Help, HD500 sounds thin when going direct through the P.A.

[CYGuitar]

I have even boosted the bass and mid setting and turned down the treble and presence. Any advice to make it sound good going through the mains as well as monitors?

[cruisinon2]

Well most of the amp models in the POD tend to be bass heavy...cranking the low end usually results in muddiness.

 

What output mode are you using? Full models, or preamp only? Cab and mic choice make a tremendous difference, too.

 

And most importantly, at what volume did you dial in the tones initially, and what were you monitoring through? If you're listening at comfy living room volume when you create your patches, the same tones will be a guaranteed disaster at stage volume. Same goes for tweaking through a "real" amp and cabinet...those tones will not translate well to a FRFR monitors or PA speakers.

[CYGuitar]

Well most of the amp models in the POD tend to be bass heavy...cranking the low end usually results in muddiness.

 

What output mode are you using? Full models, or preamp only? Cab and mic choice make a tremendous difference, too.

 

And most importantly, at what volume did you dial in the tones initially, and what were you monitoring through? If you're listening at comfy living room volume when you create your patches, the same tones will be a guaranteed disaster at stage volume. Same goes for tweaking through a "real" amp and cabinet...those tones will not translate well to a FRFR monitors or PA speakers.

Thank you for the advice. I am running full models. I dialed in my tones first via the POD HD500 editor on my computer. Then, have been adjusting at gig/practice volumes. I will check my output mode, as well as input mode, when I get home tonight. I will also put any 57 mics off axis to cut some of the highs. I know these can sound good going direct. I just haven't figured out the tricks to do that yet.

[cruisinon2]

Thank you for the advice. I am running full models. I dialed in my tones first via the POD HD500 editor on my computer. Then, have been adjusting at gig/practice volumes. I will check my output mode, as well as input mode, when I get home tonight. I will also put any 57 mics off axis to cut some of the highs. I know these can sound good going direct. I just haven't figured out the tricks to do that yet.

Try other mics and cabs too...personally, I don't much care for either of the 57's. They're both a little shrill for my taste. I gravitate towards the XXL 4x12 a lot, with the 421 mic. Tames a lot of the high end, but can be boomy if you don't deal with the bass, which is often @ 10% or less, depending on the amp model. Usually have a low cut filter on the cab

too, anywhere from 100-120 Hz.

[bjnette]

You have the global EQ you can use to adjust from venue to venue.

But if your output is other than Studio Direct you will loose low end level unless you tweak it to suit.

[Meiannatee]

It's most likely the output mode. Also, are you using the balanced xlr out or unbalanced trs out?

 

Just in case, how are you monitoring while dialing in tones? Does it sound good at that time? As long as you're using FRFR mons or headphones, there shouldn't be too much of a difference.

 

Contrary to popular belief, you can far exceed stage volume sound pressure levels at the ear drum on a pair of headphones (take care of your ears).

 

To be sure, play a CD on your home monitors and compare them to the gig venue. If they sound more or less the same on both, it won't magically do something different to your guitar tone.

 

As mentioned already, boosting the mids works, but too much bass muddies things up. Also, you can use different mics to EQ your sound, or you can, well, use an EQ :)

I find the sm57 is the least fizzy and most neutral, just needs a low-pass filter (mid-focus EQ).

[guilhordas]

after 6 years using direct pod to the mixer, every weekend, I learned to relax, I learned that in each PA the pod behaves differently, and found that to get a good tone from the pod is necessary an quality PA ,when I started using I almost went crazy. in every show I changed all the parameters of the pod, but it's not how you do it depends on the PA

there are days that my sound is beautiful and there are days  it is horrible,

one lesson I learned is that the pod has excess bass, especially in marshall models, which are the ones that use,

On PA, it is very evident, work with little bass and little gain

so is the pod,

there is not much to do

[CYGuitar]

The output mode was set to stack front. I changed it to studio direct. That should help. I also changed the microphone to dynamic 409. I use the e609 when I run my guitar cab. I like those better than the 57's. I also had to change each patch's input to guitar, not guitar-variax-aux-mic. Is there a way to set all the input to guitar without having to go to each patch individually? The output setting was easy, Changed it once, and it applies to all patches. I will know tomorrow how everything sounds, when I am doing soundcheck for our show tomorrow night.

[cruisinon2]

The output mode was set to stack front. I changed it to studio direct.

This was likely the biggest part of the problem...

[cruisinon2]

some times I wonder:

 

is it so horrible for some people to read the manual at least once?

I find that the less I wonder about things, the happier I am...lotta headaches otherwise. ;)

[Meiannatee]

The output mode was set to stack front. I changed it to studio direct. That should help. I also changed the microphone to dynamic 409. I use the e609 when I run my guitar cab. I like those better than the 57's. I also had to change each patch's input to guitar, not guitar-variax-aux-mic. Is there a way to set all the input to guitar without having to go to each patch individually? The output setting was easy, Changed it once, and it applies to all patches. I will know tomorrow how everything sounds, when I am doing soundcheck for our show tomorrow night.

So is it solved?