Vox AD30VT or POD?

R

rozsand

New member
Question for ya:

I'm a law student, living in an apartment, so right now my options for recording guitar are gonna be crummy for the next 3 years or so. I can't use a stack anymore (without soundproofing the whole apartment, which is prohibitively expensive), so I'm thinking about picking up either a VOX AD30VT Valvetronix amp or a POD XT. I'd like to at least occasionally mic the VOX, but don't know how it'd sound at low volumes through an SM 57. In any case, I'll probably be stuck recording direct 90% of the time.

So here it is: Which would sound better, recording line from the VOX or the output of the POD? Would the VOX sound okay when mic'ed at *LOW* volume? Which would you buy?
 
Here we go again...

It's all ""subjective""

Go try them all out, but remember the presets usually suck bad.

As much as I don't care much at all for Behringer, the V-Amps are a good value.
 
rozsand said:
Question for ya:

I'm a law student, living in an apartment, so right now my options for recording guitar are gonna be crummy for the next 3 years or so. I can't use a stack anymore (without soundproofing the whole apartment, which is prohibitively expensive), so I'm thinking about picking up either a VOX AD30VT Valvetronix amp or a POD XT. I'd like to at least occasionally mic the VOX, but don't know how it'd sound at low volumes through an SM 57. In any case, I'll probably be stuck recording direct 90% of the time.

So here it is: Which would sound better, recording line from the VOX or the output of the POD? Would the VOX sound okay when mic'ed at *LOW* volume? Which would you buy?
Click to expand...

I had a POD... sold it.

I got a AD50VT now and I love it!! (the 50 watt version of the AD30VT) The tone of these little Vox amps are incredible. It must be that real tube that gives it a more authentic tube tone than a POD.


Go for the Vox, you won't be disappointed. :)
 
therage! said:
As much as I don't care much at all for Behringer, the V-Amps are a good value.
Click to expand...

Ughh... I'm really hoping to avoid Behringer. I bought a direct box from them once, and basically all the blasted thing did was add noise.

I thought the POD XT and the Guitar port were different myself... why the big price difference?
 
I have a Vox AD120vt and think it's just the best amp I have owned for all I need. But they're totally different from the smaller Vox VT amps. Which I still think are good but not the same thing.

But I also own a POD. It has probably been the best investment I have ever made in a piece of gear.

The Vox really shines when you turn it up loud. My 120 has a 1 watt setting, but it's still pretty loud when you crank up all the way. It sounds great like this, thats because the Vox Valve Reactor is in the power stage of the amp and not the pre stage, so it's made to sound and react like a real tube amp when you're driving the power tubes.

I bought the POD after using one in the studios of several pro guitar players who were nationally known. I saw it was kind of a secret weapon of several guys and decided to try it out myself. After taking alot of time to completely erase the stock programs, I set up the exact sounds I wanted from it. I use it and have used it in nearly every recording I have done in the past 5 years. Unless you're tone searching for a holy grail and have things like Driskills and Dumbles it will be useful for you. If you're someone who plays any genre of popular music, it's a great tool. Especially since you can use it without any external volume at all. If I ever had to live in an apartment, I don't know how I would live without one. Luckily I'm in the country where I can turn it way up. But I still use the Pod all the time.

I have even on several occasions took my Pod and my Fender Pro Jr when space was tight and I needed to fill in for someone on guitar for something (cause I don't always have room for the Marshall jcm200tsl and 4x12). I always mic'd that up and it sounded great, with all the sounds I was familiar with and needed in a very portable package. I never liked it direct for live use, but with the added tubes in the Pro Jr it did a really good job in a pinch.

I bought the Behringer last year to try it out. I used it for about a month then sold it on Ebay. It just didn't have what I wanted and I had all I needed in the Pod. So no use for another similar unit. The sounds I like most it didn't so as well. But I thought it was a good value for all you get with it, carrying bag, pedal, and all. But sound wise just not comparable to the Pod.

For your situation I would buy the Pod without hesitation.

H2H
 
I should add that I have tried recording with the line out on my Vox ad120, also. I don't like it as much as the Pod direct. Even though I like how it sounds live, the direct sound just diesn't have the same tone. Also, at least on mine, the speakers are still connected and it still gets loud. So I may as well record it with a mic and get the sound I like.

H2H
 
Is there a diffrence in the POD to the POD pro besides the obvious rackmount? I think I might get one of these for practicing, my bass player just got the bass pod and it is sweet.
 
Hard2Hear said:
I have a Vox AD120vt and think it's just the best amp I have owned for all I need. But they're totally different from the smaller Vox VT amps. Which I still think are good but not the same thing.

But I also own a POD. It has probably been the best investment I have ever made in a piece of gear.

The Vox really shines when you turn it up loud. My 120 has a 1 watt setting, but it's still pretty loud when you crank up all the way. It sounds great like this, thats because the Vox Valve Reactor is in the power stage of the amp and not the pre stage, so it's made to sound and react like a real tube amp when you're driving the power tubes.

I bought the POD after using one in the studios of several pro guitar players who were nationally known. I saw it was kind of a secret weapon of several guys and decided to try it out myself. After taking alot of time to completely erase the stock programs, I set up the exact sounds I wanted from it. I use it and have used it in nearly every recording I have done in the past 5 years. Unless you're tone searching for a holy grail and have things like Driskills and Dumbles it will be useful for you. If you're someone who plays any genre of popular music, it's a great tool. Especially since you can use it without any external volume at all. If I ever had to live in an apartment, I don't know how I would live without one. Luckily I'm in the country where I can turn it way up. But I still use the Pod all the time.

I have even on several occasions took my Pod and my Fender Pro Jr when space was tight and I needed to fill in for someone on guitar for something (cause I don't always have room for the Marshall jcm200tsl and 4x12). I always mic'd that up and it sounded great, with all the sounds I was familiar with and needed in a very portable package. I never liked it direct for live use, but with the added tubes in the Pro Jr it did a really good job in a pinch.

I bought the Behringer last year to try it out. I used it for about a month then sold it on Ebay. It just didn't have what I wanted and I had all I needed in the Pod. So no use for another similar unit. The sounds I like most it didn't so as well. But I thought it was a good value for all you get with it, carrying bag, pedal, and all. But sound wise just not comparable to the Pod.

For your situation I would buy the Pod without hesitation.

H2H
Click to expand...

On the contrary, a direct-recording amp-modeler (like a POD) NEVER sounds as good as a mic'd amp. Anyone who denies this is either a fool or a novice. So, dialing down the wattage of the AD30VT and cranking the volume would still give you a great, naturally mic'd tone (better than a POD) without waking the neighbors or cracking the plaster.

Also, should you decide to take up someone's offer to go and out and jam, a POD would be completely useless. But having a 30 watt amp would let you jam out, play a club, do an "open stage" or whatever. What if someone offers to actually pay you to peform somewhere? At least you'll have a real amp to do it!

So, based on 'all' things considered, I'd go for the Vox AD30VT. :)
 
I have a pod live xt and its wonderful both for recording and live application....So apparently im a novice...dont think you could tell from any of my recording....but whatever...I think people love to hate the pod but unfortunately...the sound is incredible if you know what your doing and tweek it a bit....for like 300 bucks you can get the same sound youd spend like 2000 gettin...plus a million more sounds and amps....i seriously dont think ill ever mic and amp again unless its just for fun or a certain sound the pod cant get.
OH and even better on top of all this...99.9% of the people that listen to music wont know if you used a real marshall or recorded it fake from a pod...so dont worry bout it bro
 
well if you're a novice, then so are the members weezer. though i'm not a fan of their newer stuff, i still do not mind their guitar tone, and rivers is still rollin in it.
 
I've been thinking about getting an amp modeler for a few weeks now. Necessity dictates that I use my strat the same way I do my acoustic nylon hybrid, and that is from a wireless directly into a pa. Though I like a clean strat sound and hate adding anything to the setup chain, it's pretty boring. I was thinking a regular Pod 2.0 would work but y'all have mentioned a few things I've never heard of that sound interesting. Any suggestions in the $200 rannge would be helpful.
 
Buck, I'm not sure about the 30 since I own the 120... But to get the sound I like to use a mic with, the volume level would get the police called on you in an apartment, even on the 1 watt setting. It DOES sound better like this and micd but the volume is the issue, in this case.

Plus, as I re-posted, I believe his question was actually comparing the direct outs on the vox to the Pod. With that comparison I pick the Pod. It just sounds better to me. I compare the two all the time nearly every day.

H2H
 
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