Best Effects units to record direct?

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Lexus507

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I am looking for a serviceable effects unit to record demos in my apartment. I am looking for something that has effects and amp modeling built in so I don't have to use memory and processing power to do that stuff on the computer. I guess the only things I am familiar with at all would be the
Line 6 Pod XT or the X3

Are these worth it? Also, would the X3 be worth the extra money over the XT?

Any help is appreciated, thanks.
 
I favor the DG Stomp by Yamaha. It is discontinued, but does the job well when recording direct. I've had friends ask how my guitarist got the tone on some of our older recordings,..and it was 100% DG Stomp along with his guitar.
It has amp modeling in it for different heads and cabs, along with some killer effects that are quite usable.

You can set the cab for 1-12, 2-12's, 4-12's and 8-12's I believe.
The cabs and heads are modeled after say, Marshall, Peavey 5150, Mesa Recto, Fender Twin, etc.

It also has a digital output along with a stereo output...and midi.

Although I really much rather record a real cab and head,..this unit has definitely served well in the past for direct.
 
VESSEL2020 said:
I favor the DG Stomp by Yamaha. It is discontinued, but does the job well when recording direct. I've had friends ask how my guitarist got the tone on some of our older recordings,..and it was 100% DG Stomp along with his guitar.
It has amp modeling in it for different heads and cabs, along with some killer effects that are quite usable.

You can set the cab for 1-12, 2-12's, 4-12's and 8-12's I believe.
The cabs and heads are modeled after say, Marshall, Peavey 5150, Mesa Recto, Fender Twin, etc.

It also has a digital output along with a stereo output...and midi.

Although I really much rather record a real cab and head,..this unit has definitely served well in the past for direct.
Click to expand...
I would prefer to record a live cab as well, but my apartment has some thin walls and space is an issue since my bass gear already takes up too much room. I am looking for something with very customizable sounds. I have also heard the behringer v amps are useable. Does anyone have experience with this? I am always skeptical of any of their products.
 
Behringer=Garbage for guitar sounds.

I'm not a fan of anything Behringer makes, although I do own a Power amp, and one of their higher end p.a.'s, along with several monitors that I've aquired through a payment..

I would NEVER purchase anything Behringer for guitar, or anything else for that matter.

One of the guitarists that I play with in one of the hardcore bands I play in, has a Behringer amp, and It sounds horrible.
He never played through a tube amp before until I introduced him to one,..and now he's savin' up for a Boogie. He'll never be the same.

Also, made him get rid of the crappy low end Zoom effects pedal!:D

Can't say I'm a very big fan of the Line 6 products either, except for maybe the Line 6 / Bogner half tube/ half solid state.
Although, they are supposed to be the "kings of modeling".
I saw Static-x live, and they run their Pods direct through the board, and it sounded phenominal~!
I would mess around in a couple music stores if at all possible, before you make an impulse buy. There are plenty of options out there to be had.
 
Check out the Zoom GFX series. They are more of a pedal board item, but could be used just fine as an amp modeler and are super customizable. I have a GFX-1 on my live rig and studio rig. You can make almost any sound possible on those.
 
guitarplayr82 said:
Check out the Zoom GFX series. They are more of a pedal board item, but could be used just fine as an amp modeler and are super customizable. I have a GFX-1 on my live rig and studio rig. You can make almost any sound possible on those.
Click to expand...

Now these Zoom effects aren't bad at all,..it's the older ones that are "thin sounding".
 
Lots of posts on this. Do a search.
Also do a search for "why can't I get a good guitar sound using modelers?"
Tons of those too
 
matttheaxe said:
Lots of posts on this. Do a search.
Also do a search for "why can't I get a good guitar sound using modelers?"
Tons of those too
Click to expand...

I've got the x3 live and it works great for direct recording. It is set up for vocals and bass too. You can run two separate patches with two different INS, which is handy.
 
I was looking into the Line 6 stuff and ended up with a POD X3. The upgrade to X3 from lower models meant more cabinets and amp sims which may or may not suit you but also Bass amp/cab sims and vocal preamp sims, which for my purposes are really good. Don't forget Pod Farm too, that was "free" with the X3.

Turns out that my recordings are all using POD effects. Works for me.

No one has ever bagged me directly, but I would make a large bet that by real studio standards, this quality of sims/effects would be barely passable!

Also to mention, for me the POD has never screwed up and the software/upgrade etc looks professionally written.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
FM
 
Lexus507 said:
I have also heard the behringer v amps are useable. Does anyone have experience with this? I am always skeptical of any of their products.
Click to expand...

I have a Behringer V-Amp Pro and it sounds every bit as good and sometimes better than the line 6 amp modelers. They are also just as reliable as the line 6 stuff no matter what some people say. Here are some cheesy clips that I made a few years ago with the V-Amp and a line 6 guitarport.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=4446337
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=3461322
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=3167119
 
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