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How Do I Get The Best Sound Out Of Hd500?


SportzTawk
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I spent weeks and months finding the perfect tones for what I like to play.  They sound AMAZING through my headphones, but are terrible through my amp or stereo, depending on what I have it plugged into.  I have tried and failed to reproduce the sounds through my Line 6 Spider Jam and my stereo system, but I just can't get it to sound the same.

 

Is there a simple way to get the sound from my headphones to translate to the outside world?  I was mostly wondering if buying just a PA speaker or something... Something with no real internal settings, would give me what I am looking for.  It's terribly frustrating when the sound you want can only be heard by you.

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Having little experience in this kind of setup, would this give me the sound I get through my headphones? 

 

I'm assuming the reason it doesn't sound the same is because my headphones have no internal settings that alters the sound, whereas the stereo and Spider do.  Am I correct in that assumption?

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I run my HD500 out the L-1/4" (mono) to a small PA set to flat eq.

Since my usage is direct to a large PA at the gig, I tweak my patches using the same.

My headphone out sounds quite different thru headphones.

Probably due to the fact that headphones provide Stereo output and more bass proximity effect.

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They sound AMAZING through my headphones, but are terrible through my amp or stereo,

 

There are too many variables, you will get different tones from different speakers, the speakers in/on your ears are not the same as a speaker in a cabinet.

 

You will have to do adjust your EQ and possibly amp, mic. and cab DEP settings. 

 

Time to do some reading:

 

http://www.foobazaar.com/podhd/toneGuide/

 

s

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Save your headphone presets for use with headphones and start from scratch to build presets for whatever device you want to hear them from. And build them at the volume level you plan to hear them at.

Be sure to study up on output settings that are appropriate for what ever device you want to hear them with also.

 

There is no reason you can't have presets for an amp or stereo that sound as good as the ones you have for headphones. But it is a much different listening experience too so keep that in mind.

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I try to get them as close to what I want as I can in my living room, then tweak on the fly during full-volume practice with the band, or occasionally during gigs.

Sometimes a patch that sounds killer at home is weak, thin, too echoey, whatever with the band. Then it's back to the drawing board.

But the number of good patches will grow over time. Good thing I like tinkering around with amps and effects.

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...........

Sometimes a patch that sounds killer at home is weak, thin, too echoey, whatever with the band. Then it's back to the drawing board.

.........

Interesting you should say this - I have the same problem - what do you adjust to get the "thin" sounds sounding correct at band performance level?   Thanks.

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Save your headphone presets for use with headphones and start from scratch to build presets for whatever device you want to hear them from. And build them at the volume level you plan to hear them at.

Be sure to study up on output settings that are appropriate for what ever device you want to hear them with also.

 

There is no reason you can't have presets for an amp or stereo that sound as good as the ones you have for headphones. But it is a much different listening experience too so keep that in mind.

 

+1  - good advice

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One thing that catches me out still are those experimental patches where you try out different distortion of a combo of compressors, distortion etc before the amp.

For this reason I am a firm on insisting if there ever was an update it should have a peakmeter on every page.

 

If your tone sounds overly brittle, piercing, overbright, check your FX chain for too many gain stages on which might sound okay via monitors or headphones but an amp exacerbates.

 

Recording has the advantage of seeing meter levels.

I thought about this led meter kit here http://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/projects/paia-k89-stereo-led-vu-meter-kit/

 

But and there are plenty, it requires pretty good knowledge to hack into your HD.

 

This is a kit for the headphone output.jack (scroll down to VU meter kit)  http://www.jlmaudio.com/shop/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=9

There is no doubt a meter calibrated correctly would keep you in the zone but I doubt it could be made to work without a whole lotta volume matching going on considering the master volume controls the analogue and h'phone outs.

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Interesting you should say this - I have the same problem - what do you adjust to get the "thin" sounds sounding correct at band performance level?   Thanks.

Hard to say, but generally boosting the mids and backing off a tad on the drive helps some. Or maybe trash the whole patch and try again. I usually have some sound in mind, and there's more than one way to get there -- different FX, different amps, etc.

I've been strugging with a "crunchy" patch forever -- somewhere between clean and Van Halen. I've settled on a Bogner with gain around 45%, bass and mid higher than the treble, and presence down around 35%. I'll see at practice tomorrow night whether I hit paydirt.

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Save your headphone presets for use with headphones and start from scratch to build presets for whatever device you want to hear them from. And build them at the volume level you plan to hear them at.

Be sure to study up on output settings that are appropriate for what ever device you want to hear them with also.

 

There is no reason you can't have presets for an amp or stereo that sound as good as the ones you have for headphones. But it is a much different listening experience too so keep that in mind.

+2

 

This is a good approach and has worked well for me.

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I spent weeks and months finding the perfect tones for what I like to play.  They sound AMAZING through my headphones, but are terrible through my amp or stereo, depending on what I have it plugged into.  I have tried and failed to reproduce the sounds through my Line 6 Spider Jam and my stereo system, but I just can't get it to sound the same.

 

Is there a simple way to get the sound from my headphones to translate to the outside world?  I was mostly wondering if buying just a PA speaker or something... Something with no real internal settings, would give me what I am looking for.  It's terribly frustrating when the sound you want can only be heard by you.

What input on the Spider Jam are you using to connect your POD? I'm not terribly familiar with that amp, but an input that bypasses the preamp/eq etc. would be optimal.

 

• Mini stereo MP3/CD input for playing along with your music

• XLR mic input with a dedicated volume knob perfect for vocals

• 1/4" aux input perfect for a second instrument including keyboard or bass

 

You may want to start with the AUX and go from there, if you aren't already.

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