My gripe about the POD

  • Thread starter Thread starter BigKahuna
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BigKahuna

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I love it in every way ... except it seems really noisy. Lotsa hiss... even on the clean models w/o distortion. Bums me out big time. :(
Anyone else have this problem ... and able to get around it?
I know I don't have the quietest gear ... but everything else (reverbs, synths, etc.) is pretty much silent compared to the POD.
 
Hey I have the POD 2.0 and use it direct into a super quiet hard disk recorder and dont get hardly any hiss. Make sure the ends of your cables aren't lose and the shorter the connection between POD and recorder seems to be the best. I run my SG through the POD direct into a DPS16 and sounds quiet, if i were you i would just keep experimenting with different cables.
 
Maybe you diabled the noise reduction at one point?
Hold the Tap button and turn the reverb nob past 12 oclock..
That will turn on the noise reduc. ,if you had disabled it.
Holding the tap button and turning the rev.nob counter clockwise shuts off the noise reduction. Hope that this works for you.
 
Maybe it's the price you pay for amp emulation. It may be the same sound you would get from a real amp.

I also find it's best not to have the guitar facing the pod, just like a real amp.

P.S.

Big K,

I have a new song, I would like you to play on, if you want to. You were kind enough to let me use your drum part awhile back so I thought it was only fair. I think it might be fun!

Let me know yea or nay.
 
Don't laugh, but do you have your shoes on when you use your POD? I find that if I have my shoes off I get a terrible hum (ground loop hum I guess). Also, if you are using single coil pickups, your position to the POD does make a big difference.

Peace, Jim
 
Well I tried shorter cables and it didn't seem to make much difference.
I never heard of the noise reduction deal, Ralphyboy ... so I'll try that when I get home ... thanx for the tip! :)
To be honest, that was my original thought, GT ... this is what you get for amp emulation ... but it's just SO much noisier that anything else I've used that I figure that something must be wrong. I've used other amps and didn't get this much noise even when using distortion. (BTW ... I'm up for a collaboration ... show me a link ... also, what do you want me to play?? :) )
Jim, I tried not to laugh ... but that was kinda funny. You must be connecting the ground through a concrete floor or something? I dunno ... that's a weird one. :D For me, it's not really hum as much as hiss.
I guess I've noticed the noise before when playing ... but what got me to post about it was hearing it all by itself through the monitors after a session yesterday (monitors were a little loud :) ). I turned all the other channels off and just muted and unmuted the POD and was surprised at the noise level. I don't think I have v2.0 ... so maybe this is something they fixed?? I'm not sure.

Anyway, thanks for the comments, guys.
 
heheh.. I don't have any problems wearing shoes while playing the POD. GT - are you serious you face away from the POD to reduce hum? I could see facing away from your computer screen, but away from the POD... hmmm... :)

As for the POD's noise level, it is a bit hissy on certain patches, but balancing the main output and the channel output you can reduce it a bit. Also as GT said, the NR/Noise gate can be useful as long as your not trying to do some long sustaining notes. And the obvious, turn off your computer monitor or back way away from it.
 
If your are running your favorite strat thru it, the single coils will obviously create some noise problems. For such reasons I don't think a strat and POD are the best combination. Humbuckers and POD are more ideal.
 
Yeah,

For me, my pod is set on top of my recording gear, and just like a real amp, when I turn toward it, hum increases.

And like a real amp, if I take my fingers of the strings, hum increases.

Humbuckers, seem to be a must, wish I had one on the neck position on my guitar.

Whats the difference between single coil, and humbuckers when it comes to tone? I don't like to use the single coil neck pickup on my guitar, with the pod because of the noise.
Some say not to use a humbucker on the neck, because it won't sound as good, but with the pod, it seems to be a must.

Big K,

Have you tried unhooking pod from everything, and listening through phones, to make sure pod is to blame? Just a thought.

Anyway about the song, just do what ever you want to. How about I post it on this thread? Then you finish it, and post it in the mp3 clinic. OK? One more question, do you want me to EQ before I send?

GT
 
Actually, I agree with GT.
It probably wants to emulate the amp so well that the hiss IS meant to be there.
DJ
 
+4dbu

Are you using the balanced outs, trs? I use them into yamaha md8 mini disc, and my pod is very quiet. It is also true about the position of guitar to pod affecting the noise level.
thats it !
 
GT said:
For me, my pod is set on top of my recording gear, and just like a real amp, when I turn toward it, hum increases.
Click to expand...

I would expect this to be because you align the guitar with the magnetic fields in the room, not because you are turning towards the POD. I might be wrong, but still...

Do you have flourescen lights? Try to turn them off and see what happens.
 
GT-

Here are some words that may be used to describe basic tonal differences.

Humbuckers have a warmer, beefier sound with more gain while a single coil is a thinner and cleaner with more highs.

There are some cool Tones that can be cajoled out of the neck pickup. Alot of players will not hesitate to use it, to contrast the screams that can eminate from the bridge pu. SRV and others use all pickups to create their captivating tonal rainbows.
 
GT, you should definately NOT get humbuckers because of noise problems. Yes that's why they were invented, but now we tend to things in terms of what the pickup can do for us tone wise. The humbucker is absolutely great for heavy rock and/or beefy tones. The single coil is absolutely great for those bright cruchy tones. You really want both...usually in seperate guitars. For instance, I have a les paul custom with 2 humbuckers and a cheap Ibanez with two decent DiMarzio single coils. I cannot even come close to reproducing the tone of that cheap Ibanez with my les paul....nor vica versa! I need them both (though I'm saving for a fender to replace that ibanez).

A tip I learned from doc stawl is using a preamp after the POD. Sometimes the noise from the POD really won't be too audible until the gain is up a ways. If you leave the output gain down and use the preamp to give that signal a boost, it can be cleaner than the POD by itself. Give it a shot.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I've tried the suggestions here and haven't really improved the hiss situation much. I guess it's just something you have to live with. BTW ... I'm listening just to background hiss of the POD (no guitar hooked up ... but with the POD gate engaged). The s/n ratio with a instrument going through isn't too bad ... I was just surprised at how much noisier it was than the Wedge. I had the monitors pretty loud, I suppose. Messing with the channel and output levels does reduce it a bit. I wonder if the POD Pro is, by nature, quieter.

GT ... I got the tune. I'll try to add some stuff to it. My soundcard line ins decided to go tits-up on me so if I get something going I'll have to wait to upload until either I get my CDR back (on Sunday) or when I finally get my Lynx (9 days overdue ... starting to think I got screwed :( )
I'll get something on it eventually, though. Farted around with a synth solo for a bit last night. :D
 
Hey Big K,

Synth solo, sounds like it would be very cool.

Sorry to hear about computer woes.

My one lame idea, what if you added real drums? I don't know if anyone has tried the combination of real and canned drums together. Just think, you could be a pioneer!! If too lame, strike from record.

Anyway, great to hear from you, can't wait to hear what comes out!!

GT
 
Thanks,

Slackmaster, I appreciate the explanation of the difference between single and humbucker, pickups.

You have talked me out of putting a humbucker in the neck position, I will work around the noise, for tone sake!! I have to admit I'm happy with the sound of the single coil, just not the noise.

bball,

I agree you can get cool sounds out of the neck pickup, I would say that I use it allmost as much as the bridge pickup.

I suppose we have gotton spoiled by the lack of noise, when recording digitally, and any analog noise, such as guitar, sticks out like a sore thumb. Maybe we've gotton to picky.
 
I never had too much trouble with noise.....
Oh I sold my pod to get the 2.0(I know I could have got the upgrade chip....). But I havent gotten it yet.
I had trouble with facing my pc's monitor. as well as certin lights and situations caused this(we were in a musty little basement......) is the noise reduction lite on?
 
I have a POD Pro that I use both Live and for recording. I NEVER have a problem with hiss. I don't know if the Pro is better than the standard models in that regard. Is everyone using grounded outlets to plug in your equipment? I only ask that because another guitarist I play with had a big noise problem for a long time and we eventually traced it to a plug with the grounding prong removed.
 
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