HX Stomp vs POD 2.0 - What's changed in 20 years?
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- čas přidán 2. 12. 2019
- David tests 2 Line 6 products which are 20 years apart - and finds out how the simulation sound has changed since 1999. Is it better, or just wrapped in a different package?
We also play through the entirety of Manic Whale's arrangement of "Toccata and Fugue", switching between the Stomp, POD and Amplitube for comparison.
Apologies for repeatedly saying "Amplitude" instead of "Amplitube", I'm a physicist at heart and it's difficult to change some things! :)
Equipment Used:
Line 6 HX Stomp
Line 6 POD v2.0
Ibanez S1070 Premium
Sony A7iii with 24-70 f2.8 GMaster Lens
Sony FDR-X3000 Action Camera
Software Used:
Studio One 3 - Zábava
Great playing, hx stomp in every way for today .The pod ahead of its time still holds its own.
An excellent job Dave !
Don't normally I comment but in this case.... That was soooo cool to listen and see you playing. Forgot to compare units ;-)
Excellent playing and presentation. Ta!
Thanks for the comparison, very well done!! I have the POD 2.0 and recently bought the stomp. To my ears the POD is brighter and sounds slightly more digital than the stomp which to me sounds warmer, less digital sounding and more like an actual amp.
By using the same impulse the differences are greatly reduced. The big breakthrough is the impulse responses, the preamps were ready 20 years ago
We had IR 20 years ago. Everything has changed in the last 20 years not just IRs. Its mostly just being able to properly implement things we couldn't 20 years ago because they would have been prohibitively expensive.
That and 20 years of compounded research into modelling techniques is nontrivial.
Very useful stuff, top playing dude.
Thanks!
Thank you very much! Great phrasing and sound! Best wishes and greetings! (It seems also your son or daughter likes your playing!)
I have the POD 2.0. still use it for recording and shows. If you have a brain and understand how to dial in tone the POD is STILL USEFUL IN 2020! I'm never getting rid of it. Plus the nostalgia reminds me of being in highschool. Thanks for sharing! Rock on.
Similar boat. I have the Floor Pod Plus and have gigged with it tons. I am, however, going to buy the new Pod Go when it comes out. Probably keep the Floor Pod Plus for bedroom practice.
Update - I ended up buying an HX Stomp and an expression pedal, because I really wanted the MIDI jacks (which the Go does not have.)
Great comparison! :)
Thanks Felix!
Great playing! I agree the HX sounds warmer and more spacious but it pleases me that the POD still holds up as I've recently dusted off my POD XT with the FBV Shortboard that makes the XT very giggable.
Interesting comparison. To my ears without the backing track 1- stomp, 2- the pod but close behind, way back in 3rd place. The amplitude. However with the backing track, the amplitube was way out in front. Followed by the stomp then the pod. I felt the pod and stomp where a little scooped and got lost in the mix a little. The amplitube had its own space. It’s a bit like when I use a treble booster, alone it doesn’t sound good but stick in a mix and it sounds great. A fine example is a Rory Gallagher track Do You Read Me. Starts with a boosted guitar that sounds shrill and nasty but when the band kicks in it sounds fantastic. I think if you dial out the scoop on the Pod it’s more than capable of holding its own. I’ve owned and sold all of these at various points, would i re-buy any, probably only the Pod. Fantastic playing BTW.
My last recording people asked , how did I get that sound . I told them I have a couple new pedals but they were shocked when I told them I also have the 22-year-old Line 6 pod, and I do have the foot pedal that goes with it !
The Stomp is better, but the POD is still a great box. I use that and nothing else to record metal guitar. A lot to do with it is how good you are at 'tweaking' and using compression etc. I picked my POD up for £40 recently, what a bargain. When the Stomp drops in price I'll give one a go.
An old Pod x3 with some good aftermarket IR's can still hold its own.
Or, at least it will get you by on a budget.
True, but not the kidney bean version, it has no stomp on/off pass
Last chord and scratch baby's head lol... too cute !!!
Nothing has changed or improved since the original POD. When you get past listening with your eyes and instead think of each modeller as a timbre toolbox it all reduces down to what timbres you can get out of them and what you want to use those timbres for.
And the final reminder of what matters is that the audience for your music doesn't know or care what kit you used to make it. They don't fixate on what cab IR you may or may not used, and they don't give a monkey's whether you had footswitches and a black metal and plastic enclosure or a red plastic bean. They care about whether they like the music or not. Get that bit right and don't sweat the accuracy or expensiveness of your kit and you are golden.
Great and unbiased video.
As someone who has a few more miles on the clock than yer guidsel, l can honestly say that having played guitar now pushing 50 years - and still stuck with the same riffs :) ,if gigging days are over( or not ) , get Reaper , a good interface ( l use Line 6 UX2) and a second hand Pod 2.0 for diddly squat you will be happier than a pig in s***. , particularly when you load a plug-in such as Ambience Reverb.
Fully understand the live limitations of Pod in a live situ however have lost count the number of times l’ve ordered Headrush Gigboard Pod Go, or what ever, and cancelled order , simply due to the fact that Pod , has knobs like an amp, work with it and you can get great core tones in seconds.
Option paralysis ………..we are here to play are we not :)
The HX Stomp is the clear winner in tone beating amplitube and the pod however it is really incredible that the pod was that good considering that it is 20+ year old technology that said it’s also proof that line6 is still the leader of digital modeling that the common person can afford!!
To me, it is only really the cab sim/IR usage that has really changed/improved. I stuck with my ageing rack POD PRO after trying some newer ones from other manufacturers (haven't actually tried any newer line 6 stuff) because I use it with NO cab sim/IRs into my FX loop through real cabs. The most agreeable sound I was able to get this way was with the POD. Line 6 really got the cab tuning to use with a real cab correct on the original POD. I also use the original floorboard controller which was also really well designed.
great video I prefer the old pod 2.0
Fair enough!
I am amazed about how bad amplitube sounds. HX stomp sounds by far the best
The Line 6 fans will be happy to hear that! (I'm one of them...)
The POD holds it's own 20 years later. Some tweaking and you will have a good setup and save some serious coin doing it. The HX sounds better right out of the box, but what do you expect 20 years later.
I could never quite get the overdrive tone I wanted from the POD. But yeah, totally agree with regards to the clean tones.
POD Black Panel is the '64 Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb. If you press down the Tap(Hold) button it becomes a Blackface Twin. With some tweeking you could make all these amp sims sound alike.
Well considering you can pick up a POD 2.0 for around £50 quid on ebay and the HX stomp is a whopping £500 I can't hear £450 difference (If I had the cash for a HX Stomp I'd buy one though!) Great jamming there dude and a lovely Ibanez.
Recently,
i bought a used Line6 pod 2.0 (FBV Version).
I don’t have experience with that much or any line6 product.
I am using a mooer mini looper padel with pod 2.0.
Now i have pod 2.0 + mooer looper padels.
Which padel should i add in my padel board?
Any suggestion?
I need some advice.
I like metal and progressive stuff.
Ex: Dream theater, Tool, Porcupine tree, Ark, Pantera etc.
cant remember me pay over 500 euro for my pod. witch is broken btw so what is a price/fair replacement ?
A little delay just makes you sound like John Schofield! But really there isn't that much difference as you say. But usability is really what makes the stomp a huge selling point. Nice playing Pal.
Thanks, Mike! I'm looking forward to taking the new kit on some gigs.
Nice but the best side by sides i have seen are when people play open chords, then chunk muted , then leads . No backing tracks. Both clean and dirty . From the very first test , i noticed the old POD had more girth straight up. There is a demo comparing the line 6 pod hd x with the Line 6 Helix . The HD x with the older models was far better . More low end and natural sounding. I think at a certain point you have to ask - are people being creative with what they have , or waiting for a new gizmo every year ?
HX is great and playing is amazing! What the song is in the and of the video? Sounds like something classical. Is there any way to get that playback and the tabs? Thanks in advance for your answer.
Hello Serg! It's our arrangement of Toccata and Fugue by Bach. We recorded it as a bonus song for preorders of our second album. If you find the band on Facebook and send us a message, Michael might give you a copy! Look for "Manic Whale" 🐳😁
@@DavidAddis oh thanks and that would be great! Have noted you use daddario strings. Are they 009-042? Or 010-046?
@@Mstopmaster 10-46, although if you've watched recent CZcams videos, thicker might not always be better...
GOD Bless You 🎸🎸🎸
how did you do it can you share with me , thank you
Is it a fair comparison? I hear other effects (reverb) on the stomp, beyond just the amp.
He said he was just going to dial in the best tones he could find on each one. He never said they would all have same effects or cabs etc.. just his take on the best sound he could get from each.
I originally had more effects on the POD sound, but when you have both delay + flanger there isn't a way to adjust the dry/wet mix, so it sounded very synthetic. I re-amped (or whatever you would call it) the sound with the POD to have just a bit of delay. I guess it's a true advantage the HX Stomp has over it's 20-year old brother. 🙂
David, I'm with the majority on this, the HX was better, but not by miles imho! If I had nothing to compare the POD 2.0 with I wouldn't have thought you could have sounded that much better lol. This just goes to show how 'ahead of its time' the Pod 2.0 really was and I'll be hanging onto mine, although I prefer my Zoom G3 mainly for it's ease of use. Thanks for a really interesting video and really, really enjoyed your playing.
Thanks man!
Something that I really dislike about my POD 2.0, which doesn't come across in your video, is the noise. It's very hissy, even at low gains, and even with the noise gate activated it leaves the sound kind of cloudy and indistinct on the top end. I'll use the POD for a while, but eventually this drives me crazy and I go to something else. I am assuming the HX doesn't have so much noise?
Hx stomp is way ahead, nice playing and nice guitar
Thanks!
My gosh you're damn good on guitar 🎸 ! Greetings from a French lad.
Thanks man!
Can you connect them to PC, via USB to use it as an input to a DAW?
HX Stomp: yes. I don't think you can with the POD 2.0... it has a USB port, but I think it's just for updating/editing sounds.
what is the difference from pod xt , to Hx stomp ?
It's crazy... When I had a pod 2.0 back in the day I thought it sounded perfect. To my ears, the hx stomp is miles ahead
I've got the HX Stomp for one month now. IRs do make a huge difference. Also, it's VERY tweakable. I already have 3-4 great presets dialed in. And when i say great, i mean 95% the sound and feel of a real amp. The rest 5% is only noticeable if you have the real amp and you can compare it side by side. In a mix and for someone who has not the real amp experience, there is no difference whatsoever
Good to know! I'll have to dip my toe into the IR waters soon.
whats the song called that you play around 3:30
That’s the amazing Lenny by SRV!
I always love the shape of the pod 2.0 compare to HX. I sold my pod 2.0 for a classic guitar. One of my biggest regret.
I just bought one and. I love it. I manly use it. At church for the worship band
Nice!
Wow does the amplifi tt has the same sound engine of the pod 2.0?
They sound more similar to each other than the HX Stomp don't they? However I don't think it's the same sound engine (unless there is some Line 6/Amplitube history I don't know about!).
Apples & Oranges .... I own all 3, and I love Amplitube overall..... but most useful and 2nd place goes to HX Stomp .... the old POD can yield some nice tones too.
*** I recently sold my POD XT and replaced it ...... I now have 2 HX Stomps. With the FX loop and loading of IRs + other pedal integration .... it can’t be beat.
That's good to know. Have you found custom IRs have made a big difference? Still haven't dipped my toe in that particular pool...
Pod still amazing with a bit of tweaking.
Heck yeah. I have heard of some people using it with IRs for even better effect.
@@DavidAddis Forgot to say, fantastic guitar playing bro. I love this rendition so much, I would love the backing track, is it for sale?
It's funny, I'm just about to list my Pod XT on Ebay as I just bought an HX Stomp. The Pod sounds like a Pod - I just can't make it not sound like a Pod (although I've never had a problem with clean tones). the stomp boxes in the Pod sound like arse, there's nothing for bassists (I actually tried using the Pod for bass and lost interest in the instrument until I went back to DI'ing from an actual amp). It was so convenient for DSP (rather than using Guitar Rig in Ableton) to have it there, ready for recording. It's just that the sounds were always too... Poddy? too Linesixy?
Anyway, I've got the HX Stomp now and my productions are starting to sound a lot more hi-fidelity.
I wish I could do an A-B test to find what actually sounds better but I'm pretty certain I could ID the Pod vs the Stomp 9/10 times.
HX Stomp is warmer. I own both of these units. The original POD is still kicking, but I’ve replaced it with a Vox Stomplab, which is incredible for the cost! A better display on it is needed though, one with actual words please...this is 2020.
HX Stomp, of course. Except the first part of the song where the POD tone actually worked pretty well. 4:39
Definitely prefer the stomp
I had the original bean in c1998, then the 2.0...then the PODxtPro rack unit...plus, the Flextone combo.
Back then, the cleans always sounded good....but, the high gain tones I always thought sounded rather sterile/thin and required a lot of tweaking plus post EQ in order to obtain a decent, usable, tone.
However, listening to your comparisons here...there really isn’t that much difference 20 years on.
Yes, they are of course different...but both are OK...and whilst the HX Stomp may have a slightly smoother/warmer edge...it’s not leaps & bounds ahead.
I am actually shocked that the HX Stomp isn’t like....WAY better.
Probably, with some serious editing, etc...the old bean would actually sound pretty much as good.
The amplitude sounded muffled and not good from where I sit.
The difference between the POD 2.0 and HX Stomp is merely subjective and not necessary a good/bad thing. To be honest, neither unit-tone sounds “great” in this demonstration.
Just my 2 shekels worth.
I've found it difficult to compare to a real amp. Once you mic up an amp and play it back through headphones, I've found you end up with a similar (small) sound. And the other way around, playing a POD or HX Stomp through a louspeaker, it sounds way better. For me, the HX Stomp is good enough to use live and for recordings.... and yeah, I agree it's better, but not like WAY better.
David,
Any guitar signal that is amplified and utilizes a speaker is a “real” amp....albeit maybe not a traditional one.
The problem in the old days...most folks recorded direct to DAW with the POD so there was no “air push” component involved.
That organic ingredient was missing.
Today, that is not the case...so, the gap between modellers and traditional amps is pretty much now gone and in the end it just comes down to individual, subjective, tone preference and taste.
Using IR’s and post EQ today...we can make them sound equally as good...and especially within a studio mix.
Yeah, it's clearly a big difference the new HX sounds more clear and wider. They made some improvements frequency wise; clearer sound and ambience wise; better reverbs and delays. I liked the demo, just one observation, next time don't use ambience effects for testing as these have the tendency to trick the ears. If you do, you should use on both units in order to compare them fairly just like some people said in other comments. And last but not least, you gonna see the big difference in a live situation.
Fair point, I will try to make it a closer comparison in future.
Shouldnt rhe comparison include the whole potential of the units? The helix ambient sounds are really good, the pod 2.0 delay and reverb are ok, i think the tones should be compared with all the tools the gear has
inspiring playing. great comparison vid. but what really strikes me is that this guy is a 'DAD"......toys in the background remind me of my home and how my kids spreads stuff out..
I'm only thumbs uping because of baby head scratch. But, seriously I watched to see amp to amp, because I too bought a POD direct from Line 6 when I worked at Guitar Center 20 years ago, and wondered, "Should I upgrade? Or am I, too, just wasting my children's money?"
Nice job with the Bach!
Well it probably was my most rock and roll moment to be fair. Agreed, it would have been nice to compare it to a real amp! I don't have any of the actually models I tried though, and I'm not sure I would have done it justice in the miccing-up process, but something would have been better than nothing.
Pretty good comparasion. But my pod sounds as rich as the floor model.
Muito obrigado pelo vídeo....Pra mim o POD "fura" a mix..Grande abraço
To me the POD 2.0 sounds like it's operating at a much lower resolution, if that makes sense. (It kind of does, considering that it uses a much weaker DSP chip, and therefore simpler algorithms). And that Line6 tried to compensate by extending the frequency response in an - (for guitar) - unnatural way. Which is why it tends to drown in the mix, compared to modern sims.
That said, the PODs were revolutionary at the time. I have an XT myself. But I would not use it for recording. Maybe live, if I had no choice.
Stomp sounds more, WAY more pleasant to the ear. Very natural. And as owner, it FEELS so much better.
POD sounds like... well, like POD. It's THAT damn sound that gives me flashbacks to the times when I struggled to get nice tones.
Was searching for that kind of videos, because I sell my POD. Tnx :)
You're welcome! And I agree - the Stomp sounds very natural to the ear.
Dial in some bottom end to the pod and increase the treble, maybe a little more reverb.
Over 30 years I have spent a small fortune on gear. The pod was used back in the day by lots of big artists and sounded great and still does.
Don't be sucked in as I was.. If your playing, recording or practicing at home just buy a 2nd hand Pod.
I've had friends make my 10W Marshall sound better than my Katana Artist. Your fingers make the tone!
Edit : Sorry I only watched the 1st minute or so of the video before posting and all is confirmed at the end.
Wow mate, I've got the old Pod 2.0 plus the Floor pod,, I was going to buy an "HX Stomp" But as I'm not a very good guitar player (Although the "Hall of the mountain king is a piece of piss to play) so maybe I'll stick with these and the other Hundred FX pedals I've got not bad playing
Your comparisons are not using the same EQ. It didn’t seem you adjusted the Pod 2.0’s EQ. It sound better than that. Also don’t forget you get additional amps and Cabs that are hidden
I’m not quite sure how to describe this. The HX and the pods core sound are very similar. The pod sounded dry and the HX sounded more wet. Like the pod was just the amp and the HX had higher quality effects and was dialed
In by someone that knew what they were doing. Like someone in their basement with a Jcm800 with a reverb or delay pedal vs a Jcm800 full stack with rack gear on a concert stage. I think the HX has more presence and dynamics as well. But the starting point sounds similar if that makes any sense. The amplitube sounded terrible IMO. From what I’ve heard the fractal units sound better than anything else. I think fractal is more pro level and line 6 is more consumer level. I know Metallica and def lepard are using fractal now. Like someone else said your eyes may be hearing for you too because the Moorer ge200 sounds pretty good too, and that’s a cheap unit. I like that you can buy patches now for all these units. You can get the exact tones you want without the endless tweaking. The helix line is coming up on 10 years old now. Line 6 must be close to releasing the next new best thing. Fractal has surpassed line 6’s DSP limits so they’re gonna need new hardware to stay competitive.
When you play guitar like that,everything will sound good!!
Praise technology.
In POD we trust!
HX stomp definitely sounds way better, but is everyone else noticing a hiss/fuzz behind all the sounds of the hx? Weird.
I didn't notice, until you mentioned it. :P
I usually cut anything above 10k or 8k hz and it's sounds awesome :)
And where can I find a hex stomp that is not 500 dollars
You might find a good deal on eBay.
Ok I went and tried the hx stomp...I sounded like crap. I like my kidney bean better. Anyone else had this experience? Does it just take some time to adjust and tweak?
Yes. Watch some introduction videos. There's some initial setup things that need to be done like the input impedance setting ect... And third party IR's from places like Ownhammer are almost a must for me.
None of this sounds all that good, but it's probably the tweaking of the HX Stomp. The PLAYING is very, very good, the tones not so much. And yes I own a POD 2.0. Actually, for low volume practice, I'm enjoying my Line 6 Spider V 240HC, albeit with a lot of tweaking. I gig with tube amps and have a crazy amount of them at home, but I do a lot of direct recording, thus my interest in these units. I started recording at home ages ago with a Tascam cassette 4-track and a Tom Sholz Rockman.
Haha fair enough! 😅
hx stop sounds better standalone, but Amplitube sounds better on the backing track but just because the tone is duller, not because it's better
HX stomp wins but
The POD plus a IR and it's all you need
Amplitube.
Contrarian! ;)
POD sounds thinner, STOMP much fuller, question being ...if the POD was equalised , would they sound the same ? PS. Great guitar playing !!!
Thanks! Nice idea to play with the eq! I'll have to give that a try. My gut feeling is that there's more to it than that, the POD still sounds slightly more artificial to me which I don't think you could (easily) fix in post. I'm happy to be proven wrong though!
Dam amplitude sucks! The HX Stomp obviously wins, yet the 20 year old Pod is OK. For 1999 it was incredible!
The thing with line 6 is they still cash in on the same algorythm to these day.
They didnt remodelled all these amp.
They have more efect ppwer..more cpu.. but still use the same modelling they just added a few more component in every new generation...a filter here...they repackage each platforms and sell it 2000$ every 5 years.
I have a firehawk1500
They drop support on the app... this blutooth app fpr ipad was the greatest thing ever to esit your sound.
Tap on the amp.. tap on eq..on stomp..
No more little screen scrolling trough tiny menu.
For the good of love why didnt they carry this to helix platform is beyound me.
You can still havethe pc connectivity for recording etc.
But when your out of the house and wanna create sound with friend..its way practical.
Even to jam along a track.
Line 6 is a weird compagny.
I sure will wait 2 or 3 years until they repackage this shit into a helix hd.. or helix 2.0 or whatever shit their gonna call it.
At this ppint these will be sub 1000$ on ebay...as theflock of sheeple buy the new promised land of amps... with again... very minor subtle difference that you could just tweak by eq and fine tuning in the previous generation.
I could take the original pod and make it sound like a helix on recording wuth little tweaking.
If you ask me.. if you have 2000$ to shell on something the kemper is the futur for modelling. As it creates its own algorythme when you snapshot any amps.
$50 to $1300 not a great deal.
seems i am the only one that noticed your son appear in the vid
Oh, all shitty through and through.
OK, there is a diference and the 20 years progress is promissing, but still need like 200 years to real amp 😁
2.0 killed hx
I hated those line6 PODs even when they came out! Just nasty!!!