radatats

Aboslutely agree... DT master UP, POD master to control volume, channel volume to level patches. Increased headroom and power amp sweetness... Made all the difference for me.

OK so after reading everything all over again, the manuals, perapera's thread, meambobbo's tone guide, I accept the consensus that the mixer sums the incoming signals just as the first mono block in the Pre section does. Unlike the mono block, the mixer does not automatically reduce the output level for you. So that leads to more questions. 1. Is there an actual need to reduce signal strength? If you are not inducing any undesired effects on the blocks in the Post section or causing any clipping why lower the gain? Doesn't that just lower your signal to noise ratio? 2. If your goal is gain reduction, why would you choose to use the Pan feature when the mixer has dedicated gain faders? Are you potentially losing some audio details that way?

Every signal path is a stereo path according to the manual. Whether or not it actually carries a stereo signal or not is the only question. We are not feeding 4 separate mono signals to the mixer we are feeding 2 stereo signals each of which may be carrying duplicate audio rather than true left and right audio. The mixer is intended to receive these two signals and then mix them down to a single stereo output which again may be carrying the same audio on each channel depending on the FX setup. The mixer is not a true pan, it adjusts the balance of each path. Leaving them centered simply allows the original stereo paths applied to the mixer to pass as received after mixdown. Panning hard left and right cuts the signal, leaving it centered does not double the signal.

And that's why I said this is blasphemy! I am positing something that everyone seems to take for granted yet is not actually stated anywhere. Nowhere in the Advanced Guide or anywhere esle I looked does it say anything about default positions for the mixer, nor are there any warnings or cautions about possibly doubling the signal when set to zero. On the contrary, the signal path is designed to provide a stereo (dual mono) signal on path A and path B to feed the mixer which mixes it down to a single stereo (dual mono) feed to the Post section. From what I see, the mixer doesn't double any signals, it provides the correct mixed output to the Post section. Panning hard left and right if it was real panning would give the same signal level but with wider separation. Instead, as the manual states, it adjusts the stereo balance of Path A and B output to the Post section. You are really cutting half of Path A and half of Path B. I am not telling everyone to suddenly change everything you do, but if you are willing to experiment and trust your ears, give it a try. Objectively. With your live rig. Perhaps when recording to USB it is not as evident but to me there is a real difference and it is not just volume. I have tried it with volume compensation in the mixer too and it is still different. I can say for a fact with my tests and my gear, feeding a DT25 head to a 2X12 cab, there certainly was no clipping induced. I just think its good to know there are other options. Just as some prefer a single input and the lower signal hitting the amp, there are other things we can do at the other end too that might lead us to use less EQ and other enhancements...

Great decision to upgrade to the POD HD500X, you will love it. It takes some work with the learning curve but it is a beast. Based on what you are looking to do, I would stick with just the POD for now. The POD will serve you well at church with a feed straight to the PA and you can go straight in to the stereo FX loop on your current amp to just use the power section and speakers. That will be great for both at home and as your stage monitor/backline. There is no advantage really between the combo and the head. Really depends more on if you already have speaker cabs you want to keep using and how much gear you want to lug around to gigs. Save the $800 plus on the DT and get the JTV instead. Between the POD and the JTV, you will have the best parts of the dream rig. You may decide to complete the rig later but you should also consider the L2T as well. It will give you all your electric tones and also amazing acoustic tones. It also connects with the L6 link for ease of use and integration. As for the single coil vs humbucker, that is a never ending discussion and strictly personal taste. The JTV's can function perfectly well with just the mag pickups so it is your choice on which model you prefer. Once you use the Variax models, there is no difference.

while it is true you can't go stereo with the DT you can certainly use the dual amp function. As stated above though, the DT power section will only sync up to the amp in Path A. You also cannot turn the amps off to switch so you have to be creative with either dual volume pedals or use the exp pedal to morph between the amps. Here is a patch to show you what I mean. http://line6.com/customtone/tone/256843/

I expected those responses that it's only volume but I disagree... you have to look at perperra's schematic blocks and understand how the mixer works. If it simply panned left and right what you say might be correct but that is not what it does. It actually functions as a balance circuit for each path before the signals mix. By turning Path A full left you are not putting the full path A signal to left, you are cutting the right half of path A before it hits the gain section. Same for Path B. What you end up with is the left half of Path A and the right half of Path B. You don't get any more separation, it just sounds more distinct because only half of each signal is being passed to the Post section for processing. Naturally, if you leave it at 0, it is a stronger signal. Not because it has a 6db boost, but because it has not been cut... I always thought it should be a fatter signal at 100 but it really isn't. I have some dual amp patches and they actually sound better at 0. Definitely not farty. And in the end, what are you feeding? Do you feed a true stereo power amp into separate cabs with stage separation? Are you feeding the FOH/PA? If so then folks on either side are missing part of your sound! And if you are feeding a guitar amp/cab or a DT what difference does stereo separation make in the end? The power section outputs in mono. Stereo wiring in a single cab doesn't really give the full stereo effect either. As I said before, unless you have a specific need for two absolutely separate paths, try the mixer at 0. Your stereo FX blocks after the mixer will still perform their stereo functions. For recording you can use true panning within your DAW. http://line6.com/support/topic/2033-pod-hd-500-500x-new-routing-schematics/

OK so while we have all been playing around with different inputs, outputs, topologies and other settings I decided to work a little with the mixer. After really studying perperra's schematics and understanding what and how the blocks work, I started to question why the mixer always seems panned 100% left and right. Seems that pretty much every patch I download and even the ones it came with are all panned left and right. The Pan knobs in the mixer actually function more like Balance knobs for Path A and path B separately. Knowing that all amps are MONO blocks, it didn't really make sense to me why there would be any need to pan the amp outputs. All it seems to do is weaken or thin out the signal to my ears. What I am essentially doing is feeding half a stereo signal to each side of the mixer rather than a full stereo signal. If the amp ouputs an equal stereo signal on each of the Paths, then by panning hard left and right I am losing some of that underlying body and resonance that makes up the full signal. A real amp feeding two cabinets would be sending the same signal to each. I am counting on the FX blocks in the Post section to recombine the full signal at some point or trusting that my headphone/speaker will produce the full signal from the two left and right components. I set up a patch to test it out using fixed Vol pedal and Brit 75 full amp model in the Pre section, reverb and stereo delay in the Post section. I copied it to another slot and set the mixer on one to 0 and the other 100 left and right. I used my Shure 440 headphones rather than the DT to get a true stereo effect. It is a given that the 0 setting is a bit louder than the 100 setting since 100 cuts part of the signal in the process. In testing, to my ears, I definitely found the 0 mixer setting to be fuller, with more articulation and pick attack response. As expected, the stereo separation from the stereo delay was less pronounced but seemed clearer. The 100 L/R setting was softer and seemed to be missing certain elements like thumb harmonics, but I could definitely tell the separated delay parts in each ear. It did not seem to have the same life as the 0 setting. One should also note that if you place a mono block in the Post section for any purpose, whatever effect you were trying to accomp0lish with the mixer is lost. All stereo separation is lost with the mono output. Even the stereo blocks in the Post section were not able to recombine the two signals well enough to recover the missing mojo... So now what? I am going to go back through my patches and see what I might have been missing just by needlessly panning in the mixer. Unless there is a specific reason to completely separate the two Paths I may be better off with 0 setting in all cases. Especially for single amp patches... Any other ideas? Are there other needless things we do out of habit that really do nothing to enhance our tone?

Check out this patch which outputs both a wet and a dry signal on left and right channels for you to record. http://line6.com/customtone/search/

Let me see if I understand what you are trying to do here. As is stands now, you are able to get a good high gain tone using your current rig into the Mesa 4X12 or Orange 1X12 cabs? You are now trying to get a similar high gain tone as a backup in case your Matrix fails and you have to rely on the PA/FOH or powered monitors? Do I have that right? It probably would help if you posted one of your "good" patches to CustomTone for us to work with before spending a lot of calories trying to do stuff you have already considered. For instance, are you using pre or full models? Are you fully using the DEP parameters? There will probably be a great deal of differences between a patch that works well with your amp and guitar cabs to one that works with a PA/Powered Speakers. If you post one I, and others I am sure, would be glad to help where possible...

yeah, the things you are describing are not common issues. You seem to have already done everything I might have advised. Can you take it back to the store you bought it from? Test it at the store and compare it to another unit. Sounds like you have a defective unit... Saving a bundle should save all current set lists and patches at once. I prefer to save individual patches and set lists. Saving bundles didn't seem to work as well for me for some reason... The excessive hum into the amp's FX loop could be a ground issue, there is a switch for that on the POD...

I know Variax is a hot piece of gear but I can't figure out why you would want to heat one... :D

From what i know about phase cancellation, it doesn't really matter which one is "right", more that they are both in sync, rather than fighting each other. I suggested putting it in front of the clean amp simply to take advantage of that FX's ability to add a little tube warmth as well which probably wouldn't be noticed or wanted on your dirty amp. However, if you lower the gain to zero and just use the Phase flip I guess it would still do the trick.

I have created a number of dual amp patches but only recently figured out you could do it for the POD with the DT too. They were not always sounding right. Listening to all of you I learned of phase cancellation but really didn't know how to find it or correct it. However, there is a feature in the Vintage Pre that allows you to correct phase 180 degrees and it made a HUGE difference in the dual tone for me. By itself on a single amp patch of course there is no difference 0 or 180 but when put in front of the clean amp in a dual amp patch it really jumped to life. Check out the patch below to see what I mean. Try it as is and then change the Vintage Pre phase to 0 and see what it sounds like. Maybe this can help with other phase correction applications too... http://line6.com/customtone/tone/256828/

what you describe is exactly what should happen with that setup. The mono noise gate is looking for two inputs, 1 and 2, summing them and mixing down to feed to paths A and B. With only one input the resultant mixed down signal is weaker than it would be with guitar/same (the output is actually weaker than the input). Not that there is anything wrong with that, just that we know why it is happening. I prefer the full signal provided with guitar/same.

Correct, use the L6 link. Now your POD will take over all preamp and effects duties and the DT will provide the appropriate power amp configuration based on the POD's selections. Don't worry about the "n00b-ery". There is a lot to learn here. Read the manuals for both the DT and the POD and also the HD Edit program cover to cover. Watch the videos in the Knowledge Center and on YouTube. Play with the settings and learn what they do and how they sound. Ask questions when you get stuck but try to figure it out yourself first. Most of all have fun with it!

good to be a part of such a great community... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all around the world!

Great topic and I too have been bouncing between the settings and trying to decide which was "correct". After reading everything so far, I picked up on the part in the HD Edit guide that says: The POD HD500 Source Input 1 is fed through Path A, and Source Input 2 is fed through Path B, unless a mono FX Model is inserted in the Pre position, which down-mixes the two input sources to mono and feeds them both equally into Paths A and B. (See the Input Selectors section on page 2•2.) Note that you can move all FX and Amp Blocks out of these Paths completely, but the Paths always exist, and your Source Inputs are always fed through them, and thus, through the Mixer Block. This backs up what was posted above from the Advanced Guide. So it seems the purpose for the Input 2 "Same" setting is to provide a signal to path B. Based on all this, I created a patch to test this out. I made a dual amp patch with nothing in the Pre section and used Vol blocks set to zero to mute the amps when activated with FS 2 or 3. I put a mono Noise Gate in the Post section for use during testing. 1. With inputs set to Guitar and Same - both amps are working together. When I mute Path A, signal continues for Path B. When I mute Path B, signal continues for Path A. 2. With inputs set to Guitar and Variax - only Path A is heard. When I mute Path A, there is no signal from Path B. Path A volume is the same as in step 1. - this confirms that the signal from Input 1 is ONLY fed to Path A and Input 2 is fed to Path B. Now move the Noise Gate to the Pre position, changing nothing else. 3. With inputs set to Guitar and Same - both amps are working together. When I mute Path A, signal continues for Path B. When I mute Path B, signal continues for Path A. Volume remains the same as steps 1 and 2. 4. With inputs set to Guitar and Variax - both amps are working together. When I mute Path A, signal continues for Path B. When I mute Path B, signal continues for Path A. Volume is reduced for both paths. Conclusion: - I believe the standard signal strength from the above tests is the higher one since that is what is being passed directly to each path in step 1 as POD default. - Step 3 showed that the mixed down mono signal from both inputs is no hotter or different than the individual signal being fed to each path in step 1. - Step 4 showed that the signal passed by the mono block without the second input is weaker than the signal in step 1, 2 or 3. While there still may be no "correct" configuration, for me at least, step 4 lacked body and fullness as heard in the other steps. Contrary to my previous misunderstanding, the signal from "both" inputs is no hotter than the individual signal passed to the channels in step 1. In fact the lowered signal is caused solely as a result of the mix down within the mono FX block with only one input feed. I am going back to using the Guitar/Same input configuration unless I specifically need a lower input signal. http://line6.com/customtone/tone/256812/ - test patch with full amp models http://line6.com/customtone/tone/256813/ - test patch with pre models for DT use Please try it out for yourself and tell me if you find the same results... Merry Christmas! :) PS - as it states in the manual, only a MONO block in the PRE section will perform the mix down and feed both paths. An empty block or a stereo block such as a Wah will NOT feed path B unless Input 2 is set to "Same".

the expression pedal is the single most overlooked feature in the POD. There is no end to the number of parameters that can be simultaneously controlled within a patch and with no DSP use. Check out the attached patch for a good example of morphing between two completely different amps with almost every parameter linked some way to the pedal. This is an area where you can really get creative. I just got a second pedal and now I am looking to create a whole FX morph with one pedal and an amp morph with the other. It just opens up so many new possibilities... http://line6.com/customtone/tone/256795/

I always use a third party uninstaller which does the normal uninstall and then does a deep scan to find all the crap left behind, especially in the windows registry. Very often a program will uninstall but leave all its config details behind and when you try to reinstall it sees that old data. Very good advice to know exactly what programs and services are running in the background and closing disabling those you don't need...

Dimension is a DSP hog but it can sure sound sweet when set up right... Turn all 4 switches on and play with the mix...

not possible... besides there would be a noticeable delay as the amp physically reconfigured. I try to avoid any changes within a patch or song that requires a topology change.

that's great! have fun with it, I am sure you will love it...

the POD is not an actual amp. It will always require a power amp, whether it is a regular power amp, the power section of a guitar amp or a powered monitor/speaker. If your true objective is a spacious stereo sound, I suspect you will be better off with a pair of powered speakers that can be placed on either side of your performance space for some separation. In all actuality it is really not needed. A really good amp/speaker will give you all the sound you need and you can take the XLR outs to the house PA for a stereo sound. If your budget allows, check out the L2T, you won't regret it... If you go for the 4X12, you will need a good power amp/guitar amp head. A stereo amp will provide a stereo sound through that cab.

Sounds like you have the makings of a nice rig there. First thing I would do is reflash the POD to factory using Monkey and not saving the presets. Back them up on the computer first. Next do a global settings reset and recalibrate the exp pedal. Look through the Knowledge Base for detailed instructions. Set the switch by the exp pedal to Amp, not Line. Next try your POD with just guitar and headphones. Set output to Studio Direct. Setup a patch with just a Blackface amp with stock settings. Set up one with the pre and another with the full amp. How does it sound? Tweak it if you need to but don't add anything else yet. If it sounds good here, it should still sound good through your amp. Connect Left 1/4 out to FX return. FX loop turned on? Set amp master half way, POD master off, guitar volume midway. Slowly increase POD master as you play and see what it sounds like. Does it match the headphones? Is it even close? Try both the full amp patch and the pre patch, both with identical settings. Try these things and get back to us and we can go from there. :)