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"POD Farm HD" equivalent?


DolurumMafikala
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Hi,

 

I have a POD HD500X, which I use for jam sessions with my drummer friend. We don't gig. We are doing blues rock.

 

I also record songs at home. I have been trialling a variety of VST modellers like FreeAmp, BlueCat, Amplitube, Guitar Rig and BIAS.

 

I decided I wanted to line up my VST-based approach with my live approach so I could get the same sounds, i.e. be able to play my recorded songs live with the same tones. I know Line 6 have enabled this with the Helix range... you can run your tones on Helix Native on the PC and also in the floorboard when jamming/live.

 

My impression is that you could also do that with the original POD range by using POD Farm and one of the original (non HD) POD products.

 

As far as I can tell there is no "POD Farm HD" equivalent, which seems an odd omission to me. Do I have that right?

 

If so, does anyone know of an effective way of running the POD HD models on a PC (Windows 10) so I can match up my recorded sound with my live sound?

 

Options I have thought about:
1) Recording through the POD HD500X and accepting that I can't subsequently tweak the tones once recorded.
2) Recording a wet and dry output from the POD (Left and Right into the two channels of my Focusrite Saffire 6 USB), then subsequently use the POD to reamp if I want to tweak. Seems a lot of hassle, possibly more hassle than just using a different software like Amplitube when I record.
3) Upgrading to Helix LT and Helix Native. It is more money than my guitar-playing skill justifies :-)
4) Using Pod Farm for recording and just accepting the lower quality models. Pod Farm seems quite expensive if it really does contain dated models.

5) Invest in one of the software modellers like Amplitube and accepting that I have set up all my tones twice

 

Thanks for any thoughts,

DM

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7 hours ago, DolurumMafikala said:

As far as I can tell there is no "POD Farm HD" equivalent, which seems an odd omission to me. Do I have that right?

 

Correct!

 

7 hours ago, DolurumMafikala said:

If so, does anyone know of an effective way of running the POD HD models on a PC (Windows 10) so I can match up my recorded sound with my live sound?

 

Options I have thought about:
1) Recording through the POD HD500X and accepting that I can't subsequently tweak the tones once recorded.
2) Recording a wet and dry output from the POD (Left and Right into the two channels of my Focusrite Saffire 6 USB), then subsequently use the POD to reamp if I want to tweak. Seems a lot of hassle, possibly more hassle than just using a different software like Amplitube when I record.

 

I would say that the above Options 1 and 2 are the answer, your choice depending if your really need re-amping or not with the POD tone.

 

However FYI if your audio interface is provided with S/PDIF you have also the option with the POD (and a digital cable) to send only the dry signal to your AI and DAW while still listening to the wet signal. So in this case no special built dry/wet double chain patches would be needed.

 

There is a dedicated system setting in the POD to decide if the S/PDIF should send the wet or dry signal.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All about POD HD500/X

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Thanks Hurghanico, great point on the S/PDIF. My interface doesn't have one, but I take your point.

 

I'd be interested in how others are approaching this issue - essentially how to match up your live sound and your recorded sound most efficiently.

 

I had a  go with option (1) last night and the captured results sounded quite lifeless and flat compared to playing into headphones plugged into the POD or through an amp. Looks like I have work to do to on optimising this.

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6 hours ago, DolurumMafikala said:

I'd be interested in how others are approaching this issue - essentially how to match up your live sound and your recorded sound most efficiently.

 

for me  

for 35+ years 

use one rig for everything. it makes life much easier. 

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9 hours ago, DolurumMafikala said:

I'd be interested in how others are approaching this issue - essentially how to match up your live sound and your recorded sound most efficiently.

 

I had a  go with option (1) last night and the captured results sounded quite lifeless and flat compared to playing into headphones plugged into the POD or through an amp. Looks like I have work to do to on optimising this.

 

The only way to get on recording the same tone and sitting in the mix perception of your guitar is to monitor everything (backing track and live sound) through the same speakers (or headphones) all the time.

 

If during your recording you monitor your guitar through a guitar amp, you'll never get the same tone on recording, never!..never!!

 

So, use flat response monitors (or headphones) for monitoring, tweak your tone until sounds as you want, play over the backing track (remember, don't change your monitoring system), tweak again the patch if necessary, do your recordings.

 

Doing so, you can be 100% sure that when you'll listen again to everything you recorded (through the same speakers used on recording) it will sound exactly as it was during recording. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

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Thanks the replies both, much appreciated.

 

Point taken about trying to keep things down to one rig. As well as sound-matching there is also the aspect of having to go and re-buy all the modelled (or real) devices that are available in the POD with a two-rig approach. I know many people will sniff at the quality of the models in an older piece of kit like the 500X, but for the level at which I am operating it gives me an fantastic amount of flexibility and choice.

 

Last night I tried connecting the POD to PC via its own USB interface (rather than via my Focusrite 2-channel USB interface) and found the results were a reasonable match to what I hear playing through the amp, ensuring I change the overall output mode appropriately between Combo Power In and Studio Direct. Alas, I get the Win 10 Blue Screen that is much-reported on this forum.

 

FYI, in case it is of interest, the three setups I am trying to reduce down to one or a close two are:

 

1) Guitar -> 1/4 inch input on POD -> CD Input on combo amp, with Combo Power Amp output mode selected. This is what I use for jamming.

2) Guitar -> 1/4 inch input on POD -> 1/4 inch Input on USB audio interface, with Studio/Direct output mode selected. Seems a bit lifeless at present. Need to tweak.

3) Guitar -> 1/4 inch input on POD -> USB on PC, with Studio/Direct output mode selected. Sounds good but BSOD. Need to tweak.

 

I'll tweak as time permits and see where I end up.

 

DM.

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