Why do my recordings sound dark and static-y?

Buttcheex8

New member
Hey, I just got a PODxt for Christmas and I'm recording direct through the USB Port. The recordings i make sound a bit dark and i hear little static, and then maybe a stutter once in a while. Why is this, and is the darkness a flaw in my connection or do i just need to EQ?

Another question is, will my PODxt sound better through something like an Audiophile rather than going USB?
 
I would guess that the noise or static may be coming from your POD, your guitar pickups, or a loose or defective guitar cable. Try shifting the position of your guitar while recording to see if the static varies. Next, try a couple of different guitar cables. You could also vary the POD amp models to see if that has any effect. Some of the presets are noisier than others.

The "stuttering" you describe sounds like it could be a computer issue. What type of system are you using, including available RAM, processor speed, hard drive size, etc.? Do you have other applications running in the background while you are recording? Have you ever defragmented your drive? Do you have some type of disk utility to check the condition of your system?

The "darkness" issue is probably just a question of adjusting tone controls on the POD (Bass, Mid, Treble, reverb, etc.) or your guitar. It could also be as simple as your playing style or the setup you use for monitoring.

It's hard to tell if something like the Audiophile will offer better quality. It comes down to comparing both units side-by-side and making a subjective judgement about the A/D converters. The Audiophile will certainly sound different (perhaps cleaner) given the fact that the POD is primarily an effects box/amp modeling system. The Audiophile and other interfaces will also generally give you more flexibility since they typically offer XLR mic inputs and phantom power. The POD, if I remember correctly, simply uses a single 1/4 input.
 
usb

usb is a slow protocol. do you ave usb 2.0 or the earlier version. ?
this could be the cause of your stuttering.
one thing to do is listen to the pod away from the PC . if you still get static it could be a bad guitar cable or a grounding issue.
try this as a test. plug the pod line out into a cassette deck line input, and plug some fones into the deck fone jack. do you still get static ?? tell me the result. if you dont then try taking the line out of the deck into your sound card LINE IN NOT MIC IN and record away using the decks level control to control the level going to the sound card.
 
my static only occurs when i playback after recording. The POD sounds fine through headphones.
I'm using a 1 ghz 384 mb ram system with a really crappy sound card.

i think my problem has to do with clock speed or something like that. oh well
 
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