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Problems Finding My Tone (fizz Or Digital Clip)


vilo1968
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Friends , I describe my problem . 5 months ago that I have the POD HD500 , and I have a hard time getting the tone I want.

I have read , countless post on this forum and I reread a thousand times Meambobbo excellent guide .

My two guitars have pickups Bill Lawrence XL500 .

The problem is that the tone I get is " fizz " and heard in my recordings a little " break " or distortion .

I set my presets with the main entrance " Guitar " and the second entry as " Variax " . Pad switch does not seem to do much.

No digital clip between modules, and I hear the fizz at very low levels . Disconnecting all amps, cabs and effects blocks, NO saturation hear the sound of my guitar.

I have placed in my presets up to 4 parametric equalizers , filtering frequencies that produce fizz .

The truth is that I do not find solution .

I have the latest drivers and the latest firmware installed on the POD . Also, I reflashead the unit several times and nothing happens.

I tested with several preset I downloaded from Custom Tones, and I see that I still have the same problem , including , I turn up the gain to most of these presets , because in my pod are heard without gain.

I really do not understand. I see people on Youtube that get amazing results in your recordings , but when I download your presets , I do not sound the same way.

I'm not a neophyte in technology , but it really is costing me get the tone I'm looking for ( hi -gain tones to modern metal "spongy" ) .

 

I would appreciate any indication you can give.

Thank you very much from now.

 

(Sorry for my English)

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What you are hearing is what many HD users have been complaining about.  I noticed it after a couple of months of using my pod HD.  I like to call what you are hearing 'digital artifacts'. You only hear them when you are pushing an amp into overdrive or using an overdrive/distortion pedal. It's really annoying and very obvious.  I know that some line6 people are claiming that it has been intentionally built in to mimic the amps but this is beyond amp modeling because it happens on every amp or any time you put an overdrive pedal in front of it.  I was hoping that it was something they would fix with a firmware update but it doesn't look like that will happen.  

 

I've owned every generation of the pod, besides the very first one.  I practice with a pod x3 and it doesn't have any of the fizz, digital distortion, digital artifacts that the Pod HD has.  I do think the amp modeling is better and more with the HD but I'm to the point where I'd rather play through my x3 because the 'digital artifacts' are annoying.  If you use in-ears or headphones it really is noticeable.  And if you have a good PA you can hear it.

 

My co-worker has an Axe-Fx which is far superior to any of the line6 products and it doesn't have any of what I'm hearing.  I've A/B the pod HD with the Axe-Fx using a Vox amp.  Axe-Fx has no fizz or digital artifacts. You can hear when it starts to break up but that's different than what the podHD is doing .  Again what's annoying is that the Pod X3 doesn't have it.  Unfortunately i've told people to stick with their older pods because it's too annoying.  And if you can't hear it I seriously question your ability to hear. 

 

I've even tried using my pod x3 for just the amp tone and running my pod HD as my effects and pedals, bypassing the amp. And as soon as you turn on the overdrive pedal the 'digital artifacts' are there.  

 

So it's pretty disappointing because I think the sounds and features are great but the 'digital artifacts' are bad enough that I'm going to have to start saving up for an Axe-Fx or go to a tube amp and pedal board.  There's no way you should be recording with a Pod HD if you want a quality recording.

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mredman, thank you very much for your answer.It is true what you say, many users have complained about these "digital artifacts", so I think we're not the only ones to hear this.

 

Apparently, there is more equalizing solution, lower gain levels and with different values ​​of Bias and XBias ...

 

Also, I refuse to believe that the pod could not sound better. Many people on Youtube showing great sounding recordings and very good quality.

 

I am aware that the POD is not a device with which you can get a sound in a short time. We must fight with him to understand.

 

I still believe that there must be a solution, because if it were not so, would mean that all those people would be lying Youtube.

 

POD HD500 I bought 5 months ago and it came with the previous firmware. Now I have installed the latest.

 

I make a question to users oldest POD: Is there any firmaware version that does not have "fizz" or "digital artifacts"?

 

Thank you very much from now.

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I am also trying to get rid of the fizz from my HD500 overdrive/distorted sounds. I have just bought some Behringer B210D speakers which really accentuate the top end, so the fizz really stands out.  I am spending hours trying to dial out the fizz but keep a good distortion sound.  I have not succeeded completely yet.  I can make it less prominent but its always at the cost of the overall tone.  I also have an X3 LIVE which took me many months to tweak to get good live sounds from, but I didn't have fizz issues with that, however, I can't go back to it now, as the HD500 amp models sound much more realistic, and when I try the X3 LIVE with my programmed tones to my ears it just sounds artificial in comparison.  But the HD500 does have this annoying fizz that just hangs on in there.as notes fade away, the fizz lingers on.   I use a JTV59 via VDI connected to the HD500, and I was wondering whether it was the combination of modelled guitar tone going into modelled effects and amp tones which resulted in the high fizz, or whether it was a subtle setup issue on the JTV59 causing a hiccup in the guitar model which then gets carried forward into an unwanted digital artefact in the HD500.

 

I have also seen all the demo's from Paul Hindmarsh and Sean Halley and many others all demonstrating excellent sound quality - so I know it must be possible.  I just have not figured out how to reproduce it yet.  Or, I just happen to have a slightly faulty HD500 and/or a slightly faulty JTV59.  There are so many things that can go wrong from a physical hardware perspective, let alone all the things that could go wrong with all the modelling code or from me setting parameters or control options slightly wrong.  Even a slight amount of string buzz on a string could be making all the difference.   Then there is playing technique - my style of playing or my level of ability will also be playing a vital role in the final tone produced - so I may just be causing the problem myself simply by how I play.    I have spent way too many hours just tweaking with settings and trying to isolate the problem and seem to go round in circles.  Every so often I appear to make some headway, only to come back the following day and find that the sound I thought was great last night now sounds not so good and needs some more tweaking.   Frustrated...

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Check out Lincoln Brewster's patches for the HD500 Lincoln Brewster Main 2012 (by Geekydaddy), and see what he is using for Cab/Mic, and especially check out his EQ at the end of the chain. I found I have to lower the AMP gain between 50-60 instead of 81, and add a little bit of treble, but Lincoln is the king of great, non-fizzy tone.

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It seems like this patch is designed to show case a bad sound. Two noise gates at the beginning of the chain and three EQs at the end? I mean if this were real physical gear, I don't think you'd ever see that. Have you tried eliminating any of your FX? Have you tried turning the "hum" setting on the amp down and getting rid of at least one of the gates? I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve with three EQs running one into another either.

 

Are you a rep for Fractal or something? (Just kidding!)

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I just tried my VOX AC15 model patch and attempted to get rid of the annoying fizz that seems to be an integral part of the sound.  I found that setting BIAS to 100% seemed to moderate the fizz considerably - it did not disappear but it was way more in the background and seemed a more natural part of the sound and appeared to be more like natural tube breakup.  I then tried setting BIAS EXCURSION to 0% and found that it gave me a bit more brightness without re-introducing too much fizz.  I settled on BIAS at 80% and BIAS EXCURSION on 0% which seemed to me to give a good natural sound without a long drawn out fizz when notes are fading.  I also set SAG to 60% but that did not really have any effect on the fizz.

Have you tried adjusting the BIAS settings for the amps that you have fizz problems with?

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mredman, thank you very much for your answer.It is true what you say, many users have complained about these "digital artifacts", so I think we're not the only ones to hear this.

 

Apparently, there is more equalizing solution, lower gain levels and with different values ​​of Bias and XBias ...

 

Also, I refuse to believe that the pod could not sound better. Many people on Youtube showing great sounding recordings and very good quality.

 

I am aware that the POD is not a device with which you can get a sound in a short time. We must fight with him to understand.

 

I still believe that there must be a solution, because if it were not so, would mean that all those people would be lying Youtube.

 

POD HD500 I bought 5 months ago and it came with the previous firmware. Now I have installed the latest.

 

I make a question to users oldest POD: Is there any firmaware version that does not have "fizz" or "digital artifacts"?

 

Thank you very much from now.

Hi there. Have you looked in this thread?  http://line6.com/support/topic/3508-apparently-this-is-how-its-supposed-to-sound-i-think-its-unusable-id-appreciate-second-opinions/

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Hmmm, I definitely hear it. Gotta admit this is the first time I've really noticed it. There's nothing in your patch I'd change particularly, apart from perhaps giving the gate a little decay/hold time to stop that horrible "stuttering" effect you get as the note dies out. Might be my imagination but it's not quite so bad using the pre-only model. But still, totally at a loss!

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Have you tried setting BIAS to 100% and BIAS EXCURSION to 0% for the amp patches to remove the fizz?   Does it help at all if you try those settings?

 

edstar1960, thanks for your reply, Yes, the proper configuration of Bias And XBias helps reduce, but still continues to be heard.I'm starting to think it's a microphone 409.

 

 

 

Hmmm, I definitely hear it. Gotta admit this is the first time I've really noticed it. There's nothing in your patch I'd change particularly, apart from perhaps giving the gate a little decay/hold time to stop that horrible "stuttering" effect you get as the note dies out. Might be my imagination but it's not quite so bad using the pre-only model. But still, totally at a loss!

 

I'm happy not to be the one to hear this  ;)

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  • 3 years later...

What you are hearing is what many HD users have been complaining about.  I noticed it after a couple of months of using my pod HD.  I like to call what you are hearing 'digital artifacts'. You only hear them when you are pushing an amp into overdrive or using an overdrive/distortion pedal. It's really annoying and very obvious.  I know that some line6 people are claiming that it has been intentionally built in to mimic the amps but this is beyond amp modeling because it happens on every amp or any time you put an overdrive pedal in front of it.  I was hoping that it was something they would fix with a firmware update but it doesn't look like that will happen.  

 

I've owned every generation of the pod, besides the very first one.  I practice with a pod x3 and it doesn't have any of the fizz, digital distortion, digital artifacts that the Pod HD has.  I do think the amp modeling is better and more with the HD but I'm to the point where I'd rather play through my x3 because the 'digital artifacts' are annoying.  If you use in-ears or headphones it really is noticeable.  And if you have a good PA you can hear it.

 

My co-worker has an Axe-Fx which is far superior to any of the line6 products and it doesn't have any of what I'm hearing.  I've A/B the pod HD with the Axe-Fx using a Vox amp.  Axe-Fx has no fizz or digital artifacts. You can hear when it starts to break up but that's different than what the podHD is doing .  Again what's annoying is that the Pod X3 doesn't have it.  Unfortunately i've told people to stick with their older pods because it's too annoying.  And if you can't hear it I seriously question your ability to hear. 

 

I've even tried using my pod x3 for just the amp tone and running my pod HD as my effects and pedals, bypassing the amp. And as soon as you turn on the overdrive pedal the 'digital artifacts' are there.  

 

So it's pretty disappointing because I think the sounds and features are great but the 'digital artifacts' are bad enough that I'm going to have to start saving up for an Axe-Fx or go to a tube amp and pedal board.  There's no way you should be recording with a Pod HD if you want a quality recording.

 

A late arrival to the party here...

 

I agree with you 110%. Finally some real world comments! Just got a Firehawk FX today, more as a toy than anything. I have a Pod X3 and an HD300 (and a real pedalboard chain) but the HD got decommissioned a year or two ago due to this fizz and artifacts. I bought the FX because I loved the tablet interface and stupidly assumed the digital artifacts would have been solved by now. Wrong. Very wrong. If anything they are far worse than the HD300. Play any of the factory presets and just listen to the digital fizz that envelopes the tone as it decays...the tone fades but the fizz stays consistently in your face until the actual tone is 100% dead. Really horrible.

 

So I've been sitting here with my recently-pulled-out-of-the-drawer ancient technology X3 wondering if I'm crazy to think it sounds so much better. Now I realize I'm right! Plus I love the Gearbox app anyway.

 

Firehawk is already packed up and listed on 2 different For Sale sites, should be gone within a day or 2. Will break even as I bought it used, so all part of the fun. Back to my good old Pedaltrain I guess (and the X3 desktop for laughs!).

 

Thanks for the reality check ;)

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I have also seen all the demo's from Paul Hindmarsh and Sean Halley and many others all demonstrating excellent sound quality - so I know it must be possible.  I just have not figured out how to reproduce it yet.  Or, I just happen to have a slightly faulty HD500 and/or a slightly faulty JTV59.  There are so many things that can go wrong from a physical hardware perspective, let alone all the things that could go wrong with all the modelling code or from me setting parameters or control options slightly wrong. 

 

Perhaps you should start with their patches.

 

Here's Sean Halley's patches on Customtone

 

http://line6.com/customtone/profile/seanhalley/1/?sort=posted&sort_dir=desc&search_term=

 

And here's a bunch of Paul's patches on his own website.

 

http://www.paulhindmarshmusic.com/line-6

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