Line 6 POD Express

[paisleywookiee]

Well, in light of the price reduction, I couldn't pass it up. $129 for what this does, WITH the editor now, is killer. Will be here hopefully Saturday.

 

[paisleywookiee]

This thing is really, really cool. I'm very glad I got in on the sale price with this. I'm using it a ton, both with my computer and when tossed into my man-purse with my iPad and Logic. This is the ultimate pocket rig, IMO.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Still really wish it was bus-powered. I'd possibly grabbed one already if it was.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Still really wish it was bus-powered. I'd possibly grabbed one already if it was.

Yeah, I can definitely see the merit in that. But that being said, I’m actually glad it’s battery powered though, for my use.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Yeah, I can definitely see the merit in that. But that being said, I’m actually glad it’s battery powered though, for my use.

Ideally, it'd be bus powered and have a charger for the batteries inside. Best of all worlds.

Personally, especially when hanging around in whatever backstage areas, I absolutely love it being completely independent from any power outlets. Sure, could have that with the PE, but knowing me, I'd always forget fresh batteries. Add to this there's no way I'd have a battery charger with me all the time. And I will never use non-rechargeable batteries ever again (the single exception being my acoustic which I'm using stock 9V blocks for, but they last ages).

 

[Mooselake]

I spend much of my summers in a small cabin in the woods and Pod Express has been a great solution: small and simple.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Ideally, it'd be bus powered and have a charger for the batteries inside. Best of all worlds.

Personally, especially when hanging around in whatever backstage areas, I absolutely love it being completely independent from any power outlets. Sure, could have that with the PE, but knowing me, I'd always forget fresh batteries. Add to this there's no way I'd have a battery charger with me all the time. And I will never use non-rechargeable batteries ever again (the single exception being my acoustic which I'm using stock 9V blocks for, but they last ages).

Honestly, I know it'll never happen, but I'd love a device like this with the features you describe, additionally with Stadium-level modeling quality. But it'd likely be WAY more, and a tough sell for most at that point.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Honestly, I know it'll never happen, but I'd love a device like this with the features you describe, additionally with Stadium-level modeling quality. But it'd likely be WAY more, and a tough sell for most at that point.

Not so sure about the price, in case the development cost is already kinda recouped. Really wouldn't need all that much processing power, so hardware costs could possibly be rather low.

 

[DieSchmalle]

Still really wish it was bus-powered. I'd possibly grabbed one already if it was.

Weird that Line 6 didn't make it USB powered. Should be a cheap addition in electronic parts (if any) considering it can run on 3 batteries (=4.5 V).
There's a good chance that adding this feature is a simple mod.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Weird that Line 6 didn't make it USB powered. Should be a cheap addition in electronic parts (if any) considering it can run on 3 batteries (=4.5 V).
There's a good chance that adding this feature is a simple mod.

You could likely use a kinda USB power up converter and feed the 9V in and then use a plain USB connection for audio. But that way you'd lose one USB port, something I wouldn't want on my MBA, as it only has two to start with.

 

[sashimi]

You could likely use a kinda USB power up converter and feed the 9V in and then use a plain USB connection for audio. But that way you'd lose one USB port, something I wouldn't want on my MBA, as it only has two to start with.

Or you could just plug the 9v to usb cable into a power bank

 

[Sascha Franck]

Or you could just plug the 9v to usb cable into a power bank

Sure. But all of that would keep me away from using it more often. Right now, it's MBA, interface, done. Or MBA, Tonex One, done. Or even just phone, Tonex One, done.

 

[StarF666]

I must say, anything these days with a USB port that can't be bus powered is a design failure. POD Express with decent ASIO drivers/performance and bus powered would be an insta buy. Though I'd wish it had Helix oversampling.

 

[Digital Igloo]

Ideally, it'd be bus powered and have a charger for the batteries inside. Best of all worlds.

Personally, especially when hanging around in whatever backstage areas, I absolutely love it being completely independent from any power outlets. Sure, could have that with the PE, but knowing me, I'd always forget fresh batteries. Add to this there's no way I'd have a battery charger with me all the time. And I will never use non-rechargeable batteries ever again (the single exception being my acoustic which I'm using stock 9V blocks for, but they last ages).

POD Express was all about hitting a cost target. If we implemented half the things mentioned in this thread, its price would ensure it'd fail in the market.

Remember, adding $5 in parts/labor/tooling doesn't increase the end cost to the consumer by only $5. For a box such as this, we sweat pennies.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I must say, anything these days with a USB port that can't be bus powered is a design failure. POD Express with decent ASIO drivers/performance and bus powered would be an insta buy. Though I'd wish it had Helix oversampling.

Probably to just keep the cost down to a point. This thing has a lot of great features for the cost, sounds great, and to have to use an external ps is not a dealbreaker imo. Although I agree, it is a nice feature to have.

edit: posted over DI's post. Looks like he answered.

 

[Sascha Franck]

POD Express was all about hitting a cost target. If we implemented half the things mentioned in this thread, its price would ensure it'd fail in the market.

Remember, adding $5 in parts/labor/tooling doesn't increase the end cost to the consumer by only $5. For a box such as this, we sweat pennies.

All points taken - but in the end, it still results in me not being much interested. Which I would've been otherwise.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Fwiw, this thread reminded me to go play the express. So really put some time in with it last night. It really does sound great. I even used the usb port straight in so it was my interface. It did pretty good overall. I noticed a few digital artifacts (almost like a weird scratchy feedback delay) but jiggering with buffer size seemed to help. Latency is doable. But I'd be more likely to just go analog out of the express into my Motu. A more solid and predictable scenario for me.

 

[Digital Igloo]

All points taken - but in the end, it still results in me not being much interested. Which I would've been otherwise.

It's the 80/20 rule. If we target the needs of the last 20% (and you, my friend, are comfortably in that bracket, not that there's anything wrong with that), we end up pricing out the 80%.

 

[Sascha Franck]

It's the 80/20 rule. If we target the needs of the last 20% (and you, my friend, are comfortably in that bracket, not that there's anything wrong with that), we end up pricing out the 80%.

I'm perfectly aware of that, too.

However, in this case, I think USB bus power would be applauded by many folks. Not sure about it to become the tipping point of whether they'd buy the thing or not, though.

 

[Digital Igloo]

I'm perfectly aware of that, too.

However, in this case, I think USB bus power would be applauded by many folks. Not sure about it to become the tipping point of whether they'd buy the thing or not, though.

Oh, we looked at it. Unfortunately, it would've tipped us over the line, cost-wise.