Recording with Line 6 Pod XT Live

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jfeyerherm

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I'm going to be purchasing the Line 6 Pod XT Live (I've tried it out and think its a great product, especially with the USB out for recording and so on). Anyway I was wondering how good it is when recording direct to a computer. Is the quality pretty good? Would it be comparable to a lower level recording studio? I'm going to be recording a demo/cd with my band and am looking at differen possiblities to save money. For example if I could record a majority of the guitars with this directly onto my computer it would save a lot of time/money. Anyway if anyone has anything that has been recorded with this or a Line 6 XT or guitarport even, I'd like to hear it to see the quality.

Sorry if this issue has been asked before but if so I apologize. Thanks.

(By the way, I've heard the rifftracker and line 6 software is pretty good, has anyone used it and if so how is it?)
 
I got one and was dissapointed. I also got the three model packs from Line6. Have to say that unless you are very gifted at tweaking settings then you will find it difficult to right sounds. A lot of the settings are noisy with hums and interference (even played through a Ibanez Jem in a clean recording environment). The sound quality has a very digital feel to it, there is a lot missing from the overall tone on the heavy settings. The accoustic patches are great but beyond that mine just gathers dust. That said, it's not bad for recording home demos, however... if you own a very new pc you may discover problems with noise bursts and static. I asked Lin6 about this (I have a Dell Optiplex top of the range), they said that the newer chipsets cause known problems with PODxt. The only way around it is to use an outboard soundcard (which I got for direct recording multi tracks). Problem solved, but not cheaply. Do not rely on the POD series to provide you with release quality tone, it simply can't do it. But as I said, home demos are fine. Just my 2 cents...
 
I think you will be disappointed with the DIrect recording sound, I have a Boss GT-8 and its mainly a problem with the speaker sims! I much prefer mic'n up my cab using the Boss for distortion/effects/etc....

However, I have heard an idea which I have yet to try... there's a chap on the bossgtcentral (www.bossgtcentral.com) forums who uses a DI box (the Behringer one) between his GT-8 and soundcard with some better results!

Hope this helps...
 
I really like the sounds that my PodXT has and the modeling is very good. But what I can't stand is that the USB continues to cause a zapping sound which Line 6 has known about for two years now. It pisses me off that they can't (or wont) fix it. I love the Pod, but I basically have to record using the line outs instead of the USB which would be better if it didn't have the interference.

Fuck you Line 6.
 
I use my Pod XTL exclusively for direct input recording. (Haven't had the opportunity to use it live.)

If you have the patience to customize the settings, you can get some killer sounds out of it. Some of the presets are great, but some aren't quite there. Nothing that a little knob tweaking can't fix.

I think that part of the problem for some is the abundance of amp and effect choices, and not having the time to fuck around with every combination of every model to optimize the sound. What worked for me is to pick a couple of amp models that are similar to something I've worked with in the past. For example, their "Hiway 100" model of a Hiwatt 100-watt tube amp sounds a lot like my Matamp GT100 tube amp. So I worked with the settings and managed to get a great tone. Same with the effects - I work with stuff I'm familiar with and take a little time to make it right.

In truth, you would have to do the same thing with any "real" amp or effect.

As to the noise issue: the high-gain amp models on the preset channels are not gated, and they can be very noisy when quiescent. But a gate is available on every model (not as a stomp effect, but as an imbedded processor) and it seems to work very well.
 
Oh, I should add that I'm recording direct into a TASCAM 2488, and I use the line level outputs. So I have not experienced the USB issue that Sirnothingness and others have described.
 
jfeyerherm said:
I'm going to be purchasing the Line 6 Pod XT Live (I've tried it out and think its a great product, especially with the USB out for recording and so on). Anyway I was wondering how good it is when recording direct to a computer. Is the quality pretty good? Would it be comparable to a lower level recording studio? I'm going to be recording a demo/cd with my band and am looking at differen possiblities to save money. For example if I could record a majority of the guitars with this directly onto my computer it would save a lot of time/money. Anyway if anyone has anything that has been recorded with this or a Line 6 XT or guitarport even, I'd like to hear it to see the quality.

Sorry if this issue has been asked before but if so I apologize. Thanks.

(By the way, I've heard the rifftracker and line 6 software is pretty good, has anyone used it and if so how is it?)
Click to expand...
I have a POD XTL, and use it as my effects when I want to mic, but also just to keep the house quiet when dinking around. Most of the time when I record, I will run one line direct, and then the other line to the amp, and mic it. I then try and blend those 2 tracks to get the sound I want. I always start with getting the sound as close to what I have in mind, as possible.
Here is a link to something I am working on right now. This is just a simple drum pattern, and one guitar, direct. It doesn't sound too bad, but the version with both direct and mic'd blended, sounds better to me.

Drums-direct guitar
 
Dogman - that sounds pretty good. What amp model is that?
 
Only twice have I heard a track recorded with a POD that sounded halfway decent. I forget who did them. Dogman, yours is not one of them. :eek: :p :D
 
jfeyerherm said:
I'm going to be purchasing the Line 6 Pod XT Live (I've tried it out and think its a great product, especially with the USB out for recording and so on). Anyway I was wondering how good it is when recording direct to a computer. Is the quality pretty good? Would it be comparable to a lower level recording studio? I'm going to be recording a demo/cd with my band and am looking at differen possiblities to save money. For example if I could record a majority of the guitars with this directly onto my computer it would save a lot of time/money.
Click to expand...

Recording direct with a Pod is awful most of the time and on its best days its mediocre. The time you "save" by recording with the Pod, you will makeup for at the mix stage trying to overcome how badly the sound of the Pod and hurt the sound of all the other elements in the mix.

To date, amp emulators are the worst thing to happen to recorded music in my lifetime.
 
I wouldn't buy the XTL as a cost cutting solution, you might be disapointed.
I don't have a choice to use a real amp and cab setup so I use the PODxt.
You have to enjoy tweaking to get goods sounds out of the POD, there are some great patches made by users that really kick ass.

You've got to go heavy on the mids with the XT. I think the xtLive comes with the FX model pack which has a great pre EQ/boost that brings life to any patch.

If you're a metal fan this guy gets some gets some great heavy tones from the XT.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=147108
 
Ronan said:
To date, amp emulators are the worst thing to happen to recorded music in my lifetime.
Click to expand...
I'm going to be a good boy and bite my tongue, since I promised myself not to argue about religion. :p
 
I Have been using the XT pro to record direct and I getting some great sounds.Balls to the walls lead tones with out all the hum you would have with a "live" amp cranked up.
Like they say,"if you take the time to play with the damm thing you can make it stand up and dance"
 
bardo said:
I Have been using the XT pro to record direct and I getting some great sounds.Balls to the walls lead tones with out all the hum you would have with a "live" amp cranked up.
Like they say,"if you take the time to play with the damm thing you can make it stand up and dance"
Click to expand...

See, the thing is I keep hearing this but only 2 people here have provided clips to something that sounded good. Most of the time it sounds like ass. I have a friend who used to swear by the POD until I had him come up and do the same tracks through my Dual Rectifier with vintage Celestions miced up with a MD421. Needless to say, he now knows what he was getting sounded like shit. Period. Just because you say you're getting great sounds does not make them great.
 
etnoziroh said:
I wouldn't buy the XTL as a cost cutting solution, you might be disapointed.
I don't have a choice to use a real amp and cab setup so I use the PODxt.
You have to enjoy tweaking to get goods sounds out of the POD, there are some great patches made by users that really kick ass.

You've got to go heavy on the mids with the XT. I think the xtLive comes with the FX model pack which has a great pre EQ/boost that brings life to any patch.

If you're a metal fan this guy gets some gets some great heavy tones from the XT.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=147108
Click to expand...




There's nothing there that says he's recording direct with the POD. Notice on the main page where he list what I'm assuming is an expensive boutique tube amp VHT Pittbull CLX 2x12
 
HangDawg said:
There's nothing there that says he's recording direct with the POD. Notice on the main page where he list what I'm assuming is an expensive boutique tube amp VHT Pittbull CLX 2x12
Click to expand...

Bulb/thisfilter as he goes by on the meshuggah forums, toontrack forums and line 6 forums has been asked and has answered countless times what he uses and how he processes his sounds.
He does own a VHT pitbull and has posted pics of all of his equipment online. I'm assuming he uses it for live shows but I'm going to state that all of his songs posted were made with the PODxt with metal packs installed.
The older songs like essentra and logical were made with a Vamp, the difference is amazing.
He's posted his POD patches used in the songs in the hotplate forums too.

Here is his post about the latest song on his soundclick page... from the line 6 forums entitled "NEW WEIRD HEAVYISH SONG! (Podxt, DFHS, Carvin 747)"

http://line6.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=016094
 
Recording with a POD can be quite good, I'll include a sample of an improvisation with a POD and my tele that I did a while ago. It's not about the playing or the background tape but the guitarsound itself. To me that sounds OK. I also own a Soldano amp but actually I prefer the Soldano sound from the POD, for both live and recording purposes.

 
Recording direct with the POD isnt that good at all at my perspective. Though mic'ing up ur amp will give u a way better sound, and tweaking ur knobs right. Then If your really experienced in the computer with recording, u can spend ours and doing little tricks to improve your sound redication. And if u record with a mic, u can do so much, as where to postion the mic and where to set up ur amp and mic. anyways, u can always do stuff to tweak ur recording, but playing with it strait live, i wouldnt suggest, sometims paying the extra money is worth it.

-Julian
 
I have a POD XTL that I use both live and for recording. It works well for me in both cases. I use the XTL with a Variax 500. The result is zero noise for both combos, a real plus.

Ed
 
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