HD 500X Newbie Questions

[chrisg942]

Ok. Before I get blasted here let me preface this by saying I'm sure someone has asked this before but I can't find the answer. So if you just want to blast me and tell me to read the FAQ's please don't bother posting a response.

 

I just bought a POD HD500x and I'm trying to determine the best sounding practice and recording set up for my uses. I've been using a Mustang 3 which has served me well but I wanted to see the differences with the Line 6 stuff since most of the reviews are really good. So far I've tried the Pod through my very inexpensive Alesis studio monitors via my scarlet 2i2 interface and set the output on the Pod to studio direct. The sound is just ok. I then tried to run the HD through the front of the Mustang using the Mustangs Basic Studio Pre Amp setting and it's not so good. One thing that is confusing me is when plugged into the Amp I changed the output of the Pod to combo front as directed in the tutorials and it cuts the output volume so low that I have to really crank the Mustang Master Volume to get any output... the studio direct setting sounds way better.

 

Any suggestions on getting the most out of what I have?

[cruisinon2]

If studio direct works better, use it... forget the manual. That aside, no matter what output mode you choose, switching between studio monitors and a guitar amp will always result in massive tonal change. They have VERY different frequency responses, and any one patch will sound drastically different from one to the other. Patches need to be EQed differently for each monitoring method you use... sometimes much differently. It's really just trial and error until you find what works for you.

[chrisg942]

a few things I suggest:

 

- never use an amp modeler as a monitor, unless it is the excellent L6 DT amp, which is totally another planet..

 

- don't judge the POD sound quality based on the presets, but rather do your own patches by yourself based on your input and output equipment, and your impressions will be probably much better..

 

- you might want to try the single input approach (ie by setting input2 to an unused physical input) and see if also you, like many others, find that doing so you like much more the sound response of the HD models

 

- studio/direct is the best sounding output mode in most cases

Thanks. How do I set the input to single input.

[chrisg942]

a few things I suggest:

 

- never use an amp modeler as a monitor, unless it is the excellent L6 DT amp, which is totally another planet..

 

- don't judge the POD sound quality based on the presets, but rather do your own patches by yourself based on your input and output equipment, and your impressions will be probably much better..

 

- you might want to try the single input approach (ie by setting input2 to an unused physical input) and see if also you, like many others, find that doing so you like much more the sound response of the HD models

 

- studio/direct is the best sounding output mode in most cases

If studio direct works better, use it... forget the manual. That aside, no matter what output mode you choose, switching between studio monitors and a guitar amp will always result in massive tonal change. They have VERY different frequency responses, and any one patch will sound drastically different from one to the other. Patches need to be EQed differently for each monitoring method you use... sometimes much differently. It's really just trial and error until you find what works for you.

Yep. I am starting to understand that now. The pedal allows for adjustments that are way beyond my level of understanding and expertise. I'm going to have to learn a lot to get the most out of it. It's light years away from my normal Amp and single pedal box approach ha! Thanks for the advice.