DeanDinosaur

Nice post. same to you and your family.

Zap Im running Cubase 7.5 and its pretty sweet. Have you tried that version yet Zap? It is now a MAJOR player and you should try it if you haven't lately. And I also run Sonar X3 version d (sweet too),  and Logic X just released a MAJOR upgrade, which... I run too ... Its excellent BTW. Yea that leaves me no time to play with DP8...  ;)

 

Dean there were other things too, for me. Yes, they were ahead of the curve on many things i agree, at least at first. And there is not a thing wrong with making a profit, but in hind site it needs to be done with their Line 6 forum users ideas and input too. Production and sales numbers over the years seemed to outweigh the workmanship in their QA dept. Push it out push it out wayyyy out... Just look back at the problems affecting the Variax alone, and listed here "before" the new forum appeared out of nowhere and even now with the new one... Yea I know you can call up the old forums, but thats not the point is it. Little things, like the internal screws missing on the whammy bar. Then lose controls, scratches on the finish, and then fret issues... Strings popping out of the nut when bending them... The list was too long even for Line 6 ramp ups in a new production, in my humble opinion... Then on the Pod XT Pro, supposed flagship of preamps and included in their "dream" system. Little things like a dry output port on it that wouldn't work with their own freeking flagship guitar digitally. Things like audio inputs you had to rethink amp logic on in order to get the correct unity gain out of it. NOT allowing you to split the output feeds (control over what the cab sims and mic sims sent) for the house feed, and the stage amp feed. Because you sure don't need an amp feed thats winds up going to a fender cabinet with no way to turn off the cab simulation just because it needs to feed the house! Things like this drove me nuts, and I couldn't talk to um... Not here... Which Ill get to in a minute. Like releasing the Pod Pro without Workbench support (altho they did fix that later while I raised hell)... Things IMO that should not have ever happened, but did, and only because they got away from what I said earlier. That they quit being guitar players, and became gear inventor salesmen and out the door pushers...

 

And I know why this happened too, if I may be so bold... The most damning thing, and one I just can not seem to wrap my head around, is the lack of nearly ALL user AND owner-maker conversations/talk/discuss/communication on this forum! I don't mean talking with the token experts here, no harm intended. They have their place, do their best most of the time and have helped many with issues here. We have had many spirited conversations good and bad, in agreement or not,  but they can not and should not take the place of the owners own words here! Trouble is there usually isn't any, from Line 6. I mean talking with Line 6 directly - and having them talk back to their user base, Here.... I know this works well, 1st hand (but thats another story for another time). WHY is this important??? Just think about it if you will. To be able to discuss the issues and upgrades at hand with the maker of the designs direction is a wonderful feeling for the users, and more importantly lets them know that the maker of the guitar/amp/etc product is indeed listening to their user base,  and building on that conversations outcome. Only submitting a ticket, is and will always be a joke for the masses that use the product on a forum. We don't know who read it, or when. What they did, where it wound up or if it was ever really fixed or even being worked on. We don't know where they are at in the process. We don't know anything, and thats just wrong headed.... There needs to be more input from the maker here. Otherwise its all speculation as to just how much if any, the users are listened to. And please, don't tell me this is not done in business today because I know better.

 

 It was better wayyy back when... As in It was "kinda" this way once with a L6 employee (named Hugo i think it was) on the forums, a long long while back before even the 1st Variaxs were released on the market... And then he at least said he was taking our requests inside the building... But THAT has not happened here again in a long time,  and its a shame... Its also a terrible way to treat those that pay your light bill. Thats my take. They were bought out for a reason and Im betting it was not all good ones. Which part is correct here is as always mostly opinion driven, and YMMV. And even if these examples arnt reasons why they were bought out, they were indeed bought out. Merged if you prefer, as a steer and not the bull in the big pasture now...  Now all thats said, I still wish the best for Line 6. Seriously. Im just not gonna sugar coat it....  ;)

It's really sad when companies forget quickly what makes them successful. In the last three years, I probably purchased more gear than anytime in my life. Three years ago was the last thing I got from line 6 and it was POD HD series, I did consider the JTV variax and the new speaker line, but ended up buying from different companies. when hundreds and hundreds of customer complained about EQ in the PODs and nothing was done about it, it was a huge turn off for me. You might think that this would be useful information for line 6 to know, but instead you get no direct acknowledgement of how bad that is from anyone at line 6, you're free to interpret it anyway your mind takes you. My interpretation: since they chose not to address it, the issue is not that important to them probably  since sales of the PODs are pretty good.  They don't realize that sales could  be better if they have decent EQ in there and also, they're completely oblivious to how that effect sales of other products. I can't be the only one not thrilled with EQ to a point that I won't commit to any product they offer. Is that unheard of or unreasonable?  That shouldn't matter, I vote with my money and so do many others aside from the few that subscribe to the fan boy mentality that I still can't figure out.

Thanks! I tried this and it really gives a much fuller sound.   :)

My pleasure, Glad to hear that.  :)

Here, try this and tell me if it sounds better or worse than the real corus you bought. I personally think it's my favorite  corus patch that I've made so far.

http://line6.com/customtone/tone/256768/

Here's trick to get the analog chorus sounding good. Move the tone control all the way to the left. It will make the sound a little darker but you can compensate with the amp treble or presence. 

Yes Dean, I think (altho they screwed up badly on some design stuff on the Pod IMHO), they are.... They at least at one point in time were in it for more. They cared about tone at least at one point because the pod sales records reflect this.  Yes, those thoughts may be very naive of me, but I do believe this. If I didn't I would not waste ANY time here. Was their rapport with the user base done correctly? No, not even close compared to other places I am now a part of. But we all screw up and hind site is 20/20 isn't it :P ... I just hope for them this isn't another one...

 

I thought they were ahead of the curve in that regard, but their refusal or inability to rectify the EQ situation in the POD HD series really reversed their image from a very advanced ahead of the curve product designers to a company only driven by hype marketing and profits. If they cared at all , they would have already released the advanced POD Farm HD but instead they're milking over a decade old technology of POD farm. These decisions are marketing/profit line driven decisions, it doesn't take 3 years to port the HD models to PC and Mac. They are really the losers in all of this as this is obviously a strategy to counter when Peavey Revalver 4 comes out, it's simply reactive and not Proactive.

To them it's a huge win getting purchased by Yamaha, as those who own stock in Line 6 (private company) made millions out of this which is fine. I still think if they remained a proactive company focused on the growth of their own company, in 10 or twenty years they might be the ones buying Yamaha.  It's similar to when Yahoo offered to buy Googles some time ago, they couldn't reach an agreement and look at google now. It's almost certain that Yahoo would love to be purchased by google now.

The good thing I read is that employees also have shares in the company according to the purchase agreement announcement:

:

"Yamaha will acquire all of the capital stock of Line 6 owned by the founders, venture funds and employees."

Who doesn't need a full fledged DAW?  ;)

You got me there. Everyone wants the latest and the greatest . :lol:

cubase... yuck. 

Cubase is the most advanced DAW in many aspects. Once you take the little time it needs to get the initial setup, you will realize the power it has. The  VST standard for plugins and software instruments (drum libraries, samplers,..) adopted by every relevant DAW, was founded by Steinberg the makers of Cubase, so the VST integration is better in Cubase than any other DAW. The  ASIO  standard is also Steinberg's creation and again it's better integrated in Cubase. Almost all relevant DAWs will achieve the lowest latency when using ASIO drivers,.....etc.  At any given point in time, cubase has features that are ahead of the rest and are later adopted by other DAWs.  Yamaha seems to be really good at  picking winners.

 

PS - Yamaha also owns Steinberg.  Perhaps there is an avenue to collaborate more on that end too with Cubase, Pod Farm, Reason etc...  As much as I like my Line 6 hardware, I see plenty of room for improvement and upgrades in the software and interface realm...

Pretty soon they might start bundling a limited version of Cubase with the PODs and that might be enough for many who don't need a full fledged DAW. I think there will be more value to line 6 products with Yamaha.

.... And I would also go as far to say that no one in the Yamaha CEO boardroom knows what a real amp is supposed to sound like, or cares. As long as it turns a profit and isn't a liability according to a select few bean counters. And that idea should now be Line 6's worst fear... That for what ever the reasons, they are no longer in control of making the peanuts or steering the olds... Ymmv....

And you believe that the owners and founders of line 6 are in it mainly for something other than profit! They can be in it for the love of music,  making great products available for the masses and all that good stuff, but if they don't get their profits in line, they would be history. They're making a good move in both direction, profits and products. Without profits there are no companies, no amplifiers or guitars.

Yamaha is a great company. This is good for everyone. Even Yamaha's cheap guitars are excellent compared to guitars double the price. Yamaha's modeling amp THR is pretty good. They also had G50 guitar to midi controller also outstanding.. Many of their professional audio products have 3 years warranty.. not 1 year  like line 6.      .Line 6 has been upgraded! Trust me.

Do you mean this is happening dynamically?

No, and I doubt anyone is able to do this dynamically considering all the products in the market. Software plugins make you chose a higher resolution at the expense of more CPU usage.   The Kemper did have an issue with aliasing noise when you play the very high register notes using distortion due to DSP limits.

 I say that because I think that the algorithms in the POD HD can be or may be  better than those even in the AXE FX II if the full algorithm were utilized with the same processing power used in the AXE II. I also happen to think that where you draw the line of how much to allocate to amp modeling and effects is probably shortchanging the amp models in the HD series. For me, I'd rather see a product that focuses on AMP modeling. I compare with the Eleven Rack that probably has similar processing power but much less effects and no dual path, and it does sound and feel more natural.

Still I love the sounds that I get from the HD but I feel that they're almost choking as they beg for more DSP. That's when I become certain that many of us who are more concerned with amp modeling, would probably be much happier with the sound if the algorithms were allowed to utilize more DSP.  

For those who have the M series, I also would be willing to bet that the same effect probably sounds better in the M series because the effects are also shortchanged DSP in the HD series. The reverbs tails don't sound that smooth in the HD series but since I don't have an M series product I can't confirm this. So the issue for me is why create a product that's a compromise for  both amp modeling and effects modeling when there's already a dedicated effects product line M9 and M13. I know many who use the HD series for effects only are also having issues and most opt for the M series if they like line 6 effects.

It's a bit strange there's no acoustic models for those who have variax guitars!!

 Regarding tube amps:  in general you can get the same sound you're after with mostly any of them. It just might be different settings for different amps. I almost always end up with very similar tones on all the different amps, sometimes it can be a combination of pedals and sometimes a standalone amp and that is true in real world amplifiers, they all can be made to sound very similar..

...But, since this is mainly a recording tool, more amps make more sense, it means more tools to get the sound you're after quicker. So if you don't get model packs by this NAMM, go and get an Eleven Rack without pro tools for $300 and it will be the best $300 you've ever spent.  The models are killers and some of them have two channels in one amp model so you can mix both channels for more flexibility.  You can use either the HD or Eleven in the FX loop and now the possibilities are mind numbing if you even have the time to go through that...

For those after specific artist tone or play in cover bands, extra mainstream amps are useful.

Deano, what do you mean by this? "...I'm almost convinced that the algorithms for all these amp models would sound so much better if they didn't include everything and the kitchen sink in these POD HDs".

DSP resources that are allocated and made available to run the programming/algorithms of the amp modeling are reduced significantly to allow running of eight effects that can include DSP intensive effects such as reverbs, harmony, etc. If more DSP is available to run amp models, they will simply sound and react better if that additional DSP is utilized to run  more detailed algorithms..To be fair this applies to all modelers including AXE FX II and KEmper....

.  They can't be everything to everyone and it's up to them to decide what markets are best for them to focus on....

They seem to be trying their hardest to be everything to everyone!  POD HD series takes the cake amongst  any and all products under the sun that's trying to be everything for everyone!!I in that regard, they are very successful with the HD series. How can any guitar player not get one of these!!

They've too busy pimping overpriced PA equipment to interface with all this stuff to make the recording I/O, amp additions, and various other tweaks and fixes (that should have happened a year after the HD series came out) we've been looking for. The next generation won't even be able to plug into a regular amp, it'll be some weird proprietary plug that only connects to their $3000 mixer and $1200 speakers.

That's very true. It shouldn't take that long to even release a POD Farm HD but they seem to really like to milk the product line. I haven't been thrilled with their latest marketing since the release of the HD series. I also don't think they'r making the right decisions. POD Farm HD would be the best software modeler, yet they still sell over a decade old POD Farm....The HD series is pretty good, but I'm almost convinced that the algorithms for all these amp models would sound so much better if they didn't include everything and the kitchen sink in these POD HDs. If they release HD amp Farm with algorithms that aren't scaled down in order to fit all the effects, the models will sound so much better..But hey they don't have to do anything until the competition heats up. Next month if digitech releases upgraded amp modeling, It will be a different ball game.

 How long do you think it will be before a new product line is released that obsoletes the X series?

Why would it become obsolete!!? There will always be sounds that you won't be able to get with any other product. I, like many,  already have a few other modelers and still keep the HD for many of the great sounds that are in it. I didn't upgrade to the X series because I don't need the extra horse power, the amps and sounds are still the same.  At any rate I'm watching for NAMM 2014, digitech and Line 6 will probably announce new products.

Whatever you're doing keep doing it because I was listening on my reference near field monitors that are very transparent, no sweetners added,  and your'e mix had depth and sounded excellent. On these same monitors I've heard many big time hit records that were terribly mixed that sounded terrible.

Top of the line production and playing!I know you used the Pod for guitar and bass but what did you use for mixing if you don't mind me asking?

you're welcome. Glad to be of help.

Uninstall the driver or "line 6 devices" then re install the driver  again.

Thanks Dino. :D  I'm not an electrical engineer,

Neither am I. I just read this thread from those who first started using input Z in their product and then other companies followed.

I thought it was an interesting read

http://community.avid.com/blogs/avid/archive/2010/04/06/the-truth-about-true-z.aspx

I was under the impression that

 

3.5M = 1M + Cap

 

In fact I've never seen anywhere a use of that value describing amp input impedance, so that could be an explanation of what's that and why I find everything below that "dead" sounding...

3.5m has less high frequency roll of and more of the guitar signal which can be very useful and give a more open sound so I doubt that it has cap.

Sheesh...where do I begin? ;)

 

... Technically, lower than ~1M IN-Z actually compromises the guitar's dynamic range and attenuates the highs, but the pedals will sound more like the hardware versions with their "authentic' input Z setting.  So, there's no harm in leaving the Z to Auto.

 

It's not about harm or no harm!  The POD HD doesn't fully provide for input impedance that matches real world. Anything but "auto" will be closer to real world tube amps. Tube themselves act as capacitors that roll high frequencies. So even when you plug directly into a real world tube AMP   , your guitar pickups will be changed (high frequency rolled off ) not compromised since most players prefer tubes over solid state and that's how tubes behave.  A true tube amp input Z would be 1mg + Cap  (the cap will roll off highs).

Pod HD doesn't have caps, so anything under 1mg would better simulate real world tube amps because it would be similar to 1mg+Cap.  Eleven Rack and AXE FX II (not I) has the capacitors option and this is a hardware feature not software because software EQ can't predict what kind of pickup you use, but a hardware capacitor will work the same way regardless of the pickup to simulate pluging into  a real world tube amp.

Not being able to select a specific frequency or Q is the least problem of the EQ design. Terminology that refers to commonly used references in studio work, such as Hi, Low, Low mid etc are used yet you're expected to use your ears. Why even give the knobs names. Just leave the knobs blank  while your at it. Parametric EQ level seems to affect only the lonesome one parametric band but there's no level adjustment to compensate for reducing the highs or lows to retain similar volume levels between the edited and not edited! Really, why even call it parametric EQ.

If they had come up with a different name other than EQ, it would be understandable, like "Line 6 Monkey editor" and the parameters would be "butt" and you play with that and you find out it effects Bass frequencies, "hair", would effect high frequencies. The user interface will be a monkey with a banana in each ear....on second thought the monkey is already upgrading the firmware, so maybe it can be another animal or maybe a Neanderthal...