POD GO Sound changed in headphones

[trainguy]

Hi all,

 

Using POD Go through Skullcandy Venue headphones, with 3.5mm wire for last several months.  Sound is OK, and quite bassy, to be expected.  In last 3-4 days, the sound through the headphones has gotten extremely fizzy and just terrible, especially using any overdrive or distortion.  If I compare sounds that I am playing live on the guitar with very similar patches coming in through USB and my DAW, the USB sounds from 1 week ago are perfect, warm etc, but the new (live) sound is very fizzy.

 

Any suggestions?

 

tg

[silverhead]

Sounds to me like something in your setup changed in the last 3 or 4 days. It’s possible that some component or other has suddenly failed (headphones? cables? i/o jacks?....). But it’s more likely that something has changed in your POD Go device setup. Global settings? New firmware?  Headphone settings?
 

Think back to what you may have changed recently for clues. Those headphones seem to be wireless and work over Bluetooth, which is not supported by the POD Go. What other equipment are you using to get the Bluetooth signal to your headphones? I’d start there.  If nothing comes to mind back up your POD Go presets and restore factory settings.  As a last resort reinstall the firmware.

 

 

[trainguy]

I use the Venue headphones wired with Pod Go, not with Bluetooth.  I may have inadvertently messed around with Global EQ, not sure.  The 5 superimposed curves are a bit of a mystery to me. 

 

Is there a headphone setting I can alter on the Pod Go?  I am perplexed that using the GO as the speaker for my DAW gives the expected warm sound, but using the preset and playing live at the same time as the playback - fizzy.

 

tg

[silverhead]

There is no headphone setting that you can alter on the POD Go. 

[silverhead]

Try turning off the global EQ. It is the prime suspect, I think, based on what you’ve said. The Global EQ does not affect the USB output, which is what your DAW receives. It does affect the Main and Headphone audio outputs, so it may be causing the fizziness.

 

 

 

[trainguy]

Thanks silverhead.  Not too far from Ontario myself (Montreal)...

 

No luck.  Sound continues to be fuzzy with Global EQ turned off.

I have also recorded some clips into Audacity,  backed up my settings with POD Go Edit,   did a factory reset and compared sounds before and after the reset.

 

It seems to me the reset made no difference for 3 tested presets.  The sound continues to be lousy - virtually unusable.

 

Tried these same headphones wired into iPhone - no  issues, still sound as good as before using Spotify.

 

Something about the Pod Go's interaction with these headphones has changed.

 

I have attached a clip of sound 04B as shipped from Pod Go with my recent settings.04B current oct 26.wav  American Fender Strat, Bridge pickup, volume and tones to 10.  Is this normal?  And it sounds even worse with volume dropped to about 7.

[angelcaro]

Did you ever figure out the problem? I'm having the same issue with a PRS custom 24.

[trainguy]

Nope.

 

Played on same equipment 2 times since, but on different presets.  Lots if tweaking so sound was alright, but this is entirely a crapshoot.

 

Tried acoustic fully unplugged and it sounds great every time...

 

tg

[trainguy]

And we are back - sounds great again, and no idea why.  Much less fizz, warmer overdrive.

 

tg

[trainguy]

Not related, but any idea why when I search this site for content I started or posted in, most of the time  I get zero results?

 

tg

[biofasbar]

Well, Im experiencing a fuzzy sound with all amps when the overdrive is above 6, no matter what I do with all settings, ins and outs, EQ, etc. I think is I feature of the device.

 

[phil_m]

1 hour ago, biofasbar said:

Well, Im experiencing a fuzzy sound with all amps when the overdrive is above 6, no matter what I do with all settings, ins and outs, EQ, etc. I think is I feature of the device.

 

With headphones? I guess it depends on what you mean by fuzzy, but with the proper impedance headphones connected, or through decent speakers, you shouldn’t be experiencing any sort of universal fuzziness.

[voxman55]

On 12/28/2020 at 12:35 AM, trainguy said:

Not related, but any idea why when I search this site for content I started or posted in, most of the time  I get zero results?

 

tg

Make sure you're logged in first

[angelcaro]

50 minutes ago, phil_m said:

With headphones? I guess it depends on what you mean by fuzzy, but with the proper impedance headphones connected, or through decent speakers, you shouldn’t be experiencing any sort of universal fuzziness.

I tried 4 different pairs of studio headphones with 2 different POD GO’s and got the fuzzines. Returned it and got a GT 1000, no more fuzzines.

[trainguy]

Hi guys,

 

A month later, fuzziness is back.  Maybe angelcaro is on to something...

[voxman55]

On 12/28/2020 at 12:33 AM, trainguy said:

And we are back - sounds great again, and no idea why.  Much less fizz, warmer overdrive.

 

tg

Ahhh...that suggests external interference may have been the cause, most probably from your ring mains eg with something else plugged in somewhere creating noise. Digital gear is very sensitive to mains fluctuations and particularly in the US 'dirty electricity' can be a problem and why so many folk buy line conditioners to stabilise the voltage/current going into their (esp digital) gear.  

[trainguy]

Interesting voxman55 - writing from  Montreal, Canada,  our electricity is generated pretty close to here and has been quite regular.  I have not actually measured the voltage/current stability though.  Next time the fizz comes, I'll check if the dishwasher is on, or other equipment.  Thanks!

 

tg

[dlmguitarshop]

Just got my Pod Go this last week mainly for the intent and purpose of using it for silent practice with headphones. This thing sounds like total crap (most distortion tones anyway) through headphones. I believe that this aspect of the POD Go engineering was overlooked. At first I thought it was just my phones; (Koss TD/80's) so I tried my better quality Sennheiser HD6 Mix phones through it and it sounds a little better. Like someone said in an earlier post, you'll have to do some tweaking to get it sounding decent through phones though, and don't expect your headphone tweaking to sound right into an amp or a DAW. The headphone patches are gonna have to be for just that: headphones -

[trainguy]

Hey Line 6, how about an update to resolve this issue?  Shouldn’t the headphone sound be similar to an FRFR speaker so we can dial up our sounds well into the night?

[silverhead]

55 minutes ago, trainguy said:

.... Shouldn’t the headphone sound be similar to an FRFR speaker ....

Not really. Different headphones will sound different even to each other, and quite different from FRFR speakers. Headphones will sound closer to FRFR than to an amp but still quite different.

[dlmguitarshop]

I've been sitting and dialing in some decent amp overdrive/distortion tones with my better Sennheiser HD6 phones (which are more of a reference type headphone). The results have been pretty good so far, but a lot of that depends on the amp model. The Placater Dirty (for rock tones) and the Cali Texas Ch.2 (for blues tones) seem to agree with the phones pretty well. Of course, most all of the clean amp tones sound pretty good through phones without much tweaking. I had a conversation with a sales engineer at Sweetwater who recommended trying the AKG K240S semi-open back headphones. I considered buying the MKII version of these which are $100 more, but I ordered the original series to start with. They are supposedly the same phones except for a few cosmetic and feature changes. Same transducers and frequency ranges though. I'll chime back in later on and let you know how they work out unless someone out there is already using these..  in that case I would like to know how they work with the POD Go.

[kraM1t]

With headphones it's like listening to an amp with ur head against the speaker cap, very buzzy/fizzy, with a speaker you sit off-axis or further away, so this gets dissipated.

Try more bassy microphones (Ribbon, 4038) and you'll get a more normal distortion sound, also use the reflections on the cab.

[trainguy]

Hey guys - changing to the Ribbon 4038 really helped warm it up.  Thanks all, especially kraM1t.

[voxman55]

Guys, there is nothing wrong with Pod Go  via headphones.  You need studio monitoring headphones, period.  Two of the best for Pod Go (or any MFX) are the Audio Technica ATH M50X (32 Ohms) and the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro Headphones - the 770's come as 32, 80 & 250 Ohms. For Pod Go most folk prefer the 32 or 80 Ohm. 250 is too quiet and you'll need a headphone amp to get the best out of these. 32 Ohm should be fine but 80 Ohm seems to be the best balance for MFX re volume & sound quality.  The 32 Ohm 770's for some reason are not quite as detailed as the ATH M50X - I have the ATH M50X which are superb and the 770 80 Ohm are likely to be the better 'equivalent' sound quality wise albeit will be a little quieter.  

 

Both are excellent and both have pros & cons.  Biggest downside of the 770's for me is that the cord is fixed - if that goes, you'll likely have to buy a new pair. The ATH M50X has a detachable cord and comes with a choice of 3 - long straight, shorter straight, and coiled.  Also, the 770's don't collapse, whereas the ATH M50X do.  You'll read conflicting reviews re comfort - some prefer one, some the other but you can always change the ear pads on either. Reportedly the 770's have a bit more mids definition, whilst the ATH M50X has more bass. Just be mindful when you read the reviews - they are using it to listen to music - remember, your main target is Pod Go. But I don't think you'll go far wrong with either as these are considered two of the best headphones out there not just at this price point (both are around £115 UK) but even compared to headphones at 2 or 3 x the price. These are two biggest sellers and the comparisons are probably the most discussed of any headphone.  At the end of the day there's no rights or wrongs and it comes down to a personal choice.

 

[Djdissipate]

It is absolutely the Pod Go. I tried 35omh stereo reference headphones ($30) and it made that fuzzy junk in sound. Sent those back and bought the Beyer Dynamic DT-990 Pro 259omh ($180) and those do it too. Any update or fix for this?

[Iraqula]

Agreed. I'm getting the same issues with some high-end AKG headphones. I notice the "fizz" sound only pops up on certain amps too. Placater Clean seems to be the latest culprit. Plugging this into my DAW and recording also produces the same fizz sound in the recording.  Getting ready to send this back unfortunately as the combo of the fizz sound and the super low recording output in a DAW is really frustrating.  I'll try moving the unit to another space in my house to see if it's interference from other devices, but I dont' think thats the issue.

[lazar0s]

Hey guys, I 've had the PODGO for more than a year but only really tried it the past two months or so. I used to own podHD as well .

I don't really use very high gain sounds, more bluesy, clean and breakup tones. In some cases though I like to switch between very clean and quite distorted sounds.

I am using the PODGO with a PRS CE 24 using mainly the coil split but I also use the humbuckers in some patches.

I had problem listening through headphones with both of those units ; whereas through with my (cheapish edifier 100$) studio monitors it sounds great, through headphones it sounded quite bad no matter the brand. I used some cheap ones to test in the beginning, then got shure SE215 for live usage and my last purchase were  Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro.

To make things worse I wanted to use pod go with IEM(which I had bought) but since the sound was bad through headphones it was not an option.

I tried several things and have improved drastically.

First of all in my case the headphones do matter. Cheap are a hit and miss I guess (miss for me), shure one's that are in ears are better but the beyerdynamics are clearly better sounding.

Now I tweaked some things (and lots still are there to tweak I am sure like bias sag etc which I havent really touched) namely:

 

-guitar in pad option :on. For some reasons the distortions/tube amps sound better to my ears with my setup both through headphones. "Fizz", for lack of a better word,  quited down and the way distortion works in high frequencies was smoother.

 

-Make sure you know the difference between drive, master volume and channel volume and make sure you are not clipping. In a lot of cases I was working the amp simulation too hard by setting the master at 10 and the high frequencies ran wild when using distortion. Or even when using a breakup sound that sounded off when strumming a bit harder rather than playing single notes.

 

-Make sure you POD output is not coming in too hot through the headphones. I just realised that.

 

With the above I managed to get a quite good sound through the headphones. It is still not as great as the studio monitors though and I would love to hear suggestions on how to improve there.

[voxman55]

@lazar0s  I'm not immediately sure what to suggest to help you.  I have the studio monitoring Audio Technica ATH M50x headphones and my Pod Go sounds superb through them, but the DT770 are also very good (the best option for Pod Go though is the 80 Ohm version).  For Pod Go you do need studio monitoring quality headphones for best results and these two are definitely the most recommended.  

 

I have various guitars; the closest I have to yours is my 2002 PRS Cu24 which sounds great with Pod Go, and I've had absolutely no trouble in getting great cleans, crunch, and higher gain tones with Pod Go through any guitar.  

 

Might be worth checking some basics eg cleaning your guitar & Pod Go inputs with plastic safe electrical switch cleaner, in case there's any oxidation that's degrading your signal. Check that you are using good quality cables and that these are in good condition. Might be worth experimenting with another cable make. Also check that your Pod Go is set to line. I use wireless (Line 6 G10 Relay) that acts as a buffer. If you have one, try putting a buffered FX pedal (eg any Boss pedal) in front of Pod Go (it will act as a buffer even switched off) & see if that helps.