When hooking up the POD Express Black to my PA after adjusting settings on headphones, it was "flubby"

[daveaphotopod]

Basically, it was acting as if the signal was too hot. I had initially thought it was just because of too much bass, but bringing that down did nothing. Apologies for the generic term of "flubbiness" but it wasn't as if there was ONLY too much bass. It was as if the PA speaker was getting overloaded (but I didn't feel as if it was because the volume wasn't overwhelming or anything. I had the volume dialed back on the PA, which leads me to believe it was just the signal going into it). 

So....my assumption is that the headphones account for volume and may give a false sense of security? And that if you set the dial on the side to be all the way up, and have the gain and preset volume (that's not the name, but I can't think of it right now) pretty high up that when you move over to a PA....ALL of that signal is going into the PA which is "too much" - Is that what is happening here? 

I used to own the POD GO and never ran into this. But to be fair my dial for volume on the POD GO was always set to noon. I am sure if I kept turning it up, the same would happen. I did notice on the summary page for the POD Express Black it says this: "The headphone output is load dependent and is specified for a load range of 8-1000ohms."

First off, load dependent? What does that mean or is in reference to? Also, does that explain why there is a difference? Right now my PA is at the band space so I can't test, but my assumption is that I just need to dial back the intensity on the headphones (maybe to the detriment of it sound quieter in my ears, which isnt a bad thing) to allow it to sound better in the PA. I am wondering if it's just the type of headphones I am using too. (MDR-V6) 

[jay_not_jay]

On 9/11/2025 at 7:15 PM, daveaphotopod said:

Basically, it was acting as if the signal was too hot. I had initially thought it was just because of too much bass, but bringing that down did nothing. Apologies for the generic term of "flubbiness" but it wasn't as if there was ONLY too much bass. It was as if the PA speaker was getting overloaded (but I didn't feel as if it was because the volume wasn't overwhelming or anything. I had the volume dialed back on the PA, which leads me to believe it was just the signal going into it). 

So....my assumption is that the headphones account for volume and may give a false sense of security? And that if you set the dial on the side to be all the way up, and have the gain and preset volume (that's not the name, but I can't think of it right now) pretty high up that when you move over to a PA....ALL of that signal is going into the PA which is "too much" - Is that what is happening here? 

I used to own the POD GO and never ran into this. But to be fair my dial for volume on the POD GO was always set to noon. I am sure if I kept turning it up, the same would happen. I did notice on the summary page for the POD Express Black it says this: "The headphone output is load dependent and is specified for a load range of 8-1000ohms."

First off, load dependent? What does that mean or is in reference to? Also, does that explain why there is a difference? Right now my PA is at the band space so I can't test, but my assumption is that I just need to dial back the intensity on the headphones (maybe to the detriment of it sound quieter in my ears, which isnt a bad thing) to allow it to sound better in the PA. I am wondering if it's just the type of headphones I am using too. (MDR-V6) 

 

By default, the POD Express volume wheel is set to alter volume of both headphone and 1/4" outs. (Setting 10)

 

You can change that setting to only alter the headphone volume. Then the 1/4" outs volume would only affected by amp and effect settings. Could this solve the problem?