Floor POD Plus Review

Floor POD Plus unites the timeless sounds from POD 2.0 with a greatly expanded set of premium effects. This slick, road-ready package gives you 32 amp models, 16 classic cabs, 16 modulation effects (including chorus, flanger, and tremolo), 6 delay models, and 2 different types of reverb -- all with ultimate tweakability. Now, with Floor POD Plus it’s easier than ever to create your own custom signature sound and bring it to the stage with time to spare.

Ease of Use:	7.5
Sound:	8
Reliability:	8.5
Impression:	8.5
Overall rating:	8.1
Users rating:	8.3
Comments:	23

overall: 7.8

Featured review by: UG Team, on may 09, 2007

Ease of Use: Line 6's Floor POD Plus is firmly entrenched in the "Guitar Effects For Dummies" vein; even if you have no idea what is going on, you can twiddle knobs until you get a tone you like. There is a knob to select amp model, one to select effect, and several others for compression, delay, noise gate, and reverb. The knobs are carefully laid out to give the user a maximum of tone-shaping capability with a minimum of confusion.

There are also several footswitches: one for Bank Up and Bank Down, then one each for presets A, B, C, D from each bank. This layout is far preferable to a simple Up/Down, as you have four tones immediately available with one touch. There is a Tap button to set delay time (a very useful feature), and a treadle on the right that can be used for volume or wah. There is even a built-in tuner -- Line 6 designed the Floor POD Plus so that you would not need any external gear at all. // 8

Sound: The electronics and models are essentially lifted from the older "kidney bean" version of the POD. The requisite Fender, Marshall, Vox and Mesa models are all present, as well as some less-popular but very cool choices like Dumble, Soldano, Budda and Matchless. High-end tone connoisseurs should recognize these names as among the vanguard of hand-assembled amps. Overall, I felt the Floor POD Plus lacked realism in a way that is difficult to describe. Listen to the sound clips for examples; I recorded them all with a Washburn Dime 333, loaded with a Seymour Duncan JB, direct into my computer. There is a lack of roominess or woodiness, very difficult to capture but essential for realistic tones. The feel of it is pretty compressed also. The response of this unit is different from the amps it mimics, something you will notice when you plug into it. // 7

Reliability & Durability: The POD is a tried-and-true design, one of the reasons Line 6 has stuck with it and modified it for many years rather than starting from scratch. The Floor POD Plus, while a brand-new product, seems well-put together and sturdy. The switches seem a little flimsy to me, but I have not heard of any problems with any facet of the pedal as yet. // 8

Impression: The Floor POD Plus is not designed for someone who needs a giant rack full of gear, tube amps and 4x12 cabinets for days to get the tone they like. This pedal is designed to have a wide variety of tones available for three purposes: silent recording, low-volume practice and playing direct through a PA. Part of the reason for Line 6's success is that is does all these things admirably. Not as well as plugging into the real amps, but far cheaper and simpler. I wouldn't have a unit like this as my main tone, but it would be great for a backup in case I have amp trouble at a gig. // 8

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: oliverkontis, on august 20, 2007

Purchased from: TMC

Ease of Use: The New Floor POD Plus is an exeptional piece of engineering, that may look like a hi-tech piece of equipment for professionals when recording, but with a reasonably detailed manual it soon becomes an easy to use 'Jam-Machine'. There are a huge range of amp and cabinet models to choose from along with 120 presets with also 120 spaces to fill in your own custom settings, the Floor POD Plus really is something special, an easy to use package for beginers or experts just hoping to improve. // 7

Sound: POD is recognized throughout the world as the way to get authentic amp tones and effects in a small package. The newest addition to the legendary POD line, Floor POD Plus unites the timeless sounds from POD 2.0 with a greatly expanded set of premium effects. This slick, road-ready package gives you 32 amp models, 16 classic cabs, 16 modulation effects (including chorus, flanger, and tremolo), 6 delay models, and 2 different types of reverb- all with ultimate tweakability. Now, with Floor POD Plus it’s easier than ever to create your own custom signature sound and bring it to the stage with time to spare, within minutes you can create the sound you've always wanted to but haven't been able to without having to spend hundreds of pounds on multiple FX pedals. I play through the Floor POD Plus using an Ibanez JS100 or an Epiphone Special II. The multiple effects that are achievable with both guitars in multiple tunings are beyond belief, with mostly strong effects and many settings from other line6 amp effects like: hi-gain, Line6 Insane, Line6 Crunch, Line6 Clean, Tweed Blues and the line6 classic Fuzz Box. It is easy to create sounds from your favourite artists, wheather you prefer bands like the beatles, and Fall Out Boy, or bands like Atreyu And Silverstein. Many Sounds are similar to a normal amp with no effects, but effects like Obi-Wah and Swell give a very un orthodox 'Floaty' feeling to a chord, so the Floor POD Plus really can provide the sound that you've been looking for! // 9

Reliability & Durability: The Floor POD Plus is a very durable piece of equipment that I have owned for many months now and have had no problem with whatsoever. I would hope that it would still work as well as the day that I got it and give the same great sound for many years to come. I Would definately use this in gigs etc as I wouldn't expect a sudden loss of sound from the Floor POD Plus. // 9

Impression: I play a mixture of music, I play many 'chordy' songs aswell as heavy songs, but I am also keen on experimenting with new effects and sounds. I have been playing for roughly two and a half years and have not come across another piece of equipment with such a mixture of new developed sound and old classic settings such as Fuzz Box and Crunch. I Would definately buy the Floor POD Plus again if it was stolen or lost because of the many features I love about it e.g Treadplate, Obi-Wah and the six different delay settings. This product is defiately a huge step up from the Floor POD and The POD 2.0 and The Floor POD Plus has really set the bar for any new effect systems. // 9

Comments

[papersun87]

A buddy of mine actually plays this through his acoustic, but he really doesn't use many of the effects on it except flange and light distortion periodically. It doesn't sound bad, just a little digitally.

[U.P]

those sound samples are really low quality. Maybe it'll sound better if you dont compress it so much.

[U.P]

im kinda surprise, i expected the POD to be better.

[whitebluesboy]

How is this different than the POD XT Live?

[thoraxe]

whitebluesboy wrote:

How is this different than the POD XT Live?

it doesnt have as many amp models and effects

[RX120D]

i find line 6 sounds too digital and has no original sounds, they just copy other brands

[jumpmanhat]

i agreeeee

[Edgar_guitarguy]

i'd like a description of korg ax3000g cause i'm noy sure to buy it or not

[Edgar_guitarguy]

i'd like a description of korg ax3000g cause i'm not sure to buy it or not

[ibanez_2892]

line 6 rocks and so does the POD

[webbtje]

of course they copy other brands, it's their job. how well they do it is another matter, and whether they do it well or not is gonna determine if i'm going to buy one of these.

[bettiefan]

U.P wrote:

those sound samples are really low quality. Maybe it'll sound better if you dont compress it so much.

Just to clarify: I recorded the sound samples direct from the POD into my computer, so you're not hearing any coloration from an amp/cabinet, microphone, or anything else.

The sound is, indeed, pretty compressed, but I only added a little bit after I recorded to smooth the peaks and bring up the overall level. The bulk of the compression you're hearing is from the POD itself--I used the factory presets for all three sound samples. Thanks for reading!

[cyclefreak207]

question for anyone out there who has it or has used it, can you just plug it straight into your amp, and it sounds good, and also to plug into your computer, do you have to have a midi controller already or is there some sort of usb device?? P.M. me, thanks

[GitterMan]

thoraxe wrote:

whitebluesboy wrote:

How is this different than the POD XT Live?
it doesnt have as many amp models and effects

It also dosnt have usb either which makes better if you are a nice pre into your computer.

[GitterMan]

RX120D wrote:

i find line 6 sounds too digital and has no original sounds, they just copy other brands

Line6 was the 1st their not copying anyone except for the amps. But they were the 1st back in 98 then every buddy else jumped on board.

[GitterMan]

Their is no midi controller or usb just left and right 1/4 out. I have not heard the clips, but I use mine for 3 things. I split the signal between my mesa and peavey to run in stereo although it sounds more like dual mono. To me it sounds really good through 2 tube amps seems to remove that solid state feel. It also works as a back up if I loose an amp. I have an ass load of new pedals & vintage pedals but this supplements amp sounds I dont have and pedals that dont exist plus you have the option of turning off your amp model and play through your amps using just the effects in my case 2 amps. cool feature. As far as recording it all depends on card or break out box. The better the mic pre the better a pod or your amp will sound I use an echo mia fairly cheap $199 when I bought mine they have come down now, M-audio has some cheap break out box's. Point being Guitar World didnt give it a gold or platinum award cause it sucks it does what it made to and does it well if you take the time to play with it. Like I said I have all the pedals I need, this gives me amps if I want them and effects with out all the noise. The korg sounds good and so does the vox and zoom if you want to hear digital try the digitech.line6 is the original and still the best if you want to run it through a computer go with the xt run through an amp go with the plus and record via mic or line out. Love mine and yes I played them all I worked @ GC

[megwarrior]

it's good but it could be much better ... there is no PITCH SHIFTER. I need it so badly. Zoom GFX707 has PITCH SHIFTER, drum-machine, sampler ... it cost me 50$ and i think gear which cost 200$ shouldn't be less "equipped" with effects than cheaper multieffects.
The sound isn't that bad. It's good and sometimes it fits me perfectly. BUT I NEED PITCH SHIFTER :P ...
The Line6 should make a Floor POD Puls PLUS with some missing effects.

[Poolar]

Ive recently recieved the floor pod plus and ive been trying to play it threw my line 6 spider 3 amp and i cant seem to be able to switch from clean to distorted by just using a footswitch, i also have to change the channels on my amp such as (clean to insane)is there a way around this or is this just not compatable with other line 6 amps for some reson? help me

[lespaul#1]

I don't think Line 6 pedals work with the Spider, on the Floor Pod review, I think somebody adressed this.

[neovive]

I also had this experience when I plugged in my 30 watts Spider, the floorpod amp models sounds bad and very dry. At first I thought it was my guitar, but when I plugged directly to my PA system it sounds great.Also when I plugged direct to my presounus inspire interface and do some records it sounds great and not too noisy. I need to try with some other amps like marshall or vox if its the same... anyone there tried before?

[neovive]

Yes, I have tried it with a Marshall AVT150HXT and the sound was nice, the modulation effect I find is ok.

[Eternal_Heart]

How does the distortion sounds on this pod?

[justinskate123]

Yeah I just bought this pedal a few days ago and I tried to play it through my Line 6 Spider 3 15-watt, and the distortion sounds awful. I get a really strange hum, and the noise gate doesn't seem to block it out... I really don't think the floor pod is compatible with the Line 6 amps for some reason .... strange since its the same company.