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HD500x Tone change **RESOLVED**


kylegwash
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Greetings, 

 

My apologies if this post has been covered. I did search but didn't find anything quite matching my issue. I just purchased a new HD500x and I am only at this point using the preset patches. I did all of the updates and flashed the firmware. I noticed that when I 1st connected the 500x to my audio interface it sounded great. After changing to a different preset or using the Wha, then going back to the preset I was using (Bank 5 - Heavy Tone) it did not sound the same. Nothing was changed as far as the tone knobs at the top the distortion was really sounding bad. Palm muting an E, you could hear the note break up and just was not sounding the same. I tried to re-flash the memory again and once I did that it sounded normal until again, I engaged the Wha or changed to a different patch.

 

I am running the pod from the 1/4in. out to the interface. the Interface is a Focusrite iTrac Solo. the gain is not clipping on the interface and other audio running through it sounds perfectly fine. both instrument cables are new and I have tried 2 others to rule it out. 

 

Please let me know your thoughts. 

 

Thanks for any and all help!!

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It sounds like you are using your device connected to your computer with the Editor running. If so, keep reading the following text.

 

Differently than when using the device disconnected alone, the Editor retains all the changes made to any preset until it is running, and by saying "changes" I mean everything from switching on/off something in the chain and/or twisting some controls like volume drive etc.

 

Eg if with Editor running you select a preset, engage the Wah, then select a different preset, and finally go back to the previous preset, probably it will not sound as expected because the wah is still turned on (retained parameter or on/off change) from before you changed preset.

 

If this is the case it is normal behavior of the Editor, and since it retains always all the changes made to any preset (until it is running), to get again the original preset data (which however are still safely stored into the device) and behavior with the Editor still running you have to receive again the preset data from the device with the dedicated command in the up left corner.

 

As said at the beginning of this post, the POD used disconnected alone behaves differently than the Editor and it doesn't retain any changes made to a preset (unless you save the preset in its current state) as soon as you select an other one.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All about POD HD500/X

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Thank you for the reply. I looked at everything you had mentioned and was not using the editor at all. So I assumed it was an issue where I was not saving the patch changes before changing to a different preset. I put this option to the test last night. I got the device connected to power. Connected the USB interface to my pc and just to start with a clean slate I flashed the memory option to remove all custom settings. once complete, I disconnected the USB and am now running the Heavy Tone from the 500x. It's connected the same way as before. 1/4 out of the pedal to my interface and guitar out using 1/4 to the guitar. 

 

The tone sounded great at first. I specifically did not touch anything on the 500x leaving everything the way it was when I flashed it. Tone sounded good no issues. I played for about an hour and then started noticing the tone change again. the low end of the tone was again extremely breaking up. Palm muting on the low E did not sound tight and crisp. It sounded very muddy and the distortion was breaking up. 

 

I looked at the settings and nothing had changed. I rebooted the pedal and had the same outcome immediately with the poor sounding tone. I disconnected from the interface I was using and connected the 1/4 from the 500x directly to my studio monitor. Same poor sounding results. I also connected head phones to the pedal to see if it was still happening and it was. 

 

my guess is when I get home tonight and fire the device up it will sound good again until I use if for a while. Is there anything else you can suggest or think of that I may be doing something wrong?

 

Thanks in advance!

On 3/10/2020 at 12:29 PM, hurghanico said:

It sounds like you are using your device connected to your computer with the Editor running. If so, keep reading the following text.

 

Differently than when using the device disconnected alone, the Editor retains all the changes made to any preset until it is running, and by saying "changes" I mean everything from switching on/off something in the chain and/or twisting some controls like volume drive etc.

 

Eg if with Editor running you select a preset, engage the Wah, then select a different preset, and finally go back to the previous preset, probably it will not sound as expected because the wah is still turned on (retained parameter or on/off change) from before you changed preset.

 

If this is the case it is normal behavior of the Editor, and since it retains always all the changes made to any preset (until it is running), to get again the original preset data (which however are still safely stored into the device) and behavior with the Editor still running you have to receive again the preset data from the device with the dedicated command in the up left corner.

 

As said at the beginning of this post, the POD used disconnected alone behaves differently than the Editor and it doesn't retain any changes made to a preset (unless you save the preset in its current state) as soon as you select an other one.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

 

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1 hour ago, kylegwash said:

Tone sounded good no issues. I played for about an hour and then started noticing the tone change again. the low end of the tone was again extremely breaking up. Palm muting on the low E did not sound tight and crisp. It sounded very muddy and the distortion was breaking up. 

 

46 minutes ago, pianoguyy said:

there is a difference between "playing for an hour" and "it happens when i switch patches" 

 

1 hour ago, kylegwash said:

my guess is when I get home tonight and fire the device up it will sound good again until I use if for a while. Is there anything else you can suggest or think of that I may be doing something wrong?

 

As pointed out by "pianoguyy" above, in your first post you spoke about something strange happening to the tone when changing patches and then returning to the previous ones, and not about what weird happens after some time passes.

 

However, given your last news and described symptoms I would say that the problem is related to some hardware failure, and not to user error settings.

So now you have to make some tests and discover which one between the POD and your monitor system is failing.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

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Pianoguyy.. your comments are a bit dismissive. I have been playing for 30 years. this is a new product for me as I have always been in the Tube Amp world. I know what tone is and its not "ear fatigue" if you have nothing to contribute other than a snarky comment. please move on.

 

Hurghanico - The issue I asked initially was because I noticed it mainly after changing patches. so the message you relayed at 1st seemed to make sense about saving the patches. Yesterday. Was my attempt at further trouble shooting. Making sure I didn't change the patch or use the wha. eliminating anything I was doing other that just running one patch from the time I turned the pod on until I noticed the tone quality change. My 2nd post was just elaborating on what I noticed taking all other elements out of the equation from the 1st post. I will follow up with line 6 today. I do appreciate your comments.  Thank you!

 

 

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This is a curious one. The only thing I can think of to inject here is "maybe" a jitter issue. Or maybe at least eliminate it as a possibility. It does not seem like it as you indicated that when the sound changed that settings did not notice settings had changed. It's a fairly simple to eliminate and many of us have been doing this for years with the Line 6 amplifiers where this problem can be a bit more pronounced...At least on some of the older ones like the AX2 and Flextones.

 

Next time you are testing, park all of the tonestack pots at zero and then recall the patches you are testing with leaving the tonestack pots parked. Generally, when a pot jitters and sends it's setting for position, it's usually a bit different than the current patch if you just leave them where they were last time you edited. You can get some pretty nutty tone changes that can be hard to determine depending the pot and position. Parking the pots at zero or max generally eliminates this.

 

Anyhoo, just a thought. Best of luck. 

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10 hours ago, spaceatl said:

This is a curious one. The only thing I can think of to inject here is "maybe" a jitter issue. Or maybe at least eliminate it as a possibility. It does not seem like it as you indicated that when the sound changed that settings did not notice settings had changed. It's a fairly simple to eliminate and many of us have been doing this for years with the Line 6 amplifiers where this problem can be a bit more pronounced...At least on some of the older ones like the AX2 and Flextones.

 

Next time you are testing, park all of the tonestack pots at zero and then recall the patches you are testing with leaving the tonestack pots parked. Generally, when a pot jitters and sends it's setting for position, it's usually a bit different than the current patch if you just leave them where they were last time you edited. You can get some pretty nutty tone changes that can be hard to determine depending the pot and position. Parking the pots at zero or max generally eliminates this.

 

Anyhoo, just a thought. Best of luck. 

 

 

OMG!!!!! Yes!!!!! this fixed it..... I can't believe it...this fixed it.....I got home tonight and before I even plugged it in I set all the pots to 0 and then plugged it in. I have been playing for a few hours now without any problems. You have no idea how frustrated I was with this. I was about ready to give up. What sucks even more is 2 calls to Sweetwater and 2 calls to Line 6 Tech Support and not one person recommended this. 

 

Spaceatl, Thank you so much for your post and ultimately resolving my problem. Beyond appreciative for your help!

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  • kylegwash changed the title to HD500x Tone change **RESOLVED**

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