Line 6 POD HD Pro

[Mattfig]

Looks like a fun toy....Seems like Line 6 is hunting down Fractal...I'm glad, perhaps Axe-FX will become reasonably priced with more direct competition...Right now, I'm astounded by the number of people waiting for the Fractal V2 Axe...I've seen them on ebay for almost 3 grand...WTF? That seems insane for a modeler...

http://line6.com/podhd/pro/

 

[disk11]

I was considering one of the floor units before I found my GSP.

But I think if L6 really wanted to take on Fractal, the Pro would need 2 DSP chips and not just be a HD500 in rack form. I've read that people overload the DSP processor with 2 amps in stereo and only a few effects.

 

[Julia]

You can probably find an AXE FX Ultra (first version) for around $1300 on ebay. The higher price of the AXE 2 is due to people buying them and flipping them for profit to other who have GAS so bad they can't wait for one to be built for them.

The AXE FX 1 works just fine.

I have the POD HD500. It works just fine for me. It does everything I want it to do. I just run it through my near field monitors for practice and general jamming at home. You don't get the "amp in the room" feel from it because you're hearing a miked amp unless you run it through your power section of your tube amp and out your guitar cab with the cab model turned off on the HD. Direct it is great for recording.

Line 6 is not after making an AXE FX killer. They are targeting the market of people who want a high quality sounding modeler without the steep price tag. It does not have the DSP capability of the AXE. The AXE has a second DSP chip, so if you get effects heavy (like with ambient effects and dual amps) you might hit the DSP limit. The particle reverb uses a lot of DSP. For normal amounts of effects with a dual amp model (like a standard delay and chorus w/ noise gates and maybe an overdrive or two in front) there is no problem.

I don't think the presets suck as bad as people say. You can tweak them to your liking. They're good starting points IMO. That's what I do with synth VSTis -- use the presets and tweak them. I'm not starting from scratch most of the time.

I did this on the HD500 and yes this is a scratch patch: http://soundcloud.com/julia-6/blues-for-jeff-1 It's pretty raw and I went for a "live" sound. No blazing speed because I don't have any.

A 100W tube amp is just too loud for my ears these days, especially for recording and daily practice. After I got the HD I had the WTF was I thinking moment when I looked at my LB and two 212s. Not that it's not a great amp, but it's really complete overkill for what I'm doing. My Fender HR Deville would have still been fine for clean work, and takes up less room.

One of these days I've got to pick up my guitar again. I've been playing keyboards. There is more demand for someone who can play a B3 than a guitarist.

 

[m0jo]

When I saw the news I was like whooooooohooo, finally a replacement for my GSP1101!! The static setup of the GSP1101 is annoying the crap out of me, and they STILL have not included the reverse delay which is on lower models like the RP500 (completely retarded IMO).

So I started checking this out, and the 'DSP limit' is worrying, that really sucks the joy out of a unit like that. I want to be able to do anything I want, not worry about some limit to the hardware's capabilities. Don't kid yourself, the pricetag wouldn't suddenly go Axe-FX if they added enough DSP to handle the 8 effects + 2 amps.
But it would make it more expensive than the Eleven Rack (which is what they're really shooting at I think).

Another niggle: the amps and cabs are fixed together, you can turn off the cab to use only the amp .. but I can't turn off the amp and use only the cab! (with my RM4..) Oh and there's a true stereo FX loop ... why the heck can't I use that as 2 mono FX-loops? That would add so much in flexibility, how many people run a stereo guitar setup anyways?

So this sucks, a great product, let down by these small details, and it's probably down to $50 .. I'd be willing to pay that, as it would make it the best unit on the market.

Finally a rack unit with a proper tactile interface .. and they screw up on those little things

 

[m0jo]

Julia, would you mind trying an experiment with your HD500?

reverse delay > chorus > stereo amp setup (with poweramps on) > cab > octo verb > multi head delay > particle verb

Yes it's way overkill, but I'd like to know how much of this you can get in there before it hits the DSP limit.
Maybe it's being overhyped and it's only a problem when you have 8 particle verbs ..

 

[disk11]

When I saw the news I was like whooooooohooo, finally a replacement for my GSP1101!! The static setup of the GSP1101 is annoying the crap out of me, and they STILL have not included the reverse delay which is on lower models like the RP500 (completely retarded IMO).

Yeah, I've lost faith in Digitech. They abandon the GSP and now have the stupid IPB-10: http://www.digitech.com/en/products/ipb-10-programmable-pedalboard. Wow, an RP1000 with an iPad mount:roll:

If you want, I'll ask on another board about people's encounters with the HD's DSP limit.

 

[m0jo]

When I saw the news I was like whooooooohooo, finally a replacement for my GSP1101!! The static setup of the GSP1101 is annoying the crap out of me, and they STILL have not included the reverse delay which is on lower models like the RP500 (completely retarded IMO).

Yeah, I've lost faith in Digitech. They abandon the GSP and now have the stupid IPB-10: http://www.digitech.com/en/products/ipb-10-programmable-pedalboard. Wow, an RP1000 with an iPad mount:roll:

If you want, I'll ask on another board about people's encounters with the HD's DSP limit.

Well.. that was my first reaction to the ipb-10 too. But have you seen the video's with the dude showing how it works?
The interface possibilities of a touchscreen are perfect for a multieffects unit.

So in some ways, together with the Zoom G3 (which is also a stupid unit on itself, but gives a great new development to the field) it's not such a bad thing.
It opens the door to other multieffects units with touchscreens, dedicted for the unit.

The thing these producers/designers are missing every **** time though is the power of hybrid designs. Yes the touchscreen is great for the dynamic parts of the setup, but then add a knob for the master volume and such static things that you want *instant* and blind access to (as in, I want to be able to blindly grab for the master volume, not look at a screen and go through a menu button first).

Also it's refreshing to see some proper graphics on an effects unit for the first time ever!
I'm getting sick of looking at GameBoy type text and representations of effects, we've had cheap graphical screens for freaking 30 years now, use them already! (oh no wait, they're $30 more expensive and you need an actual designer to do a little work). If these companies used the actual resources and abilities that a digital platform allows, there wouldn't be many guys with all-analog gear, seriously.

I'd almost start developing something..

/rant, scuze me.

Yes please! If you could check out the DSP limit with some guys with experience, that would be very cool.

But the Youtube vid isn't very promising. (the official intro vid for the Pod HD Pro). If you watch closely at around 3:50, they switch shots to hide it, but the "DSP limit reached" error pops up when he goes through the delays.
Thats with 2 amps, an overdrive and a delay .. :shock:

 

[disk11]

I asked in here, also contains a ton of HD clips as it's the most popular modeler in that thread: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1415782&page=1&pp=20

 

[m0jo]

I asked in here, also contains a ton of HD clips as it's the most popular modeler in that thread: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1415782&page=1&pp=20

Wow that's an awesome thread
Thanks mucho's!

I've let the idea simmer by the way, and I'm now thinking of setting up some sort of project to design a new multi effects unit.
Purely effects, with maximum flexibility to fit in your rig and maximum usability in all scenario's.

Not sure how to start it off, but it's an idea, and idea's can lead to beautifull things

 

[Wookieslayer]

Yup I've found that taking away the smallest notches possible when adding post EQ to a tone works wonders for keeping a distortion sim fat and less fizzy. I've learned that boosting too much makes it sound weird and fake as well.

I really wish the HD series would allow loading of your own IR's. If they did I would have bought one last year! The new DAR preamp pedal on the other hand has me really really intrigued! Holy ****, it should smoke the competition!

 

[m0jo]

I really wish the HD series would allow loading of your own IR's. If they did I would have bought one last year! The new DAR preamp pedal on the other hand has me really really intrigued! Holy s*&t, it should smoke the competition!

Yeah, loading of own IR's and allowing me to use my own preamp!

The DAR stuff is pretty cool.
Preamp pedal with a small DSP to run IR's .. very smart idea!

The christmas lights are a bit much on those amps though :shock: (I bet you can turn those off but still, come on)

 

[m0jo]

I've followed that thread for a bit, it seems the most DSP goes into the amp models.

So since I mostly intend to use the RM4 .. it should be a very good flexible effects unit. (so really effects).

I guess I'll find one in a store and play around with it for a while
Thanks!

 

[m0jo]

Ok this one is shot down, the Pod HD Pro only has midi switching of patches .. no effects on/off ..

Was Line6 drunk while developing this?