Pod XT vs Vamp II

dragsternj · #1 05-18-2007, 01:48 PM

How do they compare. How does the Pro version fit in there, is it very different?

Please no "they both suck get a.... "

Dee · #2 05-18-2007, 02:22 PM

I haven't tried the Pod stuff, but I have the V Amp Pro. I think the main difference between the II and the Pro is the connectivity -- the Pro is way more flexible here, and actually there are too many differences to list in this post. Of course there's the obvious stuff like the Pro being a rackmount unit, the II is a floor pedal type thing, etc., but also I heard something about the II not saving patches properly? How true this is, I have no idea, but for what it costs I'd highly recommend the Pro. It is great for home recording direct to the computer and practising at home. To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much when I first got mine, but I'm happy to say I was very impressed with it. Actually I was blown away! The "Rectified Hi Gain" is the model I use most of all. This is coming from a former die-hard tube amp freak, too. Sure, there's some fairly uninteresting sounds in there, and I'm certain that some of the models are not too close to the originals, but for the usable models it's worth purchasing.

A lot of people seem to prefer the V-Amp stuff, they say it's warmer sounding than the Pod. I don't know. I haven't compared them, but I honestly can't recommend the V-Amp Pro highly enough. The cabinet simulations all make a huge difference, btw. If you try one, have a play around with those. Best thing is to spend a few days with it if you can.

Reviews:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...V-Amp+Pro/10/1

Dino · #3 05-18-2007, 04:11 PM

The V-amp stuff in a knockoff of the POD. I have heard some good stuff about them, and the price is right. Dee, how good is the comuter interface on the v-amp?

dragsternj · #4 05-19-2007, 07:45 PM

THX Dee

Looking at the V Amp II but also discovered the M Audio thing.

lemongrass · #5 05-19-2007, 07:58 PM

I use the pod - (xt and xt pro) I tried the pod against the v-amp a few years back and preferred the line6 stuff, plus the downloadable upgrades have improved it even more.

I think they are both usable and have fairly similar features so it comes down to whichever one you prefer the sound of.

CHeers
John

shogun · #6 05-19-2007, 08:40 PM

think marshall MG vs Marshall UK

Dee · #7 05-19-2007, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dino

The V-amp stuff in a knockoff of the POD. I have heard some good stuff about them, and the price is right. Dee, how good is the comuter interface on the v-amp?

Still haven't tried it. I need to buy a Midisport or something. I heard that the software is good, though, it enables access to a lot of parameters that are not available from the V-Amp Pro's front panel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemongrass

I tried the pod against the v-amp a few years back and preferred the line6 stuff

I think it might be better to compare the more recent V-Amp rather than the older one, there have been some firmware updates which have improved the V quite a bit, apparently. Mine is relatively new still, as my unit was made in mid 2006 and I don't think there have been many updates since then.

Ferrous Lepidoptera · #8 05-26-2007, 10:33 PM

I have both the Pod XT (with firmware upgrade, probably a year or two old now though) and V-amp2.

I prefer the v-amp2, though this is a very subjective thing.

The sound quality (noise levels, etc.) seem better with the Pod XT -- the v-amp2 is a bit of a noisy thing.

However, I cannot get a decent metal sound out of the Pod XT. Or any line-6 gear at all, ever. It's as if the people at line-6 have never heard metallica, and have absolutely no idea what metal is supposed to sound like (e.g. witness their "puppetmaster' or whatever that preset is called, presumably supposed to be a sound similar to the Master of Puppets sound. To my ears, it's not even close. Likewise with their van halen brown sound attempt.
(They even say they used a variac for that sound, and bragged about how they simulate a jacked UP supply voltage -- wrong, they should have simulated LOWERED the voltage, if they knew what they were doing, to get the tubes to clip at a lower input voltage -- I get the impression they do not really know what they are doing. OTOH, their brown sound simulation sounds exactly like a jacked up supply voltage -- that is, nothing at all like van halen's sound. Unsurprising as it is difficult to find people who are both programmers -- esp. programmers for embedded systems -- who are also musicians. They are almost disjoint sets.)

To me, the v-amp2 sounds are more usable for hard rock and metal out of the box.

The one problem I have with the v-amp2 is that it seems there is not quite enough numerical precision (not enough bits) to handle the dynamic range of a guitar's input signal. There is, maddeningly, _almost_ enough. If you turn down your guitar a bit, (or, with newer firmware, I think there is a combination of button presses that allows you to turn down the input gain) then you can avoid the noisiness I'm talking about, but, it is at the price of sacrificing some high-gain tone. Or, you can live with the noise (very slight clipping is what it sounds like to me -- unpleasant) and have otherwise good tone.

So, at the risk of violating the prime directive of the op (no "neither" recommandations)... the Pod XT has superior fidelity, but the metal tones are seriously lacking (IMHO, others may well differ), and the v-amp2 has decent metal tones (but suffers from too few bits of precision (I guess) at the input a/d converters -- or somewhere in the signal path.

The v-amp2 has the benefit of costing only $99 last time I checked (a couple years ago.)

I own 2 v-amp2s. I only own one pod XT.

Dee · #9 05-26-2007, 11:16 PM

I don't find the Pro very noisy, not sure if the V-Amp 2 is somehow different but my Pro is very good when it comes to noise. Of course, if I sit right next to it when the monitor is switched on (Yes, I do this a lot) then things do indeed get noisy, but that's OK for practising. When I'm recording I move further away and it's real quiet when I'm not playing. The built in noise gate is pretty good, though I think a dedicated pedal such as the BOSS NS-2 would b a better way to go.

Distortion sounds are crazy -- tons of low-end punch and masses of gain. Great for metal. This is where the V-Amp Pro shines. The Rectifier models have got it covered completely.

I don't like the clipping, but adjusting the output volume eliminates it. Never had a problem with input clipping at all.

I really can't complain about anything, to be honest! I love the Pro, it's an awesome piece of kit for the money. Even if it cost 3 times as much I'd still buy one.

TheMusicBucket · #10 06-02-2007, 01:05 AM

I have a question that has to do with modeling processors in general, I don't wanna feel like I'm hi-jacking the thread, but I don't necesarily wanna start a new one cause there's ton's of these kinds of threads floating around

I'm in the market for a modeling product such as the pod 2.0, pod xt, V-amp/pro. This isn't so much about which is better, but rather which is more worth investing in considering my situation.

I won't be able to get amazing, flawless CD recorded sound until I upgrade to a mac with a recording interface, and get the studio set up in the basement. But as many of us know, that is a process that is built up in stages.

For the time being, I need something that can give me passable tones, just something that won't be painful for my ears and unpleasent. But I don't necesarily want to spend a bunch more to get a "better" digital recording.

So it's basically like compromising, and getting the cheapest I can get while still getting a passable tone to tide me over until I have a better studio.

I'm leaning the most towards the pod 2.0, but I've also heard good things about behringer's V-amp pro and the Pod XT is also still in my budget. I was at a time more set on just getting the XT, but then I heard a lot of people saying the 2.0 had a better over-all, plug in and play tone + simpler interface(a very pleasing aspect), but considering all the options on the XT, I am wondering if that was more of a user-issue of people not knowing how to tweak the sounds. As I was not impressed with the XT when I played around with it some in the store. But would it be fair to say I would get more long term-usage out of the XT than the 2.0?

Also if there are any other recommendations for similar things that aren't more than 300 dollars, I'll take em.

dragsternj · #11 06-02-2007, 01:33 AM

i can tell you i finally settled on the M audio black box reloaded. Haven't received it yet so i can not tell you about quality. It was pricewise right between the pod and the v amp. Reason was that it works with Pro-Tools for recording.

I had a pod and didn't like it all that much.

TheMusicBucket · #12 06-02-2007, 01:57 PM

I saw that as well and I'm confused as to whether or not it's just a recording device/interface, or if it can be used through a power amp to drive a speaker cabinet like a Pod can.

dragsternj · #13 06-02-2007, 02:34 PM

If that is your goal i highly recommend you look ay the Damage Control Stuff. I had a demonizer, worked great for recording and was the sweetest pr-amp in front of a power amp.

TheMusicBucket · #14 06-02-2007, 02:46 PM

Well I really need something that's ane modeling thing like the Pod for recording. But I also want to use the patches I save and run it through my crate powerblock into my 2x12 cab. Not for performance or anything but for practice.

Plus I have a yamaha mixing board I'd like to use in conjunction with it.

shogun · #15 06-02-2007, 06:15 PM

ive owned both a vamp2 and podxt.. the pod OWNS the vamp.. behringer is garbage and isnt reliable, ALL vamp2's die and you haveto replace the memory cell if u want ur patches to save, and it still dies again.. the podxt is so flexible, you can get anything you need out of it.. people who think they are made for live need a slap on the wrist though.. ive tried both through tube amps before and they go to heck when turned up.. IMO the pod live, gt8's, gnx4 and all that stuff made for live is a joke.. unless you are playing direct into a P.A. it sounds bad if you are talking about anything loud.. might be able to get away with it for a bar gig, but not a metal show