grdGo33

Don't let the lack of switches fool you, for the MX5 at least, there appears to be different modes you can set it to, and basically it's the equivalent of PG's snapshot mode; https://youtu.be/_m7o9LbI-xU?t=1977 and again, if there's no Pod Go sound cut off when switching different patches, then you can go from one patch to the other so really you don't need a dozen buttons, you can just setup patches for every sound you need. The drawback to the HR unit seems to be sound quality; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgUE6po_Cyw So the quality of high gain amps might be lower to Go, but, somehow I've read lots of comments of how amazing it sounds so again, who the hell knows... Likely 'good enough' for most, but not as good as others... Even the Helix/Go, some have complained or stated that it didn't sound as good as this or that unit, others have said the opposite, anyway, HR MX5, probably ranks lower than the top dogs. Like everything; YMMV, subjective opinions and all of that. So I don't know... Guess Go is still in the running, switching from Go to another might be more like a side step rather than an upgrade at the moment; all have +/-, so just subjective choice; not like it's clearly inferior to the newer stuff out there.

That's quite the absolute statement! It's a bit funny to hear when you think about how musicians for so long have been gigging with pedalboards and even just simple amps. Are you absolutely certain that it would be impossible to gig with those? ;) But yeah seriously I don't really have an opinion on the matter, I think many would disagree with you as reading comments many do seem to use ex; MX5 for gigs. But yeah, ymmv. Some reviews seriously stated that you wouldn't gig with the Go because its rear is made of plastic. LOL Also, I really doubt that most people buy the Pod Go to do gigs. It would be a really weird choice too. I'd think at least you'd get an Helix LT or something, if you were a pro & did gigs... But what do I know!

Thx, fixed! Added Hotone Ampero which is yet another multi-FX unit, with apparently great user experience (configuring patches). Yep, market is pretty crazy...!

(tried editing above to add but edit bugging out...) Yeah and reading some of the comments on the MX5... (from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vvc5RExeDY) complexity is recurrent complaint seems like. I for sure won't make the switch, I don't think I'll be buying a HR MX5 for now, but damn... Yep... Like the Boss, if it was today, HR is looking mighty attractive too. [edit] But yeah HR MX5 for amps and all, plus PGO maybe for the sweet reverbs like Ganymede and Dynamic Hall (I'm a real sucker for fancy reverbs, and not sure how the MX5's compare), I could actually see this in the future. And cheaper than the Boss too! At ~630, it feels a bit like ~500, which is almost in budget price; kinda feels like budget / throw away money... At 830, 960 with taxes, you're nearly hitting 1000, which is double than 500, it's like a big jump mentally. Like yeah you're spending more serious money. Are you getting 2x as more with the Boss as the MX5? Just a couple hundred bucks, but it just feels different given the price brackets..

Yeah, but to be fair, looking at the prices: - 629 / 719$cdn for Go/GoWireless. - 829$cdn for Boss GX100. So ~30% more than the non-W Go. Add taxes, 960 vs 730, $230 cdn difference after taxes... It's significant, not huge, but Go is still cheaper. Headrush MX5 = 629, so identical, Hr Gigboard = 899. Zoom G6 is 349. Mooer is ~700. Valeton GP200 is ~460 looks like. Hotone Ampero is 370 Haven't looked much into any of these, but as I said, I'd likely check them out and if I had to choose today...... Who knows! Maybe a price drop is also incoming for the Go, or new version or replacement coming up. Would depend on sales and all. The Headrush MX5 looks very cool also. It actually looks closer to what I was describing in amps/mics/ir, effects #, etc. Number of Effects: 63 Effects Types: Distortion, Dynamics, Modulation, Reverb, Delay, FX Loop, Expression Amp Modeling: 46 x Amp Models, 15 x Cabinets, 10 x Microphone Emulations Impulse Response: 300 x IRs, 3rd Party Support I think before owning the Go, the # of amps, effects, etc., were a plus, but after 2 years and my usage... Not even that it's a plus, maybe it's even too much.. Hell, the MX5 has DUAL AMPS AND DUAL CABS ........ !!! It's really a small sexy unit too. Looking at a vid I see something like 9 blocks for effects, maybe its limited by DSP but still, 4 vs 9. 9 > 4. It's FIVE extra. That's more than twice as much as the Go. Ouch.... Touch screen...

Hmm... That sounds pretty good! Yeah also a bit more expensive if you don't go PGO wireless. The snapshots are a bit of a workaround for the Go's issue that the sounds cuts out when you switch patches. Means you can't switch patch mid-song.. But Boss, you don't have that sound cut off, so you can just make 4 patches and it's even better than snapshots, which are more a pain in the butt to edit than regular patches. So it's way more flexible as you can literally go from anything to anything, and 200 patches is plenty... Effects trail carry if both patches contain the same effect if I recall. "Up to 15 simultaneous effect blocks provide unlimited tone possibilities" <-- Go users begging to unlock a 5th block if DSP is available. LOL nd yeah, from the comparisons, maybe it's because newer units are newer, but people tend to go for the newer units rather than the aging Go. Doesn't make it worse than it was ever, just So that L6 has its work cutout for the Go, if it wants it to remain competitive, it would really benefit from improving it as much as possible, because it's apparently getting left behind by its competitors.

And yeah, obviously, I still think the PGo is an INCREDIBLE machine. It's mind-blowing what it can achieve, everything you can do with it, it's relatively cheap price, quality of amps, effects, etc. It's downright amazing and honestly mind-blowing. I really love it. Is it perfect? No. Do I regret the purchase? Obviously not. I'm still amazed with it today. The updates with new effects/amps/etc., just the cherry on top. Really fantastic unit, great product. The above comment has a lot of criticism, but even with the UI, firmware issues and all, highly positive experience, and I haven't regretted my choice for a second. Like minor gripes, which can be solved, ex; using best IR solves the cab/mic/IR issue. You learn 3-4 amps, reverbs, distortion pedals, etc., which takes time, but once you've learned, it's learned, and you definitely don't have to learn ALL the amps, effects, etc., you don't even need to know what all the settings/effects do. You can just use part of it and it's still perfectly fine. I'll likely not 'upgrade', it's really just a passing thought which popped up seeing a vid, which got me curious. But who knows, maybe! ;) :D

An upside to the Go though is that it does have some excellent effects. So even if you were to get a new unit for some reason, there would still be use from the Go as an FX unit; bypassing amp & cab, just using for the fancy reverbs, looper, etc., Competition - Boss GX-100 - Mooer GE300 - Headrush MX-5 - Valeton GP200 - Zoom G6 There's a bunch of also cheaper effects, at 1/2 the price, but even if somehow the sound quality of the cheaper units was great, I think all these lose out in flexibility, like ordering effects, PC software, colour screen, etc. Think I'd have a hard time choosing given the Go's alternatives today. Indeed, two years ago, going Go was the obvious and easy choice as there wasn't that much competition imho. Go's complexity The biggest drawbacks imho to Go is complexity. I'm still not super happy with the cab/mic and IR side. Out of my 100ish IRs, I'm often just scrolling and scrolling and the majority sounds like 'crap' to my ears. They may be imitating real cabs and real mics, but I don't really care, I'd just want 'good sound', I'm not really interested in being 100% accurate to the real thing; I'd just rather have a bunch of great sounding emulated/virtual cabs even if they aren't accurate to existing cabs. In fact, I was wondering if 'optimal' or 'virtual' IRs exist, some do; like mixes of different cabs... I'll definitely have to look into that. Cabs, mics, mics distance, IRs ... 99% of the time I'm messing with Go, I use the Best IR in the world, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI6rovO03DA since yeah obviously it's the best IR in the world! I've not wrapped my head around cabs + mics. The cab + mic + distance is just too much for my brain (memory & understanding), and I can't get a good grasp / ability of thinking of a sound and getting it by tweaking the settings. Too many combinations of mics, cabs, add the distance, the hundreds of cabs and mics combinations, it's just too much for my brain. Do we really need so many cabs and effects? How many different compressors do you need? It's the same for the effects; amps, etc., it takes a long time to really know 1 effect (ex; dynamic hall reverb, or glitz, compressors.), so even after 2 years, I'm really far from being a PGO expert. Hell, Go is too much for my brain. I'd say I'm maybe familiar with ~10%; I'm starting to know some amps, effects, but I've got what, maybe 3 dozen patches I've built up, and maybe 6 dozen downloaded patches, and I'm mostly using the same ~10 favourite patches, which I'm still tweaking.. Who is Go best for? So in the end, maybe the Go is best for musicians, experts who really want 'real life' simulation. For an amateur like myself, maybe a simpler unit would have been best. How many cabs do we need? How many amps? If we had just 12 great amps, even if they're not based on real amps; bit like the Boss Katana or L6 Spider type of logic; 'brown sound', 'crunch', 'metal', etc., with like 12 amazing IRs, that would have been waaaaay better and sufficient for me. Maybe we don't even need cab/IR block in reality, you get some EQ capabilities with amps & EQs, I'd prefer having say 24 amps and no cab/mic block, vs 12 amps + 12 cabs. The 24 amps would be tweaked amp/cabs/ir combinations, so great sounding 'presets' for the genre, vs you having to find which combinations works and doesn't work; so; tweaked presets, vs you having to resolve the puzzle of what works/doesn't... So; someone having done the work to give you great Amp + cab/IR combinations, rather than you having to figure/tweak everything yourself. Do you need a PhD in Pod Go? Not really, Go is simple enough so that anyone can fiddle with it and get basic good sound in just a few minutes. BUT, if you want to extract the most out of the Go, and make it sound it's best, or exactly like you want, it's really not that simple. The devil is in the details. And IMHO, the more complex, the more true, and Go is extremely complex. Pre-conclusion So yeah, imho Go is still a great unit in terms of sound quality, capabilities, etc., still a great option, but yeah I don't really know the competition, which seems somewhat overwhelming/overtaking the Go. Think yeah the go is starting to be a bit underpowered from some of the comparisons I've seen... Hell.. I said I wasn't looking for an upgrade... But thinking, maybe I'll start looking at the details of what's out there. Is tweaking Go fun or work? And honestly, the reason is that PGO feels like work. It's like getting a PhD in PGO. And using the Go 'correctly' is using a bunch complex formulas; it really does feel like work in a sense. You can mess with effects/settings/etc., but it's always frustrating that everything is always so complicated; like a simple thing; a stupid mouseover which explains what a setting is................ Instead... It's having to get on the computer and do a web search for w-t-f a setting does .......... That's not fun.......... And in the end, you're all too often overwhelmed. So... Meh... Future? So yeah, ditching that for a simpler unit honestly feels somewhat exciting. If somehow you're getting improved sound quality, huge bonus, but in the end, since getting the best out of the Go is so complex............. You're going to get better results if the unit is simpler to use. Like the Dynamic Hall......... I've been wrestling with it for a couple of weeks. Sure, I've managed to make it sound good, but it's always like i'm missing the last 10% that I just can't get quite right... Ex; videos demoing sound, the reverb will sound better to my ears on the video than on my Go it seems........! Conclusion So yeah, if getting to the finish line is made easier by having less options/complexity; a simpler unit helping you to get great results without overwhelming you with a gazillion options, that would be best for me. That may be the Go's biggest drawback for myself. It's not the lack of outputs, parallel paths, multiple amps, not enough DSP or blocks, sound cut during patch change, etc., it's just that the thing is a bit of a pain to use due to its complexity. (Not as per switching amp is complicated; but so many amps and so many amp settings, or so many effects and so many nebulous effects settings, etc.)

Looking forward to the next Go update! Lots of cool stuff in the 3.15 helix firmware which PGO 1.4 patch likely would inherit from. But we already got some parts of the 3.15 firmware it appears, like the dynamic hall reverb, is there a sort of readme of what the next Go update might contain?

Wow! Impressive work. It got me thinking that trying to reach someone from L6 might be really beneficial. There really is nothing sensitive about the json patch format imho, and if community tools popped up which allowed to convert helix patches to pod go patches or the such, I'm sure it would be for the benefit of L6; having Go users having access to Helix patches might influence potential buyers to going with Go rather than a competitor. It's even something I'm sure L6 would like to put out; if they had free devs, I'm certain they'd love to offer such tools to their user base. So if community tools might be a thing, maybe L6 could provide some documentation about the 2 formats; helix and go. BTW, there already exists a Helix patch visualizer: https://dbagchee.github.io/helix-preset-viewer/ Maybe contacting the creator of the above for coop, as if you could collaborate to create an exporter using his reader, that would save you a lot of work and likely improve both projects; harnessing power of the community.

Just curious if some of you have been following the multi-FX units lately and have a decent understanding of where the Go sits these days? It's barely been 2 years since I bought mine, really not thinking of selling or upgrading, but it seems that there's been quite a few additions to the list of competitors, and I'm just curious how they all stack up vs the Go.

Thx for the info! Somehow had missed that one. (It wasn't nearly as cleared last time I checked). I'm wondering if it's worth fixing... Has the fix been made public yet? If it's just replacing a cap or something... And yeah I agree, the issue isn't dramatic. Once you add EQ, an amp, an IR or cab/mic, reverb, distortion, etc., the more tone changing you do, the less important the issue becomes. BUT, that also means that the cleaner your tone, the more you are to notice the issues. Think clean strat tone is worse. Also, not 100% sure, but I think some guitars might be affected more than others, esp single coils vs humbuckers... Don't think I'll send it in myself... Putting in a pedal in front isn't a big deal, otherwise, for most of my patches I just likely wouldn't know the difference either way. No L6 service in my city, 1 week isn't the end of the world, but could be more, could be issues, bleh!

It appears to be a true bypass pedal though, so, does it only work when it's turned on? BOSS and other buffered pedals work whether or not the pedal switch is on/off, so can be used on/off for the fix, but a true bypass pedal, if it works when on, likely doesn't work when the pedal is off... For myself, I didn't buy anything new... Using an old Akai Looper between the guitar and Go, and using a 2nd Amoon Nano Looper in the Go's FX loop...! Bit weird to use 2 loopers, but the 1st one is used for PGO fix and for tweaking patches (play sample, repeat, tweak patch while sample plays), and the 2nd looper is used as a 'true' Looper; FX loops configured at the end of the chain, so when playing I can record a sample using Patch 1 (clean) and then switch to Patch 2 (distort) and play over recording. So lot more flexible.

Did you try what was recommended in the comment just above yours? If so, what were your thoughts? From what I quickly saw, looks like your amp has no aux/cd in so what is recommended above is very likely your best bet. No miracle solution I'm afraid!

The power of public shaming. A shame it has to go that far to get decent support... And a shame that it's not standard, it may have solved his issue, but unless Boss has revisited its warranty policies, it's just a public stunt to save face. It makes you wonder also how reliable those multi FX units really are. I mean, firmware is one thing, but even overall... Electronics these days are disposable, you're not expected to keep a cellphone or a computer for more than a few years. There's always something that breaks anyhow, and the more complex, the less realistic is a repair, and the more likely for something to break. And the price of repair vs brand new units, often makes very little financial sense to try to repair anything as repairs are expensive and as tech moves so fast, what's just a couple of years old is already obsolete and new units are just faster & cheaper. So yeah, imho firmware 'bug' should have been covered by warranty, otherwise, I wouldn't expect anything like the Go to last anywhere near what 'normal' pedals go; if mine lasts 10 years I'll be super happy. Last time I check, my Digitech RP6 and Zoom2020 were still going strong though lol

No front. ... With the Helix, I got exactly that. I was referring to someone taking the time to try to help you out and you replying with "Since there was no helpful comment" . Guess I could have took it as a cultural or language thing rather than a character thing, but many people just plain suck: Self-entitled, rude, selfish, etc. With time, you exclude these people from your life, and the people that remain can skew your vision of humanity. Being reminded that trying to help out a stranger is an idiotic concept and a total waste of time is a very valuable life lesson. People suck. Thanks again for reminding me.

Thank you for the lesson.

Another great option could be an 'original' $8000 klon Centaur for $99.99. Where could you buy this you ask? https://www.stewmac.com/kits-and-projects/electronic-kits/pedals-and-mod-kits/stewmac-ghost-drive-pedal-kit/ Ok sure it's not really a klon centaur, and it's not even a pedal either it's a kit, and unless you're in the US it's not really $99.99 since you'll need to pay minimum 33% extra for shipping, and likely brokerage fees, and taxes.... But still, if you're in the US, own a soldering iron and know how to use it, to get a nearly identical sounding klon for 100 bucks, that's pretty crazy.. For $100, if I was in the US, I'd very likely jump on that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03AY9uUpfNg Other than that... I quite like the Heir Apparent in the Go (Analogman Prince of Tone), but with availability issues, with the buffer, as it appears to be a boutique online only pedal, ~$200 before shipping, taxes, duties, etc.,.......... Goes a bit into the bit stupid expensive imho. Seems like I have a negative preconception about the cheap Behringer Overdrive, but pretty much all reviews are highly positive, so buffer-wise, definitely the best budget option.

While you're working out the issues with your Go, or switching to an unknown preset, setting your guitar volume to 0, switching patch and then slowly increasing the volume of your guitar would be the #1 solution IMHO. It's something you get used to. Then you can fix as mentioned individual patches via amp channel settings, or the volume of your cab if some patches are not loud enough. At one point, you'll have decent volume patches, but when jumping from patch 6 to patch 49, there likely will be some discrepancy. Volume & Go are a real challenge, worsened with the # of patches you're dealing with.

What are you trying to achieve exactly? You can probably plug both devices to your PC, but then it's a matter of software/OS which devices is used in what software, I don't think you'll be able to use both at the same time. With routing, again, depends what you're trying to do... I just use the Go as an audio interface; PC -> USB -> GO (phones) -> amp -> speakers. Then in Windows, you set the Go as your sound device, so my PC's sound passes through the Go and is sent to the amp, I can play music and play guitar with the Go at the same time, the PC also works with PGO Edit and all. As you said, as the pod go is an audio interface, you don't really need another audio interface... I think the issue is the 'noise' you mentioned. You shouldn't be getting any noise. If you do, that's probably your issue.

7 minutes sounds like they've either got extremely fast techs on hand (à la F1 tire change fast), or they had either a new Pod Go or a Pod Go refurb ready for an exchange... Which may mean that they fixed the issue in the newer production units. But yeah, pure speculation at this point... It would be interesting to know what is going on though. Maybe L6 is not answering for legal (liability) reasons ... Which kinda sucks for us users. If they screwed up something in the Pod Gos, why try to keep it a secret from the users? The right thing to do would be to own up and offering a resolution.

Ah that's pretty cool! The EQ can be used as a clean boost also. The CS400 compressor is also dirt cheap. Nice!

After some research, you can easily find true bypass pedals for 20-30 bucks but buffered pedals mostly start around 60, even a simple buffer pedal seems to start at 60. Compressor pedals are more expensive and start around 110 for a BOSS, so if you want budget, distortion is likely your best bet as getting a buffer without a distortion is kinda silly if you can get a distortion pedal for the same price. So if you want to go budget route, your best bet might be a Boss SD-1 distortion pedal. Classic tones, versatile, and from quick research, it's more transparent sounding than a screamer, and so stacks better with other pedals. (still mid boost sound though) All reviews I've seen have been quite positive. It's a classic design and they're all over the place used. It's the Stupor OD in Go, so you can play with it without having it... There's one nearby on my used local market, 1/2 off, I might pick one up myself. For more more expensive... Honestly, I wouldn't bother. You're buying the pedal as a buffer, and the Go has tons of distortion pedals and even amps, so getting a fancy pedal would be a waste imho. What would you even be getting? It would have to be something not in the Go's effects... Horizon Devices Precision Drive is 220, so unless you're ALWAYS using the one in the Go, are you going to buy one to save DSP? Friedman BD-OD is 200, but again you've got the real Friedman amp in the Go.... Maybe something like a BOSS OD-3, but that's twice the cost of the SD-1, but maybe the extra 60 might be warranted depending on how often you use it, though unlike SD-1, you'd be gaining a new effect. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w__tl6Wqt9M) It's annoying that sites don't let you filter true bypass vs buffer... Anyway, BOSS I think is your best bet from what I could gather, really haven't found anything else. Really seem the king of affordable buffered pedals; nothing buffered near the price point. And reading some comments on the above yt video, some do comment that the SD-1 is effectively a boost... So yeah, $30-60 whether you buy used or new, getting a boost and PGO fix. Probably a no-brainer for all PGO users without a current PGO impedance fix.

So what would be some of recommendations to use as a workaround for the impedance issue? Would you rather go for a compressor? Boost or overdrive/distortion? And what would be some recommendations in the budget, normal and fancy ranges? Short thoughts; DSP wise boost/distortion/compressor seem to have similar costs, so not much gain to have there, and compressors can be used after your amp, so maybe boost/distortion makes more sense. But, you'd have to find a boost/distortion that you really like, and that will either replace a Go block, or might work well with stacked Go blocks... Or do you think it's not worth bothering since you don't feel it affects you much or you have found some workaround?

Wow........ How dare they post a schematic.............. Must threaten legal action!