POD HD Demos x 6

[rogerbayliss]

Recently bought a Line6 POD HD and been busy programming the echos and amps into it for Shads sounds. Then after selling even more gear off I bought a new home studio Zoom R24 and thought I would see what the POD HD sounds like recorded.

The POD HD provides the echos and the amp sims with amp EQ as usual and the R24 is used to EQ the sound and added reverb where needed. I did not resort to matching exactly to record just from memory only. I was mainly concerned as to the echos and sounds of the POD after my efforts and of course to try out the new studio. All backings are the original artists with lead removed.

Peace Pipe
app.box.com/s/tgbfh5wzb6xoiy4z6ndq

Perfidia
app.box.com/s/vgubao9dyowfjct2lewj

The Savage
app.box.com/s/89fbl5n9wmys05qd0tqv

Kon Tiki
app.box.com/s/38iq38mp0o08st24kobh

Blue Star
app.box.com/s/gqlzqq1kttt0cnx3br4y

Wonderful Land - Heartbeat / Mark Knop version
app.box.com/s/adrqbcst6r2sxjsyyx1g

[somebodyelseuk]

Hiya Roger.
Had a listen to them all. All sound great. Just my opinion, but the lead guitar sounds a bit distant in them all - a little too much reverb/echo balance, perhaps?
Thought they all had the sound, though, especially the Savage and Kontiki.
Cheers, Julian

[rogerbayliss]

Thanks Julian I take note re the guitar mix. All new gear and studio so maybe it was that coupled with the fact I mixed on headphones only. I am glad it all sounds great though as the POD HD echos and tone is what I was mainly concerned with. Thanks.

[eltrasero]

Excellent stuff Roger. Are you playing both guitar parts in Wonderful Land or are you just Hank?

[rogerbayliss]

Thanks I removed Hanks part from original Heartbeat recording and put myself in as hank. MK part was by MK and left in.

[somebodyelseuk]

Sept 1, 2013 10:27:13 GMT rogerbayliss said:

Thanks Julian I take note re the guitar mix. All new gear and studio so maybe it was that coupled with the fact I mixed on headphones only. I am glad it all sounds great though as the POD HD echos and tone is what I was mainly concerned with. Thanks.

That'll be it. I was going to ask if it'd been mixed on headphones. I'd been doing that and then when I listened back to my mixes the reverb was too prominent. I'm not a fan of reverb at the best of times, but when it comes to the Shadows you are obliged to... I try and keep it so that you don't notice it, but when you switch it out you miss it.
Been doing the bass part for 'My Resistance Is Low' today and just can't get the sound right - usually don't have a problem... Some days are just like that, i guess.
Cheers, Julian

[glenorchy]

Really enjoyed those Roger. I have been using a POD HD500 for some time with my own programming - I am guessing you have the desktop POD HD. Would you be up for swapping some settings with me to compare notes? I don't think the backup files are compatible, but I could send you some screen shots of my settings.

As well as using the HD500 for echoes and amp simulation, I also have some reverb in there on some tunes in order to be able to record directly from the HD500 into the computer.

Perhaps you would PM me with your email address if you are agreeable.

Duncan

[rogerbayliss]

Hi Duncan

Thanks for your comments, yes it is the bean desktop unit I have.
I have to say that as far as echos go these are the EFTP timings and settings I transposed from the Yamaha MS as far as I could.
I have spoken to Charlie Hall out of respect for his work and he is not happy for me to share these settings with others. My original intent was to share though but I will not let Charlie Hall down in this respect and intend to honor our gentlemans agreement not too.

So sadly not able to be of assistance mate.

[glenorchy]

Echo settings - No problem - I understand.

[rogerbayliss]

Duncan

as far as the amp settings go I used the AC30TB with 112 blue speaker and set the treble mid 50% the Cut(middle) 50% presence 0% bass between 10 - 35% depending on tune. The drive was around 20% with vol at 80% and master vol to suit. The AC15 was set with bass treble and presence at 0% Drive 40% Vol 100% and cut (middle) to suit . Kon Tiki and Blue star were the AC15 tunes the rest AC30TB.

For reverb I used a bright room reverb with long predelay .

I used a multiband comp and normalised to finish off


HTH

[glenorchy]

Many thanks for those amp settings Roger. That's very useful, as my amp settings are a little different. Your guitar tones sound more authentic than mine, so will try your settings.

My current amp settings are 2-12% drive, cut and treble about the same as yours, and bass around 30 -40% depending on the song. I also use the AC30TB Bluebell speakers, with the 57 off axis mic setting, with 11% early reflectance.

Reverb I use is also Room, with 149ms pre-delay, but Plate on some tunes.

The signal output for POD Vox amp sims seems a bit weak, so I also use a Boost Compressor with compression at zero, just some signal boost dialled in.

As for echo settings, I have used timings and repeats freely available on other web sites, using combinations of POD's Tape echo, Tube echo, and mult-tap delay.

Thanks again.

Duncan.

[rogerbayliss]

Cheers Duncan just got back from hols

I think as far as the guitar sound goes on these tests I know they are a bit on the bassy side and need more cutting. They were however some very quick tests just to see how the echos sounded in the mix and the overall amp sounds. I did not listen to the originals at all when I did these but hoping at some point to get the sound better now the echos are sounding OK.

I used a bright room reverb on the Zoom R24 studio for mine with long predelay but did not use compression on the guitar ... just mastering with multi band comp.

I used the 67 condenser mic (Neumann U67 mic model) and early reflections were around 12%. The final eq on the guitar was done using the high / mid / lo eq available on the Zoom R24.

Overall I think the POD HD does a great job and all in one small unit. Will need a bit more time to get to know the new gear to get best results.

[rogerbayliss]

Just like to mention I have started using the Shure 57 Mic on Axis as I had a problem with live sound through PA and through my amp (sounding too boxy and bassy at times) That sorted that out !

[rogerbayliss]

Another issue I have found is when you put 4 separate delays in series some sort of ringing (almost reverb like) is there more noticeable on amp and PA than headphones. Also the delays seem to drive each other and the feedback seems to increase. So I have addressed this by putting the delays in two sets inside the mixer loop and the amp after the mixer and it sound much better now. Also set the mixer so left and right is not panned ie mono. Not ideal but seems to sort the issue for your info. It also sounds Ok with 3 echos in series but not 4 for some reason that appears to be a quirk on the POD.

Also as a result of the changes I needed to increase the levels of each delay to get the output more like the real deal.

New toy still learning !