X3 Master Volume
This is the main volume for everything. It is kind of like the master fader on a mixer. It controls the outputs of your X3 including the headphone jack. Master Volume has no effect on tone. Line 6 recommend running this as high as possible and this is a good idea from a theoretical standpoint to minimize your background noise. My all tube monster of a Mesa Boogie power amp into a 4×12 can’t be turned up past about 40% without incinerating most drummers though, so I tend to run this control around half. This allows me to crank the Boogie up a tad more and have fine control over its output.
Master Volume Summary: Controls output of all presets at once. Set it as loud as possible for your particular gear setup. Does not affect tone. Not saved in your presets.
X3 Tone Volume
This control is mostly for balancing between tone 1 and tone 2. It is tempting for long time POD users to think of this as Channel Volume but it isn’t. More about that in the next section. I always start this control at 80% when tweaking patches. This is loud enough to be useful but gives me plenty of room to adjust up or down. If I am making a single tone (not a blend) then I just leave it at 80%. For a blend I will tweak tone 1 and then turn this down to 0% while tweaking tone 2 at 80%. Once in the ballpark for tweaking each tone I will keep tone 2 at 80% and go back to tone 1. Now I bring tone 1 up slowly until it matches the mix of tones I’m looking for. You can swap back and forth between the tones, adjusting their Tone Volume until you get the dual tone blend you are looking for. Tone Volume is applied post amp modeling so it does not affect the sonic character of your patch. It just makes it louder or softer.
Tone Volume Summary: Controls volume level of tone 1 and tone 2 individually. Generally better to have this in the upper half of its range (50-100). Saved with each preset.
X3 Channel Volume
This is where you do the real balancing between your tones. You can get them roughed in based on Tone Volume but with lots of dual tones, this is where the magic happens. The reasons a lot of seasoned POD users think of Tone Volume as the old Channel Volume is because the control is in the same place physically and in the signal chain, and the new Channel Volume is not labeled in any way. Channel Volume is shown on the lower right corner of the X3 home screen. In Figure 1 below it shows 0.0dB just below and to the right of the VERB block. This control is adjusted with the fourth multi-function knob under the display. Channel Volume is a clean boost/cut and does not affect the sonic character of your patch.
Choose a patch to be your base patch for volume reference. Play a bit and switch to one of your other patches. If the other patch is louder or quieter, use the Channel Volume to give it a slight cut or boost accordingly. Keep flipping between the patches until you get them about equal in volume. Follow the same procedure with your other patches but always start with the base patch you chose. This base patch should be what you use as the volume reference for all your other tones.
Channel Volume Summary: Controls patch volume (tone 1 and tone 2 together). Generally better to have this close to zero. Saved with each preset.
 Figure 1 |
Volume Balancing
There are not any hard and fast rules about volume balancing and what type of tone you are using. Some clean tones cut through the mix much better than some crunch tones. Sometimes it is the other way around. The only way to tell is to see how your tones are cutting through in your band rehearsals and soundchecks. Sometimes you don’t want to have the patches of equal volume. I usually even out the volume and then give my lead patches another three to six dB of boost so they will pop through the mix just a bit more.
Additionally, don’t get crazy trying to balance the volume of every patch in your X3. You will go bonkers and spend more time volume balancing than playing. Balance the small set of patches you will use at each gig. When I’m playing at home or just making patches for fun, I don’t worry about them being equal in volume at all. If one is too quiet or too loud, I just reach for the Master Volume knob or the volume pedal.
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18 replies on “POD X3 Live Tips and Tricks: Balancing Patch Volume”
I sent a small donation after reviewing your tips for my new Line 6 Pod X3 Live on setting the channel volume on the home screen. I was getting frustrated trying to balance the volume between patches/tones, could not find it in the (semi-worthless) instruction book, and never would have figured that one out myself. You are the man, and I am sure I will be back.
Best Regards, JB
how i can get download tone library for my x3 live?
Click on a link to some tones you want, save them to your Gearbox tone folder, open them, load them into your X3!
Have you ever experienced problems with the X3 Live volume dropping gradually through a gig? Thanks for any info. Pete
I have not had this problem. Be sure to ask around at the Line 6 community forums.
OK thanks for quick reply!!
I didn’t knew about keeping the Master Volume at high settings, gonna try that…
About volume dropping, I only experienced that with my rusty marshal solid state amp… and I think it was because of unplugin the guitar without turning off the amp…
I am having problems keeping a good “clean” tone. I get a beautiful clean tone all set up at home, but when I take it to my church, it sounds distorted. The pedal is so “hot” that the only way to get anywhere near a clean sound at the church is to turn the gain on the chrurch soundboard completely off(counterclockwise). We’ve tried lowering the volume on the POD X3 Live down to where we can set a normal gain level on the church board, but I still get a lot of distortion. Do you have any idea why this might be happening? Thanks for your help.
Paul,
The output of your X3 is “line” level. The input of the sound mixing board is probably expecting “mic” level. At least, most sound boards do. That line level you are feeding to the board is several times higher than the mic level the board expects. That’s why your signal seems so “hot”. If you have line level inputs in your sound board, plug your X3 into that jack, instead. Or, put a DI, with a pad, between the X3 and your sound board.
By “X3 Tone Volume” are your referring to:
1) The Amp’s volumn control
2) The “Vol” pedal block’s “MAX VOL” control
Or some other control I’m yet to find :-). Certainly #1 affect the tonality of the amp model. #2 shouldn’t if its post amp.
FWIW bro you rock. Thanks for all the help, line 6 should pay you to include your material in their manual, seriously talk to them.
“X3 Tone Volume” refers to the knob on your X3 that says “Tone Volume” right under it. And thanks for the kind words!
I discovered that cab sims also have different output volumes. This can be a problem if you are having the venue run you direct, and have the X3’s 1/4″ outputs set to run an amp (turns cab sims off). Unless I’m mistaken, the only solution is to run the same cab for each patch.
Great website Ben! I used it to help me decide to get the X3 Live.
IS there a site I can download all the factory presets again? I over wrote them with the Lincoln Brewster tones which I don’t like!
You can get the factory presets on this site at http://www.benvesco.com/blog/tones/2008/podx3-factory-presets/
I’d recommend trying this approach with volumes. I set the master volume to control both 1/4inch and xlr outputs. Then turn it up all the way. Next I create a patch using the guitar with my hottest pickup. If you make that patch as loud as possible without clipping then you know there’s no way to make it any louder. I went through all of my patches and saved them on my pc that way, max volume. From that point I actually end up turning down patches that are too loud in comparison to other patches when setting up a bank for a song. Seems to me to be way easier than trying to turn up patches just to find out they start clipping.
I just discovered your site and am so thankful that I did. Finally, a very simple and straight forward explanation about the various volume options on my POD X3 Live. I was becoming a bit overwhelmed with all of the options. Now I feel like I have a better handle on how to approach volume control. Thanks
Hi ben, I’m having one question, I recently bought the K271 MKII headphones from akg and the output from the headphones of my x3 live is not working because I got the tip of a defective plug stucked in there, now I’m connecting them to the live out using a dual plug to single connector to get the stereo, but the max volume that I get is not that high, I mean, you can work and mix with it but I wish it was just a bit more, Is this because of the different impedance between the outs, or, are there any differences between them ?. BTW really nice tips.
Greetings from argentina.