Boss gt8 or Pod XT Live

I am going to be buying one of the two. I am wondering who has experience with these and which do you like and why. I'm kinda leaning toward the Pod because of the editing software for the pc (edit tones right on your computer).

I owned a GT8 for about 6 months but sold it to a friend. I've played the PodXT a few times and it seems quite a bit better...

The tones of the GT8 always seemed too processed. I couldn't seem to dial in very organic and natural type tones... It was also hard to get a very heavy sounding distortion for metal... The tone always seemed thin without a lot of low end...

Since then I've purified my chain by getting rid of all the digital processing unit that I had... The only thing I still own that can be considered a "multi effects processor" in the true sense of the term is my little DigiTech RP80... which I have about 30 tones on that all sound awesome in comparison to any multieffects processor... I would recommend the Line6 products when it comes to effects processors... Boss does a much better job at pedals in general... Any individual effects that Boss makes are gauranteed to be killer effects pedals.... I almost want to get try out one of their ME-50's since they don't use processors to model amps..... It's kind of pointless to run an amp model through an already expensive amp....

In the end I'd say go with the PodXT... the Boss just didn't cut it for me...

You might also want to check out the new GNX 3000 from DigiTech... supposedly they have been doing wonders with tube modeling... They're suppose to model tube amps in all circumstances with different power levels and drive settings and saturations... I want to check one out ASAP...

Something else worth giving a gander might be the Vox ToneLab...

What kind of music do you like to play??

The Boss GT8 is good for prog rock and synth type stuff but not much else... The other units are all better suited for rock, blues, and metal.

Thanks. Well I play alot of country, and mess around with rock,metal, and blues.I love megadeath :-). Really I just play whatever .....I guess don't really have a style just looking for a overall good effects unit. I checked out musicians friend and the podxt has this site where you can go and download patches for it.So yeah I think I may go with that.

I'll be sure to post here how it works out,for others who are interested.

Thanks
Jt419oh

if you plan on using it with your amp, vox tonelab...all others suck with an amp, imo...........vox has pc editing as well.

Hmm. I'll check into that tonelab.

I had a PoODxt and a Boss GT-Pro. FOr me, the GT-Pro was far superior to the PODxt - put the editing software aside (which is good on the POD but also very user fcriendly on the GT-Pro) - the GT-Pro sounded a lot better and more realistic. However, neither of them sounded or responded quite right and both lacked something that I wanted. So I sold both and made a considerable upgrade to a Rocktron Prophesy II. I only got it recently so I can't write a full review on it yet but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it pisses all over Line6, Boss and Digitech. Out of the box the tones are amazing and actually sound like what you hear on an album. The effects are genuinely as powerful as my Eventide Harmonizer but are tailored for use with guitar - very handy. The presets include a bunch by Dave Mustain, Rusty Cooley and Gary Hoey - all are studio quality and include option for dry or wet. It doesnt have the connectivity of the other processors and modelers - it is a pro preamp - you connect it to a pwoer amp then to a stereo cab or go direct out via XLR from the onboard speaker simulator (excellent quality perfect for direct to desk). If you are looking at the PODxt Pro (which is quite expensive) then I would consider forking out a little more for a lot less bells and whistles but a shed load more genuine tone (I got mine for $900 on Ebay). I admit I'm in the minority when it comes to disliking the PODxt but I can say that the Prophesy II is the only unit i have ever used (including a Mesa Boogie Triaxis) that does it all for me. Try one out in a shop if you can - guaranteed to give you GAS!

superhuman...the Prophesy, I admit is very, very good(possibly the best) but requires a mortgage and a limb or two to purchase. :D

I have a POD XT live and I just love it, I read tons of reviews over it before buying it and it was funny cause 1 outta 10 post opened the box, conected it and put it back to the to box and back to the store, it's really impresive how few trully hate it, and the rest of the post were pretty much the opposite.

I found it very usefull and flexible, you get tons of options (and belive me you can get lost tweaking trhu a single tone) you can edit the output to studio, combo front, PA, all of this over a tone you allready worked let's say on headphones (this can be tricky but as I said...tweak, tweak, tweak).

Superhuman is right... there are other systems around that might sound better, but for the pricetag... you get plenty of good stuff.

Besides modeling, you get lots of stompboxes, copresor, gate, EQ *(wich makes wonders for your sound), delays, chorus, reverbs, wha pedals, volume pedal (and with an extra expresion pedal sold apart you can have 2 pedal one for volume and other to tweak/wha), considering this as individual pedals you can spent a small fortune and it's all inside the POD.

Over how it's build, is made of metal... not plastic like some other pedalboards.

I love metal, and have some killer patches done in mine, but I laso like to get some mellow round bluesy sounds with some flange or delay or heavy reverb and it works great too, as I said it is really flexible.

Bout making your own tones it's pretty easy and userfriendly, I wish I could have a quick refference bout wich sound emulates wich amp or stompbox but besides that is pretty much intuition.

Like I said... I love my POD, cause I can have some killer tones and stuff to mess around, eventually I would like to get a nice amp to get the tone pure out of it (Mr. Aschleman recomendation) and maybe use it as stomp only stuff but it really is a nice pice or gear to have before you get into more expensive gear.

Modelers really excel at making a whole array of easy dial-up tones that sound good for recording direct in. Use the headphone jack on them and you'll hear nice stereo tone, but plug it into a typical guitar amp, and it gets a little muddier. My first multi was a Digitech RP-100, which was impressive for the price. But now I love my Podxt. BTW, I know Digitech also has a site for sharing user/artist patches, and I imagine Boss does too but I dunno. Regardless of which one you choose, if you really want it to sound the most like it does through the headphone jack, you might have to rearrange your concept of amplification by just going directly into a PA or using a plain power amp/powered mixer with speaker cabs. Not that it won't work at all with your Marshall or whatever...but dial up a Fender tweed amp model and it will sound like a Marshall imitating a Fender, know what I mean?

Just a little added info on the PodXT Live. It connects direct to computer via USB and the software is free (software allows you to make all adjustments on the computer without having to bend down). Others may do this now too but check. Some require extra gear to get them to work direct to your computer ( sound cards, special cables etc...)

My biggest complaints:

The pods LCD window is to small to read while standing up and the distortion Pedals are a little to harsh for my taste. I find I tweak a lot to get the sound I want but it offers so many ways to adjust things I always seem to find what I'm looking for.

Happy Hunting.... :)

Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdModelers really excel at making a whole array of easy dial-up tones that sound good for recording direct in. Use the headphone jack on them and you'll hear nice stereo tone, but plug it into a typical guitar amp, and it gets a little muddier. My first multi was a Digitech RP-100, which was impressive for the price. But now I love my Podxt. BTW, I know Digitech also has a site for sharing user/artist patches, and I imagine Boss does too but I dunno. Regardless of which one you choose, if you really want it to sound the most like it does through the headphone jack, you might have to rearrange your concept of amplification by just going directly into a PA or using a plain power amp/powered mixer with speaker cabs. Not that it won't work at all with your Marshall or whatever...but dial up a Fender tweed amp model and it will sound like a Marshall imitating a Fender, know what I mean?

Agree all the way... sometimes an amp has it's own voicing and getting it to sound as other type of amp... well it gets kinda confussing, I got the recomendation in other thread that a power amp trhu a plain cabinet (PA style) is the way to go to

Thanks for the input guys. After reading every single review at musiciansfriend.com for both of these and based on all the input here. I've decided to go with the podxt live. Lord knows I can't afford the prophecy as superhuman suggested.

Thanks

Cool. If you buy it used from Ebay or whatever, just make sure you get the book that comes with it. As mentioned, there's a lot of tweaking possible, and it certainly helps having the manual.

Originally Posted by: jt419ohThanks for the input guys. After reading every single review at musiciansfriend.com for both of these and based on all the input here. I've decided to go with the podxt live. Lord knows I can't afford the prophecy as superhuman suggested.

Thanks

just remember Line6=tone suckage

Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpjust remember Line6=tone suckage

ZoSo is 1 of those 10 I told you before :D

One of the reviews I read was by a guy who said "I own the amps and stomps that the XT has, and obiously it doesn't sound like the real deal, but you can't compare $10,000/$15,000 worth of gear to a single $400 unit"

I'm not trying to sell the stuff, (ohhh look, my line 6 check just arrived), just kidding... but I KNOW I can't get for the price tag Mesas, Marshalls, Soldanos, etc, etc... but it does do it's job fairly well at lest to me... is not the final answer but hell is a good choice meanhile.

Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpjust remember Line6=tone suckage

Word.

Any multieffects unit is going to take away from the tone of your guitar though... That's to be expected when you take the guitar input and run it through a series of digital processing units and circuitry... There are ways to minimize it... use less compression (unless the tone that you want requires it), use a minimal threshold for the noisegate to let as much tone through as possible, try to keep the effects to a minimum... my friend use to go crazy on his GT-8... he would just add effect after effect to try to get to what ever tone he wanted... and in the end it was waaaaay too processed. Try to keep learn all the features so you can minimize what effects you're using... this will allow you to make more natural tones rather than synth sounding tones...

Someone already said it... there is no substitute for the real thing. For computer based recording the multieffects units are really good. You can just go straight into the comp with it... For live playing however, I find they're not as useful unless you have had a lot of practice with it and have set up a bunhc of tone banks.

The PODxt Live is a great unit. It should keep you busy for quite awhile!!

I use only Tube Preamps & amps, but think that POD xt live - is more easy to use in concerts, & it get near-real sound...I think I'll buy it soon :D
Dudes - maybe someone will rec down some demo's which can help us understand some colours & sound opportunities of POD xt live

Originally Posted by: z0s0_jpjust remember Line6=tone suckage

Boo :mad: You just have to know how to use it, and you can't be afraid to twist all the knobs to find the tone you're looking for :rolleyes:. It might be a bit more work to find the sweet stuff than it is with other modelers, but the sweet stuff is definitely in there! :p

ps... I'm mainly speaking for going direct to the recording gear... not really for going through an amp, but it can still sound killer that way as well, but again, you have to work for it, but it's worth it in the end.

C'mon PRS you know if you put any Line 6 product in front of a tube amp you just lost tube tone :p ....direct for recording I'm sure is fine...I have heard that and it does sound good...but I would not use it on stage.

you don't put modelers in front of a tube amp anyway... you should always put them in the effects loop and bypass the amps preamp, and typically bypass any cabinet simulations if you're going into a real cabinet and guitar speaker. Also, if you want to use it strictly for effects, it works great using it in the effects loop like you would an effects processor, and also works great in front of an amp as long as you've got it's output settings set up right, and you bypass any amp and cabinet modeling. Sorry you haven't had as much good luck with Line 6 gear as I have, but I love Line 6, and have never had any issues with any of the L6 gear I've used (apart from really ****ty factory presets :rolleyes: )