Setup advice for POD HD500X / Feedback Issues?

[Nervesaw]

Hello,

 

I've had the Pod HD500X for a few months now and I'm still not sure whether I'm using it properly. I'm finding that I'm getting quite a bit of feedback out of my amp at a high volume in band rehearsal and live settings.

 

I should say that I'm a very plug-and-play kind of guy. The Pod HD500X is the most complicated piece of equipment that I've ever had to work with and I'm fairly undemanding, so I'm probably making some very elementary mistakes in terms of getting the right balance.

 

A bit more about my set up:

 

Guitar (LTD MH417, EMG 81-7 in the bridge) -> POD HD500X -> Carvin TS100 (tube power amp) -> Line6 4x12 (not sure of the model, I bought it with a Flextone head about 10 years ago, has a tweed front).

 

I've attached my main setting here (we play thrash/death metal), but I have some questions about the switches and outputs. Currently, I have my output set to "Studio/Direct" and my quarter out to "Line". This seems to fly in the face of everything I'm reading, but it seems to be the setting that puts out the most volume and the heaviest sound. Could this be causing a feedback problem? Is it simply too much for the amp to handle? If I should move my output to "Stack Pwr Amp" and my quarter out to "Amp", how difficult would it be to achieve the same sound and volume? If you open the file, you'll notice I have two preamps running with an overdrive. The gain/drive on all three doesn't exceed 40% and I try to keep my treble settings reasonably low enough. There are some extra effects at the end of the chain that I almost always never use except for the reverb.

 

While I'm pretty happy with the sound I'm getting at bedroom volume, if I crank the Carvin to about 1:00 with the band, I start to get feedback. So what exactly is the best balance of settings, gain and volume to avoid feedback at high volumes when playing this kind of metal with the Pod HD500x? Please let me know if the file doesn't work or if I've attached it incorrectly.

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Nervesaw]

Tone uploaded to CustomTone today under the name SwarmDist3-2.

[GuitarLoekie]

Hello Line6 support,

I have a problem with my POD HD500.
If I use sounds with overdrive or distortion I got feedback when I stop playing guitar.
I tried everything I could find on the forums about this problem but with no solution.

The only solution I have is to change the "Guitar In" switch to turn from POD to Normal but that changing the feel of playing with my solo's, less sustain.

What can I do to fix this problem?

Kind regards,

Dave Janssen

[Nervesaw]

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry to bump, hoping for some solution to this problem.

 

Thanks again!

[alphadog808]

Please let me know if you get this resolved, I also has/have issues with feedback at higher volumes.  I've done a lot if testing, and   I noticed that using the pad switch and distance from the amp helped the most.  

 

I am running in line mode and stack mode on a hd500.

[ColonelForbin]

Yeah, it sounds like your power amp is super powerful, so you might want to try making a copy of some of your patches, and turn them *way* down in the HD500 settings. Like as in, go to your mixer and knock everything down -12db for starters. Give yourself a bunch of headroom, that might help stop unwanted feedback when you start to crank the power amp a bit.

[Nervesaw]

if your Carvin was not able to handle the output signal coming from the POD with the current settings, it would have the same problem with its volume at bedroom level..

 

IMO the answer is already contained in your own question..

 

probably the feedback issue doesn't depend on your POD settings, but instead on how you set your real power-amp/cab final output volume in relation to the type and size of the room where you are playing, and also on your position relative to the cab..

 

maybe you are too much close to the cab or at an unfavorable angle..

 

try changing your position relative to the amp and if possible turn down a bit the band general stage volume in order to use a lower amp volume setting that do not trigger feedback..

 

each type of environment requires different settings..

 

PS.

anyway there are several types of "feedback"..

can you give a more detailed description of what sort of feedback are you getting?

 

The feedback isn't constant, it's usually after a hard mute (like a low chord that's hit staccato and choked silent). Last night, I managed to keep it under control, but I set my stage volume at about 12:00. I usually keep it at 1:00 to hear myself during rehearsal, but maybe I have some frequency cancellation going on with other instruments in the room. I could be too close to the amp as well. I'll play around with this some more.

 

Thank You!

[Nervesaw]

Yeah, it sounds like your power amp is super powerful, so you might want to try making a copy of some of your patches, and turn them *way* down in the HD500 settings. Like as in, go to your mixer and knock everything down -12db for starters. Give yourself a bunch of headroom, that might help stop unwanted feedback when you start to crank the power amp a bit.

 

Thanks for the mixer tip, I will definitely try this out.

[joel_brown]

Make sure your input settings for the PODHD is set to Guitar 1 and other input is set to Variax or Mic or anything besides guitar.  Othewise it will overdrive your input and cause feedback.

 

Also, try lowering your guitar pickups just a little, sometimes it doesn't take much to make a big difference.

 

I did both of these things and play very loud heavy tones with no feedback at all.

[Leftzilla]

Also just so you know Line6 may monitor these forums but they do not directly do support here.  You would need to contact them directly.  This is primarily a user support forum meaning the other Line 6 users provide the support here.

 

I use a POD HD500x with a JTV 89F Variaxand primarily do directly to the PA and fold back through the monitors.  The only time I have feedback issues is when I get a system that has very powerful monitors.  And then it is a typical feedback problem due to very high volume.