Buckethead85

You really can't beat Mackies. I used to work at a music store that sold Peavey gear.. And although the PA equipment is built like a tank.. I never cared for the preamps in them.

 

For what It's worth.. The Yamaha mixers are fantastic, as well. Personally, I think they're a bit quieter than the Mackie mixers. I use a Yamaha in my studio. Don't know if you NEED the 24 XLR inputs, but the Yamaha MG206C-USB has 16 XLR inputs (I think they call it a "20" channel) and also has USB capabilities. That'd be an added bonus in my book but everyone is different. I use one of these in my studio and new, they're only $680 via Sweetwater.

 

We don't use all the 24 channels but we need at least 16 xlr, i will look after the yamaha, thank you for the advice! ;)

Glad to hear that, well you know sometimes is just bad luck witho some equipment, but with the mixers it seems to be a real problem. We have to replace our mixer maybe looking forward to a mackie or peavy 24channel

I have a pair of Behringer B208D Active PA Cabs.. I've been running through them via 1/4" outputs on the HD500X and have been pretty happy with the results. Would I be set just running them as monitors and sending the XLR outs to FOH?

 

That's good if you want to use the stereo functionality of the pod. I tried this configuration in a live situation and i wasn't happy with the sound coming from the monitors (top pro ark12A active pa cabs), the tone was thin and harsh. Maybe because of the quality of the monitors.

That's perfect i think, avoid behringer product (IMO), through the years i changed alot of my band gear (monitors/active pa/mixer), we had problems with behringer mixer and active pa cabs, we chose mackie after that.

The only thing i did not try is to run the pod through a FRFR system like Tech21 for example. Every active cab has his frequency response that change the sound of the tone you tweaked (do you tweak your tone through the headphones?).

My evolution with the pod hd500 in live situation was:

- fender frontman 212r (paid used 180 euros) through his fx loop, not miced (didn't like the sound of the lead tones, but nice clean sounds)

- pod directly to PA through XLR L/R (mackie thump 15A), the sound out of the mackies was good after some eqing, but the sound coming from the monitor was horrible (Top Pro ark12A).

- same as before but using the frontman miced and as a monitor (this was just an attemp because as i said the lead tones coming from the frontman weren't nice )

Actual setup, laney cub12r (270euros) miced and with the pod in his fxloop. The tones are very close to the ones i tweak at home through the headphones, plus the feel of a tube amp acting as a monitor is beatiful. Pretty happy with this configuration.

I would like to try to add the xlr out L/R to the pa and mixing with the miced signal, who knows if it is a good idea.

Let me know what you are going to do! ;)

Thank you for all the informations, you are very kind to share your experience with all of us and they are extremely useful.
I use the 4cm with a laney cub12r which i mic in live situations. I noticed some sort of volume drop but never did any test to verify this.

Some questions:

Do you set the master level at maximum?
What do kind of advice would you give to me to improve my set up? Upgrading the amp with one with more wattage?

thank you again

I totally quote the DeanDinosaur and meambobbo point of view, line6 has other interests, at this point, things like the weird eq should have alreay been fixed. Ideascale is useless, nothing on that forum has been considered since now. It is really a pity because with some adjustments the pod hd500 could have been a really great unit. Personally i think i will not buy any other products of line6 if something does not change, but it is a waste of time to continue to complain about this upgrade/support thing if nobody of the staff care about that.

The list of the author of this topic could be even bigger, the main issues are well known and they are the important things, we can't add things to fix just because they come to our mind. IMO: eq fixes, clip meter, dual cab micing or dual mic for one cab, power switch(would be better to have it), phase and clipping issues.

What i mean is that i understand if someone blames line6 for putting % instead of Hz, because is just nonsense to do something like that, but things like the flimsy power supply may have a reason to be like that. I hope i've explained well what i meant. Peace

I find the marshall models really benefit from either a clean boost (screamer) or mid boost (mid focus EQ) to get rid of that boomyness. I really dig the JCM800 or Park with a screamer out front set at 0% gain and about 70% drive.

You mean 0% drive and 70% output? Anyway also the master volume drastically change the tone of the jcm model!

I had one too before I went through 2 other amps before the DT25. It fits his req's though. Rugged, reliable, and loud. Straight into the effects return it gives you just what you want: lots of clean volume.

Yes, totally agreed. I think if you want to keep the price low, it is the best choice. I paid the laney cub12r 270 euros, not so much for a tube amp. Also bugera v22 i think could do the trick, it is around 300 euros i think. After i tried tubes i'm a little biased now. I feel just another level of quality and for the first time when i play live i love my tones, never happened before. Maybe they sound cool only through the amp and the audience hear only fuzz and nasty stuff ahahah :D

Hi Bjorn, i've been using pod hd500 for a year too, i had a pod xt live before. I suggest you to read the meambobbo's guide, it is full of useful tips! On his demo page, you can download some tone he made, maybe you can find something for your need.
Also search on youtube a guy named Suhermanto Harsono, he made a pod hd500 vs gt100 comparison and their tones are available on customtone (you can find the link to download them under his video), i found them beatiful.
Regarding me, i had problem to make the jcm800 model sound good (for solo stuff). In general i can give this advices to you ( that worked for me).

- set input 2 to variax, less background noise

- if you are not gonna use dual amp, mute the right channel and keep the left channel centered.

- for clean volume boost i set up a studio eq at the end of the chain, i keep gain at +5db, i activate it when i need a boost for solo in live situation assigning it on the second switch button which i labeled "boost"

- put the noise gate just before the amp only if there are some distortion or comp pedals, if you have free slot unused put another noise gate just after the mixer (with low level, just to clean slight the tone) of course this is for high gain tones.

- use the mid focus eq if the tone is too bassy or too fizzy, it's hard to control the eq cause there are no db or hz but just %. On youtube you can find a video of someone that explain how the eqs work on the pod hd500.

- sometimes changing mic can do the job, if the tone is too trebly try the sm57 off axis, the ribbon also is good but can really make the tone too muddy.

I hope you find this informations useful.
Bye ;)

I had a fender frontman 212, it has a lot of volume but it is a solid state amp and it feels very cold and digital. Just my opinion but i suggest to buy a tube amp.

It depends in what kind of place you will play (small club, pub, venue etc..). If you're gonna mic your amp i suggest you at least a 30 watt amplifier, because even with micing, at monitor volume level a small wattage amp will colour the sound with some power amp distortion. A 30 or 50 watt amplifier would guarantee you a more clean sound. I own a laney cub12, single channel with 12" speakers, fx loop and it is perfect except that it is "only" 12 watt (which miced is perfect even for small pub!). Of course i'm talking about tube amps, i had also a solid state amp and i think is not even close to a tube amp, i would buy (used) a peavey classic 30, or laney vc30. It's better a single channel amp so you can use the clean of the amp and add distortion and other fx with the pod with teh 4cable method. Hope it helps :)

You are right GTLazer, but when everyone bought the pod hd500, didn't they expect at least these minor fixes? I mean in 3 years they could have fix at least the stupid % eq issue? I bought this unit because i was expecting some sort of improving through the years, and i don't mean big changing, just these minor fixes.
They simply did a mistake, with dual amp you run out of dsp pretty quick and you cannot use the fx that you want. 20% dsp more and light on footswitch, I don't get that marketing move, that's all.

I'm a pod hd500 buyer and i have to agree with you. I've been a line6 supporter since pod xt live came out and i bought all the expasion packs, i was always happy with line6 until now, honestly i really didn't like that pod hd500x move and in general the way they managed the pod hd500 upgrades. I hope the 2.2 firmware is not the last because it is really useless for most of the pod hd500 owners.I quote entirely "as they no longer have the integrity they did in the beginning".
I hope they will do something for us because i have your same idea of not buying more line6 product again (and for doing something i don't mean new hd models, i really don't care, i want the present amps improved, a global eq, fixing the eq % with a graphic eq like on gearbox of pod xt live, a clip meter, using dual cab without dual amp). Nobody is asking for gigantic updates, it cannot be a trasformed new unit, but i would like it be an improved one.

p.s.: sorry for my english
 

Hey i'm happy to see a successful story about using the pod direct with the PA!
In my past experiences i had problem with that setup, the sound of every patch was very harsh and cold, plus the sound coming from the speaker monitor was even worst.
Maybe my PA does not have a flat response or the monitors are crap.
Anyway i bought a tube amp (laney cub12 r) that is miced, and i solved all the problems. I use it through the fx loop, i can use my amp preamp or the full amp simulation, the tone is very similar to the one i tweak with headphones on.
The amp act as a monitor also and i feel the "thump" of the amp, the warmth of the tubes and i'm really satisfied.

Unfortunately i cannot use stereo fxs but i will try someday to mix both xlr output and the signal coming from the microphone of the amp.

I don't think there is any need to feel down about having a POD HD 500.

It has been out since 2011. It is now 2013 and the Amp and FX are still the same. Just our three year old technology 

didn't get the HD500X' Processor. And three years is an "age" in computing hardware terms.

No real need to be disguntled.

Sorry but i have to disagree with you. Now my pod 500 has no market value, i paid 500 euro for the pod and after all the things that disappoint me like eq freq in PERCENTAGE!?! (and no documentation that helps for this, we are not mad thanks to people like Meambobbo and Jim Reynolds that we can still make it) and DSP limit reached with double amp...why allowing double amps if you cannot add more than a fx and you get DSP limit!?

You launch a new product that is exactly the same with a hardware upgrade. I think all the pod hd500 owner feel like they were robbed, i feel a bit like that. I hope will come out a new firmware that fix some of the issues of the pod because i don't think it was not a good market strategy to launch the podhd500x.

I was reading this and without opening a new topic i want to ask a question here:

I want to use the hd500 for his modeling capability so i connected it the 4CM through a tube amp (laney cub12r).

In my patches i use the full version of the emulated amp ( the pre version doesn't sound good, the same happen with no cab emulation).

1st question: i set the master level knob at maximum, output mode to line, 1/4 output set to line, switch on the back of the pod line/stomp to line. Is this correct?
Should i use amp instead of line on the 1/4 output jack? should i use as outputmode combo power amp since i'm using a combo power amp only bypassing his preamp section?

I know that i should trust my ears but i don't want to ruin something or overloading the signal etc..

2nd question: I do gigs once a month and of course i want to use the amp (mic-ing it) as a monitor too. If i activate the FXLOOP block on the chain and disabling the amp i can use the preamp of the real amp.
Is this the right way? Because i would like to use the real amp distortion but only for a couple of songs during gigs, should i change some switch positions?

Thank you for the answers...

One person mention adjusting the patches to sound good in the in-ears and I disagree wholeheartedly.  You want your patches to sound good throught the FOH.  The in-ears mix and sound is what it is, work with whomever does your monitor mix to make that more pleasing but don't tweak your patches for the monitor mix.  This also may be painfully obvious but make sure you have the HD output set to Direct Out if going direct or it will sound like you know what.

I agree with you with this

That being said, if I had to play multiple venues I'd focus more on my DT-25 and mic'd cabinet set up.  I have separate common patches for each setup adjusted accordingly.  You can pick up this amp used for about the same as the others you mentioned and I strongly recommend it now especially with the new firmware that allows you to tweak the default settings of the amp itselt in standalone mode it so worth waiting and saving a few more dollars to get it.  You'll be kicking yourself later if you don't.

The dt25 new is at 700+ euros (i'm from Italy) and i don't think i will ever find it used for less than the bugera v22  (brand new for 320 euros), but maybe if i'll find a deal i will consider it of course!

Thank you very much to share your experience with me, you clarified alot of things!

About the tweaking of the tone, i borrowed an amplifier from a friend, you have to put your ear while tweaking almost in the same position of where the mic will be! (of course not on the grillcloth ahah :) )

Because when you are playing the amp is at your feet and you perceive a different sound in comparison with the "direct" one, it's like you are already off axis!

It's better to put the amp on a chair with one of your ear-hole that point directly toward the amp! Hope it makes sense!

Hey sozeg let us know after the gig how was your experience! ;) Anyway the fact that you change PA doesn't necessary change the whole tone! I mean the big difference is (imho) that the tone you tweak from headphones is totally different for every other equipment (amplifier, speaker, etc..) but if you tweaked the tone listening throuhg a PA its in general good for every PA and it need only slight tweaking...i've heard alot friends of mine that never had the problem i had with the pod ( and maybe like moondancer said the technician make the difference).

 

Yes thank you everybody! Every experience you had with live situations helps me alot, because i'm convinced that the hd500 is a great unit and once is sat up properly you can really achieve every tone possibility!

I had a the pod xt live before and i had the same problems live, but still it was a really good unit
 

I assume you were using POD HD amp sims when running direct and getting that gritty and nasty tone that didn't sound at all like what you spent time tweaking in, right?

Yes, exactly!

I think the best solution for ultimate flexibility without buying a DT50, is using POD HD amp sims or amp pre sims with the 1/4" outputs hooked to the FX Return of your tube amp. Set the "AMP/LINE" switch to "LINE". Also, set the output mode to  COMBO PWR AMP. Now you can use the patches you had and tweak them to sound good with the power tubes of your amp.

Yes i was planning to buy a bugera v22 using it with 4cm fx return. But why the amp/line switch must be on line? Do you find it sound better?

Hope this was helpful.

It was extremely helpful thank you very very much! :)

Thank you very much! Yes i was thinking to buy a tube amp like the bugera v22 or v55. It has the fx send/return. The dt25 is too expensive at the moment :( , but if i had money i would buy it for sure. In your case when you play live in big open space do you mic the amp?
Do you think a 22 watt tube amp would be enough? I mean i can mic it but i'm afraid that a raise of volume would distort the clean sound of my clen tone preset. Thank you for your time :)
 

Thank you jstock, but as i said, sometime i play throuhg different PA so i haven't the possibilty to tweak the patches in front of the PA.
I think i will mic the tube amp, at least i'm sure what come out from my amp ( when i create the patch at home ) it's almost the same sound in live situation (except the acoustic of course but mainly it's eq-ed correctly).

I will lose the stereo effect of the delays etc...but at least i got a decent sound, the last time through the PA was a terrible experience. The tone was so thin and digital that affected my playin, i was not comfortable at all.

 

Thank you for your answers!

I used to play live with a miced frontman 212r transistor amp (100 watt) and the pod xt live connected in front of it. So like you i think an amp is necessary, also i was thinking like you said that a tube amp would warm a bit the sound.
Do you recommend the 4 cable methods to connect the pod to the amp? I want to use the cab simulation, not only the pod as a stomp effect.
Thank you again

I've the same problem! My crunch and lead tones are horrible when i play live and i connect the pod through a PA.
I usually tweak every tone listening from the headphones but it's wrong because every speaker has it frequency response (and that's make sense). But i play live with every time different speakers so i want a stable method to obtain the same sound i create at home!

Searching on older post i've found this image that shows the general frequency response. I think with a completely transparent ( and for trasparent i mean with flat frequency response) speaker the sound would be the same produced by the headphones.

p.s.: i'm planning to buy a tube amp and use that to create the patch. I would mic it every gig i do and the sound should not change this way!

Hi everybody, this is my first topic so be kind if i did a mistake for posting in this section! :D

I decided to open a new topic about how to connect the POD hd500 in live situation, because i want to tell my experience and because i want to have a clear point of view about everything.

I've read alot about connecting pod through a PA but still i've not figured out what's the best option.
In my live exibitions i connect the pod directly through the mixer and then to the speakers by using an XLR cable (mono, i don't use stereo effects for now) and choosing of course the output mode as STUDIO DIRECT.

Well, my crunch and lead tone are harsh, very digital,robotic, without the warmth that i heard from the headphones while i was creating the patches (and everybody say it is normal because every speaker has different frequency response etc...) but the question is:

Considering i cannot tweak my patches listening to the speakers because every concert we have a different service and also is not very comfortable, what is the best option to allow the same tone from different situation?

I've read on older posts that i should tweak tones listening from speakers monitor, and the sound would be the same as live?

If i buy a all tube amplifier, i could create at home the patches and then mic it everytime the same way and i would have the same tone i tweaked at home! What do you think? Should i buy an amp with FX loop in this case?

With my band we have MACKIE speakers and they sound ok with my patches ( even if they still lose some tone warmth) but i cannot tweak my tones bringing a speaker every time at my place!

Thank you for helping me and sorry for my english.