Tips for avoiding compression on signal?

[MW111]

Good day.

 

I have been using the Pod Go for a while in a band of pedalboard enthusiasts and am looking for some tips here.

 

We have, for now, a no-amp rig (and it sounds good so... please no skepticism lol). We are 3 guitarists (two standard and one baritone (me)) and we are all playing into amp emulators. All our levels into the board are similar (mine is even a bit hotter than theirs sometimes). The other two play through traditional pedal setups, output through a DI and into the modelers. Their sound is full, clear, responsive, and not compressed.

 

I, on the other hand, have a much more compressed sound than they do. I have tried many many configurations, troubleshooting a block at a time, turning off everything and adding things back in.

 

I of course eliminated amp and cab emulation in the Pod Go onboard and have ONLY effects and I use the main out to xlr into the board (where amp emulator lives, same as the other members). I have an eq, noise gate, reverb, and overdrive and alternate between presets with either delay or chorus. All other settings are exactly the same.

 

Even when I turn ALL blocks off... my sound is night and day compared to those with a plain pedalboard. Compressed, thinner... lacking the same type of visceral attack. It's not the guitar. I plug into their pedalboards and outshine their sound easily.

Any tips so that I can start from a similar foundation in terms of levels and clarity as a normal pedalboard? It feels like there are some global settings at play here.

 

Thanks so much for any help.

 

[voxman55]

"I of course eliminated amp and cab emulation in the Pod Go onboard and have ONLY effects"

 

And there's your problem!! - why on earth did you do that??  I think you are getting a little confused. 

 

When you go through a real guitar amp, you will want to turn off amp and cab because you are already going through the preamp & poweramp section of a guitar amp (if you are going in front of the amp) or if you go through the FX return to use your guitar amp as a power amp, you'll turn the cab sims off (because you're going through a real cab) but may still want to use the amp models because you're now not going through a preamp section - but you could just run effects because you are running through a poweramp but your tone may be bland. 

 

But if you are going into the main board you are NOT going through the preamp and/or power amp section of a guitar amp and your tone will be 'flat' - its similar to going through an FRFR set up that adds no colour - and because you are NOT going through a real cab you will need cab models to give some girth/dynamics to your tone, but going through front of house is also ideal for running an amp model.  Even if you just want to use effects, you should still add eg a clean amp model & cab in your Pod Go - it will change everything!!  

I gig either through FOH and/or through FRFR powered speakers and its precisely because I'm not going through a guitar amp that I'm now free to use my Pod Go or other MFX to their full potential and run amp/cabs.  That's how you should be using your Pod Go through the board.