GrumpyRocker

POD HD users were looking forward to getting hold of firmware 2.0 this week - which includes new bass/mic functionality along with a new guitar amp and plenty of goodies for Variax users. However a more serious problem has recently reared its ugly head - that of ear-damaging sound spikes when using the PC editor.

Line 6 has really been on the ball though and already has a fix out there. You'll need to update HD Edit on your PC and the firmware of your POD HD500.

Details and link below.

POD HD500 Flash Memory v1.43 and POD HD500 Edit v1.08
These updates address a bug which allows invalid data to be introduced to presets. In rare instances recalling presets containing invalid data may cause intermittent high volume events, as reported by a small number of POD HD500 users. We are targeting updates for POD HD Pro, POD HD, and their respective editors in the weeks following. For more information regarding these updates please read the detailed release notes at: http://line6.com/software/.

Line 6 has announced two new products in the POD range of guitar modellers. The first is a rackmount version of the POD HD system - the POD HD Pro. The Pro seems to be the same spec as the HD500 floor mount version albeit with a few more I/O options.

Alas there don't seem to be any extra amp models of FX announced for the POD HD Pro. I'm sure many existing POD HD owners were hoping to see some new features revealed that would make their way back to current hardware via firmware updates.

Meanwhile the company has also announced the Mobile In interface for iPod/iTouch devices and Mobile POD software to run alongside it.

Check out videos of both in action after the jump.

I've just completed a list of all the guitar gear I've owned over the years. Some of which I still own. What strikes me is the number of cheap and nasty multi-effects units I've wasted my money on.

And how many lovely electro-acoustic guitars I've had to sell because I was so brassic I couldn't afford to eat. This actually happened to me twice - thanks to two separate period of poverty.

Of course among all the junk there's still some very good gear in there. My Vintage VS6 is one of the least expensive guitars I've owned but one of the best. The PRS SE is ridiculously good for the price and my LP Traditional is very special.

And what of the amps? A pretty terrible solid state effort followed by some rubbish modelling amps. However things got tubey later on and I've got a couple of good amps now. No not expensive boutique nonsense but I'm not a great believer in hand-wired snake oil.

Anyway should you be interested in seeing how much junk I've owned over the years check out the list after the jump.

The latest version of the DAW for people who want great software without being ripped off - Reaper - has just been released.

For just $60 (or $225 for a commercial license) you can have many of the features you have to pay those tightwads at Cubase or Pro Tools many hundreds of pounds for. Reaper is not only a bargain, it's a brilliant fully featured software studio.

I've been a Cubase user for many years but switched to Reaper last year. The truth is Reaper is just better than the opposition at a fraction of the cost.

You can download and try it for free. Check out the details of Reaper 4 at the official site.

Pod Farm is Line 6's guitar and bass amp/fx modelling software supplied with a variety of its devices. The software is also available as a standalone version if you wish to register it with an iLok dongle. My copy of the original Pod Farm came free with the purchase of a UX1 USB recording interface. Since I bought the UX1 I also added several of the expansion packs - but the basic software came with plenty of amps and fx to play around with.

But onto the new version? Does it bring enough to the table to warrant the upgrade? Certainly my $49 upgrade seemed a complete bargain. But after the jump I'll discuss how the software compares to rivals such as Guitar Rig and Amplitube.

A couple of weeks ago Line 6 finally released Windows 7 drivers for its audio interfaces. The fact that it has taken this long is completely ridiculous - but at least we now have drivers that work.

I've been using my UX1 interface for the past couple of weeks without incident, I've certainly had none of the white noise bursts that were plaguing use of the device before a proper driver emerged.

However while I do like a lot of Line 6 gear - the M13 in particular is brilliant - this whole experience has made me wary of trusting any of its hardware that would require good software support.

I doubt I'm the only one.

Just a quick update on the Line6 driver issue I posted about recently. I have now got the system working without those white noise spikes.

I found that if I removed my other sound card from the third PCI-E slot the problems disappear. Previously I'd also found disabling the two graphics cards in the other PCI-E worked too.

Obviously removing my other sound card is not a permanent solution - the hardware configuration worked fine in Windows Vista x64, but at least I can now record with my Line6 UX1 until Line6 actually releases some proper Windows 7 drivers.

If you're struggling to get your Line6 recording device to work feel free to leave a comment and I'll see if I can help.

Line6 is a company that does make some really great guitar hardware. I've owned a Line6 Spider III 75 modelling amp that is really good fun and I recently purchased an M13 Stompbox Modeller. The M13 is an amazing piece of kit and I'll be reviewing that at a later date, but it could be the last time Line6 gets any of my money.

The reason? The company's really awful Windows 7 support. A few months ago I purchased a Line6 UX1 USB interface. This clever bit of kit allows me to record guitar and mic on my PC with next to no latency and monitor in realtime. It really is a fabulous little device and comes feature packed with Line6's famous amp modelling tones.

Until recently the UX1 worked flawlessly. And then I updated to Windows 7.

Windows 7 clearly has come as something of a surprise to Line6. After all it's not as if there's been any publicity about it. The company has issued a beta Win7 driver for the Ux1 but as far as I can tell it seems to make no difference whether I use this driver or the previous Vista one.

The previously brilliant UX1 is rendered useless now due to poor driver support from Line6. When trying to use the device with a DAW such as Reaper or Cubase the UX1 will regularly emit ear-piercing white noise spikes which make using headphones hazardous and speakers plain nasty. It's random and horrible and makes recording anything a nightmare.

Line6 has set up a beta discussion forum which is full of people with the same problem and very little feedback at this point from Line6 itself. It's gone awful quiet over there from the company. Now one might have expected these kind of driver issues while Windows 7 was still in beta, but the OS has been available at retail for several months now and still Line6 can't make the UX1 or UX2 work properly with it. The lack of communication on the issue makes matters even worse.

So until Line6 actually bothers to fix its drivers I'd recommend against buying any of its USB recording interfaces.