Have digital amp and effects improved drastically since my pod 2.0

[yul]

Hi,

Question is in terms of fidelity, resolution and quality.

Pod 2.0 I got for cheap and sounds really good but wonder what would a reasonable and recent upgrade would be like?

[zerocrossing]

Yeah, it’s come a really long way since then. What do you consider “reasonable?’

[(blacklight)]

I’d say it’s come on a huge way. Are you still thinking multi effects units or are there key effects amps you keep going back to?

If you are looking for suggestions/alternatives I had a Two Notes Cab M Plus that was a huge amount of fun and flexibility but it just emulated the speaker with other speaker/cab emulations available to buy or import IR’s (it had a 1x pre-amp based on a Fender introduced in the firmware too so you could go straight into it from your pedal board) it had a few onboard effects like compression & reverb but would really rely on any pedals driving it if you are after distorted tones.

[Daimonicon]

Pod and most ampsims suffered from bad cabs. You can still use a pod and get a decent sound if you just turn off the cab and use cab impulses instead.

[Burillo]

Pod and most ampsims suffered from bad cabs. You can still use a pod and get a decent sound if you just turn off the cab and use cab impulses instead.

agreed. this is the bane of most amp sims, really. for example, i got a NUX MG-300 recently, and the amps don't really sound better than the POD 2.0, but add OwnHammer IR and they're quite usable! but that's as far as cheap hardware modelers go, if you go pure software, a large number of (cheap or free) amp sims will leave POD in the dust without even trying, and i don't think there's even a need to mention more expensive hardware modelers (Helix, Kemper, etc.).

[yul]

Hey guys thanks for your responses!

Yes I am looking for suggestions in the lower end of the price spectrum (I saw some stuff over 1K$ etc at that point I might get a real amp and pedals.)

So yes, amp + effects (like what the POD 2.0 did) would be much appreciated!
I know a lot of stuff gets done on the PC but I would want external..

If you are looking for suggestions/alternatives I had a Two Notes Cab M Plus

Thanks for that blacklight!

Cheers

[(blacklight)]

You are welcome, from someone who has spent too much money on guitar VST’s that make a range of promises about sounding authentic/no or low latency - the Two Notes route was the best sounding and most flexible. Their licence includes a plug in so if you record from the Cab M dry if you like (without a cabinet) and chose different cabs to process in the plug-in (various miking & multiples of cabs at one time too)

[BlueOysterCult]

My personal opinion, yes, by a lot. I never found POD's too good in first place to be honest.

[an-electric-heart]

I bought a Zoom G5 recently, It's quite good actually. I also have a Pod HD300. I wouldn't record with anything like that (on my records I use Amplitube), but I think things like that are fine for live.
I'm really really impressed with the amp sims these guys make, they seem to have sales fairly frequently, so I'm going to start collecting them up. I'd like 'Roots' and the Mesa Boogie one.
https://ml-sound-lab.com/collections/amp-sims

[Jbj591]

Not even in the same universe! the helix, kemper, axeFX are all marvels in modeling technology

[jens]

Even back then the POD was mediocre, I think - back then the J-Station pissed all over the POD...
so that's a bit like asking "are cars faster than a VW Beetle these days?"

[Qkimat]

I got Hotone Ampero One not long ago. Honestly, I didn't have a chance to really dive deep into making tones. I dialed in one of the available amps, put a couple of cab IRs in there, and stuck with this tone ever since. I'm very satisfied with the tone.
Another amazing option, if you're not that I to effects (just amps), is the Mooer Preamp Live. Tone for days. I might switch from Ampero to that, as I like twisting physical knobs, and don't use effects. Ampero has a big, nice touchscreen, and it helps making more complex patches.

[Wormhelmet]

I got a Hotone Ampero also. I have a Mooer Preamp Live to ($400 new) but it doesn’t have effects except boosts, cab sims, power amp modeling. I use the Mooer Preamp Live paired with a Line 6 HX Effects.

For an all in one unit though, the Ampero has a lot of features, small footprint, and easy to take to jam with others along with a 12” PA speaker. It’s my travel rig.

Some other competition directly to the Ampero ($400-500 depending where you buy) would be the NUX MG30 ($300), Mooer GE250 ($500 approx) or GE200 ($250-$300 approx), Line 6 POD Go ($479), a little more money would get you a Line 6 Helix Stomp ($599) Mooer GE300 ($699)

Those prices may vary and the GE200 is used prices. There might be others like the Amplifire, Headrush Gigboard, etc

I think these all sound pretty decent for the price.

[zerocrossing]

Hey guys thanks for your responses!

Yes I am looking for suggestions in the lower end of the price spectrum (I saw some stuff over 1K$ etc at that point I might get a real amp and pedals.)

So yes, amp + effects (like what the POD 2.0 did) would be much appreciated!
I know a lot of stuff gets done on the PC but I would want external..

If you are looking for suggestions/alternatives I had a Two Notes Cab M Plus

Thanks for that blacklight!

Cheers

In all honesty, you can’t buy much amp and pedal for $1000. For lower end amp modeling, I think I’d go for a Strymon Iridium.

[kvotchin]

Used, you can pick up a really nice tube amp plus some pedals for under $1000 total, easy.

New... yeah, okay. Harder to do.

Oh, and re: amp/cab modelling, yes - it’s come a fair way since the days when PODs where ubiquitous.