Line 6 POD Express

[dbagchee]

My POD Express came in today. I had an hour or so to mess with it and first impressions are great. This has pretty much the perfect feature set for me, as I’m not too picky on dialing in any kind of precise tone and most of the amp defaults are fine to get playing quickly. Both the immediacy and simplicity of the options work together really well that it gives you the same tactile satisfaction of dialing in a few pedals, but will the whole fx chain in a single compact box. I love having the stereo fx in headphones.

I’m glad we’re able to swap cabs around as I prefer the V30 cab for all the higher gain stuff.

I ran it into the power amp of the Catalyst and it worked well too - they are a good pair.

Right now there are only a couple things I would look forward to in an update:

• Would be cool if you could move the mod pre amp - I just prefer my mods in the front before gain
• Would be nice if tempo could be set independently for mod and delay (or to different beat lengths) - I like mod slow but then the delay is too slow
• Also wouldn’t mind a reverb more like the Dynamic Ambient - just to create a little space in headphones without too much obvious effect - even the lowest spring or plate is a touch too much for a drier sound

All in all pretty happy to have the HX tones in such a tiny box. Thanks Line 6!

 

[MindCrime]

As of today, 3/18.... L6 Pod Express is showing "in stock" at Sweetwater.

 

[FuzzyAce]

As of today, 3/18.... L6 Pod Express is showing "in stock" at Sweetwater.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Would be cool if you could move the mod pre amp - I just prefer my mods in the front before gain

Same. This is the only thing that kinda rubbed me a bit. Although I do like flanger post gain. It would be cool to have the option of pre or post though, but not sure if that's in future cards or not.

Thanks for the review, looking forward to getting mine in this week!

 

[Lysander]

Order placed with Thomann! I'll update as soon as i receive mine.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Mine gets here Thursday.

 

[ucnick]

Don't know how germane this is vis a vis mod placement, but Pod Go had as I recall two locations that had locked functionality, I think it was the wah and fx loop blocks, anyway someone found a way to hack the actual code to free them up to allow any effect to be used within dsp limitations, I followed the instructions and it worked as advertised, so wondered if perhaps something similar might be feasible via code hacks to allow some more freedom in placement locations? Just a thought.

 

[dbagchee]

Maybe when/if an editor is released?

 

[three_eyed_otter]

Don't know how germane this is vis a vis mod placement, but Pod Go had as I recall two locations that had locked functionality, I think it was the wah and fx loop blocks, anyway someone found a way to hack the actual code to free them up to allow any effect to be used within dsp limitations, I followed the instructions and it worked as advertised, so wondered if perhaps something similar might be feasible via code hacks to allow some more freedom in placement locations? Just a thought.

Perhaps, L6 would have to intentionally leave it in as they have done so with the PODGo editor…

Have a good one,

3EO

 

[FuzzyAce]

Got mine in today. I've had only about 30min time with it and overall I'm impressed. What I really like is there's no fluff, just straight up usable tones throughout each model. I really enjoyed the Special, Chime and Dynamic amps -- the others are really good too so looking forward to more time with the unit.

As of now -- Well done Line 6!

 

[MindCrime]

I may have to break down & buy the L6 PE. I've been reading a lot of favorable / positive reviews. Sounds like it's a lot of fun.

 

[cfisher8]

It is a lot of fun. I ended up doing this when waiting for a server patch to go through one night:

View attachment 20634

It’ll be even better when the editor comes out.

3D printed stand? Looks good

 

[Lysander]

Finally got mine from Thomann

Unfortunately i haven't had a chance to plug it in yet - i'm in the middle of a house move, and there's plenty to do. But (very) first impressions are good: i'm surprised by how hefty the thing feels, plastic or not. I was expecting something like the old Pocket Pod, quality wise, and this is definitely a couple notches above in construction.

I can definitely see myself using this thing a lot in the near future.

 

[sashimi]

I have seen a few people say the delay and modulation time are both tied to the tap tempo. This is the main thing making me hesitant, because it sounds like I can’t use a slapback delay with a slower modulation. Is there any way to adjust the time in milliseconds or is it only via tap? Can you change the beat subdivision? For delay and mod individually, or is it one global beat subdivision?

 

[dbagchee]

I have seen a few people say the delay and modulation time are both tied to the tap tempo. This is the main thing making me hesitant, because it sounds like I can’t use a slapback delay with a slower modulation. Is there any way to adjust the time in milliseconds or is it only via tap? Can you change the beat subdivision? For delay and mod individually, or is it one global beat subdivision?

Yeah currently they are locked together to 1/4 note tap - no independent subdivision or millisecond adjustments.

 

[sashimi]

Thanks. That’s a bummer. I hope they fix that in an update. I’m going to have to hold off until they address that. The times when I would want the delay and mod tempo matched would be extremely rare compared to the times I’d want them set differently, but I can only speak for myself.

 

[holoholo]

I mean things could change once we see the editor

 

[sashimi]

Have they given any ETA for the editor? If I could just lock the modulation at a fixed tempo so the tap only affects delay, that would be an acceptable solution, even if not ideal. I don’t need to keep tweaking modulation speed. I pretty much set it and forget it.

Unrelated question, has anyone tried hooking one up to an iPhone? Would a usb-lightning cable work or do you need an adapter?

 

[Los-D]

Unrelated question, has anyone tried hooking one up to an iPhone? Would a usb-lightning cable work or do you need an adapter

Curious about this as well. I was able to connect the Ampero Mini with the Apple USB Camera Kit to my iPhone to record ideas quickly. Hoping the same is true with the Pod Express

 

[dbagchee]

No eta or guarantee on the editor, but it seems like it may be coming someday.

I was able to stream audio no problem from my iPhone using a lightning to usb c cable.