It’s safe to say that any guitarist would love to have one of every amp, every pedal, and every other form of processing available in the ideal studio. Unless you own a multi-million dollar studio though, you’re probably limited to a dozen amplifiers at most, and usually not much for effects pedals without the musician supplying their own. POD Farm from Line 6 allows you to break free from space limitations by modeling the most popular equipment from the past 50 years in the music industry. The POD Farm software can be used as a plug-in for any DAW that has AU/RTAS/VST support, or can be run as a standalone application. The people at Line 6 have figured out a way to emulate just about any tone in a single software, saving you time and processing power that can now be applied elsewhere.
Holy Presets!
The first thing that struck me when opening POD Farm for the first time was the sheer amount of presets that had already been created for users to instantly dial in and tweak. The 1,100+ presets that come stock with the Platinum version of POD Farm include artists from Led Zeppelin to Fall Out Boy to Owl City, ensuring that there is something for lovers of many genres. Many artists with multiple famous guitar tones will have presets for each of those songs. Take for example Metallica’s collection of presets to the left. Presets can easily be navigated by the drop-down menu at the top, or from the preset view mode directly to the left of the Line 6 logo. For cover/tribute acts, these presets are an amazing asset, requiring little to no tweaking necessary to replicate the tone they need.
POD Farm 2.5 Standalone
If you aren’t someone who does a whole lot of recording, but want a convenient way to bring a whole collection of sounds with you, POD Farm 2.5 runs as its own independent application. This cuts down on the processing power required in a large DAW and makes it so the user can just plug in and play. Instead of lugging around large amps and effects pedals/racks, guitarists can run their signal into this application and out of the computer, straight into the house PA. Or if you’re just sitting around on the tour bus/at home, there’s no need to set up equipment for 15 minutes just to jam.
Visual-based Controls
There’s something very analog about the way you can operate POD Farm, in that every parameter offered can be controlled by a knob. All of the options you would have available on the physical gear are in POD Farm, giving you the tonal ability to dial in a sound the way you would with the actual equipment. If you’re looking for that natural Clapton overdrive from turning up a Marshall amp all the way, it can be done. Everything down to the EQ is controlled by knobs, giving you the feel of a very large collection of studio gear in a single plug-in.
Conclusion
POD Farm 2.5 Platinum is a huge asset to anyone who owns it. From home recording studios without the budget or space for a ton of equipment, to huge studios that need a quick way to test out different sounds on a DI recording. The software doesn’t limit itself to just the guitar enthusiasts, as it provides plenty of presets and equipment that would benefit bassists and vocalists as well. The plug-in version of POD Farm lends itself to even more opportunities by separating each category of effects (Dynamics, Preamps, Delays, etc.) into “Elements,” smaller plug-ins to save processing within your DAW. The possibilities are huge when adding POD Farm to your sound palette. If you’re still skeptical, go to Line 6’s site for a free trial. You can purchase the basic version of POD Farm 2.5, but it really is worth it to spend a bit extra on the Platinum version to get the most tonal variety.
Check out POD Farm now at: http://line6.com/podfarm/index.html