Line 6 POD Farm Plug-In, POD Studio GX, POD Studio UX1, POD Studio UX2, POD Farm Setup Guide

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Re c o R d i n g Se t u p gu i d e

Using Line 6 Hardware & POD Farm with Popular Recording Applications

Getting Started ........................................................................................1•1

Installing Line 6 Audio Drivers and POD Farm Software ............................................. 1•1

About POD Farm ............................................................................................................ 1•1

Updating & Registering with Line 6 Monkey ................................................................ 1•1

Product Activation & Authorization ............................................................................. 1•3

About This Guide… ....................................................................................................... 1•5

Additional Online Resources ......................................................................................... 1•5

Audio Driver Conﬁguration ....................................................................2•1

Line 6 Audio Driver Conﬁguration ................................................................................ 2•1

Mac® Driver Settings ..................................................................................................... 2•1

Mac® OS X® System Preferences Settings .................................................................... 2•14

Conﬁguration as an Aggregate Device (Mac® only) .................................................... 2•16

Windows® Driver Settings ........................................................................................... 2•21

Windows® Default Sound Device Settings ................................................................... 2•31

S/PDIF Digital Output from Line 6 Hardware to an External Device ......................... 2•35

POD Farm Plug-In ...................................................................................3•1

Activation & USB Hardware ......................................................................................... 3•2

Conﬁguring POD Farm Plug-In in your Host Software ................................................. 3•2

Using the POD Farm VST or AU Plug-In - Ableton Live 7 ........................................ 3•3

POD Farm Plug-In Automation Parameter Table ........................................................ 3•14

POD Farm Standalone Operation .........................................................4•1

Choosing Your POD Farm Source Inputs ....................................................................... 4•1

Tone Pan and Volume Controls & Meters .................................................................... 4•3

Monitor Volume Control & Meters ............................................................................... 4•4

Mixer View ..................................................................................................................... 4•5

About Record Sends... .................................................................................................... 4•5

POD Farm Record Send Controls .................................................................................. 4•5

ToneDirect™ Monitoring .............................................................................................. 4•7

Mac® Audio Applications ........................................................................5•1

Windows® Audio Applications ................................................................6•1

Line 6, POD, PODxt, POD X3, POD Farm, POD Farm Plug-In, TonePort, GearBox, GearBox Plug-In, Line 6 Monkey, ToneDirect Monitoring, GuitarPort, FBV, Variax, Line 6 Edit and Custom Tone are trademarks of Line 6, Inc. All other product names, trademarks, and artists’ names are the property of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or afﬁliated with Line 6.

i i

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Getting Started

ge t t i n g St a R t e d

Before we dive right into the world of recording, here are some helpful tips about getting your Line 6 gear setup, as well as links to other related resources for you...

Installing Line 6 Audio Drivers and POD Farm Software

To use your Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort®, GuitarPort®, POD® X3 or POD®xt with your computer, you’ll need to install the Line 6 USB audio driver for your device. A “driver” is a software component that installs on a Mac® or Windows® computer that allows a hardware device to work with the computer’s operating system. If your Line 6 hardware came included with a POD Farm software CD, you can simply install POD Farm and it will automatically install the USB device drivers, Line 6 Monkey and POD Farm Standalone and Plug-In software for you. Otherwise, just go to the Line 6

Software Downloads page where you can always download the latest POD Farm installer for free. If you

need some help with the installation process, please check out the additional documentation found on the POD Farm Online Help page.

Once you have POD Farm installed, it is highly recommended that you launch it with your Line 6 USB hardware connected and it will sniff out your current hardware and software versions and offer to walk you through an update if needed (see the following Line 6 Monkey section).

About POD Farm

Line 6 POD Farm is the Mac® and Windows® software companion or all Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort and GuitarPort devices. With these devices, you can run POD Farm in “Standalone operation” which you can think of as an elaborate “user interface” allowing you to load, customize and save presets of your Tones, ﬁddle about with amp & effects knobs and switches on your computer, and manage the POD Farm signals and levels routed to your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software. POD Farm Plug-In is included with all Studio POD devices, and also available for TonePort, GuitarPort, as well as POD X3 and PODxt hardware!

POD Farm Plug-In

POD Farm Plug-In comes included with all POD Studio hardware, and is an optional Add-On software component you can purchase for TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 and PODxt devices that allows POD Farm to function as an audio effects processing Plug-In for all Mac® AU®/VST®/RTAS®, and Windows VST®/RTAS® DAW host applications. This allows you apply legendary POD® amp, cabinet, mic and effects Tones to any number of tracks within your recording software, utilize parameter automation, and enjoy the beneﬁts of non-destructive processing. We’ve covered this in detail in the chapter aptly titled POD Farm Plug-In. Whether you own POD Farm Plug-In yet or not, you can use Line 6 Monkey to get it all going in minutes on your Line 6 device - just read up on it in the following section.

Updating & Registering with Line 6 Monkey

Line 6 Monkey is the intelligent updater utility automatically installed with the POD Farm application. It is highly recommended that you run Line 6 Monkey at the end of your POD Farm installation, and to do so often to be sure you have all the latest updates for all your Line 6 software and hardware products. Registering your Line 6 hardware is also very important because it ensures that you’re dialed in for warranty service and makes it possible for us to contact you if new software versions or other cool enhancements are offered - cutting edge technology and such! So don’t put this off any longer.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Getting Started

Connect your Line 6 hardware to your computer and follow these steps to launch Line 6 Monkey...

On Mac•

On Windows•

, go to Applications - Line 6.

, go to the Start button menu - Programs - Line 6 - Tools.

You’ll need to Login so that Line 6 Monkey can communicate with the online Line 6 Server and provide you with exactly what you need. It’s just a few clicks, and it’s free!

If you have a Line 6 account, then type in your User Name and Password at the top of the • Monkey dialog.

If you have not yet created an account, click the New User button and you’ll be walked right • through the steps.

If you have not already done so, you’ll be prompted to Register your connected Line 6 hardware. It’s a painless process really, so click that Register Now button and ﬁll in the blanks on the Web page. This page will list all your registered Line 6 gear in one place.

Grab Those Updates

Go to the Updates tab in Line 6 Monkey. If you see any items where a newer, updated version is available, then you should click on that item and let the little monkey fellow walk you through the installation steps. This is the easiest way to stay current on the latest POD Farm software updates, as well as drivers and ﬁrmware updates. You can also check the Optional Add-Ons* tab to see what other goodies might be available for your speciﬁc Line 6 device here too!

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Getting Started

*Note - Some Line 6 hardware models already include the POD Farm Plug-In, and/or other Add-Ons for free! You’ll need to “activate” these items by running Line 6 Monkey - see the following section.

Purchasing POD Farm Plug-In

POD Farm Plug-In is of course already included with the new POD Studio hardware. But if you own a Line 6 TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 or PODxt device, then you can purchase the POD Farm Plug-In as an Add-On! Just click on the Optional Add-Ons tab in Line 6 Monkey, select POD Farm Plug-In, then click on Purchase Add-Ons.

You will be taken to the Line 6 Store, where you can purchase a license for the plug-in. Follow the instructions on the resulting page to receive your activation key. Or, just head on over to the Line 6

site any time and see what is “in Store” for you.

Product Activation & Authorization

Some features of POD Farm and your Line 6 hardware require “Activation” using Line 6 Monkey and a live Internet connection. As mentioned above, POD Studio and some other Line 6 devices include one or more Add-Ons already “installed” on the hardware device itself. When you connect your Line 6 device and launch Line 6 Monkey for the ﬁrst time, if you are prompted to press the “Activate Features” button, then go ahead and do so to activate the included Add-On(s).

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Getting Started

If you’ve purchased additional Add-Ons from the Line 6 Online Store - these also need to be activated. You will have received a License Key for each Add-On purchase. To activate purchased Add-ons, launch Line 6 Monkey, go to the Optional Add-Ons tab, and then follow these steps...

You can ﬁnd all Add-On license keys you’ve purchased by logging into the • Line 6 - My Account online page, and looking in the License Keys page.

Copy the numerical License key code that appears on this page.•

Go back to the Line 6 Monkey screen and click on the • Activate Purchase button. A window will pop up, prompting you to enter the activation key you just received.

Activation turns the Add-On features “on” in your POD Farm-compatible hardware, so they can • operate in the POD Farm stand-alone application and/or POD Farm Plug-in.

When using your Line 6 USB hardware on a new computer for the ﬁrst time, you may also see the following message at the top of the Add-Ons tab - just click the Authorize button to ﬁnish conﬁguring your computer to use your new hardware and Add-Ons.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Getting Started

Just remember that for POD Farm Plug-in operation, your Line 6 hardware must always be connected via USB (even if you’re using a 3rd-party interface). You don’t necessarily need to be using your Line 6 hardware as your active USB audio device - it just needs to be USB-connected (and powered on for units that have a power switch).

About This Guide…

This guide is intended to provide basic setup information for Line 6 USB hardware and POD Farm software with the most popular audio recording applications. The following sections provide setup information for both Mac® and Windows® systems. Use the Table of Contents or the Acrobat® Reader® Bookmarks to jump directly to the chapter and sections relevant to your setup.

Additional Online Resources

Hungry for more info? We’ve got plenty of helpful resources just a click away...

-Several more Help documents covering the latest POD Farm version:

POD Farm Online Help

-For technical support, choose from the many options listed on the Line 6 Support page:

Line 6 Support

-Join the Club! Registered Line 6 users are welcome join the All Access club, the place to get:

Free iTunes•

Free loops for GarageBand•

Free guitar lessons from LA session pros.•

Free chord and scale practice tools.•

Stay informed of contest and special offers.•

Access to discussion forums, software updates and more.•

All Access Club

and MP3 Jam Tracks.

, Acid®, Reason® and more.

1•5

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

au d i o dR i v e R co n f i g u R a t i o n

Now that you have your Line 6 USB audio device driver installed, its time to take a look at the settings and options for using your Line 6 gear in a computer recording setup! Note that there are some different options available, depending on your speciﬁc type of Line 6 device, so be sure to check the instructions describing your Line 6 hardware model.

Line 6 Audio Driver Conﬁguration

In the world of modern recording, a computer setup for audio recording, editing, mixing, etc. is referred to as a Digital Audio Workstation or “DAW”. A DAW typically consists of audio recording/editing software, an audio interface (or sometimes called “sound card”) and some variety of effects plug-ins. Your USB Line 6 device can, of course, ﬁll the role of the audio interface since its high performance audio drivers can deliver the performance and quality of the most demanding audio applications! The audio interface driver is the key element of your audio hardware that you will see referred to by software applications, control panels and know-it-all computer audio geeks, so it’s a good idea that you learn a few things about your Line 6 device driver and its options. Things are a bit different on Mac® versus Windows® systems, and there are some feature differences between the speciﬁc Line 6 devices, so it is recommended that you refer to the POD Farm User Guide, as well as the product manual for your speciﬁc device for the full info. To get you going, we’ll run through the main points here regarding the audio driver and its settings.

Mac® Driver Settings

You can launch the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices dialog from within the Mac® System Preferences, or from the POD Farm Standalone application’s Preferences > Hardware tab. On Mac® systems, all Line 6 hardware utilizes the Mac® OS X® Core Audio driver format, which means that some of your Line 6 device settings will be in the OS X Audio-MIDI Setup dialog. You can get to this dialog from within the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices dialog (or, from the Finder by going to Applications > Utilities > Audio- MIDI Setup).

Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings - Driver Tab

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices – The following example shows UX2 as the selected device, with the POD Farm Standalone software running. If you have the UX8 hardware, you’ll have even more options, so be sure to also read up on the UX8 speciﬁc sections where noted.

POD X3 & PODxt devices - You’ll see some differences with a POD X3 or PODxt device selected – as noted in the following description.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

1 2 3 4

1 – Line 6 Device selector: Allows selection of any supported Line 6 USB audio device that is connected. Note that if you have more than one supported device connected, each will be selectable in this list, regardless if it is in use by the POD Farm Standalone application or not. If your device is not connected and powered on, it will not appear in this list.

2 – Selected Device Icon: An icon for the selected Line 6 Device appears here.

3 – Driver version: Displays the current device’s installed driver version number.

4 - ESN: Displays the current device’s unique Electronic Serial Number.

5 – Run Audio-MIDI Setup button: On Mac® systems, Core Audio sound card driver settings are

conﬁgured in the OS X® Audio-MIDI Settings utility. This button launches this dialog for you (see following OS X Audio-MIDI Settings Dialog section).

6 – Sample Rate Converter Active indicator: POD Studio, TonePort and GuitarPort devices support

44.1 and 48 kHz sample rates natively, and support 88.2 and 96 kHz sample rates by way of an internal sample rate converter.* This indicator lights up to show you when this converter is active, which can be any time your audio software is requesting a different sample rate you’re your device “natively” supports or is “ﬁxed” at. Also see the Force Driver Format checkbox option.

*UX8 and POD X3 hardware supports 44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96 kHz sample rates natively.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Mac® OS X® Audio-MIDI Setup Dialog

Note: For UX8, please see the following UX8 Audio-MIDI Settings section.

5a – System Settings:

The • Default Input and Default Output options allow you to choose the sound card you want your audio applications to use by default. If you want this to be your Line 6 device, select it here.

The • System Output option allows you to choose which sound card the Mac System Settings are played through. You may NOT want to choose this to be your Line 6 device, since it can be rather annoying to hear those dings, beeps or frogs croaking at blaring volumes in your headphones or monitors when working in your audio application! Even better, you can turn these system settings off completely in the System Preferences > Sounds dialog.

5b – Properties For: Choose your Line 6 device here to allow the Audio Input and Audio Output options display its settings.

5c – Audio Input:

In the top selector, you will be able to choose any Record Send for your Line 6 device to view • it’s format settings below.

The • Format selectors show you the Sample Rate* and Bit Depth that the Line 6 device is operating at for recording. The Bit Depth for all Line 6 devices is ﬁxed at 24 bit.

*It is recommended that you do not use the Sample Rate selector here in the Mac Audio-MIDI Setup dialog to set your sample rate when your recording software is running. Typically, your recording software will offer a Sample Rate option within its own “Preferences” or “Audio Setup” settings. It is best to conﬁgure the Sample Rate within the recording software, and you will see the device’s sample rate switch automatically to match it.

5d – Volume sliders (audio input):

These sliders are not functional with the Line 6 hardware - use the POD Farm Standalone - Mixer View sliders for controlling the levels of Record Sends 1-2 & 3-4 that is fed to your DAW software.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

5e – Audio Output:

The • Format selectors show you the Sample Rate* and Bit Depth that the Line 6 device is operating at for playback. The Bit Depth for all Line 6 devices is ﬁxed at 24 bit.

*It is recommended that you do not use the Sample Rate selector in the Mac Audio-MIDI Setup dialog to set your sample rate when your recording software is running. Typically, your recording software will offer a Sample Rate option within its own “Preferences” or “Audio Setup” settings. It is best to conﬁgure the Sample Rate within the recording software for your project, and you will see the device’s sample rate switch automatically to match it.

5f – Volume sliders (audio output):

These sliders are not functional for Line 6 hardware - use the POD Farm Standalone Monitor Volume controls (for your POD Farm Monitor level), the output controls in your DAW software (for its playback levels) or the Volume knobs on your Line 6 hardware (for overall volume) to adjust output levels.

Mac® OS X® Audio-MIDI Settings Dialog (UX8 Only)

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

5a – System Settings:

The • Default Input and Default Output options allow you to choose the sound card you want your audio applications to use by default. If you want this to be your Line 6 device, select your UX8 here.

5b – Properties For: Choose your UX8 here to allow the Audio Input and Audio Output options display its settings.

5c – Audio Input:

In the top selector, you will be able to choose your Record Send for UX8 to view its Format • settings below.

The • Format selectors show you the Sample Rate* and Bit Depth that the Line 6 device is operating at for recording. The Bit Depth is ﬁxed at 24 bit.

*It is recommended that you do not use the Sample Rate selector in the Mac Audio-MIDI Setup dialog to set your sample rate when your recording software is running. Typically, your recording software will offer a Sample Rate option within its own “Preferences” or “Audio Setup” settings. It is best to conﬁgure the Sample Rate within the recording software, and you will see the device’s sample rate switch automatically to match it.

5d – Volume sliders (audio input):

Sliders 1 - 12 are not functional with UX8 - use the POD Farm Standalone Mixer sliders for controlling the levels of Record Sends 9-10 & 11-12 that are fed to your DAW software. For Sends 1 through 8, use the Mic Trim knobs on the front of UX8, or use the output controls of any line device connected to these UX8 inputs, to adjust your recording levels.

5e – Audio Output:

The • Format selectors show you the Sample Rate* and Bit Depth that UX8 is operating at for playback. The Bit Depth for all Line 6 devices is ﬁxed at 24 bit.

*It is recommended that you do not use the Sample Rate selector in the Mac Audio-MIDI Setup dialog to set your sample rate when your recording software is running. Typically, your recording software will offer a Sample Rate option within its own “Preferences” or “Audio Setup” settings. It is best to conﬁgure the Sample Rate within the recording software, and you will see the device’s sample rate switch automatically to match it.

5f – Volume sliders (audio output):

These sliders are not functional for Line 6 hardware - use the POD Farm Standalone Monitor Volume controls (for your POD Farm Monitor level), the output volume controls in your DAW software (for its playback levels) or the Volume knobs on your Line 6 hardware (for overall volume) to adjust output levels.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Line 6 Audio MIDI Settings Dialog - Inputs & Recording Tab

Note - If you are using a UX8 device, please skip to the UX8 Inputs & Recording Tab section.

1 –Input Select Menu: This allows the user to select which physical input “source” is fed from the Line 6 USB hardware (Mic 1, Instrument, etc.). Note that this menu is ONLY selectable when the POD Farm Standalone software is not in use by the Line 6 hardware. When POD Farm is in use, it remains grayed out, but displays the current Source that is selected within POD Farm Standalone.

When POD Farm Standalone is not in use by the selected Line 6 device, this Input Source menu, like the POD Farm Tone 1 Input Source menu, offers a list of input options. The options will differ depending on the Line 6 device - UX2 displays the following:

When POD Farm Standalone is not running, the Input Source Select menu is available. As shown here, UX2 offers several input Sources to choose from. The selected Source is what gets routed to the Device Sends.

GX, DI and GuitarPort devices are always “ﬁxed” to only route their 1/4-inch input signals. With one of these devices, this Input Source Select list offers only “Instrument” as the source.

POD X3 and PODxt devices are “ﬁxed” to route their input signals. With one of these devices there is no Source Select menu displayed in the dialog.

2 – Device Sends info box: One line for each Record Send appears here along with a general description for each Send.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices (except UX8) show two stereo Sends (1-2 and 3-4):

The Device Sends description shows the Input Source, and informs you if that signal is “processed” or not. Since POD Farm Standalone is not running, the signals are unprocessed.

POD X3 devices show a list of 5 Record Sends:

Note that the type of signal that is fed to each Send is conﬁgured on the POD X3’s on-board Outputs settings screen. For example, Send 1-2 carries the same signal you hear on POD X3’s Main outputs, which could be just Tone 1, or some combination of Tone 1 & 2. Your POD X3 Output screen options allow you to mute, pan or swap Tone 1 and Tone 2, so these options also affect what is fed to the Sends. Please refer to your POD X3 Pilot’s Handbook for details on the Output screen options and especially to learn more about the unique POD X3 Dual Tone feature.

POD X3 also offers a Monitor Level slider in this tab as well. Use this to independently adjust your POD X3 monitor signal while recording (independently of the Send signal level that is being recorded).

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

PODxt devices show only one Record Send (Record 1-2).

The type of signal that is routed to the Record Send 1-2 is determined by the PODxt Signal Routing option within the Audio Signal Routing menu at the left. PODxt also offers a Monitor Level slider in this tab as well - you can use this to independently adjust your PODxt monitor signal while recording (independently of the Send signal level that is being recorded).

Line 6 Audio MIDI Settings Dialog - Inputs & Recording Tab (UX8 Only)

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

1 – Input Source Select: UX8 offers 8 individual input sources, each with its own selector where you

can choose which physical input is to be used for each. Input source options are as follows:

Input 1: Instrument 1 or XLR 1 or Line 1 or S/PDIF (L) Input 2: Instrument 2 or XLR 2 or Line 2 or S/PDIF (R) Input 3: XLR 3 or Line 3 Input 4: XLR 4 or Line 4 Input 5: XLR 5 or Line 5 Input 6: XLR 6 or Line 6 Input 7: XLR 7 or Line 7 Input 8: XLR 8 or Line 8

Using Inputs 1 & 2 with the POD Farm Standalone application

The POD Farm Standalone application works with the UX8 driver to provide ultra-low latency via ToneDirect™ Monitoring for Inputs 1 & 2 of the UX8, which includes two high-Z Instrument inputs, two XLR inputs, two Line level inputs and a stereo S/PDIF input. POD Farm’s ToneDirect Monitoring is ideally suited for recording guitar and bass with amp and effects processing, providing the instantaneous feel necessary for competent performance while tracking.

When POD Farm Standalone is not running, the Input 1 & Input 2 selectors are available. As shown here, UX8 offers several input Sources to choose from. The selected Source is what gets routed to the Record Send.

Stereo Paired Inputs

You can also link inputs into stereo pairs. This affects hardware monitoring controls in the Outputs & Monitoring tab (see below).

2 – Record Sends info box: This box displays the names of the UX8’s input sources as they appear in Mac recording applications utilizing the UX8’s Core Audio driver, along with a description of what each Send is carrying. UX8’s Input Sources 1 through 8 are mapped directly to the corresponding Send number (i.e. - Inputs 1-2 are fed to Record Send 1-2). Sends 9-10 and 11-12 will carry a different signal depending on if the POD Farm Standalone application is running...

If the POD Farm Standalone application is not currently running, then you’ll see the list appear as follows:

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

When POD Farm Standalone is not running, Sends 9-10 and 11-12 carry the Input 1 (dry, unprocessed) signal

If the POD Farm Standalone application is currently running, then Sends 9-10 and 11-12 will carry the type of signal deﬁned within POD Farm’s Mixer view - Record Send Source menus (Processed, Semi-Processed or Dry).

3 - Clock Source - Set your preferred UX8 clock source with this menu. Select S/PDIF to sync the UX8 to an external S/PDIF clock source from another device’s digital output. If you are not connecting anything into UX8’s digital S/PDIF input, then keep this set to Internal to use the UX8’s own clock.

4 - Hardware Meters Show - This selector allows you to choose what the VU meters on the front of the UX8 are measuring. Note that these hardware meters function even if the POD Farm Standalone software is not currently running.

5 - Restore Defaults - Click this button to restore all the tab’s settings to their original default values.

Line 6 Audio MIDI Settings Dialog - Outputs & Monitoring Tab (UX8 Only)

Important: Note that the Outputs & Monitoring tab provides control over monitoring levels, speciﬁcally, what you hear coming out of the UX8 main outs & headphones. These controls do not affect Send levels (the audio that streams into your recording software). In other words, volume and pan levels here are purely analog, intended for monitoring live input levels (from instruments, mics, etc.) and computer output levels, in order to facilitate the recording process.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

The Outputs & Monitoring tab provides control over hardware monitoring settings, including input source volume, pan and mute states. You can specify different mix settings for each pair of UX8 outputs if you like.

By default, the only sounds that come out of the UX8 are the computer’s output and POD Farm 9-10 signal (fully processed), all through Main Outs 1-2. You can directly monitor other UX8 inputs by unmuting (unchecking the Mute checkbox) the corresponding input source in this tab. UX8 provides monitoring through the hardware with zero latency, which is ideal for tracking with multiple sources

simultaneously.

Use the drop-down menu at the top to select the output pair for which you want to mix. Each output pair can have different mix settings.

Mix Controls

Inputs 1 - 12 offer the following controls:

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Mute (On/Off) Monitor Volume (-100dB to +6dB)

Monitor Pan (100% Left - 100% Right)* Stereo Monitor Meters

* -3dB panning law is applied to the pan control to maintain a constant monitoring level across the panorama.

Main Monitor Volume

This slider controls the overall monitoring volume for the current output pair. What you hear is displayed in the adjacent level meter and includes the combination of input sources and computergenerated signals, such as those assigned to the current output from within your recording software. Note that computer-generated signals are unaffected by the volume slider. The level meter’s clip LED graphics light up when the signal reaches 0 dB.

Main Mix vs. Talent Mix

The UX8’s two front panel headphone outputs mirror Outs 1-2 and 3-4 respectively. You can use the monitor controls, for example, to create a “main mix (1-2)” that captures the overall image of the recording project, while a separate “talent mix (3-4)” can be provided for the musician who is currently adding a new part (you know, the guy asking for “more me” in his phones), and may need a click track and an ample level of themselves above the rest of the mix. Additional output pairs 5-6 and 7-8 are available for headphone mixers or sending to a mixer, other monitors, etc.

Stereo Pairs

When the “Stereo” checkbox is active in the Inputs & Recording tab for a pair of Inputs, the representative Inputs in the Outputs and Monitoring tab will display them as “locked” as a stereo pair.

The lock icon represents two sources linked as a stereo pair.

The Pan sliders for a “locked” stereo pair are automatically set to 100% Left and Right.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Using tool tips

You can obtain precise value readings for output levels, volume sliders and pan sliders. Do this by hovering the mouse cursor over the meter or slider you wish to read.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Mac® OS X® System Preferences Settings

There are a few System Preferences that you should conﬁgure when using your Mac for audio recording. Launch the Mac OS X System Preferences dialog to make the following settings.

System Sounds and Alerts

When using your Line 6 USB hardware as your audio device, you likely will not want to hear these system sounds, and you certainly don’t want to end up recording them by mistake! You can adjust the volume independently for these system sounds and alerts by going to the Sound page.

Choose Sound in your Mac’s System Preferences dialog

In the Sound Effects page, adjust the Alert volume slider down, and uncheck the Play user

interface sound effects and Play user interface sound effects

checkboxes

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Energy Settings

It is also a good idea to conﬁgure your Energy settings so that critical computer components do not go to “sleep” or run at less than full.

Choose Energy Saver in the System Preferences dialog

Choose Power Adapter

You can also select Battery if you have a laptop and repeat all the steps in this section, but you may want your settings to conserve battery power - just keep these settings in mind if recording when running on battery power.

Set the top slider all the way to Never so that the computer is not allowed to enter “sleep” mode

Uncheck the box so that your hard disk does not go to sleep

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Conﬁguration as an Aggregate Device (Mac® only)

Combine your Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 or PODxt with other Core Audio devices using the Mac® OS X® Aggregate Device feature.

Note - The OS X Aggregate Devices functionality is not fully supported by Line 6 or most audio hardware manufacturers since, of course, it is not feasible to test the great number of combinations of devices possible. However, it is possible to combine one Line 6 USB device with another (non-Line 6) audio device for the combined functionality as described here - your exact performance may vary with different hardware.

Starting in Mac® OS X® version 10.4.x (Tiger), this Mac features allows you to conﬁgure two or more Core Audio sound card devices into one Aggregate Device. As the name suggests, this makes it possible to combine multiple connected audio devices allowing audio applications to utilize all inputs and outputs as one virtual Core Audio device. The Aggregate Device feature also provides the ability to sync the devices, and resample, if needed, to allow them to work together with your audio application. This can be quite useful if you have another Core Audio sound card and want to use your Line 6 hardware along with it to provide additional inputs for recording, or additional outputs for sending multiple playback or monitoring mixes.

In this section, we’ll be showing you how to create a simple Aggregate Device using your Line 6 hardware and your Mac’s Built-in Audio device Inputs and Outputs. The steps are similar for combining Line 6 hardware with other models of audio devices, as long as they offer a Core Audio driver that supports this OS X feature.

Be sure to connect the USB cable from your Line 6 hardware into your computer’s USB port, and then proceed with the following steps…

Creating an Aggregate Device

First, connect your Line 6 hardware to your Mac USB port (a USB 2.0 port is required for UX8 and POD X3 devices, all other Line 6 devices can use a USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port). All the required settings you need to create an “Aggregate” device are made within the Aggregate Device Editor window, which is found in the Mac Audio MIDI Setup dialog.

Go into the Mac System Preferences, select the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices (in the Other category), and in the Driver tab of the Line 6 dialog, click on the Run Audio MIDI Setup button.

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Click on the “+” button to create a new Aggregate Device - it will then appear in the above pane

All detected Core Audio devices are then listed in the Structure pane

Click on the Use boxes for all Audio Devices to activate them. (Click your Line 6 device’s Use box ﬁrst to make it the ﬁrst device in the list). Check the boxes for both the Built-in Input and Output so they can be used for both recording and playback.

Select Open Aggregate Device

Editor from the Audio menu

IMPORTANT! Always set your Line 6 hardware to be the assigned Clock device

When creating an Aggregate Device, only one audio device can be designated as the “Clock”. This means that the designated device acts as the “master” and all other devices follow its digital clock, thus keeping all your audio in sync. Even though the Aggregate Device dialog allows you to set any individual Audio Device as the Clock, be sure that your Line 6 hardware is set as the clock, as shown above, to ensure proper sync.

*The Aggregate Device Resample function - When combining audio devices, the sample rates must match to allow them to be used together. But if you run into sync problems when using some devices together, or in the case where you need to choose a sample rate not commonly supported by all audio devices, you can check the Resample checkbox for the device. This instructs the Aggregator to automatically perform a sample rate conversion to allow the audio devices to sync.

Once above settings are made, click the Done button to return to the Audio MIDI Setup dialog…

Keep the Resample checkboxes unchecked unless necessary *

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

You are now able to choose this new “Aggregate Device” in the menus of the System Settings. Choose your new Aggregate Device as the Properties For device

Now you will be able to access settings for all combined inputs and outputs!

For the device we created, this totals 6

Audio Inputs and 4 Audio Outputs.

The Audio Input and Audio Output sections each have a selector to allow you to choose each Stereo device, and then make settings for each with the set of controls below.

You will now see all devices’ inputs in the Audio Input selector. Likewise, you will see all outputs in the Audio Output selector

Note the order in which these Inputs and Outputs appear in the Audio-MIDI Setup dialog. In our example, Line 6 device “Record Send” inputs are listed ﬁrst because we made it the ﬁrst device in the Aggregate Device Editor dialog. The “Stream 3” input is from the Built-in Audio device, and appears last. These input and output ports will also appear in this same order within your audio recording software, but likely will not have any other identifying name other than their order number.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Using an Aggregate Device with Audio Recording Software

Once an Aggregate Device is created on your Mac, you should then be able to access it in your recording software. As an example, we’ll be showing you how it appears in the included Ableton Live software…

Launch the Ableton Live software and open the Preferences dialog to conﬁgure the audio device.

Go to the Live menu and choose Preferences

Go to the Audio tab

Choose CoreAudio as the driver type…

Then choose the Aggregate Device that was just created for both the Input and Output Audio Device. Note that this appears along with the individual audio devices in these menus as an additional selectable device.

Set a Sample Rate – preferably this should be one supported by all the audio devices that make up your Aggregate Device. Once all other settings are complete, click the Input Conﬁg button

Just as with most Multitrack recording software, in Live you also need to conﬁgure the individual inputs and outputs once a Multi-in/out device is selected. Click on the Input Conﬁg button to access the Inputs.

By default, Live will usually have only the ﬁrst device enabled. Activate the desired devices here to allow them be available as recording inputs in the Live software. Note that each additional active devices utilizes more CPU, so only activate the ones you need!

Click OK when done

As noted earlier, you’ll need to refer to the order of the devices in the Audio MIDI Setup dialog to know which are Line 6 hardware ins, and which are from the other device since Live does not show the individual device names.

Next, click the Output Conﬁg button in the Live Preferences dialog to similarly activate multiple outputs…

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Click on additional output devices to make them available as playback outputs in Live if desired.* Here again, activate only the ones you need to avoid excess CPU usage.

Click OK when done

* Note - The Ableton Live Lite, Line 6 version has a restriction that allows only one stereo output to be used at a time. To be able to choose two or more different output devices in a Live Set, you must switch into Demo mode, or upgrade to a full version of Ableton Live

You can now continue to use Ableton Live and all inputs and outputs will appear within the audio track menus, just as if all exist on one sound card!

All inputs appear in the Live audio track input menu

For more information regarding the Aggregate Device feature, check your Mac® OS X documentation.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Windows® Driver Settings

Be sure to ﬁrst connect your Line 6 hardware directly to your computer’s USB port and then launch the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices dialog from within the Windows® Control Panel (Start button > Settings > Control Panel). This is the place where you can access the audio driver settings for your connected device to see and conﬁgure things such as the current Sample Rate, Bit Depth, Buffer settings, Record Sends, etc. For the Windows recording software applications covered in this document, it is always recommended that you use the ASIO audio driver. When prompted for ASIO driver settings, this is where you will make them. This dialog offers controls speciﬁcally for your connected Line 6 hardware.

Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices Dialog - Driver Tab

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort - This example shows UX2 as the selected device, with POD Farm running in Standalone mode. You’ll see some differences with a POD device selected, which are noted in the following diagram - click on a number to go to its description. If you have a UX8 device, you’ll have even more options, so be sure to also read up on the UX8 speciﬁc sections...

2 3

2 – Selected Device icon: An icon for the selected Line 6 Device appears here.

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3 – Driver version: Displays the current device’s installed driver version number.

4 – ESN: Displays the current device’s unique Electronic Serial Number.

5 – ASIO Client indicator: If you are running audio software that is using this Line 6 device as its

ASIO sound card, the name of the software will appear here. If not in use by an ASIO software, “none” is displayed here, as shown in the above example.

6 – Buffer Size: The ASIO buffer size in use. Note this ﬁeld is only active when in use by an ASIO application. As your DAW software documentation will likely tell you, the ASIO Buffer Size will affect the “responsiveness” and “latency” of the DAW software. The lower the setting, the faster the response, but with the trade-off of higher processor usage and the risk of audio dropouts. Raise the value if you are getting inconsistent playback or recording in the audio software. Basically, 512 is generally a good average setting.*

*Note that POD Studio, TonePort and GuitarPort devices also offer ToneDirect™ Monitoring, which is a separate audio path with its own Buffer setting. This allows you to keep the above ASIO Buffer Size at a high “stable” value, yet still beneﬁt from low latency monitoring of your input signal while recording. Similarly, POD devices offer a USB audio buffer which provides an independent, direct monitor signal with its own buffer adjustment as well.

7 – Bit Depth: The ASIO bit depth in use. Note this ﬁeld is only active when in use by an ASIO

application. It is recommended to use the 24-bit option here as well as the 24-bit option within your ASIO recording software. (If your ASIO audio software only supports or is set to 16-bit, then it is recommended to set your Line 6 hardware’s Bit Depth setting here also to 16-bit to match).

8 – Sample Rate Converter Active indicator: POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices support

44.1 and 48 kHz sample rates natively, and also support 88.2 and 96 kHz sample rates by way of an internal sample rate converter. This indicator lights up to show you when this converter is active, which can be any time your ASIO software is requesting a different sample rate than what your device “natively” supports. UX8 and POD X3 family devices support 44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96 kHz sample rates natively.

9 – Driver Operation indicator:

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices - Displays what sample rate and bit depth the current device is operating at (or with no text if not in use).

10 – Lock Driver Format: When checked, this forces the Line 6 audio driver to operate at the Sample Rate and Bit Depth settings entered in the two ﬁelds below (as opposed to following the sample rate requested by a Windows audio application).

Note – This checkbox will remain grayed-out while the current Line 6 device is in use by the POD Farm Standalone application and/or any 3rd party audio application. To access the Force Driver Format feature, you will need to exit POD Farm, as well as any audio software that might be using the currently selected Line 6 device as its audio device. This checkbox will then be selectable.

Windows Vista users... you won’t see these options in this portion of the dialog since these driver

format options are handled by Vista itself. You will instead see a Sound Control Panel button:

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Pressing this button (not surprisingly) launches the Vista Control Panel’s Sound dialog. Here in the Playback tab you can designate your Line 6 USB device as the “Default” audio device if you want all your Vista programs such as Win Media Player, Flash Player, iTunes, Internet video players, etc., to send their playback to it. However, if you are going to set your Line 6 device as the default, it is a good idea to also go to the Sounds tab and set it to the No Sounds sound scheme to avoid also getting blasts of all those Vista system alerts, beeps and dings blaring through your monitors or headphones!

The Vista Sound Control Panel dialog - Playback tab

You can also click on the Properties button and access the default format setting for the Sample Rate and Bit Depth for your Line 6 device when used with Vista audio applications. (Note that if you are using an audio application that is set to utilize the ASIO driver for your Line 6 device, then ASIO communicates directly with the device, and these Vista “default format” settings do not apply).

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

The Vista Control Panel>Sounds>Properties - Advanced tab

11 – ToneDirect™ Monitoring/USB Audio Streaming Buffer Slider:

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices - These devices offer the Line 6 exclusive ToneDirect™ Monitoring feature, which provides an ultra low latency audio signal path for you to hear your POD Farm tone, even while recording. ToneDirect Monitoring has its own buffer to allow you to keep your ASIO Buffer Size at a high value, for more solid performance and more efﬁciency with your ASIObased audio software. The default setting should be ﬁne for most systems, but if getting audio dropouts or working with large CPU demands on your system, raise the slider a notch or two to the right until it alleviates the problem.

PODxt & POD X3 devices - These POD devices utilize a USB audio buffer (similar to ToneDirect™ Monitoring) which provides an independent, direct monitor signal with its own buffer adjustment. When a PODxt or POD X3 device is selected as the Line 6 device in this dialog, the “USB Audio Streaming” buffer slider is displayed. The default setting should be ﬁne for most systems, but if getting audio dropouts or working with large CPU demands on your system, raise the slider a notch or two to the right until it alleviates the problem.

Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices Dialog - Inputs & Recording Tab

Note - If you are using a UX8 device, please skip to the UX8 Inputs & Recording tab section.

Input Source Menu: This allows the user to select which physical input “source” is used on the Line 6 USB hardware (Mic 1, Instrument, etc.). Note that this menu is ONLY selectable when the POD Farm Standalone software is not in use by the Line 6 hardware. When POD Farm is in use, it remains grayed out, but displays the current Source that is selected within POD Farm Standalone.

When POD Farm Standalone is not in use by the selected Line 6 device, this Input Source menu, like the POD Farm Tone 1 Input Source menu, offers a list of input options.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

GX, DI and GuitarPort are always “ﬁxed” to only route their “instrument” 1 /4 input signal into POD Farm Standalone.

PODxt & POD X3 devices do not offer an Input Source menu in this dialog.

UX8 has a larger set of options - see the next section for its Inputs & Recording tab.

Record Sends Info box: One line for each Record Send appears here along with a general description for the signal each Send is carrying. Refer to your speciﬁc Line 6 device type in the following descriptions.

Note that multiple Sends for your Line 6 device are only available when using the ASIO driver in your recording software. If your recording software is conﬁgured to access the device via its WDM or DirectSound driver, then only one Send will be available in the recording software (Send 1-2).

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices (except UX8) show the following Sends:

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices show two stereo Sends (Record 1-2 and Record 3-4)

Single Tone Source (Mono/Stereo): When the POD Farm Standalone application is not • running, Record Send 1-2 and 3-4 both carry the unprocessed signal. When running POD Farm

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Standalone, Record Send 1-2 and 3-4 carry the type of signal deﬁned within POD Farm’s Mixer View - Record Send Source menus (Processed, Semi-Processed or Dry).

POD X3 devices show a list of 5 Record Sends:

Note that the type of signal that is fed to each Send is conﬁgured on the POD X3’s on-board Outputs Studio/Direct Mix settings screen. To put it another way, Send 1-2 is fed the same “Studio/Direct Mix” as your main outputs, which could be just Tone 1, or some combination of Tone 1 & 2, depending on how you set the Studio/Direct mix controls. Please refer to your POD X3 Pilot’s Handbook for details on the Output screen options and especially about POD X3’s unique Dual Tone operation.

POD X3 also offers a Monitor Level slider in this tab as well - you can use this to independently adjust your POD X3 hardware monitor signal while recording (independently of the Send signal level that is being recorded).

PODxt devices show only one Record Send (Record 1-2).

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

NOTE: If using your Line 6 device with an audio recording software that is conﬁgured to use the device’s WDM or DirectSound drivers, then only one Send will be available in the recording software (Send 1-2, which will carry the combined Tone 1 and Tone 2 processed signals). You must conﬁgure your audio software to access Line 6 hardware via its ASIO driver to utilize the additional, individual Record Sends.

Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices - Inputs & Recording Tab (UX8 only)

The Inputs & Recording tab lets you select speciﬁc inputs for recording. Input Source options are as follows:

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

You can also link inputs into stereo pairs. This affects hardware monitoring controls in the Outputs & Monitoring tab (see below).

Using Inputs 1 & 2 with the POD Farm Standalone application

The POD Farm Standalone application works with the UX8 driver to provide ultra-low latency via ToneDirect™ monitoring for Inputs 1 & 2 of the UX8, which includes two high-Z Instrument inputs, two XLR inputs, two Line level inputs and stereo S/PDIF input. POD Farm’s ToneDirect™ Monitoring is ideally suited for recording guitar and bass with amp and effects processing, providing the instantaneous feel necessary for competent performance while tracking.

ASIO Record Sends

This box displays the ASIO names of the UX8’s input sources as they appear in recording applications utilizing the UX8’s ASIO driver, along with a description of what each Send is carrying. UX8’s Input Sources 1 through 8 are mapped directly to the corresponding Send number (i.e. - Inputs 1-2 are fed to Record Send 1-2). Sends 9-10 and 11-12 will carry a different signal depending on if the POD Farm Standalone application is running...

If the POD Farm Standalone application is not currently running, then you’ll see the list appear as follows:

When POD Farm Standalone is not running, Sends 9-10 and 11-12 carry the Input 1 (dry, unprocessed) signal

Hardware Meters Show

Use this menu to select the input and output levels you want the UX8’s hardware meters to display.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Clock Source

Set your preferred UX8 clock source with this menu. Select S/PDIF to sync the UX8 to S/PDIF clock source from another device’s digital output.

Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices - Outputs & Monitoring Tab (UX8 only)

Important: Note that the Outputs & Monitoring tab provides control over the volume of whatever you are inputting into UX8. These controls do not affect Record Send levels (the audio that streams into your recording software), nor do they control the level of audio coming from your computer (such as the playback level of your software’s session). In other words, volume and pan levels here are purely analog, intended for monitoring live input levels (from instruments, mics, etc) to provide you with independent level control over these items versus the playback levels of your audio software’s tracks.

You can specify different mix settings for each pair of UX8 outputs if you like. By default, the only sounds that come out of the UX8 are the computer’s output and POD Farm Record Send 9-10 signal (determined by the POD Farm Mixer View - Record Send settings), all through the physical Main Outs 1-2. You can directly monitor other UX8 inputs by un-muting (uncheck the Mute checkbox) the corresponding input source in this tab. Note that the Mute and volume controls here only act upon inputs (your guitar, bass, mic etc., plugged into the UX8), and not audio coming from your computer (such as the playback of your DAW software session). UX8 provides monitoring through the hardware with zero latency, which is ideal for tracking with multiple sources simultaneously.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Mix Controls

Inputs 1 - 12 offer the following controls:

Mute (On/Off) Monitor Volume (-100dB to +6dB)

Monitor Pan (100% Left - 100% Right)* Stereo Monitor Meters

Use the drop-down menu at the top to select the output pair for which you want to mix. Each output pair can have different mix settings.

* -3dB panning law is applied to the pan control to maintain a constant monitoring level across the panorama.

Main Monitor Volume

This slider controls the overall monitoring volume for the current output pair. What you hear is displayed in the adjacent level meter and includes the combination of input sources and computergenerated signals, such as those assigned to the current output from within your DAW software. Note that computer-generated signals (e.g. - the playback audio from your DAW software’s session) are unaffected by the volume slider. The level meter’s clip LED graphics light up when the signal reaches 0 dB.

Main Mix vs. Talent Mix

UX8’s two front panel headphone outputs mirror Outs 1-2 and 3-4 respectively. You can use the monitor controls, for example, to create a “main mix (1-2)” that captures the overall image of the recording project, while a separate “talent mix (3-4)” can be provided for the musician who is currently adding a new part, and may need a click track and an ample level of themselves above the rest of the mix (you know, the guy asking for “more me” in his headphones). Additional output pairs 5-6 and 7-8 are available for headphone mixers or sending to an external tape deck, other monitors, or whatever else you might want to send out a customized mix to.

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Stereo Pairs

When the “Stereo” checkbox is active in the Inputs & Recording tab for a pair of Inputs, the representative Inputs in the Ouputs and Monitoring tab will display them as “locked” as a stereo pair.

The lock icon represents two sources linked as a stereo pair.

Using tool tips

You can obtain precise value readings for output levels, volume sliders and pan sliders. Do this by hovering the mouse cursor over the meter or slider you wish to read.

The Pan sliders for a “locked” stereo pair are automatically set to 100% Left and Right.

Windows® Default Sound Device Settings

Windows® XP dings, beeps and other system alerts. Additionally, many multimedia programs such as Windows® Media Player® WinAmp®, iTunes® etc., will automatically set themselves to use the Windows “default device” for audio playback as well. Your Line 6 device can be set to be this default device if you want to utilize its high quality audio for playing your CD’s or DVD’s, for example. The following shows you how to conﬁgure your Line 6 hardware as the default sound device in XP and Vista.

and Windows® Vista® make use of a sound card device to be able to play all those

Windows® XP® Default Sound Device

Click on your Windows Start button and go to Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab. In the Sound Playback section, choose your Line 6 device as the Default device. Do the same in the Sound Recording section if you also want to set your Line 6 device as the

default recording device.

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UX2 set as the Windows Default device for Playback and Recording

If you have a Windows software that requires MIDI playback, then you can also choose the GS Wavetable Device here, which is a “software synthesizer” included in Windows. Its output will also play through the Default Playback Device.

Disable System Alert Sounds

It can actually be quite annoying to have all those Windows system alert sounds blaring at high volume through your Line 6 device when you are trying to focus on more musical endeavors. Fortunately, you can independently turn off these system sounds and still keep your Line 6 device as your Windows default playback device. While still in the Sounds and Audio Devices dialog, go to the Sounds tab. For the Sounds Scheme setting, choose No Sounds. Click OK to exit the dialog.

The Windows® Mixer

The Windows Mixer utility also defaults to controlling the Windows default device. This is not necessarily a problem, but it is important to be aware of the fact that this means all the controls in the Windows Mixer’s Wave and main Volume sections (Pan, vertical Level slider and Mute checkbox) will affect your Line 6 device’s monitor output. Likewise, the Windows Mixer also controls the default device’s Recording Pan/Level/Mute settings as well. You may want to just keep all these Windows Mixer settings at “unity” settings so that they do not affect your Line 6 device’s monitor signal – that is, keep the Pan set to center, the Level sliders to all the way up, and the Mute checkboxes off. Then you can just use the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog or POD Farm Standalone software controls to adjust these Monitor functions.

Note - if you have one of the fancier computer keyboards or a laptop that include volume and mute buttons, then they likely will adjust these same Windows Mixer controls.

To Launch the Windows Mixer, click on your Start button and go to Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Volume tab. From the previous step, your Line 6 device should already

be set as the Default device (if not, set it in the Sounds tab). Click the Advanced button to launch the Mixer...

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

These Windows Mixer Volume and Wave controls affect the Windows default device’s playback output

To access the Windows Mixer Recording controls, go to the Options menu > Properties and choose the Recording option…

These Windows Mixer Volume and Pan controls affect the Windows default device’s Recording input

Surround Playback

POD Studio, TonePort*, GuitarPort, PODxt and POD X3’s playback capabilities are designed for stereo. If you already have a sound card that provides surround sound via multiple speakers, this would also be a feature that you would lose by making your Line 6 device your preferred audio device.

* Note that UX8 offers multiple physical outputs and can actually be conﬁgured for multi-channel surround output playback! Please see the documentation for your audio application and conﬁguring a multi-channel sound card for Surround output.

Windows® Vista® Default Sound Device

Click on your Windows Start button and go to Control Panel > Sound > Playback tab. Choose your Line 6 device here, and if it does not already have the green checkbox indicator, click on the Set Default button to make it your default audio playback device. Go to the Recording tab and repeat

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these steps if you also want to set your Line 6 device as the default recording device.

UX2 set as the Windows Default device for Playback and Recording

Default Device Volume Adjustment

The default Playback and Recording devices each also have their own Volume control - to access these controls, click on the Properties button while the Line 6 device is selected in the above Playback and Recording tabs.

It is important to be aware of the fact that these Volume controls will affect your Line 6 device’s monitor output and recording input level. You may want to just keep all these Windows Mixer settings at “unity” settings so that they do not affect your Line 6 device’s output and input levels – that is, keep the Level sliders to all the way up. Then you can just use the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog or POD Farm Standalone controls to adjust these Monitor functions.

Note - if you have one of the fancier computer keyboards or a laptop that include volume and mute buttons, then they likely will adjust these same Windows Mixer controls.

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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

Disable System Alert Sounds

It can actually be quite annoying to have all those Windows system alert sounds blaring at high volume through your Line 6 device when you are trying to focus on more musical endeavors. Fortunately, you can independently turn off these system sounds and still keep your Line 6 device as your Windows default playback device. While still in the Sound dialog, go to the Sounds tab. For the Sounds Scheme setting, choose No Sounds. Click OK to exit the dialog.

Surround Playback

S/PDIF Digital Output from Line 6 Hardware to an External Device

UX2, UX8, KB37, POD X3 and PODxt Pro devices all include a S/PDIF digital output, which allows you to connect to digital devices such as a DAT recorder, MiniDisc, sound card, or most any device that offers a S/PDIF format digital input. POD X3 Pro and PODxt Pro also include AES/EBU digital outs, which can be used to connect to hardware that offers this type of digital input as well. Connecting digitally is the preferred method to connect to external devices that support it since this does not require the added digital-to-analog-to-digital signal conversion process as required with using analog outs.

One type of recording setup where you might use the S/PDIF output of your Line 6 hardware is with a Digidesign® Pro Tools® or Pro Tools LE™ system. With any Pro Tools setup, your Line 6 hardware would not be the assigned sound card for the Pro Tools software (since Digidesign requires proprietary hardware), but you can still utilize it by connecting the Line 6 S/PDIF output into the S/PDIF input of the Pro Tools hardware. Likewise, if you prefer to use a different sound card with other audio applications and the unit includes a S/PDIF input, then you can still utilize your Line 6 device connected digitally. This way you are simply routing the digital audio from your Line 6 gear right into Pro Tools or other software with no signal degradation!

We’ve provided detailed steps speciﬁcally for connecting a Line 6 device’s S/PDIF output to a Digidesign Mbox® 2 device in the Recording with DigiDesign Pro Tools chapters - try the links below to jump to these chapters. The steps are very similar if you are connecting to the S/PDIF inputs of other manufacturer’ sound card devices as well.

Mac - Digidesign Pro Tools LE chapter

Windows - Digidesign Pro Tool LE chapter

Considerations When Using S/PDIF or AES/EBU Output

Some digital devices may only support one sample rate (some DAT and video machines are ﬁxed • at 48 kHz, for example), so you will want to be sure to choose a sample rate supported by both units.

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When POD Studio & TonePort UX2/UX8/KB37 and PODxt Pro are operating at their 96 kHz • “compatible” sample rate mode, they send data out the S/PDIF outputs at 48 kHz. The S/PDIF output is always sent as 24 bit.

Remember that if you are connecting your POD Studio, TonePort, POD X3 or PODxt Pro digital • output to another sound card, you are not limited to the other sound card being on the same computer. You can use your POD Studio, TonePort or GuitarPort + POD Farm in Standalone operation on one computer as your “Tone Machine” - or POD X3/PODxt by itself - and then send the fully baked Tone digitally to a completely different setup for recording!

For more speciﬁcs on digital input and output operation for TonePort, POD X3 or PODxt Pro • please see the device’s User Manual.

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

pod fa R m pl u g -in

POD Farm Plug-In is an amazing tool for computer recording since it allows you to non-destructively apply entire POD Farm Single or Dual Tones on any of your recorded audio tracks, without needing to commit the settings until your ﬁnal mixdown. POD Farm Plug-In comes included with all Line 6 POD Studio hardware, and is available as an Add-On purchase to all Line 6 TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 and PODxt devices. POD Farm Plug-In is compatible with VST®, AU® and RTAS® Plug-In formats for use with all major Mac in all the fun, you can grab POD Farm Plug-In now without even getting out of your chair! Just run

Line 6 Monkey with your Line 6 USB device connected and go to the Optional Add-Ons tab, or head

over to the Line 6 Online Store.

or Windows

recording software “host” applications. If you want to get

The POD Farm Plug-In User Interface

Using POD Farm Plug-In with your favorite Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) host software gives you the freedom to change your Tone as often as needed and automate amp and effect settings with surgical precision. If you have experience with DAW host applications such as Steinberg Cubase®, Ableton Live™, or Digidesign Pro Tools LE™, then you have probably used audio effects Plug-Ins. Using POD Farm Plug-In in your host is no different from using any other. Unlike most other Plug-Ins however, POD Farm is not just a one-trick pony! It is really a full suite of amp, cab, mic and effects models that you can apply as up to two complete, stereo POD Farm Tones on guitar, bass or vocals. Or, you can apply individual POD Farm models or effects on any types of instruments, as many tracks as you like, and even fully automate the parameters.

If you’re new to the world of recording software and Plug-Ins, read through the following tutorials in this chapter for using POD Farm Plug-In in the Ableton Live DAW software. These should serve as helpful examples on how to conﬁgure and use POD Farm Plug-In within most Mac® and Windows® DAW host applications. We’ve also provided some tips for POD Farm Plug-In in the following software chapters.

3•1

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Activation & USB Hardware

Before using POD Farm Plug-In, you’ll need to activate and/or authorize it to be used with your Line 6 USB hardware and on your computer. No worries, we’ve made this simple enough that even a drummer can do it, using the Line 6 Monkey software installed with POD Farm. Please see the Getting

Started chapter.

Note: You do not necessarily need to use your Line 6 USB hardware as the assigned sound card for your audio software to allow the use of POD Farm Plug-In, but your Line 6 device MUST be connected directly to your computer’s USB port. You should always connect directly to one of your computer’s USB port and not to a USB hub.

If your other audio recording software or hardware requires the use of an iLok® or other USB dongle then it is no problem to have it connected to your computer at the same time. If possible, you might try moving any USB dongle, mouse or keyboard to a USB hub to free up a direct computer USB port for your Line 6 hardware.

Conﬁguring POD Farm Plug-In in your Host Software

Accessing and utilizing POD Farm Plug-In from within your VST®, AU® or RTAS® is fairly straightforward, but there are a few little differences between some host applications, so it is a good idea to read through the documentation that came with your host software ﬁrst. To follow are a few helpful pointers.

Where Can I Find the POD Farm Plug-In On My Computer?

If you followed the default installation of POD Farm, then all supported formats of the POD Farm Plug-In were automatically installed on your computer, and into the default directories, as listed below. If, by chance, you customized your installation by unchecking any of the POD Farm Plug-In formats, then you’ll need to run the POD Farm installation again with them checked to allow them to be installed. If you manually changed the directory for where the VST Plug-In was to be installed, then you’ll need to know what that custom directory was that you speciﬁed.

Most DAW “host” applications scan and locate your POD Farm Plug-In automatically on launch. But if you don’t see POD Farm in your host’s Plug-In menus, then you’ll need to conﬁgure your host’s PlugIn options to ﬁnd it (such options are typically found in the host’s Preferences). Here is the default install location for each of the POD Farm Plug-In formats...

On • Mac

Audio Units•

VST•

is installed to /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/Line 6

RTAS•

is installed in Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/ Components.

is installed to Library/Application Support/ Digidesign/Plug-Ins/Line 6.

On • Windows®

VST•

is installed to \Program Files\Line6\POD Farm\VST\Line 6

RTAS•

is installed to \Program Files\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-Ins\Line 6.

3•2

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Using the POD Farm VST or AU Plug-In - Ableton Live 7

Once you have POD Farm Plug-In Add-On activated for your Line 6 hardware, you are ready to jump right into a whole new level of POD Farm possibilities right within your Mac® or Windows

software!

If you are using a Mac, then POD Farm Plug-In is supported by any audio software that hosts the Mac® Audio Units® (AU) or VST® Plug-In formats. Note that some hosts, (such as Ableton Live), support both these formats, so you can simply use either with the same results. If you are using a Windows PC, then POD Farm Plug-In is supported by any audio software that supports the VST® Plug-In format. If using Digidesign® Pro Tools® software on either Mac or Windows, it utilizes the RTAS® Plug-In format. (Please see the following Pro Tools Mac® and Windows® chapters for more info).

To follow we’ve provided a step-by-step guide for POD Farm Plug-In within Ableton Live 7. This should provide a great example for how to insert, conﬁgure and automate parameters for POD Farm Plug-In on most any Mac® AU/VST or Windows® VST host. The steps are the same on either Mac or Windows, except where noted.

Note that for the following examples, we’re assuming you’ve performed the default POD Farm installation, where the POD Farm Plug-In is installed into the default locations on your computer for all formats (see the Where can I ﬁnd the POD Farm Plug-In... section above).

Info View

First a handy tip... if you are new to Ableton Live then you might want to turn on the Info View panel. This displays a brief description of the user interface element within Live that your mouse is currently over. You can show/hide this panel by choosing it from Live’s View menu:

audio

Activating POD Farm Plug-In in Live

Launch Ableton Live and select the Plug-In Device Browser. If you don’t automatically see POD Farm AU and/or VST Plug-Ins listed here, then you’ll probably see an Activate button, meaning you need Live to “activate” all Plug-Ins on your system (this has nothing to do with Line 6’s “Plug-In Activation” by the way, it is strictly a Live feature):

3•3

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Click on the button to display the Plug-In Device Browser

Clicking the Activate button will display the Preferences dialog with several options - we’ll be setting the Plug-In Sources options. Note there are some differences if you are using Live on Mac versus Windows for this step:

Click the Activate button

Mac - AU Plug-In Activation

Click the Use Audio Units button so that it becomes “On”

Once Use Audio Units is enabled, Live will scan your Mac and display all found Plug-Ins in the Plug- In Devices browser panel, including POD Farm within a Line 6 folder, like this:

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

VST Plug-In Activation - Mac

Just like above for the AU Plug-In, if you do not already see the POD Farm VST-Plug-In in Live’s Plug-In Browser, then go to the Live > Preferences > File Folder window again and turn the VST feature on:

Click the Use VST Plug- In System Folders so that it becomes “On”

Note: POD Farm VST Plug-In is installed into the Mac “VST System Folder” by default. However, if you customized the POD Farm installation and directed the VST Plug-In to a different folder, then you’ll need to activate the “Use VST Custom folder” in this window, and click the Browse button to manually point Live to the custom directory you chose.

Once the appropriate folder is selected, Live will scan it and display all found VST Plug-Ins, including POD Farm, in the Plug-In Devices browser panel like this:

If POD Farm VST Plug-In does not appear in the browser, try clicking the Rescan button in the Live > Preferences > File Folder window.

VST Plug-In Activation - Windows

The procedure for VST Plug-In Activation on Windows is much the same as on Mac, however, you’ll need to manually point Live to the Line 6 directory (or your custom Plug-In install directory) so Live can ﬁnd it:

3•5

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Click the Use VST Custom Folder button so that it becomes “On”, then click Browse to choose the folder where

POD Farm Plug-In is installed....

Choose the Program Files\Line 6\POD Farm\VST folder* and click OK

Once the appropriate folder is selected, Live will scan it and display all found Plug-Ins in the Plug-In Devices browser panel like this:

If POD Farm VST Plug-In does not appear in the browser, try clicking the Rescan button in the Live > Preferences > File Folder window.

Inserting POD Farm Plug-In on an Audio Track

Within your Live “Set”, we’ll now insert POD Farm Plug-In on an Audio Track...

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Click her to switch to Live’s Arrangement View

Note that Live’s audio tracks are capable of being conﬁgured with Mono or Stereo inputs and outputs. It is up to you if you’d like to use the track for Mono or Stereo recording or for importing Mono or Stereo audio clips. Unlike some other VST/AU Plug-Ins, there is no need to select a speciﬁc “Mono” or “Stereo” POD Farm Plug-In version to match your audio track. In this example, we have a Stereo audio clip in Audio Track 1, so let’s insert the POD Farm Plug-In.

On Mac you may have two choices here since Live supports both the POD Farm AU and VST PlugIn. It really does not matter if you’ve activated either (or both) for POD Farm Plug-In, so use whichever version you like.

Click on POD Farm Plug-In in the Plug-In Device Browser and drag and drop it directly onto Audio Track 1

Or, alternatively, if you are in Live’s “Session View”, you can also drag the Plug-In from the Plug-In Device Browser directly onto the desired vertical “track” strip to insert it that way.

Once inserted, you’ll see POD Farm’s Plug-In UI window is automatically launched, and a POD Farm Plug-In “Device” panel is loaded in the lower pane of Live. Several of the controls in this Device panel have to do with Plug-In parameter automation - see the following section for more about this.

Enable/Bypass the Plug-In

Click this button to show/hide POD Farm Plug-In parameter controls embedded in Live’s UI (although you’ll likely ﬁnd it easier to use POD Farm Plug-In UI window to tweak parameters)

Click this button to show/hide the POD Farm UI window

This “X-Y” graphic display allows you to control 2 Plug-In parameters in real-time. The two parameters are selected in the menus below. More on this later in the chapter.

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

To remove POD Farm Plug-In from the Track, simply right click (Windows) or Ctrl + click (Mac) directly on POD Farm Plug-In’s title bar and choose Delete

Now go on and try a few presets and tweak settings all you like in the POD Farm Plug-In UI window! Remember that it is a good idea to save your Plug-In settings as a Preset before removing the inserted Plug-In so that you can recall the settings another time. For details on speciﬁc POD Farm features, please refer to the POD Farm User Guide available on the POD Farm Online Help site.

Inserting POD Farm Plug-In on a Send Return

Each instance of any Plug-In you add in your Live Set of course utilizes CPU power. Therefore, if you have the situation in your Live Set where you want to apply the same exact POD Farm Plug-In settings to more than one audio track, it is a better practice to insert one instance of POD Farm Plug-In on one of Live’s “Return” tracks and route the desired audio tracks’ Send outputs to it. Here is how to set this up...

In Live’s Arrange View, drag and drop the POD Farm Plug-In onto the A Return track

Once the Plug-In is loaded as an insert on the Return track, you’ll see the track name is automatically changed to “A POD Farm”

Conﬁgure POD Farm Plug-In with any combination of effects you like. For example, maybe you just want to use the Stereo Delay and Reverb (with no Amp or Cab processing added) so that these effects can be applied to several different tracks of recorded instruments.

Next, switch Live’s Session View where you can easily see and adjust the Send A levels from multiple tracks. In this scenario, we’ve set the Send A controls for both audio tracks 1 and 2. The result is that each of these tracks will have part of their output routed to the “A POD Farm” Return track, and therefore, through the inserted POD Farm Plug-In.

3•8

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Tip: When using POD Farm Plug-In on Send Return like this, it is typically best to set each active Model’s Mix knob to 100%. This way, the “Wet/Dry” mix can then be controlled by adjusting an audio track’s Send A level control, to feed the desired amount of signal through the Plug-In to add more “Wet” to the mix.

Adjust the Send A knob on each audio

track to determine the level fed to the A POD Farm Return track

Adjust the Track Volume for the amount of “dry” track signal

Adjust the Track Volume on the A POD Farm Return track to determine how much “POD Farm-effected” audio you will hear

You can choose how much effect is applied for each audio track by how much you raise the Send A level. Additionally, the main output of each audio track is still routed to the main stereo Out 1-2, so you can adjust the vertical Track Volume slider for each audio track to also determine how much “dry” track signal is also heard at the main output.

Note that it also possible to insert POD Farm Plug-In on the Master tack of your Live Set - just drag POD Farm Plug-In onto the Master track to do so. This allows you to run all your audio tracks through a common Plug-In effect, such as the POD Farm Compressor, Delay or Reverb! Ableton Live offers a great deal more signal routing options, allowing you to be even more creative with the use of POD Farm Plug-In and the mix of your Live Sets. Please go to the Live Help menu and choose Read the Live Manual for more info.

Automating POD Farm Plug-In Parameters

Most DAW applications offer ways to “automate” the application’s mix parameters (track volume, panning, etc.), as well as Plug-In effects’ parameters. With POD Farm Plug-In inserted on your audio track, this means you can tweak any Amp or Effects settings and have all your adjustments “recorded” via an adjustable envelope right on the track! Typically, you have an option to “draw” an envelope directly on the track for any parameter, and also an option to record automation in real-time, where you tweak Plug-In settings during playback and the envelope is drawn for you. Ableton Live can automate any number of POD Farm Plug-In parameters using either of these methods, so we’ll show a few handy examples. Other DAW applications function similarly, but there are usually some differences in controls and terminology, so be sure to check the documentation for your DAW software regarding parameter automation.

3•9

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Live’s Automation Envelopes and Draw Mode

For this example, let’s suppose you want to increase the POD Farm Analog Chorus effect’s Mix parameter in a particular section of a stereo guitar track you’ve recorded in Live, such Audio Track 1 from bar 13 through 20…

First, insert POD Farm Plug-In directly on the audio track containing the audio clip, and conﬁgure a Single Tone in POD Farm, adding the Analog Chorus effect from the Modulation category. Then conﬁgure your Live track to see and manipulate this Modulation Mix parameter...

In the Arrangement View, click on the track’s Device Chooser and select the inserted POD Farm Plug-In

This now allows POD Farm Plug-In’s automatable parameters to be listed in the lower Control

Chooser selector. We’ll choose the Mix parameter for Tone 1’s Modulation effect.

Note - Within the Control Chooser list, you’ll see the abbreviated names of all available POD Farm automatable parameters. There are two of each parameter in the list, preceded by a “1” or “2” which indicates the corresponding parameter for Tone 1 versus Tone 2. In our example, we want to control a Mod effect in Tone 1. For a complete list of parameters, please see the Automation Parameter Table.

Once a parameter is selected, a red envelope line appears across the track - you can click and drag this line up/down to adjust the selected parameter

Double click on the envelope line to create a “breakpoint”. Here, breakpoints are added where we want to start and end the parameter change. Note that when the mouse cursor is over a breakpoint, the parameter value at this position is displayed

Now you can add additional breakpoints and drag them up/down to have the POD Farm Mod-Mix change over time. Here, the results are that no Chorus effect is heard until bar 13, then it goes to a 50% Mix, and gradually back to no Chorus by the end of Bar 20

Click on the track’s Control

Chooser and select the 1 ModMix parameter

3•10

Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Ableton Live also features a Draw Mode tool, which allows you to literally “draw” the parameter envelope right over the track. You can select the Draw Mode tool from Live’s control bar at the top of the window, then use it like a pencil to draw on the track.

Click on the Draw Mode tool

Then “draw” your parameter changes directly on the track

Turn off the Draw Mode tool and you can click any individual breakpoint and adjust it up/down to ﬁne tune your adjustments, as shown above. Now open the POD Farm Plug-In GUI and select the Analog Chorus effect in Panel View and hit Rewind and Play in Live. You’ll see the Chorus Mix knob move in response to this recorded automation, and you’ll hear the Mix change over time!

You can create any number of envelopes to display as many POD Farm Plug-In parameter envelopes as desired. To display more parameters, click on the little “+ “ button at the bottom right of the track header. This places the parameter envelope you just created in its own “lane”, expanded below the waveform lane.

Now you can choose the POD Farm Plug-In again in the Device Chooser, and desired parameter in the Control Chooser for a 2nd parameter envelope. Edit this additional parameter to taste.

As discussed in the previous section, you can utilize Live’s Sends to route a track’s signal to a Return track that has POD Farm Plug-In inserted. Note that you also have the option within the Control Chooser menu to show an envelope for each Send Return. If you choose the Return track where the Plug-In is loaded, you can adjust it’s envelope to determine how much signal is fed to the Send, thus determining how much POD Farm effect is added to the track’s playback mix.

The Live Mixer A-Return level parameter automation envelope adjusted on an Audio track

But wait... there’s more! If you take a look at the options for your Return track that has POD Farm Plug-In inserted, you’ll see that you also have all the same options as for an Audio track when the PlugIn is inserted. Therefore, you can also use the Return track’s Control Chooser to show envelopes for individual POD Farm Plug-In parameters and automate them too. Just think of the possibilities!

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Live’s Automation Recording

For this example, let’s suppose you want to add some Wah pedal effect to your recorded guitar track. A great way to do this is to tweak and record your Wah Position knob moves while you are playing back the track, so you can hear and record your Wah tweaks in real-time. First, load POD Farm Plug-In on your audio track, and create a single Tone in POD Farm Plug-In that includes one of the Wah models. Within the Live audio track’s header, use the Device Chooser and Control Chooser as in the previous example - this time we’ll select the POD Farm 1 Wah-Pos parameter*.

* Note - It is not actually necessary to select POD Farm Plug-In or the speciﬁc parameter in Live’s Chooser selectors, since when you go into the Record mode in the next steps, any POD Farm Plug-In or Ableton Live track parameters’ adjustments will be recorded, whether the envelope on the track is currently displayed or not. However, selecting the speciﬁc parameter in the track’s Chooser allows you to see your adjustments being written to the track envelope in real-time.

You’ll want to have the POD Farm Plug-In GUI open, and with the Panel View showing the Wah model so that you have access to the Wah knob for tweaking.

Next, click on Live’s Transport Record button to place it in “Record Ready” mode - note that you do not want your audio track’s Record Arm button on since that will record audio into your track (and possibly overwrite your current audio clip). When ready, press the transport Play button and start tweaking the POD Farm Wah Position knob. You’ll hear the effect applied as the track plays, and you’ll see your adjustments being “recorded” via the envelope on the track. Do not adjust any other POD Farm or Live track parameters while in this Record mode, since any such settings changes will be recorded as well. Hit your spacebar to stop Live when done. If you didn’t like what you just did, just select Edit > Undo in Live before you do any other edits and try again.

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Click on the Transport’s Record button, and then the Play button when ready...

Now start tweaking the Wah knob and you’ll see your adjustments recorded on the Live track

Once stopped, you’ll see the Device and Control Choosers show red dots to indicate the parameter has been “edited”. Further, if you click on the Control Chooser to expand the menu, any POD Farm parameter that has “edited” automation is shown here with a red dot. You can also now zoom in and further adjust the individual “breakpoints” on the envelope, as in the earlier example, to ﬁne tune your automation.

Click and drag to adjust the envelope’s breakpoints

Red dotes indicate the parameter has been edited

Once done with your automation for the Wah parameter, it is a good idea to right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac) on the track and choose “Lock Envelopes” to prevent the envelope from being overwritten. Or, you can leave envelopes “unlocked” and repeat the previous steps to record automation for any number of POD Farm Plug-In parameters. Note that you can also “expand” your automation tracks in Live to make it easier to work with several parameter envelopes on one audio track

- see the previous section.

Live’s Assignable X-Y Controller

One other unique feature for Ableton Live’s automation is the Assignable X-Y Control panel. You’ll see this appear in the lower pane of the Live window for your inserted POD Farm Plug-In. Using this panel, you can assign any two POD Farm Plug-In parameters to both the X and Y axes of the controller, then move the dot to tweak both parameters at the same time for some very interesting effects!

Ableton Live’s Assignable X-Y Control for POD Farm Plug-In

See the Live documentation and tutorials for the use of this control, as well as more on automation.

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

POD Farm Plug-In Automation Parameter Table

In all host audio software, you’ll be able to access a menu of POD Farm Plug-In’s parameters so that you can choose exactly which Amp and Effects models’ control(s) you want to automate. POD Farm Plug-In presents its list of parameter names in abbreviated form in order to accommodate length limitations of the host software. For example, “1 Wah-Pos” and “2 Wah-Pos” are the abbreviated names that appear in the host automation menu for the Tone 1 Wah Position and the Tone 2 Wah Position parameters, respectively. To follow is a table showing the abbreviated Parameter Command, as it appears in your host software, and its functional Description. (Note that in your host software you’ll see two of each command, preceded by a “1” or “2” designating Tone 1 versus Tone 2)...

Automation Parameter Command Descriptions

Parameter Command Description

Amp -Type Guitar/Bass Amp/Preamp - Model Select

Amp/Pre-1 Guitar/Bass Amp - Drive, Preamp - Parameter #1

Amp/Pre-2 Guitar/Bass Amp - Bass, Preamp - Parameter #2

Amp/Pre-3 Guitar Amp-Mid, Bass Amp-Low Mid, Mid, Preamp - Parameter #3

Amp/Pre-4 Guitar Amp-Treble, Bass Amp-Hi Mid, Mid, Preamp - Parameter 4

Amp/Pre-5 Guitar Amp - Presence, Bass Amp-Treble, Mid, Preamp - Parameter #4

Amp/Pre-Vol Guitar/Bass Amp/Preamp - Volume

Pre-6 Preamp - Parameter #6

Pre-7 Preamp - Parameter #7

Pre-8 Preamp - Parameter #8

Pre-9 Preamp - Parameter #9

Pre-10 Preamp - Parameter #10

Pre-11 Preamp - Parameter #11

BassAmp-DILvl Bass Amp-DI Level

BassAmp-DIDly Bass Amp-DI Delay

BassAmp-Xover Bass Amp FX Crossover

Cab-Type Guitar/Bass Amp - Cab Model Select

Mic-Type Guitar/Bass Amp - Mic Model Select

Cab-Room Guitar/Bass Amp - Room (Early Reﬂections)

Gate-On/Off Gate - Bypass On/Off

Gate-Thresh Gate Threshold

Gate-Decay Gate - Decay

Comp-On/Off Compressor - Bypass On/Off

Comp-Thresh Compressor - Threshold

Comp-Gain Compressor - Gain

EQ-On/Off EQ - Bypass On/Off

EQ-Freq1 EQ - Frequency #1

EQ-Gain1 EQ - Gain #1

EQ-Freq2 EQ - Frequency #2

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Automation Parameter Command Descriptions

Parameter Command Description

EQ-Gain2 EQ - Gain #2

EQ-Freq3 EQ - Frequency #3

EQ-Gain3 EQ - Gain #3

EQ-Freq4 EQ - Frequency #4

EQ-Gain4 EQ - Gain #4

Wah-Type Wah - Model Select

Wah-On/Off Wah - Bypass On/Off

Dst/Dyn/Flt-Type Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Model Select

Dst/Dyn/Flt-On/Off Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Bypass On/Off

Dst/Dyn/Flt-1 Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Parameter #1

Dst/Dyn/Flt-2 Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Parameter #2

Dst/Dyn/Flt-3 Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Parameter #3

Dst/Dyn/Flt-4 Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Parameter #4

Dst/Dyn/Flt-5 Stomp Category Effect (Distortion/Dynamics/Filter) - Parameter #5

Mod-Type Modulation Category Effect - Model Select

Mod-Enable Modulation Category Effect - Bypass On/Off

Mod-Pre/Post Modulation Category Effect - Pre/Post Position toggle

Mod-Speed Modulation Category Effect - Speed

Mod-Note Modulation Category Effect - Tempo Note Division

Mod-1 Modulation Category Effect - Parameter #1

Mod-2 Modulation Category Effect - Parameter #2

Mod-3 Modulation Category Effect - Parameter #3

Mod-4 Modulation Category Effect - Parameter #4

Mod-Mix Modulation Category Effect - Wet/Dry Mix

Dly-Type Delay Category Effect - Model Select

Dly-On/Off Delay Category Effect - Bypass On/Off

Dly-Pre/Post Delay Category Effect - Pre/Post Position toggle

Dly-Time Delay Category Effect - Delay Time

Dly-Note Delay Category Effect - Tempo Note Division

Dly-1 Delay Category Effect - Parameter #1

Dly-2 Delay Category Effect - Parameter #2

Dly-3 Delay Category Effect - Parameter #3

Dly-4 Delay Category Effect - Parameter #4

Dly-Mix Delay Category Effect - Wet/Dry Mix

Vrb-Type Reverb Category Effect - Model Select

Vrb-On/Off Reverb Category Effect - Bypass On/Off

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Using the POD Farm Plug-In

Automation Parameter Command Descriptions

Parameter Command Description

Vrb-Pre/Post Reverb Category Effect - Pre/Post Position

Vrb-1 Reverb Category Effect - Parameter #1

Vrb-2 Reverb Category Effect - Parameter #2

Vrb-3 Reverb Category Effect - Parameter #3

Vrb-Mix Reverb Category Effect - Wet/Dry Mix

Amp-On/Off Amp/Preamp - Bypass On/Off

Cab-On/Off Cabinet - Bypass On/Off

Dst/Dyn/Flt-6 Distortion/Dynamics/Filter Category Effect - Parameter #6

Dst/Dyn/Flt-Pre/Post Distortion/Dynamics/Filter Category Effect - Pre / Post Position

Sys-Tempo Plug-In “Master” System Tempo Value

Sys-Out Level Tone Output Knob

Sys-Out Balance Tone Pan Knob

3•16

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

pod fa R m St a n d a l o n e op e R a t i o n

With any Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort or GuitarPort device as the connected hardware*, POD Farm can be launched in “Standalone” operation - that is, as an individual application rather than a Plug-In requiring a host application. This allows you to utilize your hardware as a “front end” Tone machine, where you can process your input source, feed the signal to the Record Sends for your DAW software application, as well as to all analog and digital hardware outputs. In Standalone operation, POD Farm also offers the super low latency beneﬁts of ToneDirect™ Monitoring, as well as a complete Mixer View where you can independently control the signals fed to the Record Sends! The following sections cover the settings within POD Farm when in Standalone operation for recording use.

POD Farm in Standalone Operation

* Note that POD Farm Standalone Operation is not available with POD X3 or PODxt family devices as the connected hardware. Since these devices perform all their Tone processing magic inside the hardware itself, their on-board controls are used to shape Tone settings and conﬁgure monitor and Record Send options. Please refer to the Driver Settings sections for these devices and your Pilot’s Handbook for more info.

Choosing Your POD Farm Source Inputs

In POD Farm speak, the “Source” inputs are the physical inputs on your Line 6 hardware (Instrument, Mic, Line In, etc.), which is where you connect your guitar, bass, mic or other line-level devices to feed their signal into POD Farm, and thus into your DAW.

For Line 6 devices that offer a single input and single tone capability (GX, D.I. and GuitarPort •

4•1

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

devices), this Instrument Input is the “ﬁxed” Source.

For all other POD Studio & TonePort devices, there are multiple input capabilities and, therefore, • you’ll see Source Select menus within POD Farm when in Standalone operation for each Tone 1 and Tone 2 in the Signal Flow View.

Input Source Select Menu Input Meter

POD Farm’s Input Source selectors are found at the top of the Signal Flow panel (Dual Tone conﬁguration)

Unlike the POD Farm Plug-In interface, there is no Input Volume knob for the Standalone • application - to adjust the input levels of your Sources, use your guitar’s volume knob, the Mic Gain knobs on your Line 6 hardware, or the output controls on any source device that is feeding into your Line 6 hardware.

Once you have your guitar, bass, mic, or line level item(s) plugged into your device, use the Source Select menu(s) to choose which of these “sources” you want fed into POD Farm for each Tone path. The Input Meter will measure the incoming signal from the selected Source. The Source menu options within POD Farm differ slightly depending on whether you are conﬁgured for a Single versus Dual Tone, and for your speciﬁc Line 6 device...

Single Tone Mode

When in Single Tone mode, you’ll see all Mono (Instrument, Mic 1, Line 2, etc.) and Stereo (Mic Stereo, Line Stereo, etc.) Sources your device offers within the Source Select menu. For example, here is the Source menu for a UX2 device, with POD Farm Standalone in Single Tone mode:

4•2

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

For UX1 you’ll see fewer Sources, and for UX8 you’ll see several additional Sources, since UX8 offers eight Mic inputs, as well as S/PDIF digital inputs.

Note that the Single Tone signal ﬂow is always “Stereo” in POD Farm, therefore, even when a Mono input Source is selected, it is split into two (“dual mono”) signals, allowing stereo effects models to be applied and routed as Stereo to POD Farm’s Stereo Record Sends and hardware outputs.

Dual Tone Mode

When in Dual Tone mode, you’ll see all Mono Sources your device offers available within the Tone 1 Source Select menu.

The Tone 2 Source menu typically offers “Same as Tone 1”, with an additional, related Mono Source input to that of Tone 1’s current Source*. For example with UX2, if Tone 1 has “Instrument” selected, Tone 2 offers “Mic 1”. If Tone 2 has Mic 1, Tone 2 offers “Mic 2”, etc.

* Note that whenever an even numbered Mono Source is selected for Tone 1 (e.g. - Mic 2, Line 2, etc.) Tone 2’s Source is automatically set to “Same as Tone 1” .

Just as with Single Tone mode, when in Dual Tone mode, each Tone’s signal ﬂow is always “Stereo”, therefore, the Mono input Source’s signal is split into “dual mono” signals within each Tone signal path, allowing stereo effects models to be applied and routed as Stereo to POD Farm’s Stereo Record Sends and hardware outputs.

In Dual Tone mode, this gives you two types of input scenario choices:

Choose two completely different input Sources - such as a guitar plugged into “Instrument” for • Tone 1, and a vocal into “Mic 1” for Tone 2 - and then process each Tone separately. You can of course independently process each Tone optimally for the guitar and vocal, and perform them simultaneously while recording into separate tracks.

Choose a common input Source - such as a guitar plugged into “Instrument” for Tone 1, and • “Same as Tone 1” for Tone 2’s input Source, and then creatively process each Tone with similar or different amp & effects. You can get some really huge Stereo sounds this way by panning each Tone opposite as well!

Tone Pan and Volume Controls & Meters

In the Signal Flow View (SFV), you’ll see this set of controls at the top right of each Tone’s Signal Flow:

4•3

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

Pan Knob Volume Knob Output Meter

These control the Pan and Volume level individually for each Tone 1 and Tone 2. Note these Pan and Volume behaviors can be affected by the current Mixer View - Source settings:

Whenever POD Farm Standalone application is in Single Tone mode, regardless of the Mixer • View - Source options selected for Record Sends 1-2 and 3-4, the Tone 1 Pan and Volume controls affect only the Monitor signal, and not what is fed to the Record Sends.

When POD Farm Standalone application is in Dual Tone Mode, if the Mixer View - Source • “Mix (Tone 1 & 2)” option is selected for either Record Send, then the Tone signal fed to that Record Send is affected by the Tone’s Pan and Volume knobs (as well as by the Tone’s Mute button). This behavior is provided automatically since it is likely that you’ll want to control the Pan and Volume of the Tone 1/Tone 2 “Mix” so that it is recorded as you hear it on your monitoring system. For example, panning Tone 1 and Tone 2 opposite can provide some spacious and interesting sounds, so this allows you to record these Tones’ settings just as you hear them.

Monitor Volume Control & Meters

At the top right of the POD Farm Standalone window, you’ll see the Monitor Volume knob and meters.

This Volume knob always affects only the overall “Monitor” signal level - that is, the processed sound for the combined Tone 1 and Tone 2 signal ﬂows heard from the Main Outs & Headphone Outs of your Line 6 hardware. It is important to note that you can adjust this knob to independently control the Monitor volume, without affecting the signal level fed to the Record Sends and thus not affecting the signal you are recording into your DAW software. Use the meters to avoid clipping to ensure clean, quality Monitor output. This Monitor signal path utilizes the unique Line 6 ToneDirect™ Monitoring feature, which allows you to hear the Monitor signal at incredibly low latency. This is a tremendous beneﬁt for a DAW setup, since otherwise monitoring your input Source through your recording software can add a greater “time lag” between when you pluck a note and when you hear it while trying to record, making things feel a bit “un-natural” for performing. Please see the ToneDirect™ Monitoring section later in this chapter for more info.

To control how your Tones are routed to your DAW recording software, you’ll want to head over to the POD Farm Mixer View and conﬁgure the Record Sends options - read on...

4•4

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

Mixer View

When POD Farm is running in Standalone operation, you’ll see there is a Mixer View button available at the top left of the application - press this button to display the Mixer View, where you can control the type and level of the signals fed to the Record Sends, as well as quickly access Preferences and Audio Driver settings.

About Record Sends...

All Line 6 USB devices utilize “Record Sends” - you can think of these Record Sends as the virtual “plumbing” for the different audio channels your device provides and makes available to audio software on your computer for recording and playback. Once you’ve installed the Line 6 USB audio device driver (which you did automatically when you installed POD Farm) and connected the USB cable, these Record Sends are established on your computer and accessible within the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Control Panel dialog. Note that these Sends carry audio back and forth regardless if you are using POD Farm in Standalone operation or not. And, for POD X3 & PODxt devices (which do not utilize Standalone operation) you can still access the device’s Record Sends within audio software on your computer to utilize your device as a sound card for high quality audio recording and playback. For all POD Studio, TonePort and GuitarPort devices, the Record Sends carry the “unprocessed” output of whatever you’re plugging into your device, but if you launch POD Farm in Standalone operation, you can process whatever signal you are inputting into your Line 6 device with all those luscious Tones!

For more about your Line 6 device’s Record Sends and their use when not running POD Farm in Standalone operation, please see the previous Audio Driver Conﬁguration chapter.

POD Farm Record Send Controls

The POD Farm Mixer View displays controls for two Record Sends. The outputs of both Tone 1 and Tone 2 are routed to these Sends. Each Record Send carries a Stereo audio signal, which appears in your audio recording software as an available Stereo (or two Mono) audio track input sources for recording. The functionality of the Record Send 1-2 controls are the same for all POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices, with a few differences as called out in the following descriptions.

4•5

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

Device Send Name Source Menu

Mute Main Outs

Send Level Meter Send Level Fader +18 dB Button

Device Send Name

The name of your speciﬁc Line 6 connected device (UX1, UX2, UX8, etc.) and Record Send number are displayed here above each set of Send controls. These are the Record Sends of your device that POD Farm is feeding its Record Send outputs to. For all Line 6 hardware, POD Farm will utilize Send 1-2 and Send 3-4, except when connected to UX8, in which case POD Farm utilizes UX8’s Send 9-10 and 11-12. (UX8 devices reserve their Record Sends 1 through 8 for their multiple Mic/Line inputs please see the Audio Driver Conﬁguration chapter for details).

Audio Source Selection Menus

The Source menu allows you to choose speciﬁcally what type of signal is fed into each Record Send. Note that the options in the Source menu differ depending on whether the POD Farm Standalone application is currently running a Single Tone versus Dual Tone.

When POD Farm is in Single Tone mode, the Source menu options are • Processed, Semi- Processed (Amp, Cab, Comp, EQ, and “Pre” positioned effects only), and Dry Inputs.

When POD Farm is in Dual Tone mode, the Source menu options are • Tone 1, Tone 2, Mix

(Tone 1 & 2)*, and Dry Inputs.

*Note that when either Send Source is set for “Mix Tone (1 & 2)”, that the Tone 1 & 2 Mute, Pan and Volume controls within the Signal Flow View affect the Tone levels fed to that Send. For all other Send Source options, the Tone Pan and Volume knobs affect only the Monitor signal.

Send Level Controls

Use the • Level Slider to adjust the level of the signal fed to the Record Send. This is how you adjust the level of the signal that gets recorded into your audio software.

Use the • Level Meter to gauge your levels. The red clip indicator will light up if your level is too high - clipping should always be avoided in order to produce good quality recordings!

Use the• +18 dB button if your signal is not hot enough. When this button is lit, an 18 dB “boost” is applied to the Record Send signal. Watch the meters and adjust the Level Slider for a nice, hot signal.

4•6

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

Preferences and Driver Console Buttons

The • Preferences button provides shortcut access to the POD Farm Preferences dialog, where you can conﬁgure various POD Farm applications settings. See the following Preferences section for details.

The• Driver Console button provides shortcut access to the Driver Console (Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices) dialog, where you can conﬁgure ASIO, WDM (Windows®) or Core Audio (Mac®) audio driver settings. For everything about audio drivers & settings you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask, please check out the Audio Driver Conﬁguration chapter.

ToneDirect™ Monitoring

A unique feature of Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort and GuitarPort hardware with POD Farm in Standalone operation is ToneDirect™ Monitoring, which is a separate audio path that allows you to monitor the incoming signal with the lowest possible latency, for uncompromised feel and responsiveness when recording or jamming.

Another beneﬁt of using ToneDirect™ Monitoring while recording is that it allows you to set the audio buffer size in your DAW software at a large value for efﬁcient use of your computer, yet still enjoy extreme low latency monitoring while recording. On Windows® systems, the ToneDirect™ audio path has its own buffer adjustment while on Mac®, no adjustments are needed.

ToneDirect™ Monitoring buffer size slider (Windows®)

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices - The Line 6 ToneDirect™ Monitoring audio path has its own buffer to allow you to keep your ASIO Buffer Size at a high value, for more solid performance and more efﬁcient performance of your ASIO software. Access the ToneDirect Monitoring buffer within the Line 6 Audio-MIDI devices dialog (just click the Driver Console button in the POD Farm Mixer View, or from the Windows® Control Panel). The initial default is one tick to the right of “Extra Small” as shown. Raise this slider if you are getting any dropouts in your monitor signal.

POD X3 & PODxt devices - These devices do not utilize POD Farm in Standalone operation, but

4•7

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

they do offer utilize a USB audio buffer (rather than ToneDirect™ Monitoring) which provides an independent, direct monitor signal with its own buffer adjustment. When a POD X3 or PODxt is selected as the Line 6 device in this dialog, a POD-speciﬁc “USB Audio Streaming” buffer slider is displayed:

ToneDirect™ Monitoring while recording with POD Farm Plug-in

ToneDirect™ is a feature of the POD Farm application when run in Standalone mode, not the POD Farm Plug-in, so in order for you to enjoy the feel and responsiveness provided by ToneDirect™, you’ll need to run POD Farm in Standalone operation alongside your DAW software that hosts the POD Farm Plug-in. Keep in mind that these applications run independently of each other, so any Tone settings you make in the POD Farm’s Standalone mode will have to be matched in the Plug-in to provide the same results. You can achieve this by making your settings in POD Farm Standalone, saving the Tone as a Tone Preset to your computer’s Tones folder, and then recalling that preset later within the POD Farm Plug-in. Follow these steps to set up POD Farm and your DAW application:

Connect the recording source to your Line 6 hardware•

Launch POD Farm in Standalone mode, and monitor the POD Farm processed signal thru your • hardware’s Line Outputs. These outputs supply the ToneDirect™ Monitoring magic.

In the POD Farm Mixer View, conﬁgure one set of Record Sends to carry an unprocessed signal. • Choose this Record Send as the input for the DAW track you’re recording into.

Disable your audio software’s Input Monitoring for the track you’re recording into.•

Load POD Farm Plug-In on the recorded DAW audio track and dial in your desired Tone!•

ToneDirect™ Monitoring & your Line 6 hardware as the preferred audio interface

If you choose your Line 6 hardware as the input/output device for your DAW setup, such as to jam along with iTunes® and have all audio played out your Line 6 hardware, you get the beneﬁts of ToneDirect™ Monitoring automatically when running POD Farm in Standalone operation.

POD X3/PODxt users: All Tone processing is performed internally on the POD device, saving CPU resources for recording & mixing tasks!

Using other Line 6 Hardware devices with another audio interface

If you have a non-Line 6 audio interface you’d like to use for your DAW recording/playback, you’ll need to purchase a guitar/signal splitter hardware box, which will afford you the unprocessed dry output needed to feed your guitar input into both your Line 6 hardware and DAW audio interface simultaneously.

Connect your guitar to the splitter input.•

Connect Output A from the splitter to your DAW audio interface - this provides an unprocessed •

4•8

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

guitar signal to record into your DAW audio track.

Choose this channel as the audio track input in your DAW software, and disable input monitoring • for that track.

Connect Output B from the splitter to your Line 6 Hardware, and connect the processed Analog • Outs of your Line 6 hardware to your monitoring system. The idea here is that you’ll want to hear both the Line 6 hardware processed output along with the DAW playback through your monitor system.

Launch the POD Farm in Standalone mode and monitor the POD Farm processed signal thru • your Line 6 hardware’s Outputs. These outputs supply the ToneDirect™ Monitoring magic, so you’ll hear the processed signal with extremely low latency, while simultaneously recording an unprocessed version of your performance into the DAW audio track.

Load POD Farm Plug-In on the recorded DAW audio track and dial in your desired Tone! •

Please check out the additional documentation on the POD Farm Online Help page for tips on computer setup and recording!

Using a TonePort DI, POD X3 or PODxt Pro with another audio interface

If you are using TonePort DI, POD X3 Pro, or PODxt PRO, and want to utilize these devices’ “unprocessed” analog outputs to feed into another sound card device (such as a Digidesign Mbox® to allow recording into Pro Tools® utilizing the POD Farm RTAS Plug-In) you’ll be able to monitor your signal with ToneDirect™ by following these steps:

Connect the signal source (guitar, mic, etc.) to the input of your Line 6 Hardware.•

Connect the unprocessed, dry analog output of TonePort DI/POD X3 Pro/PODxt PRO to the • analog input on your DAW’s audio interface.

Conﬁgure a new audio track in your DAW software to record from this same audio interface • input.

Disable Input Monitoring in your recording application, for the track you’re recording into.•

Connect the processed Analog Outs or Main Outs of your Line 6 hardware to your monitoring • system. The idea here is that you’ll want to hear both the Line 6 hardware processed output along with the DAW playback through your monitor system.

Launch POD Farm in Standalone mode and monitor the recorded signal thru the Analog • Outputs of your Line 6 Hardware to get the beneﬁts of ToneDirect™ Monitoring for your input signal.

Record your track - note you just recorded a “naked”, unprocessed signal into this audio track. • Insert POD Farm Plug-In on the audio track and dial in the desired Tone Preset.

Mac® Users: There’s yet another option for you!

The Mac® Core Audio® driver architecture features the ability to combine the inputs from 2 separate audio interfaces into one “aggregate device”. You may be able to take advantage of this Mac OS X feature with you Line 6 device with another sound card. Please see the Creating an Aggregate Device

section in the Hardware chapter for how to conﬁgure this type of setup on your Mac®, then follow

these steps:

Combine your DAW audio interface and your Line 6 hardware into one aggregate audio device.•

4•9

POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - POD Farm Standalone Operation

Connect the recording source (guitar, mic, etc.) into your Line 6 hardware•

Disable Input Monitoring for the DAW track you’re recording into.•

Launch POD Farm in Standalone mode and, in the Mixer View, make sure that your Line 6 • hardware is sending an unprocessed signal out one of your Record Sends. Choose this Record Send signal as the input for the DAW audio track you’re recording into.

Monitor POD Farm processed signal thru your hardware’s Line Outputs. These outputs supply • the ToneDirect™ Monitoring magic.

Load POD Farm Plug-In on the recorded DAW audio track and dial in your desired Tone! •

For more information about features offered in POD Farm’s Standalone operation mode, please check out the additional documentation found on the POD Farm Online Help site.

4•10

Mac Audio Applications

ma c® au d i o ap p l i c a t i o n S

The following chapters cover the setup of Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 or PODxt as the USB audio device, as well as optionally using POD Farm Plug-In and/or POD Farm in Standalone operation, with several popular Mac® audio applications.

Use the following links to jump to the chapter that covers your speciﬁc application...

Ableton Live

Apple GarageBand

Apple Logic® Pro

Digidesign® Pro Tools® LE

MOTU Digital Performer

Propellerhead Reason

Sonoma WireWorks RiffWorks® T4

Steinberg Cubase

Windows® Audio Applications

5•1

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

ab l e t o n li v e® 7 Se t u p

For this chapter, we’ll show how to conﬁgure Ableton Live® version 7.0.1 to work with Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 or PODxt as the USB audio device, as well as optionally using POD Farm Plug-In and/or POD Farm in Standalone operation on your Mac® computer. The steps are very similar for the setup of other Live versions as well, including the Ableton Live Lite versions.

Choose Your Line 6 Gear Conﬁguration

Before you record your ﬁrst track in any DAW software, you have a few options to consider with your Line 6 hardware & POD Farm gear! You should decide if you want to record a “dry” signal into the audio track, such as if you want to utilize POD Farm Plug-In to “non-destructively” apply your POD Farm Tone onto the recorded track. Or, if you prefer to record a “processed” signal, where the POD Farm Amp/Preamp and Effects are already applied and recorded permanently on the track. We’ll cover the steps to record either of these ways, but ﬁrst it is helpful to understand the options with your particular Line 6 gear...

POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort devices

Using POD Farm in Standalone operation• - Plug a Mic or Instrument directly into your device and launch POD Farm in Standalone operation. Use the Mixer View - Record Send Source options to choose the type of signal fed to your Record Sends. Also see the POD Farm Standalone

chapter for more about the Mixer View.

Processed• - Feeds the same fully processed Tone you hear to the Record Send.

Dry Input• - Feeds a completely unprocessed signal to the Record Send, even though you can

listen to the fully Processed Tone from POD Farm Standalone’s ToneDirect™ Monitoring output.

Semi-Processed• - Feeds a signal processed with only effects that are positioned “Pre” within the POD Farm Standalone Signal Flow for the Tone (all active models positioned left of the Amp/Preamp).

Without using POD Farm in Standalone operation• - Plug a Mic or Instrument directly into your device and conﬁgure the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog to feed your “dry” input source to your device’s Record Sends. See the Audio Driver chapter for more about this. Note that when using this option, you won’t have the beneﬁt of POD Farm ToneDirect™ Monitoring when not running POD Farm in Standalone mode, so you’ll need to enable your DAW software’s monitoring feature on the audio track (more on this in the next section).

POD X3 devices - Plug a Mic or Instrument into your POD X3 and conﬁgure the options within X3’s onboard Outputs - Studio/Direct Mix settings screen to determine what type of signal is fed to the X3’s Record Sends. You can also use the Monitor Volume slider in the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog to control your Monitor level - see the Audio Driver chapter for more about this. Please also refer to your POD X3 Pilot’s Handbook for details on X3’s Output screen options.

PODxt devices - Plug a Mic or Instrument directly into your PODxt device and conﬁgure the options within the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog for the type of signal (Processed or Dry) that is fed to the Record Sends. You can also use the Monitor Volume slider in the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog to control your Monitor level. See the Audio Driver chapter for more about this. Please also refer to your PODxt Pilot’s Handbook for details about output options.

5•2

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

Monitoring through the DAW software - If you are using POD Studio/TonePort/GuitarPort hardware and not running POD Farm in Standalone operation, then you’ll need to use the DAW software’s own monitoring feature to hear your input signal routed through the DAW software’s audio track, as called out in the following steps. This also means you’ll hear the input signal effected with any Plug-Ins, such as if you have POD Farm Plug-In inserted on the same audio track. You may need to set your DAW software’s buffer size fairly low to minimize the “latency” (the time between when you pluck a note on your guitar to the time you actually hear it after feeding through your DAW software and out your speakers). We’ll cover all these steps here...

Conﬁguring Live to Use the Line 6 Core Audio Driver

Be sure to connect the USB cable from your Line 6 device into your computer’s USB port, and then proceed with the following steps...

Launch the Ableton Live Preferences dialog:

Go to the Live menu and choose Preferences

Go to the Audio tab

Choose CoreAudio as the driver type…

Then choose your Line 6 device for both the Input and Output Audio Device. In this example, we’ll choose our connected

UX2

Set a Sample Rate – 44,100 is a good choice here, or you can use 48,000, 88,200 or 96,000 Hz if your Project requires a higher sample rate

Activate Inputs:

Here you can “activate” all the inputs from your Line 6 hardware that you want to be accessible for any audio track as a track input for recording

Click OK when done

5•3

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

You’ll want at least the 1 (mono) & 2 (mono) and the 1/2 (stereo) inputs activated. Each additional activated input utilizes more CPU, so only activate the ones you need!

Note that you’ll see a different number of inputs listed in the Input Conﬁg dialog depending on the speciﬁc Line 6 device you are using. Typically these enumerated inputs correspond to the Line 6 device’s Sends of the same number (i.e. - Live’s input “1/2 (stereo)” is the UX2 Record Send 3-4). More about this when we get to the part about setting up your audio track.

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices (except UX8): You will see 4 Mono inputs and 2 Stereo inputs, as pictured above.

UX8: You’ll see 12 Mono inputs and 6 Stereo inputs.

UX8’s driver offers multiple Inputs and Sends with many ﬂexible options for routing and monitoring. Please reference the Mac Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter for more details

POD X3 devices: You’ll see 8 Mono inputs and 4 Stereo inputs.

POD X3 offers several onboard options for the type of signal that is assigned to each Send. For more info about POD X3 Sends, please reference the Mac Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter, and your POD X3 Pilot’s Handbook.

PODxt devices: You’ll see 2 Mono inputs and 1 Stereo input.

PODxt offers onboard options, as well as options within the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog for the type of signal that is assigned to the Record Send. For more info about the PODxt Send, please reference the Mac Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter, and your PODxt Pilot’s Handbook.

Activate Outputs:

To access the outputs, click the Output Conﬁg button back in the Live Preferences > Audio tab. This will show you all outputs available for your selected Line 6 Output Device.

For all Line 6 devices (except UX8), the Core Audio driver offers Output 1/2, therefore, the dialog will show its two mono and 1 stereo output options, and they will automatically be selected.

UX8: You’ll see 8 mono and 4 stereo outputs. For most Live projects, you likely only need to enable the Output 1/2 mono and stereo options and assign all track playback to one common output.

5•4

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

Note - The Ableton Live Lite versions allow only one stereo output to be used at a time. To be able to choose two or more different output devices in a Live Set, you must switch into Demo mode, or upgrade to a full version of Ableton Live.

Conﬁgure Record Options...

Back in the Live Preferences dialog, now select the Record options...

For File Type you can select AIFF or WAV , whichever format you prefer your recorded audio ﬁles to be created as.

Select the Record Warp Launch tab

For Bit Depth, select 24

Bit

Conﬁguring an Audio Track for Recording

Now that your Line 6 hardware is set up, you are ready to start working in a Live Set! Create a new Live Set (or open an existing one) and insert a new audio track to record into...

Choose Insert Audio Track from Live’s Insert menu

In the following example, we’ve inserted two audio tracks, assigned their outputs to the “Master” track, and assigned the Master Output to the stereo Main 1/2 output of our Line 6 device (UX2). For Audio Track inputs, note that you can select from the mono or stereo inputs of your Line 6 device, which you “activated” in the previous steps. If you choose a stereo input, a stereo audio ﬁle will be recorded into the track, and likewise, if you choose a singular mono input, a mono ﬁle will be recorded.

5•5

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

To conﬁgure your Audio tracks...

Choose Ext. In for the Input

Type

Then choose the stereo or mono input you want to

record from

Set your Audio tracks’ Output to Master

Note that here we’ve chosen to record from UX2’s Send 1-2 for track 1, and Send 1 for

track 2

Choose the Arrangement

View

(Alternatively, you can access all these same settings in the Session View if you prefer)

Click the I-O toggle button to display the Input/ Output settings for the

tracks

On the Master track, choose the stereo Out 1/2 of your Line 6 device for both the Cue Out and Master

Out

* Note that the Master Track offers two Output selectors. The top selector is to set a “Cue Out”, which allows you to route a separate output for playback of browser clips and previews. If you have a UX8 device, then you can set this Cue Out to a different stereo output to allow you to listen to previews on a completely separate headphone or speaker out. Please see Live’s documentation regarding the Cue Out feature. For all other Line 6 hardware, set both Master Outs to the same Out 1/2.

Set Input Monitoring Options...

As mentioned in the previous Choose your Line 6 Gear Conﬁguration section, you’ll want to keep Live’s Monitor function to “off” if you are utilizing POD Farm in Standalone operation, or if using POD X3 or PODxt for their Monitoring capabilities.

Click the audio track’s Monitor Off button

If you are using POD Studio/TonePort/GuitarPort and not running POD Farm in Standalone operation, then you’ll want to turn Live’s Monitor feature to “Auto” on this track to hear your input signal through the Live software. You’ll likely also want to insert POD Farm Plug-In on this audio track now and dial in a Tone to hear applied to your input signal while recording. See Live’s documentation for more about it’s Monitor options.

5•6

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

Arm Your Track & Set Your Levels...

Click the Arm button to arm the audio track for recording

Note that you’ll see the meters measure your input recording level once the track is armed

The type of signal coming into the Live audio track, and how you adjust its input level, depends upon the conﬁguration of Line 6 gear you’ve selected, as covered at the start of this chapter.

If you are using POD Studio/TonePort/GuitarPort hardware and not running POD Farm in • Standalone operation, then you’ll need to use your guitar’s volume knob, the hardware’s Mic Gain knob, or the volume on the external device plugged into any Line In.

If you are using POD X3/PODxt hardware, adjust your levels using the onboard Output controls • for what is routed to the Record Send you’ve selected for the audio track’s inputs.

If you are using POD Farm in Standalone operation, use POD Farm’s Mixer View. Here you can • choose the type of signal fed to either Record Send and adjust the levels independently of the signal you hear coming from the ToneDirect™ Monitoring signal!

Choose the type of “Source” signal that is fed to each Send (Processed, Dry or Semi-Processed)*

Adjust the Record Send Level

If the Record Send output is still very low, even after turning up the Amp & Effects Models’ volumes, activate the +18 boost

POD Farm Standalone Mixer - Record Send controls

* Note that you’ll have different options for POD Farm’s Record Send Sources depending on if you currently have a Single or Dual Tone running. Please see the Mixer View section of the POD Farm Standalone chapter for more info.

5•7

Start Recording!

Once your record level is set, click on Live’s transport Record button to put it into Record Mode, then press Play and start rifﬁng!

Ableton Live 7 Setup - Mac

Insert POD Farm Plug-In

If you want to insert POD Farm Plug-In on your track, simply drag and drop! For more info, please see the Using POD Farm Plug-In section in the Plug-In chapter.

Click on POD Farm Plug-In in the Plug-In Device Browser and drag and drop it directly onto Audio Track 1

5•8

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

ap p l e ga R a g e ba n d® ‘08 Se t u p

For this chapter, we’ll show how to conﬁgure Apple GarageBand® ‘08 to work with Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 or PODxt as the USB audio device, as well as optionally using POD Farm Plug-In and/or POD Farm in Standalone operation on your Mac® computer. The steps are very similar for the setup of other GarageBand versions as well.

Choose Your Line 6 Gear Conﬁguration

POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort devices

chapter for more about the Mixer View.

Processed• - Feeds the same fully processed Tone you hear to the Record Send.

Dry Input• - Feeds a completely unprocessed signal to the Record Send, even though you can

listen to the fully Processed Tone from POD Farm Standalone’s ToneDirect™ Monitoring output.

5•9

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

Conﬁgure Your Mac® to Use Your Line 6 Hardware

If you have not already done so, the ﬁrst step is to go to the Mac System Preferences and select the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices dialog to access the Audio Driver settings. If needed, please reference the Mac

Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter.

Conﬁguring GarageBand to Use the Line 6 Core Audio Driver

Be sure to connect the USB cable from your Line 6 device into your computer’s USB port, and then proceed with the following steps...

Launch GarageBand and choose Preferences from the menu:

Select Audio/MIDI

Select your Line 6 device for both the Audio Output and Audio Input.

Set the Optimize for option to Minimum delay for the best performance. If your session is large and you start getting audio drop-outs, come back here and choose the Maximum... option

Note that after changing the Audio Input and Output options you may be prompted if you want to change the audio driver - click Yes for this prompt

5•10

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

Conﬁguring an Audio Track for Recording

Now that your Line 6 hardware is set up, you are ready to start working in a new project!

Open or create a new GarageBand song project…

Select New Track from the GarageBand Track menu

Select Real Instrument Track, and click Create

You should now see a new audio track (or “Basic Track” as GarageBand calls it), added to your project. Click on the track header to make sure it is the selected track, and you’ll see the properties for this new track at the right, in the Track Info panel...

For the Input Source, you’ll see all the available Mono and Stereo Inputs for your Line 6 device choose the one you want to record from.

Leave Monitor set to off

(See below about Monitor options)

Adjust the Recording Level slider to around 75% - this will affect the amplitude of the signal being fed into the GarageBand Track, but it is best to keep it at this moderate setting and use your Line 6 hardware and/or POD Farm Mixer Record Send controls to adjust your recording level

Keep the Automatic Level Control unchecked

5•11

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

Monitor Options

As mentioned in the previous Choose your Line 6 Gear Conﬁguration section, you’ll want to keep GarageBand’s Monitor function to “off” if you are utilizing POD Farm in Standalone operation, or if using POD X3 or PODxt for their Monitoring capabilities.

If you are using POD Studio/TonePort/GuitarPort an not running POD Farm in Standalone operation, then you’ll want to check the box for GarageBand’s Monitor feature for the audio track to hear your input signal through the GarageBand software. You’ll likely also want to insert POD Farm Plug-In on this audio track now and dial in a Tone to hear applied to your input signal while recording. See GarageBand’s documentation for more about its Monitor options.

About Input Source Options...

In the GarageBand Input Source menu, you will see slightly different input sources depending on your speciﬁc Line 6 device:

POD Studio, TonePort (except UX8) & GuitarPort: You’ll see options similar to this...

The individual Mono 1 thru 4 options receive input from the hardware’s respective Record • Sends 1 thru 4, and record a mono ﬁle.

The Stereo 1/2 and Stereo 3/4 options receive input from the hardware’s respective Record • Sends 1-2 and 3-4, and record a stereo ﬁle.

Note that if you have POD Farm running in Standalone operation, the type of signal fed into Record Sends 1-2 and 3-4 is determined by the Source options you select in POD Farm’s Mixer View.

TonePort UX8: You’ll see the following options:

The Mono Input 1 thru 8 options receive input from the hardware’s respective Record Sends 1 • thru 8.

5•12

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

The individual Mono 9 thru 12 options receive input from POD Farm’s Record Sends 9 thru 12*, • and record a mono ﬁle (when POD Farm is running in Standalone operation).

The Stereo 1/2 thru Stereo 7/8 options receive input from UX8’s respective Record Sends 1-2 • thru 7-8, and record a stereo ﬁle.

The Stereo 9/10 and Stereo 11/12 options receive input from the respective POD Farm’s Record • Sends 9-10 and 11-12*, and record a stereo ﬁle (when POD Farm is running in Standalone operation).

* Note that the type of signal fed into Record Sends 9-10 and 11-12 is determined by the Source options you select in POD Farm’s Mixer View. UX8’s driver also offers multiple Inputs and Sends with many ﬂexible options for routing and monitoring. Please reference the Mac Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter for more info.

POD X3 devices: You’ll see the following options:

The individual Mono 1 thru 8 options receive input from the respective POD X3 Record Sends • 1 thru 8, and record a mono ﬁle.

The Stereo 1/2 thru Stereo 7/8 options receive input from the respective POD X3 Record Sends • 1-2 thru 7-8, and record a stereo ﬁle.

POD X3 offers onboard options for the type of signal that is fed to Record Sends 1-2 within its onboard Output screen options, while Record Sends 3-8 all carry Dry input signals. See the Mac Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter, and your POD X3 Pilot’s Handbook.

PODxt devices: You’ll see the following options:

The individual Mono 1 and 2 options receive input from the respective PODxt Record Sends 1 • and 2, and record a mono ﬁle.

The Stereo 1/2 option receives input from the respective PODxt Record Send 1-2, and records • a stereo ﬁle.

PODxt offers options for the type of signal fed to the Record Sends within the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog. See the Mac Driver Settings section of the Audio Driver chapter, and your Pilot’s Handbook.

5•13

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

GarageBand Track Effects and POD Farm Plug-In

Within the lower portion of the Track Info panel, GarageBand offers a number of optional track effects, and some are typically on by default on a new Audio Track. You probably want to toggle them off if you are recording a Processed signal from POD Farm’s Standalone Mixer, or from a POD device.

If you are recording a Dry signal into the audio track, then you might want to use some of these effects to non-destructively process the playback of your recorded track. If you want to insert POD Farm PlugIn on the audio track, you can click on any of the 4 pop-up menus here and choose the POD Farm Plug-In. As mentioned in the Monitoring options section above, if you have GarageBand’s Monitor option active, then you’ll also hear your input source with any of these effects applied to it as it is fed through the GarageBand software.

To get to the track effects, click on the Details twirl-down arrow in the Track Info panel:

The “built-in” track effects can be enabled/disabled via the checkboxes.

To insert POD Farm Plug-In (or any other AU Plug-In installed on your system) select it in one of the effect pop-up menus.

Arm Your Track and Set Your Recording Levels

Click here and type in name for your track

Press the Arm button to prepare your track for recording

The type of signal coming into your GarageBand track, and how you adjust its input level, depends upon the conﬁguration of Line 6 gear you’ve selected, as covered at the start of this chapter.

If you are using POD X3/PODxt hardware, adjust your levels using the onboard Output controls • for what is routed to the Record Send you’ve selected for the audio track’s inputs.

Note that the track meters measure the input signal once the track is armed

5•14

Apple GarageBand ‘08 Setup - Mac

Choose the type of “Source” signal that is fed to each Send (Processed, Dry or Semi-Processed)*

Adjust the Record Send Level

If the Record Send output is still very low, even after turning up the Amp & Effects Models’ volumes, activate the +18 boost

POD Farm Standalone Mixer - Record Send controls

Start Recording!

Click on the transport Record button and start recording!

5•15

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

ap p l e lo g i c® pR o 8 Se t u p

For this chapter, we’ll show how to conﬁgure Apple Logic® Pro 8 to work with Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort, POD X3 or PODxt as the USB audio device, as well as optionally using POD Farm Plug-In and/or POD Farm in Standalone operation on your Mac® computer. The steps are very similar for the setup of Apple Logic® 8 Express, as well as other recent Logic versions.

Choose Your Line 6 Gear Conﬁguration

POD Studio, TonePort, GuitarPort devices

chapter for more about the Mixer View.

Processed• - Feeds the same fully processed Tone you hear to the Record Send.

Dry Input• - Feeds a completely unprocessed signal to the Record Send, even though you can

listen to the fully Processed Tone from POD Farm Standalone’s ToneDirect™ Monitoring output.

5•16

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

Conﬁguring Logic Pro to Use the Line 6 Core Audio Driver

Launch the Logic Pro application. If a project opens, go to Logic’s File menu and select Close Project to exit it.

Open the Logic Preferences...

Go to the Logic Pro menu and choose Audio...

Click on the Core Audio tab

Check the Enable box

Select your Line 6 device

Set the I/O Buffer Size to 256*. If you encounter audio drop-outs in your Logic Pro Projects, come back here and raise this to a slightly higher value

Check the box for 24 Bit Recording

Click Apply Changes when done

* As mentioned above, if you are not to be running POD Farm in Standalone operation, and instead utilizing Logic’s software monitoring feature, then you may want to set the I/O buffer size here to the lowest value that still offers playback & recording stability with your project. This will minimize latency.

5•17

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

Create & Conﬁgure a New Project

Go to the File menu and select New...

In the New... dialog, choose

Empty Project

Typically, Logic will immediately prompt you with the New Track dialog, where you can create one or more audio tracks, and designate the track’s input and output.

Type in the number of tracks and type to be created we’ll just add one audio track...

Choose Mono or Stereo for the track Format

For the Input options, you’ll be able to select either an individual mono input or stereo input, depending on your Format selection*

The Audio tracks’ Output Routing should default to your Line 6 device’s Output 1-2 (see below regarding UX8’s Output options)

Keep Input Monitoring and Record Enable unchecked. (We’ll cover more on Monitoring options in a later section).

*When the Mono Format is chosen, you’ll see one mono Input option for each Send channel that your Line 6 device offers. Likewise, if the Stereo Format is chosen, you’ll see one stereo Input option for each Stereo Send your hardware offers. Since we’re using a Line 6 UX2 device, the track Input options appear like this...

Stereo Inputs

You’ll have a different number of track Input and Output options available depending on your speciﬁc Line 6 device:

Mono Inputs

POD Studio, TonePort & GuitarPort devices (except UX8): You will see 4 Mono Inputs and 2 Stereo Inputs, as pictured above.

The individual Mono Inputs 1 thru 4 receive input from the hardware’s respective Record Sends •

5•18

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

1 thru 4, and record a mono ﬁle.

The Stereo Inputs 1-2 and 3-4 receive input from the hardware’s respective Record Sends 1-2 • and 3-4, and record a stereo ﬁle.

Note that if you have POD Farm running in Standalone operation, the type of signal fed into Record Sends 1-2 and 3-4 is determined by the Source options you select in POD Farm’s Mixer View.

UX8: You’ll see 12 Mono inputs and 6 Stereo inputs.

The individual Mono Inputs 9 thru 12 receive input from POD Farm’s Record Sends 9 thru 12*, • and record a mono ﬁle (when POD Farm is running in Standalone operation).

The Stereo Inputs 1/2 thru 7/8 receive input from UX8’s respective Record Sends 1-2 thru 7-8, • and record a stereo ﬁle.

The Stereo Inputs 9/10 and 11/12 receive input from the respective POD Farm’s Record Sends 9-10 • and 11-12*, and record a stereo ﬁle (when POD Farm is running in Standalone operation).

POD X3 devices: You’ll see 8 Mono inputs and 4 Stereo inputs.

The individual Mono Inputs 1 thru 8 receive input from the respective POD X3 Record Sends 1 • thru 8, and record a mono ﬁle.

The Stereo Inputs 1/2 thru 7/8 receive input from the respective POD X3 Record Sends 1-2 thru • 7-8, and record a stereo ﬁle.

PODxt devices: You’ll see 2 Mono inputs and 1 Stereo input.

The individual Mono 1 and 2 options receive input from the respective PODxt Record Sends 1 • and 2, and record a mono ﬁle.

The Stereo 1/2 option receives input from the respective PODxt Record Send 1-2, and records • a stereo ﬁle.

5•19

Next, we need to select a sample rate for our Project...

44,100 Hz is a good choice for your Sample

Rate, or you can choose 48,000, 88,200 or 96,000 Hz if your project speciﬁcally requires one of these higher rates

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

Select the Project Settings > Audio dialog from the File menu

Now that the Project is all conﬁgured, it’s a good time to Save It! Go to File > Save and type in a name and choose a directory to Save to.

Conﬁguring an Audio Track for Recording

A few more quick settings to cover for the audio track...

Set Input Monitoring Options and Get Armed and Ready...

As mentioned in the previous Choose your Line 6 Gear Conﬁguration section, you’ll want to keep Logic’s Input Monitor function “off” on the audio track if you are utilizing POD Farm in Standalone operation, or if using POD X3 or PODxt for their Monitoring capabilities. This way, your input is not also fed through the Logic software.

5•20

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

Keep the audio track’s Input Monitor button set to OFF

Click the Record Ready button to ON

Note that once the track is in Record Ready mode, you’ll be able to see the input signal in both the track header or to the left in the “Inspector”. You can use this to reference your record levels coming from your Line 6 device

If you are using POD Studio/TonePort/GuitarPort an not running POD Farm in Standalone operation, then you’ll want to turn the Logic track’s Input Monitor button “ON” to hear your input signal through the Logic software. You’ll likely also want to insert POD Farm Plug-In on this audio track now and dial in a Tone to hear applied to your input signal while recording. See the Logic Pro documentation for more about it’s Input Monitor options.

Set Your Recording Levels

Be sure to set your record levels before you start recording. The signal coming into the Logic track, and how you adjust its level, depends upon the conﬁguration of Line 6 gear you’ve selected, as covered at the start of this chapter.

If you are using POD X3/PODxt hardware, adjust your levels using the onboard Output controls • for what is routed to the Record Send you’ve selected for the audio track’s inputs.

If you are using POD Farm in Standalone operation, use POD Farm’s Mixer View. Note that here • you can choose the type of signal fed to either Record Send and adjust the levels independently of the signal you hear coming from the ToneDirect™ Monitoring signal!

5•21

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

Choose the type of “Source” signal that is fed to each Send (Processed, Dry or Semi-Processed)*

Adjust the Record Send Level

If the Record Send output is still very low, even after turning up the Amp & Effects Models’ volumes, activate the +18 boost

POD Farm Standalone Mixer - Record Send controls

Start Recording!

Once your record level is set, click on the transport Record button and start rifﬁng!

Insert POD Farm Plug-In

Logic Pro supports the AU Plug-In format, and if you installed the POD Farm AU Plug-In type during your POD Farm installation, it should automatically appear in Logic’s Insert menus. To insert POD Farm Plug-In on your audio track, in the Logic Inspector panel with your audio track selected (or in

5•22

Apple Logic Pro 8 - Mac

the Logic Mixer panel), click on one of the Insert slots and choose POD Farm Plug-In from the list of effects. Note that if your audio track is Stereo, you’ll see a Stereo POD Farm Plug-In. If your track is Mono, you’ll have the option of choosing either “Mono” or “Mono-Stereo” for the Plug-In. You’ll want to choose the option that best matches your audio track’s signal routing in Logic. Also note that if you are using any stereo effects within your POD Farm Plug-In Tones, if you choose the “Mono” option then the stereo output of these effect models will be “folded down” to mono.

Click one of the Insert selectors in the Inspector panel for your audio track and select POD Farm Plug-In from the list of effects.

In this example, we’re inserting the Plug-In on the stereo audio track 1, therefore, the POD Farm Plug-In option is “Stereo”.

In this example, we’re inserting the Plug-In on the mono audio track 2, therefore, the POD Farm Plug-In options are “Mono” or “Mono > Stereo”.

For more info, please see the POD Farm Plug-In chapter and your Logic Pro documentation.

5•23

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

di g i d e S i g n® pR o to o l S® le™ 7 Se t u p

Digidesign® has designed Pro Tools® software so it can only be used with a Digidesign or M-Audio audio interface; you cannot use your Line 6 hardware as the primary audio interface for a Pro Tools system. But you can still utilize the RTAS® POD Farm Plug-In in any Pro Tools setup! Additionally you can also connect the outputs of your Line 6 device to a Digidesign (or M-Audio) interface’s inputs to record your processed POD Farm or POD processed tones directly into Pro Tools. UX2, UX8, KB37, POD X3 and PODxt PRO even let you do this with a direct, digital connection.

For this document, we’ll be showing how to connect to the Digidesign® Mbox® 2 unit with Pro Tools LE™ 7.3.1. These steps are similar for connecting to the Digi 002® or other Digidesign and M-Audio hardware as well. There are two methods described here – Recording from a Line 6 USB device’s analog outputs or digital S/PDIF outputs.

Note - If you want to record a “dry”, unprocessed input signal into Pro Tools, and use POD Farm Plug-In on the Pro Tools audio track, then you can simply plug your instrument or Mic directly into your Digidesign/ M-Audio hardware and monitor your input signal through the Pro Tools software. Please read through the

Pro Tools section within the POD Farm Plug-In chapter for details on this type of conﬁguration. You will

need your Line 6 hardware connected for POD Farm Plug-In to be authorized to run on the computer.

Recording from Your Line 6 Hardware’s Analog Outputs

In this setup example, we’ll show how to connect a Line 6 (POD Studio or TonePort) UX2 to a Digidesign Mbox 2 unit, and then use POD Farm in Standalone operation to dial in Tones and choose what type of signal to feed into the Pro Tools audio track (Processed or Dry). This allows us to take advantage of POD Farm’s ToneDirect Monitoring for super low latency. These steps are much the same for any Line 6 POD Studio, TonePort or GuitarPort device.

If you are using a POD X3 or PODxt device it is not necessary to connect your POD to a computer via USB at all for this type of analog connection since Tones can be by called up & edited, and output levels conﬁgured completely on your POD device! (If you are to be using POD Farm Plug-In, you will need your Line 6 hardware connected to the USB port for POD Farm Plug-In to be authorized to run on the computer).

Be sure to connect the USB cable from UX2 into your computer’s USB port, and then proceed with the following steps…

Connect the Analog Outputs* from your Line 6 hardware to the Digidesign Mbox 2:

Using two ¼” to ¼” shielded TS or TRS audio cables, plug each into the Analog Outs of your device

Connect a USB cable to your device & computer’s USB port

5•24

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

*Note - If you are using a GuitarPort device, the Analog Outs are the RCA style jacks labelled “L” and “R”. If using a UX8, you should connect to the “Out 1” and “Out 2” jacks on the back.

Plug the other end of the left audio cable into the Mbox Input 1 input, and the right audio cable into the Mbox Source 2 input.

Connect a USB cable to your Mbox 2 & computer’s USB port

From your Line 6 device’s Right Analog Out (or “Out 2”), connect to the Mbox 2 Input 2 - Line input

From your Line 6 device’s Left Analog Out (or “Out 1”), connect to the Mbox 2 Input 1 - Line input

Use the Mbox 2 Mon Outputs to hear playback of all Pro Tools LE audio. The Line 6 Hardware output audio will be mixed with the Pro Tools LE audio as well. Therefore, if you are using headphones, you’ll

want to plug them into the Mbox 2 headphone jack to hear everything:

If you want to use headphones for monitoring, plug them in to the Mbox 2 Headphone Out

From the Mbox Mon Out jacks, connect to the Left and Right inputs for your powered speakers or monitoring system

POD Farm Standalone Operation

Launch POD Farm in Standalone operation, connect your guitar, Mic or other instrument, and then dial in the Tone you want recorded in Pro Tools. Note that since you’ll be recording the signal from the Analog Outputs of your hardware, both the Tone’s Pan & Volume knobs in the Signal Flow View as well as the main Output Volume knob will affect your output signal.

5•25

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

Use the Main Output Level and Tone 1 & 2 Pan and Volume knobs to control the output level fed into the Pro Tools hardware

Please also see the POD Farm Standalone Operation chapter for details on speciﬁc controls. It is important to note here, however, that the POD Farm Mixer View only adjusts audio fed to the Record Sends, and you are feeding your POD Farm output into Pro Tools via the Line 6 hardware’s Analog Outs. Therefore, you won’t be utilizing the Record Sends (nor the Mixer View) for this type of setup.

POD X3 & PODxt Devices

If you are using POD X3, you’ll want to check out POD X3’s Output screen options in your POD X3

Pilot’s Handbook - In particular, the Reference: Conﬁguration & Setup chapter covers the options

for choosing your inputs (Mic, Line, Instrument, or multiple input sources) as well as things such as a Tone Blend versus Tone Pair tone setting, panning tones and effects, etc. Basically, this is the point where you’ll want to have your instrument or mic plugged into POD X3 and have your Tone sounding the way you want it to be recorded from X3’s 1/4 inch Analog Outputs. You’ll also want to be sure the panning and levels of the tones and effects feeding to the POD X3 Left and Right analog outs are the way you want each to be recorded into your Pro Tools track(s).

If you are using PODxt, you’ll want to select the Studio Direct Mode within PODxt’s Output Mode screen since you’ll be feeding the signal from your Analog Outputs into the Pro Tools hardware. See your PODxt Pilot’s Handbook for information about these output settings.

Create a New Pro Tools LE Session

Once you have your Line 6 hardware and/or POD Farm conﬁgured, then the next step is to launch Pro Tools LE and set up a Session for recording...

5•26

Type in a title for the Session and choose where to save it

Choose the Sample Rate and Bit Depth - 44.1 kHz and 24 Bit are good choices unless you have speciﬁc needs for your project

File Type - BWF (.WAV) is a good choice here since this ﬁle type is compatible with both Mac and Windows

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

To start a new Session in Pro Tools LE, choose New Session from the File menu

For I/O Settings, Stereo Mix is best

Create and Conﬁgure a New Audio Track

Next you’ll need to create at least one new audio track in the session to record into. You can of course also create more audio tracks if you want to import existing audio ﬁles into this session...

In the Track menu, select New...

Choose how many Tracks to create

Choose Mono or Stereo* for your audio track format

Choose Audio Track for the Track type

Choose Samples

5•27

...Then click Create

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

*You’ll need to decide before creating each recording track here if you want to record the output from your Line 6 hardware as Mono or Stereo. Mono will of course only record one of your Line 6 device’s (Left or Right) outputs, and you’ll choose which once the track is created. If you have stereo effects active on your POD Farm or POD tone, then you’ll probably want to choose Stereo to record both channels into a stereo track.

At the top left of the Edit Window, click the View selector and enable the I/O View

On the new audio track, click on the Input Selector and choose the Mbox Interface input source. Since we created a Stereo track here, we’ll select the In 1-2 (Stereo) to record from the Mbox Mic/Line (analog) inputs

Or… if you created a mono audio track, you’ll have the option for the track input to choose either In 1 (Mono) to capture the LEFT signal, or In 2 (Mono) to capture the RIGHT signal:

Click the R button to arm the audio track for recording

The track meters will now measure the Line 6 Device’s signal level

*Muting the track during recording disables the Pro Tools LE software monitoring feature, which allows your Line 6 hardware analog signal to be monitored with the lowest latency possible. Adjust the Mbox MIX knob to balance the Pro Tools session audio playback with the input audio (see your Mbox documentation for details). Once you are done recording, un-mute the track so you can hear playback.

Click the M button to mute the track while recording*

5•28

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

Note to Digi 002 users… When using the Digi 002 hardware with Pro Tools LE, an additional Low Latency Monitoring option is available within Pro Tools LE Operations menu. You can alternatively keep your track un-muted and activate this option to hear your input monitoring signal when recording (see your Digi 002/Pro Tools LE documentation for more on this feature).

Set your Recording Levels - As shown above, once your audio track is armed, you can use the track’s

meters to gauge your recording levels. Note that the levels coming into the track are affected by your POD Farm Standalone software Tone and Main volume knobs or POD Tone Output levels. Also, the main Output or Master Volume knob on your Line 6 hardware unit affects the signal level going out the Analog Outs, and thus the input level into Pro Tools. Finally, the Mbox unit includes level knobs for Inputs 1 & 2 to adjust the incoming signal level. The best practice is to set all of these controls to roughly half way to start, and then adjust each of them slightly to achieve the optimum level. You want to avoid setting any one control very high or very low to avoid excess noise or degrading the signal quality.

Be sure the input switches are set so that the green Mic light is illuminated for both Inputs 1 & 2 (since we’re plugging into these Mic/Line inputs)

Keep both the Mono and 48V (phantom power) switches off

Start Recording...

Use the Input 1 & 2 knobs to adjust the recording levels

Click the transport Record button to place Pro Tools LE into record mode, then press the Play button to start recording!

5•29

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

Recording from Your Line 6 Hardware’s S/PDIF Outputs

POD Studio/TonePort UX2, UX8, POD X3 and PODxt Live units all include S/PDIF outputs, therefore you can optionally connect these outputs to your Digidesign hardware to record digitally into Pro Tools or Pro Tools LE! In this setup example, we’ll show how to connect a Line 6 UX2 to a Digidesign Mbox 2 unit, and we’ll call out where different steps might be necessary for the other Line 6 devices.

For more information regarding using your Line 6 device’s S/PDIF connections, please also see the section S/PDIF Digital Output from Line 6 Hardware to an External Device in the Audio Driver chapter. The Pilot’s Handbook that came with your Line 6 device includes more useful information as well.

Connect Your Hardware...

Using a 75-Ohm, coaxial S/PDIF cable, plug one end into the S/PDIF Digital Out of your Line 6 device

Plug the other end of the S/PDIF cable into the Mbox S/PDIF In

If you want to use headphones for monitoring, plug them in to the Mbox 2 Headphone Out

From the Mbox Mon Out jacks, connect to the Left and Right inputs for your powered speakers or monitoring system

You will still use the Mbox Mon Out jacks (or Headphone Output) to hear playback of all Pro Tools LE audio. The Line 6 Hardware audio will be mixed with the Pro Tools LE audio if you use the Pro Tools software monitoring function. See the later section regarding monitoring for more on this.

5•30

Digidesign Pro Tools LE 7 Setup - Mac

UX2, UX8 & KB37 Conﬁguration

When connecting two hardware devices digitally, it is necessary that both units are set to operate at the same sample rate. For POD Studio and TonePort devices, this is conﬁgured in the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Settings dialog. Note that you will need to have your Line 6 device connected to your computer’s USB port, but you must not have the POD Farm Standalone application running - this is necessary to change sample rate settings. To get to this dialog, go to the Mac System Preferences and launch the Line 6 Audio-MIDI Devices. In the dialog, go to the Driver tab:

Choose your Line 6 Device...

Then set the preferred sample rate for the Format. Mbox 2 supports 44100 or 48000 Hz - we’ll use 44100 Hz for this example

5•31

Line 6 POD Farm Plug-In, POD Studio GX, POD Studio UX1, POD Studio UX2, POD Farm Setup Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

ge t t i n g St a R t e d

Installing Line 6 Audio Drivers and POD Farm Software

About POD Farm

Updating & Registering with Line 6 Monkey

Product Activation & Authorization

About This Guide…

Additional Online Resources

au d i o dR i v e R co n f i g u R a t i o n

Mac® Driver Settings

Mac® OS X® System Preferences Settings

Windows® Driver Settings

Windows® Default Sound Device Settings

S/PDIF Digital Output from Line 6 Hardware to an External Device

pod fa R m pl u g -in

Activation & USB Hardware

Using the POD Farm VST or AU Plug-In - Ableton Live 7

POD Farm Plug-In Automation Parameter Table

pod fa R m St a n d a l o n e op e R a t i o n

Choosing Your POD Farm Source Inputs

Tone Pan and Volume Controls & Meters

Monitor Volume Control & Meters

Mixer View

About Record Sends...

POD Farm Record Send Controls

ToneDirect™ Monitoring

ma c® au d i o ap p l i c a t i o n S