Amp modelling advice

Breeze

I've been pretty keen on a Boss gt-10 but a fellow COPA student has insisted that the Line 6 Pod xt Live will destroy the Boss any day. I don't know much about the equipment and I suppose it could also just be a personal thing. Anyone with a more informed opinion perhaps...?

AlanRatcliffe

Line 6 generally has better amp and speaker modelling (or at least, more realistic - sounding more like the actual amps they model). But if you are a tweaker who likes access to every parameter, they can be frustrating.

Roland modellers are generally more flexible with more effects, better sounding delays, reverbs and modulation and more flexible routing. They can take more time to dial in to get a good amp sound, but you can do more to the sound to dial it in. Still, amp and speaker models don't stack up ('scuse the pun ?) to the competition, which is quite a big flaw for most people.

I hated the XT Live when I tried one as a possible replacement for the POD PRO (same as the V2 PODs) I was using at the time - I thought it was a step backwards. Plus, it's pretty far outdated now - generation 3 of the technology (the latest HDs are 5th gen). The X3 Live (4th gen) are better and can be picked up fairly cheaply. Even the HDs are beginning to pop up (but get an HD500, the others are crippled).

People don't talk about the Digitech stuff much (probably thanks to some of the smaller, cheaper models being pretty crappy), but the bigger models in the range are usually quite good for the price and they don't command the same secondhand prices that the Line 6 stuff does.

Tokai-SA

Breeze wrote: I've been pretty keen on a Boss gt-10 but a fellow COPA student has insisted that the Line 6 Pod xt Live will destroy the Boss any day. I don't know much about the equipment and I suppose it could also just be a personal thing. Anyone with a more informed opinion perhaps...?

I agree with what Alan said.
The XT, IMO, was a step backwards from the Pod V2.
However, the HD500 amp modelling is a major step up from all previous Pods...and a few steps up from the Boss amp modelling.

Not sure if I'm allowed to do this, I'm selling a Pod HD500 in the Classifieds...crazy price.
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/index.php?action=classifieds;sa=view;id=537

Malkav

The line 6 stuff is better geared towards home recording as well, the POD HD range can intergrate with higher quality external cabinet impulses and you can get some pretty awesome results if you don't mind tweaking.

As stated above, BOSS is great if you want to sit around tweaking for hours on end but they take lots of fiddling to get good results and are generally best used without their amp modelling. My biggest issue with the GT range is that their high gain or more modern gained amp sims, Mesa, Soldano etc all generally sound pretty similar.

The digitech stuff is pretty good as well from what I've heard and I believe one of their units actually has the ability to intergrate external convolution impulses which is pretty useful if you can't find a model you're happy with on the unit itself.

Tokai SA wrote: Not sure if I'm allowed to do this, I'm selling a Pod HD500 in the Classifieds...crazy price.
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/index.php?action=classifieds;sa=view;id=537

That is an extremely good price, new they retail in the region of R9k.

Scorched

I own a Gt-8 and must agreed with everyone in the thread about the tweaking of the Boss units. Definitely possible to get a good sound out of it, but takes a lot of tweaking.

Recently I went with a friend to go check out the POD HD units. After a good few hours spent a the shop, he walked out with a HD 500. Initially he read on Line6's site that the amp modelling is the same in all 3 of the units, but to my ears, the HD 500's amp modelling is far superior to the other two. I don't have a lot of experience with PODs, but I was pleasantly surprised with the HD500!

greetings

Pick up that HD500. The GT10 is a no-go for me, for the reasons stated.

Breeze

Wow, thanks guys, it really helps to speak to the right people, I appreciate all the input. Watch this space Tokai - It's a little more than I was gonna spend on a pedal, hopefully it's still available when I have enough. *GAS* :'(

free2rhyme

Everything as above

If i had to choose a modellor in that price range, it would be an HD

It doesn't have as many models as the previous models but it does them a heck ofna lot better.
My choice would be the hd400 though

The gt8 didn't do it for mme, the pod has the added benefit of podfarm which is excellent in studio

Malkav

free2rhyme wrote: My choice would be the hd400 though

I get budget constraints and everything playing a role in this, but why would you want to go with the multi-effect processor that has been intentionally crippled? ???

EDIT: An important factor here is really what you do with it, trusting your ears is essential and learning how the unit functions in full is a must, with all of them remember RTFM.

As an example, this track was recorded with a GT-8, using it's amp simulators etc. Still some pretty impressive results IMO given that I've heard people with Axe-FX units and Kempers still get abysmal to average results, both those units are amazing at what they do and have an incredible amount of potential but at the end of the day the end user and their ability plays a big part in it.

=

free2rhyme

Just my choice and opinion...I put it in wants vs needs. I wouldn't use every fx the 500 has, most people don't and try end up paying for thing they never use. I actually find the m9 closer to what I would purchase than anything else as I would just need the fx.

If you are after the models then the 400 is more cost effective than the 500 with enough fx

It alls boils down to what you want, n what sounds better to you.

axe fx or Kemper - they are great yes, but cost over double even triple of what line6 or boss go for. Are they better?... Depends, a great tool could be crippled by a lack of research into the tones and time taken to tweak it and vice versa. It remains in the players hands as u said.

What you r plugging the modeler into also plays a huge role and how you r plugging it in....front/fx loop etc

Malkav

free2rhyme wrote: Just my choice and opinion...I put it in wants vs needs. I wouldn't use every fx the 500 has, most people don't and try end up paying for thing they never use.

My only issue with that is the way in which they've crippled it, from what I understand if you have the 400 and you want to use a compressor and noise gate it can't happen because they're allocated to the same block or something silly like that, I remember Alan mentioning it and it seems like the unit is intentionally disadvantaged in some fundamentally annoying ways IMO.

AlanRatcliffe

Chad Adam Browne wrote: from what I understand if you have the 400 and you want to use a compressor and noise gate it can't happen because they're allocated to the same block

The gate is separate with a block of its own IIRC, but everything in the first effects block is mutually exclusive. That includes compression, overdrive/distortion, spring reverb, pitch and others. The 500 allows you to put anything anywhere, so doesn't suffer from the same limitations.

BTW, if you mostly just want good amp modelling, Look at the Fender Mustang Floor too. I haven't played one yet, but clips are good and early reports coming in are raves.