the 4 cable method if you want to use your amp's preamp for your basic tone, and the POD only for FX. If not, and you're gonna use the amp models, just run as follows: guitar--->POD---> FX return on the amp. This way you're bypassing the preamp, and only using the amp for power.

They are global settings, so you can't have a different output mode from patch to patch. "Combo/front" and "stack/front" modes assume that you're plugging straight into the front end of an amp with no FX loop. If you're running 4CM, you're not doing that, so you probably don't want either of those modes. Try combo/power or stack/power. That being said, all the output modes are just different EQ curves anyway. Use whatever sounds best to you. There really is no "right" way to do it. Every rig is different.

What Charlie said...single coils, while they give you that great Strat tone, are horrendous noise makers. Some guitars are worse than others, some rooms worse than others. It's unlikely to have anything to do with the battery.

HD Edit is useless without the POD. It's just an editing tool, a more convenient way to edit patches without having to stare at the tiny little screen on the POD. It allows you to store individual patch settings, but there's no sound engine in the software. It's not good for anything unless you've got the POD with you. Same goes for Workbench, but that is specific to the Variax guitars. If you don't have one, it's of no use to you. There are any number of interfaces and software based amp sims out there that can do what you want, and most of the interfaces will be considerably smaller than the pod. SonicPort is ok, but it draws it's power from either an iPhone/iPad/iPod, so you can't charge at the same time. All the sounds come from the the Mobile POD app...POD patch settings that you've stored in HD Edit are of no use. Also, that app is a HUGE power drain. Doesn't last too long, but there are some decent tones in it. Couple of hours of continuous use and you're done. Check out the Focusrite 2i4 interface...then start looking at various amp sim programs. The are a million of them now...S Gear, Bias FX, Overloud, Amplitube, etc. Most of them let you download a demo and use it for a couple of weeks before you buy.

I use the nanoweb strings, and I have no issues with the piezos. Longevity can't be beaten. I destroy a regular set of strings in less than a week, but things last me about a month.

Well that's never gonna happen with any rig. Changing nothing more than the volume will screw up that fantasy for you...there's no way around that. Perceived loudness of different frequency ranges changes with volume. Can't fight that no matter what you do. But even if that weren't the case, no set of cans is gonna have an identical frequency response to powered speakers at stage volume. Tweak for the job....it's all you can do.

Don't take any of this as defending crappy workmanship, because I'm not. However...when these things first hit the street, they were $1400. It's been said many times around here that the JTVs are "$700 guitars with $700 worth of fancy electronics". I agree with that assessment. If it weren't for the modeling, I would not spend $1000 on a JTV, never mind $1400. They're decent enough for a Pacific rim import, but nothing spectacular in terms of craftsmanship...which leads me my round about point: Fretwork on assembly line produced guitars mostly sucks. It's just a fact. They're pressed in by some guy who has 200 necks in front of him that he's gotta finish by 5:00pm, so the attention to detail is just about what you'd expect...I've seen it a million times, even on more expensive axes from the more "household name" brands. Should it be this way? No, but it has become par for the course.

Very simple...don't even bother trying to use the same patch(es) live and through your AKG's. Every time you change what you're listening through (not to mention the volume), a patch will sound different...night and day different sometimes. May as well get used to that idea now, it'll save you a lot of wasted hours. I've got patches that I use live, and I've got my headphone patches. They're not radically different, but certainly not identical. Unless you really enjoy tweaking back an forth constantly, just set up patches for their intended use. It's a hell of a lot easier.

Who do we blame for the cost here, then? Even $50 is silly. ;)

This kinda torpedos your argument. If it sounds funky with mag pickups, then it's hard to blame piezo or software...

Like I said, for a mild case (and the severity certainly seems to vary from one afflicted guitar to another) it might help...but for the more horrible examples I've heard, the only "fix" Workbench is gonna offer, is let you turn that string off altogether. Not to mention the fact that this seems to affect the high gain crowd more so than others, suggesting that if you're a low-to-no distortion player, you might not even notice that your guitar does this at all. So the more you roll back the string volume, the more you have to compensate at the amp, or you're not gonna have the sound you want anymore. They'll just end up dialing out the problem at the guitar, and dialing it right back in at the amp. It's not much of a solution.

For an incredibly mild case of "plink", perhaps, but the grotesque audio clips that have been posted throughout this thread, I think not. If the solution were that simple and Workbench was the answer, this thread wouldn't be years old... somebody would have tried it by now.

Just as long as it doesn't come with Apple's price structure...or else everyone's shiny new $1500 Helix would be $2850 instead. ;)

See that's the trouble...6000 models?!? Where do you start? I'm not sifting through 6000 of ANYTHING, just to find the 3 or 4 that I'd use. Who has that kind of time? You'd be at it so long, you'll forget how to play in the interim. And thats assuming that you haven't been dead for a year and a half by the time you finish...

Some folks won't be satisfied until the total number is "all of them", up to and including the crappiest amps in history. Gimme it ALL, so I can tweak forever!...;)

It's a whole lot of effort for something that you're about to part with. Let the guy buying it worry about the presets...

Never gonna happen, for one very simple reason: They'd have to divulge proprietary info to do it. L6 is as tight-lipped a company as there is in that regard. They won't even discuss specs as innocuous as recommended pickup height for the Variax guitars, and you think they're gonna give outside developers a peek at their code? We'll elect a hamster POTUS first. All the companies that make modelers think that they've got the best stuff, and the best developers. Last thing they want is to be shown up by some tech-savvy 15 year old kid who creates an amp model that ends up being more popular than anything that came with the device. It would be a huge embarrassment. Even if it's a longshot, opening themselves up to the possibility would be a horrendous business decision. I seriously doubt Yamaha would approve.

The next logical question is would it fare better or worse with a really hoppy micro-brew? If you're gonna investigate, investigate. ;)

That's how you make it clearer. By saying exactly what you're doing. As I said, I was unable to hear the clips...links didn't work, so I could only go by your description. Recording usually involves more than just one raw, unaccompanied guitar, so you'll have to forgive the assumption. We were trying to help...

Any volunteers to fill up the tub and field test their Helix? ;)

You said everything sounds fine when you play live...I assumed that meant you were using the UX2 as part of gigging rig. I've seen guys do that...run everything off a laptop straight into the PA. A tone that sounds good at 110 dB with a band won't necessarily work for recording. That's all I meant. Evidently that's not what you're doing, I guess. If the problem is that your tone sounds radically different when you play unaccompanied, vs. the same tone placed in a mix with drums, bass, keys, vocals,etc...then the issue is relatively straightforward, because it happens to everybody. Each track you record is competing with everything else in the stereo field. Overlapping frequencies make weird stuff happen sometimes, phase issues, mixes that sound "muddy", etc. Guitar tones that sound great on their own, will often get "lost in the mix" as you add other instruments. Usually it's a matter of EQing your way out...

If you do find one to your liking, you'd be the first. We'll write a book. ;)