Line 6 PodXT

This new version of Line 6's ground-breaking Pod guitar processor combines improved amp modelling with a host of high-quality effects plundered from the company's range of rack processors.

Photo: Mike CameronThough Roland were the first to make serious inroads into guitar modelling, there's no doubt that it was the Line 6 Pod that captured the imagination of the mass market. With its simple controls, low cost and instant-gratification sounds, it was destined to be a winner, but inevitably other manufacturers quickly jumped on the bandwagon, some offering lower cost, others offering tangible improvements in certain areas, specifically effects. With the launch of the PodXT, Line 6 have drawn a new line in the sand by utilising the technology from their new generation Vetta high-end modelling amplifiers to provide better amp emulations, and by incorporating more effects (many taken from their Modeler range) and better audio performance.

They've also included a USB port so that the output from the PodXT can be recorded into a sequencer or other audio program without the need for a separate audio interface — however, this requires drivers which were not yet available at the time of this review.

Next Generation

Though the original Pod was clearly a ground-breaking product, some players felt it didn't have quite enough touch-responsiveness and, while it was great for creating overdriven sounds, its clean sounds were considered weak by some. Then there was the effects system, which forced you to choose between effects that you might reasonably want to use together. Particularly limiting was the way compressor usage was restricted depending on the other effects being used. Given the low price to which the Pod has now fallen, perhaps these restrictions can be forgiven, but the PodXT includes a lot of features and improvements that will help endear it to serious players.

Line 6 PodXT £369 pros Significantly improved amp model sounds, dynamic response and feel. Straightforward user interface. Superb guitar-specific effects section. cons Although a USB socket is provided, USB drivers for using the PodXT as an audio interface are not yet available. Still can't quite get my '60s big chord sounds. summary The PodXT is a significant advance on the original Pod and includes the best guitar effects from the Line 6 Modeler range.

Modelling a guitar sound involves looking at the way the various stages of amplification and EQ shape the sound, how the speaker and cabinet frequency response contribute to the tone, and even analysing how the choice and position of recording microphone changes the results. Because DSP is cheaper and more powerful than when the original Pod was launched, the Vetta amplifiers are able to model smaller stages of amplification, even down to individual components, providing more control over the model, plus the new algorithms produce a better dynamic response. By using Vetta algorithms in the PodXT, the performance of the original Pod has been vastly improved upon, but, in addition to the sonic benefits, the PodXT has also gained a much improved control system that can access every parameter without the need for editing software (though a software editor is apparently planned), plus it has four simultaneous effects sections, in addition to reverb.

To accommodate the extra controls, the PodXT's case has been made a little larger, though it still retains its familiar kidney shape. There are now eight rotary potentiometer controls with four further rotary encoders and 13 buttons. Also new is a considerably enhanced display, which can show patch names, parameter settings and virtual control positions during sound editing. MIDI In and Out connectors allow patch dumping and remote editing, there's the USB port, and a foot control connection (Ethernet style) hooks up to the new Shortboard floor controller — this is needed to access the pedal wah effects.

The only new control to join the main amplifier controls is the Presence knob, so there's no longer need to use the 'shift treble' function to change the presence setting. In this respect, the PodXT has the same Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence controls as many classic amplifiers as well as the usual Drive, Channel Volume and master Output settings. Reverb has its own knob, as do the selection of amp models and effect types, but everything else is controlled from the ingenious centre section. Outside Edit mode, Select is used to move between stored patches, while the Effects knob calls up effects or combinations of effects — there are 64 ready-made effect settings (all overwritable), both single and combinations, that can be directly accessed to save the user having to set them up from scratch.

Streamlined Operation

The PodXT is powered from an external supply which feeds the rear-panel power socket at the far left. Next to the power socket are MIDI In and Out sockets for remote editing and patch dumping, and a USB socket designed to allow the PodXT to be used as an audio interface for a computer once the requisite drivers are available. The Ethernet-style socket is for connecting the optional Shortboard pedal controller, and this socket is followed by balanced jack sockets for the left and right audio outputs.Photo: Mike CameronFour buttons access the compressor/gate, stomp box, modulation and delay effects sections, with the Cab/AIR button addressing the speaker cabinet models and the AIR (Acoustically Integrated Recording) settings, the latter relating to the virtual mic setup and the influence of the room acoustics. Here you can choose from on-axis and off-axis versions of Shure's SM57 dynamic, an on-axis Sennheiser MD421 and a capacitor model allegedly based on the Neumann U67. The Save, Edit, Tap and Tuner buttons of the original Pod are retained, but four new buttons have been added directly below the display. While editing, or when the Tap or Save buttons are lit, these simply select which of the four parameters that can be displayed on each page is to be accessed via the Effect Tweak knob. Outside Edit mode, on the other hand, they select one of four patches from the current bank, and the Effect Tweak knob generally changes the main parameter of the effect, such as speed or intensity. Tap controls the speed of things like modulation LFOs or delays. It's also worth mentioning at this point that the new Tuner has a vastly superior on-screen display to the old one and seems much more accurate. The dedicated post-amplifier compressor section is based on the same LA2A compressor model used in the Bass Pod, although stomp box-style compressors are also available in the general effects section.

Any of the 32 amp models can be called up using the Amp Models rotary selector and each loads up with its own default speaker cabinet and control settings, which can be customised by the user if required. When you use the PodXT, different output settings are required depending on whether you're using it live into a power amp with guitar cabs, live into a guitar combo, or DI'ing it into a studio or PA mixer. Holding Tuner while turning Select accesses the page that lets you select the appropriate destination type. The manual also suggests that you try to set up the patches with the Output control set fairly high, as this provides the best resolution by making the best use of the converter's headroom.

PodXT's memories are organised into 16 banks of four patches, most of which come loaded with virtual amplifier rigs that you can either keep as they are, modify, or replace altogether. A further 64 memories are used to hold the effect settings, which may again be overwritten to create a custom effects library. This means that when you're setting up a new sound, you can load in any one of the library effects or combinations with their settings intact. If you want to make changes to a patch, either press Edit or double-click one of the four Effects buttons or the Cab/Air button, which will select the appropriate section for editing and simultaneously switch the system into Edit mode for you. The four effects buttons each light up when they're active, so to turn them on or off outside Edit mode you only have to press the corresponding button.

If you go into Edit mode then turn the Select knob, you can page through every amp and effect setting and adjust them directly. When the amp settings are being adjusted, representations of the six control knobs show up in the display along with their stored settings. If you move a control, the new position is shown alongside the stored setting as indicated by a dot on the circumference of the knob. Virtual knobs also show up when you go to edit the effects, and you can choose which parameter the Tweak knob addresses if you don't agree with the default choice. Furthermore, the volume pedal, delay and modulation blocks may be moved either before or after the amp model. Another neat feature, derived from the Modeler pedals, is that certain effect parameters (specifically modulation rate and delay) can be linked to tempo by note value, so that you can decide how many times per bar something should happen. The tempo is set using the Tap button as usual.

Most of the effects have fairly simple, stomp box-type controls, where you select the effect type, then adjust two or three (virtual) knobs. However, the reverb is far more flexible than on the original Pod, with just as many simulated spaces as most rackmounting reverbs, albeit with much simpler parameter adjustment.

Using The PodXT

Even though the PodXT has a somewhat different operating system to the original Pod, you don't really need the manual to get around the basics of sound selection and editing. The designers have gone to great lengths to include factory sounds that relate to well-known musical styles (and even specific songs), but I found that most of these needed tweaking a little to work well with my own guitar, which is not at all surprising given the differences between guitars and playing techniques.

The output is definitely less noisy than on the original Pod, to a noticeable degree, and the sound is also much more responsive to playing level — if you back off the guitar volume, the sound cleans up nicely without becoming lifeless. When using heavily overdriven sounds, it is sometimes hard to tell the sound of the new Pod from the old, apart from the improved dynamics, but the XT is significantly better on clean sounds and those with just a little overdriven edge to them. Furthermore, the AIR section now allows for four different miking arrangements, and the influence of the room is a fully variable parameter rather than being simply on or off. The impression of the amp being moved further away in a live room is quite uncanny — the higher the Room setting, the more the amp moves back and the more the room reflections predominate.

During my tests, I found that some of the more lively models could cause what sounded like internal clipping if the Chan Vol parameter was set too high, so the best approach seems to be to use the Output control at around three-quarters up, then use the Chan Vol control to balance the clean and dirty sounds. This way you should avoid any problems.

Though the clean sounds are brighter, more responsive and generally all-round more useful than on the basic Pod, I found I still had to work at them to get some of the sounds I wanted, and the most elusive still seem to be those big '60s chords where the sound is only slightly dirty yet hugely powerful. There are several examples of this type of sound on the early The Rolling Stones and The Who records and I've discovered that it's not easy to duplicate them using any DI method I've tried to date. Gratifyingly, the piezo model coaxes a more than reasonable electroacoustic sound out of an electric guitar — even one without a piezo bridge.

While the amp sounds are most definitely better, you shouldn't let this overshadow the effects section, which plunders the best guitar effects from the whole Line 6 Modeler range, including some great analogue and tube echoes, the excellent reverse delay and a whole range of nice modulation treatments. Because the modulation and delay sections are separate (and mainly stereo), there's no restriction on the way these can be combined, so you can always have reverb, compression, a modulation effect, a delay effect and a stomp box running at once if you've a mind to. There are no pitch-shifting effects, but then I've never found one at anything like this UK price that works well enough to actually use.

For live use, the new Shortboard is a practical and ruggedly built addition, as it provides on/off controls for all the individual effect sections and the post-amplifier output compressor stage, as well as bank and patch selection, a decent-sized display of the patch name and a pedal that can be used for volume or wah-wah. It's also possible to connect an optional EX1 expression pedal to the Shortboard for variable control of two parameters at once. Patches may be saved from the Shortboard, but my guess is that most people will only use it when they're playing live or when they need volume or wah-wah control in the studio.

Verdict

I don't think any modelling amplifier DI'd into a mixing console is a satisfactory replacement for the real thing in all circumstances, but Line 6 have most definitely narrowed the gap with their PodXT. The overall sound quality is improved, the dynamic response is more natural and the clean amp models are an order of magnitude more authentic than in the original Pod. On top of that, the effects section is far more serious and could easily replace additional rack effects and stomp boxes in the majority of applications.

It's a shame the software drivers weren't available for me to check out the audio interface, as this could be another big bonus for those computer users who only need to add the odd guitar part to their mainly MIDI compositions — you could even record vocals using the Tube Preamp model by connecting a mic preamp to the XT's input.

Whatever you think of amp modelling, the PodXT has more than made up any ground that Line 6 might have lost over the past two or three years. It can deliver the right kind of sound in most recording situations , the guitar-specific effects are great and the user interface has actually been improved and simplified, notwithstanding the XT's far more powerful effects section. I think Line 6 could justifiably be feeling pretty pleased with themselves right now!

information

PodXT £369; FBV Shortboard £229; EX1 expression pedal £45. Prices include VAT. www.line6.com