Line 6 is going to turn the mic world upside down

[Shadow_7]

Maybe you've been playing with your pod for too long...
...you can't tell male from female anymore!

Or you just haven't met the right plastic surgeon. It's a bit hard to tell them apart these days. And even when you can, you've got a 50% chance of getting their sexual orientation wrong. I guess that's what I like about the new Dr. Who series. So little time, so many species. Or was that Torchwood?

The modeling aspect is interesting, but by outward appearances, we are talking about a hand held vocal microphone. One would assume for live use. And a big one at that, or at least a really long one. Just how good... And how much... And if not cheap, how durable?

 

[mshilarious]

John. as I understand it, the deal is they are exclusive and proprietary channels to the unit, like in patented Only line 6 can use them impossible for there to be interference or crossover from any other wireless devices because they are not part of the proprietary digital algorithms that makes this new wireless system the schizzel dizzle.

They can patent their algo, but that is open spectrum. If the interference is bad enough to impair the signal transmission, the algo won't be able to recover its signal. Kinda like DTV, it would be an all-or-nothing proposition.

 

[miroslav]

Maybe you've been playing with your pod for too long...
...you can't tell male from female anymore!

Or you just haven't met the right plastic surgeon. It's a bit hard to tell them apart these days. And even when you can, you've got a 50% chance of getting their sexual orientation wrong.

I don't run in those circles... ...but every transsexual I've ever seen on live TV or in a movie is pretty easy to spot after just a few minutes of watching their mannerisms and listening to their speech. It’s really not that easy to hide mother nature’s work, no matter how good the surgeon.
Look at Joan Rivers!!!

Of course...when you're in a bar at 2:00AM after you've put away the better part of a quart of booze....
...I'm sure even a pig with lipstick would blend in and be appealing.

 

[Atom Bomb]

Hmmmmm...

I wonder if the same people that are scoffing about the line 6 mic modelling and amp modelling technology now, would have been scoffing back in the day when someone suggested that they were working toward a day when you could record a song on a computer....


Chances are yes.



technology does grow.

as should your mind.


I think for the price of it it would be worth trying at the very least.

 

[miroslav]

I was working with computers to make music back in the late 80s, and I use them today...alongside my tape decks, amps and assorted analog gear.

Always been open-minded about that stuff…but I still think the Line 6 amps suck ass AFA sounding like the real thing, and I don't expect their mics will be much better...but I'm sure people will buy them NOT because of "open-mindedness"...but mainly because of budgets and the belief that they will be getting many amps (or mics) for the price of one.

My feeling is...if you want a particular amp or mic...why bother getting something that tries (and fails) to *simulate* it...and then spend the next 5 years debating on forums how much it sounds like the real thing and convincing yourself you don’t need the real thing.

I would just get the real thing.

 

[ez_willis]

My feeling is...if you want a particular amp or mic...why bother getting something that tries (and fails) to *simulate* it...

because you're recording demos in your apartment after work when the wife and baby goes to sleep and you only have $100 to spend. fortunately the only people that'll hear your songs are a few friends who won't really care that you don't have $5k in boutique amps.

 

[ez_willis]

because you're recording demos in your apartment after work when the wife and baby goes to sleep and you only have $100 to spend. fortunately the only people that'll hear your songs are a few friends who won't really care that you don't have $5k in boutique amps.

and before you get all righteous with me, i have a dedicated space in my garage where i CAN blast away on my drums and amps without waking anyone up from anything, and use real drums and real amps. you wanted to know why anyone would buy the amps sims. there's a reason.

 

[miroslav]

you wanted to know why anyone would buy the amps sims. there's a reason.

No...I actually never asked that question, and I've already stated reasons WHY people buy them. I know why people buy them.
I said that I don't see a purpose.

It's easy to settle for something...for a lot of "good" reasons.
I found that every time I did that, it was a hindrance, a concession, an "itch I couldn't scratch"...and eventually the only thing for me to do was to get or do what I really wanted to in the first place, but until that time came...I tried hard to convince myself that I didn't need to.

Is that righteous or realistic?

 

[ez_willis]

no...i actually never asked that question, and i've already stated reasons why people buy them. I know why people buy them. I said that i don't see a purpose.

why bother getting something that tries (and fails) to *simulate* it...

because you're recording demos in your apartment after work when the wife and baby goes to sleep and you only have $100 to spend. Fortunately the only people that'll hear your songs are a few friends who won't really care that you don't have $5k in boutique amps.

. .

 

[stevieb]

A lot of guys do...though you don't need to use a "vintage tube amp", as there are plenty of current production tube amps that actually sound better than some vintage stuff...that said, I'm not sure why you think vintage tube amps are "touchy, damage-prone"...?
There are 50 year old vintage amps that have outlasted the cheaper, current, assembly-line amps...and most will outlast many of today's pods!
Not to mention...you can repair and maintain a tube amp...FOR YEARS AND YEARS!
You can't do much with a broken pod except to throw it out.

Also...does anyone REALLY want to be on stage with a "pod"...instead of a nice tube amp...????

Heck...if you do that...you might as well get one of those robot guitars to go with the pod!

Yeah, I know many do. No worries about that, from me, but one thing you can do with a modern, SS amp that you would not ever try with a vintage tuber is to DROP IT DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS AND PLAY THE GIG THE SAME NIGHT WITHOUT A TRIP TO THE AMP SHOP. Of course, no sane person does that on purpose, but it happens, fairly often. And, using my favorite touring SS amp- the Peavey Bandit 112- as an example, even if it DID go "poof!" at the bottom of the stairs, you can easily find another one, for around $100-200, in the town's craigslist, or a pawn shop, or just buy a new one at the local music store (most EVERYBODY carries Peavey) and be back in business with an amp that you are familiar with- in a matter of just a couple of hours. Try doing THAT with almost ANY tube amp- it will take you that long just to find someone to work on it.

Now, please don't think I am getting in your face about this- I am not. No rancor, on my end. And, yeah, I, too, get a charge outta playing out thru my SF Deluxe Reverb. All I'm sayin' is that no one can really hear the difference, in a live setting. No one even GOES to a rock concert for the subtleties of tone- they go for the "event." Some folks do listen to recordings for that, and that's why there are tube amps that are legendary studio amps- but it just does not happen, live.

Good enough is best.

And really, the ONLY reason any of us haul expensive, pricy, touchy, fragile, heavy, vintage or WHATEVER gear around to jams, gigs, and such, is for our OWN enjoyment and/or motivation. (Well, there is another reason- because the audience wants to SEE silly things like huge Marshall stacks and such.) We do it because we believe it makes us play and sound better- and it does, probably only because we believe. We take pride in our gear and our performance. It's a personal, psychological thing. And really, there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[miroslav]

why bother getting something that tries (and fails) to *simulate* it...

because you're recording demos in your apartment after work when the wife and baby goes to sleep and you only have $100 to spend. Fortunately the only people that'll hear your songs are a few friends who won't really care that you don't have $5k in boutique amps.

Dude...that was NOT a question I was ASKING... that was a statement (a.k.a. rhetorical)...as in I think it's dumb that people get shit to simulate real gear.

You keep "explaining" it to me over and over like I'm going to finally concede some "value" to modeling crap.

The concession is being made by the people that buy/use that stuff...and not the people that won't!
GET IT?

 

[mshilarious]

I dropped an '80s vintage Bandit once . . . the speaker panel popped out, but once that was hammered back into place, and the speaker leads replaced . . . it worked fine . . . well, that is, it sounded like a Bandit

 

[miroslav]

Yeah, I know many do. No worries about that, from me, but one thing you can do with a modern, SS amp that you would not ever try with a vintage tuber is to DROP IT DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS AND PLAY THE GIG THE SAME NIGHT WITHOUT A TRIP TO THE AMP SHOP. Of course, no sane person does that on purpose, but it happens, fairly often. And, using my favorite touring SS amp- the Peavey Bandit 112- as an example, even if it DID go "poof!" at the bottom of the stairs, you can easily find another one, for around $100-200, in the town's craigslist, or a pawn shop, or just buy a new one at the local music store (most EVERYBODY carries Peavey) and be back in business with an amp that you are familiar with- in a matter of just a couple of hours. Try doing THAT with almost ANY tube amp- it will take you that long just to find someone to work on it.

Now, please don't think I am getting in your face about this- I am not. No rancor, on my end. And, yeah, I, too, get a charge outta playing out thru my SF Deluxe Reverb. All I'm sayin' is that no one can really hear the difference, in a live setting. No one even GOES to a rock concert for the subtleties of tone- they go for the "event." Some folks do listen to recordings for that, and that's why there are tube amps that are legendary studio amps- but it just does not happen, live.

Good enough is best.

And really, the ONLY reason any of us haul expensive, pricy, touchy, fragile, heavy, vintage or WHATEVER gear around to jams, gigs, and such, is for our OWN enjoyment and/or motivation. (Well, there is another reason- because the audience wants to SEE silly things like huge Marshall stacks and such.) We do it because we believe it makes us play and sound better- and it does, probably only because we believe. We take pride in our gear and our performance. It's a personal, psychological thing. And really, there's nothing wrong with that.

Funny you bring that up.
I had a 40 year old tube head get dropped...not down an entire flight of stairs...but down a few stairs, not to mention MANY bumps, and slams going in and out of cars/vans..etc.
Damn thing didn't even throw out a tube, never mind breakdown!

I'm not saying a flight of stairs couldn't destroy most amps...but you know, most decent tube amps are point-to-point...they are actually VERY EASY TO SERVICE!!!

With SS amps -- crack apart the PCBs...you're fucked....you will need to replace the whole thing with all the components that are on it. Not to mention…I just can’t get into SS distortion, which is almost as bad as digital modeling distortion.

AFA no one noticing the differences in sound...well hey...to each his own.
I mean...like I said earlier...I would rather be playing a nice quality tube amp (on stage or studio) instead of a pod or some SS amp.
And yes...there ARE people that notice the gear you use and the quality of the tones you make...just like they notice how someone plays. Maybe not the majority of the mindless bar crowds...but then, who cares what they think anyway...I'm not playing for them, I'm playing for the ones that do notice...and for myself most of all.
I've got my middlin’ gig amps...and I have my upper-end studio stuff...though honestly, for the right gigs, I wouldn't hesitate to take any of my amps with the right care.

 

[ez_willis]

You keep "explaining" it to me over and over like I'm going to finally concede some "value" to modeling crap.

there IS a value to amp modelers. i don't need you to "concede" anything.

 

[miroslav]

Fine...if it works for you...use it.
I've been saying that all along.

But they have NO value for my purposes.

 

[ez_willis]

Fine...if it works for you...use it.

i use amps.

But they have NO value for my purposes.

no shit. pretty sure everyone in here is well aware of that at this point.

 

[miroslav]

I'm glad we got that "settled"....

It's gotten to the point that no matter what gear is used/mentioned by anyone on forums...
...the only response that works is to tell them you think it's *fantastic gear*.
Anything less...and here we go....

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Yeah, I know many do. No worries about that, from me, but one thing you can do with a modern, SS amp that you would not ever try with a vintage tuber is to DROP IT DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS AND PLAY THE GIG THE SAME NIGHT WITHOUT A TRIP TO THE AMP SHOP.

Don't want to split hairs here, but I've heard plenty of stories of Mesas falling off full stacks mid-show and never missing a note. How different that is from a set of stairs, I don't know if I'd want to try to find out, but unless they hit something with enough force for a tube to actually pop out (and at that point I'd be worried about ANY amp) you should be ok.

MEanwhile, the only time I ever had an amp die on me mid-gig was when two pints of beer got dumped into the innards of a Marshall TSL-100 head minutes before showtime. It was a $100 de-beer bill to get the amp operational again, but had beer gotten into the circuitboard of a solid state beer in the same manner and quantity, it'd have been fried and I'd be looking at a very large paperweight.

 

[mshilarious]

Mmmm . . . solid state beer

 

[mshilarious]

I just can’t get into SS distortion, which is almost as bad as digital modeling distortion.

Depends on how the distortion is done. Clipping diodes . . . not so good. Single-ended FET . . . good.