LINE 6 FLOOR POD (Guitar Processor) - NOW WITH CONCLUSIONS!

[Anderton]

Cool! A Pro Review where I get to play a lot of guitar :)

One nice thing about this format is that it's adaptable. For example, with software, often times screen shots are very important. In this case, though, I think sound examples are going to be vital. But first, as is my tradition with hardware Pro Reviews, I like to snap a bunch of pictures and take the thing apart, to judge the build quality. I actually found quite a few surprises there, so do take a look at the pix.

As is also traditional with Pro Reviews, we don't spend too much time on specs because they're already on Line 6's web site, and given that you must be online if you're reading this, you can hop on over here (http://www.line6.com) and get the rundown from Line 6 on what they feel the Floor POD is all about. Over the next few weeks, we'll find out if we agree or not!

[Anderton]

Click on the attachment to see an overall view of the Floor POD. We'll have close-ups with details later.

The heft is basically heavy enough so it's not going to creep around a lot on stage, but not so heavy that it's a hassle to carry. The case is made of high-impact plastic, while the bottom plate is metal. Note that this is a live box only: There's no USB, no MIDI, or way that I can see to connect to a computer. I also didn't see any sockets where you can update any chips, so presumably, you won't be downloading updates and drivers or changing what the box does over time.

Given the price -- $279.99 list, meaning you can often find it for under $200 in the US -- it seems the intent of the Floor POD is to bring POD technology to gigging musicians at a reasonable price. The next step up the live performance chain would be a PODxt with a footswitch, and of course, it's computer-friendly if that's important to you.

[Anderton]

I'm a big fan of expression pedals, so I like something that makes a reasonably big target and doesn't feel flimsy. Click on the attachment to see a close-up of the pedal.

I tested working it from the right edge, wondering if it would tip the unit over or at least tilt. Surprisingly, it didn't. You can also just tap on the top or bottom for a quick change without causing instability with the box itself.

So my next thought was given how much I use a pedal, how easy would it be to replace or clean the pot? So I took the unit apart, and...

[Anderton]

...surprise! There is no pot. Instead, there's a sensor so basically, the only moving part in the pedal assembly is the pedal itself. It's attached to a pretty sturdy shaft in what appears to be a metal bushing, so it will probably be able to withstand even my excessive pedal use.

Click on the attachement to see the pedal mechanism, it appeals to my inner geek. The whatever-it-is-that-triggers-the-sensor (a magnet, perhaps?) is the round thing just below, and to the right, of the circuit board. Presumably it interacts with something on the circuit board as it gets closer or further away.

But something else that really caught my eye is the ribbon connector termination, which is covered in something that resembles hot glue or silicone seal. One would think the solder connections would be sufficient, but with that seal, the ribbon cable isn't going anywhere...it's also sealed at the main circuit board end.

[Anderton]

Click on the attachment to a main view of the insides. It's fairly standard, with a few exceptions we'll cover in subsequent posts. Note the heavily shielded input jack in the lower right; I didn't expect that extent of shielding. Just above it and to the right is where the ribbon cable mentioned in the previous post terminates.

[Anderton]

As the pedal seemed pretty sturdy, I next turned my attention to the footswitches -- another "thingie with moving parts" that has been known to invite trouble.

I don't know how long they're supposed to last, but them seem reasonably sturdy. But I guess someone at Line 6 also said "Hey, what if these suckers fail?" because they're basically field-replaceable. The footswitch parts themselves are on a separate circuit board that connects with a ribbon cable -- this time without the seal; click on the attachment to see what I'm talking about. With a Phillips head screwdriver and a new board, I bet I could replace the footswitch assembly in under 10 minutes max, including reassembly.

[Anderton]

Here's another nice little detail: There are studs that extend downward from the front panel to the metal bottom panel, thus providing an extra measure of reinforcement for those with heavy feet. Click on the attachment to see the rectangular studs toward the center of the picture.

The more I look at this, the more I appreciate some of the little touches that went into the construction. There are more, but they'll have to wait until later -- it looks like it's about to snow, and I need to go out and some foot just in case. I'll be back later with more observations on construction, and more pictures.

[Anderton]

Here's something else that strikes me as very cool: A "klutz bar" that protects the knobs and display from klutzy feet. Click on the attachment to see it; the "klutz bar" runs across the top of the picture.

At first I thought this was a handle, and it does actually provide a convenient way to pick up the unit. But as I hit the footswitches, and the bar kept my foot from hitting the rest of the box, its true meaning was revealed :)

By the way, I don't know if someone from Line 6 is monitoring this thread, but if it has an official name other than "klutz bar," let me know.

[Anderton]

Click on the attachment to see another example of attention to detail. There are two inductors between the metal standoff (and props for using metal instead of plastic, FYI)) and the red capacitor. These are supported by their leads, which are soldered to the board, but like the footswitch ribbon cable, there's some kind of silicon sealant or whatever to anchor them to the board. This seems like a considerate touch in a box of this price.

[Anderton]

There's a mystery white ribbon cable header on the board; click on the attachment to see it. My assumption is that it's used for automated testing, but maybe there's some kind of expansion option planned for the future...could someone from Line 6 possibly comment on this? Or is it a situation where if you tell me, you have to kill me?

[Anderton]

Yes, I admit I'm a geek, and I like looking at the insides of gear because it gives you some insight into the gestalt behind the product. If lots of corners have been cut, you wonder if maybe the thing won't last as long, or if they cut corners on the software as well. It also matters to me whether something is easy to service or not. The footswitch assembly here is a case in point.

Anyway, for this last picture, I noticed two regulators: a 7805 5-volter for the digital electronics, and a 7808, which I presume is for the analog electronics. What's clever here, and why I bothered taking the picture (click on the attachment to see it, is that the 7805 is the one that's lying down, with the metal standoff going through the case. The standoff is acting as a heat sink that conducts heat to the metal plate, so here you have a situation where the designers were able to save bucks by not including a heat sink, yet still provide a way to dissipate the heat. Yeah, I'm a sucker for stuff like that...someone put some thought into this.

[MudFlaps-1]

It would be interesting to do a mini-shootout between the FloorPOD and Digitech RP250 and Zoom G2.1u. The Digitech and Zoom seem to have way more amp, cabinet and effects models plus USB capability for less money. I know the RP250 has editing software, can't recall if the Zoom does, but because they have USB they both make good guitar to computer interfaces. To it's credit the FloorPOD seems to have more knobs for easier tweaking.

[Line 6 Mark]

I'm sorry to disappoint, but there's not a clever name for the chrome handle. We simply call it the "handlebar." It is the same physical part that appears on the PODxt Live and as you suggest, it was created to prevent kicking the knobs during performance. The industrial designer for PODxt Live and Floor POD is an ex-Marine and he wanted to capture the vibe of a military field radio transmitter when designing that solution for protecting the knobs.

Thanks,
Mark McCrite
Product Manager
Floor POD

[Anderton]

The industrial designer for PODxt Live and Floor POD is an ex-Marine and he wanted to capture the vibe of a military field radio transmitter when designing that solution for protecting the knobs.

Hello Mark, welcome to the review. Please feel free to insert any little tidbits like that, I'm a trivia fan!

BTW, any insights on the "mystery connector" I mentioned a few posts back?

[Line 6 Mark]

They "mystery connector" you mention was used during development to connect the unit to our in-house development system. All of our beta testers were local and as we would release new code for the unit, each tester would bring the unit to Line 6 HQ and we'd update them via that connector.

Thanks,
Mark

[Anderton]

Let’s plug in and crank up. POD fans will recognize much of the Floor POD, starting with the Direct/Amp A.I.R. switch. Amp mode is intended for when you’re plugging the POD into an amp, whereas Direct is for recording or going direct into a mixer or PA. It’s not like Amp removes the cabinet; there is still the “vibe” of different amps, even with Amp engaged. Direct sounds more like it emulates the high frequency rolloff of a typical speaker cabinet, as well as gives some of the “air” that comes from miking an amp.

I decided to use Direct, as I wanted to feed into a host sequencer so I could record some audio clips. The volume seemed a little low for recording at first, but there’s a master volume trimpot on the back panel which can take the output pretty much anywhere – from low enough to feed a guitar amp, to high enough to drive a line-level computer interface. Good.

The manual seems intimidating until you realize it’s one of those multi-language deals, and really, there are only nine pages you need to read (there are also a couple pages of boilerplate to keep lawyers and the government happy, but I sincerely doubt you were going to play with your Floor POD in a bathtub during a lightning storm anyway…right?).

Even if you never read manuals, c’mon, it’s only nine pages, it’s written in a friendly style, and the type isn’t even small – so read it. There are some hidden features that aren’t intuitively obvious unless you do. For example, there’s a section on how to calibrate the footpedal. It’s simple to do, but you’re not going to know how to do this, let alone that you even need to, unless you read the manual.

[Anderton]

There are 12 models, but click on the attachment to see the amp model selector knob. It appears that there are only six positions, but this isn't a switch; it's a continuously variable control. As you turn the knob and go through each position (Clean, Class A, Classic, Hi Gain, Treadplate, and Insane), the LED associated with each model illuminates - first red, then green. Each represents a significant variation on the main sound.

For example, the "red" Class A recalls the sound of a Vox AC 30, whereas the "green" Class A is more of a boutique sound based on a Budda Twinmaster head. Another example: The "red" Insane option is the original Line 6 super-overdriven sound, whereas the "green" version is inspired by the Soldano X88R.

Because I read the manual :), I noticed that Presets 61-64 are blank presets, which are ideal for creating sounds from scratch. I figure that's probably the best way to hear each model by itself, so excuse me for a bit while I do some recording.

[Anderton]

Here's the deal on these examples: I recorded them straight, with the default preset, and varied only the amp model. There was no other processing. I played to a drum loop, which I kept in the mix to give a sense of context. All of the amp tracks were normalized, and I tried to play each example as consistently as possible so you could make valid comparisons -- although I changed my playing a tiny bit for some of the models if it seemed to fit the model better.

These were all recorded in Sonar, the brought into Wavelab and batch processed to MP3. I added about 1.5dB of limiting so that the clips could make it through the MP3 data compression a little more intact. Each clip is saved in mono for two reasons: I could use 64kbps and have the same quality as 128kbps in stereo but twice the sample length (each example is about 12 seconds long), and the amp models are inherently mono; the reason the Floor POD has stereo outputs is for the stereo effects.

I suggest that after downloading these you bring them into a digital audio editor or multitrack host so you can compare them easily. Also, please note: If the download has a .PHP extension, change it to .MP3 so your player (iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc.) can recognize it.

[Anderton]

Clean Green model.

[Anderton]

Class A Red.

[Anderton]

Class A Green.

[Anderton]

Classic Red.

[Anderton]

Classic Green.

[Anderton]

Hi Gain Red.

[Anderton]

Hi Gain Green.

[Anderton]

Threadplate Red.

[Anderton]

Threadplate Green.

[Anderton]

Insane Red.

[Anderton]

Insane Green.

[Anderton]

I was pleasantly surprised at just how good the models sound "naked." In fact, I prefer that sound to some of the highly processed presets. I should also add that the character of each amp model changes dramatically if you vary the amount of drive, or use a different pickup position. So even though there are "only" 12 models, you can can get a lot of mileage out of them...listen, and judge for yourself!

Next, we'll get into the user interface a bit, effects, and much more.

[Anderton]

The Floor POD has a tuner that you activate by holding the Tap button. The tuning indication is actually displayed on the Amp Model selector switch and two-digit LED readout: The readout shows the note name, and the LEDs around the Amp Model selector knob indicate flat (red LEDs light toward the left), sharp (red LEDs light toward the right), or in tune -- the top two LEDs light green. [b][i]Click on the attachment to see what the LEDs look like when you're in tune.

When you're tuning, the output is muted (which is as it should be), but so is the headphone out. I think it would have made more sense to leave the headphone out "live," but that's not a huge deal.

[Anderton]

And while we're on the subject of outputs, let's over the available I/O. There are stereo 1/4" output jacks for the main outs, and a 1/4" phone jack for the input. There are also two 1/8" jacks, one for headphones (a concession to the iPod world, I guess -- I'm used to 1/4" headphone jacks!) and another one for an auxiliary input, like a CD or MP3 player. However, with a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter, this is also an excellent place to insert a drum machine. There's no volume control on this input; you'll need to adjust the volume at the output of whatever you're feeding in.

Another use for this connection, although possibly not an intended one, is when recording into a computer. Suppose you're recording into some software host or something like Riffworks, and have a basic interface, like a SoundBlaster. You could feed the SoundBlaster out into the CD/MP3 input, and monitor playback from the sequencer while you're monitoring your guitar with zero latency, courtesy of the Floor POD. About the only caution is you wouldn't want to turn on input monitoring at the host program, as you'd hear a slapback effect as the guitar went through the host program, then back out into the Floor POD.

[Anderton]

The pedal has two options, controlling volume or wa. An LED to the left of the pedal says "Press Toe for Wa;" when it's off, the pedal is in volume mode and when on, the pedal is in wa mode. Click on the attachment to see the indicator showing volume mode.

You change modes by pressing in the toe-down position with a fair amount of pressure to activate a switch. As far as I'm concerned, there's just the right amount of resistance -- I think it highly unlikely you'd trigger the mode accidentially just by working the pedal, but you don't have to hit it with hammer to change modes, either.

The volume control feel is good, with more resolution weighted toward the louder part of the pedal travel, but you do need to calibrate the pedal (as described in the manual) for best results. The wa sound is very cool. It's pre-amp model, so the effect is very much like what you're used to hearing on records; when going through a cleaner amp, you get a very Shaft-like sound.

First thing tomorrow, I'll record some audio examples with the wa so you can hear what I'm talking about. I must say I like it a lot, though.

[Anderton]

Here's a fun one: Wa in the Treadplate Green model. It sure was a blast to play, I hope you enjoy listening to it!

This also shows off the wa-before-amp placement, and how that affects the sound. In particular, note the "growl" on the lower strings. As with the amp model examples above, there is no additional processing -- this is just pure wa through amp model.

[Anderton]

Now let's turn around 180 degrees and check out a cleaner, funkier wa effect. This is the sound of the wa by itself without any amp model (all models are bypassed when you turn the knob selector knob fully counter-clockwise). This is more for that funky, "chicken scratchy"-kinda sound.

[Anderton]

Hey! This is an interactive review...anyone got questions or comments on any of this? If not, I'll just keep going along...there's still lots more ground to cover.

[Gammy]

Well it certainly looks nice :D

[kalab]

Thanks for this review. I'm just getting back into guitar and this looks like it may fit the bill. I have a Charvel with Seymour Duncan Invader (bridge) into a fender Bassman & 4x12 cab. It seems to play a wide range of tones quite well, covering a lot of music styles. I'm used to using the Amp Farm plug in in Pro Tools and have liked it quite a bit. Do you feel this uses the same type and quality of modelling? How are the internal effects, or might I be better using external plugins and hardware in the studio? I was also preparing to purchase a Dunlop Wah. The wah sample you provided sounds great. Would you consider this a good replacement wah? And lastly, how does it sound through an Amp?

Thanks again :thu:

Also, I get the impression you can change the order of the controls and procesors, is this correct? Like can the vol pedal be "Post Amp" acting as a simple level output control, AND like a vol pedal into the amp, helping to control input level from the guitar?

[telemike]

It seems the Floor POD is more like a Spider III preamp than the POD 2.0.

For $199 it seems like a good deal until you compare it to the Digitech RP250/350 and the Zoom G2.1u; both of which have more effects and programmibility. Also at $199 is the older Korg AX1500G which has the best user interface but is getting long in the tooth.

I would love to see an objective comparison of the Floor POD to the RP250 and Zoom G2.1u

[Anderton]

I would love to see an objective comparison of the Floor POD to the RP250 and Zoom G2.1u

Well, I don't have a Zoom G2.1u, but there is a Pro Review of the RP250 in this forum, done by Jon Chappell, that goes into the unit in some depth. Once I finish the Floor POD review, hopefully I'll get a chance to put it side-by-side with the RP250 and see what shakes out.

[Joe Cole]

Although so many folks have complained about the sound of the POD2, I do not agree. I think that it sounds fine for a project studio without the piutfalls of proper mic placement, well oiled amps etc.

I know I will not achieve Robben Ford tones, but the POD does just fine for many projects.

If the wah can be used with the amps, delay and reverb... then I will pick one up. I would have purchased the Vox TonLab SE years ago if not for the price.

[BeowulfKingsley]

I like the Pod for studio stuff, and after lugging a huge pedalboard around, the size is nice for both transport and stage real estate concerns. It's an attractive idea. For some reason I'm having trouble downloading your sound clips, but I'm assuming that we're getting Pod quality sounds here. How do you feel about this live in comparison to analog effects in terms of warmth? And how do you feel about the amp models responce in terms of pick attack etc.? Are they pretty natural in comparison to the original amps? I'd probably be putting it through a tube amp with the controls set pretty flat, if I got one.

[Anderton]

Well, we need to fix that, as a sound is worth a thousand words...

Remember that you need to change the .PHP extension to .MP3 after it downloads, or you won't be able to open it. If you're having trouble with the actual download, let me know what platform and browser you're using and we'll get it working.

[BeowulfKingsley]

Hmm...I'm not sure how to do that! Admittedly you've got a technoklutz on board here...I don't know what conversion software to use or where it might be. Any help is always appreciated! But my question is still on...that being, how do you feel the sound and responce of the models stacks up against the originals? I realise it's pretty subjective, but still, I'd be interested in your take.

[Anderton]

Well, if you're REALLY interested in my take........

First of all, no computer-based simulation is going to feel like a tube amp to the guitarist, even though a good simulation will sound like a tube amp to the listener. Part of this is because with a computer, you're monitoring through non-guitar speakers, at non-guitar amp levels. Run it through a guitar amp, and the equation tilts toward giving it a much more tube-like feel.

Second, I am not a huge fan of tubes, even though I think nothing sounds like one. Let me explain...I was raised on tubes, all my guitar amps were tubes. I was sometimes frustrated by the lack of flexibility, the ways tube would age over time, and so on. I felt like a good tube amp was like a good room for reverb: It made only one sound, but it was a great sound.

When the POD first came out, I was wowed by the fact that I could get a bunch of really good sounds out of a little box. The sound was a little brash, but I could deal with it. When the PODxt came out, I felt that Line 6's modeling had come of age. And the Vetta II amp knocked me out, not because of how it could sound like a tube (although it sure does a credible job of that), but because of how far I could take it past a tube amp.

Bottom line: When I was making a living doing session work, I would have killed for a Variax/Vetta combination.

Now to the Floor POD. Line 6 doesn't claim the amp sims sound "JUST LIKE!" a Marshall or whatever, they say "based on" and there's a good reason for that. Even amps from the same production run can sound different. So the question for me isn't "Does this sound just like XYZ amp," but rather, "Does this make good, responsive sounds that get me inspiired?" And for me, with the Line 6 products and with a bunch of other software sims as well (WAVES GTR, AmpliTube 2, Guitar Rig 2, etc.) the answer is definitely YES. And yes, they do sound like the amps they purport to model.

That's why I included all the audio examples of the amp models with NO processing whatsoever. Frankly, I was surprised at how much I liked playing through them; I guess I expected a sort of "POD lite" sound. But these are full, musicular simulations, some of which sound like speakers being ripped apart, and others like more "polite" amps. In the crucial clean-to-distortion transition, they did very well.

But one thing about sims is you're NOT going to get your sound without some work. I think the pickup settings, drive levels, and the like actually make more of a difference with sims than with standard amps. Here's a quick, semi-related story: When I first played a Variax and dialed through the guitar sounds, I didn't hear that much of a difference. Huh? But when I put the Les Paul sound through an overdriven Marshall simulation, the Tele through a Twin simulation, etc., the resemblance fell into place.

[Anderton]

Another point is that because I've spent so much time with software amp sims, people are always asking me "Which is best -- Guitar Rig, Amplitube, or GTR?" (In fact, the next HC Confidential newsletter -- sign up on the home page under newsletter to receive it -- compares all three). But the kicker is that they're as different as guitar amps. It's as if someone asked "Which is better, a Fender Twin, an AC-30, or a Mesa Boogie?" And the answer is...it depends. All were designed by different people, with different philosophies, and the same goes for software.

I hope you don't think I'm evading your question. Let me make it perfectly clear I think the amp models in the Floor POD sound great, especially given the price -- listen to the examples! Better yet, I found them inspiring to play, which is the real bottom line for me

Speaking of which, you didn't tell me whether you use Mac or Windows, or which browser you use, but for Windows and Internet Explorer here's the deal on downloading (it's similar for other browsers as well):

1. Move your mouse over the link (like "classagreen.mp3").
2. Right-click on it.
3. Select "Save Target As..."
4. A dialog box will open up that allows you to specify where you want to save the file. The desktop is as good a place as any.
5. Click on Save.
6. Go to the desktop and find the file; it will say "attachment.php." If you can't find it, search for "attachment.php."
7. Change the file name by typing "mp3" instead of "php" -- there's no need for conversion software or anything like that. So now the file name is "attachment.mp3."
8. Double-click on it, and whatever is your default player for MP3s (Windows Media Player, iTunes, whatever) should start playing it.

Try this and let me know if it works for you!

[Anderton]

One more thing: I think a lot of the Floor POD presets are designed more to show what the box can do than anything else. Some of my favorite Floor POD sounds are just the amps, with maybe a little reverb. More on this later.

[Anderton]

Also, I get the impression you can change the order of the controls and procesors, is this correct? Like can the vol pedal be "Post Amp" acting as a simple level output control, AND like a vol pedal into the amp, helping to control input level from the guitar?

As far as I can tell (help me out Mike if I'm missing something), the order of all the effects and pedal is fixed. But given that limitation, I don't disagree with the choices. For example, the volume pedal goes before the delay line and reverb, so as you pull back on the pedal, the echoes continue to decay into nothingness. The wa goes before the amp sim, which is the way we hear most was.

[Anderton]

If the wah can be used with the amps, delay and reverb... then I will pick one up.

Not sure what you mean by that -- do you mean like use the pedal to control delay mix or reverb decay? If so, the answer is no -- the pedal does volume or wa, but you can't assign it to particular effects parameters.

My take is that Line 6 has already taken care of products that are "higher up on the food chain" and allow hardware parameter control, more flexibility, computer interfacing, etc. The Floor POD is clearly their attempt to make the POD technology available at a lower price point. It seems to me they made a design decision to keep the sounds and overall quality, but with the tradeoff of more limited programming and updating options.

[jonmatifa]

Speaking of which, you didn't tell me whether you use Mac or Windows, or which browser you use, but for Windows and Internet Explorer here's the deal on downloading (it's similar for other browsers as well):

It should be noted that windows defaults to hiding the file extensions, so you would need to enable them (if they aren't already) before you would be able to change the .php to .mp3

1) Open My Computer (or My Documents, or any explorer window)
2) Click on "Tools" from the menu at the top, then select "Folder Options..."
3) In the Folder Options window that pops up, select the "View" tab.
4) Down in the "Advanced settings:" area of the window, there will be an option called "Hide extensions for known file types", if there is a check mark next to this option, uncheck it and click "OK".

You should now be able to see file extensions and you can rename the .php file.

And by the way, very nice review. I appreciate the focus on the duribility and the construction... I guess I must be a fellow nerd. :D

[BeowulfKingsley]

Well, I got the sound clips working...thanks for the info! They sound great, too. Man, for the price it's a pretty tempting alternative to the big pile 'o pedals on a board, and the programability is a great thing in itself. How many user presets are there, and can you scroll through them easily?

[Anderton]

There are a total of 64 presets. They come loaded with factory sounds; you can overwrite any/all of them, as well as reset to the factory defaults.

Program selection is done with up/down footswitches. There is no way to do random access, for example, jump instantly from preset 32 to preset 56. Each time you press a footswitch it increments or decrements one preset, or you can hold to scroll through them faster.

[Anderton]

Regarding the sound clips...glad you got it working, and thanks Jonmatifa for the additional info.

Just remember that the clips are MP3, 64kbps, so the actual fidelity of the box is considerably nicer. However, I do think the examples gets across the "attitude" of the various models pretty well.

[Anderton]

Now let’s get to the other controls. We’ve already covered the Amp Model control, but there’s a cluster of controls immediately above it – click on the attachment to see them.

These controls all do double-duty. The default functions are Drive, Bass, and Treble, but if you hold down the Save button while turning the knob, they take on their “alternate identities” of Compressor, Mid, and Presence respectively.

The feel and sound of the controls is very much like the passive, analog controls found on older amps. In these amps, the tone controls were usually lossy, with gain being made up elsewhere. The filter curves were fairly gentle and broad; you didn’t get the “plastic” sound you sometimes hear with active, fairly resonant tone controls.

It did seem that the action of the controls varied somewhat with different models, but I couldn’t really tell if this was deliberate, or just a byproduct of how the amp model affected the tone (e.g., if the amp isn’t as bright, then it seems logical that turning up the treble wouldn’t produce as dramatic an effect). I know that with the “big brother” PODs, there’s a fair amount of attention paid to having the tone controls emulate the tone control action of the amps being modeled, so it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s a part of the Floor POD gestalt as well.

As to the tone controls, rather than provide audio examples – you probably know what turning up a bass or treble control does to a sound – we’ll look at frequency response charts that show where the action is happening, and to what extent. But first, let’s cover re-amping with the Floor POD, as that’s a vital aspect of conducting these tests.

[Anderton]

For those who aren’t clear about the concept of re-amping, this is a studio technique that allows putting off decisions about tone until mixdown. Recording your guitar part used to set its sound in stone. Although you could add processors like EQ, reverb, decay, and the like while mixing, they altered the basic sound, but couldn’t provide an entirely different sound.

However, re-amping is a way around this. Maybe you wish you’d recorded through a more modern, overdriven sound than a “blackface” vintage type of sound: No problem. Although much re-amping is done these days with software, the technique had its origins in hardware, and the Floor POD is excellent for doing re-amping.

The basic idea is that while recording, you record the straight (unprocessed) guitar sound while monitoring through your processed sound (in this case, the Floor POD). Typically, you’d use a preamp or buffer to split off the unprocessed sound.

To change the amp sound while mixing, you feed the unprocessed track into the Floor POD, patch the Floor POD output to an open track, choose the sound you want, and re-record the processed sound to a separate track.

So why does this matter in the context of this review? Because I needed to use the exact same source signal in order to conduct valid frequency response tests. I didn’t trust myself to play the exact same riff at the exact same level with the exact same style each time, so I recorded my part with the Floor POD set to bypass (no amp model) into Sonar. The tone controls have no effect when the amp models are bypassed so I knew they weren’t influencing the sound.

I then routed the track out through the Floor POD (set to the Clean Red amp sound), and was careful not to clip any levels at any point in the signal chain. I then played back the Floor POD sound into a Sonar track using a particular tone control tweak, and monitored the results with Sonar’s Analyst plug-in to see which frequencies were being affected.

[Anderton]

Click on the attachment to see how the bass and treble controls affect the sound. The top graph shows a flat response, with the tone knobs and their “alternate identities” set to their mid-positions.

The next graph down shows what happens if you turn the bass control up full. The response is pretty much the same as the upper graph above 320Hz. There’s a bit of a boost between 160 and 340Hz, but check out the response below 160Hz: The response at 80Hz is almost 10dB above the flat response, and about 7dB higher at 40Hz. This is enough to give a really full, bassy sound if that’s what you want. Of course, this is at the maximum setting; turning down the bass control a bit trims these settings.

The bottom graph shows what happens when the treble control is up full. Below 640Hz, the curve is almost identical to the flat curve. Most of the treble-boosting action occurs in the region from about 1kHz on up, with the most dramatic increase occurring about 1.3kHz. Interestingly, even though the response is still boosted considerably at 10kHz, the sound doesn’t become shrill, just brighter.

[Anderton]

Click on the attachment to see how the mid and presence controls affect the sound. The top graph shows a flat response, with the tone knobs and their “alternate identities” set to their mid-positions.

When I first started experimenting with these controls, it became obvious why they were “alternate” controls: They don’t affect the sound anywhere near as much as the bass and treble. This isn’t to say you can’t hear the difference, just that it’s more subtle. They’re the kind of controls where after you’ve dialed in the model, bass, and treble, you might want to tweak the sound just a little more.

The middle graph shows what happens if you turn the mid control up full. This gives a fairly gentle lift (it appears to be a little under 5dB) in the 160Hz to 1.3kHz region; what I didn’t expect to see was the apparent lift above 5.1kHz. I’m not sure if these are artifacts, an actual intended effect of the control, or some issue with the way I did my measurements.

The lower graph shows the results of turning up the presence control all the way. This bears out what I heard with my ears: Not much difference, although you can see a little bit of a peak between 2.6kHz and 5.1kHz. I’m going to check out whether this has more of an effect with other models, but in my experience so far, it’s pretty subtle.

[Anderton]

Well, the mid and presence definitely have different effects with different models. For example, with Class A red, the presence boost doesn’t do much, but cutting presence does. With Class A green, the presence control seems to make no difference at all, but mid does.

On one hand, I kind of think the manual should have described what to expect in a little more detail. On the other hand, it seems that Line 6 has made some deliberate choices here, as the effect of the tone controls on the models can definitely make the sound “brasher,” “sweeter,” “fuller,” etc.

I think the bottom line is that it’s best to tweak things in the order that Line 6 has designed the interface workflow: Choose the model that comes closest to what you want, then tweak the bass and treble, and finally, put the “icing on the cake” with the mid and presence controls.

[Anderton]

As I was playing back guitar riffs into the Floor POD and adjusting the tone controls, I was again keeping things pretty basic -- just the amp model and tone controls, no additional modulation. And I was again struck by just how good the models sounded when stripped down to these essentials. It was really quite cool to be able to listen back to the track, and tweak controls in context.

I realize that Line 6 has concentrated on the live performance aspect of the Floor POD rather than the studio element, but it's a pretty cool studio tool for basic re-amping. It's not hard to do gain staging to interface the Floor POD with an audio interface.

(Detail: In case anyone wondered, I'm using the TC Electronic Konnekt 24D as the interface, because I'm also doing a Pro Review on that so it's set up and ready to go. The way I have it set up is with the Floor POD outputs patched into Konnekt inputs 1+2, and Konnekt output 3 patched into the Floor POD. The straight guitar track sends its signal to Konnekt output 3, and another track records from inputs 1+2.)

[Anderton]

The Drive control does what you'd expect: Make the sound more distorted as you turn it up. But in the process of playing with it, I recorded something that I think really gets the point across about these models.

One of the hardest things for an amp sim to do is provide a smooth, convincing transition from a clean to overdriven sound. All sims have gotten better at this over the years, probably due to programmers getting more savvy, but also to them having more powerful DSP at their disposal. The Floor POD does an extremely credible job of providing this sound; download the attachment to hear a guitar chord go from clean to overdriven. As you'll hear, the transition is very smooth and convincing.

[Anderton]

If you hold down the Save control, the Drive knob becomes the Compressor knob. I was skeptical whether a single knob would do the job -- I'm used to juggling threshold, ratio, attack time, and all the rest -- but I'm convinced. When turned fully counter-clockwise (no compression), the sound is very articulated and dynamic. Turning the knob clockwise all the way gives a smooth, singing, Santana-esque kind of sustain that is ideal for lead lines.

I would use the full compression setting only for leads; it's a bit much on power chords, as you lose a lot of the dynamics and expressiveness of a rhythm part. Pulling back to about halfway seems about right, assuming you want to use compression. The "flattening" effect of some of the amp models due to distortion can actually take care of a lot of the dynamics processing for you.

Once again, the interface gets it right: You indeed want to adjust Drive first to get the desired amount of crunch, then do the Compressor to fine-tune the amount of sustain.

[Anderton]

Before signing off for tonight, a few more thoughts about the Floor POD are coming into focus. :idea:

First of all, this is obviously a device that places price point first: No editor/librarian, no USB port, no updateable chips, and a pedal that controls no parameters other than volume and wa. Now, I'm a real tweak fan, and having gotten used to a high degree of tweaking with the PODxt and even the TonePort UX2 audio interface, I was at first put off a bit by the simplicity and lack of flexibility.

But it's important for a reviewer to review a piece of gear for what it is, and a sub-$200 box has to make some compromises. I thought it was a point in the Floor POD's favor that the compromises involved bells and whistles that, arguably, not all guitarists use as opposed to compromising on the construction, which is surprisingly solid.

However, the more I play with the Floor POD, the less I feel a need to tweak. I'm getting what I feel are really solid, musical, and most importantly, inspiring sounds with very little effort. As I've pointed out previously, just dialing up an amp model can sound excellent all by itself. Coming back from hard disk, it sounds very convincing and musical as well.

So is this a box for advanced tweakers? No (unless you don't want to tweak, and just play :)). Does it put really good sounds into the hands of those with limited budgets? Yes.

Next, we'll check out the modulation section. I'm keeping my expectations in check, as there's simply one knob for modulation, and one for delay/verb -- and I'm the kind of guy who worships at the alter of step-sequenced wa filters and tempo-synched delays. But so far, every time I've thought something was going to be too basic, I've been surprised at how effective it actually is. We'll see if this trend continues in the modulation section, or whether it's someplace where the need to hit a price point is evident...or maybe it's somewhere in between. In any event, we'll find out soon. Stay tuned..................

[MudFlaps-1]

Originally posted on page 1 on 20061128:

It would be interesting to do a shootout between the FloorPOD and Digitech RP250 and Zoom G2.1u. The Digitech and Zoom have way more amp, cabinet and effects models plus USB capability for less money. I know the RP250 has editing software, can't recall if the Zoom does, but because they have USB they both make good guitar to computer interfaces. To it's credit the FloorPOD seems to have more knobs for easier tweaking.

Compared to the new RP250 and G2.1u, the FloorPOD should either cost $100 or include USB. Or sound a heck of a lot better (and maybe it does). The new Digitech RP350 costs the same as the FloorPOD and spec-wise blows it away. Where are the Rotary and Uni-vibe effects in the FloorPOD (to name just two)? Reverse-delay? Where are the drum patterns for practice?

If PODxt-level sounds are newer/better than POD2.0 sounds, why use the POD2.0 sounds in a new unit?

[MudFlaps-1]

Wouldn't it be easier for everyone if you renamed attachment.php to green.mp3 for each sound sample?

[telemike]

Originally posted by MudFlaps-1
Originally posted on page 1 on 20061128:



Compared to the new RP250 and G2.1u, the FloorPOD should either cost $100 or include USB. Or sound a heck of a lot better (and maybe it does). The new Digitech RP350 costs the same as the FloorPOD and spec-wise blows it away. Where are the Rotary and Uni-vibe effects in the FloorPOD (to name just two)? Reverse-delay? Where are the drum patterns for practice?

If PODxt-level sounds are newer/better than POD2.0 sounds, why use the POD2.0 sounds in a new unit?

I'm probably going to get the RP250 since it also models stomp box od/distortion pedals. I'd buy the Floor POD if it was $100. IIt's really just the Spider III preamp with a Wah/Volume pedal.

[Anderton]

Wouldn't it be easier for everyone if you renamed attachment.php to green.mp3 for each sound sample?

When the samples are uploaded, they DO have the MP3 names. The software converts it automatically...I'm talking to IT today to see if anything can be done about this.

[Anderton]

If PODxt-level sounds are newer/betIter than POD2.0 sounds, why use the POD2.0 sounds in a new unit?

I assume it's in order to hit a price point. The POD 2 technology is pretty mature, and has been amortized over a greater number of units. The construction on the Floor POD looks like it wasn't cheap.

I find the PODxt sounds to be more detailed than the original POD, but I never got rid of my original POD. It has a brasher character that I still use frequently. I think the audio examples of the amp sounds, and also the breakup audio exmaple, show that the sounds in the Floor POD don't have to make any excuses.

I still haven't looked at the RP250, but I will. I'm interested mostly in finding out what the differences are.

[Anderton]

I've spent the last hour checking out the amp models on the RP250 and generally checking out the unit. But first, a bit of background.

For my own personal use in the studio, I share processing duties among three devices: The PODxt, DigiTech GNX4, and Adrenalinn. The Adrenalinn is in a class by itself; nothing is like it, what with all the tempo-synched options and cool drum machine sounds. As to the PODxt and GNX4, the reason why I use both is that they have rather different sound qualities, both of which I like, and both of which are appropriate for different types of material.

To use a visual analogy, I find the PODxt to be more like a photograph, and the GNX4 to be more like a painting. Or to use a keyboard analogy, the PODxt is a sampler, and the GNX4 is a synthesizer. In other words, the PODxt models and effects sound extremely accurate to me, and have a real presence in a track. The GNX4 models sit in a track very well, are more malleable, and offer more processing options, but don't have quite the same degree of detail. The DNA2 chip in the RP250 has increased the level of detail compared to the GNX4, but the sonic character remains considerably different from Line 6's products.

I see these two differing philosophies carried over to the Floor POD vs. RP250 question, but there's also the matter of the user experience. The RP250 definitely has more features: More models, more effects, more preset locations, the ability to control parameters other than volume and wa with the pedal, USB interfacing, a software editor, and drum machine for practicing. However, increased complexity also means a more complex user interface and experience. While I feel DigiTech has done an excellent job of making the interface as easy to use as possible given the options, there is no question that the Floor POD interface is easier to grok -- there are seven knobs to the RP250's four, and three footswitches to the RP250's two. For those whose frame of reference is something like a Fender Twin, they should have no problem relating to the Floor POD's "twist knob, get sound" way of life. Those who are comfortable with selecting parameters, editing values, and so on will have no problem with the RP250 once they learn the syntax.

So basically, I'd say there are two main differences: The Floor POD has more limited options, but that's what makes it easy to use. For some the RP250's flexibility will be daunting, while others won't have a problem at all; but I can't imagine anyone finding the Floor POD daunting, especially if they read the 9-page manual.

The second difference is the sound, as they are indeed different. This gets into Strat vs. Les Paul territory for sure, as sound is highly subjective. I consider myself fortunate to own both DigiTech and Line 6 processors; I wouldn't be happy if I HAD to choose one over the other, although of course, that's what many people need to do.

When comparison shopping, I suggest the following approach.

1. Run through the presets on both units and see which ones you prefer.
2. Audition JUST THE AMP MODELS on both units, and see which ones you prefer. IMHO I think the RP250 does better on clean amp sounds, but the Floor POD does better on the heavily distorted ones. They both do a good job on the "in-between" sounds, although they have different sonic characters and what matters is what your ears tell you.
3. Try to tweak some of the sounds and see if you're comfortable with the interface.

After doing all that, you'll probably gravitate toward one or the other.

[Anderton]

Hmmm, the ease of use thing just went up a notch. The modulation effects are done very cleverly.

The two effect knobs are toward the upper right of the unit; click on the attachment, and you'll see that each knob actually has mutiple functions.

The knob to the left rotates through three different "zones," Flanger/Chorus, Phaser, and Tremolo. Each of these "zones" covers 1/3 of the knob's rotation; rotating the knob fully counter-clockwise bypasses the effect. You can use any one of these modulation effects in a preset.

The knob to the right also rotates through three zones, Delay, Sweep Delay, and Reverb, so you can have one of these effects in play as well. This means you have a total of four possible simulaneous effects: Compressor, one of the three mod effects, one of the three delay effects, and Noise Gate.

What accounts for the "ease of use" thang is that with each zone, the effect varies, sometimes considerably. For example, when you first hit the Flanger/Chorus zone, you get a strong, wide-range flanging effect. As you continue rotating the knob clockwise, the amount of modulation lessens, the initial delay lengthens, and the speed increases slightly, yielding a very sweet chorus effect.

In the Phaser zone, it seems all you really get is a speed increase as you rotate the dial more clockwise. But with the tremolo, again, several changes come into play. The tremolo starts out slow, without much depth. As you turn the knob clockwise, the depth increases as does the speed; toward the end of the zone, it sounds as if the tremolo waveform becomes more of a pulse, given a very sharp, defined tremolo sound.

[Anderton]

The three effects covered by the Delay/Verb knob work similarly, but tie together fewer parameters. Each zone just basically varies the mix of the three effects.

Delay is a standard delay, while Sweep Delay seems to have a filter in the feedback path that changes subtly over time. This gives a sound that's much more like an old tape echo. Reverb sounds like a spring emulation, and the knob just varies the reverb mix.

With the delays, delay time is set by the tap tempo button. This cannot be accessed by your foot, so changing delays during live performance is inconvenient, as you would need to bend down and adjust it by hand. It would have been a lot nicer if the footswitches could have somehow been used to do the tap tempo function...maybe by holding down two footswitches at the same time to enter tap tempo mode, or something like that.

Anyway, once more with effects, the Floor POD keeps things really simple, yet effective. The controls give you most of what you want from these effects. About the only improvement I can think of is that when using the phaser, if the depth was decreased as the tempo increased, you'd have a pretty convincing rotary speaker effect thrown in.

[Anderton]

The Channel volume control (which is saved with each preset, so you can balanced out levels among presets) also has a second identify as a noise gate threshold control. Again, you access it by holding down the Save button. Basically, you just turn the control clockwise unless the noise goes away when you're not playing.

[Anderton]

The three footswitches also do double-duty. In their default mode, two control program up/down as mentioned previously (what I forgot to mention was that the presets do wrap around -- if you go up from 64, you come back to 01, and if you go down from 01, you end up at 64) while the third is a bypass switch.

If you press and hold the bypass switch, the three footswitches control effects on/off. One footswitch handles the Mod effect bypass, another the Delay/Verb bypass, and the third provides a gain boost -- convenient when going from rhythm to lead, for example.

[Anderton]

Well, I think we've pretty much covered every feature in the Floor POD at this point. Before getting to the conclusions, though, I want to record some clips with the various effects...but that has to wait a while, because my computer is tied up rendering a video and it still has a while to go. So, I'll meet you back here in a bit, and we'll carry on from there.

[telemike]

Thanks for doing some comparisons. In some ways, I do like the Floor POD's simplicity and in other ways I like the stomp boxes that the RP250 models as well. Hard decisions!

[telemike]

Can you prove/disprove this review from the review section:

I need to edit this review! I use a MexiStrat HSS with custom pickups I ordered from the American Lone Star Fat Strat.. My review on this unit was a bit premature, and I apologize.. Though I do love the feel, color, and ease of use with Line6's Floor Pod, I found that there was an incessant high pitch I could not get around (I mentioned to solve it by turning the tone button down on the guitar.. this was a mistake). After more testing, I found that even in BYPASS mode, my strat lost a good part of it's low to midrange (testing it by going straight into amp, then through the POD using bypass mode)..

Does the Floor POD have a good bypass or not?

[Anderton]

In some ways, I do like the Floor POD's simplicity and in other ways I like the stomp boxes that the RP250 models as well. Hard decisions!

Indeed!! That's why it's so hard to recommend a "best" device. I think some people would be overwhelmed by the RP250, and others would find the Floor POD limiting.

Personally, I thought I would find the Floor POD much more limiting than I do. IMHO I think Line 6 has done a good job of narrowing down the options to the "greatest hits" of what a POD can do. It's hard to get "bad" sounds out of the unit.

[Anderton]

Does the Floor POD have a good bypass or not?

I'm editing the audio examples I recorded right now, after which I'll test out the bypass. Good point to bring up, thanks!

[Anderton]

Here's the Chorus effect with an amp model (I forget which one, sorry). I did this example in stereo because that's necessary to give the full effect.

I like the "12-string" effect that you get from this particular chorus.

[Anderton]

...And if you're going to do a chorus, you should do a flanger too :)

[Anderton]

While we're on the subject of things that go "swoosh," here's the phaser. I like the "thick" sound quality.

[Anderton]

I probably shouldn't have played this when I was so tired, but hey, you'll get the idea of what the effect can do. If you listen "in the spaces," you'll hear the subtle filter change on the delayed sound.

[Anderton]

The reverb only has one "sound" -- you can't vary decay time, damping, or anything other than the reverb mix. But it sounds pretty muscular for a reverb.

[Anderton]

Can you prove/disprove this review from the review section:

I need to edit this review! I use a MexiStrat HSS with custom pickups I ordered from the American Lone Star Fat Strat.. My review on this unit was a bit premature, and I apologize.. Though I do love the feel, color, and ease of use with Line6's Floor Pod, I found that there was an incessant high pitch I could not get around (I mentioned to solve it by turning the tone button down on the guitar.. this was a mistake). After more testing, I found that even in BYPASS mode, my strat lost a good part of it's low to midrange (testing it by going straight into amp, then through the POD using bypass mode)..

Does the Floor POD have a good bypass or not?

Well, I thought I'd find out :)

I set up the following test: I recorded a track of guitar into Sonar, with the brightest pickup position I could find so that any loading would be evident, directly into the Instrument input of the TC Konnekt 24D interface (the subject of another Pro Review). This is about as honest a preamp as you'll find, and provides virtually no loading of the guitar pickups.

I then plugged the guitar into the Floor POD, set it to bypass, patched the output of the Floor POD into the same input of the Konnekt 24D, and recorded another track. I tried to play both sections as similarly as possible.

I then split the clips into 3-second intervals and alternated clips. The first three seconds of the audio example are the Floor POD going direct into the Konnekt 24D, the next three seconds into the bypassed POD, the next three seconds direct into the Konnekt 24D, and the final three seconds into the bypassed POD. Let me know if you can hear any difference, and furthermore, whether you would have even known the example was split into four separate parts if I hadn't mentioned it.

[telemike]

Wento to GC and tried the Floor POD out into a Peavey Classic30 with a Fender Strat:

I really liked the Class A models the best. Real raunchy and bluesy.

The Clean and Classic were very good as well. I really don't use High Gain but they were ok.

The delays and reverb were very nice as well.

I could not get the Modulation EFX to change mode in a preset. If it was on Chorus I could not get it to change to Phaser or Tremelo.

Wah was ok.

I wish you could access the tuner from the footswitch.

I would pay $150 for it but not $199.......

Oh, and it seemed to sound better using the AIR setting instead of the Amp setting to the Classic30

[Anderton]

I could not get the Modulation EFX to change mode in a preset. If it was on Chorus I could not get it to change to Phaser or Tremelo.

I'm not sure what you mean by this...I could call up a preset and change from whatever effect was programmed to a different effect just by turning the knob. Or was there something else you wanted to do with it?

[telemike]

I was playing a preset. The EFX light was on chorus. I turned the knob and it would only change the chorus/flange effect thru the whole sweep. It did not change to Tremelo or Phaser at all. May have been a glitch on the GC floor model. Only when I scrolled thru the presets and found on with the Phaser light on would that effect be on, and then I could not get it to change to Chorus or Tremelo.

Wierd.

I thought the knob would rotate thru all three effects.

[BeowulfKingsley]

So you can't access either the tuner or the tap tempo from a footswitch? That's kind of dissapointing...I wonder why? Those are two things I'd really want to be able to use without hunching down onstage. The sounds all sound great, but that sort of limits its usefulness, in my opinion.

[Anderton]

I thought the knob would rotate thru all three effects.

It should, and it does on the one I'm testing. Each of the three lights should light up when you're in its "zone."

[telemike]

Originally posted by Anderton
I thought the knob would rotate thru all three effects.

It should, and it does on the one I'm testing. Each of the three lights should light up when you're in its "zone."

Something was messed up then with the demo unit at Guitar Center then....

Otherwise, I do like the simplicity of the Floor POD and it does sound pretty good.

[MudFlaps-1]

Between manual mode, edit mode, performance mode, coffeemaker mode, perhaps you were in the wrong mode?

[MudFlaps-1]

Originally posted by BeowulfKingsley
So you can't access either the tuner or the tap tempo from a footswitch? That's kind of dissapointing...I wonder why? Those are two things I'd really want to be able to use without hunching down onstage. The sounds all sound great, but that sort of limits its usefulness, in my opinion.

I think you step on two footswitches at the same time to get the tuner. Not sure about tap tempo, but I'm sure Craig will be back soon.

[Anderton]

So you can't access either the tuner or the tap tempo from a footswitch?

I didn't find a way to do so, you need to hold down a button for the tuner and tap it for tempo. Right now I'm in Tokyo so I can't double-check, the Floor POD is back in the studio...but maybe someone from Line 6 can confirm how it works before I get home.

[Line 6 Mark]

Several good questions have come up in this thread and as the product manager for this product, I’d like to chime in. I’ll start with a very general comment and then respond specifically to specific issues and questions that have come up in this thread.

What were we trying to do with this product?

We already make a POD on the floor that gives you a huge selection of latest generation amp and effect models that is super tweakable – that’s the PODxt Live. The goals for this product - Floor POD - were:

- great sound worthy of the POD name at half the price of PODxt Live
- extremely obvious and easy to use interface
- a wide range of tonal possibilities that stays musically usable at its extremes
- instant tweakability from the top level

As Craig points out, in many cases this product’s easy to use interface comes at the expense of deep tweakability, but I believe the goals outlined above were good targets and this is a substantially differentiated product as a result. More specifics to follow...

Thanks,
Mark

[Line 6 Mark]

The knobs controlling MOD and DELAY/VERB are called “Smart Control FX” and are called this because each knob is actually sweeping through different parameters within each effect simultaneously. In creating these effects we wanted to give as much variety as possible on each knob while still trying to keep the range of sounds presented usable from the min to max position.

[Line 6 Mark]

PODxt vs. POD 2.0 sounds

Using POD 2.0 technology for this product (as opposed to PODxt) allowed us to offer this at a much lower price point. It is also significant that the “old generation” of modeling used for Floor POD is still quite alive in Amp Farm and POD 2.0. Line 6 product developers and sound designers believe the PODxt/GearBox/Vetta technology is more realistic and nuanced, but POD 2.0 & Amp Farm have undeniable character and many of our customers even prefer this sound.

Tap & Tuner function button

Yes, it’s true that you need to press a button to get to tap tempo and tuner functionality. There are three footswitches and we’ve chosen to have two modes – <direct preset access with bypass> and <individual effect on/off>. We decided that these were more important to offer on dedicated footswitches than tap and tuner. Trying to make them work as “press two buttons at once” was not desirable because it opens a can of worms and has unintended consequences. I would assume you would want tap/tuner accessible in both preset and fx on/off mode. In order to make any “press two switches” function work, you have to make every footswitch that works this way perform its function on release rather than press. We tried this and believed it was unacceptable to have patch changes or FX on/off happen on release.


Craig – yes, the presets are meant to show the range of tones you can get from the unit. For myself, I prefer fairly straight ahead modeled amp sounds with a bit of compression and little or no other effects, but you wouldn’t get a sense of scope if the presets were tamed in that manner.

Telemike –– if you saw that you couldn’t get to Tremolo or Phaser sounds by turning the MOD knob, it sounds like there was something wrong with that unit. I have never seen a Floor POD do that or heard another report of this behavior, so I’d have to say it’s an unusual problem. I have also not seen the high pitched squeal described in the review you quoted.

[Line 6 Mark]

Craig – you talk about plug-ins in an earlier post, mentioning Guitar Rig, Amplitube, and Waves GTR by name. Please note that Line 6 also offers an AU/VST (and soon to be RTAS) solution as well called “GearBox Plug-in.” It’s essentially a PODxt in a plug-in format that contains a selection of bass amp/cab and premium mic pre models as well. It is available in stores in two configurations – a Silver Bundle that has a “best of” the PODxt models (along with the mic pres and bass amps/cabs) and the Gold Bundle that has just about everything we have modeled for the flagship Vetta amp and Bass PODxt – about 100 amp and 100 effect models.

Thanks,
Mark

[telemike]

Originally posted by Line 6 Mark
PODxt vs. POD 2.0 sounds


Telemike –– if you saw that you couldn’t get to Tremolo or Phaser sounds by turning the MOD knob, it sounds like there was something wrong with that unit. I have never seen a Floor POD do that or heard another report of this behavior, so I’d have to say it’s an unusual problem. I have also not seen the high pitched squeal described in the review you quoted.

It must be adefecrtive unit then

[MightyGerbil]

How would this thing work for bass guitar???
I play both 6 string electric guitar and 4 string electric bass....
Not at the same time obviously.....
And would love to have 1 box I could set up for both.....


Maybe a stupid question or idea but this is what I am looking for...:o

[Anderton]

Please note that Line 6 also offers an AU/VST (and soon to be RTAS) solution as well called “GearBox Plug-in.” It’s essentially a PODxt in a plug-in format that contains a selection of bass amp/cab and premium mic pre models as well. It is available in stores in two configurations – a Silver Bundle that has a “best of” the PODxt models (along with the mic pres and bass amps/cabs) and the Gold Bundle that has just about everything we have modeled for the flagship Vetta amp and Bass PODxt – about 100 amp and 100 effect models.

Yes! I just got a set to review for EQ magazine and I'm really looking forward to checking them out.

And thanks for "chiming in," Mark. It's one to say that I assume the idea behind the Floor POD was to offer POD technology at an affordable price, but it's another thing to have someone with the company confirm that was indeed the goal.

It's also comforting to know I'm not the only person who thinks the POD 2.0 has something unique to offer compared to the PODxt!!

[Anderton]

Okay, I've pretty much covered everything I planned to cover...but of course, if there's anything else you want (e.g., additional audio examples of specific features or presets), just let me know. This is an open-ended review, and additional comments/questions are always welcome.

After all the time I've spent with the Floor POD, I've come to several conclusions. A lot of these have been scattered throughout the thread, but let's put them together in one place.

First, it seems pretty clear to me there were three main design objectives with respect to the Floor POD:

* Don't cut corners on construction, it has to hold up to being stomped on.
* Trade off deep features (e.g., computer interface) for ease of use.
* Rather than have a huge variety of sounds, do a "greatest hits" where it's hard to find something that doesn't sound good.

And of course, it had be brought in for a reasonable price or no one would want to buy it :)

Overall, if those were indeed the objectives, they've been met. I was initially disappointed with the lack of options -- there are limited selections of amp models and effects -- but the more I worked with the Floor POD, the less concerned I became. What really did it for me was recording the audio examples with just the amp sounds (no effects, no compression, no nothing). It seemed pretty much impossible to get a bad sound. I liked some sounds more than others from a personal taste standpoint, but all of them were useful.

At that point, the effects became the "icing on the cake" rather than being essential to get a good sound. I'm of the "less is more" school of thought, and most of the time, if you pile on lots of effects your tone gets less distinct and your sound more homogenized. With the Floor POD, I ended up creating lots of presets with minimal effects -- a little tempo-synched delay here, a little reverb there. And I found them totally satisfying.

My main objections had to do with the user interface, not the sounds: Specifically, not being able to call up the tuner, or tap tempo, with the footswitches. That's definitely an inconvenience for live use. A secondary inconvenience is not being able to call up effects in any way other than stepping through sequentially. This I don't consider as serious, because I tend to use only a limited number of presets in any given tune anyway. It's not a big deal to go forward or backward a preset or two. And, there's a workaround: Hitting the "Dist" footswitch often let me do rhythm and lead sounds with the same basic preset.

One user interface thing I liked was the choice of secondary functions for the knobs. Its seems the knobs would cover 80% of the tweaks you wanted to make, and the secondary knob functions -- which you wouldn't have to access as often -- would cover the other 20%. I also really like the additional master volume trimpot on the back, as you can match the Floor POD levels to just about anything.

The RP250 has been mentioned several times in this thread as the main competition, and I did a fairly lengthy post comparing the two previously. There's no point in repeating it here but suffice it to say that the sounds and design philosophy are quite different. It seems to me that if someone really was careful about defining their needs, and had the chance to play both of them, they would gravitate naturally toward one or the other and not look back.

One other point I should bring up in fairness is that I was an "early adopter" of Line 6 gear -- the POD and Variax both answered real needs that I had. I've followed the updated versions, and I think the PODxt and Vetta are simply amazing. On the one hand, this could have to Line 6's advantage, because I tend to agree with their subjective decisions about sounds. But on the other hand, this was a little risky from their standpoint because I've heard the best and priciest things they can do, so it wouldn't be surprising if I didn't think much of the "little brother" by comparison.

As it turned out, though, the bottom line is that this is a very cost-effective box that delivers some really standout sounds. It's not a PODxt or PODxt Live, nor does it cost anywhere near as much...but the sound has the same pedigree, no question about it.

Perhaps the most telling point is that despite being "jaded," I had a blast doing this review and playing through the Floor POD. I actually looked forward each day to recording some new audio examples :) and frankly, some of the ones I didn't post will probably show up as loops on my next sample CD.

And I guess that pretty much sums it up. Any further questions? Any questions I missed? Let me know!

[neck-wrecker]

Originally posted by MightyGerbil
How would this thing work for bass guitar???
I play both 6 string electric guitar and 4 string electric bass....
Not at the same time obviously.....
And would love to have 1 box I could set up for both.....


Maybe a stupid question or idea but this is what I am looking for...:o



me too!:thu:

[Anderton]

Well, you can use anything with bass, but IMHO the Floor POD is not optimized for bass -- in other words, the cabinets sound "tuned" for guitar, I don't think there are any emulated bass cabs in there. There's also no dedicated parametric EQ to really mess with (boost) the bass frequencies.

Wouldn't surprise me if Line 6 came out with a bass Floor POD at some point...might be worth waiting for that. Mark, any plans along those lines?

[blackwater86]

kind of a noob question here...is there a way to switch off the power besides unplugging the ac adapter?

[Anderton]

Nope, other than a massive power outage :)

[BuleriaChk]

Yeah, I own the Toneport, Gutarport and all the model packs save the bass, and Line 6 wants an outrageous $200 for vst functionality for those of us who have already made a considerable investment in a computer based system.

Just say NO and go with Amplitube 2.1 or Guitar Rig 2, neither of which has a dongle, are much more flexible and sound better. (That is, I can't use my model packs with both my Guitarport and Toneport, or any other Line 6 Product I choose (not) to purchase.)

In my NSHO, I feel like I've been baited and switched, and I will be working with my other AmpSims, since without vst functionality, my professional applications for Line 6 software are useless.

Now, I'm not frustrated with Line 6 or anything, but they certainly have taught me to avoid GAS attacks in a very real and personal way..... When I first bought into Line 6, I had really high hopes that it was a good investment - at the time it was, but I thought VST would be added as a simple technical upgrade (VST functionality is NOT rocket science - witness all the free vst's on the market, and the fact that it is de riguer with current amp sims)

If you REALLY like Line 6 sounds, go with them, but just be aware of the gotchas (which are NOT listed in the marketing hype)..... They are good, but not THAT good.....

Especially when compared with their competition (Amplitube 2.1, Guitar Rig 2)....

Originally posted by Line 6 Mark
PODxt vs. POD 2.0 sounds

Using POD 2.0 technology for this product (as opposed to PODxt) allowed us to offer this at a much lower price point. It is also significant that the “old generation” of modeling used for Floor POD is still quite alive in Amp Farm and POD 2.0. Line 6 product developers and sound designers believe the PODxt/GearBox/Vetta technology is more realistic and nuanced, but POD 2.0 & Amp Farm have undeniable character and many of our customers even prefer this sound.

Tap & Tuner function button

Yes, it’s true that you need to press a button to get to tap tempo and tuner functionality. There are three footswitches and we’ve chosen to have two modes – <direct preset access with bypass> and <individual effect on/off>. We decided that these were more important to offer on dedicated footswitches than tap and tuner. Trying to make them work as “press two buttons at once” was not desirable because it opens a can of worms and has unintended consequences. I would assume you would want tap/tuner accessible in both preset and fx on/off mode. In order to make any “press two switches” function work, you have to make every footswitch that works this way perform its function on release rather than press. We tried this and believed it was unacceptable to have patch changes or FX on/off happen on release.


Craig – yes, the presets are meant to show the range of tones you can get from the unit. For myself, I prefer fairly straight ahead modeled amp sounds with a bit of compression and little or no other effects, but you wouldn’t get a sense of scope if the presets were tamed in that manner.

Telemike –– if you saw that you couldn’t get to Tremolo or Phaser sounds by turning the MOD knob, it sounds like there was something wrong with that unit. I have never seen a Floor POD do that or heard another report of this behavior, so I’d have to say it’s an unusual problem. I have also not seen the high pitched squeal described in the review you quoted.

[Anderton]

I understand where you're coming from, but wonder if there's some technical issue involved. I know the TonePorts work on a pretty deep level of the OS, which is why the latency is so low...their software bypasses a lot of the Windows and Mac GUI. Maybe they need to have their plugs work in the same environment, which would preclude their acting like "normal" VST plugs.

Just wondering...

[BuleriaChk]

I think the reason Line 6 may have to work so hard is because of the dongle/protection scheme they use, not because of the technical difficulty of latency....

I get 1.5 ms latency using an RPC-1/VM3100 pro with GR2 and 1.6 with Amplitube. (Of course, I do have a fast computer). Other interfaces are comparable, with none over 5 ms. (All my drivers are ASIO, which bypasses the Windows mixer - what else do you have to bypass?)

Pentium Core Duo, Asus P5B deluxe, E6700, 2 GB Corsair memory, WinXp, SATA 10K drives.....

Interfaces are:
Boss GS-10 (USB)
Zoom G7.1uT (USB)
Roland Vm3100Pro/rpc-1 (PCI)
Digitech Gnx4 (recently sold on EBay) (USB)
Digitech RP250 (USB)
Indigo I/O (PCMCIA)

VST Hosts:
Sonar Producer 6
Ableton Live 6
Fruity Loops 6
Adobe Audition

AmpSims:
Guitar Rig 2
Amplitube 2.1
Gearbox (with all model packs except bass)

Guitarport, Toneport (haven't checked without Gearbox, since they are gathering dust now.....)

But I got low latency (<5 ms with my other interfaces) even on my old 2.53 Ghz Pentium 4.....
(well, ok, I couldn't get below 10Ms with the GNX4 ASIO drivers...)

So I have to pay because Line 6 is compensating users with underwhelming PC's.....? (Not to be a snob or anything....:-)

Originally posted by Anderton
I understand where you're coming from, but wonder if there's some technical issue involved. I know the TonePorts work on a pretty deep level of the OS, which is why the latency is so low...their software bypasses a lot of the Windows and Mac GUI. Maybe they need to have their plugs work in the same environment, which would preclude their acting like "normal" VST plugs.

Just wondering...

[Anderton]

Are those measured latencies, or what the program tells you? I can understand that a PCI interface would give lower latencies than the USB ones, but how did you get under 5ms with the GNX4? I'm using the beta ASIO drivers and according to its applet, you can't get less than 10ms. If you have a newer driver I'd love to get my hands on it!!

But as we're finding out over at the Konnekt 24D Pro Review, there's a HUGE difference between stated latency and round trip + bus latencies for various interfaces. And as I found out in the Riffworks Pro Review, a lot of products don't report latencies correctly. Based on tests Riffworks did, the Line 6 interfaces were some of the few interfaces that actually reported correct latency values.

So I wouldn't want to draw too many conclusions with my own setup until I can actually measure roundtrip latencies using something like the CEntrance latency measuring utility.

[BuleriaChk]

Craig, Thanks for your response.

I did comment at the bottom....:-) Or, I might have edited that in - depends on the forum lag. In any case, you're right; I couldn't get less than 10ms for the GNX4....

Digitech is kind of weird, though. For the RP250, I should add that I only got great latency with Sonar Producer 6. As I remember, Ableton was not as good, but it does to latency compensation. But for most of my recording, I use the RPC-1 for obvious reasons. (And I probably will use Gearbox as an I/O for my other VST's, at least until the StompIO is released), although the Indigo I/0 is no slouch on my laptop (Core Duo 2 Ghz)

In any case, I don't pretend to be much of an expert in ASIO latency, so am not vetting the interfaces technically (got too many scales to practice...:-). I only know what I see on the screen and what I hear when I play; other than that, (for me) all I can say is the latency is unnoticeable for most of my i/o solutions. Line 6 may have some sort of magical latency solution, but in the real world, with my computer, the issue is moot.....

Originally posted by Anderton
Are those measured latencies, or what the program tells you? I can understand that a PCI interface would give lower latencies than the USB ones, but how did you get under 5ms with the GNX4? I'm using the beta ASIO drivers and according to its applet, you can't get less than 10ms. If you have a newer driver I'd love to get my hands on it!!

[Web Surf]

Well, if you're REALLY interested in my take........

First of all, no computer-based simulation is going to feel like a tube amp to the guitarist, even though a good simulation will sound like a tube amp to the listener. Part of this is because with a computer, you're monitoring through non-guitar speakers, at non-guitar amp levels. Run it through a guitar amp, and the equation tilts toward giving it a much more tube-like feel.




Sir,

Please help me understand above.

A) As you rule out Speaker sims, Does this mean that Guitar Speaker simulators are no good ?

B) I understand from above that the only way to get a tube feel is by actually using a tube ?

( PS : Thanks for your decades of work in sound technology. I am a humble student of your work)

[ShredRex]

I gotta chime in here........for recording on the PC Amplitube 2 blows Gearbox away......period.

But isn't the floor pod really designed more towards playing live using the sounds you would have recorded with Gearbox? I mean isn't the idea........

I love the idea of one box doing ti all, but I just can't see it happening...to me recording and playing live with always be 2 distinctly different animals.

I t may already have been answered in the previous pages, but what i really want to know is how does the floor pod compare to say the older pod XT....and does the floor pod stand a chance against the likes of the toneport?

[Anderton]

Sir,

Please help me understand above.

A) As you rule out Speaker sims, Does this mean that Guitar Speaker simulators are no good ?

B) I understand from above that the only way to get a tube feel is by actually using a tube ?


A) Guess I wasn't clear...I consider the whole simulation thing (amp, speakers, cabinets as one "pacakge." I don't rule them out -- I use them all the time, and in most ways, prefer them to amps. But....

B) As far as I'm concerned, the only way to get a tube "feel" is with a tube. But you can get a tube sound with a simulator. I've heard plenty of recordings where it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell whether a guitar amp sound is real or simulated.

Does that make sense?

[Anderton]

But isn't the floor pod really designed more towards playing live using the sounds you would have recorded with Gearbox? I mean isn't the idea........

I love the idea of one box doing ti all, but I just can't see it happening...to me recording and playing live with always be 2 distinctly different animals.

I t may already have been answered in the previous pages, but what i really want to know is how does the floor pod compare to say the older pod XT....and does the floor pod stand a chance against the likes of the toneport?

The Floor POD is an inexpensive solution for live playing and if you're on a budget, you can certainly use it for recording. But it is a generation prior to the XT, which I feel is quite a bit more versatile for recording than the Floor POD, although of course it will cost you more.

As to whether the Floor POD "stands a chance" against the TonePort, I'm not quite sure what you mean...the TonePort is a computer interface with effects, not a live performance device, and the Floor POD can't do computer interfacing so they're quite different.

[Anderton]

One more thing: Regarding AmpliTube 2, I like it very much...great software. But Guitar Rig does things it won't do, and the Waves GTR overall has a more defined sound than either one, but is less versatile in some ways. Line 6's simulations have their own sound. I use them all for what they do best...same with guitars :)

If I had to do an analogy of sound quality, I'd say AmpliTube 2 is humbuckers, GTR is single-coil, Guitar Rig is MIDI guitar :), and TonePort is between a humbucker and a single coil.

Re-reading that, I guess it's a little esoteric...oh well. Maybe it will make some sense!

[ShredRex]

As to whether the Floor POD "stands a chance" against the TonePort, I'm not quite sure what you mean...the TonePort is a computer interface with effects, not a live performance device, and the Floor POD can't do computer interfacing so they're quite different.

Thanks for the response......what I was referring to was the use of the floor POD as a recording device compared to the toneport and gearbox. I didn't realize the floor pod did not interface like the traditional pod.

So given the cost of floor pod, you just just buy a cheaper Line6 amp say a Spider II or III? I mean we are focusing on the live side of things as compared to recording right?

[wheresgrant3]

I've read through most of the posts on this thread. I'm just wondering whether the Floor Pod fits the bill for a no nonsense FX unit for live playing.

I play keyboards and guitar in a cover band. My guitar rig is a Peavey XXX thru a Genz Benz GL 2x12 cab. My external pedals consist of a Boss TU Tuner and a Digitech Whammy IV. A few months back I bought an XTLive with the hopes that it would provide a multi effects solution through my FX loop, provide an alternative (with amp sims direct into the PA) for small stages when I can't use my rig and as a backup if my amp ever failed. The truth is I was hoping for something plug and play.... the reality its that it is far complicated than that. For what I need (a little delay, chorus, reverb) the XTL is way overkill, and I really dislike that I have so many features hidden in menus. I want to use my XXX as my preamp and bypass the amp sims. The XTLive requires a lot of tweaking (time I don't have) to be stage worthy.

Has anyone used the Floor Pod infront of their amp or in a loop just as a simple fx box? If someone has a better plug and play idea for reverb and modulation please let me know.

[6string_fever]

I have a general question about the floor pod. I'm molling over the idea to purchase one but i already own a behringer v-ampire lx1-112 and it requires a degree in rocket science and a very good knowledge of quantum physics to program.. and because of that it reeks for gigging. my main thing is user friendliness. how easy is the floor pod to program. i just want the basic things, a clean channel with a bit of chorus, a nice soldano rhythm channel and last but not least the soldano with a touch of chorus and echo... any help would be greatly appreciated..

Gear:
Keith Roscoe LP
ovation CC057 accoustic
Ibanez destroyer
Cort Viva 7 string
Behringer Lx1-112 modeling amp
Crate slant Cab W/ Celestions

[arch23]

PODxt vs. POD 2.0 sounds

Tap & Tuner function button

Yes, it’s true that you need to press a button to get to tap tempo and tuner functionality. There are three footswitches and we’ve chosen to have two modes – <direct preset access with bypass> and <individual effect on/off>. We decided that these were more important to offer on dedicated footswitches than tap and tuner. Trying to make them work as “press two buttons at once” was not desirable because it opens a can of worms and has unintended consequences. I would assume you would want tap/tuner accessible in both preset and fx on/off mode. In order to make any “press two switches” function work, you have to make every footswitch that works this way perform its function on release rather than press. We tried this and believed it was unacceptable to have patch changes or FX on/off happen on release.



I can think of two more ways to implement it and not on footswitch release:
1. bypass mode is also a tuner mode.
2. press and hold both footswitches for 2-3 secconds.

Just a thought, because i know nothing about pedal programming...

[Anderton]

I have a general question about the floor pod. I'm molling over the idea to purchase one but i already own a behringer v-ampire lx1-112 and it requires a degree in rocket science and a very good knowledge of quantum physics to program.. and because of that it reeks for gigging. my main thing is user friendliness. how easy is the floor pod to program. i just want the basic things, a clean channel with a bit of chorus, a nice soldano rhythm channel and last but not least the soldano with a touch of chorus and echo... any help would be greatly appreciated..

I think the whole point of the Floor POD is that it's about as easy to program as it gets. Check it out at your local music store, and I think you'll see it's all pretty obvious.

[HKSblade1]

Craig, Great review! Thank You!

I see what you mean on "Tube feel". I tried the Floor Pod with my F series Mesa and it did add some color. Better than the MG amp it was hooked up with at Guitar Center. It's easy to use though.

[book_of_lies777]

while I appreciate the amount of work that went into this review, and although the Floor POD sounds alright, I won't be giving up my V-Amp2 for it.

[6string_fever]

I think the whole point of the Floor POD is that it's about as easy to program as it gets. Check it out at your local music store, and I think you'll see it's all pretty obvious.

Thanks for your prompt reply, i looked at a floor pod at guitar center.but the salesman couldn't tell me much about it, so i turned to you guys and got the answers i needed. thanks again

Sincerely, Marty

[kwhittingham]

Just got back into playing electric guitar after a loooonnng hiatus. After not playing at all for over 10 years, I picked back up the acoustic guitar about 2 years ago, and have been jamming with some guys locally. Finally bought an electric a few months back, and was looking for a multi-effects box to give me some versatility. A guy at the local mega-store suggested the FloorPOD.

Before I even got it out of the box, I read the first several pages of this review thread. THANK YOU!!! So much guidance in one place was way more than I expected. It really got me up to speed.

The thing that really struck me were your comments about the unit's ability to inspire. I have seen that firsthand. I am little more than a novice on the guitar, but the Floor POD has certainly taken my creativity up a notch. I understand it has it's limitations, but it seems perfect for where I am.

This past weekend, the band I jam with played a few sets at a youth conference. I debuted my electric, and my Floor POD. What a blast!!! It felt like a "coming of age". I'm anxious to keep learning more and more about what this thing can do, as I get better and better at my playing.

PS: Looking at a loop pedal next in the sub-$300 range. The forum search function here seems to be down. If you could point me to any good reviews, I'd appreciate it.

[larryguitar]

Craig,

That was a very informative review.

As more and more guitar gear becomes software based or software controlled, it becomes harder and harder to just 'try out' something in a store and get a real feel for what it can do, and how well it can do it.

Reviews such as this-a technically competent person who's also a musician-are just what's needed to sort through the new stuff coming out and avoid expensive disappointments in gear purchases.

Thanks!


Larry

[kwhittingham]

I have a quick technical question: how exactly do you use the tap tempo on the Floor POD (I did say earlier that I was a novice at this stuff).

Do you just tap the button a few times at the tempo you want? Or is there something I'm missing? I tried this approach and the results were surprising. Maybe, I just have to get used to the "feel" of it.

Thanks, KW

[Blueraven]

Is this basicaly the same unit as the LINE 6 POD XT - LIVE

cept not a live version? Same effects etc?

BR

[book_of_lies777]

Is this basicaly the same unit as the LINE 6 POD XT - LIVE

cept not a live version? Same effects etc?

BR

no - it's based on the POD 2.0, but in a floor thing...

[Blueraven]

so the effects displayed here by Craig are not in the Live version?

Dang, Well which one is better and newer..

Whcih do you rec?

thanks for your help

BR

[MudFlaps-1]

Blueraven,

go to www.line6.com and compare the specs. The PODxtLive has more of everything - more amp/speaker models, more effects, USB capability, so it costs more money ($399 retail). It's also based on new 'podxt' software.

The FloorPOD is based on older 'pod 2.0' software. Has far fewer amp/speaker/effects models, but can be easier to use as it's not as complicated. It's smaller, and it retails for $199.

At NAMM line6 have just introduced the FloorPODPlus - it's specs are right in-between the above units and so is the price, $299 retail.

Check out the harmony-central reviews of the PODxtLive and FloorPOD. It's up to you - do you need everything including the kitchen sink, or do you need something simple with a few good sounds, or does your budget pretty much dictate. Also check out units by Boss, Digitech, Korg, Zoom. Do your research. Listen to each one. It's not an area you can make a quick decision on.

[Blueraven]

Mud,

Yes i saw the new one at Line 6 and decided on it when it arrives in March. However, didnt notice the diffs.

Ill check that out.

Thanks

[Anderton]

Mudflaps -- excellent summary, couldn't have said it better myself.

Having had the chance to distance myself from the review for a bit, what with NAMM and all, I must say that all my initial impressions and comments in this review have held up. Sometimes after you use a piece of gear for a while, you find out some things that maybe weren't as cool as you thought, or some features you missed that are really cool. But the Floor POD "is what it is" -- basic, easy to use, limited, and with really good sounds. I must admit there have been times when despite having a bunch of very cool guitar gear around, I just plugged in the FP and wailed because it was just so easy to get going.

[Anderton]

The thing that really struck me were your comments about the unit's ability to inspire. I have seen that firsthand. I am little more than a novice on the guitar, but the Floor POD has certainly taken my creativity up a notch. I understand it has it's limitations, but it seems perfect for where I am.

Actually, the "inspiration factor" was what surprised me the most about the Floor POD. What that tells me is that there is a real place for devices that have a very limited and optimized "skill set" (and I don't just mean in effects...that applies to software and all kinds of devices).

People often talk about how limiting one's options can improve creativity because you're not getting "lost in the features." But while that's true in theory, in practice it requires that those options be spot on -- because if you have limited options, they better all be good. I think that's probably the Floor POD's strongest point: The sounds hit a very high success ratio.

I'm glad there have been so many comments about how this thread has been useful in terms of making decisions. As a reviewer, I absolutely love this format as it allows the ability to describe gear in so much detail. And as I mentioned in the first post, this particular one has given me the chance to play lots of guitar :)

[Blueraven]

Well the Floor Pod is new. So maybe it has better sounds then the XT Live?

$ isnt a factor.

If the quality of the amp model sounds etc ARE the same in each one then I wld prob get the XT Live.

Also, I was noticing quite a few of the XT Live on ebay being sold. I wondered, why are all these units being sold?

And i wondered, are the newer models of the XT Live better than the earlier versions? Seemed many of the ones on Ebay were bhgt in early 2006.

[book_of_lies777]

Well the Floor Pod is new. So maybe it has better sounds then the XT Live?



these tones are from the POD 2.0 - old(er) stuff re-packaged into a floor box.

[SBlack]

Craig,

This is an awesome review -- objective, clear, and informative. I am a huge fan of your work and appreciate all of the time and patience you put into the reviews you do. Thanks.

. . .

But my one question lies in the tones the Floor Pod puts out in front of an amp. How does it sound in front of a combo with 12" speakers? How does it sound in the loop of a combo with 12" speakers? No one has really made a clear comment on this. This application, however, is a highly used one in the realm of floor processors.

Anyone's experience and feedback are appreciated.

Thanks.

[flip333]

And also, please:

Is the bypass transparent?

Is the bypass quick and easy?

[Rodrigo Yoshida]

very cool review!

i own it and i´m very happy with my tone! but i bought it to play live, when i use the direct to play with headphones i can get a very good tone but plugged in an amp (using the amp setting) it sounds a little "artificial" in high volume...
i think the problem is in me because i didn't have time to play more with it (just two times yet) in an amp but is there any tip about it?
does anybody use it to play live?

sorry for my very bad english!

[BuleriaChk]

Great thread, all! Myself, I have rather unique purposes (nylon flamenco guitar into signal processor), and FYI, I've found that I don't need effects or cabinets; the amp models alone are what make it for me.

For my sound, the Boss GS-10 is by far the best I have found, and its little cousin, the Amp Factiory (GP-20) - I use the "Clean Twin" setting a lot.

FWIW, the Boss may sound "thin" to some, but that is just what I want; I think the bass is heavily emphasized due the the fact that the dynamic range between the 6th to the 1st string isn't as great on the electric as it is on a nylon string, and the manufactures boost the bass (and mid range) in comparison.

So I returned the RP-250, but I'm sure it is just great for electric guitarists.

I'll be interested in Fender's new emulation pedal, the FDR-1....

In fact, I have to admit that I sold EVERYTHING on EBay - the G7, the Gnx4, - everything, and bought a second GS-10 as a backup. IMO, the latter is the most undervalued piece of gear around, with the best software/hardware interface in the business. (Of course, StompIO isn't out yet....)

I have both GR2 and AT2, and I agree with Craig, insofar as I understand what he is saying. But both of them eclipse Line 6's sound - (again, I admit, for my unique application). I have to applaud Line 6's creativity, though; it is only their marketing idiots that I have issue with.....:-)

[N00b_But_Tryin']

First post here...

congratz on very helpful, detailed and pro review

This will be probably odd...

Joe Satriani made a song called The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing.

I just wonder how FPOD would manage this kind of sounds, and since I'm living in Poland, on outskirts of civilisation where chance to find sth to test is dramatically lower than those of getting eaten by wolves I thought I'll smile to you, Anderton...

And you can't complain 'cause you already said that it is fun for you :P

Pretty please?

cheers, Mroq aka n00b :P [aarg, the nick-was-taken info truly kills me]

[gtrplayer]

Sounds good and great for home studio or bedroom use etc... maybe even garage jamming with some buddies.... But what about in a true live situation with the band? As seasoned players know, what you hear and tweak at home is one thing and what you hear at the show is another! Stage levels, monitor levels, mains levels, drums kicking behind you, the pushing bass line, and the vocals etc... So has anyone demo'd this in such a situation? Running through a big 100w head and 4x12 cab?? Will it hold up? Will it sound full? Will it cut through?

I've never had good luck with mulit-fx processors in such a situation, but I sure would like to find something that can give the diversity of multi-fx and be able to hold it's own on stage. Most of these typically sound over processed when live and "pushed" etc...

thoughts?

[dwerlin]

So, as I’m in the market for a multi-effects unit for my rig (budget mandates this as opposed to individual pedals, and I like the availability of amp/cab sims for recording and/or going straight to a PA). At lunch today I went to Guitar Center and demoed both the Line 6 Floor POD and the DigiTech RP350. My test was with a Fender Standard Stratocaster into each unit respectively, and then I used headphones to evaluate each unit (I didn’t plug either of them into an amp).

I wasn’t blown away by either of these units. Neither of them really had a “tube” sound/feel to me…however, for $200 each, I wasn’t totally expecting to (though it would certainly have been nice if I was).

Line 6 Floor POD:

Pros:

The tone is bold and in your face – by this, I mean that the tone feels full and robust, not thin.
Ease of use – I found it very easy to rotate through the amp models and control gain, output volume, and tone. Changing the effects parameters was very easy as well. This unit is pretty much idiot proof.
FX Control – excellent feature, lets you turn off and on individual effects without changing preset banks, and add a touch of volume and overdrive for lead
All metal construction – at least as far as I could tell, the entire unit was metal construction (the knobs may be plastic, but they have a metal feel to them).

Cons:

The tone is harsh[er] – this unit sounded a bit more “digital” than the DigiTech RP350. I didn’t get enough time to really sit down and tweak settings, so I don’t know if that can be tweaked out.
No tuner foot access – you need to bend down and hold the “tuner” button in order to get into tuning mode. With that said, the tuner in this unit is excellent.
No foot tap tempo – you need to bend down and tap the “tap tempo” button in order to set tempo for delay.
No USB – no USB output for computer editing/updating/recording. Not a huge deal, but it would certainly have been nice.
Very limited number of effects – there are only 4 effect types per the 2 effect banks, and you can only use 1 type per effect bank at any given time.
Limited effects options - there really aren't many different effects available, but the major ones are there.

DigiTech RP350

Pros:

The tone is smooth[er] – I found the tone of this unit to be smoother than the Line 6 Floor POD. However, it wasn’t as in your face…it seemed much flatter (however, I didn’t play with any EQ settings). It’s less digital sounding without having to do any tweaks, however it didn’t really portray any “tube” essence.
Tuner foot access – it’s very nice to be able to access the tuner via footswitches, however, see my comment on that in the “Cons” section.
Stomp box models for overdrive/distortion – quite a nice feature, which the Line 6 Floor POD does not have. This essentially allows you to not have to use any amp models if you’re playing into your amp, which I think is a great feature.
Tons of amp models/effects – with this unit you get a multitude of effects and amp models, many more than with the Line 6 Floor POD.
USB – a USB connection on this unit makes it possible to connect it to a PC for patch editing and direct recording. This is certainly a nice feature to have.

Cons:

Flat[er] sound – like I mentioned above, the default settings for this unit give the output a flat sound. It’s not bold, and in your face like the Line 6 Floor POD.
Bypass/Tuner operation – this is one of my biggest gripes with this unit. In order to either put the unit in bypass mode or into tuner mode, you need to step on the up/down pedals (both at the same time). While this might seem like an easy task, if you don’t hit them both exactly at the same time, you won’t get into the bypass/tuner mode. Instead, you’ll start scrolling madly through all the presets. This was a HUGE disappointment for me. I’d rather have to bend down and push the button on the front of the Line 6 Floor POD to tune than dealing with trying to get into DigiTech’s tuner mode.
Not full metal construction – most of the unit is constructed of heavy duty metal, except for the foot switches! The foot switches are just plastic. They seem like they wouldn’t hold up to every day abuse nearly as well as the Line 6 Floor POD pedals.
No tap tempo? – I couldn’t for the life of me find any tap tempo mode on this unit…I apologize if it’s there and I missed it.
Still somewhat limited on types of effects you can use simultaneously - unfortunately, as with every multi-effects unit I've ever used, you can't use 2 stomp box distortion/overdrives together, etc.

Overall, I’m not really sure if I would choose either unit, since they both have their flaws. However, for $200 I really shouldn’t expect either one of them to be perfect.

Choosing the Line 6 Floor POD would leave me possibly (depending on if it can get tweaked out) a harsher, more “digital” sound.

Choosing the DigiTech RP350 would leave me possibly (depending on if it can get tweaked in) a flatter, less in your face sound. I would probably also hate the bypass/tuner operation.

With that said, if I had to choose one of these two units right now, I would choose the Line 6 Floor POD for its construction quality, fuller tone, and easier (although theoretically less user friendly) tuner/tap tempo access.

[LORDGOREKKK]

You should've got the Podxt Live

[dwerlin]

You should've got the Podxt Live

were you talking to me? i didn't get either the Floor POD or the RP350, I was just stating that I would get the Floor POD over the RP350. Not to mention the XT Live is double the price of the Floor POD...

[gtrplayer]

Hey bro... first off, it will be VERY difficult if not impossible to get a good "tube" sound through headphones. Typically, most any multi-fx processor will sound good through head phones.

If you're playing live then it is a MUST to try the thing through an amp and with some substantial volume and with dedicated ears. Of which a Guitar Center really can't provide, given the 297 other kids in there playing every possible instrument and then the 4 different mixes of overhead music blarring through the speakers mixed with the announcements of phone calls screamed through the overhead paging system by the 13 year old door greeter!

Sorry, but that place just really grinds on me!!!! they often times have good prices, but I can't stand the experience!

So, anyway... the best thing is to most definately try whatever it is you're interested in through an amp. And remember, (if you're playing live) what you hear in the store and/or in your bedroom/house and what you hear at the gig will be two different things.

Best of luck to you bro!

[1201alarm]

I bought my Floor Pod today. Mixed feelings, to say the least. Though the modelling is fine, it appears to be focussed on amps that are rich in the low and (ultra) high registers. If you are looking for anything like a Van Halen, Slash or Billy Gibbons kind of sound, you're in for some serious tweaking, especially with the tone controls of your amp (I play a Wolfgang through the FP into a Hughes & Kettner Attax 100). I had to drown out almost all bass and treble to get a tone that is rich in the middle and upper middle registers. I'm still not happy but I'm sure I would get there eventually using a EQ pedal, but that's not what I want.

Though I greatly appreciate Craig's review I can't share his enthusiasm for the usability of the FX. Whichever you use, the moment you dial more than 2 milimeters into its 'zone', you start sounding like a teenage start-up showing off to his girlfriend (and there's nothing wrong with that if you're a teenage start-up; it's obligatory).

The delay feedbacks at least 4 times; I NEED a delay that will give me just one repitition or I'll never learn how to play Cathedral (I probably never will for other reasons, but that's not the point). As for the chorus/flanger/phaser: way too much resonance. Where's the subtlety?

On the upside: the sounds I get from the amp models do make me want to explore other genres.

My conclusion (FWIW): if you look for a good and affordable amp modeller in a floor unit and you like the 'round' sound of plenty bass and treble, the Floor Pod seems like a good option. If you want any flexibility in your FX and in your tone, it isn't.

I'm gonna try to return mine tomorrow and see if I can trade it in for a Zoom G2.1u. Not much on amp simulation, but good on FX from what I hear.


UPDATE
I just got the Zoom and my greatest fear came true: I LOVE IT. So far it's been destroying my original tone completely (when in overdrive) and although I hope I can fix that, what it's giving back is awesome, noiseless sustain and playability. My fear was that I'll never be one of those serious musicians to whom tone and quality is everything, and this little gem proves that fear to be entirely justified.

[guitar_pic]

Can the floor pod do a dotted eighth type soound? How do you tap the rythm in to get it?

[blueseric]

Hello Craig,
as a reader of yours over this past 25+years,I bought a Variax 600 (Fabulous),but I seem to think that the models are shown to their best potential,using the Amp/Speaker types appropriate to the model.Do you know if anyone has listed what these are,for each type of guitar sound,which I would suppose can be set up on the POD XTLive?This would be so helpful to me and ,I'm sure, many others.Thankyou and Best Wishes,
John Evans

[StratKat]

Hi Gang, I have in years past done some reviews (both pro and amateur for companies and friends) on some products. I am not a techy electronics expert (there are laws in some states regarding the proximity of solder irons and myself. This is because whatever i solder ends up weiging several pounds heavier when im thru.)

But i have owned an original XT, and have a friend who owns several of the 2.0 versions of pods and uses them in church and restaurant gigs exclusively. So i am somewhat familiar with the idea of how they work and what they do.

First off this is what i use for small gigs and churches presently.

I run my guitars (one with humbuckers tapped and one with single coils) into a Morlet dist/volume wah, then into a pedalboard that has in order a boss tuner, tubescreamer ts9, mxr comp, boss chorus, boss Digital delay. That exits the board and runs to a Blues Jr mic'd with a senn 609 silver.

I know the chain of events makes some cringe, but its MY sound and its what i have found that works for my tone.

The original XT worked fine through headphones but i didnt like the live sound through an amp onstage at all. It was harsh and seemed to have most mids lost no matter what i tried to do editing it. But this is one of the problems ive encountered on ALL multi floor processors ive used. And i did try both the amp and air sim switch and found the air setting (the one with no speaker sim) worked better but still had tone issues.

I expected this though. I bought mine for recording and was just trying to see if it would work for live and in MY situation it didnt.

But my friend loved it for HIS situation where he runs guitar into XT into PA. And i sold it to him cheap.

At the time, i was doing blues in loud bands. Now i'm doing churches for contemporary services and although my amp sounds fine its abit time consuming to set it all up.

My friend also does churches and i went to hear him using my old XT. I had heard the older original pods he has (some with 2.0 chips and some without) and wasnt impressed much. But the XT through the church pa sounded MUCH better. So i got curious about an XT Pedalboard. But i couldnt afford one, so i saw the Floor Pod and got curious even more.

Well, being the arse that my friend has to be he bought an XT Live Pedalboard and it sounds great for this live church through the pa stuff. So now im thinking of how much less equipment to drag around for my church gig, and i do think that the clean tones of the board sound better than my rig, but i dont really like the distortions of the XT still. To me they sound buzzy abit. But i do about three distortion tunes out of 8 each sunday and thats not a big deal.

Then came the inbetween pod floor model they just released. Its more than a 2.0 floor pod im told, but not as flexible as the XT Live. And now im sort of confused at what Line 6 is trying to do with three different models in three different price ranges but to my ears they all have the same problem. They dont sound all that good in front of an amp.

I have used a pod into a pa amp into a gtr speaker cab and that works nicely.

And im not trying to be harsh or degrade this company. Line 6 is outstanding for the most part. I really only have one issue with them concerning the pods and that is the update transfer problem of ownership. As i understand it, if i buy an XT live and pay the high price for all the upgrades (software) then they are mine. But if i sell the XT to one of you and you accidentally wipe out those temporary memory upgrades inside the board you dont get them back. Unless you give it back to me to do the downloads again into it.

I think the downloads should be owned by the buyer and transferable to a seller because they are PAID for. SO instead, the owner is leasing the upgrades, not owning them.

Now if im wrong please tell me. As i like this company. And i respect this company. AAnd im pretty sure with my background in doing tech reviews that if i did a long evaluation of the product i would eventually find a setting for the front of amn amp that i liked. And im pretty sure if anyone out there does the work to build a setting and tweak it they can get as good a sound out of the pods as most other multi effect systems.

When i hit the lotto....

And kudos to Mark and all his comments. Im not here to anger or jerk chanins. Just stating my opps too. And i can and have been proven wrong inthe past now and (cough) then. So enlighten me.

[StratKat]

bumpity!

[StratKat]

Hi gang, im posting this here to see if any new comments show up on these pedalboards....


I just talked to a friend i mentioned above using his various pods in churches. He has talked to several who own the XT Live's and they are furious about this new version the X3 Live. Seems they paid 400 plus tax for the XT Live, then 200 for all the add on upgrades that are temporary and leased (not owned since they are not transferable to another person when sold later).

And boy are they p1ssed!

I can see Line 6 trying to improve their product line and i like the new toy from what ive read so far on their site. But what a drag to spend alot more money on the XT Live and other versions and then have this baby come out cheaper.

All his friends (and a few of mine) are doing full time church gigs for pay. And they all lean towards or actually use the line 6 pedalboards of some model. This may steer them away from line 6.


Me?

Im waiting for them to SELL off their old stuff cheap!

Muahahahah!:thu::D

[dwerlin]

dammit! why do they have to keep coming out with new awesome stuff that i want to get.

this new Pod X3 Live is EXACTLY what i've been looking for (i had the XT Live...but felt it wasn't quite there...now this X3 Live has everything i've wanted).

i don't know how the hell i'll get the wife to agree to this one, especially at $500.

[StratKat]

.....ummmmm, can i have yer old one? ....pleeeeaaaase?

i play in churches on a reg basis every sunday and cant afford any of the good stuff till its twenty years old, ya know?

[playonj]

(About the RP-250) Bypass/Tuner operation – this is one of my biggest gripes with this unit. In order to either put the unit in bypass mode or into tuner mode, you need to step on the up/down pedals (both at the same time). While this might seem like an easy task, if you don’t hit them both exactly at the same time, you won’t get into the bypass/tuner mode. Instead, you’ll start scrolling madly through all the presets. This was a HUGE disappointment for me. I’d rather have to bend down and push the button on the front of the Line 6 Floor POD to tune than dealing with trying to get into DigiTech’s tuner mode.


Yeah this is my big problem with this thing. For live use it's useless if you want to bypass it to your amp's natural tone, because as you say if you don't press the switches PERFECTLY together, you end up with some other patch, sometimes far away from the sound you want. For recording only it's probably fine, and the USB port is innovative. But if you plan to use it live, better hook up some kind of hard-wired bypass to go around it. I might check out the POD, but I did think that many of the more distorted amp samples Craig posted sounded harsh. I do think the RP-250 sounds very nice with a little tweaking.

[biojerk]

Hi! Maybe stupid question, I know, but: How can I turn on the wah function on my floor pod. What does press toe for wah mean? when I press the "toe" of the pedal nothing happens, I just stay in the volume mode. I have to admit I dont have it for long, but this puzzles me a lot I have to admit. The rest of the settings is pretty intuitive in my eyes. Thanks a lot!
greets Benny