Pod HD500x + active monitor (home use) Your verdict?

[Cturri10]

Hi,

 

I was going to use my Pod HD500X through an active speaker for home use only. I have been looking at a JBL 305p mk II and was hoping that this would bring the unit to life, as I struggled to dial in a good tone and have just not used it for a while as a result. I have never been confident to use it live in case I couldn't get a usable sound during a short sound checks. 

 

I play heavier music, Metallica/Pantera, so I need a good clear high gain tone. So the questions I have are:

 

- What is your experience of using the HD500X through an active monitor playing with high gain sounds at home? (I have read that this was not advised in the link below but had hoped this would be a gd space saving option https://www.axedr.com/pod-hd500x-complete-review)

 

- Any tips to dialling in a good tone if you have had success?

 

Also, to go off on a tangent, I have considered buying the pod go or helix stomp (with external footswitch/expression pedal) as a grab and go solution for gigs. Has anyone upgraded to pod HD500X to either?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies. 

[silverhead]

I’m not a high gain player but in my listening experience a good high gain tone = loud. I would recommend at least 6” speakers, preferably 8”. I blew out a 5” speaker using a POD X3 in my home studio several years ago, playing rock and blues. I had it repaired and have since paid more attention to my studio volume. 

[Cturri10]

Apologies if this is a stupid question but would I run the risk of blowing a speaker like this at bedroom volumes? I have a little one and won't be playing anything too loud. Part of the reason for wanting a monitor is to stop using headphones for practice later at night.

 

I don't mean that I want a louder volume but I mean clarity through the high gain amp sims/sounds on the HD500X at bedroom levels. There is a 6 and 8 inch version but was looking for something smaller and hoped the 5 inch version would work well, it has good reviews despite being a budget monitor. 

[silverhead]

Sure - at bedroom levels 5" should be OK. Just a caution re: going too loud. (Of course, you can't know what 'too loud' is until it's too late!)

[Cturri10]

Thanks! Hadn't taken that into consideration. Completely new to using a monitor for playing. I always used am amp and then boss micro BR with headphones (which was great because of new baby). When i tried the HD500X after that I wasn't too happy with it but maybe need (even) more time with it  was hoping a monitor would be the answer. Might look into the larger monitor now.

[pianoguyy]

speaker size is not the same as volume, but they do go hand in hand with tone (which is why 'in the olden days' some people would prefer a 4x10 instead of a 4x12 or a 60watt over a 100watt) 

 

basically, if you can play a Metallica CD through the speaker and be happy with the tone and the volume... you can put your guitar through it and do the same 

*and that includes headphones.  

 

 

Me, in 35+ years, I have never used (unless backlined or sponsored or purposed) a tube amp. So, I am certainly not a snob in that sense. But I understand where they are coming from. 

If you need "the push of air" of a same room amp, there is no modeler and tiny speaker system that is going to fix it.  But tone doesn't come from air. And since I have been on some big stages where you rely on monitors because an amp simply wasn't going to cut it, I am well beyond "my tone" and am always concerned with "audience tone". 

I need to be able to hear myself live. And when tone creating, I need to have it loud and clear enough that I can hear it loud and clear. 

 

[pianoguyy]

now, with all that being said.... 

 

you can make some great tones with the 500/500x/pro/pro x with or without an amp. you just have to: 

1. know the system you are using. meaning, a guitar amp will give a different tone than a flat system. both of which need their own settings and patches. 

2. know which global settings to use. 

3. know the device. not just the software, but also the hardware. for example, using one 1/4" signal will sound different than using one xlr signal. but using one 1/4" signal with a dummy plug in the other 1/4" jack will sound the same as using one xlr. 

4. (as touched on in my previous post) know that the device is not giving you the tone you are accustomed to hearing (guitar amp tone). it is giving you a "CD Tone", because the simulated amp/cab has been mic'd the same as it would be if going to a recorder or pa system. so, you are hearing the 'final' tone, not the pre-mix tone. 

[ts020572]

pianoguyy made the most important point:

The POD will give you a "recorded" sound, because of the microphone and the cabinet that is simulated. If you like the sound of your CDs through your monitors, than you will also like the sound of the POD. But, metal guitars are doubled, compressed, whatever… so you will never get that Metallica "wall of guitars" with only one guitar track. But you can always double your tracks, this is where the fun starts :-) And also a very good exercise for your timing.

For Metallica sounds I would start with the Threadplate or the Soldano simulations. Try different cabinets, mics, before you start using to much EQ.

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 3:27 PM, Cturri10 said:

I have considered buying the pod go or helix stomp (with external footswitch/expression pedal)

I have the HX Stomp with the Mission Engineering Expression Pedal. Nice combo. If you don`t use MIDI maybe the POD Go is the better solution. For playing live I think the POD Go would be better, the HX Stomp looks like an octopus with all the cables…. but, you could also use your POD HD500 to control nearly everything from the HX Stomp per MIDI. Not an easy decision :-)

 

For me the biggest difference between the POD HD and the Helix is "less tweaking". With POD you have to dig deeper to get a good sound, Helix just has them with less tweaking.

 

[mr34h7jm]

I bought the pod 2.0 in 2001, I connected it to a run of the mill pioneer stereo amplifier I bought in the mid 90's (not a surround sound amp, there's a difference), then out through Bose 301 speakers. SOUNDED AMAZING, at any volume! The bose 301's had 6" drivers and a few tweets, so I don't the speakers size should matter. That being said, that was a whole different POD unit. The HD series is way more advanced, and a lot more tweaking is involved. I love the high gain tones also, and after years of tweaking (and cursing the HD series, I found that I could lower the treble and bass setting on my powered speaker (a EV ZLX) and lower the 120 Hz db in the Global EQ of the HD 500x to prevent rattling. Its still hard to get a good high gain sound at low volume with the HD. Short answer, speaker size should not matter all that much, but larger drivers are nice.

[Cturri10]

Thanks for all the replies! The more time I spend with the HD500X the less I think it is for me and what I need. I think I am leaning more towards the pod go or helix stomp now as I like smaller pedalboards (the helix stomp + expression pedal) that ts020572 mentioned was an option I had thought about. I don't use a lot of effects really and like this smaller footprint of the stomp. I will look more into the stomp and go before deciding and might be back for some more info! Thanks again for all the replies, appreciate them!

[pianoguyy]

don't let the door hit you in your lollipop. 

 

remember, no matter what device you end up with, you are still going to be using the same little amps that some random website said not to use... which leaves you right back at where you started. 

[Cturri10]

To be honest its the pod, Ive never got used to it or into it. I like the smaller footprint of stomp and the go (and would still use them at home through a monitor). Both have better amp sims which I am looking into for gigging instead of analogue pedals through an amp. I like not having a lot of gear to take to gigs and so these would do the job for me. I dont use a tonne of effects anyway so weighing up the stomp and go as viable rigs for my needs. The pod has more than I need. The monitor option is really instead of having a big amp at home which I'm not too bothered about for practicing.