Line 6 POD X3

since im already a line6 users, owning the Pod XT, im got used to the pod x3 very quickly. although for non experienced people it might be abit hard at the beginning.

a BIG disappointment on this category.
I still own the previous version - the Pod XT, and it sounds MUCH tighter, that's why I havent sold it and I plan to sell the X3!
I play distortion-based music mostly, but also like good clean tone.
the X3 does a good job with the clean, but the distortion SUX.
what I really dont get is - why do the SAME presets from the XT sound like pure sh** on the X3? I dont find any logical explanation to that, except line6 totally destroyed the modelling.
I also tried building my presets from scratch, but gave up after a couple of minutes as it sounds WAY too fizzy and digital.

I'm using a 1997 PRS Custom 24 guitar, so I demand quite a lot from the pod, and the X3 doesnt quite cut it.
The XT though sounded HOT!

check out one of my tunes to hear the pod XT:
www.myspace.com/taladlermusic

in conclusion - X3 sounds awful comparing to the XT, except for some clean tones - which sound pretty decent.

I dont gig. seems very reliable though. I use it only for home recordings.

was never in touch with any customer support.
no need for that, luckily.

the sound is awful - that's why im giving it a 2.
i'd expect to plug the x3 in - and be stunned by the new models - since i previously owned a XT, but all i got was a big fizz and digital sound.

I've been using mine for a little over a week now and this is the first time I've ever owned a processor like this so I'm not exactly a master of this sort of thing. So to me this thing is kind of a middle rating in terms of ease of use: Not super easy to figure out at first but you get used to it after a while. Don't skip the instructions with this thing because it isn't exactly intuitive.

Since there are tons of options on this thing i can see how some people might get caught up in finding "the" tone and end up unceasingly sorting through the huge list of choices on the X3. I would definately recommend having a plan before hand. Know in your mind exactly what you want to achieve with it and just go for that. My personal aim was to set up just 3 or 4 user presets for direct home recording: a clean, pushed clean and a medium/high gain overdrive. This only really requires finding the right amp model, stomp(if applicable), and EQ settings.

The manual is very helpful and editing patches is not that hard once you know your way around the system.

As I mentioned, I bought this for direct home recording on my PC and my Mac. But I've also been using it in front of my little 15 solid state practice amp and with headphones to practice. It definately sounds best coming out of the amp's speaker. The headphones are not as good and I definately hear the muddiness and phizz that other's have complained about with this set up.

As for recording, the sound quality is kind of in between the other two. But I am also taking into account the fact that my PC speakers are crap and I probably don't have the best sound card either.

I have found that most of the high gain amp models are not so good. To me they sound not so much like the amps they are emulating but rather like those amps sound once they're on someone's album and have been compressed and processed in the mix. There is definately a lack of high end character on most of them and a muddiness to the low end in most cases (especially with a 7 string guitar). The EQ knobs are basically useless because they don't have a realistic effect on the tonal parameters like they would on the actual amp. You can't really effect the general character of each model with them.

I was much more satisfied with the clean and low gain tones because they seem to react to tweaking more than the high gain models. I was actually able to get the best higher gain overdrive using either the clean models or the medium gain ones (like the JCM 800) with the gain knob rolled back, with a stomp driver in front for drive and sustain, and the EQ set up to boost and cut the frequencies I wanted. I used the duel tone option to set one tone for the lower spectrum and the other for the higher spectrum. Blending (panning)the two tones correctly is very important too if you want to get enough clarity in the sound. This set up gives me a good solid tone that can then be layers in multiple tracks while recording to get it really heavy without sacrificing clarity by adding too much gain.

The noise gate works very well also. Just need to remember to have it set up on both channels if using the duel tone feature.

As for the effects, I haven't really gotten around to actually using them in my playing or recording but from just playing around with the factory presets they seem to be really good.

I've heard some horror stories on here but so far mine hasn't had any problems.

I've been playing for 14 years and this is the first direct recording equipment I've bought. I think Line6 generally tries to appeal to the modern metal crowd with these things but, like I said above, most of the more metal sounding amp models on the X3 don't sound that good. I play metal myself but not the kind that utilizes guitar tones drenched in gain with non-existant mids. I prefer a more classic hard rock voicing with the reactivity and tightness of modern metal and I think the X3 can attain that to a moderate degree. The tone I've managed to get from it is a decent dry tone for recording and practicing. That tone can then be layered with additional tracks, re-amped and re-recorded with an actual amp and mic and/or re-equalized in the mixing process (or any combination of these) to acheive a tone that can be considered "good". The great thing about recording is that you have these kind of options so you don't need to be 100% in love with the initial dry tones that go into the recording program.

I have used other Line6 gear for live applications in the past and not like it at all. I am convinced that recording applications are what line6 does best. My favorite feature on this is the duel tone feature because it literally doubles the possiblities with the unit. The effects are great too from what I've seen and it definately makes recording much easier for me. Though as I said before, I am not really happy with the high gain options on this amp. It seems odd to me that they would include so many unusable tones in this thing. They should've stuck with just a few good quality ones. Overall I'd say this is an adequate tool for what I use it for.

This is the latest, greatest from our friends at Line 6....I found it easy to get a DECENT tone from the presets....the dual amp feature is pretty nice, aparently there were some issues with the firmware, but thats been dealt with, and now the editing software is available...although a little confusing with the dual amp editing, pretty easy overall to navigate

( First of all keep in mind i have been researching and trying out all of the most current modelers...ie.G9,TLLE, POD series,Digitech GNX ...etc...)I ran this through a monitor system and it sounded pretty good.....It seems Line 6 caters to the heavier spectrum of guitar tones...i found some really brutal hi-gain tones from the triple recto, 5150 and Bogner uber/xtasy patches...and some pretty nice presets ala "spirit" bundle....but truth be told, with the exception of a above par jc-120 patch, i didnt feel there were not alot of usable clean tones or even light or medium break-up tones to be had....i spent a good amount tweaking over a few weeks time and ultimately decided that it just lacked any real substance in the pre-amp dept....now the effects were excellent and plentiful...as usually the case with the POD series...but most of the modelers out there have good effects...its usually the preamp models that set them apart, at least in my mind...and even though they've adressed the FIZZ issue....theres still plenty O' fizz to be had by the X3, It also lacks any real responsiveness...

the first one i bought crapped out after one (day the unit froze up and couldnt be reset...) to give it a real chance i exchanged it for another ..after reading posts in the line 6 foruums, i gather that these things arent made so well....but the second one had no malfunctioning issues...

the line 6 knowledge base/boards are really helpful, you can find friendly folks there to help you ...i havent had to deal with a rep directly ...but i understand that this is a strong aspect of Line 6

I prefer cleaner, lighter breakup and mid-drive tones for the most part....i record alot of soundtrack stuff..so the heavier tones are usable for me. The plethora of effects is great, but overall i just feel like the PODs fail to let your own identity through...they lack responsiveness, touch, dynamics ...I was hoping to like this thing, since i spent a good couple of weeks dialing in tones, but i took it back and bought a BOSS GT-10, which may not have as brutal of hi-gain tones, but outclasses the POD when it comes to "natural_sounding" preamp models...
not to mention hangs with the POD when it comes to effects...Did I mention it also has a whammy function and a 38 sec phrase sampler?

I had this for one day before returning it; I'm submitting this review as a word of warning to others.

The most damning thing about this unit is that it has so many choices that it's functionaly useless. With countless amps, cabs, stomp emulations, and simulate mic positions, not to mention numerous EQ and bonus parameters it's impossible to ever know if you arrived at an optimum sound. Suppose you have 20 options, it doesn't take long to decide which of the twenty is the choicest. With two thousand options you'll never realy know if you found the best sound and the self doubt will eat at you. You can't simply pick one element at a time because a distortion that sound good with one amp doesn't sound so hot with another and so on.

I think the lesson to be learned from this thing is that a useful tone isn't found by scrolling through endless samples of famous equiplemt, it's found by deciding ahead of time what kind of tone you want and dialing it in with EQs and different shades of distortion. You will arive at the destination much quicker than scrolling through seventy amps models hoping that one will happen to have the right sound.

The first critical layout flaw is that the main controls are on the left side of the unit meaning if you are right handed you are reaching over and across the unit at almost all times.

The second critical layout flaw is the button cluster with important buttons tucked closely above and below the directional toggle rather that safely off to the side. Just get a wrist brace now. They also but buttons on the left side of the screen meaning if you need to press them with your right hand then you hand will obstruct the screen. You can't work with this thing for more than ten minutes without wanting to hit it with a hammer.

Also I realize this can't be helped but the fact that they must use pseudonyms for brand names makes finding a particular amp or pedal by brand an absolute pain in the ***. This just made the other inconveniences mentioned above all that much worse.

It was pretty good. On the one hand you can tell it's fake but on the other you know most people can't. Amp modeling is rather impressive these days.

The case is very cheesy. They try to make it look like a brick with the chrome stomp style toggles and the hardcore rocker pedal but then you actualy pick one up and it weighs two pounds and you get a good laugh. The structural plastic feels very delicate. It's basicly a large toy.

Does the instruction manual count here? It's written in a "hey, it's me, you friend Line 6" unprofessional manner which wouldn't be so bad but I think it's cover for leaving out a ton of operating info. It also disturbs me a little I'd prefer to think that they focus on good products more than injecting personality into manuals. I don't even want them to have a personality.

They really should include a poster style reference for all the models given how important they are in transalting the made up pseudonyms to a real amp or fuzz box. As it stands you have to prop open their thick cumbersome booklet with your left hand while reaching across the unit (see above) to scroll though the option and cross reference with the manual to find the amp you want, leaving no hands for your guitar of course.

Yes the POD X3 offers tons of combinations for guitar, bass and vocal tones, plus the independent channel processors (10+ for that); which is great for finding many many useful tones. But on the other hand this excess of selections result in a quite complex interface (5 for that). Even for me - I have to mention that I'm using professional and semi-professional studio products for more than 10 years - the interface was confusing at the beginning. I get used to it after 2-3 months use but still have some troubles sometimes. One main problem I'm having is that you can't 'jump' to a certain patch. You have to move sequentially between the patches. I think that is because they want to sell the floor controller options separetally, for the ones using POD X3 for home recording only like me floor controllers are waste of space. Few more buttons to 'jump' between the patches will be useful for further models (Hear me Line 6 R&D!). The manual seem OK for the beginning but in my opinion experimenting the product is always more useful.

I'm using the Line 6 POD X3 for home recording mainly. I play guitar and I'm compfortable with the sounds. Our bass player also uses it for recording bass lines and he also seems comfortable. Vocal options are quite limited but they are also good enough to be used for pilot or demo takes. I also use Class A tube Laney amp and an analog setup which POD X3 can't compare with but for direct home recording and low level practicing POD X3 shines and very usefull for me. Never tried the unit live and it sounds good enough for semi-pro/amateur home recording. But it does sounds much much better in front of a tube amp. Very pro sounding and brings out tons of options to your tube amp. The unit is not noisy for many setup and is only noisy for hi-gain setup - not more noisy than the original analog setup - acceptable for me. The independent processor channels are great, really fattens your tone if you take some time and tune well. I don't expect a professional sound that I can get from a pro-analog setup. I wanted to use it for semi-pro/amateur home recording and low level bedroom practicing and I got what I expect. 10 for my expectations.

No problems yet.

Don't know.

I mainly play rock/blues. It is a good match for my music. I used many processors and studio products for more than 10 years and mainly play guitars. I also have tube amp and an analog setup. So I had possibility to compare and used the POD X3 with them. I liked its sounds and 'loved' the independent two channel processor option. Really great for guitar tones. It does not sound as pro as an pro-analog tube sound but you can really get good tones for home recording if you like to tweak. Which is enough for the purpose I'm using it. The interface is quite complex, but you can get used to it in time. Don't worry if you get confused at the beginning and continue tweaking, you'll get some good tones for your music.

The interface isn't that intuitive and takes some getting used to. Not at all like your typical stomp box. It isn't obvious on the menus that you can click down and affect the mic/pre-amp models, etc. So yeah, you have to get lucky or may it not be... actually read the manual. This unit tries to get do it a little like a computer in terms of menu drop downs and clicking but only gets half way there.

I hate the manual because it's fat and applies to every language on the planet. Please keep the english portion seperate boys! However, with that said the manual seems pretty clear. The only other thing is they mix the LIVE and X3 models in seemingly ad-hoc.

Perhaps on the bright side there is some depth to the unit so there is a bit of navigating required just because of all the tweekability.

Very Spectacular. I've been a direct recording home studio guy since I began, and if you are like me-- and I think there are a lot like me because there's obviously a market for tools like the X3, then there is really no better tool. I might even dare to say "no other tool" just because of the exclusive quality and flexibility this product has. I've tried many things over time to get convincing sounds direct in with the guitar, I never could get what I was really looking for, until recently. And I say until recently because I did pick up the Zoom G9.2tt and that can be tweeked to get you reasonable direct sound models with the two AX7s it has, but the sound variety for the so called models is extremely small, even with quite a bit of tweeking. This is not the case with the POD X3. The optoins seem limitless-- seriously! You should believe me when I say this, I have been recording direct with guitars for 15 years because I didn't have much choice to mic loud amps. I can truly say from experience that the POD X3 liberates a person such as myself in terms of flexibility and options. I've done the V-Amps and other processors from BOSS, Digitech, Korg and so on. Nothing even touches the POD X3 if you need to take the direct recording approach such as I do. Yeah, it's 400-600 depending on where you buy it but if you are serious about your recordings like I am, and you must go direct it's seriously the best dollars that you may ever spend in your lifetime outside of feeding the hungry or clothing the homeless, etc!

If you are only using it in the studio environment which is what it was really designed for I think you should never have a problem; unless your like a kid that can't help but break your toys.

Do you record direct guitar? Better get one right away, unless you have some fancy gadget that I don't know about that gives you the same bang as this!

I am no stranger to complicated computer equipment. The PodX3 got it wrong, a tiny screen with many multifunction buttons makes navigatation a pain and unintuitive. In comparison, Boss equipment for example, is so much easier to program.

The cabinet simulations steal the harmonics and natural high end is missing. This distinctive 'Pod' sound is unmistakeable. If you try to boost the Pod tracks high end detail in isolation it just doesnt work. A way around is to mix every other instrument dull too, then add highs back at the mastering stage. Not acceptable really.

Some people have done really well to get a clear sound from the Pod, but there is always an element of Pod muddiness in there. Another option is to use outboard Cabinet Simulation Impulses, but this defeats the point of an all in one box.

If you disable the cab sim, and feed the Pod as a preamp into a valve poweramp/cab, a lack of high end clarity is missing at this stage too. I have read that this could be the Pods converters, and the situation is improved by SPDIF. But again, your moving more away from its own onboard capabilities and helping the device with outboard. Personally I dont think this is going to help much.

The modelled tone stacks dont react like real world counterparts at all. They seem to have a narrow range of functionality before turning the sound unusable. For example, on some amp models the treble and presence seem to operate in the low midrange compared how a real preamp would handle eq.

I dont recall any of these issues with the original AX2SYS (pre Vetta) amp. While the cab sims were terrible (just very heavy handed low pass filtering), the preamp/poweramp capabilities sounded very realistic containing all the clarity you'd expect from valves and the eq operated in the appropriate frequency ranges. Cab sim disabled, and fed into a Marshall cab the AX2 sounded very good, along with its powerful post eq capabilities to further shape the tone. When I tried a Pod2 for a preamp, it had very different sound compared to the AX2 also. In this era, I read that the Vetta also has different voicing than the PodX series.

To sum up, with the Pod XT/3 you can hear the character and texture of the amp is there, but its in the next room or behind fog. And the eq operates in the wrong ranges.

I really wish it would do what it claims, but it doesn't. Every sound clip everywhere on the web proves this - except a very few on Line6 forums, and I very much doubt their authenticity as no patch details could be provided when requested. If your new to guitar the Pod is going to be amazing. But if you need your tone to compare in any way to real recordings, or to a real amp, your going to be very frustrated.

Because it has two different channels, it is rather complicated. Stepping trogh the menu isn't funny at all.

The POD X3 is a real hoax. It has the exact same technology as the POD XT, only difference is the second channel. Some presets are a little different, but that's about it. Line6 doens't lie about this, but they don't spread the word about it , either.

I still hear the same annoying fizz that's not tubelike at all. You can edit for ages, the fizz won't go away. You can only make it dull or fizzy.

Please do this test: Turn on a high gain setting (e.g. Marshall, Soldano, Peavey...) and listen through quality earphones. The bend the high E-String above the 12 Fret and listen! You can hear a crude sound in the background while bending (ghostnotes, digital artefacts and such). Plain horrible. No tube amp in the world behaves like that.

I got myself a SansAmp Gt-2 which was cheaper and much better sounding.

Here comes the worst part: the editing crapped out on me withing a week. couldn't save the patches. I tried everything as advised (new firmware and such) but in vain. Gave it back.

Customer support doesn't exist at Line 6. I know it, they know it and now you know it, too.

It's a POS. Plastic from China. It just pollutes the environment. POD XT was more reliable and quite usefull. Stay with that if you got it already.

I find it very easy to set up and teak, I already owned the PodXT, however, since I used GearBox on the PC, I never bothered to learn how to use the hardware, however, just buy reading a little bit of the manual everything is there explained in plain English, and German, and French, and Spanish too. I was forced to get my hands on it because GearBox for the Pod X3 won't be released until mid to late January, or that's what Line6 has announced, I can't wait.

What can I say, the beauty of sound quality is in the ears of the beholder. I've had some tube amps, solid state, digital, you name it. The Pod X3 can sound as good as the time and knowledge you dedicate to the patches you create, the models do not sound exactly like the real thing, however, they can be very pleasing, I recomend you learn the EQ's, and how they affect the sound, even in the analog world. In some amp models, just a little substractive Eq'ing can make the difference between a great tone or a useless crap. Now, once you get into blending (Dual tone), that's where the fun begins, It's like playing through a Y box into any two amps of your choice, independently set up, with a any stomp boxes and effects that you want, they can be play out of the same outputs, or out of different outputs, or panned right and left, the configurations are endless. For instance, I just created a patch which consists of Tone 1: Plexi Bass 100 + TS9+ Rev+ 4x12 V30 and Tone 2 Vox AC15 + FuzzFace + Chorus +Reverb, and I was very pleased with this tone. Thats just the tip of the iceberg. I also try the acoustic patches with my acoustic guitar loaded with a Fishman Matrix, and I was blowned away. The pedal (Pod X3 live only) can be use for volume control or Wah control, or Expresion, even without calibration, I found it very smooth and responsive. I haven't tried it through an amp yet, but why would I? I mainly use it for recording and practice, and it's patched through my Mackie SR24.4, and out to Protools and/or Reel to Reel Multitrack. I think the Pod X3 is a huge improvement on the XT series. But once again, if you don't know how to program it, it's almost useless.

I got 30 days to return it for a full refund, or 45 days for store credit, or a year warranty. So I'm not worry.

Haven't needed it yet.

The price is fair, try buying one amp, or two, specially if you play different styles, I play Metal, Blues, Classic Rock. I love the fact that I can record any time the inspiration strikes, any time of the day and night without worries of waking up the neibourhood, I sounds great through headphones too. I also love the fact that whatever style comes to my mind, I can dial on that tone, and go for it.

The pod X3 is a great peice of kit, however you need to invest some real time to get to grips with the interface. It took me around an hour to come to terms with the different button pushes required to change certain settings, and with some effects all parameters are not displayed neatly on the screen. However I am sure tweaking patches will be much easier when the computer interface is released later this month (according to website).

Handbook is good, there is a worked example explaining how you can tweak a test patch that is pre-set into the Pod.

I am mainly a metal/progressive rock player, and use the Pod for practice at home and recording (in the future) for this the sound quality of this Pod is great, although a line 6 model will never sound identical to the original amp the models here seem to sound a little more like the valve amps they are based on than previous Pod's. I also dabble in a bit of classic rock/metal the marshall/fender models also sound pretty decent. The X3 has the apility to run the guitar signal through 2 amps at the same time. I am not sure how valuble this facility is in other genres, but for metal, I dont find it particularly good/useful.

The only effects I use are Delay, Chorus and a bit of reverb. these effects are as good as any of the pedals I have owned.

In my opinion the Pods downside (this and every other Pod) is that the sound quality of the amp models is greatly reduced when used in front of an amp. This is a peice of kit designed primarily for practice (plugged directly into speakers) or recording.

I have had this for 2 weeks, I have no idea....in my previous experience Line 6 gear is pretty reliable.

I wouldnt use this for gig's or at rehearsals, I have an amp for that.

Line 6 have never let me down...in the past I have owned 2 line 6 amps, the original Pod and a tone port UX1. Line 6 improve their stuff all the time and offer free upgrades for all of their products so you always have the most current version of the peice of kit you own - a very nice touch.

If you are looking for a practice/recording solution this is the best piece of equipment I have used.

If you are looking for a multi effects unit - look Boss up.