benthere77

This question/issue pertains to using the Pod GO for effects-only into my amp (Amp Out to "Power Amp In"). When using the "1 SW Mono Looper" (or stereo) I'm having some weird behavior with volume. If I record a loop and just play the loop, the playback volume comes out at the same level I recorded it. However, when I try to play over that loop the loop volume decreases to barely audible and my main guitar signal comes through at normal volume. The second I stop playing the loop volume comes back to normal level. Anyone else have this problem? I sold my looper pedal when I bought the Pod GO because I felt certain the GO could handle this basic function. I'm probably doing something wrong. Any help/advice is appreciated.

Thanks for the info. I think this may be the way for me to go eventually. I'll hold off for a few months since I just purchased a lot of new gear but I think I'll like the power cab better than the frfr. Does it still have great tone at bedroom volume levels?

I assume you are referring to the Line 6 power cab that is about $600 new? Does this really give you the "amp in the room" sound/feel. Also, can you get good tones even at bedroom/living-room levels? I'm currently using the HR108 and although it has some plusses and you can't argue with the price, I also am having a very hard time getting used to the frfr sound/feel. In fact I'm not sure I even can get used to it so if this power cab is significantly better that might be an option for me.

Sorry for the delayed response. Busy with work last few days and haven't checked in on this forum. "What are my settings?" This is a very loaded question! Lol...There are so MANY settings. Also, I'm still trying to figure this damn thing out. Let me preface this by saying I'm still not satisfied with my sound through the HeadRush but getting better. The quickest thing I can recommend is to try these patches I've attached. The ".wav" file is an "I/R". After importing the patches below (and the .wav file) alter the patches to use this "IR". It goes in the cab slot of the effects chain but the I/R option will only be available if you have an IR loaded. Make sure that "Global EQ" (in preferences) is bypassed when you try these patches. These should give you a decent sound through the HR108. I'm sorry you are feeling deflated. I felt the exact same way. Really was sort of devastating as I had so much excitement and anticipation about getting this. (PS: If you like these tones and have success...go to YouTube and find a guy named Jonathan Cordy. Check out his Pod Go videos as these are his tones and maybe use the donation link to send him a few bucks or "buy him coffee" or whatever.) OH 412 MES-ST V60 OH1F-06.wav JCFullert2.pgp JcTwin.pgp JcTwinB.pgp JcTwinC.pgp

Great post and thanks again for helping me get started and fight through the initial frustrations. I was naïve and/or very heavily swayed by the reviews and was expecting instant gratification. I was so close to returning the unit but glad I didn't. For the price especially, this is a mind blowing piece of equipment. Have I achieved tone heaven and perfect satisfaction on all levels yet (now two weeks in)? No. But that probably isn't possible anyway. In terms of sound through the headphones I would say I have achieved tone heaven but I'm not there on playing through speaker. Yet. I can see the possibility. Part of my issue is probably that I'm so used to the "amp in the room" sound vs the mic'ed amp through speaker sound. My biggest breakthrough on the Go (other than realizing I was using the wrong cable at first) was downloading some patches created by more experienced users to see how they worked and also finding some Helix patches that I liked and using the raw text file to re-create those tones in the Go. That in particular helped me tons. The cool thing is that the Go is so complex it will keep me busy for a very long time. Perfect for quarantine.

That was exactly the problem! It probably did come up on another thread because I posted the solution there once I figured it out. Three days of thinking I had made a huge mistake to going "wow, this thing is really cool and sounds incredible!"

I'm still not understanding it to be honest. What I do with the Katana (power amp in option) is use a balanced cable from the Main OUt (mono) on Pod GO. I choose all normal options for the effects chain (including "pre amp", like "US Deluxe Norm") but I disable the cab option (which is always displayed right after the amp). Thanks for being patient with me....

I actually have both of these (hr108 and katana 100 mkii) and have been experimenting with them for the last couple of weeks. I have a small room also, which makes the HeadRush 108 a little awkward but it still has some plusses. Unfortunately I can't tell you which one is the hands down winner but I will say the Katana is just an amazing amp in and of itself. Also, my Pod GO through the Katana power amp in sounds pretty comparable to the HR108 with the caveat that you can't (or maybe shouldn't?) use the Helix cab/mic/IR sims. So when I want to use one of the Helix cab/mic sims or IRs I play through the HeadRush. Otherwise the Katana. Wish I could give you more clarity but that's my experience so far. I think part of my issue with the HR108 is that I am so accustomed to the "amp in the room" sound that hearing a "mic'ed up cab" sound still feels/sounds a little weird to me.

What is the best set-up to use the GO just for the effects? Does this really require the four cable method?

Man, the last thing I need is yet another rabbit hole. For now I will check out these that you have and leave it alone. Thank you!

Thanks...this actually makes perfect sense and I finally see the spot in the editor that shows there's an IR instead of a cab being used for the preset. Very cool. Is there some kind of online marketplace for IRs? I only have one and I really like it. I'd be interested in checking out some others.

What exactly is an "IR"? How are these created? What is their purpose? Mind you I ask these questions even after downloading one from a YouTuber to use with one of his presets and it sounds amazing. How does a specific preset/tone know to use an "IR" and how does it know which IR to use? (given that you can have like dozens of these installed at one time) Would an "IR" only be desirable when used with an frfr (or equivalent) speaker?

So I'm actually using both a HeadRush frfr and a Boss Katana 100 MKii. (But not at the same time!) On the HR it definitely sounds like garbage if I don't select and enable a cabinet/mic, etc. On the Katana it sounds best if I disable this. The bottom line is that I really have a ton of experimenting and learning to do. Most of my home-made Go tones sound pretty bad but I downloaded some created by a YouTuber and they are absolutely amazing. Also I found a couple of free Helix downloads that fit my style and while those aren't compatible to directly import into the GO, you can open the file with a text editor and fairly easily translate that to settings on the Go. Got a couple of very nice ones that way too.

I'm glad my follies were able to help you guys out. The correct cable makes all the difference. I was literally about to send both my Pod GO and HR108 back to Sweetwater. One other important thing on that HR 108. If you are playing in your house be sure and get the speaker off the ground a little bit. Or at the very least angle it facing up. This is already a very bassy/boomy speaker and if it's just sitting on the floor it accentuates that.

Thank you for your reply! The method you describe (1/4 cable from mono to Katana preamp in) is what I have been using and the results are pretty good. I prefer it over the Headrush frfr so far, but that is probably due to my room acoustics and the extreme booming base from the HR. The Katana amp itself is amazing. I'm getting better tone out of that than the GO but that's probably/hopefully because I'm still such a noob to the device. I haven't tried using Tone Studio to tweak the pre amp in but that sounds promising. Dumb question, but what is the difference between "full amp model" and "pre amp model plus cab"? That sounds like the same thing to me.

Done...not too bad. The cab is disabled because I'm plugged into the Power Amp In of my Boss Katana 100 MKii (which acts as the cab). I used the '63 Spring Reverb. Everything default. Not terrible but honestly not as bright/crisp as my Fender Blues Junior tube amp. My highs were a little better here but still sounded a bit choppy or muddled compared the Blues Jr. I would think this simulation could at least match a Blues Junior (if not blow it out of the water).

It's actually a Pod GO but according to the rep at Line 6 it's the same engine and tone database as Helix so should be similar enough for recommendations from Helix users. See my attached pics. I have been experimenting with two options with similar results. These settings are for the Power Amp In to the Boss Katana 100 Mkii. Cab settings disabled since the Katana is the cab in this case. (My other option is HeadRush 108 frfr which is already so boomy/bass-heavy that I seem to be getting closer with the Katana. In the case of the HR108 the cab is obviously enabled. I'm very new at this so keep that in mind. It looks weird to me having the effects after the amp but that's what I've seen people doing in these presets I've downloaded to use as examples. I"m using this tone for a particularly reverb heavy song (Riviera Paradise). If the highs would ring clear and sustain I would be happy with it for this song.

Good point...thanks... Speakers, have two options and have tried both with very similar results: 1.) HeadRush 108, 2.) Boss Katana 100 Mkii into the Pre Amp In. The sound, including highs is slightly better through the Katana. The HeadRush is very boomy even lifted off the floor. The acoustics of the small room I'm testing this in certainly play a part but I'm not in love with the HeadRush. Although backing tracks sound like a full band playing in my house which is pretty cool. Guitar: Early 2000s MIM Strat with custom made Fender 1968 replica pickups (made by JM Rolph). Note that these are staggered pole pickups with lower poles and B and E string. Possibly part of the problem but doesn't seem to be a problem on other amps. Maybe the Pod GO is just super sensitive to pickup height. Which would be weird.

I know that part of it is my pick ups. I have custom '68 Fender pickups with staggered poles (stratocaster). The poles are lower on the B and E string for sure. I have some new pickups coming tomorrow and I'm going to see how those sound. Maybe the Pod Go is super sensitive to the pickup height. However, that said, I have a hard time blaming the pickups. I'm used to playing through a modded Fender Blues Junior and the highs are crystal clear and ringing out with plenty of sustain. The high notes also sound good on my Boss Katana.

Trying to get that nice classic clean Fender tone dialed in and all is well except for the highs. I can get great sounds other than the fact that anything midway up the neck or higher played on the B and high E string sounds like it's being played under water or in a closet with the door closed in another room. I've tried various EQ and parametric EQ and global EQ adjustments and nothing seems to work. Any suggestions for getting bright, crisp highs? This only seems to be a problem for the clean sound. Anything with the moderate gain or distortion rings plenty clear on the high notes.

Thanks for the input. The Pod GO also has the Global EQ. I adjusted it and that did help but still not great. I think there is something to what you said about being so close to the speaker. I'm essentially playing in my home office right now. So like really close to the HR. I also have tried the GO into the Power Amp In of my Boss Katana 100 MKii. I actually like that better so far but still not having much luck getting the highs to sound pristine like they do through the headphones.

It looks like a few other people have done this with good results. Any tips for how to get the most out of running into Boss Katana Mkii? It looks like there are a few different approaches. ben

When I was using the wrong cable I did have my "Main Out" set to Line. The cable really makes all the difference. There are a couple of short but informative YouTube videos on the differences between an instrument cable and a balance/shielded cable. The volume output didn't change drastically, it just got more consistent when changing between presets. With the old cable the volume seemed all over the place. Just out of curiosity, what kind of speakers do you like for the Pod Go (or whatever device you use)? Are you referring to studio monitors or just other powered speakers that aren't "frfr"?

Check out the reviews on Sweetwater and also I believe I saw some posts on this speaker in the Helix forum. I've only played it in the house so far but I had it maybe on "3" with my Pod GO halfway up and it was very loud and full. I had a backing track playing through YouTube and it sounded like a full band was in the house. All of the comments/reviews I've seen on the subject indicate that the HR108 is more than sufficient to gig with and accommodate a loud drummer, etc. If there's any question you could just move up to the next speaker size.

It was just a 10 foot cable but it turns out there is a huge difference in sound quality and also really a huge difference between an instrument cable and a balanced/shielded cable. Actually I'm lucky I didn't damage the speaker from what I've read. The sound quality is now BETTER out of the frfr speaker than the headphones (even though it's just a single speaker and therefore not stereo). Great "problem" to have! I can't believe I was going to send this thing back...