Live Gigs: Amps or PodXTs direct

[KillDivision]

You could use a H&K RedBoxPro, that gives the FOHguy a very clear and strong (XLR) signal. The REdBox should be between the amp and the cab.
The sound is too direkt for studio, but ideal for live use.

 

[t-rave]

I couldnt imagine enjoying myself at a gig with a direct pod..

I do gig with a vetta in my cover band and it works out pretty good...you can also run it direct..It's nice hearing and feeling air out of a 4x12

 

[greyskull]

turn down on stage!

 

[colonel kurtz]

meshuggah have been using POD's live for years...if it works for them, i'm sure it can work for you too

 

[HeadCrusher]

turn down on stage!

+1^^

 

[Fragle]

"turn down on stage!"

it's not always *that* easy....sure, the general idea is to keep your stage volume as low as possible so the FOH guy can actually put you on the monitors, but then again, sometimes said FOH guy just sucks, and frankly, before i end up not hearing myself at all (on stage) i'd rather keep my amp a little louder, even though that means less of my guitar in the house mix.
it's easier if you're just playing rhythm guitar....i can deal with hearing little to none of my guitar when doing rhythms, but imho when playing leads a blind flight's just deadly....

 

[AStacy2]

How would turning down help? The guitars are never loud enough in the mains as it is. That's the problem. Maybe I'm not seeing something though.

 

[Fragle]

well, if the guitars are already screaming loud on stage the FOH guy isn't able to turn them up in the mains or it would fuck up the whole mix. what you'll end up with is that drums bass and vox are put through the PA, while the guitars can only be heared from stage (=1 or 2 412 cabs) rather than from the powerful PA monitors.
otherwise, less stage volume enables the FOH guy to turn the guitars up in the mains which results in a better mix for the crowd. downside is that the monitor mix will be extremely important or you'll end up not hearing yourself because your amp isn't loud enough to cut through the drums (on stage that is). it's a balancing act really...

 

[AStacy2]

Well, I really don't think the guitars are screaming loud because you can't hear much on stage either. The monitor mixes aren't very good either, I should of mentioned that. How loud should guitars be though? They're usually at the volume we practice. Usually they're not higher than 10o'clock with 4x12's. I actually have a multitrack mix of what came off of the desk one night, would that help pinpoint the problem?

 

[viggen666]

I prefer amps for a few reasons.

no need for guitars in the monitors, easy to adjust the sound of it to the venue's acoustics.

I don't turn my amp that loud on stage, just enough to hear myself, but certainly not loud then the drums, would be kinda stupid to do that, cause you can't play well if you can't hear what the drums are doing.

more then enough room for the p.a. to play with the levels then...

It also helps not to aim your 4 x 12 at the p.a. dude's head ofcourse...

 

[TheDude]

TheDude:

Other than the rackmounts, what's the advantage of PodXT Pro for live sound?

None, soundwise. It has XLR balanced outputs so no need for a DI box. The PODx3 live do have XLR's though I think, and the new Motorola processor makes the sound better too, so actually, PODx3 Live is the one I'd choose.

 

[Skyweaver]

My personal preference is always the amp - I love the way they feel, smell, look and sound !

But if traveling around on tight schedules and trying to cut costs etc, then a pod will do the job, I think Evergrey played Melbourne and used Pods and their sound was awesome

 

[Manicompression]

late response on this one, but real amps all day, unless you can really tweak the pod over the PA in the room you will be playing for longer than the 4 mins you generally get for set up, you would probably be increasing the variables / possibility for failiure. Also while there are advantages to the PODs beinifit as long as your an opener and not headlining you will find the soundguy more prepared and willing to deal with an amp / microphone signal rather than getting another direct box to hook up and changing the eq setting on one of the alloted channels the headliners / touring package arent eating up.