POD Farm 2.5 (Free version)

Hey folks, hope this is okay to post. There is a free download of a lite version of POD Farm 2.5 at Line 6's website. I heard about this the other day and grabbed it. It is pretty cool....... way lite at only 2 guitar amps with 2 speaker cab models, 2 bass amps with 2 cabs, 13 stompboxes and effects and 2 preamps.

The full version has over 70 amps though and a whole mess of effects and pedals... but the demo really sounds pretty decent, especially since it is free. I've been trying it out using the computer line out into my little Epi Valve Jnr.

The guitar amp models are a Marshall 1/2 stack and a Fender combo (Twin I reckon) and there is a Tube Screamer and Fuzz Face as part of the pedals. I did not check out the bass amps. The preamps look like an API and some other dealio. There is also a model of a "reverb tank".

So for the guitar players out there..........

http://line6.com/podfarm/models.html

Definitely worth posting! I upgraded to V2.5 - you don't need to use Line 6 hardware any more, you can key to their interface, your computer, or an iLok. Nice to have choices. Works standalone with any interface, as well; 2.0 required either a TonePort or Line 6 studio interface, not even a POD xt would work as a "dongle."

Three things about POD Farm...

1. The vocal preamps and processors are excellent.

2. The bass processing is excellent.

3. I think the presets were designed by people who use ultra-light gauge strings, a thin flat pick, don't play too hard, and are mostly into leads. I use heavy-gauge (0.10") strings, a thumb pick, pound the strings, and play mostly rhythm. Every time I fired up a new POD or software rev, my first thought was "Gawd, this sux!" Then I remembered to dial back the Drive about 25%, and it all fell into place.

What might this all mean in practical terms for those of us who've been using POD Farm for quite some time? Are they going to give everyone the same program and then sell the amp/effect models individually like Amplitube is now doing?

I thought they had an iLok version already if you didn't want, or have, a toneport interface? Where's the difference?

I hate that they dropped support for PPC Macs. I have version 2 (iLok) and was looking forward to 2.5

I don't think so. With free versions of AmpliTube and Guitar Rig, it would make sense to offer a free version as well as a sort of "permanent trial version" in order to keep up with the competition. Remember, even though AT3 Free is full-function, it has only a limited number of modules.

Besides, I don't think people believe they can get good sounds out of sims unless they can try them and see what's up. They may still think sims don't sound like amps, but recognize that sims can do things amps can't do, then decide whether that has value to them or not.

You don't have to use an iLok, either. You can use any USB interface you want, and key the copy protection to the computer instead of a TonePort or iLok.

Well, look on the bright side...they supported PPC for longer than Apple did

Well, look on the bright side...they supported PPC for longer than Apple did

Yes, but Apple has always been that way. They don't care about compatibility for their older technology.

OTOH, companies like Overloud and Audiffex (not to mention many other developers outside of the music category) still offer such compatibility. POD Farm 2 worked fine on PPC and it's from October 2010.

If/when I get a new Mac I'll get to use it, so it's not all bad

That could certainly be a welcome change as the KB37 sure makes for one hellava big dongle! Then it occurs to me.........the KB37 is the only interface I have that is USB. Now, if I could get it to work with my firewire Duet that would kick ass.

Hmmm...I'll have to try it with Firewire to see if maybe it will work. I read "any USB interface" on the Line 6 site, but who knpws?

I have GearBox/TonePort and I got PoDFarm 1.0 as a free update. The Monkey tells me there was an update availible which I downloaded through that and now it's telling me 2.5 is in demo mode and I need to purchase a liscense. How do I get the free 2.5 version?

Craig, I use mostly amplitube 3 and Fender. I haven't found software that sounds better but POD Farm looks intriguing. In your opinion what's the sound quality level compared to IK stuff?

I'm in no hurry, heck I just finally got around to upgrading my Amplitube 3 (on one computer) to 3.5.2 last night. Besides, I went to look at the Line 6 forums last night and people are reporting problems again (or perhaps, as usual).

In all honesty I've got more models than I'll ever need already and many (like the high gain ones that sound like crap to me) I'm certain I'll never use. It usually doesn't take me long to dial in a sound that works for me.

Things have been askew here this last week because we had all the carpets cleaned so I haven't had the KB37 hooked up. When things are back to normal I'll hook up and see what the monkey has to say.

Well this is pretty incredible. I downloaded the POD Farm 2.5 demo and got it to work. I setup both POD Farm 1 and POD Farm 2 with only the '64 Blackface 'Lux model and did an A-B comparison of both versions with all settings the same and using my Rickenbacker 620. The difference was dramatic and my conclusion is that PF2 sucks! I did a quick recording of the two versions using Record and then used Logic to save the aif file as an mp3 and uploaded to SoundCloud here. Try to ignore the sloppy noodling and focus on the sound; PF1 is crisp and clear with the sparkly spank I expect from this guitar while PF2 is muddy and bassy.

Here are screen shots of the model and settings from each version. I'd certainly welcome anyone to point out what I may be doing wrong but I'm pretty certain that all the setting are identical.

In the second photo I see a mic and some module to the left which is absent from the first photo?

I've been using a pretty Full Blown version which was Free as well. .lots of amps and gear. This stuff has come a long way, I especially like setting up two inputs with the same source, strap Pod Farm across both with different setting so I can blend the two to taste. Also is a blast to record a direct for reamping.

Russ

Nashville

In the second photo (PF2) the mic is a '67 condensor'. It's the same mic in the first photo (PF1) however, you have to look at the Cab screen to see it. The other item on the right (or would it be your other left?) in the PF2 photo is the mixer which also exists in PF1 but is only seen on the mixer screen.

There is some sort of delay 'pot' on the PF2 mixer which is turned off but otherwise there doesn't appear to be any tone shaping options on either mixer. One thing I may need to do is go back to the Cab screens and be certain that the mics are set on the same distance and axis.

Edit: There is no setting of mic axis or distance in POD Farm, there is only a percentage setting for 'Room' and in both versions this is set to 50.

So....I'm pretty surprised by the difference in sound between the two versions when the computer, interface (KB37), model and all settings are absolutely the same. The PF1 example has the sound I prefer with more presence, spank and 'sparkle'. The sound I'm getting from PF1 is more realistic to me in as much as I believe it's closer to what I'd hear in a room with a real amp (I've been using headphones for all my testing).

Now, it's possible that I can dial in the same sound with PF2 with some more tweaking of the dials but then I'll be dealing with inconsistency if I'm saving presets that I'd like to use on either version. I can't be confident that the preset I post, or send to someone else, is going to sound the way I'd intended. I'd probably have to expect that the sound may be a little different anyway because we're using different computers/interfaces as compared to a preset I'd create for the GSP1101 hardware guitar unit for example but when I get so much difference just sitting here with all other things being the same it just really seems odd!

Perhaps the '64 Blackface 'Lux is an anomaly, it's the only testing I've done and I wanted to keep it simple by eliminating all effects and just concentrating on an amp model. As time allows I'll try a couple different amps and see what the results are.

In the first photo the amp seems to be turned off

You mean because the little light isn't lit up? Yeah that is rather odd because looking at that again the amp is usually grayed out when the button isn't lit but you can also see that there is some green on the output indicators. I used the Grab program to get the screen shots and I'm not certain what state the program was in when I got the shot. You'll just have to trust that I had the amp on when I was playing through it.

I trust you.

I'm curious now, so I'll check 1 vs. 2. I can't use 2.5 since it's Intel-only.

I had stopped using version 1, but if there are differences I may choose each version for specific purposes.

I'll try to check it in about 4 hours or so.

For me they sounded pretty much the same. The attachment has a recorded guitar part, with either POD Farm 1 or 2 switching on/off throughout. The last few seconds show the dry guitar, which IMO sounds better than the processed one.

PF 1 and 2 are NOT identical. I could not get them to null. But they seem to be very close to each other.

I used the same room (50%), same mic (67), and on the attached MP3 the settings are close. For example, 56% vs. 57%. I dialed the numbers on the dials without being precise with the percentages. I did match the percentages once I tried to get them to null.

One very annoying thing I found was that it's impossible to remove PF1 components with certain software, like Wave Editor and Tracktion 3. I ended up doing the test in Logic, so that the only component being used was the amp.

Some things that could be different are Input/Output levels. Mine are all at 0 dB. Input can also vary between Stereo, Left or Right.

PF2.0 appears to look exactly like PF2.5. I can't tell where PF1 ends and PF2 begins in your file.

I think there's one change at roughly 10 seconds and another one around 40, but there's a total of maybe 4 or 5 changes from one version to another. At 45 seconds both are bypassed.

I erased the session but, as you said, they are pretty much the same. I'm using the iLock version.

Essay question...

I have very definite feelings about amp sims, but the main one is that you have to work at it to get a good sound - just as you have to spend time in the studio trying different mics, pointing them at an amp in different ways, adding EQ at the console, experimenting with different pickups, etc.

If you're happy with the IK stuff, well, so am I. Their sims seem the most "rock and roll" to me, compared to say Guitar Rig, with has an edge if you want to take your sound further than the ordinary.

POD Farm has so much stuff in it (I have the Platinum version with 10,455,300 different models...okay, maybe it's not that many, it just seems like it) that I can get some really fine sounds and some that leave me cold. Even among individual effects, although there are for example several compressor stompboxes I like the Vetta comp far and away the best. If I had never tried it, I would have said "POD Farm doesn't really have any good stompbox compressors" but I did try it, and I really like it. Of course, someone else probably thinks that's the worst one in POD Farm

With ALL amp sims, to get the kind of sound I want, I pretty much always need to put a parametric EQ at the output for the reasons described in this article. I also found with some POD Farm amps, dropping a notch before the amp at around 2.3k prevented a kind of breakup at that frequency. Intentional speaker breakup? An artifact of the modeling process? I don't know...I just didn't like it there, so I got rid of it.

Both IK and Line 6 have some sim sounds that, to me, border more on being caricatures of what an amp sounds like than sounding like a "real" amp. But, these can almost always be tamed with EQ and proper room ambience (which usually goes beyond what comes with the sims, although I must say IK's mic placement thang is stellar).

However...there's an important caveat. There's a certain guitar sound I hear in my head, and nothing really delivers it "out-of-the-box," including a real, physical tube amp. Back when I used only tubes (for about a decade), I kept trying to come up with mods - some to the amp, some using external effects - that gave the sound I wanted. When solid state amps hit, I could come closer to the sound, but what I gained in stability and tubes not going "soft" and changing on me I lost in terms of character and smoothness.

So, one of the reasons why I'm such a fan of amp sims is because I have a bigger toolset than I had with tube or solid-state amps to get closer to the sound I hear in my head, and it's pretty much there. That's one reason why I'm willing to spend lots of time wrestling amp sims to the ground, and it does take a lot of effort to get something that sounds and also feels good. In fact, I'm getting more and more into Peavey's ReValver because its toolset is off the hook. I wasn't thrilled with the presets and almost dismissed it for that reason, but being able to do things like remove an output stage tube completely, starve a preamp's virtual plate, and change a virtual cabinet's height, width, and depth...it's tedious, but lately I've been getting some absolutely killer sounds. Well, at least to my ears

All sims have different characters, and do certain things well. I think POD Farm does a great job with bass (no diss on SVX, but that's one special sound; you get a lot of choices with PF). However, of all the amp sims I've tried, I like Waves GTR best on bass because the sound is tight and clean. But for those who want something loose and dirty, they'd probably think GTR sucks.

I bet you're sorry you asked..............

Oh, and one other thing: I'm really into mix and match. For example, the Softube Metal Amp Room cabinets are incredible - I've tried running some IK amps through them, and getting better sounds than I was getting with the IK cabs or Softube amps! But that happened only with certain combinations. Being able to bypass amp and cab sections on sims is fantastic, as you can use a virtual preamp and effects with a "real" power amp and cabinet, or a different sim's cabinet, or use a bass tube preamp with a Waves virtual cabinet. It's a beautiful thing.

Was the noise gate engaged in both and set the same?