Re: Uber metal vs POD 2
"Sound Quality: 6
I used to have POD2 for many, many years. I resisted the temptation to upgrade to PODxt mainly because I knew of the Model Packs, and didn't want to go through the hassle of separately ordering them for PODxt - and, on the other hand, didn't want an xt *without* those packs either. As it happened, someone who knew of this attitude of mine offered to sell me his (used) PODxt that already had the Model Packs installed. I was game.
A word for the "scr*w the digital modeling units, buy a good tube amp instead" folks out there: you must be still very young or otherwise not married yet. Trust me - when you get older and marry (if you ever do), you *will* learn to appreciate the benefits of being able to get ok tone at bedroom volumes. Yeah, I quite agree that a real cranked JCM 800 produces a much more satisfying tone, but if I even tried to bring that Marshall stack to our bedroom - let alone *crank* it - all kinds of things would start flying around. Cups, saucers and worse things. No way, I love my wife. But I also love playing, and therefore, these modeling preamps offer a very satisfying compromise between an ok tone (not *great* but ok anyway) and extremely low volume.
As for the actual tones: I have owned/still own various Line 6, Boss and Korg modeling units. I used to like the amp models of POD2 better than any of Boss or Korg. It was nice to discover that, in many ways, PODxt was a step up from POD2. I have used a Marshall JCM 800 half-stack & a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier combo for a long time (and still prefer them when playing live!) and it was very nice to hear (for the first time in my life) a Marshall emulation that actually made me think of my real JCM 800. With POD2, I just couldn't stretch my imagination that far - with PODxt, it still does not sound quite right, but it is a huge step in the right direction and now definitely *within* the scope of my imagination. The clean tones are more sparkling than before, and the multitude of tones (with the Model Packs) available is simply overwhelming. Talk about option overload!
Another significant advantage: with PODxt, the amp models react to your pick attack at least semi-realistically. With POD2, the notes would just go on and off as if you were hitting synth keys. I much prefer the PODxt way.
But as you can see, I did not give PODxt a very good score here. Ok, so now it is time for the gripe section. While the clean and crunch tones of PODxt were very impressive, I am really saddened that the distorted high-gain tones are actually much worse than they were in POD2. I *do* appreciate the improved definition and clarity, but, I am sorry to say, the PODxt high-gain amp models simply suck. Compared to POD2, they sound thin, brittle, trebly, grainy and... of all things, digital. Even those (Line 6 Treadplate, Line 6 Insane) that are supposed to be the same as in POD2.
I actually did an A/B test with a Korg AX-1500G (a very inexpensive entry-level modeling mfx unit that I had bought at one point for bedroom playing). Using a real Dual Rectifier as a reference point, I had tweaked the Korg to produce as realistic an emulation as was possible with the very limited possibilities of the 1500G. It sounded somewhat right, but was miles away from the real thing. And guess what? When I A/B'ed the Korg sound with the PODxt Treadplate Dual model, I could hardly them apart! I would have definitely failed a blind test. No so with POD2.
I am deeply saddened that the new state-of-the-art amp models by Line 6 should sound exactly like a cheap Japanese imitation. Even with the Model Packs, I could find only 2 or 3 high gain models that were usable - at least for leads, for rhythm playing that annoying digital sizzle makes them pretty much unusable. With POD2, all high-gain models were usable and definitely far superior to Korg. Whatever the advantages of PODxt may be, this is an enormous step backward. "
Submitted by L.P. at 03/23/2005 23:20 "
). Another alternative would be the metal zone (which I hate) or the new digitech distorion simulator pedal...
fftopic: 
