Pod XT pro and line 6 owners please help!

[wilch]

I feel like I've just wasted a whole bunch of money....
Just bought a rackmount podxtpro (got a great deal). I bought it for direct recording after I heard some of the pod samples that people have uploaded on this site.

All I can say is AARGHH!!! I've been tweaking for hours!!!!!! ARGHH!!!!!

I remember someone saying to turn off the "air" thingy... tried it... get fizz.

ARGGH!!!!

Please, if anyone has any experience with these f'ing things, can you share some secrets. I'm going insane and sorely regretting my purchase.

wil..

[dp15655]

Better ask over at the Institute of Noise, or the Line6 forums... As from last week, I also have an Pod XT Pro and am quite happy with it. But what are you trying to do ? Play it live ? Record ? Some details on your setup and the sound you would like to achieve would also be helpful.

You also talk about "fizz" - what exactly is your problem ? You can't find the tone you are looking for, or do you thinkthe unit is defective?

[J Todd Beachler]

wilch, you are expressing my exact feelings from last week. I picked up an XT Pro last weekend and was furious because it didn't sound good. My anger turned to embarrassment and disappointment over the next few days. I was ashamed that I spent that much money on something that I never test drove in person. I, like you, spent several times online listening to samples (pro and amateur), reading literature and visiting the various Pod forums. I was sold on it and blindly bought one at GC. I, too, disliked the 'fizz'. There is quite a bit of it in the Treadplate (Dual Recto) presets. This is common with quite a number of PodXT users. Line6 is supposedly working on a fix in a future software update.

Patience is the key with this box. Take your time and make small adjustments to the settings. The setting "Awake" is one of the better presets that appeals to my tonal taste. I start with that one and pull back the drive, channel volume (it's a little too hot and clips), bass and put the treble, mids and presence at about 1 o'clock. I then dial back the reverb quite a bit. To my ear this is a VERY convincing DR sound.

Over at the Line 6 forum, a few users, myself now included are attempting to work on a fix for the XT Pro. User 'Philbert' came up with a fix for the original Pod that utilized a 31-band EQ. His Recto samples are amazing. They sound perfect! He has just begun analyzing the XT Pro and has found that when comparing the XT Pro to the Pod Pro and Pod 2.0, most presets have a boost at 140Hz and 590Hz. I have been messing around with decreasing these two frequencies by using my Roland VS-1880 HD recorder and my XT Pro. It does get rid of some of this fizz, but I can still hear some of it lingering.

Bottom line, be patient with it and keep adjusting the settings. Hopefully it will grow on you! I know I feel a lot better about my purchase.

Good luck and have fun!

[wilch]

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies.

I'm using the thing for practice and direct recording to my PC. I've spent all of the day working on getting a "sound" I like. Still haven't really. But I think I've found an "ok" lead tone to record with, and a decent distorted tone. (d/l'ed Petrucci.l6t and animal3.l6t from line6.com)

They sound "ok"....

What I'm trying to do is "emulate" the amps and racks I've heard/and or played through. I can't seem to get the marshall patches to "breathe" nor can I get the mesa (treadplate) ones to growl. All they do is fizz.

Yeah, I know some others out there that are thinking, "well hey you bought a damn line6 pod...." But there are some samples out there that people have recorded which sound pretty damn good. It's just I can't seem to get anywhere near the sort of sounds I was hearing with the samples.

I'm a little bit more hopeful with extracting some decent sounds from this thing after working with it for a bit. I don't think I'll ever be able to use it live.... But I guess I have a marshall jcm2000 head and cab for that....

I guess I was just initially shocked at the lack of...ummm..."tone". There was no tone, no air, no "singing". Maybe I'm really a tube dude afterall.

One thing though with the aforementioned downloaded l6t's I can get a decent sound from this thing while plugged straight into the PC, and I can finally record solo's (near impossible with the way my room is setup and a 100w tube amp).

I still feel like trading it in after only owning it for one day...Maybe get a marshall jmp1 and a 20/20....

For f... sake. LOL

I'll stick with it for a bit though. Maybe it will be worth it....

wil..

[J Todd Beachler]

Hey, wilch. Just take a few more days and mess with the settings. Concentrate on listening how the sound changes with each minute adjustment. Like I mentioned earlier, if you have an eq, drop 140 Hz and 590 Hz down by between 5 dB and 8 dB. That will take care of the fizz somewhat. You can also check out a Pod 2.0 bean as an option to the XT.

Also, as I'm new to the world of the Pod, I've found that I have to adjust my playing slightly. I haven't quite found a way to make a palm mute sound natural. If I do it my normal way, the sound just bottoms out. If I lay my hand on the bridge and barely roll my hand forward to just touch the strings it sounds alright, but not like a real amp driving real speakers.

[revsharp777]

I know you'll problably hate the opinion I'm gonna give, but what the heck...

Return the PODxt & get the Behringer V-Amp Pro. As far as modeling processors, the V-Amp Pro kills The PODxt & it's a 1/3 of the cost!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

[J Todd Beachler]

hey, rev! Still making guitars?

Do you have anything that you've recorded with the V-Amp?

[wilch]

I saw a V-amp rack mount attached to a mesa 50/50 at the store... didn't try it though...

Might keep on slaving away with this thing though.

I recorded this...

sound ok??? There's an unatural fizz at the end of the notes (unlike the smooth tube thingy that goes on with a nice tube amp)

Pod - Vai - Hand On Heart...well a little bit of the start anyway

it's only 822Kb
Recorded with an RG421 equipped with EVO's, straight into the POD xt Pro rack mount, straight into the line in of an SB Audigy 2 breakout box.

wil..

[wilch]

btw J, I only have a BOSS GE-7 Equaliser pedal... would that be good enough? should I put that before the POD or after?

Thanks heaps for the advice BTW, muchly appreciated.

wil..

[J Todd Beachler]

Nice little clip there. I hear what you mean. It has a grainy tail. I noticed that same thing two nights ago, but haven't heard it since. I can't remember which patch I was using. It might have been my playing; just not fretting properly and getting some slight buzz which carries over to the Pod. What patch did you use for that clip? Sounds quite realistic. It even has that 'thud' from the speaker cabinet. Neat!

What version software do you have? The newest is 1.05.

The pedal will work in a crunch. Just place it after the Pod.

Go to my link above and join the Line 6 forum!

[Ralph khoury]

Originally Posted by wilch

I saw a V-amp rack mount attached to a mesa 50/50 at the store... didn't try it though...

Might keep on slaving away with this thing though.

I recorded this...

sound ok??? There's an unatural fizz at the end of the notes (unlike the smooth tube thingy that goes on with a nice tube amp)

Pod - Vai - Hand On Heart...well a little bit of the start anyway

it's only 822Kb
Recorded with an RG421 equipped with EVO's, straight into the POD xt Pro rack mount, straight into the line in of an SB Audigy 2 breakout box.

wil..

Wilch, i dont know if its actually the unit, cos u sustained other notes and they didnt have this problem, maybe u did a bad fretting, but in case u did a good fretting and this happened, then all i can say is that the POD XT sucks big time!!!!

[wilch]

Hey there,

The fizz (grainy tail) seems to happen as you progress lower down on the fretboard, up high it's hardly noticeable.

I used the "animal.l6t" patch and tweaked it a little. (downloaded this from the line6 patch site. Search for "vai")

I'll try the EQ tomorrow.

How do I tell what version I have?

wil..

[revsharp777]

Originally Posted by J Todd Beachler

hey, rev! Still making guitars?

Do you have anything that you've recorded with the V-Amp?

No, I haven't worked for Tacoma Guitars in almost 4 years. I got tired of the low pay & "sweat shop" mentality there.

I haven't recorded anything with it. I uses a V-Amp 2 mainly for home practice & the occasion cover band gig. As soon a little cash is available, I plan to get a V-Amp Pro. My friend has one & it sounds great.

[J Todd Beachler]

Originally Posted by revsharp777

No, I haven't worked for Tacoma Guitars in almost 4 years. I got tired of the low pay & "sweat shop" mentality there.

I haven't recorded anything with it. I uses a V-Amp 2 mainly for home practice & the occasion cover band gig. As soon a little cash is available, I plan to get a V-Amp Pro. My friend has one & it sounds great.

I'll have to check out a V-Amp Pro. I can't believe how inexpensive they are! I like my XT Pro now and will keep it, but that V-Amp Pro sounds enticing!

Sorry to hear about the guitar job? What are you doing now? Using your AF training?

[J Todd Beachler]

Originally Posted by wilch

How do I tell what version I have?

wil..

Hit the tuner button and then use the select know to scroll to the last page. It's probably 1.02. You can download the newest version of software over on Line6's site: http://software.line6.net/