I finally figured out why when I recored through my PODx3, into Reaper it sounded so terrible. I could tell that the levels were way too high and it was distoring the sound.

But, it wasn't until I noticed that the clipping light on the PODx3 was going off that a light blub clicked... It wasn't that I had the levels to high in Reaper, rather it was the output from the PODx3 that was too high.

Now, it sounds great. Well.. Ok.. My playing skills still need to improve and I'm there is a lot more I need to learn about Reaper and overall effects settings before it will be spot on, but, at least I'm comfortable that I can share something and know it's not going to sound like an over driven transister radio.