POD as a DI box?

[blue_fAng]

I have been using POD studio gx as my recording interface since last year and i havent had any problem with it, no latency, a little noise with crappy guitars but nothing i cant fix with editing in the mix. I still cant get extraordinary tones because of the cheap guitars i've used but, after downloading some di's in this forum i can hear really profesional guitars (with great guitars and tight playing).

Do you guys think the pod is ok for recording di's from good equipment? I ask this because i want to spend money in great guitars but i dont know if it would be worth buying it if the pod doesnt get all the greatness of the guitar. If there are better di boxes, why are those 'better' ? Should I consider changing it ?

 

[Tommy Evans]

I'm not well versed in DI boxes, but I know that some work better with active pickups than with passive. And vise versa. Also some are quieter than others, some intentionally color your sound, blah blah. Check out the sticky thread Ermz created about reamping. It goes into great detail about a few DI boxes and some are very affordable.

 

[CubanDude]

no, it isn't. buy a decent di box. why? because it sounds better.

/thread

 

[alan1990]

The pod di is horible when I moved to my focusrite pro 40 my tones improved a ton

 

[XxSicRokerxX]

If your pod has a 1 mohm impedance instrument input, then it shouldnt be any different than a di box. I have heard great tones from members here using a line6 ux1/ux2. Which has lead me to believe that they are exactly the same if they are both 1 mohm. Di boxes shouldnt add color to your mixes. Its controversial when someone says "my di box sounds so much better than a pod hardware" what if the di box is adding color? hmm? hmm? then what? You have to take a lot of things onto account when comparing your DIs to other Dis. The hands of the guitar player, type of pickups, distance of strings to the pickups, tonepots, how much palm the guitar player uses, how much left handed mutes the player does to keep the tone clean, how new the strings are, how thick they are, the attack of the pick hitting the strings. There are a lot of factors.

 

[Maybelater]

I tried using My PODxt for a DI box, It has an input Z of 1 meg and a frequency response up to ~16K. It should be able to handle it but I personally didn't like the sound. If I were you I would try it out for myself and see If It sounds fine to you.

 

[blue_fAng]

I tried using My PODxt for a DI box, It has an input Z of 1 meg and a frequency response up to ~16K. It should be able to handle it but I personally didn't like the sound. If I were you I would try it out for myself and see If It sounds fine to you.

you didnt like the sound of the di's or the amps coming from pod?
and btw i have a pod studio gx and i still cant find the input impedance value

 

[B36arin]

Somebody did a test on here where he compared a Pod DI with a DI from some interface and a Countryman Type 85. The POD DI sounded like garbage.

 

[Headof75]

If your pod has a 1 mohm impedance instrument input, then it shouldnt be any different than a di box. I have heard great tones from members here using a line6 ux1/ux2. Which has lead me to believe that they are exactly the same if they are both 1 mohm. Di boxes shouldnt add color to your mixes. Its controversial when someone says "my di box sounds so much better than a pod hardware" what if the di box is adding color? hmm? hmm? then what? You have to take a lot of things onto account when comparing your DIs to other Dis. The hands of the guitar player, type of pickups, distance of strings to the pickups, tonepots, how much palm the guitar player uses, how much left handed mutes the player does to keep the tone clean, how new the strings are, how thick they are, the attack of the pick hitting the strings. There are a lot of factors.

I don't feel it's controversial to say that there are better options for recording an instrument signal into a digital recorder than a pod.
In audio recording hardware there is an unfortunate trend that matches the statement 'you get what you pay for'.
Not long ago I was using a UX2 (£139) as my audio interface then I replaced it with an RME Babyface (£460). The ad/da conversion is better, the proprietory software and drivers are better, in terms of reliability, signal handling and latency, the mic pres are better, and, yes, the instrument input is better. It's just better. Sorry.

 

[blue_fAng]

should i get lets say a countryman 85 or radial jdi and then connect it to my pod interface? or it will be hell times better if i get a more expensive interface (along with the newer di box) ?

 

[sawtooth]

should i get lets say a countryman 85 or radial jdi and then connect it to my pod interface? or it will be hell times better if i get a more expensive interface (along with the newer di box) ?

Picking up a Saffire PRO40 or PRO 24 would be a massive improvement from a Pod interface. In terms of conversion, Dis, preamps, stability etc... Can get either of them for less than 300 pounds.

 

[blue_fAng]

Picking up a Saffire PRO40 or PRO 24 would be a massive improvement from a Pod interface. In terms of conversion, Dis, preamps, stability etc... Can get either of them for less than 300 pounds.

do you think the saffire can get really high di quality as the dedicated di boxes mentioned before?

 

[CubanDude]

the saffire would at least do better than your pod... but the optimal setup would be if you have a good DI box, which signal goes into the saffire pre's

 

[Maybelater]

you didnt like the sound of the di's or the amps coming from pod?
and btw i have a pod studio gx and i still cant find the input impedance value

I didn't like the DI's. I found the PODxt specifications on the Line 6 site.

http://line6.com/support/docs/DOC-3751

 

[DanLights]

A saffire will improve the quality of your DIs by miles, in fact I dare say the quality difference between the instrument input of a saffire and a countryman through the mic pre of the saffire is noticeable but not big, check out Kev's comparison thread and listen for yourself.

Line6 DIs aren't bad, they're workable, but when you use a good interface you'll never want to go back

 

[blue_fAng]

I didn't like the DI's. I found the PODxt specifications on the Line 6 site.

http://line6.com/support/docs/DOC-3751

i've found that but i dont know if the pod xt and pod studio gx have the same specs but thanks.

Something I still dont understand:
If I get the ideal setup ( countryman/redeye/whatever => saffire/mbox/whatever => PC)
i think there is conversion and wouldnt be an information loss between the di box and the interface?
Im not very familiar with this and would appreciate your help thanks.

 

[Maybelater]

i've found that but i dont know if the pod xt and pod studio gx have the same specs but thanks.

Something I still dont understand:
If I get the ideal setup ( countryman/redeye/whatever => saffire/mbox/whatever => PC)
i think there is conversion and wouldnt be an information loss between the di box and the interface?
Im not very familiar with this and would appreciate your help thanks.

There is no AD conversion in a DI box, The AD conversion is in the interface. For my standards you will not get much of a noticeable loss between a something like a Countryman 85 and a decent interface. I would read the re-amp stickys, I think they will tell you what a DI box really does and what a preamp/interface does. depending on you needs you may not need a DI box.

 

[professorlamp]

Bottom of the line, get a new GOOD interface.
Your problems will be solved for years

 

[DanLights]

Bottom of the line, get a new GOOD interface.
Your problems will be solved for years

Amen. Go get a saffire, now!

 

[blue_fAng]

thanks guys just one more little question.
how can the cables affect quality, like having different cable material or shorter cables give better results?
Im currently using a planet waves i think its a 10 feet and would it be better if my guitar to di cable is the same than the di to interface one?