It's been ten years since Line6 released their first POD, and I was lucky enough to own one of the first generation POD Pro's back in the day when I was only 18. I was truly amazed at the tones that Line 6 had managed to squeeze into a 2U rack space device, and how I could dial in sounds like a Dual Recto with only a few turns of a knob.

Since the first POD there's been so many new PODs that I've not got enough fingers to count all the different models. The current line up ranges from the battery powered portable Pocket POD Express, right through many guitar and bass PODs, up to the flagship POD X3 Pro rack mount Behemoth. This is where we come to see the similarities between POD Farm and the POD X3 series.

POD Farm comes in two main flavours, and it's worth explaining a little about how each is licensed and used:

POD Farm standalone is a software application for PC and MAC. It is basically the tone editor and audio FX processing engine, similar to the internals of a POD X3 series device. It uses the PC or MAC processor to apply audio effects to your sound signal, and can be used with line6 devices what have no internal processor, i.e. Toneports and POD Studio devices. It won't work with PODs because PODs have their own built in processor and so do not need POD Farm.


POD Farm Plugin, is a RTAS, VST and AU compatible software plugin for PC and MAC. It can be used inside all popular and up to date DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) applications, like Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton, Reaper, etc. The plugin version can be used with either any compatible Line6 hardware (PODs with audio over USB, Toneports and POD Studio devices) or with an iLok dongle, and any compatible audio interface. The plugin version also comes in 2 license levels. There's the standard (basic) license which is free for September. This gives you the ability to use all the amp and effects models/simulations that your hardware comes with (or in the case of iLok, it's the basic POD Studio model set). Then there's the Platinum license, which gives you all the guitar and bass amps and cabs, plus all the effects that a POD X3 series has, or another way to look at it, it gives you all the add on amp/FX model packs that you could buy for Toneport, POD Studio or POD xt, already in the Platinum license.

In recent years as PC hardware has become much faster, and much cheaper, and the requirement for dedicated hardware (i.e. PODs) or very expensive PCs or MACs to run your effects chains is no longer the case. As PCs are cheaper and most people have at least 1 in the house, for hobby guitarists it's much simpler to buy a POD Studio device and a pair of headphones then a whole assortment of pedals and a decent amp. Yes PODs and for that matter real tube amps still have their place, because for most guitarists (me included) a PC for a live performance just isn't reliable, and there's something about using a real tube amp that just can't be replicated in software (well not yet at least. But for home players who have a small budget, and for serious recording artists who need the flexibility of software, POD Farm is the way of the future. But best of all, its free now, and for the rest of September.

So hurry up and check it out here: http://line6.com/news/offers/864

Rowbi is a hobby guitarist based in Cambridgeshire UK, and is also a Line 6 Community 'Line 6 User Expert'.
Rowbi's Blog: www.rowbinet.co.uk
More info on Line 6 User Experts: http://line6.com/community/docs/DOC-2120