Input level question

[captainc]

Hello, 

 

I'm new to the Pod Go so apologies if this has been covered... I did a search and couldn't find anything .  I am dialing in tones and finding my way around the unit pretty easily.  The only thing I'm struggling with is what seems like clipping on the input side of things.  Its not amp gain but more like a digital crackle.  I have the pad engaged and it goes away if I lower the pickup volume but on some models I have to back the volume way down.  My pickup height is fine.  is there another gain input gain stage I'm missing? the Axe212 had in input knob you can use to trim down the input gain.  

 

thank you 

 

 

[phil_m]

Are you using the Vintage Digital Delay model, per chance?

[captainc]

thanks for the reply.

 

I've been using the Echo Platter model.  Haven't tried the others yet.  

 

I will try lowering my pickups a bit I suppose.  Just feel like I already have them fairly Low. 

 

 

 

[phil_m]

1 hour ago, captainc said:

thanks for the reply.

 

I've been using the Echo Platter model.  Haven't tried the others yet.  

 

I will try lowering my pickups a bit I suppose.  Just feel like I already have them fairly Low. 

 

 

Well you aren't clipping the input if you aren't hearing clipping on every preset or with every amp model. It's not really possible to digitally clip within the signal path itself, but you can overload certain blocks. You could also be clipping the output converters or whatever you're plugged into. This is probably more likely than clipping the input.

[captainc]

Ok so I've been doing better with this.  Really trying to watch my levels but I'm still pulling my hair out a bit.  I've added a google drive link below with both the Patch with 4 snapshots as well as a quick audio sample to demonstrate what I'm experiencing.   I love this unit and it sounds fantastic on Cleans as well as higher gain stuff... its just some of the lower gain breakup tones I'm struggling with but I'm determined to figure this out. 

 

I appreciate any help especially for taking the time to download and look/listen to my files.  

 

• Snapshot 1 - Clean HiWatt amp with only reverb.  Sounds great in Headphones and out of my amp.  No Artifacts whatsoever as far as I can tell. 
• Snapshot 2 - Colordrive added.  This seems to be causing the most trouble so far.  I backed the drive way down and even tried raising drive and level from zero and as soon as it starts to do what I want which is a light break up/boost, the fizzy crackle appears.  Its not even louder.  If you listen to the audio sample or look at the waveform, the second set of strums has a drop in volume so not sure why its happening. 
• Snapshot 3 - TS808 stomp on, Colordrive off.  The TS is set for mild gain but still quite low.  It sounds better to my ears but seems to be still there.  There is a slight boost in level but less artifacts.  
• Snapshot 4 - Colorsound and 808 off,  OCD stomp on.  Set it for low gain but even at a low setting its still kinda crunchy.  Sounds decent and Fizz/crackle/whatever isn't as noticeable while playing but you can hear artifacts on the note decay.  

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UNG7gF1Y4odYh2LkSYl0f4zsnpnNl4Nm?usp=sharing

[soerenP]

Hi There,

I was about to ask the exact same question. I think I could provide even extremer, more digital and fizzy sounding examples (EDIT: did provide...) . I agree with the OP, that it sounds quite digital, but I somehow don't think it's actual digital clipping, just something wrong with the models. (Though, I can't really believe there is "something wrong with the models") 

Somehow I've got the feeling that the Colordrive is just an extreme example and for me, nice breakup sounds in general are incredibly difficult, because I keep getting some fizzyness whenever the sound decays into a clean one. 

 

Any ideas? 

 

It is more extreme with humbuckers, but then again, I think Single Coils just kind of hide the problem and it's not actual an input level issue. 

[soerenP]

Hi again, 

so, since as the OP said, this is really getting on one's nerves, I did some more research and compared re-amped waveforms at different input levels.

The setup:
I built a quite random patch using a Colordrive and a HiWatt (it's quite obvious the Colordrive is the more nasty one). Then I recorded a DI signal and re-amped it at different signal levels, each time increasing the level by 3dB. Then I normalized the outcome and compared the waveforms. 

 

I am not a proper sound engineer (though I did study media engineering, so I'm not a complete noob in that area), and my expectations could be naive, but what I expected of an overdriven signal is that the peaks are flattened, and, compared to a normalized less overdriven waveform, the area under the waveform increases, getting a higher RMS. I would not expect getting a more rippled signal or a completely different waveform. But look at what I got: 

 

After all you get pretty comparable waveforms, not perfect matches, but 90% of it has got a very similar course. Now have a look at the red marks. It seems that at two random places, one peak suddenly becomes two peaks and it looks as if that's because the peak is suddenly inverted. Again, I am not a real sound engineer but with the little experience I have in signal processing, this doesn't look like analog overdrive at all to me... Also not like input clipping. More like a messed up model. Are there any known hardware or firmware bugs in that direction? I only know about the input impedance one, but that one I fixed with a buffer pedal.

 

Any opinions or ideas greatly appreciated.  

 

Blue background waveform: Overdriven signal (higher input level), grey background: Clean signal (lower input level)

   

Edited February 19, 2023 by soerenP
added legend, removed "or" where it did't belong