geeker Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 "Effective January 1, 2014, Line 6 will cease live technical support of the Legacy products listed below. Technical support for these Legacy products will be available starting January 1, 2014 via telephone at a charge of $19.99 per call, or via email at $9.99 per incident. These support products can be purchased from http://line6.com/store/. Legacy Products POD X3 family POD XT family Variax LowDown family Vetta II GuitarPort TonePort family BackTrack X2 Digital Wireless Products Riffworks Line 6 Edition GearBox Spider I/II/III AX2/AxSys Flextone I/II/III/Duoverb/HD147 POD Pro Bass POD/Bass PODxt family Studio Modelers/AM4 Floorboard/FB4/FBV4" Guess Line 6 is hard up for money and/or just following industry trends. Hope they don't get rid of the support forms...... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrybacki Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Honestly, this is why I can't see myself buying a $1000 DT25 amp. I already bought an HD500 that was $500, and is now supplanted by the 500x. I have a JTV59 Variax that I got for $1000 on a scratch and dent deal. I love what these things can do, don't get me wrong, but I gotta wonder about the shelf life of my digital gear and the support I can expect after the sale. The ONLY reason I got the Variax is because it does all it does, and even if the digital part takes a dump onbe day, it is still a Les Paul style humbucking guitar worth playing.By way of comparison, I also have a Deluxe Reverb amp that was originally designed in 1963 that is still viable today, along with several high quality stomp boxes and American made Strats and Teles that will last me the rest of my life, then they will last my grandson the rest of HIS life. That is true value in my book. Please don't anyone think I am hating on Line6 here, because I am not. I love the stuff they make because it let's me do cool stuff. But so does my Droid RAZR MAXX HD which is now going obsolete, as is my tablet, computer and every other piece of digital gear I have. It is the nature of these digital playthings that they will continue to evolve and make what you have now worthless within the lifespan of a fruit fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealZap Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 The items are still viable and fixable once this takes effect. This is just limiting the free support available and acknowledging that no future software support will be added (which we already knew in 100% of the cases here anyway). Is not stating that they will no longer carry parts or support service centers. it's been quite a few years since even the newest items in this list were released... i believe the x3 was released in 2004. (correction=2007) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Hope they don't get rid of the support forms...... Well, technically they did that a long time ago. They no longer use the forums for support, really. They're simply called "user forums". People do get questions answered here. Regarding the original topic, I imagine that the numbers of calls that Line 6 received about these was rather low, anyway. Most of these have been discontinued for quite a while now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 i believe the x3 was released in 2004. It's not quite that old... 2007, if I remember correctly. The XT was the end of 2002, I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealZap Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 right you are... September 2007: http://line6.com/press/releases/609 It's not quite that old... 2007, if I remember correctly. The XT was the end of 2002, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverhead Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 .... It is the nature of these digital playthings that they will continue to evolve and make what you have now worthless within the lifespan of a fruit fly. I agree with the first half of that.... digital technology evolves very quickly, in all sectors - not just DSP and guitar/amp/FX modelers. I can always get a better computer for the same money three months from now, whenever 'now' is. However, the computer I buy today will still work when the new one is released. And it will still do what it could do when I bought it, and I will still get updates for several years until the manufacturer stops supporting the given OS. The same is true of your HD500. It didn't suddenly stop working when the HD500x was released; it still does as much or more as it did when you bought it. Some day relatively soon (we're talking a year or three, not decades, since it's already several years old.) the Pod HD series will also become obsolete in the sense that there will be something better from Line 6. |And several years after that the HD will get the same end-of-life-cycle support treatment that the above products are now getting. However, My Pod X3 Live is still a great device. It's not at all worthless, it still does what it's always done, and I've had it much, much longer than my fruit flies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrybacki Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I agree with the first half of that.... digital technology evolves very quickly, in all sectors - not just DSP and guitar/amp/FX modelers. I can always get a better computer for the same money three months from now, whenever 'now' is. However, My Pod X3 Live is still a great device. It's not at all worthless, it still does what it's always done, and I've had it much, much longer than my fruit flies. No, I do understand that my friend...however, we all live i n a time when replacing something is cheaper than repairing it anyway. Your X3 may well last into your grandkids lifetime. Heck, I still have a Vox Tonelab table top model I love the sound of. I get what you're saying. But think too about something like a guitar as complicated as the Variax that goes out of support and then tanks...wow, don't even want to think about that. In the end, when we go digital in anything, we take our chances on obsolescence and a lack of support if it DOES go bad. That is my only point here. The good news is that given all our Line6 gear does, the bang for buck is still amazing, and I had to spend $1500 every 4-5 years to maintain that, I could live with that. Re: the HD500...the only thing that makes me a little concerned is this; The newer HD500x does have a more powerful DSP chip, and that could conceivably mean they will develop things that work on the 500x, but not the 500. I ain't laying awake nights worrying over this mind you, but it is the reality of things and I accepted that when I bought my gear. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeker Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 I am thankful that I didn't get the HD 500. Nor will I get the HD 500x and just wait for the next generation of guitar amp sim/effect units to come out. I still have my XT Live, two X3 Lives, M-13, Pocket POD, HD 400, Variax 600, GX, Gearbox softaware and POD Farm 2.5........ All these items still work great and still sound great..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrybacki Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I am thankful that I didn't get the HD 500. Nor will I get the HD 500x and just wait for the next generation of guitar amp sim/effect units to come out. I still have my XT Live, two X3 Lives, M-13, Pocket POD, HD 400, Variax 600, GX, Gearbox softaware and POD Farm 2.5........ All these items still work great and still sound great..... Bit of a fan are we? :lol: I just sold off my PODXT as being redundant...got $125 for it, so I can't complain ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeker Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Thinking about selling off my XT Live also.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonbrandi706 Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 How much is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innovine Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 However, the computer I buy today will still work when the new one is released.This is only partially true. Manufacturers know for example to two decimal places what percentage of hard disks will fail for each month of the prodwcts life. Ie, the statistics are there to say that after 30 months, only 97.25% of these hard disks will still be functioning.Every time a component lasts longer than its planned lifetime , its been overengineered, and a more cost effective solution exists. In an ever-increasingly competitive tech market where the main differentiator is cost, shaving a few more months off your product life is directly measurable in supply chain cost reduction which translates to shavings from the price. It's difficult for businesses to create hardware that does not fall into this trap as the nwmber of units sold rises. Only niche markets buy quality products that are engineered to last. The bulk of the profit, ie the big money, exists with cheaply made mass produced disposable devices, and that is where shareholder demands steer the business to. That is what will happen now as yamaha take over and push them into more mainstream product development. Go capitalism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inerzia Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 That is what will happen now as yamaha take over and push them into more mainstream product development. Go capitalism. Maybe you don't know Yamaha that well. I'm not gonna compare digital modeling to a C5 concert grand piano in terms of expected lifespan, but, do you have any idea how many working DX7s are still out there? Fv<k capitalism, and fv<k programmed obsolescence. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron__aardvark Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Capitalism may suck, but communism sucks much worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob1474 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 There is no perfect Government. Capitalism allows the innovation to have the gear we are discussing now in the first place. Haven't seem any gear like this coming out of a communist country, have you ,Comrad? (all in fun) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeker Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 There is no perfect Government. Capitalism allows the innovation to have the gear we are discussing now in the first place. Haven't seem any gear like this coming out of a communist country, have you ,Comrad? (all in fun) I saw some really cool tubed power mixers when I was checking out a music store in East Berlin back in the day.... the guitars sucked..... and they wouldn't let me try anything out.... cheep in price too... $1.00 = 3.20 West German DM..... 1 West German DM got you 10 East German DM..... I was a rich man for a few minutes.... LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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