Line 6 POD X3 Family User Manual

POD X3 Family

Pilot’s Handbook

Manuel de pilotage

Pilotenhandbuch Pilotenhandboek

Manual del Piloto

An in-depth exploration of the advanced technologies and

pulsing tonal pleasures of POD X3, POD X3 Live & POD X3 Pro.

40-00-0120 Electrophonic Limited Edition available @ www.line6.com/manuals Rev D

The serial number can be found on the bottom or back of your POD X3, POD X3 Live or POD X3 Pro. It’s the number that begins with “(21)”. Please note it here for future reference:

SERIAL NO:

WARNING: To reduce the risk of ﬁre or

electric shock, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture.

CAUTION: To reduce the risk of ﬁre or electric shock,

do not remove screws. No user-serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualiﬁed service personnel.

NOTICE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant

to Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

The lightning symbol within a triangle means “electrical caution!” It indicates the presence of information about operating voltage and potential risks of electrical shock.

The exclamation point within a triangle means “caution!” Please read the information next to all caution signs.

You should read these Important Safety Instructions

Keep these instructions in a safe place

Before using your POD X3, POD X3 Live or POD X3 Pro, carefully read the applicable items of these operating

instructions and safety suggestions.

1. Obey all warnings on the POD X3, POD X3 Live or POD X3 Pro, and in this Pilot’s Handbook.

2. Do not place near heat sources, such as radiators, heat registers, or appliances which produce heat.

3. Guard against objects or liquids entering the enclosure.

4. Connect only to AC power outlets rated 100-120V or 230V 47-63Hz (depending on the voltage range of the included power supply).

5. Do not step on power cords. Do not place items on top of power cords so that they are pinched or leaned on. Pay particular attention to the cord at the plug end and the point where it connects to the POD X3, POD X3 Live or POD X3 Pro.

6. Unplug your POD X3, POD X3 Live or POD X3 Pro when not in use for extended periods of time.

7. Do not perform service operations beyond those described in this Pilot’s Handbook. In the following circumstances, repairs should be performed only by qualiﬁed service personnel:

 • liquidisspilledintotheunit

 • anobjectfallsintotheunit

 • theunitdoesnotoperatenormallyorchangesinperformanceinasignicantway

 • theunitisdroppedortheenclosureisdamaged

8. Prolonged listening at high volume levels may cause irreparable hearing loss and/or damage. Always be sure to practice “safe listening.”

Please Note:

Line 6, POD, POD X3, POD X3 Live, POD X3 Pro. PODxt, Vetta, FBV, FBV Shortboard, FBV Express, and FBV4 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. Product names, images, and artists’ names are used solely to identify the products whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model development for this product. The use of these products, trademarks, images, and artists’ names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement.

Table of Contents

Tutorial: POD X3 Live for Guitar ......................................... 1•1

Tutorial: POD X3 & POD X3 Pro for Guitar ...................... 2•1

Controls & Connections ........................................................ 3•1

POD X3 .......................................................................................................... 3•1

POD X3 Live .................................................................................................. 3•8

POD X3 Pro ................................................................................................. 3•16

Getting Around, Tones & Tuner ............................................. 4•1

Home Page ..................................................................................................... 4•1

The Dual Tone Concept ................................................................................ 4•3

Tone Volume Controls ................................................................................... 4•5

Preset Folders ................................................................................................. 4•7

Recalling Presets ............................................................................................ 4•8

Recalling User Presets on POD X3 Live ........................................................ 4•9

Locking Tone 2 ............................................................................................ 4•10

Saving Tones ................................................................................................ 4•11

Tuner ............................................................................................................ 4•12

Reference: Tweaking Tones .................................................... 5•1

Amp + Cab .................................................................................................... 5•1

Tone Controls ................................................................................................ 5•2

Stomp Boxes ................................................................................................... 5•4

Modulation Effects ......................................................................................... 5•7

Delay .............................................................................................................. 5•9

Reverb .......................................................................................................... 5•11

Gate .............................................................................................................. 5•12

Compressor ................................................................................................... 5•13

EQ ................................................................................................................ 5•14

Wah .............................................................................................................. 5•15

Volume Pedal ............................................................................................... 5•16

Effects Loop (X3 Live & Pro) ...................................................................... 5•17

Reference: Conﬁguration & Setup ....................................... 6•1

Inputs .............................................................................................................. 6•1

Outputs ........................................................................................................... 6•2

System ............................................................................................................ 6•5

Commands ..................................................................................................... 6•7

Example Setups ..................................................................... 7•1

Mono or Stereo Recording or Direct to Mixer/PA ........................................ 7•1

Recording Tone 1 & 2 to Separate Mono Tracks .......................................... 7•2

Recording Tone 1 & 2 to Separate Stereo Tracks (X3 Live & Pro) .............. 7•2

Feed One Guitar Amp ................................................................................... 7•3

Feed Two Guitar Amps, One for Tone 1 and One for Tone 2 ....................... 7•3

Feed Two Guitar Amps, One “Wet” and One “Dry” ..................................... 7•4

Feed a Guitar Amp & Send Separate XLR Direct Outs (X3 Live & Pro) .... 7•5

Electric Guitar to On-Stage Amp and Direct Out +

Vocals/Acoustic/etc. to Direct Out Only ....................................................... 7•6

USB & Computer Software .................................................. 8•1

Updating POD X3, POD X3 Live or POD X3 Pro’s Firmware ...................... 8•1

Setting Up for USB Recording ...................................................................... 8•2

Appendix A: Signal Flow ....................................................... A•1

POD X3 ......................................................................................................... A•1

POD X3 Live ................................................................................................. A•2

POD X3 Pro .................................................................................................. A•3

Tu T o r i a l : PoD X3 li v e f o r Gu i T a r

Press to get to User Bank 32 Press to load preset D.

Tutorials

1. Plug your guitar into Guitar In.

2. Turn on POD X3 Live.

3. Recall User Preset “32D: Tutorial1”.

1•1

Tutorials

Turn to pick an

Amp Model.

TYPE selects from Guitar, Bass and Pre-Amp Models.

Double-press to show AMP+CAB settings.

1•2

4. The Home Page shows with the Amp+Cab block selected.

5. Pick an Amp Model.

6. Tweak the Amp Tone Controls.

7. Pick a Stomp Model and tweak it.

Double Press

Turn to select DISTORTION: KILLER Z

Turn to tweak upper row settings. Turn to tweak lower row settings.

Press down to select lower row.

Tutorials

1•3

Tutorials

Double Press

Press down to select lower row.

Ta p is set to quarter note.

Set CONFIG

to POST.

Ta p delay temo.

1•4

8. Show the Delay settings.

9. Set the Delay tempo, and set it to run post (after the Amp Model).

10. Select the EQ.

Press to show the Home Page.

Press to turn

EQ on/off.

Double-press to show EQ settings.

Press up/down/left/ right to select EQ.

There is no model select for EQ.

Press up/down to select upper/lower row.

11. Tweak the EQ.

Tutorials

1•5

Tutorials

HOLD FOR 2 SECONDS

1•6

12. Turn both Tones on at once.

13. Load preset to Tone 2 Only.

14. Select and Tweak Tone 1/Tone 2.

Tone 1 is selected above.Tone 2 is selected above.

PRESS BRIEFLY

15. These knobs and footswitches control only one Tone at a time:

Tutorials

1•7

Tutorials

Choose to

edit name for

Tone 1 or Tone 2.

Move

cursor.

Change

character.

Press to

finish save.

Choose a User

location to save to.

PRESS

1•8

16. Tweak combined volume of Tone 1 + Tone 2.

17. Save.

Tu T o r i a l : PoD X3 & PoD X3 Pr o

Press to show the Home Page.

Press to return to the

Home Page.

Turn to select .

Turn to choose folder User .

Turn to choose preset

32D Tutorial 1.

PAD

Tutorials

f o r

Gu i T a r

1. Plug your guitar into Input 1.

2. Turn on POD X3 or POD X3 Pro.

3. Recall User Preset “32D:Tutorial1”.

2•1

Tutorials

AMP+CAB is off (outlined). AMP+CAB is on (black).

PRESS

Turn to pick an

Amp Model.

TYPE selects from Guitar, Bass and Pre-Amp Models.

PRESS

Double-press

2•2

4. Turn on the Amp Model.

5. Pick an Amp Model.

6. Tweak the Amp Tone Controls.

7. Pick a Stomp Model and tweak it.

Double-press

Turn to select DISTORTION: KILLER Z

Turn to tweak upper row settings. Turn to tweak lower row settings.

Press down to select

lower row.

Double-press

DOUBLE-PRESS TO ADJUST

Tutorials

2•3

8. Show the Delay settings.

Tutorials

Ta p is set to quarter note.

Set CONFIG

to post.

Ta p delay tempo

Press down to select

lower row. Press to show the Home Page.

Press up/down/left/ right to select EQ.

Press to turn

EQ on/off.

Double-press to show EQ settings.

There is no model select for EQ.

Press up/down to select upper/lower row.

2•4

9. Set the Delay tempo, and set it to run post (after the Amp Model).

10. Select the EQ.

11. Tweak the EQ.

12. Turn both Tones on at once.

Press to show the Home Page.

PRESS TO

SAVE

HOLD FOR DUAL

HOLD FOR 2 SECONDS

PRESS

Turn to choose preset

Bubble Echo . Turn to select .

Turn to select folder FX HVY .

Preset loads into Tone 2.

Tone 1 is selected above.Tone 2 is selected above.

PRESS BRIEFLY

13. Load preset to Tone 2 only.

Tutorials

2•5

14. Select and tweak Tone 1/Tone 2.

Tutorials

Choose to

edit name for

Tone 1 or Tone 2.

Move

cursor.

Change

character.

Press to

finish save.

Choose a User

location to save to.

PRESS

PRESS ON/OFF • DOUBLE-PRE SS TO ADJUST

DRIVE BASS MIDDLE PRESEN C E

VOLUME

REVERB TON ETREBLE

2•6

15. These knobs and buttons control only one Tone at a time:

16. Tweak the combined volume of Tone 1 + Tone 2.

17. Save.

Co n T r o l s & Co n n e C T i o n s

POD X3

Controls & Connections

3•1

Display – the LCD (liquid crystal display) is your window into the power of POD

X3. You’ll see (2) types of “pages” in the display:

Home Page – the “Tone Path” Home Page shows you all the digital processing “blocks” that are working to deliver your great tone. For User Presets, you can also switch to a “Big User” Home Page, which shows you the bank and channel number where the preset is stored. The tone names that are loaded in the current preset, and the bank and channel number where the preset is stored are also displayed. You can get to the Home Page at any time by pressing the Home button. You can toggle between the two Home Pages by repeatedly pressing the Home button.

Edit Page – shows you all parameters available to tweak for a processing block or setup page.

Controls & Connections

Tone Path Home Page Big User Home Page

(available for User Presets only)

Edit Page

3•2

Select Knob – turning this knob will do different things depending on what

page you’re on.

Home Page – turn to select presets. See Chapter 4 for all the details.

Edit Page – turn to pick a different Model. This works for the Amp, Stomp, Mod,

Delay, Reverb, and Wah edit pages. Full details are in Chapter 5.

You can also press this knob to store your own tweaked-up sounds in POD X3. Just press, choose what to store and where to store it, and press the button again to complete the Save. Chapter 4 will ﬁll you in.

Home / Hold for Commands – press to return to the Home Page. For

User Presets, press repeatedly to toggle between the Tone Path Home Page and the Big User Home Page. Press and hold for 2 seconds to enter the Commands page. Full details are in Chapter 6.

Inputs – press to enter the Inputs setup page to conﬁgure which inputs you’re using.

Full details are in Chapter 6.

4-way Nav – pressing this will do different things depending on what page you’re

on.

Home Page – press Up, Down, Left, and Right to navigate to a processing block.

Edit Page – press Up and Down to move through each row of parameters available. You can also press Left and Right to move to the previous or next edit page.

On/Off – press to turn the selected processing block on or off (the blocks are on

when the buttons are lit and the block on the Home Page is solid). Double-press to enter the processing block’s Edit page, where you can ﬁne-tune the parameters for that block.

Controls & Connections

Press the Home button to leave the Edit page and return to the Home Page. Chapter 5 gives you details on all the Edit pages available.

Outputs / Hold for System – press to enter the Outputs setup page, where

you can set up POD X3 for whatever you’re connecting it to. This is a very important step for getting the best sound out of your POD X3. Press and hold for 2 seconds to enter the System setup page. Full details are in Chapter 6.

Multi-function Knobs – turn any one of these knobs to adjust the

corresponding parameter in the display.

See Chapter 4 to learn about Home Page functions for these knobs.

3•3

Keypad – these buttons allow you to do the following:

Tone 2 / Hold for Dual – press to toggle between Tone 1 and Tone 2 (you’re editing Tone 2 when the button is lit). Press and hold to turn Dual Tone on or off. See Chapter 4 for more details, including info on using an FBV to control Dual Tone functions.

Amp, Stomp, Mod, Delay, Verb – press to turn the Amp, Stomp, Mod, Delay, and Reverb processing blocks on or off (the blocks are on when the buttons are lit). Double-press one of these buttons to tweak the block. For example, just press the Stomp button two times quickly and you’re instantly taken to the Stomp Box Edit Page. Press the Home button to leave the Edit Page and return to the Home Page. Chapter 5 gives you details on all the Edit Pages available.

Tap / Hold for Tuner – POD X3 allows you to control the time and speed of your Delay and/or Mod effects by simply tapping on this button. Just tap a few times here and the effects that are set to “lock” to that tempo will change to match what you tapped. There’s also a Tempo parameter in the effects’ Edit Pages, so you’ll see exactly what Tempo you’ve tapped. This is especially useful if you are trying to nudge your Tap

Controls & Connections

setting to just the right value. See Chapter 5 to learn how to set up effects to follow the tempo that you’ve tapped.

Press and hold the Ta p button for 2 seconds to activate the tuner. You can also add footswitch tuner activation with an optional FBV foot controller.

Drive – controls how hard you’re driving the input of the chosen Amp Model.

Like the input volume control on a non-master volume guitar amp, higher settings give you more “dirt.”

3•4

This knob, along with the Tone Controls, Reverb, and Tone Volume knobs, adjusts the Tone that is currently selected – Tone 1 or Tone 2. See Chapter 4 for more info on Dual Tone and how this all works.

Tone Controls – Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence. Just like any guitar

amp. And when you change Amp Models, the response and interactivity of these controls change, too – so they act like the tone controls of the original amp that inspired the Amp Model you’ve selected.

Reverb – spin this knob to set the Reverb level of the Tone that is currently

selected.

Tone Volume – this knob controls the relative volume level of the current

Tone.

Master Volume – this controls the overall output level of POD X3 and also

sets the headphone level. Changing the Master Volume level does not change your tone, so you can get the tone you want at any volume level. This setting is not saved when you store settings into one of the POD X3’s memory locations.

When running into line level gear (like recorders, mixers and PA’s), POD X3 will generally give the best signal-to-noise performance when you have the Master Volume control at max. With the Master Volume control turned down low, you may get extra hiss – which obviously isn’t what you want – if you turn up your mixer or recorder’s output to compensate. In order to allow you to set the Master Volume as high as possible when connecting to recording, mixing, and other studio gear, be sure you are plugging POD X3’s outputs into line level, not microphone or guitar level inputs. Line level inputs should allow you to turn POD X3’s Master Volume up all the way (or close to it) and thereby get the best sound possible. If your gear has inputs that function as mic/line level inputs, try to set the trim for those inputs to the minimum level, and POD X3’s Master

Controls & Connections

Volume to maximum, when setting levels.

Clip Light – this lights when clipping is detected, which generally means

unpleasantly distorted, bad sound. Try reducing the output level of the device that’s feeding your POD X3, or reducing the Tone Volume for Tone 1 or Tone 2, or the volume of Tone 1 + Tone 2 that can be adjusted from the right knob below the Home Page.

Input 1/Guitar In – plug your guitar or bass in here. You techies will want

to know this is a mono, unbalanced connection. The Inputs page is where you assign whether this input feeds Tone 1, Tone 2 or both. See Chapter 6 for more info.

Phones – plug your headphones in here to avoid noise complaints from the

neighbors (or the rest of your family). The volume is set by the Master Volume knob. Any time you use headphones, it important to be sure they’re not set for ridiculous volume before your slap them on your ears. Try a Master Volume knob setting of about 10 o’clock to start, then turn up from there if you need more volume.

To give you great sound through the headphones, your POD X3 automatically switches to Studio Mode whenever headphones are connected (for more on Studio Mode, see Outputs in Chapter 6.).

3•5

Power – connect the included PX-2 power pack and ﬂip the switch here to bring

your POD X3 to life.

Input 2/Microphone In and Trim – plug in your microphone here and

use the Trim control to get a nice, healthy level. The Inputs page is where you assign whether this input feeds Tone 1, Tone 2 or both. See Chapter 6 for more info.

Controls & Connections

S/PDIF Out – this jack sends out 24-bit digital versions of the Left & Right

Outputs. The System setup page lets you choose the sample rate and adjust the level.

See Chapter 6 for the scoop.

USB 2.0 – POD X3’s USB 2.0 jack lets you connect directly to a USB 2.0-equipped

computer, and take advantage of many computer-powered features:

Line 6 Monkey software makes it easy to install software and get updates. Install • driver software with Line 6 Monkey, and POD X3 provides 8 audio inputs to your

3•6

computer via USB:

1-2 is the main signal, conﬁgured on POD X3’s Outputs page for Digital Outs.•

3-4 is Tone 1 separately in stereo.•

5-6 is Tone 2 separately in stereo.•

7 is the sum of the inputs you’ve chosen for Tone 1.•

8 is the sum of the inputs you’ve chosen for Tone 2.•

You can also connect your headphones or powered speakers directly to POD X3 to hear your computer-generated audio, along with POD X3’s real-time processing. See Chapter 8 for more info on USB 2.0 recording.

FBV Pedal – connect an optional foot controller here, including the FBV, FBV

Shortboard, and FBV Express. The System page lets you set it all up. See Chapter 6 for details. Note that POD X3 does not work with the older Line 6 Floor Board or FBV2.

Left & Right Outputs – these balanced, 1/4-inch TRS (tip/ring/sleeve)

connectors are ready to rock with pro +4 dBu balanced equipment. They will also work happily with unbalanced –10 dBV equipment and standard guitar cables. If you need mono output, you can use either one.

Controls & Connections

Join the Club!

Visit www.line6.com/club to register online and join the All Access club, the place to get:

Free iTunes and MP3 Jam Tracks.•

Free loops for GarageBand, Acid, Reason and more.•

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.•

3•7

Controls & Connections

HOLD FOR COMMANDS

INPUTS

HOME

DOUBLE-CLICK TO EDIT

OUTPUTS

ON/OFF

HOLD FOR SYSTEM

PRESS TO

SAVE

Tone Path Home Page Big User Home Page

(available for User Presets only)

Edit Page

POD X3 Live

3•8

Display – the LCD (liquid crystal display) is your window into the power of POD X3

Live. You’ll see (2) types of “pages” in the display:

Edit Page – shows you all parameters available to tweak for a processing block or setup page.

Controls & Connections

Select Knob – turning this knob will do different things depending on what

page you’re on.

Home Page – turn to select presets. See Chapter 4 for all the detail.

Edit Page – turn to pick a different Model. This works for the Amp, Stomp, Mod,

Delay, Reverb, and Wah edit pages. Full details are in Chapter 5.

You can also press this knob to store your own tweaked-up sounds in POD X3 Live. Just press, choose what to store and where to store it, and press the button again to complete the Save. Chapter 4 will ﬁll you in.

Home / Hold for Commands – press to return to the Home Page. For

User Presets, press repeatedly to toggle between the Tone Path Home Page and the Big Number Home Page. Press and hold for 2 seconds to enter the Commands page. Full details are in Chapter 6.

Inputs – press to enter the Inputs setup page to conﬁgure which inputs you’re using.

Full details are in Chapter 6.

4-way Nav – pressing these buttons will also do different things depending on

what page you’re on.

3•9

Home Page – press Up, Down, Left, and Right to navigate to a processing block.

Edit Page – press Up and Down to move through each row of parameters available.

You can also press the Left and Right to move to the previous or next processing block in the Tone path.

On/Off – press to turn the selected processing block on or off (the blocks are on

when the buttons are lit and the block on the Home Page is solid). Double-press to enter the processing block’s Edit page, where you can ﬁne-tune the parameters for that block. Double-press the same button again (or press the Home button) to leave the Edit page and return to the Home Page. Chapter 5 gives you details on all the Edit pages available.

Outputs / Hold for System – press to enter the Outputs setup page, where

you can set up POD X3 Live for whatever you’re connecting it to. This is a very important step for getting the best sound out of your POD X3 Live. Press and hold for 2 seconds to enter the System setup page. Full details are in Chapter 6.

Controls & Connections

Multi-function Knobs – turn any one of these knobs to adjust the

corresponding parameter in the display.

3•10

See Chapter 4 to learn about Home Page functions for these knobs.

Footswitches – these allow you to do the following:

Tone 2 / Hold for Dual – press to toggle between Tone 1 and Tone 2 (you’re editing Tone 2 when the footswitch is lit). Press and hold to turn Dual Tone on or off. See Chapter 4 for more details.

Stomp, Mod, Delay – turns the Stomp, Mod, and Delay processing blocks on or off (the blocks are on when the footswitches are lit). Double-press one of these footswitches to tweak the block. For example, just press the Stomp footswitch two times quickly and you’re instantly taken to the Stomp Box Edit Page. Double-press the same footswitch again (or press the Home button) to leave the Edit Page and return to the Home page. Chapter 5 gives you details on all the Edit Pages available.

Comp/Boost – turns the Compressor processing block on or off. Double-press to tweak the block. This footswitch can also be assigned to the Amp Model or Reverb processing block. See the Pedal info page in Chapter 5 for more details.

Bank Up, Down – these choose amongst POD X3 Live’s 32 banks of User presets. Once you’ve footswitched your way to a new bank, you’ll then also need to step on the A, B, C or D footswitch to actually load a preset from that bank. (We set things up this way so your audience won’t hear you switching through presets as you make your way to your next bank of sounds.)

A, B, C, D – the lights on these footswitches show you which of the Presets in the current User Bank is running. You can step on any of them to choose a different preset.

+ 68 hidden pages