GETTING SET UP • PODxt — In The Studio
3 • 3
into one of these inputs, try setting the trim to minimum, and twisting POD
XT’s
O
UTPUT and CHANNEL VOLUME knobs up to maximum. If your equipment
has a couple of open line-level only inputs, you’ll probably get better performance by
plugging into these, rather than the wide-ranging mic-to-line level trimmed inputs.
Setting Levels
Start by setting PODXT to the sound you intend to use, strum hard, and set CHANNEL
V
OLUME as close to max as you can without getting the CLIP indicator in
POD
XT’s display. Now play with the PODXT OUTPUT knob and any input volume
control on your system so you can get the maximum sound level out of your POD
XT
without going so far that you overdrive the input on your system and cause unwanted
distortion.
TIP: You probably want to have all of your favorite sounds as loud as
possible, while also having the right difference in volume between your
lead and rhythm sounds, clean and dirty sounds, etc. Right? OK, then, to
get this happy balance, start with your favorite ‘clean’ sounds. Turn up
their Chan Vol as high as you can without getting the CLIP indicator in
PODxt’s display when you strum hard. and save them that way. Then
switch amongst them to see if some are too loud, and turn them down a
bit to match well with the others. Next, move on to select your ‘dirtier’
crunch and lead tones, comparing them to the clean sounds and saving
them with lower Chan Vol settings to match well with those clean sounds.
Now, each time you use your PODxt, you just have to set an Output
volume level you like, and you can switch amongst your various sounds
without unhappy volume differences.
Radiation Alert
You’re also likely to find, especially if you are using a guitar with single coil pickups,
that it is quite easy to pick up some serious noise from any computer CRT (which
stands for cathode ray tube) display you might have in your studio. CRT displays are,
after all, just special purpose ray guns that shoot photons at you all day long. Your guitar
pickups receive and amplify the electro-magnetic fields that your display radiates, and
you hear this in your audio signal as buzz and hum. Moving farther from the CRT, and
turning your guitar so it does not directly face the computer’s display, will minimize this
problem. But if you find yourself in a tight studio setup, needing to lay down some quick
tracks, and being pestered by CRT-induced buzz, you may find it helpful to do as we
have sometimes done: set up your track to record and start your pre-roll; reach up and
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PODxt Manual Book RevC.book Page 3 Friday, August 29, 2003 5:43 PM
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