DeanDinosaur

"The processors and preamps on the Amplifi " are based on 20th century Technology (Pod XT released 2002, 12 years ago). POD HD models are based on 21st century technology (POD HD released 2010). The improvements in n the amp modeling in the HD series is very evidence to any guitar player with any kind of hearing. Digital converters won't do anything to improve the over a decade old amp modeling found in Amplifi, POD XT, POD Farm. Line 6 are marketing geniuses the way they milk their century old technologies. "slap on blue tooth and Iphone, I-robot,I-Crap support and many won't be able to tell the difference and they will sell like hot cakes" said the genius marketer, in line 6 product marketing meeting :lol:

MY HD500 SPDIF works perfectly using 24 bit 48KHZ with EMU Audio Interface.

Check the documentation of the Firewire device : Connect the coaxial S/PDIF output of your external digital audio device to the FireWire 1814’s rear panel coaxial (RCA) digital input. Make sure that spdif is selected as the input under the digital port selection, and that coaxial is selected for the spdif input port. Also make sure that external digital is selected as the sync source in the FireWire 1814 Control Panel’s page. You may alternately use word clock if your S/PDIF source has a word clock output or is locked to the same word clock master

My understanding based on scouring various forums is that line 6 will never truly divulge what's in the CAB, What Igloo just stated is the most I've ever read from anyone from line 6 regarding their speaker simulations. I personally think there's definitely Power amp/ speaker interaction programming residing in the line 6 Cab as the finger interaction is completely gone or dramatically changes any time I load external IRs in a plugin. Iglo talked about filtering but to my ears and looking at spectrum analyzer, the line 6 cabs are spiked in the lows and highs which suggests EQ/sonic enhancements. If you lower the amps BASS and treble/presence below 40%, you will have outstanding patches. Many players struggled or are still struggling with the HD and many gave up and switched for this very reason, but this is getting lost on line 6 since the HD is truly a major advancement in modeling and it's selling quite well. Most players expect to be able to put the Bass or treble past noon and still get a nice bright sound, unfortunately with the HD it does get harsh (I personally don't care , I don't think I ever have a single patch in my HD 500 that has the bass or treble/Presence past noon and I love many of the sounds I get from the HD. But I can understand others' complaints and I know it can be improved if external Irs are truly supported.

I'm sure everyone appreciates DIgital_Iglo, but most new worthwhile products are developed in rabbit holes, and developers from most companies participate in their own products threads (Chris Kemper, Cliff chase, Michael Ljunggren, etc etc,,,,). it's very good for business also. I was on the verge of completely giving up on line 6 until Igloo showed up.

This thread is about improving the Amps' quality and getting better IRs functionality. Please don't take this the wrong way, but POD XT/X3/POD Farm all have 5150, Diezal, etc

I'm not sure 100% what you mean by that, but I'm taking it to mean that disabling the CAB and using external IRs using a PC or MAC plugin or something like the Torpedo or Logidy isn't advised or supported because it's not apples to apples. I'm I correct?

That is very interesting. Thanks for clarifying. The other day, I decided to run the HD in the Loop of Eleven Rack to use Eleven Rack Cabinets "Speaker breakup". The line 6 cabinets always sounded louder with boosted Lows and Highs as if someone applied a BBE sonic Maximizer effect to them which has a dulling effect on mids. I've always got really good results with my HD by itself, but on almost all of my patches , I always have the BASS , treble and presence well below noon. Line 6 had to add a High Pass filter to the Cabinet to cut the annoying BASS as many complained about the extra bass and highs. Obviously not everyone appreciates the "sonic enhancer" sounds because they tend to make the sound harsh and boomy in general. But since louder equals better, I think I've been tricked out of laziness as I automatically presumed that line 6 cabs were better because they were always louder and I never adjusted the volume equally! Conclusion: IMHO and based on what I hear, line 6 enhancement to the Canbinets include: Sonic Maximizer type enhancements to the lows and highs (bad for mids), and some compression similar to what you find in loudness maximezers (limiting); I tested with a peak meter, Line 6 cab was always louder than external IR and it peaked much lower!! Solution: Not to be mean but to be direct: Line 6 should remove all the enhancements from the cabs and leave that up to the user . The main advantage of convolution is faithful recreations of the Cabinet or the room (for Reverb), why enhance a faithful recreation by "sonic enhancers" or artificial sweeteners. Can we have the enhancers/Sweeteners on the side and instead be able to load our own natural faithful IRs. With the DSP saved from removing these enhancements from the Cabinets, one would think that it shouldn't be an issue unless the line 6 IR is very low resolution and it really needs the enhancements. Be that as it may, I still stand by the Idea of adding an IR loader that can load 512-points IR even if it takes half of the DSP. You don't like it, don't use it. If you like the sonicaly maximized/enhanced sound, then you don't have to do a thing if an IR loader is ever added. I can only imagine how good the HD would sound to many who don't care for the enhancers type sound. That explains why line 6 doesn't have a sonic enhancer type effect, while other companies do. The sound is already enhanced and any more small enhancement will completely destroy the sound.

This can be accomplished one way or another. Digitech engineers worked on weekends to introduce the Beta Firmware that supports external IRS (Stan wasn't just one person). That extended the life of the GSP1101. I'm not suggesting that Line 6 engineers do the same, but if Line6 adds this feature to POD HD, they will add market shares and they will secure their current share of customers who might move to AMPLIFIRE by Studio Devil, or even revalver 4 that's very promising for those who want to use a laptop live by introducing a live mode where scrolling through presets is seemless

I think variety is extremely important as it increases the odds of finding that speaker that matches perfectly to each players individual setup. There are many types of guitar bodies, necks, wood, pickups and other hardware combinations that many times a patch that sounds amazing on some strat sounds completely different on another strat . It's very noticeable not only with POD HD, but with most modelers. In the real world, that's the advantage of buying a head instead of a combo amp, if you ever auditioned different cabinets for the same Head, when you find the right cabinet, the difference is sometimes astonishing.

What I'm suggesting as well as everyone who's advocating External IR functionality, is to be able to load an external IR that's the exact resolution as the LINE 6 IR that resides in the POD HD. That should require the same DSP if it's done from the Line 6 Cab (how much DSP was required to add the newer cab parameters?. If Line 6 IRs are very low resolutions customers don't have to know that because line 6 can release a PC/mac editor to convert all IRs to the native LINE 6 IR resolution/Format. I don't know what the resolution of the current POD HD but I'm hoping it's a 512-point IR. Digital iglo stated that "a 512-point IR is the ideal size for that particular scenario." which would be great but whatever it is, it's doable without any compromises if the resolution remains the same.

1-Not unless you have excellent Preamps, Mics, speakers and properly acoustically treated room. 2-The original POD 2.0 sounded great and it still does to this day, but POD HD sounds better, and POD HD with the ability to load external IRs will simply be better than the current POD HD.

How is it any compromise if instead of a new amp, an IR/Loader Player is added. If you choose not to use it, you still have the original cab. currently, there are more than a Hundred effects and amps, you use what you like and you don't use the one's you don't like. Ok you might use up some memory that might be useful to add new amps (like the PODs really need more effects and Amps). If there'a a compromise, it's the current status of the product where there are hundred of effects and they're all compromised to a degree or another by running scaled down algorithms to allow for the plethora of effects and amps

The current scenario is people attempting to replace the whole cab with an IR. It's pretty frustrating when no one from line 6 can confirm if this is worthwhile. I personally, based on what I hear, don't find any improvement because they're not interchangeable without loosing significant programming and not just the IR when you replace the Line 6 cab with an IR using software Plugins. But to answer your question, I'm almost 100% sure that an IR is part of the line 6 cabinet and can be seperated if needed from the other technologies or enhancements. I'm not sure how to read this and whether your trying to find justification for line 6 not doing or not planing to add this functionality, when the technology and ability has been around for well over a decade. Why would someone go through their fine tuned existing tones and replace the cabinet and expects that his Patch will be better?! And if he or she isn't smart enough to realize that the expectations are idiotic, why should that stop the advancement of technology forward?

If at 50% you can still load AMP, EQ compressor and Modulation (forget about reverb), it would be a tremendously useful tool for recording. Any serious recording doesn't need reverb (until the mixing stage). Dual amp is in no way near double tracking and anyone who is serious about recording has no need for dual amps. For live use, most are using the PODs with AMPs and with the DT series, it's the perfect compliment for live use. Originally PODs were intended for recording and despite the fact that many use them live, there are still a huge section of users who actually buy them solely for recording. Evolution of the product into something that can also be used as an FRFR for live where you would need the best IR possible, is still no where near as large as those who are interested in the POD as a recording tool. How many guitar players you think pod the early Bean for effects? If line 6 tomorrow comes out with a unit that only does AMP simulation as the main focus similar to the early POD, it's almost certain it would be a big hit even if it relied on the early POD Beans adopters as a target market. Better yet, if they introduce an IR loader instead of a new amp, even if you loose most of the horse power but can still load a good amp that sound and feels better recorded, it would be a win win for recording artists.

What if they add a button in the Current Cab that allows loading of external IRs instead of the internal ones. Same resolution, same everything, that will only make the external IRs available and the possibility of finding a better suited speaker for the specific guitar or pickup used. That's what many are asking for, the ability to load external IRs and that shouldn't increase the DSP demand if the current resolution remains the same. I don't see the big deal. This will make the POD HD more marketable. sure more IRs will be sold, but more HDs will also be sold when others hear great recordings where specific external IRs are used. Who knows, some might even strat recording their own IRs of the specific real world setup they use and if 80% of the tone in the speaker (according to cliff chase), then the POD HD can get close. While they'e at it, They can even add a feature to record your own IR, the Mic input can accomplish that. There's already a looper there, so this is not far fetched. They can charge money for both features, quite a few will pay (I know I would). Studio Devil upcoming device will sell for $600 mainly because it will allow external IRs loading. Some how and to many, having external Ir loading ability, gives a sense that you're getting close to AXE FX territory. Line 6 can accomplish this by creative programming and keep the prices down, they will be everyone's hero if they aren't already. They definitely have the smartest, most creative minds in the business that can accomplish that and more. I speculate that the only reason it's not done is very likely due to marketing considerations and not to scientific/programming abilities.

Let's say the light version is the resolution that's currently used in the HD series and the higher resolution is marginally better, as high as possible limited by still allowing one signal path with 4 to five effects and not the dual path. The added flexibility will be huge as the odds of mating an amp with the prefect matching IR will be within reach and will be a huge improvement regardless of the Resolution.

I can't see dollars having much to do with anything. Instead of adding a new amp model or new effect, they will just add an "IR Loader/player" that can occupy a block. That's the fastest way I think this could be done, but line 6 has the creative coding gurus who can accomplish External IR functionality one way or another. They can even add two IR players, one light version so you can use more simultaneous effects and another that can even play the highest resolution that will take alot of DSP power so you won't be able to load dual amps etc, the higher resolution would be good for recording and the light one for Live. Problem solved, No?

For live use, the HD500 and DT amp is probably the best solution out there; definitely better than Both Kemper and AXEFX. According to Cliff Chase the designer of the AXE FX, tone is 80% from the speaker. A real Amp with real guitar speaker is untouchable for live use in regard to sound quality, add the flexibility of the POD floor effects and Preamps and you have everything under the sun and more!

I use External IRs with Revalver that officially supports it, also with Eleven Rack that doesn't officially support, but the massive improvement is in both software/Devices is very hard to miss when using external IRs, but it never worked for me with the HD500 and I honestly gave up on line 6 ever supporting this feature. My next purchase will be revalver 4 that should be coming out somewhat soon. I think it will offer high resolution impulses. I actually heard some clips that show the difference of the same high resolution file, played as high resolution and then played truncated lower resolution. The additional detail in the high resolution is impossible tomiss. Based on sound quality, I'm almost certain that Revalver 4, will be best PODHD, Eleven and will actually be close to AXE FX II.

How did you know :) , I did argue with a stop sign the other day and she seemed to have more sense than some people. Mine is not just a theory when you consider that a product like AXE FX that officially supports external IRs that many of its users favorite IRs are not the internal IRs provided by Fractal audio. I realize line 6 doesn't allow loading the IRs in the actual unit, but now that there are products with low latency like Torpedo and Logidy why doesn't someone from line 6 come out and say that the HD is compatible with these devices?? If you can't hear what's lost, you're in the minority because most who used the HD with external IRs never notice significant improvements and quite to the contrary people notice quality degradation with external IRs when using the HD at it's current status. The subject of this thread confirms my findings and not yours. In case you're not aware, line 6 never disclosed that they use IRs even though we all know they do. the word is that they use a combination of IRs and other secret sauce, how do you separate the sauce from the Ir?? By disabling the entire Cab? I don't think so.

That statement is half true. there are definitely other things you're losing. I'm sure there are few other things you loose such as those that have to to do with speaker impedance and how tube amp reacts to that, and other things that I'm not aware of, as I'm not a tube amp engineer, so until line 6 come out and say what's lost, presuming the obvious parameters are the only thing lost is not a safe bet by any means. To my ears there are definitely more things lost. I can see though, how these things might not be crucial to getting a high gain sound that's pretty good if finger response and dynamic range is not a concern.

When I use the HD500, I only use it with the internal IRs because to my ears it sounds like the Line6 Cab when disabled, some other components are also disabled and not just the IR. Your research is not showing the whole picture for two reasons: 1-Anyone who's using the POD for recording (not live) specially as an audio interface, will very likely be interested in external IR support and if not, they will be when they hear others' success. This will advance the HD series and make it more appealing to most interested in recording. The research should specifically target those who use it for recording and not live. 2-Even if you research is accurate, you're overlooking the fact that forum members are always a very small minority compared with forum viewers (lurkers) who don't participate. It's similar to the research that suggests that for every single complaint that a company receives, there are at least ten that simply don't want to bother. I would love to be able to use External IRs if It's confirmed by line 6 that disabling the CAB is only disables the IR portion and not some other. Thank you very much for chiming in.

You're missing my point. What I'm saying is that if the HD truly supports external IRs, he would have gotten amazing results, but once you load an external IR and disable the CAB, you also disable other programming that went into the CAB. It's clear that LINE 6 doesn't want anyone to get good results with EXTERNAL IRS, otherwise they would have officially supported it by separating the IR from the other components of what they call CAB.

There are high resolution IRs that should sound significantly more detailed, but since POD HD series doesn't support external IRs, it's just a waste of time. NO where in the specs does any POD HD state that it supports external IRs, and that's intentional.