XT: Rack Mount Vs. Bean - Your Preference

Well, i have the bean.. but i think re-amping is no option for me...

With the rack version, you can... that's a big plus..
 
im still trying to find a definite answer to toneport/pc cpu versus internal pod chip sound differences

from all that i can gather, the xt pro and bean sound completely identical in every way, with the xt rack obviously giving you a fuckload more of I/O options.
 
The rackmount PRO version is a much better choice if you can afford it. It has digital (AES, and S/PDIF) outs @ 24/96, which is awesome, it has XLR out, 1/4" stereo out, then just regular TRS out, USB "out", MIDI in-out/thru...this thing rocks. Like at the studio, we have our PODxt Pro setup to have S/PDIF output, that way we can get even more free TRS inputs on our Delta 1010's for mic/line instead of dedicated 1/2 of them to the POD. We always track at 24/96, so this option is perfect. We use a plug-in that warms up the signal a little bit, (PSP Vintage Warmer) just adds this tiny little midrange to whatever the signal is, and it sounds great. We have used the POD on so many cd's instead of the band's amps because a lot of the times, they have crappy equipment. We make them use the POD and it sounds amazing. Makes them sound GOOD for a change, hehe. We have all of the model packs for ours too, so that is a good thing to get as well, the stock patches are crapola, I think.

I, on the other hand, own the Live version of the PODxt. I like it more because it offers the USB, MIDI in-out/thru, 1/4" stereo, and TRS as well (wish it had S/PDIF...oh well), but the thing I like the most on it over the Pro is the pedal. The wah sounds great. Plus having a volume "pedal" is a nice little effect to have at your disposal. It lets you save time by not having to automate volumes in your session, you just do it on the Live while you play. I have all of the model packs on mine as well. The sound is identical.

We use Line6 Edit at the studio, thats what we use to manipulate the PODxt Pro instead of sitting there turning tiny little knobs while the guitarist is going "more fizz", we can sit there in the sweet spot of the monitors and adjust the settings from the computer, awesome feature. I use L6 Edit at home too, so I'll sit there in the wee hours of the morning and tweak patches and make new ones, inspired by recent sessions ("I wish we had like a good JCM style patch" :p) and then I put the tones on a USB Key and take them to the studio, and put them on the Pro. We can then just use a drop down menu in Edit and pull up the patch for the musician to use.

Before we got the Pro in there, we were using my Live. The Pro is a great jump in recording quality just because of the S/PDIF connection. That alone is worth the price tag over the bean or Live, IMO. Then again, if you aren't into doing anything really major as far as production is concerned, get whatever one you want. I'd still take the Live over the bean though, the foot pedal rocks!

If you have the money, go for the Pro. :)

~006
 
I have only recently got the bean podxt and i have come to the conclusion that it works best for my needs, if i owned a studio i would be more inclined to get the xtpro. i was looking at the line6 toneport as a recording option for my laptop, but after reading the info on the lin6 website (there are some issues with diff recording software) i dont really see the point, all i would gain is 1 mic input and the toneport would take over my computers audio so to speak. toneport seems like a toy. Anyone using toneport feel free to prove me wrong ;)
 
One thing about the Pro... I see it has a line in and an unprocessed out... how unprocessed is it? What I really want to know is whether you can reamp with the rackmount version? I mean reamp with real amps instead of its tones? Basically, I'm asking if you're getting a free reamp box in the package, because then it would be worth the (hefty) price difference... if not, I'll probably go for the bean...
 
davormen said:
One thing about the Pro... I see it has a line in and an unprocessed out... how unprocessed is it? What I really want to know is whether you can reamp with the rackmount version? I mean reamp with real amps instead of its tones? Basically, I'm asking if you're getting a free reamp box in the package, because then it would be worth the (hefty) price difference... if not, I'll probably go for the bean...

You can record an unprocessed track with the POD XT Pro, but you can't reamp it to a real amp with a separate reamp device like the original REAMP or the one Radial Engineering makes...

Steve
 
What?

We do it all the time at the studio. We always record the unprocessed signal when the guitarist is doing his scratch tracks for the drummer. Just in case he lands something so perfect and he has to have THAT take. We just reamp to one of the amps we have. It's happened a lot of times. We'll go, "ok you'll be using this for the scratch tracks, it's just so we can get the drummer's tracks down quicker, but we record another track at the same time that we can send to a real amp, in case you do something you have to keep, but don't want the POD's tone." And usually that requires a more detailed explaination because they have no idea what reamping is. Lol. Reamping is a really cool thing to be able to do, especially when somebody lands that perfect lead, but the tone is just unsalvagable in the mix and you're going, "man, I wish we would've got him to use that other amp for this..." Heh.

We have a cool setup too. We have all of the guitar heads in the control room in this rack. And then the speaker output goes into the wall, through the attic of the building, and into the wall of the guitar room, where all the cabs are. So it's funny to see their reactions when they hear their tracks being played through a different amp and/or cab, and we're messing with the eq on the amp head itself....priceless.

~006