K. The Mixer Block

The mixer allows you to adjust the panning and volume of both channels. The default setting has each track panned hard left and right with levels set to 0 +/-db - an ideal setup for a stereo patch. I generally use mono patches. I find the best way to do this is to mute one channel, and pan the other one to center. You'll get more volume by panning both channels to center, but I find this isn't necessary since the mixer lets you boost channel volume. There's another reason I like to only use one channel, which I cover in the next section. Just like the amp volume knob, the mixer boosts the level at that place in the chain, which can cause effects behind it to distort.

Be sure to understand how the pan controls work. Every line in the Pod's signal chain is a stereo signal. If you have a stereo effect in a channel after the path split but before the mixer, so that a different left/right signal is hitting the mixer, the pan controls basically adjust the volume of each left/right signal. If you pan full left on that channel, only the left side is going to pass through the mixer, into the left half of the mixer output. The left and right signals from that channel are not both being pushed into the left output of the mixer. The right half is essentially muted. The mixer is only mixing the left signals of channels A and B into the left half of the mixer's output. Same for the right half of the signals. So 50% left for a channel means that the right half of the signal has its volume cut in half while the left half passes through at full volume.

Top of Pod Setup

L. Effects Order/Position

Effects that affect dynamics or distortion are sensitive to what is being sent into them, compared to non-dynamic effects. Be aware of how ordering effects matters, and experiment with each effect before or after a compression or distortion element. For instance, the whole section on distortion character was mostly about how the way a signal is EQ'ed impacts how distortion will operate. EQ before distortion sounds completely different from EQ after distortion. This equally applies to Wah pedals, phasers, choruses, and other effects. On the other hand, certain effects will operate virtually the same and have negligible impact on other effects independent of where it occurs in the effects chain, such as a pitch shifter.

The best advice is to experiment, but here are some general tips:

Noise Suppressors/Gates

The general consensus is to make this the first effect in your chain. There it will simply mask your pickup noise when you are not playing. It has the most impact on tone at the end of the chain but can lead to unnatural sounding cut-off on notes. An interesting place for it is after a compressor but before distortion. Sometimes you can use two on each side of a compressor/gain stage to tighten up how effectively it works. This is how Periphery gets their very punchy tone, going quickly from searing power chords to complete silence. For more on noise gates, see here.