Pod Live XT

[Larry]

I figured since its Friday I might as well reward myself with some new kind of toy. Since I have to go pick up the Celestion Vintage 30 Speaker I ordered, I might as well have a look at this POD XT Live. It appears to have more effects than a swiss army knife. Does anyone have some experience it in terms of ease of use customability ect. I wont be able to play with it that long so i need some help.

Thanks Again.

 

[Dakine]

It's a fine tool. I like the ability to easily link to PC.
It's built well and will amuse for weeks

I however decided upon the Boss GT-8 instead.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Larry
I don't have the XT live but have as close as damn it . I have an XT with FBV floorboard.

There is no doubt that the XT is a fantastic piece of kit. There's a load of factory presets that I don't like or use but that's the fun of it - plug it into your computer and reprogramme it with a "virtual" mixer thing-a-me-jig! or just do it on the pod itself.
Horses for courses and all that - try and get to use it live if you can.
I love it because it has given my Marshall a breath of fresh air and it made me want to start playing again after a long break away from playing the guitar.
Spud

 

[beej]

I've got an XT w/ floorboard too. It's not my main amp, but it's a great little unit. Perfect for recording or for bringing over to jam. You've got to play with the stock sounds to get something great- but you can go to customtone.com and download zillions of user patches.

The neat thing about the XT Live is that you can use the effects loop. So technically you could run another amp as a preamp and use the XT's effects in the loop, bypassing it's amp sims. Makes it a good effects unit that doubles as a backup amp

 

[dannymusic]

choose carefully.
Tonelab SE, LiveXT, GT-8, GNX4

They all bring something a little different to the plate. All can do the job well.

 

[Luiz Gustavo]

I'm using one. Worth the money.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I put my Xt through the Marshall via the return thereby knocking out the Marshall Pre amp- effectively using the Marshall as a Power amp. Works fine.
The XT is great as a practice amp too.
Spud

 

[MrHyde]

Have someone compared the gnx4 with the gnx3000?

 

[OrangeChannel]

I use Pod XT Pro (and a tube amp) w/ the Shortboard and a Vetta II w/ the longer FBV. either way you cut it, they make some consitently top notch stuff. I just got the Vetta 2.5 upgrade (just released today) and they added alot of stuff 6 new amp models, 9 wahs, a ducking delay based on the 2290, and some other stuff...

I mean I'm a tube freak but when playing venues with crappy power, nothing beats the L6 stuff...

 

[Spudmurphy]

I mean I'm a tube freak but when playing venues with crappy power, nothing beats the L6 stuff...

Just a thought - does that mean we are better off in the UK with 240 volts?
No doubt somebody'll put me right on this ?
Spud

 

[Lance Romance]

Maybe it's just me on the AC power thing, but I found my PODXT and XTLive to both do bad things in a brownout power situation (which I find at a disturbing number of older clubs). Before I got to the point of actually buying a UPC for it and treating it as the computer it is, I got my mind right and went back to playing tube amps (which don't seem as affected). Don't get me wrong; I find them to be amazing tools for the buck. However, there's a lot to be said for true-bypass analog pedals in the sense that when you step on one, you know exactly what's going to happen. At least with XTLive they put a global EQ into it to tune the room, but after literally years of wanting these things to work intuitively I gave up and went back to quickly twisting knobs. Different strokes...-Eric

 

[kevorkazito]

The Xt is nice. As a user of a Boss ME-30 for my DI I'm partial to having physical knobs on the unit as it makes interfacing with the board so much easier and intuitive. My vote is for the GT-8. Their COSM modelling engine is wonderful and you can really find your own sound with it.

 

[CudBucket]

Maybe it's just me on the AC power thing, but I found my PODXT and XTLive to both do bad things in a brownout power situation (which I find at a disturbing number of older clubs).

Everything is affected by brownouts. OC was talking about constant voltage and noise in general. Digital equipment is alot less finicky in this regard.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I get the imoression that the US electrical system is somewhat more unreliable than ours in the UK. My lady friend from the US has lost countless electrical items due to power surges. Plus lots of gigging guitar players seem to use power conditioners. Am I right or wrong here?

 

[SteveB]

I get the imoression that the US electrical system is somewhat more unreliable than ours in the UK. My lady friend from the US has lost countless electrical items due to power surges. Plus lots of gigging guitar players seem to use power conditioners. Am I right or wrong here?

Tim,

I use power conditioners on all my gear.. amps, pedalboards, racks, you name it.
Not that the power is unreliable per se, but perhaps dirtier depending where one is plugging in. The power grids are very large over here, and we're running 120 volts in household applications. I think you folks have 220 or 240 volts, right? So you've got 'pressure' to spare and generally more efficient power in high current draw applications.

Personally, I've never had equipment damaged by voltage transients, even without power conditioning. But I have a friend who took losses 3 times at his house from lightning strikes that surged through his household wiring. Scary!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Tim,

I use power conditioners on all my gear.. amps, pedalboards, racks, you name it.
Not that the power is unreliable per se, but perhaps dirtier depending where one is plugging in. The power grids are very large over here, and we're running 120 volts in household applications. I think you folks have 220 or 240 volts, right? So you've got 'pressure' to spare and generally more efficient power in high current draw applications.

Personally, I've never had equipment damaged by voltage transients, even without power conditioning. But I have a friend who took losses 3 times at his house from lightning strikes that surged through his household wiring. Scary!

You are correct. We have somewhere between 220v and 240v. Maybe they are just unlucky in Ferrum, Virginia! They have had 2 power surges in the last 12 months!

 

[SteveB]

Tim,

Summers are the worst because all the air conditioners across the nation put a lot of excess stress on the power grids. (Those power-thirsty compressors, kicking on at various times!) Your friend in Virginia has the same luck as my friend who attracts lightning!

 

[Spudmurphy]

Oh well, at least if we gotta pay big bucks for our balls at least we have balls in our power supply
Now I wonder what they had in Germany the time I got thrown to the back of the stage when I touched a (metal )pillar !!!!
Spud