Which is better?

I hear the GT8's amp models are gritty and not very good but the effects kick ass, while the Line 6 is quite the opposite. Who has played both and can testify? A mate wants to buy one to be the main source of his tone... (but I'm pushing him to buy an Engl E530!).

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well, if you're going for the MAIN source for all your guitar sound...i'd go with the POD. i havent really heard of anyone that's used a GT series live for all tones...and with good reason.

and hell with a PODxt Live he could just run direct to PA. his rig would consist of two things, guitar + POD. and he'd still sound good.

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Opeth used to use a GT-3 as a preamp...

My mate is leaning towards the Line 6 only because he's kind of intimidated by the GT8's learning curve. Is the XT Live also easy to get around with? I hear that upgrading/downloading patches, and setting your own is harder on the XT Live, not just cause it's on the floor but for other reasons...

The Boss also has the 4-cable thingy for superb sound quality straight into a PA.

*wants to force his friend into the Engl club*

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Fuck the POD, fuck the GT series. If you're going with anything digital I reccomend the Digitech Dual S-Disc series of preamps. The 2120/2112/2101LE can all do everything way better than those peices of shit. I'll be posting a clip soon so you check out the 2120, but seriously, stay away from the pod unless you want a bodiless and cardboard tone.

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I figured this was true, but unfortunately the 2120/2112/2101LE are not available here in Spain. Do they have effects too or are they just tube preamps?

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Digitech

The preamps sound better in general on the Pod, but the Boss owns in terms of effects, tweakabillity and various built in extras.

But, if I were you, get that Engl preamp. I much rather have realy realy good distortion than decent distortion and a lot of effects.

EDIT: What I ment to say was that the pod has better hi-gain stuff than the boss GT-6 (which I use).

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Hah. You're an idiot. The 2120s distortion (the tube distortion anyway, fuck the other dist patches) is super versitile and when eqd properly can do close to about any tone you could ask for. The 2120 is seriously one of the most overlooked preamps in ever. The effects section is really huge, has tons of different reverbs, modulations, phasers, flangers, harmonizers, pitch shifters, detuners, and eqs. The options on the 2120 are close to limitless, but if I had the cash I'd still have E570, G-Force, and VHT2/90/2.

I reccomend he gets that E530, and an effects processor, like a replifex or G-Major.

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Well we would probably take you more seriously if you werent insulting and didnt have an obviously HUGELY biased opinion.

Line6 stuff is great if you know how to use it. This rule holds true for just about any really expansive digital processor. Of the two, I would go for the Line6, although its a really tough choice, I think if you can you really need to play both of them.

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Yes, my opinion is super biased even though I've owned all three units and given each plenty of time to live up to my standards. Shut up. The pods could never reach a good ballsy tone. Cardboard I tell you.

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Both the pods and the gt's are realy dependent on what you play them through.

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Try a half stack with a high quality 1000 watt power amp behind it? They sound thin and weak compared to the 2120 dude. If you like Suffocation, the 2120 basically sounds like a clearer and improved version of Peirced From Within.

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GT-8, bitches It fucking pizzowns my rig and I fucking hate multiFx pedal board units. I studied and tried the line 6 and wasn't happy.

Edit: I use the 4 cord method with my GT-8 so I can plant different FX before the input of my amps pre and others into the loop. Only the GT-8 ( for the price ) can do that GODDAMMIT!

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Digitech pre's are fucking great for effects.

Through a halfstack. So you put them directly in, or via your fx loop? Did you use the 4-cable method on the gt?

It makes the difference between flabby tones and great one on the same piece of gear.

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On my POD Pro, I ran it in a Preamp/Poweramp way, both Studio and Live mode. I fucked around with alot of the tones and eq settings, but in the end it was really muddy and had no personality. The Boss GTs were before I had my halfstack so I was running it as a preamp for my crate combo, so that might explain why I don't like it. Regardless, the 2120 is still a better value and has awesome tone.

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Good thread



Cardboard tone for metal?

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i really dig the pod xt's alot for amp modelling. you'd be suprised at how many big bands end up using them for recordings. the boss however, i think they sound pretty good, but just not as convincing.

fx-wise... i'd say they're pretty neck in neck. i like line6 fx sounds.

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Well said. And Innards-Decay is right, the 2120 is very overlooked. I go way back with Digitech.
As I mentioned in a previous thread I have a POD XT Live and it's freaking great, but you have to set it up right because as usual, ALL FACTORY PRESETS SUCK. A little patience goes a long way. The manual is very helpful, though.
Amp models? Killer, of course [hello, it's Line 6.] Effects? Incredible and a plethora to choose from. Not to mention the wah/volume/whatever pedal, and the amp tone controls right on the chassis. Tweakable to the max, very easy to edit stuff, you can connect it to a computer via USB and edits tones on screen, get updates, new tones, record, etc.
I'd recommend it.
Back when I had my Carvin power amp and 4 4x12s, the POD XT Live not only gave a truly monolith sound but made it easy to adjust/setup/change sound instantly. You have so much control with this thing it's sick. Now I plug it directly into a DOD practice amp, set the mode to 'Studio Direct' and I get virtually the same tone but on a smaller scale.

I never tried a GT-8 though, and now that Inner-Decay mentions it I should take another look at the 2120 again
I get bored really quick with my gear, and I'm starting to go out of my 'Line 6' phase.

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Yeah, I really liked my Pod Pro for a while, but it just wasn't natural or convincing in the least bit. It sounded brutal I guess, but all it could pull is highly compressed (even without compression) Disgorge/Interal Suffering type tones, there was no Death, Suffocation, or natural sound in it at all. The 2120 on the other hand, has a super natural sound that slices through the mix extremely well, and sounds very balanced and the best part FUCKING BRUTAL! When I get a new soundcard I'll record a clip of Thrones Of Blood or something to show you guys how insane it is.

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I just wanted to throw this out there, dont know if anyone has heard about this or not. I just learned about a device called the Radtone Harmonic Converger, its designed to make modelling processors (Boss GT's, POD's of any kind) sound more natural by removing the "fizz" as they call it from modeled distortion, among other things. Im thinking about ordering one myself cause people seem to think they are a godsend. I apologize if these have already been discussed before.

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Thanks for that info. I'll be looking into this myself now I wonder if its just some kinda buffer or pre amp tube module to warm the signal. Either way, thanks again for the info.

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wow, so they finaly are marketing it?
I knew about the device, but as far as I knew, the designer wasn't yet fully sure if he was goint to let it go to production.

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Well its not in any sort of full scale production, he still builds them himself and you have to email him personally to get one. Go to the bossgtcentral.com forums, the guy who makes them has his own section there.

@Soulinsane: I would definitely recommend you get one, they run about $250 and people say its a complete night and day difference. As for what it actually is, people think its just a fancy high pass filter but apparentely its much more than that. Although Radley (the guy who makes em) is very secretive about what they are exactly.

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Buy one and crack it open and steal his design, then go sell it to Line 6 and make millions.

I figure a complex tube preamp and poweramp could add the warmth and organic-ness that amp modelers lack, right? Like that Atomic Reactor thingy?

Btw Innards, since you use EMG's, it's no mystery you don't get natural sounds out of it. That is if you have been using EMG's with the POD.

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Hah two things about this, 1) he coats the interior with epoxy so you cant see the design and 2) the people on the Line6 forums apparentely HATE the Radtone, but the Boss forums love it.

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LOL, Thats funny that Line 6 forum hates the Radtone. I remember that guy selling them on GTcentral now that you mention it. Coating the inside of the unit with epoxy is a great ideal, unless it overheats, but there are ways to fix that too.

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Yes, I use EMGs, but I have 4 guitars, and one has an EVO set in it, and the pod still sounds compressed and lame. EMG's provide a beastly tone so I use them, then let my preamp put the natural tones back in. This is why I love the 2120, because the tubes really round out the distortion and clean tones. I'm not saying the POD is absolute shit, but there are better things out there for way less money. I'm looking into the Voodu Valve as well, and definetely the Engl E570, but my poweramp will always be solid state.

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If he coats it with epoxy, and he has any idea what he is doing, I'm pretty sure it should be passive mostly, an active circuit would realy need to dissipate heat.

It should probably be some filter of sorts. Would anyone know if it has an power source?

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I used to have a ART Tube PreAmp that made my old Flextone head sound awesome. And I think it's hilarious that the Line 6 people hate the Radtone while the Boss people embrace it. That mono TubeAmp made a giant difference. The shocking thing is, years ago I wanted a 5150 [original blockhead on Ebay was going for $400 at the time] and instead I ended up getting that used Flextone head.
I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune if I got that 5150.
Sadly I have realized I can only get, and want, 3 or four useable tones for me out of my POD XT Live [one extreme metal tone, one clean chorus, one clean regular, and one Rush-style guitar tone], as you can see just like Innards-Decay I loved Line 6 for a while but when you realize you've only used one amp model setting for years, you question what the fuck you spent the money for.
I guess I'm saying my final answer is Line 6 would be a good route to go if you're a beginner, need as many amps/tones as possible, or on a budget [like i was] but nothing will ever beat the real thing.

I think I'm at the stage where I'll take a decent solid-state distortion sound over Line 6.

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Exactly what I'm saying. I hope you mean good SS dist, like an Ampeg VH140c or something. But yeah, it's like a BBE sonic Maximizer, it works great for a while and gives you that superior edge, until you hear your amps natural tone later and find out it works alot better in live situations because you're not getting any signal drain and plenty of mids.

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Haha yeah, I'm currently doing some research as to what would be a good solid state amp to get for extreme metal tones. Looks like Ampeg or Randall are the way to go. [The 'Search' function on this forum works wonders.]

Funny you mention the live situation. I think I realized something about Line 6 now from this observation. I realized at the first band practice with my Flextone, it was not cutting through the keyboards, triggered drums, vocals and bass with the recording/jamming at home settings that to my ears, sounded great. It turned out every damn week, I would completley alter my tone at practice. I'd go home with the settings I wrote down at practice, and try them out in my room. Needless to say, they sounded like utter shit. I'd have to be drunk or extremely stoned to dial up a tone like that playing alone.

As I said in another thread, the best tone I ever heard in my life was when I played a PRS through a Spider II combo on the 'Insane' amp setting with my usual tone dialings. So WTF? I guess what I'm trying to say is Line 6 sounds good at whatever spot you're playing at, but isn't versatile enough to carry over the same tone in a real situation.

Hence why some people on the Line 6 board say they have bazillions of versions of the same patch for playing live. I think that's fucking retarted.
'Just plug it into to P.A.' is NOT a solution for me.

The Line 6 POD XT Live would, however, seem to make a great multi-fx pedalboard.

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Yes, it is passive.

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anyone ever played the me-50? is it worth it for just a couple of effects. seems alot easyer to use that alot of other stuff out there, and thats what i want. simplicity with the few effects i want.

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I looked into the ME-50 but some of the effects are better placed behind the pre amp. The GT-8 was the only unit that could do that.

That really was the only reason I decided to go with the GT-8, but the pre amps are pretty good if you want to stack/mix/pan/share different tone/feels too.

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Hey man, if you want good solid state distortion, seriously go for something from Tech 21/Sansamp. I have owned a TM-30 combo and have played a TM-300 head and their GT2 floor preamp. Really awesome, all analog, incredibly rich sounds. The PSA-1 is supposed to be the god of all SS preamps I hear as well(plus it has midi control).

Peavey XXL's are also supposed to be very decent.

My mate still doesn't make up his mind. He tried a Korg multi-effects in a store and wasn't too impressed, also some Digitechs but thought they were crappy. The cunt at the store won't let him try the PodXT(bean, but if he were to get the Live he'd order it from elsewhere) because its sealed. So yeah not very sure yet, he might get an E530 if a farther store brings them back in stock again.

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I think the GT8 is more user friendly, I figured out most of the basic functions in about 5 minutes. The fucking POD has so much shit on it that I couldn't figure it out after 15 minutes of trying. It seems to have all the preset stuff crammed w/ about as much effects as they can fit in.