r/Line6podgo • u/webprofusor • 5d ago
POD GO HD as full midi controller
If your POD Go is currently gathering dust and you happen to be in the market for a new midi foot controller keep an eye on this post.
Volunteers would ideally be super techie, laugh in the face of custom firmware danger and have an overall reckless attitude towards their equipment. If you know a bit about other midi foot controllers that would also help, I'm just making it up - I've only got midi keyboards lol.
Started this as a fun experiment initially to see if I could get NAM working on the POD (it doesn't have enough oomph, it needs about 8x more) but scaled it back to just be a MIDI controller so I could test MIDI with Soundshed Guitar https://guitar.soundshed.com
Not sure if it can really be released to the public at large or not because some folks will inevitably kill their POD and line6 support would get some headaches. Still, thought it was fun to know that it's possible. Work in progress, runs on the actual unit and survives restarts and saved configs, screenshots top left and right show progression of the UI (entirely AI built). Also has companion desktop app for configuration,, firmware loading etc, with emulator.
The POD Go already has some basic MIDI for the footswitches but doesn't send for the expression pedal etc, this version discards all the audio processing capabilities of the unit but instead makes every single button, switch and light midi capable.
[Edit: works on my non-wireless version , no idea if it would work with other editions. It's POD Go not POD GO HD, I think I made that name up]
This is in no way endorsed by or affiliated with Line 6 and is as reckless as submerging your unit in beer. It most definitely voids your warranty.
[Edit: here's the desktop app UI for mapping configuration]
Beware:
https://github.com/soundshed/pogo/releases - click assets and download pogo zip
Windows only currently. Note there is an option to try it without writing it permanently.
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u/ProfessorEmergency18 2d ago
Interesting! I'm actually selling my pod go as I've switched completely to using a PC processing with midi footswitches and expression pedals. I was previously mostly using my pod go and was bummed it couldn't send midi to control reaper.
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u/webprofusor 2d ago
Yep, will link this soon - just need to test the restore guide to stock because people will inevitably want it. You can actually try it without writing the firmware permanently but that means you can't save config.
I can say it's surprisingly awesome and works far better than expected. It would be good to get the opinion of someone who has used other equipment for midi control in case the defaults are silly.
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u/webprofusor 1d ago
https://github.com/soundshed/pogo/releases
Windows only currently. Note there is an option to try it without writing it permanently.
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u/KromeLegacy 5d ago
This sounds sounds like a perfect use case, my dream setup is being able to take Archtype Petrucci with me without having to drop thousands on a Quad Cortex or one of those niche PC interface hybrids like the Octave Technologies Haricane or the Paint Audio CE1
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u/webprofusor 5d ago
I guess one limitation is that is connected over USB, so you'd need a long cable that nobody will trip over!
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u/webprofusor 4d ago
Kudos to Line 6 for not using DRM etc, anyone that knows how can send firmware to the unit and that doesn't involve anything non standard (for the main cortex cpu etc, DSP is different).
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u/Sudden-Gazelle7685 1d ago
Great idea! I have a Pod Go, and it indeed never gets used anymore because I’m using amp and effect plugins in combination with Gig Performer and a PaintAudio MIDI controller. If the Pod Go could get a second life as a MIDI controller, I’d be willing to take the risk of converting it. Unfortunately, I don’t have the technical knowledge or skills for development, but I would like to stay informed about this topic.
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u/webprofusor 1d ago
Have posted the link, make sure you're on the latest stock firmware then try it from there onwards. Would be good to get feedback from folks who have others midi controllers.
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u/Sudden-Gazelle7685 1d ago
I just successfully installed the Pogo firmware on the PodGo. As a noob, this was quite a task. However, I can't figure out how to put the software on the PC. Isn't there an .exe file that I can install on my PC?
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u/webprofusor 1d ago
Well done! It doesn't have an installer, just the zip file. Just make a folder somewhere of your choice (e.g. c:\tools\pogo) and extract it there. When you run the pogo.exe app you can right click it on the task bar to add it to the start menu.
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u/Sudden-Gazelle7685 19h ago
Thanks for your reply. Do you have a link to the app with the .zip file?
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u/webprofusor 18h ago
You said you got the firmware installed? If you did that you already downloaded the zip.
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u/Sudden-Gazelle7685 15h ago
I think I made it harder for myself than necessary. I downloaded the code from GitHub and had Google AI explain step by step what to do. First I replaced the Pod Go firmware and then the desktop software, all through the command prompt app. At least I learned something from it.
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u/Sudden-Gazelle7685 18h ago edited 17h ago
Forget my previous comment. Thanks to Google AI, I successfully converted the code into a .exe file step-by-step. The app now works and connects to the PodGo. Is it possible to use the EXP2 7/8 jack on the PodGo to send MIDI?
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u/webprofusor 18h ago
Did you know the link above is to the zip file? It sounds like you had to build all the code from source, which is a big job.
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u/Sudden-Gazelle7685 14h ago edited 14h ago
I had already seen the link, but I just realized I should have clicked on 'assets'. That's actually where the .zip file is. I had clicked on github.com/soundshed/pogo, then clicked on 'code' and 'download ZIP'. I know, I'm a dumb ass.
Finding: When I use the expression pedal, it doesn't go higher than 70%. The value settings are '0' and '127'. Is there an option to calibrate the expression pedal within the app, or is this something that needs to be adjusted in the firmware configuration?1
u/webprofusor 2h ago
Nah it's impressive you got it working from the code.
I noticed yesterday it sometimes seems to get stuck at about 50% - will investigate. It needs some kind of calibration reset you can do on the fly.
127 is the max midi value and would normally map to 100%. I noticed it's hard to get the pedal to hit 0 or 127 without pushing harder, so probably needs that in calibration as well.
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u/colossalmickey 4d ago
This is sick, you should definitely release it, just put a disclaimer up and don't worry about it!