Line 6 Pod XT Live

You have to kneel beside this unit to operate the buttons and because the sceen is so small. It ia average difficulty to use compared to other brands. If connected to a computer it becomes easier to program.

The presets vary from not bad to terrible. You can get a lot better sound from it by tweeking it for hours at a time if you enjoy that type of thing. You will never tweek away the distinct Line 6 flat digital signature of the sound however.

Seems reasonably well constructed for home use. I would not gig with it.

Decent support on web page.

This unit is one of the best from Line 6. It still lies within the zone of musical toy rather than a professional piece of equipment. The layout of the pedals and small screen size make it laughable to be call a "Live" unit. The Tonelab SE is still a much better unit for performance and sound.

Line 6, did a great job with making this unit intuitive and versatile. I play a wide variety of covers and the versatility of this product mixed with the size, makes my life a lot easier when packing up post gig at 3:00 AM. The manual is great. I easily updated my firmware and drivers with the Line 6 Monkey App. My only negative in the design is that the pedals are too close together. It's seems to be designed for those under a size 10.

The sound quality is amazing. The presets are....interesting, I don't use them for anything but references to effect settings (eg. how do get that slapback verb, etc.)
The Tube Screamer stomp box simulation is awesome, I have a TS9 and used to have an 808 and this sim is dead on. I have three rigs that I have been using.
The Vox AC-30 - Great for Petty, U2 and The Beatles.
The Bassman - Sounds sweet when clean and even better with the Tube Screamer. I use this for the majority of covers.
The Plexi 45 with a Tube Screamer - Great for Kravitz, Zeppelin and anything that needs crunch with a retro sound.
My only stomp box complaint is the RAT pedal sim is horrible. I am a big fan of the RAT pedal I own a vintage one and a new one. The RAT sim sounds nothing like either. I hope there is an update for this in the future.
I have spent a lot of time looking for a good amp to run this through. I have tried everything from a Fender floor wedge powered PA speaker, to tube amps with effects sends and just the PA. My reasoning for purchasing the XT Live was to simplify my cover band rig and to bring less gear. (leave the nice stuff at home). So, I was looking for a compromise of tone, size and weight. I picked up a used Marshall Valvestate 40V (8040) Combo. It's a 90's solid state amp with a power amp input that bypasses the tube pre-amp. This gives full volume and tone control to the XT Live. The amp has a lineout which I run to the PA. It's an open back combo and the speaker is a little bright and could use more bass, but for $175 used it works great and weighs nothing. I can now bring all of my gear to the stage in one trip. I am feeling bad for the drummer.
Has anyone played this through a Line 6 Power Engine 60 or an Atomic Amp?

I have never had a problem with it. My Marshal 8040 that I use for an XT monitor on stage has a tube preamp and makes a great backup if the POD breaks. My only fear is that someone spills a drink on the pedal board on stage.

I have never needed to use Line 6 support.
Line 6 Monkey performs upgrades with ease.

This works great for covers. There is the purist side of me that couldn't use this live in an original band, but for Modern English to Led Zeppelin covers it works great and sends great tones at a low volume.
I wish it had more space between the pedals and an additional "misc" pedal that could be used for any effect\stomp box. There are some great boost stomps, but it would be nice to run a boost stomp and a distortion pedal or a tremolo and a delay. Line 6 did design it so you can use the amp pedal as a comp boost, which is nice, but not as cool as the boost pedals and why didn?t they add this same awesome feature to the other pedals? Set the effect then use the pedal for an additional effect. This would be a great feature and easily done with a firmware upgrade.
All in all, the good way overshadows the bad. This is a great addition to any guitar player?s bag of goodies. For learning new songs the GuitarPort software is priceless, I am also able to plug my iPod into the aux input of the XT Live and learn new songs that way. Pretty cool.
Has anyone tried this with a Variax? I wish those things weren?t so ugly. They need a mod kit for all guitars.

This is one of the simplest layouts and GUI's that I've ever seen and can be easilly navigated without the manual in about 5 minutes (even for a Drummer!).

I'm using a Variax 500 guitar and the Ethernet cable connectivity I find very cool. Some might find this less than rugged setup a little scary as these RJ45 connectors are not exactly military grade but the Line 6 cable does take some of that worry away by a smart locking type of connector. Preset sounds are often a little heavy in the effects department for me but I quickly edited them down to more useable ones and I must say that I really like the compressors onboard with their wide range of usefulness (squashy to hard limiting is easily dialed in). I tend to go direct in my live band situation where I'm doing everything from full blow Les Paul / Marshall distortion to Acoustic guitars with a touch of reverb. The two products together do it all for me and I couldn't be happier...well actually I will be happier when the Variax 500 I have is updateable via the Monkey software on my Mac. Currently my Variax can't be controlled by the PODXt Live model-wise as my guitar's firmware is too old. This is coming in November apparently although there's been some delay in changing the Monkey software to 'see' the Variax connected to PODXt Live via the Ethernet cable and then update it.
Other than this caveat, which does have a workaround in that my Variax does respond faithfully to the model change requests built in to the PODXt Live's presets, I think that this combination is nearly perfect for the gigging musician who wants to be able to come up with near endless guitar and other stringed instrument sounds.

Too soon to tell.

Good - used it once via email and the guy was very helpful.

This is marketed for live performance use and I am limiting my comments to this use. For a very complicated piece of gear, it is very intuitive. Thirty minutes with the manual and you've pretty much done. Can I give it a 10...no...my Deluxe Reverb is a 10 -- plug in, turn on, sounds great. There are as many bad tones in this thing as good and you will have to spend some time for this to work for you, whatever your use for it. Editing patches is easy. I like the manual mostly for descriptions of the amp models (with pictures). I refer back to those often.
There are many set-up options to use this live. I have to say that Line 6 has done a good job of anticipating just about any live performance scenario you could throw at it. I'm giving it a 9.

I use this direct to the board into the PA. That's why I bought it.
It is quiet at reasonable gain levels. The "gate" works well.
The effects are of acceptable quality. The chorus is useable and the delays and reverbs are good. The overdrives are not great, but you don't need them much. I like the TubeDrive the best. The flanger doesn't "whoosh." A lot of useless effects. Overall, don't buy this if you think it will replace a pedal board of high quality effects. This is not a multi-effects board to use in front of an amp, it is an amp simulator.
So, does it sound as good as the real thing sitting in the room with you. No. Can it replace your amp in some live performance situations. Yes. After many hours of tweaking and comparing to my amps in my studio and feeling generally disappointed, I used it in my church band where I have to go direct and, you know what, it sounded great. I was very happy. And I will use it with my Trio with MIDI drums and bass, singer, and keyboard player. I can even sequence the changes from the MIDI track, I will never touch the pedal during the gig. Cool, yes? But it will not replace my Deluxe Reverb and pedalboard with my full band with real drums and bass. I tried it and I don't think it just was not the same. I think you might need the Vetta Amp for this.
And there must be points given for the many different tones you can get out of this thing.
You can bypass the amp simulator and use the effects -- I use this for my acoustic direct to the board. And it has very good clean amp models -- I can use it for my jazz set using my Gibson L5 -- it actually sounds very good with this guitar.
At this point, I have spent many hours with this thing. I am giving it an 8, which is a very high mark for an amp simulator in my opinion.

Don't really know. Looks very well made. I'll take a backup if I'm very far from home. Otherwise, no.

The website is great. The Line 6 Monkey worked great. I downloaded some additional amp models with no problem. You can download upgrades and user patches via the USB cable. I think that Line 6 has 100% dedication to supporting their products. I am very impressed. Not spoke with them personally.

I play jazz, blues, sixties rock and R&B. Also, contemporary worship.
Been playing longer than most of you have been alive.
If it were stolen, I would buy another and use the backup I made on my computer and restore all my patches. A very useful feature!
I will say that if you are a serious guitarist you will have to spend many hours to make this work for you, but it will be cumulative and and some point you will have something you can depend on. You can backup easily via the software on your computer; there is good support from the manufacturer; good website and user community. I knew I could sell it on e-bay if I didn't like it. For now, I'm keeping it.

Once you read through the manual, it is pretty easy to customize your tone. Hooking up the XTL to your PC is the best way to customize your tone, plus the added benefit of saving your tones to your PC in case you screw up and save over an existing tone

I bought the additional modeling packs. Well worth the extra $99.00. Effects sound good. Many, many choices. The only effect that I wish it had was a pitch transposer so I didn't have to detuned my guitar for some of the cover tune I play.
Switching between tones is seamless compared to my previous Line 6 AX2 212.

Too early to tell. The design looks great. The volume/wah pretty is really stiff at first, but after a little bit of use, it gets easier to active the wah.

I had trouble downloading the modeling packs. Got thru to support and received a quick resolution

I play rock/alternative rock. If you're doing cover tunes, you need this to match the myraid of songs when playing a full night of cover songs. The other guys in my band love how I can get the guitar to sound just like the records, matching tone, distortion, and most effects.

I plugged it in and it worked. What more can I say. I have used a POD 2 for about 2 years, so I wasn't surprised by most of the system. Editing patches is easier than on the POD 2 as the internet hook-up really gives a good starting place for the tones themselves. The USB is very convenient.

The manual (I downloaded it from Line6 and read it before I got my XT Live) is more of a road map than a "How To". I love the chaeat sheet in the back.

I play very simple guitars. I have (dare I say) a Squire semi hollow with humbuckers. While I'd be quick to dismiss this guitar my instructor, a gigging pro, thinks it was a good value for the money. I play through a Roland JC 90 and play with a bunch of kids in a jazz band. I have no complaints about the sound quality. The only real hum was solved by checking the cables and pushing one in all the way. I play through a pair of Sennheiser headphones and I like the sound alot.

I like to try to play lots of things but spend most of my time playing progressions and I'm learn to work the pick to modify my tone. No complaints.

I don't know yet, had it a couple of weeks. It seems solid and the connections have a solid reply when you put plugs in.

The site is a bit confusing for me, it isn't clear where to go to get downloads and so on. A setup CD in the packaged might have solved that, or at least the offer of one for a few bucks. I'm a back-up freak. I hate to count on my internet connection for downloads. I think if I had dial up I'd be frustated with the download as the only option, they are big, it took two tries as it was.

I am cheap. I drive used cars, I wear my shoes even after they are not in style. I don't buy drinks at resturants, I have a computer that is more than a year old. I'm cheap but I've waited for years to be able work at learning to play jazz. I expect it to be a long painful process, as the first two years have been. I didn't waste a penny on this tool. It makes more scales more fun to practice and with the addition of Guitarport it's great fun. I own a POD 2 and felt this was the next step. I was going to buy the POD xt and the pedal board, but this seems a better choice for me.

I hope this doesn't frustrate readers as I do not own one but thought I'd give the perspective of a first time user. Therefore,a basic review as this was tried for some time in a shop. Fuller review to follow once purchased said item.

The sounds to my ears seemed more organic than the PodXT (dont know how that can be) and the descriptions leave you in no doubt as to what you're getting close to. This was going through the front end of a Fender Twin and it coped well with that -no harshness. I didn't have the manual to hand but editing was a breeze and intuitive as the screen shows you alot of info. The layout was good and the pedals sturdy but watch out if you have large feet.

I used a strat with both single coils and a humbucker and a Fender Twin and was able to get a multitude of sounds from this set up. I need funk, rock,pop, jazz sounds and I was able to emulate Lukather,Schon, Nile Rogers, Andy Summers, Metheny, Benson with the unit. The unit also responds very well to guitar volume changes and cleans up nicely. Talking of which, I found the clean sounds to be more pristine than before and preferred them over the distorted sounds. However, the Marshall and Soldano sounds were great and there was a really good crunch factor to these sounds. I must say, I felt like I was playing through a regular valve amp ( I suppose I was with the Twin but I do not know how much this contributed to the sound).
Effects were great and the preset settings were sensible. There are some wacky effects that reminded me of my Zoom days. I particularly liked the auto-wah (think Edie Brickells' What I want solo) - really nailed that. Accessing the reverb was the only slightly annoying thing as you actually have to go into the menu. A single, dedicated knob would have been better. The layout is great though and it's not much bigger than a GT-6. The great thing about this is the fact that at any one time, you can have your 4 basic presets (lower level) but you can then switch off or on the amp, stomp, mod, delay (upper level)! Thus, giving you the choice of keeping you favourite effects set up but eliminating the modelling part should you choose to use a favourite amp.
One other slightly annoying thing was that the patch levels on this unit were all over the place and there were huge volume jumps when changing through the presets, so be warned. Noise levels were acceptable and I didn't see the need to tweak the Noise Gate and I was playing very loudly. Compressors were good too and having all these well-known, good quality effects would be fine for the money before we even start on the modelling side.
I was unable to use the Variax set up as the special cable was not available yet. Shame as this is going to make a killer set up and I'm already a fan on the Variax electric, not so much the acoustic.

Can't say about gigability yet but looks sturdy enough. There is a metal bar below the rotary controls and I'm not sure if this serves a dual purpose. A/ to protect the rotary controls from your feet and B/ to be able to pick the unit up from. Take care with the latter though. I always take a back up and that's either a Boss ME-50 or Behringer V-Amp2.

Line 6 in the UK have always been very helpful either on the phone or by e-mail and have responded promptly and fully. They have recently expanded their operation over here so one can assume things are going well.

I have been playing for over 25 years and regularly gig in a function band. I will be purchasing this within the month as I believe it to be better than the the 2 units I was thinking of buying, the Roland VG-88 and Boss GT-6.Given the set up options that are available with the unit, I will need to experiment with PA, power amp and speakers and my own Fender amp but it quite likely that this will go straight to the PA and I'll use a Carlsbro monitor (my favourite set-up for modelling devices). For a bigger, stage set up, I'll use a Marshall 80/80 Power amp and 2 X Mesa Boogie Celestion 30 speakers. I also intend to take advantage of the MIDI facilities and control my Roland GR-33 guitar synth which can now remain off stage. I think Line 6 have got a winner here and expect this to scoop most of the product awards this year.

I am amazed how easy it is to use, especially since it actually quite complex. I used to own an RP-10 and this blows it away. Once you understand how select the models and then their repsect settings it's a piece of cake to edit patches. Plus, the ability to download a zillion patches and tones for it through the custom tone site is nice. I also love messing with the xt live using the guitar port software. The manual is a bit sparce but covers the basics.

I don't like the wall wart (who does?). I wish the screen was bigger. The big tone and volume knobs on the top really help in a live situation when you have to tweak the tone and volume a bit to match stuff in the room. Wish the reverb had a dedicated knob as that is something I use to compensate for rooms and clubs.

I have to be honest, I'm an analog man through and through and a total skeptic when it comes to digital modelling, but I have to admit that this thing can sound really nice, you have to mess with it just like anything else, but it does sound really nice. I can run it through the USB port on my PC and record direct or I can run it through to my Fender Deluxe reverb - either way, I get some nice tones, but you have to tweak it to your liking.

There is a large button that you push to indicate what you are plugging it into - studio direct, into an amp etc, and the pod adjusts to whatever situation you are in. so if you're playing live through an amp it's easy to set that up. if you plug headphones into it automatically goes to studio direct mode.

I didn't care for many of the presets, I'm not a metal player, but once I messed with it and found my own sounds it was cool. There are so many options to it. Even if I didn't use the amp and cabinet models, many of the effects are still top notch. Add up a separate volume pedal, tuner, compressor, phaser, flanger, chorus, delay pedal, wah, fuzz, distortion and the price would far exceed this thing.

It's pretty cool. of the effects I really like them all - except for the phaser, it doesn't sound as good as my old small stone from the 70's but still it's nice. and I don't really like some of the distortions and fuzzes. I don't know if I don't have it set right, but the big muff model doesn't sound as nice as my real big muff pi and the octave fuzz is close...

The thing that really convinced me was when I played surf music through my fender reverb unit and I want to emphasize the springy boingy tones I would turn on a compressor pedal and dig in on the strings. Well, I did this with the pod, I dialed a spring reverb and turned on a compressor and the boingy boingy became more pronounced. don't know how they did that

Seems like it's built like a tank - it's got a big metal handle on it to carry it around. I wish it came with a gig bag or something though - seems like 400 bucks ought to get you a bag. seems dependable. Line 6 is supposed to have some more support, tones for the new live xt - can't wait!

Haven't had the need to contact them. I really like their related web sites. the Guitar port, custom tone stuff is a lot of fun. I had no idea there were online lessons and stuff, I make take advantage of it

I play surf and indie pop - I tend to stick with cleaner, more reverby tones and shy away from metal tones. If it were lost or stolen I would definitely buy another one. It's a cool little box that sounds amazing if tweaked right. I love the simplicity of it and I love how it interfaces with my computer to allow for pristine digital recording and editing. I wish it had a way to assign two or more tweak parameters to the treadle pedal so you could slow down the speed of the tremolo while at the same time increasing the reverb - but I haven't found a way to do that yet - it's either a wah or a volume or one tweak parameter and you switch between them by stomping on the pedal to activate - still it can be quite cool and creative if used judiciously. btw, the wah is surprisingly cool - I'm surprised by the pod xt live. I have heard my friend's pod 2.0 and didnt' care for it at all, but this is really cool. and plus it looks cool in black! way better than kidney red IMHO