I don't want a PODxt as I don't want nor need any effects, nor does the PODxt have a stand alone recorder, so I think you are sort of confusing things. The only thing the PODxt has that I'm interested in, is it has a computer link/interface, but just about everything has that.
I'm mostly concerned about actually doing the recording and editing. Basically I want to be able to record remotely, and then optionally bring it back home to do final editing on the PC, or just use whatever editing functions on the unit itself. Having a
- Looping function,
- Lick Learner
- Mic effects
- Greater than 2 simultaneous recording inputs
are all desirable too.
I've thought about buying a decent multi-track cassette recorder and then find a way to download that into the computer, but like you say, the resulting sound quality may suffer depending upon the PC and sound card and all that, plus then I'd have to buy some sort of software to handle the editing and stuff. I'd rather go with more recent digital technology to help eliminate sound quality issues.