Hey everyone,

I had the fortune of having both a POD X3 Live and an XT Live once before in my life, and at that time I chose to keep the X3 live.  The reason why was because of the amount of amplifiers it had, and at the time when I compared the two I figured the X3 sounded better.  I was careful to dial in exact amp settings in both units and I found the X3 sounded better.  There is a lot of writing on the net about an "improved processor" in the X3, so I figured that supported my tweaking tests.

Flash forward to now...I had sold my X3 when I needed money, and had picked up a XT Live later as a replacement.  I just bought the extra model packs recently, which has renewed my interest in it again.   I have been enjoying it, but I always had that nagging feeling about  missing some sonic clarity when compared to the X3.  So, I rented a second-hand X3 from my local Long and McQuade in thinking I might want to trade the XTL in for the X3.

I could hear no difference between the two models this time.  I am confused!?   Once again, I was careful to dial in the exact amp models and settings on both units and then went back and forth between them.  I started to wonder if there actually was a difference between the two processors?

It mentions here that the XT uses a 24-bit processor, just like the X3:

http://line6.com/support/docs/DOC-3751

Also, in the Accolades section on the Line 6 site, it mentions a quote:

"...the PodXT leaves the original Pod in a trail of digital dust in terms of its sound, editing capabilities, and interface. The PodXT is a complete top-to-bottom redesign that takes advantage of 32-bit floating-point processing and offers a host of useful new features."

Jon Chappell, Electronic Musician, October 2003

I now understand that both the X3 and the XTL uses 32-bit floating-point processing.  They both seem to have the same specs. 

So is this idea of the X3 having a finer quality of sound really just a myth?  The obvious improvements on the X3L are the dual-tone function, improved in/outs, bass modeling, mic modelling, etc,... 

But, when it comes to the guitar amp models, I can't hear a difference...both the X3 and the XT appear to me to use the same modeling quality and fidelity.

Does anyone have any other information that I may be missing?