LINE 6 FLOOR POD (Guitar Processor) - NOW WITH CONCLUSIONS!

[Anderton]

In some ways, I do like the Floor POD's simplicity and in other ways I like the stomp boxes that the RP250 models as well. Hard decisions!

 

Indeed!! That's why it's so hard to recommend a "best" device. I think some people would be overwhelmed by the RP250, and others would find the Floor POD limiting.

 

Personally, I thought I would find the Floor POD much more limiting than I do. IMHO I think Line 6 has done a good job of narrowing down the options to the "greatest hits" of what a POD can do. It's hard to get "bad" sounds out of the unit.

[Anderton]

Does the Floor POD have a good bypass or not?

 

I'm editing the audio examples I recorded right now, after which I'll test out the bypass. Good point to bring up, thanks!

[Anderton]

Here's the Chorus effect with an amp model (I forget which one, sorry). I did this example in stereo because that's necessary to give the full effect.

I like the "12-string" effect that you get from this particular chorus.

[Anderton]

...And if you're going to do a chorus, you should do a flanger too

[Anderton]

While we're on the subject of things that go "swoosh," here's the phaser. I like the "thick" sound quality.

[Anderton]

I probably shouldn't have played this when I was so tired, but hey, you'll get the idea of what the effect can do. If you listen "in the spaces," you'll hear the subtle filter change on the delayed sound.

[Anderton]

The reverb only has one "sound" -- you can't vary decay time, damping, or anything other than the reverb mix. But it sounds pretty muscular for a reverb.

[Anderton]

Can you prove/disprove this review from the review section:

I need to edit this review! I use a MexiStrat HSS with custom pickups I ordered from the American Lone Star Fat Strat.. My review on this unit was a bit premature, and I apologize.. Though I do love the feel, color, and ease of use with Line6's Floor Pod, I found that there was an incessant high pitch I could not get around (I mentioned to solve it by turning the tone button down on the guitar.. this was a mistake). After more testing, I found that even in BYPASS mode, my strat lost a good part of it's low to midrange (testing it by going straight into amp, then through the POD using bypass mode)..

Does the Floor POD have a good bypass or not?

Well, I thought I'd find out

I set up the following test: I recorded a track of guitar into Sonar, with the brightest pickup position I could find so that any loading would be evident, directly into the Instrument input of the TC Konnekt 24D interface (the subject of another Pro Review). This is about as honest a preamp as you'll find, and provides virtually no loading of the guitar pickups.

I then plugged the guitar into the Floor POD, set it to bypass, patched the output of the Floor POD into the same input of the Konnekt 24D, and recorded another track. I tried to play both sections as similarly as possible.

I then split the clips into 3-second intervals and alternated clips. The first three seconds of the audio example are the Floor POD going direct into the Konnekt 24D, the next three seconds into the bypassed POD, the next three seconds direct into the Konnekt 24D, and the final three seconds into the bypassed POD. Let me know if you can hear any difference, and furthermore, whether you would have even known the example was split into four separate parts if I hadn't mentioned it.

[Squier Fat Telecaster]

Wento to GC and tried the Floor POD out into a Peavey Classic30 with a Fender Strat:

I really liked the Class A models the best. Real raunchy and bluesy.

The Clean and Classic were very good as well. I really don't use High Gain but they were ok.

The delays and reverb were very nice as well.

I could not get the Modulation EFX to change mode in a preset. If it was on Chorus I could not get it to change to Phaser or Tremelo.

Wah was ok.

I wish you could access the tuner from the footswitch.

I would pay $150 for it but not $199.......

Oh, and it seemed to sound better using the AIR setting instead of the Amp setting to the Classic30

[Anderton]

I could not get the Modulation EFX to change mode in a preset. If it was on Chorus I could not get it to change to Phaser or Tremelo.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this...I could call up a preset and change from whatever effect was programmed to a different effect just by turning the knob. Or was there something else you wanted to do with it?

[Squier Fat Telecaster]

I was playing a preset. The EFX light was on chorus. I turned the knob and it would only change the chorus/flange effect thru the whole sweep. It did not change to Tremelo or Phaser at all. May have been a glitch on the GC floor model. Only when I scrolled thru the presets and found on with the Phaser light on would that effect be on, and then I could not get it to change to Chorus or Tremelo.

Wierd.

I thought the knob would rotate thru all three effects.

[BeowulfKingsley]

So you can't access either the tuner or the tap tempo from a footswitch? That's kind of dissapointing...I wonder why? Those are two things I'd really want to be able to use without hunching down onstage. The sounds all sound great, but that sort of limits its usefulness, in my opinion.

[Anderton]

I thought the knob would rotate thru all three effects.

 

It should, and it does on the one I'm testing. Each of the three lights should light up when you're in its "zone."

[Squier Fat Telecaster]

Originally posted by Anderton I thought the knob would rotate thru all three effects. It should, and it does on the one I'm testing. Each of the three lights should light up when you're in its "zone."

 

 

Something was messed up then with the demo unit at Guitar Center then....

 

Otherwise, I do like the simplicity of the Floor POD and it does sound pretty good.

[MudFlaps-1]

Between manual mode, edit mode, performance mode, coffeemaker mode, perhaps you were in the wrong mode?

[MudFlaps-1]

Originally posted by BeowulfKingsley So you can't access either the tuner or the tap tempo from a footswitch? That's kind of dissapointing...I wonder why? Those are two things I'd really want to be able to use without hunching down onstage. The sounds all sound great, but that sort of limits its usefulness, in my opinion.

 

 

I think you step on two footswitches at the same time to get the tuner. Not sure about tap tempo, but I'm sure Craig will be back soon.

[Anderton]

So you can't access either the tuner or the tap tempo from a footswitch?

 

I didn't find a way to do so, you need to hold down a button for the tuner and tap it for tempo. Right now I'm in Tokyo so I can't double-check, the Floor POD is back in the studio...but maybe someone from Line 6 can confirm how it works before I get home.

[Line 6 Mark]

Several good questions have come up in this thread and as the product manager for this product, I’d like to chime in. I’ll start with a very general comment and then respond specifically to specific issues and questions that have come up in this thread.

What were we trying to do with this product?

We already make a POD on the floor that gives you a huge selection of latest generation amp and effect models that is super tweakable – that’s the PODxt Live. The goals for this product - Floor POD - were:

- great sound worthy of the POD name at half the price of PODxt Live
- extremely obvious and easy to use interface
- a wide range of tonal possibilities that stays musically usable at its extremes
- instant tweakability from the top level

As Craig points out, in many cases this product’s easy to use interface comes at the expense of deep tweakability, but I believe the goals outlined above were good targets and this is a substantially differentiated product as a result. More specifics to follow...

Thanks,
Mark

[Line 6 Mark]

The knobs controlling MOD and DELAY/VERB are called “Smart Control FX” and are called this because each knob is actually sweeping through different parameters within each effect simultaneously. In creating these effects we wanted to give as much variety as possible on each knob while still trying to keep the range of sounds presented usable from the min to max position.

[Line 6 Mark]

PODxt vs. POD 2.0 sounds

Using POD 2.0 technology for this product (as opposed to PODxt) allowed us to offer this at a much lower price point. It is also significant that the “old generation” of modeling used for Floor POD is still quite alive in Amp Farm and POD 2.0. Line 6 product developers and sound designers believe the PODxt/GearBox/Vetta technology is more realistic and nuanced, but POD 2.0 & Amp Farm have undeniable character and many of our customers even prefer this sound.

Tap & Tuner function button

Yes, it’s true that you need to press a button to get to tap tempo and tuner functionality. There are three footswitches and we’ve chosen to have two modes – and . We decided that these were more important to offer on dedicated footswitches than tap and tuner. Trying to make them work as “press two buttons at once” was not desirable because it opens a can of worms and has unintended consequences. I would assume you would want tap/tuner accessible in both preset and fx on/off mode. In order to make any “press two switches” function work, you have to make every footswitch that works this way perform its function on release rather than press. We tried this and believed it was unacceptable to have patch changes or FX on/off happen on release.


Craig – yes, the presets are meant to show the range of tones you can get from the unit. For myself, I prefer fairly straight ahead modeled amp sounds with a bit of compression and little or no other effects, but you wouldn’t get a sense of scope if the presets were tamed in that manner.

Telemike –– if you saw that you couldn’t get to Tremolo or Phaser sounds by turning the MOD knob, it sounds like there was something wrong with that unit. I have never seen a Floor POD do that or heard another report of this behavior, so I’d have to say it’s an unusual problem. I have also not seen the high pitched squeal described in the review you quoted.

[Line 6 Mark]

Craig – you talk about plug-ins in an earlier post, mentioning Guitar Rig, Amplitube, and Waves GTR by name. Please note that Line 6 also offers an AU/VST (and soon to be RTAS) solution as well called “GearBox Plug-in.” It’s essentially a PODxt in a plug-in format that contains a selection of bass amp/cab and premium mic pre models as well. It is available in stores in two configurations – a Silver Bundle that has a “best of” the PODxt models (along with the mic pres and bass amps/cabs) and the Gold Bundle that has just about everything we have modeled for the flagship Vetta amp and Bass PODxt – about 100 amp and 100 effect models.

Thanks,
Mark

[Squier Fat Telecaster]

Originally posted by Line 6 Mark PODxt vs. POD 2.0 sounds Telemike –– if you saw that you couldn’t get to Tremolo or Phaser sounds by turning the MOD knob, it sounds like there was something wrong with that unit. I have never seen a Floor POD do that or heard another report of this behavior, so I’d have to say it’s an unusual problem. I have also not seen the high pitched squeal described in the review you quoted.

 

 

It must be adefecrtive unit then

[MightyGerbil]

How would this thing work for bass guitar???
I play both 6 string electric guitar and 4 string electric bass....
Not at the same time obviously.....
And would love to have 1 box I could set up for both.....


Maybe a stupid question or idea but this is what I am looking for...

[Anderton]

Please note that Line 6 also offers an AU/VST (and soon to be RTAS) solution as well called “GearBox Plug-in.” It’s essentially a PODxt in a plug-in format that contains a selection of bass amp/cab and premium mic pre models as well. It is available in stores in two configurations – a Silver Bundle that has a “best of” the PODxt models (along with the mic pres and bass amps/cabs) and the Gold Bundle that has just about everything we have modeled for the flagship Vetta amp and Bass PODxt – about 100 amp and 100 effect models.

 

Yes! I just got a set to review for EQ magazine and I'm really looking forward to checking them out.

 

And thanks for "chiming in," Mark. It's one to say that I assume the idea behind the Floor POD was to offer POD technology at an affordable price, but it's another thing to have someone with the company confirm that was indeed the goal.

 

It's also comforting to know I'm not the only person who thinks the POD 2.0 has something unique to offer compared to the PODxt!!

[Anderton]

Okay, I've pretty much covered everything I planned to cover...but of course, if there's anything else you want (e.g., additional audio examples of specific features or presets), just let me know. This is an open-ended review, and additional comments/questions are always welcome.

After all the time I've spent with the Floor POD, I've come to several conclusions. A lot of these have been scattered throughout the thread, but let's put them together in one place.

First, it seems pretty clear to me there were three main design objectives with respect to the Floor POD:

* Don't cut corners on construction, it has to hold up to being stomped on.
* Trade off deep features (e.g., computer interface) for ease of use.
* Rather than have a huge variety of sounds, do a "greatest hits" where it's hard to find something that doesn't sound good.

And of course, it had be brought in for a reasonable price or no one would want to buy it

Overall, if those were indeed the objectives, they've been met. I was initially disappointed with the lack of options -- there are limited selections of amp models and effects -- but the more I worked with the Floor POD, the less concerned I became. What really did it for me was recording the audio examples with just the amp sounds (no effects, no compression, no nothing). It seemed pretty much impossible to get a bad sound. I liked some sounds more than others from a personal taste standpoint, but all of them were useful.

At that point, the effects became the "icing on the cake" rather than being essential to get a good sound. I'm of the "less is more" school of thought, and most of the time, if you pile on lots of effects your tone gets less distinct and your sound more homogenized. With the Floor POD, I ended up creating lots of presets with minimal effects -- a little tempo-synched delay here, a little reverb there. And I found them totally satisfying.

My main objections had to do with the user interface, not the sounds: Specifically, not being able to call up the tuner, or tap tempo, with the footswitches. That's definitely an inconvenience for live use. A secondary inconvenience is not being able to call up effects in any way other than stepping through sequentially. This I don't consider as serious, because I tend to use only a limited number of presets in any given tune anyway. It's not a big deal to go forward or backward a preset or two. And, there's a workaround: Hitting the "Dist" footswitch often let me do rhythm and lead sounds with the same basic preset.

One user interface thing I liked was the choice of secondary functions for the knobs. Its seems the knobs would cover 80% of the tweaks you wanted to make, and the secondary knob functions -- which you wouldn't have to access as often -- would cover the other 20%. I also really like the additional master volume trimpot on the back, as you can match the Floor POD levels to just about anything.

The RP250 has been mentioned several times in this thread as the main competition, and I did a fairly lengthy post comparing the two previously. There's no point in repeating it here but suffice it to say that the sounds and design philosophy are quite different. It seems to me that if someone really was careful about defining their needs, and had the chance to play both of them, they would gravitate naturally toward one or the other and not look back.

One other point I should bring up in fairness is that I was an "early adopter" of Line 6 gear -- the POD and Variax both answered real needs that I had. I've followed the updated versions, and I think the PODxt and Vetta are simply amazing. On the one hand, this could have to Line 6's advantage, because I tend to agree with their subjective decisions about sounds. But on the other hand, this was a little risky from their standpoint because I've heard the best and priciest things they can do, so it wouldn't be surprising if I didn't think much of the "little brother" by comparison.

As it turned out, though, the bottom line is that this is a very cost-effective box that delivers some really standout sounds. It's not a PODxt or PODxt Live, nor does it cost anywhere near as much...but the sound has the same pedigree, no question about it.

Perhaps the most telling point is that despite being "jaded," I had a blast doing this review and playing through the Floor POD. I actually looked forward each day to recording some new audio examples and frankly, some of the ones I didn't post will probably show up as loops on my next sample CD.

And I guess that pretty much sums it up. Any further questions? Any questions I missed? Let me know!