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Line 6 Pod 2.0 Preamp / Effects Processor |
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The Line 6 Pod 2.0 is a desktop guitar preamp and multi-effects processor that can be used with your guitar amp or plugged directly into a mixing board. It includes 32 models (it was 28), mix and match speaker cabinet models, the ability to customize amp models, guitar effects, as well as transfer your POD 2 sounds in to and from any Flextone II series amp or the new POD Pro. Some of the more helpful improvements in 2.0 are faster channel switching, new Sound Diver software and a better tuner that tracks much better than earlier versions. This is a DSP based guitar processor. The models it uses are based upon a number of legendary guitar amps that use tubes, transistors or both. Tubes are what make a real guitar amp sound great with full rich harmonics and warm. While transistors amps have a different and more unique tone. The POD 2 contains digital emulation of these amps as well as speaker cabinets. There are also built-in digital effects like reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, rotary, and tremolo. There are two types of reverbs used: Spring and Room Reverb. If the guitar amp model originally came with a spring reverb then the reverb used is the spring reverb. If it didn’t come with any reverb then the room reverb is used. There is a separate knob used that determines how much reverb will be mixed in with the signal. For instance the ’65 Fender Deluxe had a spring reverb so the POD 2 version uses the spring reverb. You can change the reverb decay rate by holding down the TAP button and then turning the reverb knob. This changes the apparent size of the room. Some of the amplifier simulations include: Vox AC-30 Top Boost, Marshall JTM-45, Fender Deluxe (Tweed and Black Panel), ’68 Marshall Plexi, Marshall JTM 800, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, Soldano , Dumble Overdrive Special, and Roland JC 120 Jazz Chorus just to name a few. You can also get more sounds at the Line6 website. My favorite amp is the Marshall Plexi or ‘Brit Hi Gain’ setting. Ever wonder how a 50 watt Marshall Plexi would sound through an 8 inch speaker? Well you can hear an emulation using the 1x8 inch Fender Tweed Champ speaker model with the Marshall Plexi amp model and you won’t have to worry about destroying either the amp or speaker. You can also turn the speaker cabinet off. Some of the included speaker cabinets include:
Of course you can save your current settings for each preset. This will allow you to customize the POD for your setup and playing style. You can also save these presets to your computer using the Sound diver software (Mac/PC) as well as reset the POD to its original sounds or go to the Line6 website and download more presets. To change speaker cabinets for any preset simply hold down the TAP button and turn the EFFECTS knob. The POD 2.0 Amp Models and their Default Speaker Cabinets:
There is also a NO CAB setting which is used with the Tube Preamp AMP setting for warming up keyboards and other non-guitar related sounds. Of course you can use the POD with or without an amp or by connecting it directly to a mixing board. Line6 has added a switch located between the LEFT and RIGHT output jacks. This switch turns on/off the A.I.R. (acoustically integrated recording) Mode which is for the most part an emulation based upon the amp, speakers, microphone, and room used during the recording. You would probably want to enable it when running the POD2 into your mixer. If using an amp for best results set it to the cleanest setting possible so the sounds inside your POD aren’t changed (colored) by the sound of your amp. Line 6 has also added a new feature are called ‘Tuning Modes’ which allows you to select between using an open or closed back speaker cabinet. This can be changed and set as the default when the POD is turned on. With the A.I.R. system you can really hear the difference between a single open back 12 inch speaker cabinet and a 4 speaker closed back cabinet. There is a built-in noise gate which is used to reduce the amount of hiss and other noise that occurs when using a high gain preset. The noise gate will cut off the sound of your guitar when you stop playing. There is a switch that can turn the effect on or off. You can see if the noise gate is on by looking at the ‘Noise Gate’ button on the front panel. I couldn’t find any threshold setting for the noise gate but it did seem to work just find. It doesn’t seem to be saved when you save a preset. The routing of the effects seems to be different depending upon the amp. For instance when using the ‘Line 6 Drive’ preset with the optional Line 6 Floorboard the volume pedal is post Distortion. This means the distortion amount doesn’t change but only its volume when using the volume pedal. The preset also uses the room reverb and has the ‘bright switch’ enabled. As for the actual signal path it again depends upon the amp model selected. There are actually two channels available where you can blend (mix/balance) between the two or simply switch between them. The one thing about the POD is the reverb is always post preamp which means you can’t distort the reverb like you would if you plugged your guitar into a reverb then into a distorted amp. This gives you a different sound than applying reverb to a distorted guitar signal. Most guitarists however probably like the sound the way the POD is set up. Some of the single effects you can choose from are Compressor, Tremolo, (2) Chorus, (2) Flange, Rotary Speaker, and Delay. The Multi-Effects are Delay/Compressor, Delay Tremolo, (2) Delay Chorus, (2) Delay Flange, and Delay Swell. The delay Swell is an interesting effect in that it automatically does volume swells with a slow fade in on each note. Great for chord swells as well. For the effects there is only a single parameter that can be adjusted or tweaked. For setting the length of the delay or the tempo of the tremolo and flange you hit the TAP button at the desired tempo. The compressor has 5 different ratio settings which vary from slight to full compression where the higher settings squeeze the attack and sustain parts of the sound to almost the same level. As mentioned the earlier PODs only had 28 amp models and you can only access 16 of them using the amp select knob. Now you simply press the TAP button and turn the AMP MODELS knob to get 17 through 32. Before this you had to use Emagic's Sound Diver software to access the other models. Line6 fixed this in version 2.0. Another great feature with the newer versions is the ability to change speaker cabinet models without having to use the Sounddiver software. You can now do this using only the POD2. To access/change the current speaker cabinet you hold the TAP button down and turn the Effects Knob to the select a cabinet. As for the four new amp models included are the Line6 Twang which is based upon a 60’s Blackface Fender Deluxe and 50’s Bassman. This has the traditional glassy and bite found on these amps. If you turn up the drive all the way then things get a little grittier. To access it using the POD interface hold down the TAP button and select the ‘Line 6 Clean’ amp. The Line6 Crunch#2 is based on the ’68 Marshall 50 watt Plexi. If you turn up the overdrive you can still scoop out the middle and add some high end to the sound. The Line6 Blues is based upon the JTM45 but has tone controls with a wider range of variation. This one sounds pretty good when cranked up. The last added preset is the Line6 Insane preset which is one of the more overdriven presets of the bunch. It has an incredibly distorted tone which mimics an ‘insanely’ overdriven Dual Rectifier. Features
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