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Line 6 POD X3 Live Guitar Multi-Effects Pedal
Searched Line 6 POD X3 Live Guitar Multi-Effects Pedal in Reviews
Refined POD (Firmware 2.0) 
| Ease Of Use |
Well out of the box of course I had to test it first without reading the manual, as I am to manly for that. As I knew there is the 2.0 firmware, the upgrade was the first thing I wanted to do. So I went to line6.com and downloaded the monkey and drivers for the pod x3 on my Mac. Then not really knowing what I do, I simply plugged the X3 into the USB, started the monkey and the rest was done by itself. Could not be much easier my friends and this program alone is something that really sets line6 apart.
Now of course play time so back on the unit. The bank up/down and preset switches are pretty much self explanatory and easy for everyone to use, that has ever seen a multi effect pedal. Tap switch is also nice and brings up an excellent tuner when pressed down for a bit. Usually I am used to it that those tuners are not top notch, but line6 did a really good thing there. Compared to my trusted old Korg Racktuner it is up on par with it. Very nice line6!
Now what are those other footswitches for? Well that is a really great thing as they turn on and off sections of your effects chain and then came the WOW moment. That home screen on the unit is really cool, you can see what is in the chain and what is on and off at first sight. Use the switches to turn stuff on and off is totally easy. But the cooles thing is the tone switch. Each preset has 2 tones which can include 2 totally different chains or even instruments. For me the cooles was using those together (when pressing the tone switch for a bit), but we get to that later.
Now the pedal serves as a volume most of the time and for some preset switches to Wah, which can easily be seen by a very bright LED indicating in what mode the pedal is. Again you get the feeling that someone really thought this through, which I really like about the unit.
Now the chrome looking nobs on the top of the unit are also very self explanatory as they are pretty much the same you would find on an amp and as such are very easy to use. One thing however: Be careful when turning them as your tone might jump form the preset tone to the setting on the knob on first touch. I know this is how it has always been, but I would like a better solution and found myself seldom using those knobs, except for the master volume.
Actually everything you need to program the unit is found around the screen and is again very intuitive. Simply manouver in the chain what you want to set with the directional button, double click it and you are clear to set. The knobs below the display are very good to use and I found myself setting everything up with them easily. But the coolest thing for me was the output selection (press the output button for a bit) and then pan the 2 tones when you play them simultaniously. Your lead tones will get thick as hell with this simple tip: Setup your lead tone on tone 1, same on tone 2. Then I altered the puch (mids and lows) slighty from each other using the excellent parametric EQ and amp settings. Then pan tone 1 to 9 o'clock and tone 2 to 15 o'clock. So they do mix but come slightly off through the PA. Now that lead tone really pushes the audience.
What I also found is that almost for every preset I tried I put in the gate, comp and parametric EQ. Those things are really your bread and butter with this unit. They can work very subtle and will give your tone the sound that it needs. If you do not take your time with this, than you get the tones that some people complain about all the time (lifeless pod sound problem), however using those tools you can create sounds that are very much alive and dynamic, like the amp they try to model. Line6 did a really great job there and I was stunned by some sounds I did, but we get to that below. For know trust me when I say: Take your time and get to know the EQ and gates in and out.
That leaves the connectors for the ease of use section. Now with most units that I had previously to this one, I found myself looking for something. Some had good MIDI, but no USB, some had nice guitar hookups but no XLR for the PA... The Pod X3 Live has it all. Plus the is no need to make a handstand on the stage to find a connector as everything is labeled on top of the unit. Again a big thumbs up. Also nice, the unit comes with a USB cable, so no worries to find one at home. Stage setup is really easy and you have multiple choices here, I just plugged the XLR Outputs into the PA and was set.
Now back to the computer (I can only tell you the Mac side, but Line6 says it is similar and easy on Windows too). Hooking up the unit as stated in the beginning was very easy and monkey does everything you need. But the unit really shines if you install gearbox and program from there. Everything is easy accessible and using this program is actually a lot of fun. I discovered several new features for me and the one thing I actually found myself using when it comes to hardcopy is the model gallery. It is also very easy through gearbox to get tones from customtone.com and install them. I was amazed that from my previous POD experience (which is a long time ago) some presets are really really good. The rating is right most of the time and I pulled several high reated presets to play around with. Of course you should always take the time to tweak those presets to your guitar and playing style, but it was very easy to use.
Now as not everyone has a top of the line recording software, for this test I started up GarageBand and agian it was just totally easy to use. You find the POD X3 in your audio settings, setup the channels to the recording tracks and you can go from there.
So to sum this section up:
The unit is really easy to use, the home screen is a blessing, all the connectors are there and the software is the best I have found and beats even the software of much more expensive units.
This unit for me does one thing perfect: It does not stand in the way of your creativity, it just works, is fun to use and not once did I get angry (which I tend to do if things are badly designed).
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| Sound |
Now of course this is the section everyone has waited for.
I started off with trying some of the clean'ish presets as this is where most modellers sound "cold". I was pretty impressed with the slightly dirty clean blues tones, so I made a twin reverb preset and pushed it a bit. This was really cool and even when played with a high output Jem, I could tweak it to be twangy and play country, or turn some mids and be very bluesy.
Now this impressed my as I was not ready for the cleans to be that good, even compared to the real thing (I own a vintage twin).
So I went on to the crunch and lead tones and was also impressed with several presets. As I also own a old 2 channel dual rectifier, I gave the rectifier sims a shot and wow they sound good. The one thing I always complained about with modellers was missing dynamics and that the high gain tone got mushy. But not here, my playing was still heard even in the highest settings and subtle changes on the volume knob of the guitar and picking style really made differences. Even when I switched to the "Line6 modern high gain" amp model and cranked it to 100% gain. Put a classic distortion infront and cranked that... still dynamics and still tone. Now the only unit so far that could do that was my AxeFx and that costs three or four time of what this unit costs.
Ok, I could not leave this to rest, as I though maybe my hearing is broken, this unit can't be that cool with amp modells. So I thought a public testing was on order.
The test setup:
Guitar used: Jem 7vwh
Chain one: Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier through Mesa 4x12, miced with a SM57 and an AKG D22 into PA. Modulation Effects from Damage Control Glass Nexus. Infront of amp: Red Comp, Keeley DS-1.
Chain two: Line6 Pod X3 Live, directly to PA.
Self made A/B switch, to switch guitar from one chain to other.
Audience: Fridays Jem session at local club, several musicians from the Austrian scene and mainly "regulars" as guests.
I played 6 songs with the crew there, 3 with the pod and 3 with the "analog chain". We gave out 20 "test papers", 10 to fellow guitarists that would play that night and 10 to random guests. They had to tick a checkbox for each song, if I played the real boogie or the POD.
The cool thing now: Not ONE, not a single person got it all right. While one song was obvious, where everyone got the POD, prolly took to little time to program that song. But when I played "all along the watchtower" everyone would swear it is the analog chain. A guy told me "you cannot model such a lead tone".
Folks this test really blew my socks off. I would have never guessed.
Now beware and do not get over excited. Of course you can still sound very bad with a modeller, given the fact alone that you can do much more (and do much more wrong) than with the real thing. But if you take your time, tune the tone to the room (I altered the preset I took for the songs in sound check) etc. you can sound like the real thing.
Now that amp modelling was such a success, I went back home to play a little more with the effects of the unit, as this has been a major complaint with the POD compared to its competitors.
I think this was one of the major reasons for V 2.0 of the firmware. Line6 has learned a lot from the M13 unit and how it handles effects. While I still think the M13 is superior for effects alone, they incorporated a lot of that knowledge into the X3. Especially the compressors and modulation effects now sound much more alive and will not give you such a hard time to find good settings. I also found myself using the distortion pedals a lot, especially the "classic", as it sounds really good.
Moving on to the delays and reverbs, they also sound very nice. However I find myself using the hall reverbs often, while I think the spring sounds much better on the M13. On the delay side, the stereo delay and digital delay are very good.
For wha I really love that they did with the "wheeper", it is by far my favorite wah on the unit, while the other wah's are by no means bad at all.
To sum it up:
This unit is a real tone monster and it can sound very very close to the real thing, up to where it is not distinguishable from an analog unit.
However you have to really dig into it and really tune it to sound like that. You can easily and totally screw your tone. This is not a bad thing, as this unit gives you so much freedom to do everything, but you have to be aware of this fact. All in all I am very impressed with what Line6 did here and I am even more impressed by how much thought went into all the features. I am really looking forward, what they dish out next.
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| Reliability |
Now I gave this unit a 2 week continous beating. Home, setup, rehearsals, jam gig, let buddies try it etc. It showed no sign of wear of tear.
Also the casing, metal switches and pedal seem very sturdy and I think they can survive constant gigging easily.
Now I heard complaints that some knobs are plastic, including the switches beside the screen. Well folks, to me it seems like really good plastic. You know they make guns out of plastic these days... I really programmed around a lot and abused those knobs, they feel really fine to me. Of course I will let you know if they break down in the near future, but I guess they will survive the next gigs, without a problem.
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| Customer Support |
I did not call them, as the Line6 support webpage and forums are really good. Combine this with features like customtone and their software and they really set the par for others.
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| Liked about it |
This is a really good modeller and effects unit. It is well built and it has come a far way from the first pod. It sounds alive now and really has triggered my creativity again. Plus the software, support and ease of use make it a killer tool. I love this unit.
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| Didn't like |
Now if I had to change one thing, i would redesign how the "amp style knobs" are working on the unit. But this is complaining on a really high level, so nothing is stopping me from giving 5 stars.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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Great for audio recording and live performance. Very versatile.
| Ease Of Use |
There are maybe one or two stock presets that are worth writing home about. The majority of the presets are far from what they are supposed to be modeled after. You can plan on reading the instruction manual front to back and spending a decent amount of time tweaking knobs. I suggest checking out the line 6 "custom tone" forum for better downloads.
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| Sound |
The unit works well with all guitars. It even has preset vocal and bass settings. For the most part, I run an Ibanez RG550 and a Jackson soloist. Both guitars sound excellent through the x3 live. If your into digitally processed guitar tone for your leads, then this is the way to go. The x3 live is pretty versatile. Dialing in a good 80's metal tone is fairly easy. My personal favorite amp model is the chemical x and the Agro setting. There are tons of different amp/cab/effects combination's available.
The X3 live is at its best when it comes to audio recording. This is a must have as far as I'm concerned. This would also be great for cover bands who have to cover a wide catalog of songs. Ton's of features.
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| Reliability |
The construction is pretty frail. Its made from plastic, which isn't as forgiving as metal. The foot switches are also fairly cheap. I think they should have stuck with the original PODXT footswitches. Its a great unit, but they definitely could have improved upon the construction. So far, I haven't had any problems with the function of the X3.. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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| Customer Support |
never had to deal with.
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| Liked about it |
Like the fact that you can record bass and vocals too. Its has tons of options to shape your sound, and with some tweaking you can get a good tone. This is a must have as far as I'm concerned. If your not into audio recording, and you don't need the bass/vocal option, then get the original XT live. Its about $200 cheaper.
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| Didn't like |
The construction is fairly cheap. I often times feel like I could break it easily. The presets are also pretty weak, but thats too be expected. That's really the only downside to this product. 4/5
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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Great sound, cheap materials
| Ease Of Use |
There is a learning curve here, you won't get a decent tone out of the box. You need to understand the concepts first, and how to put the modules to work together. Editing patches is easier using the software, but the software has some weird bugs that are annoying.
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| Sound |
I've got every sound I wanted with it, that's why I love it. I've got great quality tones for both USB recording and playing live, specially a Mesa Boogie heavy tone I use with my Dream Theater cover band. The modulations are fine. But there is a huge drawback: cool stuff like the whammy are in the same slot of the distortion pedals, so you can't use both at the same time. This sucks!
Dream Theater - In the Presence of Enemies - intro & solo (video)
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| Reliability |
Unhappily the material is bad quality. Line 6 used cheap stuff to assembly this floor unit, unfortunately. I do not rely on it, I use it inside of a hardcase all the time, and even this way, I'm always afraid of someone step on it.
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| Customer Support |
The Brazilian representant, Hasbro, is a thief and it's a pain to deal with them. They sell Line 6 stuff at ridiculously high prices and don't give any support at all. Line 6 should drop them out of the business.
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| Liked about it |
1) Overall sound quality;
2) Design;
3) Smooth expression pedal.
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| Didn't like |
1) Cheap materials;
2) Effects in the same slot of the distortions (can't use both at same time);
3) The vicious "USB dropout", which mutes the sound when you're on USB.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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Room Of Improvement
| Ease Of Use |
Manual does a good job at explaining everything. Use the Tutorial to setup patches and You'll understand the interface tons more.
I have loaded the latest firmware
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| Sound |
With any modeling, you are going to get the same output that you would plugging directly into the real thing. In other words, if you select a Marshall JCM900 and max the drive knob without any noise gate, you're going to get hum and buzz from your pickups. Line 6 has done a great job at making a noise gate that can very effectively silence the buzz no matter how extreme your tone settings are.
The POD X3 has every amp/cab/effect found in any of their other products. If you don't like one kind of reverb or chorus, just select another and you are virtually assured to get the sound you want.
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| Reliability |
This product is among the worst I have owned, from time to time it freaks out completely and sounds like you are running barbed wire through it rather than a guitar signal.
I have sent it back to the shop for repairs but since the problem is intermittent Line6 just responds that there is a new software coming and we are aware of your problems.
This is a toy for strumming around at home, not viable for gigs or rehearsals. From what other users are saying the X3-models are very unreliable.
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| Customer Support |
Worst support ever, just sent me the unit back with returning mail and said that there will be a software fix for my problems. This was 6 months ago and the software updates has not yet fixed my problems.
Take my advice and stay away from Line6 products. Many of them sounds good, but a huge number of them have issues and when you experience an issue there will be no support.
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| Liked about it |
Finally: think what you need this unit for. Are you only using analogue outs, then there are no problems with it to consider really. However, if you want to use it as your audio device for recording you have to ask yourself 3 things.
1. Is my PC well setup for audio tasks, and am I technically minded with PCs?
2. Am I prepared to be patient if I need to troubleshoot or return the unit?
3. Am I on a tight budget.
No to any and forget it.
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| Didn't like |
This unit sounds good but has numerous hardware and software issues.
I will list a few here:
1. USB audio dropout issues
2. footswitch construction issues
3. mic trim pot issues
4. Power Supply issues causing high pitch feedback
5. Tone/Volume knobs moving and causing volume drops and parameter changes
6. limited midi integration
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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3.0 |
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Portable plethora of sounds!!
| Ease Of Use |
This review comes from a thrash/prog/metal player, using mainly an Ibanez Universe!!
Recommendation of reviewing the manual is always a must!!! The manual is clear and accurate which is always a good thing!!
The unit is stock standard...unmodified, yet a great tonal range is achievable......rich cleans, crushing distortion and everything in between!! The effects are a little on the lacking side but are fun none the less to experiment with and enjoy!!! Its not a noisy unit and the lcd screen is great to see your chain of effects and how you have your settings!! Something i think the XT Pro really could have done with!!
Added bonus is a few bass patches and vocal patches which are handy for the flexable musician, needing a unit to do it all!!
A great and fun unit!!!
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| Sound |
The amp patches are great... the featured artist patches have a realistic sound which makes your sloppy attempt at covering their songs all the more funny!!
The delays are ok but for a more realistic and user friendly id recommend a dedicated delay pedal....and same for majority of other effects.....i dont think line 6 have completely mastered the effects but they are getting very close!!!
The dual tone modelling is a great feature if you really want to personalise your sound!!
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| Reliability |
I wouldnt hesitate in gigging with it, compact and portable. Straight into the house p.a and your good to go!!!
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| Customer Support |
Never needed line6 but have a great forum on their website where help is always at hand!!!
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| Liked about it |
1- Lcd screen is a great feature....helps you to seee clearly whats going on!!
2- Portable and user friendly
3- Great amp patches...mesa is killer!!
4- Dual tone modelling can make for some unique tones
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| Didn't like |
1- Plastic buttons
2- Should come with a carry case as standard
3- Maybe grip tape on the expression pedal for added grip!!!
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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3.0 |
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Disappointed!
| Ease Of Use |
It's easy to use...Turn it on and go. I have never liked the whole 3 channel button process. I wish it were either up or down. 11-12-13 next 21-22-23 (thumbs down on that!!) The face plate came off immediately. It seems to be the poor mans version of a pod except that it is pricey...I had wanted the pod rack version and bought this because it was in stock. I have owned this for a few years but almost immediately stopped using it...
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| Sound |
I played through a Crate GH1500 head and Marshall 4x10 & 4x12, as well as going direct for recording, and live. When alone I play 80's style pop metal, recording I was doing smooth jazz, and live was all solo 60's/70's/80's covers. Sounds are very good! I had used this for some scratch tracking and it was actually passable. The whole unpacking and setting up was a hassle. The sounds as I said are good and wet, but for me it definitely fell short of expectation. The pedal is quite handy and well built.
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| Reliability |
It has never broken but I haven't really used it that much past the first 3 months. Another good idea I put money into and just wasn't satisfied. It is also bulky and could have been housed in a smaller more convenient version
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| Customer Support |
N/A
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| Liked about it |
1) Decent sounds
2) Well built pedal
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| Didn't like |
1) Power adapter was a bit flimsy
2) Navigating through patches is a pain
3) Not versatile enough for what I needed
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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2.0 |
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Great Sounds
| Ease Of Use |
Of course looking to a small lcd display is boring still very easy to get a good sound out of it cause presets are good.Manual is very simple too and I believe even a person who never had a multi-effects pedal won't find any difficults.
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| Sound |
I played my through a peavey 5150 head and a marshall 1960B cab.
1- Amps are really good but digital distortion gives not only positive harmonics as negative harmonics too,that's why when you play a distorted chord using digital distortion it sounds like a mass and when using tubes distortion,it sounds so rich and in tune,still this pedal has a really great distortion and for those ones who like heavy riffs,its mesa boogie amps are really great.
2- Effects don't sound as good as effects in a digital effects processor like a G Major but still they're good.Modulation effects such as chorus and flanger are a little lifeless but better than other multi-effects pedals like v-amp etc.
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| Reliability |
It depends on how much you use it.If you use a lot of presets like 4 presets on each song,it would be better a rack pod and a midi foot controller with metal switches but if you use just a few presets you won't have any problem.
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| Customer Support |
Never had a problem.
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| Liked about it |
1- Good presets .
2- Amps sound really good.
3- Price is a little high but worth the money.
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| Didn't like |
1- Effects are lifeless comparing to other equipments.
2- Bigger lcd display is always welcome.
3- Plastic switches.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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3.0 |
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could be a little cheaper.
| Ease Of Use |
it is fairly simple to use once you get the basics which can take a month.
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| Sound |
i personally found it sounds great straight into my tube amp front but i had to tweak the output of the x3 first.
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| Reliability |
i have had no problems yet and it seems pretty tuff made.
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| Customer Support |
they have a number but hard to get through i never did.
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| Liked about it |
i loved that i could put my tones from my pc on the x3 to match my guitar port riffwaorks stuff for live use.
has a large lcd screen is pretty nice.
i love the built in wha volume pedal.
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| Didn't like |
was hard to figure out how to get a descent sound to my amp.
is pretty complicated and could be more user friendly the manual is bigger than the bible.
and wish it came in brighter cooler colors.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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Nice update from the POD XT Live
| Ease Of Use |
Its definitely not for the faint of heart. You need to spend some time tweaking patches in here for sure. I have patches for live and recording as that changes quite a few things.
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| Sound |
Used it with a JC120 and a TS7 in front. I love the clean tones and the uber high gain stuff. It rips for stuff like DT and Meshuggah.
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| Reliability |
I'd say the knobs and the pedal could use a bit more of strengthening.
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| Customer Support |
N/A
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| Liked about it |
I liked that it finally has an fx loop, better modeling amps and it sounds a lot better. They've gotten rid of that harsh digital fizz that usually plagues the pod xt line.
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| Didn't like |
No bag or anything to carry it around in. Larger LCD would be nice. When you're standing up and playing a set, that screen seems even smaller.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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internal use: spec34 spec261 spec586
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