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Bass POD Pro LIVE XT...Real World Review

#61
I have the XT Live, and I do think it's a very good sounding flexible unit. However, the factory presets are not just useless - they are so bad they will scare away even experienced players.

My recommendation to anyone auditioning one or getting started is to select the Studio/Live mode as appropriate, then select the Silverface Bass model and set all the controls to noon, except the bass which should start at about 2:00 and the Channel Volume to full. Turn off all effects and the EQ, and if you want to try the Compressor, start with it about 9:00.

If your bass sounds good by itself (ie, you aren't using an amp to fix your bass' sound), then you should be getting a really good versatile sound from these settings.

Explore from there, but that's a better starting point for making judgements.
 
#63
I think a lot of the "tube modeling" comes most into play when you're dealing with harmonics, be it even or odd-ordered harmonics. This has always and will always be a differentiation between tubes and solid state, respectively, though the gap seems to be closing much more rapidly than I think anyone anticipated.

If you noticed, some of the people who best supported this product contend to use any analog effects after the POD.

Even the V-Amp keeps getting returned by a lot of people...

Wonderful review. Gives one a lot to mull over.
 
#65
Thanks guys, I should have updated this thread....I lost my POD XT Live in a fire a few weeks back, BUT....after spending about 20 hours or so tweaking it I still picked up another one this week!! I tweaked and I had some of my settings written down for BigMikeW so I got it together a little faster this time....I just got back in from a gig at a private party at this monster lake house on Lake Gaston and I am quite pleased with the results!! I sold my El Whappo to a TBer and wanted to try the "simple setup" of the POD Live to a console and to a monitor. I set up the POD Live XT on a monitor mix that I shared with the drummer for this gig. He plays a set of Roland V Drums (Studio) and uses a JBL 125 as a Monitor (pretty serious for a drum monitor) he sets it on top of his road case that he puts his drums in and I set up one for him pointing towards him and another JBL 125 pointed toward me with the same mix....

He likes to hear plenty of bass and of course his drums and we had a bit of the vocals and guitar in the mix....sounded REALLY good on a tight stage but I miss my MEYER wedge for sure. The better monitor you have the better you will like running it like this. I have not repalced my Wireless In ear rig so that was not an option on this gig so I have not really had the chance to hear the presets on inears but I think they would be fine....Overall, I was satisfied and the good thing is, I walked in with 1 Incase Tour Bag over my left shoulder, 1 Incase Tour Bag in my right hand and the POD XT in its case over my right shoulder!!! It could not have been any easier......I did not even use a Direct Box though it would have been better if I had...I left it at home!! I plugged the POD directly into the Line in on the console and that was it.....

I highly recommend you try one of these and give it a chance if you are looking for this type of rig!! The best endorsement I can give is that I spent all of that time tweaking and when it got burnt up I replaced it with another and started over. While it is not EVER going to be as good as having some of these products modeled, it is still far better than hauling a LOT of gear and some of the models are VERY good while others are Good enough for the masses. Give it a chance!!

Peace,

T
 
#66
Lyle Caldwell said:
How did you get that impression from the thread? Yes, there are gobs of tube amps modelled, and yes, it can sound very warm depending on the settings.
Click to expand...

I admit that I didn't read every post in this thread because it appeared to be disintegrating into an argument. I saw that someone wanted to use an analog pedal to warm the BPXTL up and assumed.
 
#68
Modeling is excellent in recording and hence the radio. But why use it live? If you are a top 40 musician and have to have those sounds to recreate every sound of the 80s 70s etc. you'd better have a Hifi amp. Gee so many things influence why one of us likes one head or cab or strings and then when we could be learning and playing real music we are d***ing around trying to produce an Acoustic 360 sound through an SVT. Science is teaching us that just because you can, doesn't mean you should. It's kind of Darwin that some of you would rather play with equipment then play through equipment. Some of you would rather sound like Mike Dirnt then yourselves. Some of you will spend years to sound like Geddy Lee then play some where and people will say, "you know he sounds like Geddy Lee" and then what. The people you copy are not playing that way now as they made that CD at least a year before you heard it. Much of the equipment you are modeling was technologically inferior or it would still be made and used. Ask an old WWII vet the good old days weren't necessarily all that good.
 
#69
Some one said that new 4x10 Bassmans don't sound like the originals. Okay, like a 50 year old amp or like it sounded when new? Have you ever heard one just made, brand new, not broken in?
How can this modeler duplicate the sound of a '66 Ampeg B-15 and have it sound real through an 90s Polytone, an SVT, a GK 1001, a Kern pre/Stewart. Into a harddisk system okay. It's "neutral" to begin with.
How many of you have actually heard those modeled amps live?
 
#70
I'm pretty much a noob at bass playing. I've been playing for about four years and have traded/sold/bought my way through about 12 basses since I started. Some of that is 4-string to 5-string and back, but some of it is in search for a "better" sound. I now have an MIA Jazz Bass with a J-Retro and I'm not always thrilled about the sound.

The attraction I have for the Variax Bass and the Bass Pod XT Live is having a number of great sounding bass tones to choose from. I'm never going to sound like Geddy or Chris Squire, even if I had their original equipment and the same recording gear and the same recording engineer, etc. because I'm not Geddy or Chris Squire.

I still need to try the VB700 out, but if I like it I'll probably end up selling my Jazz in order to get the VB700.
 
#71
The biggest problem I've had with Line 6 is their presets. I have a Vetta II and had a POD 2.0, and I really don't like how every pre-set is drenched in effects. It's especially silly for bass guitar. There's always flanger or chorus or a ton of delay on many of the patches I hear in the stores.

My ideal bass tone 90% of the time - unless I'm doing something special - is fat, growling lows that hit you in the chest, punchy mids, crisp highs, a good amount of overdriven tube grit, a reasonable amount of compression/eq, and perhaps a sub-octave effect. I may once in a while use chorus/flange/phase/delay for melodic stuff, but for straightforward bass playing, I prefer a drier sound. That's just me.

Anyway, when you mess around enough without all of the effects on, you may come to appreciate the tone a lot better. My Vetta sounds like a million bucks when I don't overdo everything.
 
#72
Bump for my live gig review.

The unit is just amazing in terms of tune, possibilties and flexibility.

I don't usually bring my own rig to gig as it is not convenience to do so in Hong Kong. Back to the unit, I directly plug it into a crappy Hartke stack, for the setting, I just use the SWR mode, set all the EQ flat, only slightly adjsut it for some songs, but the outcome is just amazing, it seems like I'm using my SWR rig. :D

In fact, it is not really take a long time for setting, I just chose the amp model I like and set all the EQ flat, like what I did on my real SWR stuff, and you can get the pretty good sound already!

For the price and its function, it is unbreakable IMO........Amazing multi-efx pedal for bass ever! :bassist:
 
#73
Kind of related question but I have been testing the Bass Pod XT pro rackmount, and for recording purposes it sounds great.

I may have to return the Rackmount unit soon, Would the POD XT live have just about the same sound quality/cab/amp's available?

From what i gather the rackmount had more inputs then the other Bass POD's.
 
#74
bassjamn said:
Kind of related question but I have been testing the Bass Pod XT pro rackmount, and for recording purposes it sounds great.

I may have to return the Rackmount unit soon, Would the POD XT live have just about the same sound quality/cab/amp's available?

From what i gather the rackmount had more inputs then the other Bass POD's.
Click to expand...


I/O's are really the only difference. I know a guy who has been using the Pro and the Floorboard live for years and just sold them both for about $600 and bought the XT Live for $350. He saved his old patches and just dumped them on the new board. Whammo. Has everything from before in one little unit.

Anyone who thinks these things aren't any good is nuts or doesn't know how to EQ an amp, IMO. And I will attest, as will Tom, that at least 75% of what I am seeing recorded lately is not live amps at all. People are being fooled EVERYDAY!
 
#75
BigMikeW said:
I/O's are really the only difference. I know a guy who has been using the Pro and the Floorboard live for years and just sold them both for about $600 and bought the XT Live for $350. He saved his old patches and just dumped them on the new board. Whammo. Has everything from before in one little unit.

Anyone who thinks these things aren't any good is nuts or doesn't know how to EQ an amp, IMO. And I will attest, as will Tom, that at least 75% of what I am seeing recorded lately is not live amps at all. People are being fooled EVERYDAY!
Click to expand...

Ah that is good to hear, i may just have to get one. Yeah i was amazed at the sound quality with the Pod Pro Compared to going direct out of my Eden 550 into an Mbox.

I am supposed to be reviewing this Pod Pro for someone but it's taking a while due to all the fiddlin and tweaking..:ninja:
 
#76
philthygeezer said:
Tom,

How do you think it would work with a few Aguilar GS112s and a power amp? The cabs aren't flat.


EDIT: Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

OMG my 5 hrs trying to find a library for this thing and it was here. I'm gonna buy tommorow, definitely :hyper:

(Yes, im a lazy bum, gonna start tweaking this thing tmorrow)
 
#77
BigMikeW said:
I/O's are really the only difference. I know a guy who has been using the Pro and the Floorboard live for years and just sold them both for about $600 and bought the XT Live for $350. He saved his old patches and just dumped them on the new board. Whammo. Has everything from before in one little unit.

Anyone who thinks these things aren't any good is nuts or doesn't know how to EQ an amp, IMO. And I will attest, as will Tom, that at least 75% of what I am seeing recorded lately is not live amps at all. People are being fooled EVERYDAY!
Click to expand...

+1 !! Consider me attesting!! Very true!!

Peace,

T
 
#78
tommixx said:
+1 !! Consider me attesting!! Very true!!

Peace,

T
Click to expand...

Just curious, Tom and Mike, but are you guys saying that a lot of people are using modelling in the studio, or would a player that is going direct (or through another signal chain - preamp, etc. - that does not include an amp/speaker) also count towards your 75%?

Thanks, Tom.
 
#79
tombowlus said:
Just curious, Tom and Mike, but are you guys saying that a lot of people are using modelling in the studio, or would a player that is going direct (or through another signal chain - preamp, etc. - that does not include an amp/speaker) also count towards your 75%?

Thanks, Tom.
Click to expand...


I am talking about either Line6 gear such as POD's or SansAmp, AmpFarm, Amplitube, etc... Massive modeling being used almost every damn day.

I am going to recording in January and I doubt ONE real amp will get used.
 
#80
BigMikeW said:
I am talking about either Line6 gear such as POD's or SansAmp, AmpFarm, Amplitube, etc... Massive modeling being used almost every damn day.

I am going to recording in January and I doubt ONE real amp will get used.
Click to expand...

Interesting. So it's not as common to use DI's or preamps anymore?

Tom.
 

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