"yo POD, don't be hatin'"
Sound:
POD? who needs one. Well I did last week, I had to do a session for a commercial, I liked the POD, but had to borrow it. So this week I needed it again but wanted to get one of my own. So off I went to the Local music store, scoffed at the sales"dude" trying to get me to by the POD and grabbed the V-Amp 2 box and made my way to the front.
Got to the session, box only opened to the point of the carrying case,
got a look from the producer/engineer like what the hell is that?plugged the unit in, stereo, plugged in the guitar, navigated through bank 1, a,b,c,d,etc.. about 3 or 4 banks in the producer said, that's it, perfect.
That's one of the HUGE differences between the V-Amp and all the other processors I've used. USABLE PRESeTS!!! I don't always have the time to mess around with EQ's, and gain etc... this thing is for the Working guitars who needs to spend time playing guitar, not playing with knobs and buttons.
Feature:
Footswitch, not the most functional, just does up and down banks, but it is INCLUDED, and its made of, gulp, metal!!
The cables are all heavy duty.
On off switch like everyone else said would be nice. a S?PDIF would be pushin it a little for 139.0 I suppose.
Quality:
I've heard a few people complain about the plastic, fair enough, but seems like it will take the typical abuse pretty well.
Don't really know about the dependability, but my Compser's been workin' flawlessly for years.
Value:
It's woth the price easily. the POD is a fine product, but i truley like the sound better from the V-Amp, I didn't buy it soley based on price, I could have afforde the POD, but The features, quality, AND
keep it simple stupid interface, coupled with the amazing idea of shipping with at least 50 USABLE, OUT OF THE BOX, presets is pure genious!! This is not a knock on the V-Amp at all, but do all of these preamp manufacturers think we need a triple wahed, chorused paper thin distorted, pitch shifted warble sound that has no practical value in ANY style of music? Man there are always like 30 worthless presets, at least Behringer added 50 great ones to the mix.
The Wow Factor:
I could care less if this thing was shaped like Al Roker, if it still sounds the same, Gimme Al!!!
the lighted knobs are pretty cool, easy to see the levels.
Overall:
This is not to piss off POD owners, but there really is no reason to spend the extra on the POD. If you want to spend extra, get the V-Amp Pro, rackmount, S/PDIF & AES/EBU plus balanced XLR stereo outs!!
I would have bought the Pro but there were none in stock.
Thanks for your vote. Can you specify what about this review did or did not help you?