HD500X - Headphones

[JohannDaart]

I know there were couple of topics about it, but I still have doubts...

 

I want headphones that have detachable cord (which is important for guitar playing, because cables don't last long...) and are rather budget.

 

@cruisinon2 recommended AKG K240, they are great price (I can get new MKII for $50). 

 

Some other guys said that K240 are "dark" headphones.

Reviews not related to POD usually say that they are transparent and their tonality mostly depends on the source, but they are definitely not boomy and not bass heavy.

 

While checking various amps on my IEMs (their tone is V-shaped), I'm just baffled how muddy and dark Plexi's rhythm channel sounds. 

 

I'm a bit worried, that although K240 are great price, they will sound so muddy too...

[hurghanico]

Until now I have only used AKG headphones, in the past I used the K141 Monitor (600 ohms impedance), which in my opinion were the best, then since the K141s had worn out too much, I decided to buy new headphones, the K141 Monitor were discontinued so I tried the K271 but I sent them back after a few days because the sound was too harsh for my taste, so I got the K240 mkII which sounded a little warmer, and I'm still using them, but the K141 Monitors remain at the top of my preferences. If I found them in good condition and at a good price, I would buy them again.

 

Generally high impedance headphones compared to low impedance headphones require a much higher volume setting from the source (some of them may require a headphone amplifier), but have a more harmonious and balanced sound, they never add own clipping/distortion, both low and high frequencies are of higher quality, more pleasing to the ear.

 

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All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

[JohannDaart]

Thanks for your input @hurghanico :)

On your K240, do you also find default Plexi NRM tone very muddy and dark? 

 

I've found a nice comparison... POD HD Plexi sounds in this video are so muddy and boomy they are not usable at all... They sound the same on my POD :/

 

 

Is this really how HD500 should sound? 

[hurghanico]

With my K240s but also with my monitors the Plexi normal channel is darker than the bright channel, as is the case with the real amp.

 

Regarding the comparison in the video clip between the Marshall models of POD and Helix, if you pay attention, you can notice that the models of the POD are much heavier particularly in the low frequencies. Lowering the BASS control a lot (even to zero in some cases, which is normal even with real Marshalls, see for example the videos of Johan Segeborn who always puts the BASS at zero with the Marshalls) the models of the 2 different platforms would be much more similar between them.

 

Also, only in the POD the cabs are equipped with resonance controls, and one of these (Thump) emphasizes the bass response.

 

In conclusion, the POD and Helix amp controls work differently and therefore must be adjusted differently, what is important is that excellent results can be obtained with both platforms. Just use your ears and not your eyes when doing the settings.

 

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All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

[JohannDaart]

@hurghanico Yesterday I got quiet frustrated with Plexi... The mud just disheartened me ;)

 

Just as you wrote, I found out more about cab DEP's like Thump and Low Cut.

I also re-watched Peter Hanmer tutorial...

 

The way he deals with Plexi's mud is simply... Huge Low Cut in cab's DEP. 150 Hz.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ9v7SCCt_c&t=590

 

Until this point, I thought that I should cut guitars between 80-110 Hz. 150 Hz seems really excessive, but it works like a charm for him.

 

I will test if for dark amps in HD500 reducing Resonance / Thump first might be a better idea, then using Low Cut (a bit less, 100-120?).

 

Could all this HD500's bad reputation mud on YouTube could be avoided if people knew about a simple Low Cut? :D

 

Thanks for all the help :)

 

 

[pianoguyy]

6 hours ago, JohannDaart said:

Could all this HD500's bad reputation mud on YouTube could be avoided if people knew about a simple Low Cut? :D

 

 

When Steve Lukather says a product isn't workable - believe him.  

When a random Youtube video from some random failed musician turned videographer says it is a bad product... consider your source.  

[hurghanico]

8 hours ago, JohannDaart said:

@hurghanico Yesterday I got quiet frustrated with Plexi... The mud just disheartened me ;)

 

Just as you wrote, I found out more about cab DEP's like Thump and Low Cut.

I also re-watched Peter Hanmer tutorial...

 

The way he deals with Plexi's mud is simply... Huge Low Cut in cab's DEP. 150 Hz.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ9v7SCCt_c&t=590

 

Until this point, I thought that I should cut guitars between 80-110 Hz. 150 Hz seems really excessive, but it works like a charm for him.

 

I will test if for dark amps in HD500 reducing Resonance / Thump first might be a better idea, then using Low Cut (a bit less, 100-120?).

 

Could all this HD500's bad reputation mud on YouTube could be avoided if people knew about a simple Low Cut? :D

 

Thanks for all the help :)

 

 

 

Applying low cuts (and/or high cuts) to amp models (but also to tracks with real amp recordings) is a fairly common practice. And so with the POD the same goes.

 

There are some modelers that have low and high cuts incorporated as deep parameters in the models (see Ax-Fx), other modelers have by default at least one input EQ and one output EQ in the chain (see Amplifire) and many of their presets have a low cut applied on the input and a high cut applied on the output (quite trendy as a cutting methodology).

 

With Line6 modelers every adjustment is left to the user, who if he knows where to put his hands can get excellent results.

 

Regarding Helix I believe that some sort of low cut (probably on the input) but not adjustable by the user has been applied to many of its amp models, and probably for this reason they are brighter in comparison.

 

In regard to Peter Hanmer Low Cut in cab's DEP at 150 Hz you said that it is huge but actually is not huge as it seems because the cutting curve of the Low Cut filter is not steep, but gradual.

A very steep cutting curve (like a scalpel) can be obtained instead by using the High Pass Filter contained in the MID FOCUS EQ, but the threshold frequencies are unfortunately expressed in percentages (but kindly translated into Hz by pfsmith0 in this forum). Therefore setting the High Pass Filter to the percentage corresponding to 150 Hz would have a much more dramatic effect (probably excessive) on the sound than the same setting for the Low Cut parameter.

In any case, you should always decide your settings on the basis of what you hear and not what you see.

 

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All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips