POD HD-500 vs Boss GT-100 vs Fender Mustang Floor vs Zoom G3/G5

Started by Elantric, July 13, 2012, 11:01:59 PM

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Elantric

This is a very good head to head Tone and operational comparison of the Line6 POD  HD-500 verses the Boss GT-100.






Ok - the one below is from  Brazil - (so its in Portuguese)  - but lucky for us there are subtitles


I feel both videos accurately reflects the sonic tonal signature of each unit and differences between these two units.




Quote

Here I compare the top units from Boss and Line 6.

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rolandvg99

I have tested all of these apart from the Mustang. I tend to like the midrange from the Boss/Roland units better than that Line 6 or Zoom's  offerings.

Short descriptions of the basic amp/guitar sound (This is very subjective and others might find my findings "way out there")
For me the Line 6 sounds/feels more "spongy", delivers great/good sound for a single guitarist, but tend to drown out a bit in a setting featuring multiple mid-range instruments. Some high-end shrills.

GT-100 feels more "direct" in the sense that what I feed the unit in terms of picking attack, fretting and such gives a greater variation in sound. Easier to mix, but can sound somewhat weak on it's own.

Zoom G3/G5 are good combos, but too shrilly for my liking. Some good/interesting effects, but I still struggle to concider Zoom a real contender rather than a "toymaker" for kids craving "ear-candy". (Much like the Behringer V-Amp stuff)
To V or not to V: That is the question.

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Elantric

Myself heres my rundown preference of DSP guitar units that have the best Guitar Tone :


1) Kemper  -  - a fantastic tone machine - the best of the best in 2012.

2) Fender Mustang Floor - it really sounds and responds well - I feel connected with all the recent Fender DSP tones in Mustang and G-DEC 3 and its much faster for me to find a tone I can use. The flaw is the noise - the Fender Mustang DSP amp modeling has the highest background white noise of the batch mentioned here.

3) Vox Tonelab LE - (i prefer the ToneLab SE - but the LE included a final output para EQ for more control)  - These products hold up very well given their 10 year old technology. Remarkable how well the Vox Tonelab SE works simply feeding a 3.5mm TRS cable from the Tonelab SE/LE headphone jack to the Aux/MPS input on my Cube 80 XL.

4) POD HD500  - I grudgingly use this simply for the Variax control  - the so called "Dream Rig" (Variax+HD500+DT50) is a bit of a one trick pony for me. Not as flexible as the hype. workable tones, but very cold and digital (heading to Digitech GNX territory) (not the same warmth as a Kemper , Postive Grid BIAS or Vox Tonelab - has the signature Line 6 character to my ears (i.e.  average dynamics and sub par touch response) And my biggest gripe - really user hostile access to adjust settings at the gig or rehearsal -  all the controls I NEED (Tremolo Speed / depth, Reverb type / Depth Flanger speed / depth, etc- all are buried under layers of LCD System trees. IMHO the older POD XT-Live was much easier to navigate an tweak settings at the gig.

5) VG-99 - Its Amp modeling is feeling a bit dated today - but there are tools to help aleviate shortcommings ( Dual COSM effect streams, several parametric EQs and separate "CHAN. Delay" for layered tones.



I dont use the GR-55 enough to include this in the list - I found the sound my small Boss Micro BR-80 sounded a bit better than the GR-55 to my ears. 


My basic issue with most DSP guitar amp modelers is they only have a snapshot of small limited area of the actual amp they model.

For example, Dial up any Hi Gain amp model on these toys and then turn your passive guitar volume way down to 2-3 and sadly most of these devices will not clean up (as a real Tube Amp does) and typically they just sputter and choke with their internal Noise gate. Turn off the noise gate and they sound rather bad.

By contrast a real Tube Amp will clean up and provide a huge dynamic range.

I know a local guitarist who uses a Hi gain custom Sewell WampusCat Tube Amp (Sewell now designs the PRS Amps)
He never plays the amp above "3" - and plays mostly jazz, and has a great touch responsive tone.

The only DSP Amps I know that do that well are the Kemper, Positive Grid BIAS (iPad),  and the Vox


http://www.harmonycentral.com/articles/10-tips-for-guitar-digital-multieffects

onemoreguitar



Quote from: Elantric on July 14, 2012, 07:54:09 AM


The only DSP Amps I know that do that well are the Kemper and the Mustang and the Vox




The AFXII also excels at this.  I have a number of presets that have the amp dimed while I control the gain with my picking and guitar. It also has the best drive/master interaction of the lot IMHO.

I wish my old GP-100 was still kicking.  I'd love to put it up against some of these newer boxes.  Used to love that thing.  It broke a number of years back, but if memory serves correctly, it was similar to all the ones you listed in that it needed effects to smooth out the modelling. There was no such thing as a dry amp sound.  I think that's the real test of any amp modeller.

IMO, YMMV....

Elantric


The comparison shootout continues... This time we're throwing the G3X into the mix. Focusing on some Marshall Plexi style tones. I break the test into two parts. The first features presets in the box and the second disabling cab sims in the box and using a single Ownhammer IR applied to all 3. Time stamps below:

0:00 - Axe-Fx II
0:35 - Atomic Amplifire
0:59 - Zoom G3X

1:51 - Axe-Fx II + IR in DAW
2:10 - Atomic Amplifire + IR in DAW
2:35 - Zoom G3X + IR in DAW

Elantric


Elantric


TuningMachine

Quote from: rolandvg99 on July 14, 2012, 01:56:26 AM
I have tested all of these apart from the Mustang. I tend to like the midrange from the Boss/Roland units better than that Line 6 or Zoom's  offerings.

Short descriptions of the basic amp/guitar sound (This is very subjective and others might find my findings "way out there")
For me the Line 6 sounds/feels more "spongy", delivers great/good sound for a single guitarist, but tend to drown out a bit in a setting featuring multiple mid-range instruments. Some high-end shrills.

GT-100 feels more "direct" in the sense that what I feed the unit in terms of picking attack, fretting and such gives a greater variation in sound. Easier to mix, but can sound somewhat weak on it's own.

Zoom G3/G5 are good combos, but too shrilly for my liking. Some good/interesting effects, but I still struggle to concider Zoom a real contender rather than a "toymaker" for kids craving "ear-candy". (Much like the Behringer V-Amp stuff)

My experience too. But some of the patches for the GT-100 from Glen Delaune are so loud they could knock the stink off a skunk from a hundred feet.

Elantric



Smash

Zoom vs GT1 easy win for Zoom on the higher gain stuff. Never heard a Bognor sound like the fuzz box on the GT1!