2 posts tagged “guitar”

Line 6 has just released the Pocket Pod for guitar. The pocket Pod is a pocket sized guitar effects processor and headphone amplifier. Completely portable and compact, it is ready for anything you can throw at it! It also comes with over 300 presets from artists all over the map, Including; Steve Pedulla - Thursday, Randy Torres - Project 86, Bumblefoot, John Lefler - Dashboard Confessional, Tim Wheeler - Ash, Nick Hipa - As I Lay Dying, Phil Sgrosso - As I Lay Dying, Jim Ward - Sparta, Keeley Davis - Sparta, Matt Scannell - Vertical Horizon, John Z - Volto, Tim Mahoney - 311, Marcos Curiel - P.O.D., Bjorn Agren - Razorlight, Dan Estrin - Hoobastank, JT Woodruff - Hawthorne Heights, Jim McGorman - Hawthorne Heights, Joel Stroetzel - Killswitch Engage, James Valentine - Maroon 5 to name a few.

Going back two decades or so, the original Rockman headphone amplifier is where the guitar headphone amplifier started. They were flexible and powerful enough to drive your amplifiers without needing any external effects. You literally could plug into the house PA and do your show. No need for a guitar stack! Many bands utilized the Rockman, which is evident in the sound of the band Boston (they had several hit singles including "More than a Feeling") The inventor and lead guitarist of Boston (Tom Scholz) perfected the Rockman (sadly, their lead singer Brad Delp recently passed on)

The Line 6 Pocket Pod takes the original Rockman into the next generation. It weighs in at about 6 ounces, and is slightly a little larger than a guitar tuner. ( it also has a built in tuner!)

It runs off 4 AAA batteries, or an optional 9 volt AC Adapter can be used. The Pocket Pod includes a USB port for uploading and downloading your own custom sounds. The sounds can be managed from your PC. You can create your own sound libraries using a software program called Vyzex. With the free included software, you can edit and deep dive into all the sounds to customize them. Then upload them to your pc again. The Pocket Pod also has preset sounds for Bass and Vocals.

If you're curious to the types of amplifiers and cabinets that the Pocket Pod has, think again! It's all in your pocket! The cable connections include:

1 USB mini to USB - (cable included) to the USB port on the PC
1/8" headphone/line out - for headphones, or to another amplifier
1/8" stereo in (ipod, cd player etc.) for playing along with the music
1/4" guitar input - or anything that uses a 1\4" mono jack
1/4" mono output - to the amplifier, recording console, or another effects unit
Belt loop hook
9volt AC adapter jack (ac adapter not included)

The Pocket Pod has a LED display and a mini selector switch to select the presets based on a Band type, a music style, or your own creations. Once you havbe selected the preset type, you can then edit and adjust it further.

There are four rotary controls tha double in their functions:
Drive\Bass, Effects\Mid, Delay\Treble, Chan Vol\Reverb

There is a Save button, as well as a Reverb Tap Button\Tuner button. These double as additional settings and options for cabinet selection and uploading and downloading to and from the PC. Unfortunately, it does not support recording signals through the USB. Additional Presets (over 5000) can be downloaded from customtone

Price (MSRP)	$179.95 US
Website	http://line6.com/pocketpod/index.html
Rating	4\5
Comments	Nice and portable, great sounds and many to choose from. Cannot record through USB to PC.

Finally, a portable recording solution that integrates into your everyday life without any extra gadgets or power supplies and cables! For the commuter, the public transit user, or the “quick…record it before I forget it” like me, the XtremeMac Ipod recorder is a welcomed innovation! Can you tell I love it? even before I’ve used it? Not at all obvious!

The recorder plugs into the bottom of the ipod (with video, and nano 2G) and seamlessly integrates with it. It has a built in speaker, as well as a standard 1/8” mini (3.5mm) stereo jack. Included is a flexible mini goose neck type microphone that can be detached from the unit. You may choose to use a line in signal from your computer sound card, or from any other low level input source. There is a line and mic input selector switch to handle the impedance and input levels. You may also purchase a lapel microphone, or use a different condenser microphone. I find it especially useful for recording a band, my lyrics or memo’s. The included mic can be easily propped up and ready to record anything.

The included microphone records in mono with two quality settings;

                                              

                                                                Low Quality                              High Quality
Bit Rate                                                     352 kb/s                                  1411 kb/s
Sample Rate                                             22 .05kHz                                 44 .10kHz
Recording Times 1min\1hour(MB)               2.6\156                                     10.3\618
Recording Capacity (Hours)30\60\80Gb      192\384\512                               48\98\129
File Format                                                                          WAV
Ipod Versions                                                             Video and nano 2G.

To record with a mic in stereo, you will require a separate powered microphone. The built in line in will accept stereo recordings from your computer however. Your recordings will be saved as voice memos on your ipod and will automatically be imported into itunes on your next synch. The controls are adapted to use your ipod’s menu and selector wheel to start, play pause and delete the recordings.

Retail price(USD) $59.95 MSRP
Manufacturer’s website

Comments: Great innovation! Solid construction, great gadget for musicians, writers, memos. I wish it could record in stereo through the mic.