Line 6 Pod GO - Tone Suck! Demonstration | TONECLONERS 

I'm happy when my findings are confirmed by other people! The Pod Go is otherwise a terrific-sounding unit, completely let down by the input circuitry. I am also surprised they didn't spot this through basic product testing.

Update, the difference in adding a buffer is stark, it now sounds like I thought it would when I bought it, I used the boss CS3, you don't even have to have it engaged I've spent 2 weeks tweaking tones and I could never get them to sound right until I watched this video, I did a sound test with someone and they picked out the buffered one as the superior tone straight away. Without it, it sounds like its 'under water'. Sending this off to a repair shop, its only 2 weeks old and if they don't fix it, they can have it back

Hi Phu! I am not surprised. Firstly, check that the guitar input pad is OFF on the Pod. Otherwise, this sounds like the symptoms of the input stage of the Pod. If you have a stomp box with a buffer (eg. any Boss pedal) try that in bypass before the Pod and see if it makes a difference. But, if you have a guitar with active pickups, the impedance of the Pod GO won't affect the sound.

@@BenCravenMusic Thanks for the reply Ben...Input pad is off...otherwise its way too much noise gate....Unfortunately, I dont have another pedal...wanted to make a small home rig...After messing around with the pod, I actually manage to get a good sound but the feeling is not there...It feels like I am playing a plastic guitar which gives mp3 outputs of the notes I play...in a studio mix, the sounds themselves wouldnt be so different than a proper amp but there is a slight depth missing which for some reason I cant ignore and everytime I play, there is a dissatisfaction...

I feel the same, as if the sound is dry with little sustain. I'm thinking of selling it and buying another multi-effect.

@@phuzyks5360 there is really steep learning curve for helix. You should watch john cordy videos. He has great guide. I am still struggling to get a heavy tones though compared to neural dsp. Neural stuff is amazing right from get go. Helix not so much.

Oooh, don't know about the hack Jimmy, but just searched. Is that the preset with extra blocks?

@@BenCravenMusic Yes, I have some variations with different fixed blocks removed. If you want them just let me know.

@@JimmyD718 All good Jimmy! I took a look at a preset file and had a play around.

If you’re into DIY a buffer is one of the easiest things to build with very low parts count and nothing exotic. They can be built around a 8 pin DIP-A little 8 legged dual in-line package op-amp like the one in the Klon, and probably most of those copies. There is another simple design that works equally as well built around a three pin transistor (a J Fet I think ) that I may be mistaken, but I think that’s basically the whole design behind something like the SHO, with probably a little mod/couple parts, to add a potentiometer turning it into a booster instead of just a buffer. There’s also a lot of prepackaged complete kits that you can buy inexpensively. Ibanez pedals like the tube screamer have a decent buffer in them. Things like the MXR line driver or the old DOD 250 could be used as a buffer or with the on board potentiometer, you can turn them up into the booster territory. I guess in this application you’re probably gonna be looking for pedals that would normally go in the very front of the chain like distortions/overdrives, and of course dedicated boosters and buffers, and while the pod go has a tuner inside it it’s possible you may have a tuner that already has a nice buffer in it. My Friedman ‘72’ gold no more tears wah has a switch inside to turn its buffer on or off. You might find in more of that boutique pedal stuff the ability to either have true bypass or buffered bypass, with a switch inside of them. I hope I didn’t kill you with a bunch of useless info. Ha?

@@myob3574 thank you so much...for the great information :)

I still have mine. It sounds good.

Hi D. Not sure, sorry. If the digitech is engaged, for sure, always. If it's in bypass mode, it will only fix the impedance issue if it's an active non-true bypass. Easiest way to check is put the digitech in bypass without power. If you get a signal, you have true bypass and it won't help the Pod Go.

No, but an external physical amp does help highlight the issue. The problem is right at the input stage of the Pod GO, before any effect processing.

Don't use a "true bypass" pedal. Other than those, any pedal should have a buffer when enabled or bypassed.

Did they respond? What was the solution?

Did they give any response?

@@johanndaart7326 They acknowledged the issue after I created another video actually measuring the impedance. That's all so far.

@@BenCravenMusic Interesting, I wonder how it will develop. Do you think you have a defective unit? My POD HD500X has input impedance option in settings, I thought POD GO has it too...

@@johanndaart7326 No I think this is a "feature". The specs say the input impedance is fixed at 1M, but that is wrong. Other people are reporting the same issue: www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/pod-go-impedance-problem.2325690/

@@BenCravenMusic Well, that's really disappointing. I wanted to upgrade to POD GO in the future, but the problem with input you described just seems lazy on their part.

Yes a DS-1 also has an active buffer in bypass mode (like most Boss pedals) so it would be perfect.

Yes sir. Ive been using my strat and pod go for a long time now and Ive come to like the warmer sound I get from the lower impedance.

Hi Jeff. Yes the Shure wireless should be fine. It most likely has a low impedance input for the guitar, and since the receiver is plugged into the Guitar input on the Pod you should be good.

@@BenCravenMusic Nice, thanks for the quick reply!

@@BenCravenMusic I was just going to reply to you that I don't have this issue at all. But I despise guitar cables and since I'm not gigging anymore I have my Sure GLXD6 wireless & tuner unit mounted on my desk & use it when I used the PodGO. So good to know that if I continue using that, this won't be an issue. Thanks for the video.

I also thought the same,to fix this issue by using global eq....any settings You would recommend?

@@alext.1459 When I say I turn the tone down I mean on my guitar. All my hamburgers guitars distort with this pedal.

@@alext.1459 Hamburgers? or humbuckers? I prefer humbuckers on my guitars but anyway, Low frequency down (or up) to 72hz and high frequency down to 9.4khz. In global settings, turn 'Guitar in Pad' on.

Wow. I would have expected the wireless Go would be fine.

Update: I ordered a $20 in line buffer off of Amazon and wow it really restores the highs and overall tone of my guitar. Thanks so much for this video

@@travishernandez2193 which buffer did you buy?

@@sebasoilher8454 it was YMUZE MOSKY mini pure buffer

Yes I'm afraid so. The issue is at the input stage, so it affects all outputs.

@@BenCravenMusic Can you help me to try to connect my Vox Wha V847 (that should works as buffer) to the GO?

@@matteoradi If the pedal is an active buffer in bypass mode (sounds like it is), simply plug your guitar into the pedal, put it in bypass, and connect the output to the Pod. Make sure the pedal has power connected.

@@BenCravenMusic sorry about my ignorance... what do u mean with "put it in bypass"? I have tried this: connected the Vox V847 to electric power then connected guitar into and out from the Wha to the pod into the Guitar In, nothing happens...

@@matteoradi Do you mean you get no output from the wah pedal? Does the pedal sound ok turned on and off going into an amp?

The Pod GO Wireless will not have this issue, since the wireless connection acts as a buffer. The transmitter plugged into in the guitar has a high impedance input, so the rest of the Pod will sound perfect.

@@BenCravenMusic interestingly, I have a wireless pod Go and the tone suck, while using in the loop of a Victory Sheriff V4 is the very thing that led me here. I need to do a good amount of further testing, but that's quite surprising.

@@iammoog That's interesting. I would expect the loop return on the Pod Go to be low impedance by design. Is it a low impedance loop out on the Victory?

Yes it certainly could. However it would probably require a dedicated EQ block at the start of the chain, and would also make the preset incompatible with different guitars, depending on pickup impedances. Eg. if you plugged in active single coils to such a preset, you would get an immediate treble boost.

@@BenCravenMusic You could use Snapshot mode to create different EQ settings for each guitar. Or just copy & paste the entire patch & tweak it for each guitar.

Yes, generally an active buffer will convert your guitar's high impedance output to low impedance without signal degradation. This is better matched to the input of the pod go.

The issue is with hardware impedance, I don’t think a software update could possibly fix this.

I'm not expecting an update and I'm sure Line 6 just expects people to stop complaining. So l sold mine.

It is a hardware problem, contact Line 6 support to get it fixed.

I'm not sure. But the fix would have to made in the hardware, not the firmware.

That would be the Pod Go Wireless, only if you're using the wireless connection. It acts as a buffer so the low input impedance of the Pod Go won't be an issue.

@@BenCravenMusic Im confused. I dont have the wireless pod go but i use the xvive wireless transmitter with the pod go. Is this ok?

@@dirtyeric2 Yes that would also avoid the input impedance problem. Any wireless transmitter or outboard pedal with a decent buffer will make the Pod Go sound better!

Hey Chris. Yes I'm sure they would.

I want the Pod Go to work for me, but this is a glaring issue!

I actually use the katana 100 mk11 with the pod go. Katana “amp in” is amazing, it becomes a very flat frfr and with the pod go I get amazing tones. Its a must combo. I know katana has effects and stomps but not as amazing as the pod go.

The fact remains that it sucks your clean tone. He demonstrated that. I just finished recording clips with the POD Go, and even though the buffer improves the problem, it still sucks tone even with the buffer.

@@cominginsecond not in my opinion, maybe get a good amp or cab. Helix is renowned for Quality tone. Pod Go has helix quality sound so saying it sucks is a little silly it’s had great reviews across the board. I have wireless version buffer issues are not my worry.