Line 6 POD Express
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the swede
Shredder
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It would still be cool to know what mics and placements they have and some insights to the thought process of making them
@benadrian
Would be soooo cool to get info on the cabs (mics and such) when and if you have the time.
Pretty please.
To me this thing is worth it for the Litigator, cartographer and matchless alone… to get those amps and cabs in a small pedal is crazy cool.. imho.
MadMaxG79
Roadie
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- 116
Oh yes. Give the insanely complicated to use TC-Helicon Voice pedal line a run for their money. And I'm not being sarcastic, I really hate trying to adjust parameters on a TC pedal.Time to make a Helix Vocals
And a Pod Express Acoustic to show L.R. Baggs and the like that it's possible to make good sounding, easy to use stomp boxes for acoustics at an affordable price.
Sascha Franck
Rock Star
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- 6,184
Would there be enough CPU juice left to add a global EQ, @Digital Igloo?
Could be a really simple one (just BMT, set so they'd allow for rather broadband-ish adjustments). As you can't adjust anything in the cab blocks and as you may want to use the amp controls to actually shape your tones, a global EQ would be incredibly handy. IMO at least.
Could be a really simple one (just BMT, set so they'd allow for rather broadband-ish adjustments). As you can't adjust anything in the cab blocks and as you may want to use the amp controls to actually shape your tones, a global EQ would be incredibly handy. IMO at least.
molul
Roadie
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- 422
Haven't tried TC-helicon voicelive pedal. Had the Touch one. Not bad, but incompatible with playing guitar. Also, editing was horrible. But harmonies (up to 4) were awesome.
Now I'm using Boss VE500. Better patch editing, but still miles away from an HX Stomp, and doesn't have snapshots but the horrible assign section. Same interface as my Boss GT8 from 2007!
Come on, Line6, steal the vocals multieffects market already!
MadMaxG79
Roadie
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- 116
For the record I'm not talking about the recent two knob versions of their vocal stomp boxes, which offer very limited adjustment of sound, but the more extensive vocal stomps such as the VoiceTone Create XT or VoiceTone Correct.
molul
Roadie
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- 422
Didn't even know that existed (not anymore, as I see). But no harmonies is a big "nope" for me.For the record I'm not talking about the recent two knob versions of their vocal stomp boxes, which offer very limited adjustment of sound, but the more extensive vocal stomps such as the VoiceTone Create XT or VoiceTone Correct.
Something like the HX Stomp, with three footswitches to change snapshots or enable/disable individual effects, and an optional external footswitch to change presets, would be perfect.
I would directly use an HX Stomp for vocals, if it had a better pitch for the voice so you don't sound like a smurf or an ork.
Lysander
Shredder
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- 2,247
Thanks for the feedback! I've been thinking about buying a PE for headphone practice, and was weary of volume issues with my Audio-Technica's at ~50ohm; that's on the lower end of what's considered "high impedance" these days.
I think i'll have to put my Spark GO up for sale soon.
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When originally pitched, POD Express was called Pocket POD Go. That might've helped clarify things for people over the past week.Pod Gas Express. The new name for products that induce gas.
My brain was probably thinking Pod Go Express
Unfortunately, I doubt it. From my understanding, there's not even room to move the Looper pre or post—it's part of the Delay block and fixed pre-Reverb. We crammed as much as we could into that box, and there were models we wanted to include but couldn't (like the Dynamic Reverbs or maybe the Invective instead of the 5150). In the end, hitting $179 was just too important.
Our Victoria team knows the old TC Helicon team, as they're from the same neck of the woods. A while back we hired one of 'em; I absolutely adore the guy. We'd all have a blast working on a dedicated vocal processor and dream about it often.
However...
...every project we pitch goes through a number of approval phases, and the first is called PID (Product Introduction Document). We need to supply a rough ex-factory cost, street price, months to market, cost of development (full time California employees are much more expensive than those in Shenzhen), and with Sales' help, a likely monthly run rate. Collectively, it tells us the gross margin, monthly revenue, and lifetime revenue we're expected to see from it. The executive staff gets first crack at it and fills out scorecards for the PID. Then stakeholders from Ops, Finance, Marketing, Products, Engineering, and Quality.
All good. The problem comes when there are a dozen or so PIDs in the queue. 90% of the time, projects with the highest scorecards win out and the losers get shuffled back into the queue. (The remaining 10% might be strategic products that don't fly off the shelves, like our beloved Variaxes.) We either change the design based on the scorecard and present it at the next PID meeting, or we punt on it. Lots of projects get unceremoniously killed, as they should.
And unfortunately, vocal processors simply don't sell well enough for us to bother, in large part because singers generally don't buy gear. Yes, it's a stereotype but it's one backed by metrics. If we were the only ones capable of thriving in this space, it'd be one thing, but TC Helicon has some pretty solid patents and those patents are now owned by their parent company, who's notorious for litigation. And Roland/BOSS is great at what they do and have the resources to explore all sorts of niche markets, whereas YGG has to make very tough, purposeful decisions. I could imagine InMusic spinning off yet another brand, partnering again with Antares, and taking a stab at it. Let's call it... Mouthrush.
JiveTurkey
Goatlord
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L6 Needs It's Own BarneyTM
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three_eyed_otter
Groupie
- Messages
- 40
Lysander
Shredder
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- 2,247
NGL, i was a bit confused when the Pod Express was announced, because my mind immediately went to...
Feel your pain though. Naming is legit one of the hardest problems in engineering.
three_eyed_otter
Groupie
- Messages
- 40
Maybe the 5 knobs could equal a 5 band Global EQ...It would have to be hidden so far away that the newbies would have to travel to Narnia to unknowingly align w/the white witch (Q) & mess up something they know nothing about. Otherwise, it goes against the PE doctrine.
Have a good one,
3EO
molul
Roadie
- Messages
- 422
Thanks for the detailed answer, @Digital Igloo . Too bad the singers market is not that profitable.When originally pitched, POD Express was called Pocket POD Go. That might've helped clarify things for people over the past week.
Unfortunately, I doubt it. From my understanding, there's not even room to move the Looper pre or post—it's part of the Delay block and fixed pre-Reverb. We crammed as much as we could into that box, and there were models we wanted to include but couldn't (like the Dynamic Reverbs or maybe the Invective instead of the 5150). In the end, hitting $179 was just too important.
Our Victoria team knows the old TC Helicon team, as they're from the same neck of the woods. A while back we hired one of 'em; I absolutely adore the guy. We'd all have a blast working on a dedicated vocal processor and dream about it often.
However...
...every project we pitch goes through a number of approval phases, and the first is called PID (Product Introduction Document). We need to supply a rough ex-factory cost, street price, months to market, cost of development (full time California employees are much more expensive than those in Shenzhen), and with Sales' help, a likely monthly run rate. Collectively, it tells us the gross margin, monthly revenue, and lifetime revenue we're expected to see from it. The executive staff gets first crack at it and fills out scorecards for the PID. Then stakeholders from Ops, Finance, Marketing, Products, Engineering, and Quality.
All good. The problem comes when there are a dozen or so PIDs in the queue. 90% of the time, projects with the highest scorecards win out and the losers get shuffled back into the queue. (The remaining 10% might be strategic products that don't fly off the shelves, like our beloved Variaxes.) We either change the design based on the scorecard and present it at the next PID meeting, or we punt on it. Lots of projects get unceremoniously killed, as they should.
And unfortunately, vocal processors simply don't sell well enough for us to bother, in large part because singers generally don't buy gear. Yes, it's a stereotype but it's one backed by metrics. If we were the only ones capable of thriving in this space, it'd be one thing, but TC Helicon has some pretty solid patents and those patents are now owned by their parent company, who's notorious for litigation. And Roland/BOSS is great at what they do and have the resources to explore all sorts of niche markets, whereas YGG has to make very tough, purposeful decisions. I could imagine InMusic spinning off yet another brand, partnering again with Antares, and taking a stab at it. Let's call it... Mouthrush.
On the other hand, when taking about TC-Helicon patents, if you mean regarding voice harmonies, then I wonder how Boss got around that again (like with the polyphonic tuner in some of their multieffects)
EDIT: actually, if Helix had some monophonic pitch with formant (a la SoundToys' Little AlterBoy) and you could put three blocks of that with a delay+reverb+mod in an HX Stomp preset, that would be enough. Well, and some doubling effect, which could currently be emulated with a delay block.
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molul
Roadie
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- 422
But singers+guitarists are the master raceWell, singers aren't real musicians anyway (unless they play an instrument).......
laxu
Rock Star
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"Mom, I said I wanted Pocket POD Go for Christmas, not Pokemon Go!"
I think POD Express is a better name.
Moe45673
Roadie
- Messages
- 175
Probably by using MIDI type B, instead of A like the rest of the civilized worldThanks for the detailed answer, @Digital Igloo . Too bad the singers market is not that profitable.
On the other hand, when taking about TC-Helicon patents, if you mean regarding voice harmonies, then I wonder how Boss got around that again (like with the polyphonic tuner in some of their multieffects)
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