Best non-guitar amp for live direct use and POD XTL

[Thor Von Clemson]

Ok, so it was not my best thread title but here goes.

In light of my recent discovery, I have.. well discovered a few things. I like the way my XTL sounds direct much more than through a guitar amp.. maybe it is just my ears. I think someone, in referrance to some powered monitors, said plug your POD into these and hear what it was really made for.

Well I have two great little monitors for home and studio use that are loud and can handle moderate volumes, but I still need to get situated for live use. I have noticed that going direct through a non-guitar amp/cab does not break up the patches as much as going through a guitar cab.

My question is, with $1000-$1200 to spend, what would be the best way for me to re-create what I am hearing but for gig volume.. is it possible or will I inevitably lose some clarity and the like when I turn it up that loud? I cranked my studio monitors (*edit, I got off my butt and found out what kind they are incase anyone is interested. They are M-Audio Studiophile's) and I did not lose a thing. The speakers could not handle it after a while, but the patches did not break up.

Keyboard amp, small PA, what should I do? I have heard keyboard amps work very well for this...

GMS

[IrfaanSE801]

I have no idea if this'll work because I never considered it before, but what about those Bose systems? If I remember correctly, the XTL has an output setting of one of their systems, but I can't remember which one to check how much it is

[fritzreiser]

I just ordered a Traynor K4 Keyboard amp for use with my PODxt Live. I'll let you know how that works out after it arrives on Monday.

Check out the specs for the K4 and K2 amps. They sound like they were made with modelers in mind.

[Thor Von Clemson]

sweet thanks fritz.. I seriously have not been this excited in a long time.. Now if you excuse me, I think i'm going to hurl...

[paige]

I thought that the little crate head, the powerblock or something like that, was made for this exact purpose? I'm not sure but I was thinking of buying that and a 4-12 stereo cabinet for my xtl. maybe some one can chime in and let us know.

[Thor Von Clemson]

Actually, I had a powerblock.. Ended up selling it to our very own Alvin Wilson before I had a chance to see what it could really do.

[khabibissell]

Yeah, the PowerBlock will work too. I have one and use it with my POD XTL sometimes for rehearsals, along with my Mesa Cabinets. It is plenty loud and the Crate is very transparent (When you use the XTL, you can plug directly into the poweramp via the effects return). It sounds great!

That little amp works well on it's own too. Throw an over drive in front of it, and get a stereo to mono cable for loop effects. Its not grail tone by any means, but it is definitely passable. I dime the gain on the PowerBlock and put my Bad Monkey in front for more gain, along with a Boss EQ and Delay in the loop.

[Thor Von Clemson]

I suppose, if the Powerblock is truly transparent, I could run into the back of that but what do I do about a cab? Won't a guitar cab add some coloration to the tone? I have heard that the line 6 cabs were built to not color anything and to strictly re-create tone, as were some behringer cabs...

Wonder if that would work better than a keyboard amp or some powered monitors. I think someone called them full range, flat response speakers (the speakers in the line 6 vetta cabs for example)

[Thor Von Clemson]

now I do not want to go over board here, and I will admit I do not know a lot about wattage, ohms, and the like, but here is my idea.

I could run my xtl into either a carvin dcm150 or dcm600 poweramp ( I assuming they are both stereo so I would run it stereo) and I would run the poweramp to two carvin 1562 speakers. I like the way stereo sounds better so I would want to run two.

Would this be something that would work well? I guess on paper this makes sense to me

[quiksilver]

I got a JBL Eon G2 powered PA speaker/monitor to run my XTL into. It is extremely powerful and relatively easy to cart around. Ideally, I'd like to have 2 of them and spread them apart, but I haven't budgeted for another (yet).

[khabibissell]

Yeah, any "traditional" guitar rig stuff (cabs, power amps, etc...) will color the sound and make it harder to tweak your modeler to get good tones. Not that you can't using that stuff... alot of people hear do it with great results. I just think that if you are not a tweaker (I'm not so I know where you are coming from), then the flat response stuff would be your best bet.

[lhrocker]

I second quiksilver on the JBL Eon or the Mackie power speaker. Lots of power and very good sounding. If you play gigs that have both a house and monitoring system, you can run the pod into a DI and just have the monitor guy send you to your wedge. It works great and then you have no amp to carry.

[jgcable]

I think the best way to power it for clulb use is to go with a nice clean tube power amp. I use a Carvin T100.
Next is cabinets. Run it in stereo with 2 cabinets. Speakers need to be 12". I have had very good results with Celestion V30's and 75's.
If your XTL is breaking up at loud volumes I would suspect you have the levels all screwed up on the XTL. I did the same thing with my GT-6 when I first got it. Once I realized that I had the patch levels and the output levels messed up (some too hot, some not hot enough) the breakup was gone. You also have to be aware of the effects levels. They can also cause your patch to break up at loud volumes.

[fritzreiser]

You also have to be aware of the effects levels. They can also cause your patch to break up at loud volumes.

Excellent point, JG. I think that having the effects turned up too high in a patch is the biggest reason why a modeler would have trouble cutting through the mix.

[jgcable]

Excellent point, JG. I think that having the effects turned up too high in a patch is the biggest reason why a modeler would have trouble cutting through the mix.

That is the main problem players have with modelers. Because there are so many features they tend to use too much at one time. Even a delay that is set too hot can cause breakup. Other suspects are compression, gain on the amp model coupled with gain on the preamp model and too many effects at once.
The GT-6 has a basic tone feature that helps alot. For the XTL live users I would suggest dialing in an amp model dry. Then.. add a cabinet model if you need to. Now.. pick a preamp pedal or model if you need one and gradually add it into the patch. Don't use compression, limiters or effects until you have the basic amp model patch where it needs to be.
The problem is that modeler users will dial up for instance.. a Powerball or a 5150 model. Both of these models have tons of gain and neither need a preamp or stomp box in front, yet the user will add one anyway. They then add compression (because it sounds fatter) and then delay and reverb. Where they go wrong is forgetting to dial down the gain on the amp model if they are adding a preamp or overdrive model to it. They also have the compression too hot and the delay or other effects levels way too hot. Even the improper cabinet model can cause breakup at loud volumes.
The easiest way to correct this is to find a factory patch that doesn't break up at any volume and compare the factory settings to your own.
Also.. joining groups such as the Line 6 forum or The Institute of Noise will help alot. There are many users on those sites who REALLY have using the modeling amp down to a science. Its a fairly steep learning curve but once you figure out how it works its fairly easy. I can build a killer patch on either my GT-6 or my Vetta in minutes because I understand exactly how they work and how different parameters effect others in the chain.