My Biggest Complaint

[janceallen]

My biggest complaint about Line6 is that new PODs don't include all the older model amps and effects.  I can't move all my meticulously-designed patches onto the latest and greatest product.  So right now I have to deal with two pieces of rack gear (X3 Pro and HD Pro), and that complicates everything - footswitching, multiple outputs, midi, external loops, bypass, etc.  

 

I realize that older amps and effects models aren't "HD."  I just don't understand why they can't be converted as-is to be available as legacy patches on the new PODs.  I would gladly pay for that.

 

Please let me know if I've missed something about all this.  I would love to learn that there's a project in motion to convert all the old stuff.

 

Thanks for any info!

[silverhead]

There's no project in motion for patch conversion, and there won't be. The modeling technology is completely different, and requires a full restart of the entire modelling process, beginning with mic'ing and sampling the real amps again. The modelling information captured in the new process is more in depth by a factor of 10. The process can't be done by manipulating the previous modeling software and/or models. That's the main technical reason that there's no conversion capability.

 

But I think there's a better reason. The advantage of the new in-depth HD modeling is that, while the number of amps is reduced the quality and range/scope of the sound these amps deliver is far superior. If you are perfectly happy with your X3 sounds, then there's no reason to use the HD; you might as well sell it and continue using the sounds you're happy with. But if you want superior sounds, then you are doing yourself a disservice by simply trying to recreate the inferior X3 sounds using the HD.

 

There is a way to use your X3 patches as a starting point to manually create better but similar HD patches. You can run Gearbox with your X3 connected and see all the patch amp and FX settings. Simultaneously you can run Pod HD Pro Edit without your HD Pro device connected. You can manually recreate the X3 settings (selecting similar HD amps in cases where the modeled X3 amp does not exist). At this point the patches will not sound the same, even with the exact same amp and FX selections and settings, because the underlying modeling algorithms are completely different. But from there you can save your X3-like HD patches to your computer using HD Pro Edit. The disconnect your X3, connect your HD Pro and begin to audition and tweak your HD Pro patches until you get a sound that is similar to but better than your X3 tone.

[janceallen]

Thanks so much for the response.  I'm totally into all the new tech and the higher-quality HD modeling - there's definitely stuff there that the X3 can't match, and that's why I bought the HD and I use it.  It's just that I have some patches that create a wall of sound on bass (using for instance FX Seismic Synth into 2001 Treadplate Dual on Tone 1, and FX Double Bass into Line 6 Insane on Tone 2) that we've recorded with, and I need that exact sound.  Not "newer" or "better", just that sound.

 

I feel like it's like telling Trent Reznor that some crusty old 8-bit sample from a 90s platinum-selling album won't play on the new 32-bit sampler, but he's welcome to re-create it from scratch.  He doesn't need the old 8-bit sample to sound 32-bit, it just needs to play back. :)

 

So yes, I'll have to roll up my sleeves to try to figure out where to start on recreating that patch, second-guessing myself all the while, and wondering if all my work will be useless when the next POD gets released with different "better" amps and effects.

 

So I guess let me ask - what are the closest equivalents to the Seismic Synth and the Double Bass in the POD HD?

 

Thanks!