POD or tha' Boss GT-3

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Nate

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Hi all! Gotta love the tax refund, huh? I would like to spend mine on either a POD or Boss GT-3. Has anyone had experience with both of these units? Will be using it primarily for recording, not running through an amp/gigging. Any opinions on whether one is better than the other? I have only demoed the POD 2.0 (the store that I went to didn't have a power supply for the GT-3 they carried). For some reason, it (version 2) seems to sound better than the POD 1 that I had tried a year and a half ago, but that could just be my poor memory. How are the Boss's models compared to the POD's? I realize that neither will sound exactly like the amps they model, but... I guess that's a different thread anyway. Thanks !

Nate

3 minutes later...

You know, I should have done a search on the forum first. Bummer. I have a second question now, though. For those of you that tried the GT-3 and the POD and purchased one or the other, how do you feel about your purchase now that you have had some more time to fully explore your processor? Heh heh heh... "explore"
 
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In my opinion

Hi,
I think that the Gt-3 is more satisfiying in the short term, but in the long term when you delve 'inside' the POD you will know that your investment was worth it.

If you are recording buy the POD; If it's for playinf live buy the GT-3; if it's for both buy the POD pro (like I did) and also stick a Johnson J station in the effects loop (and also use it independent for recording as well-that's what I'm going to do).

Yes, do a search. There must be literally hundreds of threads on the POD. Many people ask the pod -v- boss as they do the POD -v- real tube amps.

I'm taking it that your on a budget though (tubea amps out of the question, neighbours you'd rather not wake during the night while direct recording.............................).
 
Thanks Krys! Yes, I will be using the POD only for recording. Right now I have NO interest in playing out live-- the last couple of bands I played with were hideous experiences. After thinking about it for a while, I have decided to go with the POD. Any effects like ring mods or delays are things that I would add in Cubase after the original recording was done through the POD. I am thinking that the effects would be of higher quality and I wouldn't have to re-record the original guitar line should I decide to change any of the parameters of those effects. I really like Boss pedals, though. I miss my old ME-5...sniff, sniff :(
Again, thanks for your advice.


Nate
 
I know that this isnt a very pod-friendly forum, but to answer your question, Ive owned both a POD and a GT-3. I still have the POD. I sold the GT-3 on Ebay for like 275. As long as I had the GT-3 I could never get it to sound good. I'd spend hours messing with it over and over. Giving up on it for a few weeks, then trying again just to give up again. Ewww and that nasty noise gate thing was just ugly. Whenever id hit a note and then release you could hear the noise gate closing with this wierd sound almost resembling the sound of keanu reeves getting sucked into the mirror on the matrix. It was almost as loud as the note. When Id try to lessen the effect id get awful squealing feedback. When I got the pod I plugged it in, found a sound I liked and boom. There it was. The noise gate works good too. I can stand in front of my amp with it cranked up and still not get feedback. The pod does have some drawbacks though. To me its more of a tone generator than a full blown effects processor. Some people might not like it, But I'd take my POD/Marshall stack combo over any straight marshall or mesa head and cab.
 
No, the POD certainly isn't great for effects. On the noise gate issue; it works well but you need to plug your POD up to your computer to be able to adjust the noise gate to suit. I itnitially didn't have a midi connection to my computer; when I hooked the POD up to it though it was like having a whole new toy.
 
Thanks, guys. Krys, I have a question for you. Are you using any sort of MIDI controller or keyboard with your software? How are you connecting the POD? My keyboard is connected to the computer via the serial port, but I want to use the POD as well. would it be possible to send program changes, etc from Cubase to the keyboard through the serial port, and have those changes sent through the MIDI In/Out on the keyboard to the POD, or would I need to get a MIDI port that would allow for two connections (one for the keyboard's MIDI in/out, and a second one for the POD)? Have you tried this? Any luck?

Thanks again


Nate
 
Nate,

I know you mentioned deciding to go with the POD, but I strongly suggest A/B'ing it with a SansAmp. Try the GT2, the Classic, or the PSA-1 (ooh!). The PSA-1 is the only one that is MIDI controllable, but since you are just doing recording, you can just punch in when you want a different tone.

I've owned the GT2 for a while and wanted to like the POD, especially because I love getting new toys. Unfortunately, when I A/B'ed the two, the POD's tones didn't come close to the GT2. I also eventually got the PSA-1 over the POD because it just sounds soo much better.

If you need a self contained unit with effects, the POD might be a good choice. However, if you want good basic tone, definitely check out the SansAmp products.

Matt
 
Hi Nate,
I regret that I can't answer your question directly. I am not into computer recording and all the MIDI stuff. I have had my POD for just over a year now and only about a month or so ago found out about connecting it to the computer. For this all I needed were two midi cables and a kinda' joystick adaptor (don't know the specifics-you plug this adaptor into the computer where you would out a joystick and that gives you the ability to have a MIDI in MIDI out link). Some people seem to think you have to spend a lot on connecting to your computer but it was cheap and simple. For a more detailed view go to some of the links below that should be able to help, or if not ask line 6 on the bottom link:

http://www.line6.com/Main/The_Lup/Tips/SoundDiver_Tutorial.htm
http://www.line6.com/Main/The_Lup/Tone_Transfer/Tonetransfer.cfm#
http://line6.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/l...std_alp.php?p_sid=U5kIi3Tf&p_lva=&p_sp=&p_li=

With regard to BBB; I have not tried the unit myself. I personally think that there are so many of these units comming onto the market these days you have to go with one and stick with it. The thing I have said a million times about the POD is that IN MY OPIONION you have to take it home and really work with it in order to get the most out of it and now how to work with it. All of these products have their good and bad points; the POD certainly is recognised as a very descent unit and it is. I am content with my POD now; I'm not going to try and keep up with the technology (but would upgrade as/when line 6 have the potion available). My next purchases I hope will be the 'real' tube amps. I'm going to get a vox, then a fender, then a..................hope my back holds out going to gigs.................................nah, I'll stay with the POD until I can afford someone to carry them as well,

Nate,
Be sure to ask me anything else though I may not be able to answer it; but I'll try my best,
Krystof.
 
I own both & use quite frequently together. The POD for all distortions & the GT3 for cleans & special effects. Their 2 different animals.
A previous reply stated tweaking the GT3 & not getting "the sound". This is very true. Hell! Buy both!
 
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