An Answer for an Old Question

A while back, we had a discussion over which amp simulator was considered top of the line. Was the Pod from Line 6 truly the best of them all? Or did the offerings from Behringer (the V-amp) and Johnson Amplification (the J-Station) hold their own? The results from that discussion were inconclusive.

The other day, I got a chance to sit down and play with quite a few of the features of the 3 devices.

As for its performance, I was extremely pleased with the overall sounds and quality that it produced. Everything was clean, clear, and crisp sounding.

The built in effects were: 2 choruses, 2 flangers, tremolo, compressor, delay, rotary speaker, delay/compressor, delay/tremolo, 2 delays w/ chorus, 2 delays w/ flanger, and a delay w/ a swell. These effects were crisp and clear, with the quality level very high. Not extremely editable from the device itself, but the sounds are good enough that I doubt you will be complaining about this. Reverb is not put in with the other effects, well why not you might be wondering, because it was important enough to the amp simulations that they gave it its' very own knob built on the interface.

Up next is the amp simulation for the Pod. This is where the device excels and is the entire reason for its' purchase. Initially, it appears that there are only 16 simulations, but upon closer inspection there is a "tap" button that allows access to the additional 16. All of these sounds are extremely good. I was not disappointed by these sounds at all. The simulations allow for a full body sound, with no amp, and at a volume the neighbors can tolerate.

With the price tag associated with the Line 6 name, you will end up paying some money for their equipment, but you will not be disappointed at all. I did not have the chance to play with the software, the floorboard, or anything else connected to it via MIDI, so I know that I did not get a complete look at its' potential.

The J-Station sounded crisp and clear on everything, but it did not quite have as full of a tone as the Pod. Editing was quite easy on it; I was able to edit the sounds of the amps and cabinets without any real effort. One feature that this one had that the Pod was lacking on was that it has both Cabinet models and Amp models. All of these can be mixed. This shows some real flexibility and potential for the creative artist looking for just the right sound (though emulations are just tones and sounds, so check the numbers for the combined total for the J-Station, its' pretty much right on with the Pod overall).

As for the effects, the J-Station featured a full line of effects to its components as well. Including: compressor, wah, noise gate, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, rotary speaker, auto-wah, pitch shifter, 4 different delays, and 13 types of reverb. All that said, the J-Station has a considerable amount of effects, comparable to that of some studio type rack mount systems. These sounds were all done in high quality 24-bit digital and they sound every bit of it. Up to six effects can be layered on top of any amp simulation. Neat feature, though I seriously doubt I will ever use that many effects at one time.

With the price being half of what you will pay for a Pod, the J-Station is a very realistic alternative if you cannot quite shell out that kind of money. Again, I was not able to try this one with the pedal board or the editing software. So I can only speak for the features accessible straight from the machine itself.

The V-amp packed quite the sound considering its $129 price tag. Again, we have all the sounds being crisp and clean. Definitely done at 24-bit digital. I was a little bummed out that this one did not come with editing software. This would have put it more in league with the other two products. Guess that is why they are able to sell this one under the price of the J-Station. However, they are the only company to include the storage bag and the footswitch.

For effects, the V-amp comes loaded with a set closely matching the J-Station. Included with the V-amp are: flanger, chorus, tremolo, rotary speaker, echo, delay, auto-wah, compressor, 2 comps w/ delay, chorus w/ delay, 2 flangers w/ delay, phaser w/ delay, and a ping pong delay. Reverb was given its own knob on this one as well. The added control here does help out with the sound balancing. Effects can be layered, but I am not sure how many will stack, though I would not be surprised if it is similar to the J-Station (I am guessing around 5 or 6 sounds).

The quality of the cabinet and amp models were very much on par with the J-Station, though they did not quite sound as good as the Pod. Tone was well rounded and for the money, it is definitely a bargain.

Conclusion

I know I did not go into great detail on the cabinet modeling. The reason why being that if you are just looking to achieve the more vintage sounds and the staples of the music industry, all three offer exactly what you are looking for. The Marshall cabinets are there, so are the Fenders, the old Vox amps, etc. Each of the devices allows for 3 band EQ of your cabinets/amps, and for tweaking of the effects.

Overall, the Pod is the winner. If you can afford to put down the money, you will be completely satisfied. Though if you are strapped for cash and need something for the direct recording, the J-Station and V-amp do not disappoint. They run at half the cost (less than half for the Behringer) and accomplish the exact same goals, to provide artists with solid machines for improving the quality of their direct recordings and making your guitar sound as if it is being played at full blast out of a giant stack. What it all comes down to is your preference and money situation.

Behringer website

Behringer V-AMP

Johnson Amplification website

Johnson J-Station Modeling Pre-amp

Line 6 website

Line 6 POD 2.0 Recording Amp