| Ease Of Use |
As I write this, I'm sitting up in the loft on my leather couch, guitar in my lap hooked to my Pocket POD, with headphones plugged in that I'm wearing. (Laptop on the coffee table, of course!) I'm sitting here experimenting with the vast plethora of sounds found in this little "amp for your pocket" device. I'm quite impressed.
I think this is where the Pocket POD excels: Ease of use. The controls available to you are a four-position rocker selection switch, four multi-function knobs covering Drive, Effects, Delay, and Chan Vol. The knobs double as Bass, Mid, Treble, and Reverb selections when you hold down yet another button on the unit labeled "Save/Alt". There's also a "Tap/Tuner" button.
The unit powers on when you attach the guitar cable to the guitar input. Selecting a sound is pretty straight forward, using a 4-direction rocket switch. You're first presented by a "Browse By" prompt. Pressing up & down switch between User, Style, and Band. Pressing right takes you deeper into the menu for the chosen "Browse By" selection. For instance, choose "Style" and press right, and you're now looking at the style menu where the selections are: Clean, Crunch, Heavy, Effected, Bass, Vocal, Song. Choosing "Song", click right, and now you can select an individual sound which are named for the song they were modeled after (Aenema, Ah Via Musicom, Alive, etc). I found the menu navigation to be pretty intuitive, and Line6 really is doing the most it can do with a one line LCD, which is turns on its back-lighting when you're making a change to any selection.
Since the Pocket POD also has a mini-USB port allowing connection to a PC, you do also have some software options available for performing patch editing that can make things a bit easier. I've not looked into this yet myself.
|
| Sound |
I've used it with my JEM7V as well as my JS1200. What surprised me about the Pocket POD were the wide range of amp and cab models that this unit emulates, which is very reminiscent of Line6's full sized POD family of guitar effects units of which I've owned a few. Honestly, I wasn't expecting such full functionality for a unit that is battery powered and fits in your pocket! The presets show off the wide range of sounds really well, and I'm going to say that at least through my headphones, I'm as impressed with the quality of sound from this Pocket POD as I was with my full sized POD 2.0. But, perhaps this is no surprise, given that its using the same internal sound engine! I've been able to squeeze out any tone I've been looking for. Chrous, Flanger, Tremolo, Rotary, Reverb, Compressor, Delay, and various combinations of those effects are all available to you, and the while the effects aren't steller, they do get the job done.
I've turned off the AIR amp simulation and have gone direct into my Blackheart Little Giant stack, but the sound isn't as thick. I wouldn't really use this as an effects unit for even a small gig. But for a practice unit or portable "jamming at a whim" guitar effects processor used with headphones, I give this baby a thumbs up. I now have the freedom to play guitar on a lunch break at work, or anywhere around the house where I feel inspired.
I like the Pocket POD for the same reason a writer keeps a notepad on their night-stand in the bedroom.. I can start working out a guitar part from anywhere, and transition to my home studio when I want to expand upon it.
|
| Reliability |
Its constructed out of plastic. It seem all that durable and I wouldn't feel comfortable dropping it. Other than that it seems reliable so far.
|
| Liked about it |
1. Being so portable, it is great for practicing from anywhere.
2. The sound quality is better than I expected.
3. I find the user interface pretty easy to navigate.
|
| Didn't like |
1. I'd have liked it a bit more if it had a metal case.
2. Some of the effects sound a bit too "digital".
3. The sounds really aren't appropriate to be piped directly into a guitar amp.
|
|
| Overall satisfaction: |
|
4.0 |
Was this review helpful to you?
Report this review
|
