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POD XT Question


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Hey guys. I', not a guitar player, but I compose produce a wide range of music. I have a few freinds who are pro players and I was thinkng of getting the POD XT for use on my songs, to add to my budding studio, and to experiment w/ some synth tracks. I've listened to some of the samples and I have to say this: the room modeling and the reverb just don't sound "real" enough, but I from the samples I heard. I could just cut the verb off and tweak it with Waves or TC, because the core sounds are really good. I mean I would have to buy a fantastic preamp, especially good on guitar, to get a better, clearer sound. I think the key to making this thing work would be experimentation and moderation. BUT the one thing I have heard with all of hte samples that doesn't sound which bothers me is the dynamic texture pf many (not all) of the sounds. there is something overly compressed about the sound- like I didn't "feel" the entire range of intended dynamics coming through. I was wondering if this is merely a problem with the samples they recorded, like overdoing certain effects such as room modeling , or does the PODxt really usually muffle the musicality of the input signal's dynamics? Is there a way around this with this product to make the sound more sensitive? Thanks
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I don't think the "demo" samples on Line6's site do justice to the PODxt. This was true for the original POD as well. The demo sounds are a little over processed, and don't often provide much similarity to the "artist" they're suggesting... I also believe that the PODxt, like the original POD, doesn't completely emulate the sound and feel you get from a real amp setup. It's often been described as being "in a box" or "far-way" sounding. This is particularly true to my ears in a live situation... especially when you have an amp available to compare it to. I suppose some people play it live through a PA, but if there was another guitarist with a regular amp setup, I would notice the difference right away. Others will completely disagree with my statements... that's their right... I'm only sharing how it sounds to MY ears. But, I've been able to get decent sounds for recording with a POD and PODxt. You just have to accept if for what it can and can't do. One tip I've learned is to put a tube pre-amp in between the POD and the recording device. This seems to "warm" the sound somewhat. Is it a complete substitute for a real amp? No. Is it a nice tool, especially for recording? Yes. The PODxt offers a number of new features not avvailable with the original POD. Most significant are the effects boxes. This, combined with the ability to make choices in amp models, cab models, mic models and the reverbs and delays provides a HUGE number of possibilities... and imho there's a lot of cool sound options. I'm not sure if I would suggest someone ONLY have a POD as their only amplification. But it's a cool tool and certainly worth adding to your toybox if you like to experiment with sounds. guitplayer

I'm still "guitplayer"!

Check out my music if you like...

 

http://www.michaelsaulnier.com

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Thanks for your honest reply, guitplayer! I'll check out your mp3 page and tell you what I think! I'm basically looking for something good for a non-player yet high quality. Some of the "smoother" tracks on the XT site samples sounded honestly terrific! I agree with the "boxed" sound, but I was wondering if there may be ways to make the sound bigger, such as a tube amp (as suggested) or by doubling/3X the tracks, etc. Also, I was wondering specifically about the dynamic sensitivity response to the original input. Can it be rigged to have similar dynamic sensitivity as an amp or is it always sort of compressed sounding? If not, I was wondering if you could suggest me something else, like an amp that would have many of the best basic sounds you find and very good sound quality. I'm looking for something for recording, not performing except for small venues. Thanx
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Wotanman, for a nonguitarist you seem to have a pretty good ear for tone. Bear in mind the direct tone coming from that POD may be better than a miced amp by the time you record it. Unless you're prepared to fuss with miced tone techniques just get the POD and tweak it into submission. Try the competing products too. BOSS, DIGITECH and VOODOO LABS are but just a few direct devices. The Voodoo Lab is very attractive. No bells and whistles, just good tone. http://www.voodoolab.com/preamp.html
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