Hd500 To Combo Power Amp - Trs Vs Ts Cable ?

[mongopotamus]

I've been pulling my hair out for the last few weeks because I thought the Effects Loop Return input jack of my amp was broken.  When I have my HD500 set to Combo Power Amp mode and plug the L/Mono output into the effects return, it sounded just horrible.... very thin and distant.  Hard to explain, but I tried everything... felt like I was playing through a 5W amp.  Literally took my entire amp apart to look at the soldering on the jack !

 

So this morning, I had an epiphany that it might be due to the effects return input on the amp being stereo (meaning a TRS cable, instead of a regular instrument cable).  I tried it and sweet baby Jesus it sounds 10,000x better !!!

 

I'm posting this because I'm still not clear if my setup is correct or perhaps I've just arrived at the point of insanity, trying to get this thing working.

 

Here is the setup that gave me horrible sound:

 

HD500 L/Mono Output  -->  Instrument Cable --> Effects Loop Return

 

 

Here is the setup that gives me fantastic sound:

 

HD500 L Output  -->

                                 (cable that merges two TS instrument cables into a single stereo TRS cable) --->  Effects Loop Return

HD500 R Output -->

 

 

I'm using a POD HD500 with a Randall RX100RG2 Combo Amp

 

Please let me know if you have had similar experiences and if this approach is recommended.  Thanks !

 

[bjnette]

Glad you found it. Looks like they use a balanced cable to keep noise shielded.

[BigChas52]

Some amps have a weird setup for the effects loop.  For example I have a Crate amp that if you use a mono cable it acts like a line-in, but if you use a TRS cable, it acts like a combined FX loop in/out.

 

If that is the case with your amp, when you were using a mono cable, you were feeding the line-in and not the FX loop. 

[bashone]

Some amps have a weird setup for the effects loop.  For example I have a Crate amp that if you use a mono cable it acts like a line-in, but if you use a TRS cable, it acts like a combined FX loop in/out.

 

If that is the case with your amp, when you were using a mono cable, you were feeding the line-in and not the FX loop. 

I bought a line 6 pod hd 500 today, and i plugged it into my fender frontman 212r and the sound was horrible. I don't know what to do i use normal instrument cables is this my problem ? Please help :)