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Vdi Cable Vs Real Guitar Cable


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   I have managed to get a really good sound with my JTV-89 and PODxt Live. It took hours and hours of research and testing to get that awful "Tin" or "Highly compressed" palm muting sound to go away. Once I got rid of that; I must say that I am HIGHLY pleased with this guitar!

   My only real complaint at this time is that as soon as I plug in the VDI cable, my sound goes right back to crap :( ...Is there any possible way to be able to match the resistance of the VDI to a real guitar cable? Is there any way that this could be implemented in the firmware or Workbench?

   I want so bad to be able to use this guitar live with my POD so that I can switch guitar models. At this time it is totally unusable that way. Any ideas?

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So I take this to mean you first plugged in using the 1/4" jack.  Got your sound, and then used the VDI cable.  Did you remember to switch from your magnetic pickups to your modeled guitars?  As I recall the VDI on the XT's defaults to the magnetic pickups when you first plugin so you have to press the model knob to switch from the magnetic pickups to the models.

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Please realize that we know nothing about you - you'd be surprised at how many times the 'so-obvious-it's-insulting' suggestions are actually helpful to true novices. I'm sure brue58ski is only trying to help.

 

Here's another obvious suggestion (good troubleshooting always eliminates the obvious first): it could be a faulty VDI cable. To test, try a standard RJ45/Ethernet cable. Be very careful connecting it - since its ends are unshielded a careless connection could damage the jack on the XT Live or the JTV.

 

If that, too, is too obvious then please tell us exactly what you have done so far to troubleshoot the problem. For instance - why do you believe matching resistance is a solution?

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Silverhead. I have tried these troubleshooting steps.

 

1. Tried using another PODxt Live for a total of 2.

 

2. Several other VDI and guitar cables of different lengths.

 

3. Tried a POD HD 500.

 

4. With and without the normal guitar cable connected.

 

I have been using Line6 gear since 2000, so I am fairly familiar with the their products. When I plug in the VDI cable i get a noticeably brighter/dirtier tone. I am happy with the tone I get through a normal cable, but I can't seem to dial in a good sound with the VDI cable at all. There is a definite difference! I have read about this problem in other forums/posts. I was just using the resistance as a best guess...as it seems that the VDI cable doesn't produce as much as the guitar cable does...even a 6 foot guitar cable. If there was a way to adjust resistance on the VDI cable it would help match it up with a normal guitar cable.

 

Also, thanks to brue58ski for the reply. Just frustrated...did not mean to come off like a douche. Sorry about that!

 

You are welcome to get to know me better...I'm on Reverbnation. /chadrussell

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The VDI cable transmits audio digitally (it's a form of AES/EBU digital audio), so is unaffected by resistance (the signal either gets through perfectly, or not at all). When running the 1/4" output, the onboard D/A converters convert that same signal to analog audio.

 

The *quality* (as in, faithfulness to the original) of the signal is very close but slightly better on the VDI, ***BUT***... if it's the same as the old Variax 300/500/600/700, the signal coming out of the 1/4" output is several dB hotter than the VDI, at least as far as a Pod is concerned.

 

This signal gain makes a huge difference in playability and response, since it determines how hard the guitar signal hits the input of the virtual amp. So here's an experiment to try: Create two identical HD patches, but make one with a Boost Comp (with all neutral settings except for Output turned up 4-5 dB) as the very first effect. Then compare the "boosted" patch with the VDI cable to the "regular" patch with the 1/4".

 

Another thing to investigate is your input options - depending on your playing style and specific setup, it may work better to put them either to:

- Input 1 Variax / Input 2 Same; or

- Input 1 Variax / Input 2 Aux (or another unused input)

 

You may want to try both to see which works better for your setup.

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  • 1 year later...

Was there any resolution to this topic?  Im experiencing the exact same situation as Ruttster.  I really like the sound of the JTV when using a standard 1/4" cable, but it sounds very electronic and stale when using the VDI cable.

 

Ruttster - what did you find out?

 

Any help from anyone is appreciated.

 

Thanks

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  • 9 years later...

 

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I finally found a fix for this. On the small sub board attached to the tone control is where the analog/magnetic pickups output connection resides provides an opportunity to add a low pass filter (capacitor) to mitigate those ugly highs associated with the active circuit on all Variax Tyler models as well as the newer Yamaha Variax Standards. I auditioned a variety of cap values and found 470pf to be perfect. My audition formula was to have a (non Variax) guitar plugged into 1/4 inch "Guitar Input" of my Helix with the exact same pickups as my Variax, with the Variax plugged into the CAT 5 input and A/B the two. In the pic, cap #1 is the lowpass filter. Cap #2 is a .1 mf for the tone control instead of the stock .022mf value the was stock in the JTV-69IMG_8529.jpg

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Remember,...

- Modified product coming across my service bench has a 50/50 chance of being returned untouched,

no matter how well I know how to deal with it. Line 6 only wants me spending time with Line 6 product.

We don't have a custom shop here for mods.

 

- Modifications to product can void any warranties, and is done at own risk.

 

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