Sound of my POD HD500x is very thin when playing with others over pa

[MarcoLikesTeles]

Hi guys,

I bought my new POD HD500x about two weeks ago and have been experimenting quite a lot with it. However when I played it yesterday at band rehearsal, it sounded sometimes really fizzy and thin. We are playing a Les Paul, my Telecaster and the bass all directly into the pa, everyone using their own multi-effects unit. What I realized was that when my friends Les Paul came into the mix, my sound seemed to change, becoming very thin and fizzy.

Do you have any ideas what might cause this problem?

Thanks in advance!

[Matt_Brown]

Check the switch on the front is on direct rather than amp...

[MarcoLikesTeles]

There is only a switch that says line/ amp...however, the switch is on 'line'. When I play at home over headphones, everything sounds fine.

[MarcoLikesTeles]

Thanks for your replies! All the settings should be correct. I am quite convinced that the sounds through headphones vs. live will differ significantly. Anyways, this seemed odd to me. I am suspecting, that there might be a problem in the mix, which is controlled by our bandleader...It almost seemed like the tonal spectrum of my guitar went up as his guitar got in....sorry, I can't explain better.

[codamedia]

2 hours ago, MarcoLikesTeles said:

There is only a switch that says line/ amp...however, the switch is on 'line'.

 

In the output section of the unit (in the menu, not a switch on the machine) there is a setting for Output Mode. Make sure that is set to Studio/Direct.

 

1 hour ago, MarcoLikesTeles said:

Thanks for your replies! All the settings should be correct. I am quite convinced that the sounds through headphones vs. live will differ significantly.

 

They always will. No two sets of headphones sound the same, no two sets of speakers sound the same, and no two PA's will sound the same. As long as the quality of each item is sufficient, and as long as nobody has EQ'ed the PA system to death (eg: big smiley face EQ) you should get good sounds. 

 

3 hours ago, MarcoLikesTeles said:

What I realized was that when my friends Les Paul came into the mix, my sound seemed to change, becoming very thin and fizzy.

 

Is your sound too thin, or is his sound too thick! It is important for guitar players in a double guitar band to work with each other on developing tones. 

 

Your friend is likely steeling all the headroom from the system, leaving nothing for your tone. A BASS will do this in the heartbeat if the system can't keep up... but I full bodied guitar tone turned up to loud can also eat up the space. 

[joel_brown]

Just want to make sure I understand what you're saying.

 

You guitar sounds fine going through the P.A. until the other guitar starts playing through the P.A. ?

[MarcoLikesTeles]

36 minutes ago, joel_brown said:

Just want to make sure I understand what you're saying.

 

You guitar sounds fine going through the P.A. until the other guitar starts playing through the P.A. ?

 

I was under the impression of this, yes.

[pianoguyy]

That is typically an EQ issue. 

[MarcoLikesTeles]

Okay, I will talk to my bandleader/ friend about this...he is kind of stubborn when it comes to things like this...

[pianoguyy]

Unless you have a graphic equalizer for each channel on the pa (most band-owned systems do not), they aren't going to be able to fix it. It is not a simple "bass, mid, treble" issue. 

You need to fix it on your machine. 

 

Many people use the GEQ for that purpose instead of needing to set it up in each patch. 

[spaceatl]

I run my POD into flat channel strip...Works great on 99% of the PA systems I have gone thru...Every once in a while you run into that bozo that thinks crossing over 2 inch horns at 2K is a good idea and wonders why her can never get the vocals to jump out of the mix...Anyhoo, I just tell the engineer, start flat and you might need a bit to fit the room....I tweak my patches with near field reference monitors and reference cans...

[napynap]

If another musician plugs into the PA and it affects your sound, then the PA is not being operated correctly. Kindly ask to plug into a different input channel in the PA while the engineer figures out the issue on his/her end (it could be a bad PA mixer channel or a coaching opportunity for the engineer).

[pianoguyy]

But it is most likely an eq issue.

And most long term users and forum readers know this because it has been discussed at length. 

 

I believe that Australian shop owner even did a video about it. 

[bjnette]

When two instruments are playing the same instrument thru the same speakers you get cancellations of frequencies. 

The bottom end disappearing is a symptom of this washing out of frequencies.

If it is happening to you it is probably also happening to the other guitarist.

It can also be the speaker failing to being able to reproduce the lows for both guitars especially if the bass is in there too.

The handling is to play the parts in different positions on the neck then the other, less distortion and different frequencies boosted on one cut on the other

to create sonic space.

Also try putting one of the speakers on the floor for more bass reproduction.