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.

1•1

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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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

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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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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POD Farm Recording Setup Guide - Audio Driver Conﬁguration

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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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

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