Upgrade from X3

[Dawid959]

Hi, is it worth to update from POD X3 Bean to Amplify FX100?

[cbrillow]

My opinion:

 

I don't see it as being much of an upgrade, unless you're REALLY interested in the remote app & Bluetooth music streaming. I believe the models in the Amplifi FX100 are based on the XT Live and X3 technology, so I wouldn't expect a difference in sound quality.

 

And, I find the FX100 foot switch configuration to be extremely limiting and cumbersome. There are switches that select which of 4 presets - A, B, C & D - within a bank of tones is active, as indicated by an LED that corresponds to the switch. The bank number is shown in a 2-digit 7-segment LED display, so your only visual cue would be to get the bank number from the 7-segment display and look for which LED is lit over one of the 4 switches. Put that together and it might decode as 10C. (bank 10, preset C) Doesn't tell you much about the selected tone, does it? And, you have 25 banks with 4 presets each. How good is your memory? Which tone is 04B? I don't know, either...

 

And, to change banks, you have to simultaneously activate two of the switches to go up, and another two switches to go down. Not the easiest thing to do on a dim stage while you're trying to play guitar.

 

Another serious deficiency is the lack of other switches that would allow you to turn effects, like reverb, stomp or compression, on and off. You want a boost for a solo, you have to have a separate preset with a hotter output -- you can't just step on a stomp or boost switch.

 

I don't know who they designed this thing for. It sounds ok, but it's got some serious usability issues, IMO.

 

In case you're wondering, I have one. It's ok for practicing by myself in the basement.

 

A better solution in the Amplifi series would be one of the amps, combined with an FBV Short Board MKII or an FBV-3. That gives you much more flexibility and control, but adds expense. And the Amplifi amps don't give you a dedicated output to an external amplifier, the one thing the FX100 does have going for it.

 

Sigh....