line 6 gearbox

[halfguard]

anyone have these plugins? they look pretty interesting and not very expensive. there is no demo so i cant see for myself. they claim to have some good emulations.

Link to product page: Line 6 GearBox Plug-In (http://line6.com/gearbox_plugin/)

[lyons]

I recorded some demo guitar tracks through a TonePort (the one with the keyboard and VU meters) last weekend out of necessity, and I was not impressed.

I can definitely see this product being useful if your recording studio consists of a laptop and a hotel room, but I didn't find any of the sounds we tried to be very useable for anything other than a rough demo.

That being said, I didn't muck around with the software much, and the guitarist had just borrowed it earlier in the day so he wasn't much help either. However, I know for a fact that in a pinch I can get more satisfying results with a plugin like Guitar Rig or the JCM simulator.

[Tim Halligan]

they claim to have some good emulations.

Of course they do... :Roll eyes:

They aren't exactly gonna be yelling "Our stuff is crap!" from the rooftops are they?


Cheers,
Tim

[slabrock]

anyone have these plugins? they look pretty interesting and not very expensive. there is no demo so i cant see for myself. they claim to have some good emulations.

I bought the cheapest Toneport with a GearBox after a friend of mine introduced me to it. A fun toy and good for demoing, but the main use for me is that when tracking guitars, i'll set up a practice place in the studio lounge, where the guitar player can rehearse his / her parts over and over with a fast mix of the actual rhythm tracks.

The presets, as always, are made to please the average consumer and thus completely unusable. But since i have quite a collection of the real things either my own or in my use, anyway, i can copy (and save) the settings from a real 1967 plexi JMP 50 and 1969 Superlead, real Vox AC30, real Ampeg B15, V2 and VB4, real Vibrolux, Bassman and Princeton... and this way they really sound decent enough.

By tweaking the GearBox without the aid of the real amps i don't usually get anywhere.

I've also tried doing demos in the hotel rooms. That works, too. But then again, i don't usually use any plugs for guitar sounds, so i'm not familiar with the competition, such as AmpFarm - for the sounds that end up in the record i use my "hardware modelling wall" :Wink:

Peace,

Slabrock

[Charles Dye]

So, the general consensus is this thing sux? That's a bummer.

It looks cool. Anybody had a good experience with it?

[slabrock]

So, the general consensus is this thing sux? That's a bummer.

It looks cool. Anybody had a good experience with it?

Well, i thought i did say something positive :Roll eyes: . Ok, once again: A perfectly usable thing for it's purpose. Same as Pod Pro with an added modeled cabinet mic'ing option (and the 57 + 421 and their positions really sound pretty much as they should).

Not more, not less. If you're happy with Pod Pro, then this very good. Same sounds, easier to use. Very inexpensive, too.

Peace,

Slabrock

[halfguard]

charles, kinda what i was thinking. i guess the price was an indication that it was to good to be true...:Sad:

[seagate]

The thing about all this modeling stuff is to not think of emulating anything but to just use it as a tool.

Spend a bit of time with any of the Line 6 devices and you will come up with some really good useable tones fairly quickly.

[Dubnick]

In defense of the Line 6 stuff:

In all fairness, and speaking only in terms of guitar amp emulation, I should start out by saying that the first two generations of PODs left plenty to be desired, as, in my opinion, did Amp Farm (haven't played with Amp Farm much at all lately so I can't speak on it's improvement). Also, I should add that I haven't had any firsthand experience with the Gearbox plug-in versions just released. All that having been said, I think the PODxt line gets an extremely bad rap, in large part because people judge the modeling based on the presets (presets on guitar processing stuff are notoriously bad, regardless of the quality of the equipment). I've found that the PODxt is actually amazing if you ignore the presets and even which amp is being modeled. For instance, some of the Marshall emulations and related presets are caricatures of the sound they emulate and sound fake to anyone whose heard the real deal, but by taking the Hi-Watt model, putting a RAT model pedal in front of it and tweaking a very small amount, I'm able to nail a very, very convincing Green Day-style Marshall type sound (When I Come Around, Monority) that cleans up nicely when the pull back on the guitar's volume.

Also, the Rectifier model is horrible, because, again, it is a caricature of that sort of horrible sucked out sound too many people dial into thier Rectifiers (the real amps actually do have mid-range, especially when the clean channel is put into pushed mode - gives you a throaty, more Marshall like sound, with more low end and a little less top end) but one can easily simulate a decent sounding Mesa by messing with the additional Metal add-on pack models (which I believe are included in the Gold Bundle).

If you ignore the model and preset names and rely more on your ears, the current generation of Line 6 stuff is actually great. I think the only expeptions to the ignore the name/preset rule would be the Vox and Matchless models, which are really good, although Vox's own modeling and the Guitar Rig modeling of the AC30 both "feel" more real, speaking as a player.

As far as whether the sounds translate in the plug-in version, I don't know, but I am very interested - more so for the mic pre emulations, which might, in fact, suck - who knows. There are actually audio and video examples of the Gearbox on the Line6, but they are pretty crappy - the best demo I've seen of the Gearbox is at Sonic State:

http://sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=4241#

It's the first video link on the list. For some reason, the volume on the guy's mic fades out for a little bit before he plays the example, but you can hear the example fairly clearly. He takes a sound a like version of Zep's Heartbreaker, all the guitars/basses straight DI, dry vocals and a submix of the drums and Gearbox is running on each track (he goes through what models are used).

I'm not saying any of the models are better than the real thing , but I'm a guitarist and regularly use the real deal (Mesa Single Rec, usually mic'd with a 57/421 combo, inch to inch 1/2 away, edge of the cone, on axis) and the Line 6 (admittedly out of laziness) and while I do think that a comparison would reveal one to sound a bit better or more pleasing, I would bet that most would never suspect that either one was not the real deal. I'm a bit busy right now, and I don't know where I'd post it (sorry I'm a newbie here), but maybe someday I'll post clips of both and see if anyone can tell. Anyhow, sorry for the long post.

The thing about all this modeling stuff is to not think of emulating anything but to just use it as a tool.

Spend a bit of time with any of the Line 6 devices and you will come up with some really good useable tones fairly quickly.

[Zoesch]

The thing about all this modeling stuff is to not think of emulating anything but to just use it as a tool.

Spend a bit of time with any of the Line 6 devices and you will come up with some really good useable tones fairly quickly.

I agree... I combine my Pod XT with Guitar Rig and get quite good results (To my ears). You just need to sit down and tweak them as the presets pretty much blow.

[eagan]

I think Seagate, Dubnick and Zoesch hit the point; I think a lot of the flak caught by all of this kind of stuff (not just Line 6 products) comes down to people just plugging into these things, punching through presets, and being disappointed because magic doesn't pour forth. Or, in some cases, people behind the mixer dealing with the sonic output from some goof doing that, and finding themselves nauseated by the results.

They're just more tools, they have flaws and merits, and factory presets of anything are not the whole story. If you're approaching it right, it shouldn't be any part of the story.


JLE

[Dubnick]

I bought the cheapest Toneport with a GearBox after a friend of mine introduced me to it. A fun toy and good for demoing, but the main use for me is that when tracking guitars, i'll set up a practice place in the studio lounge, where the guitar player can rehearse his / her parts over and over with a fast mix of the actual rhythm tracks.

The presets, as always, are made to please the average consumer and thus completely unusable. But since i have quite a collection of the real things either my own or in my use, anyway, i can copy (and save) the settings from a real 1967 plexi JMP 50 and 1969 Superlead, real Vox AC30, real Ampeg B15, V2 and VB4, real Vibrolux, Bassman and Princeton... and this way they really sound decent enough.

By tweaking the GearBox without the aid of the real amps i don't usually get anywhere.

I've also tried doing demos in the hotel rooms. That works, too. But then again, i don't usually use any plugs for guitar sounds, so i'm not familiar with the competition, such as AmpFarm - for the sounds that end up in the record i use my "hardware modelling wall" :Wink:

Peace,

Slabrock

How's the latency when using the Tonedirect monitoring? I've been contemplating selling my XT, and buying the Gearbox Gold, but I'm kind of put off by the interface and possible latency for players.

[hawk1646]

Does anyone have any experience with the M-Audio Black Box?

It seems to be between this and the GearBox for me. I like the fact that the GearBox is actually a plugin where many settings can be tweaked...but it appears all control for the Black Box would be done inside of itself?

[Soundloop]

I've briefly tried the Gearbox, but not enough to form an opinion.

Of the guitar plugins that I actually own and use, my I would rank them (in order of my favorite) as follows:

1. Amplitube 2 :Thumbsup:
2. Ampeg SVX (ok, it's bass) :Thumbsup:
3. Amp Farm 3
4. Guitar Rig 2
5. Sans Amp
6. UAD Nigel

1 & 2 are kind of like the Cranesong Phoenix/McDsp AC of guitar plugins.. much more "natural" sounding, (and responsive) when you play through them.

My current fav is my (non plugin) Orange tiny terror with an axetrak, and a bit of room emulation.

I had a Black Box but sold it (was too digital/sterile for my taste)

Cheers,

TC

[CaliTone]

I'm going to bite the bullet and get the gearbox, because I actually like my podxt. Especially since I bought the expansion packs for it. Very usuable tones if you take the time to tweak.

[the earth sings]

So, the general consensus is this thing sux? That's a bummer.

It looks cool. Anybody had a good experience with it?

i've been doing a lot of demos for bands for some time now with the uh1. If you screw around with it enough, you can get something that sounds pretty good for being direct.

I've briefly tried the Gearbox, but not enough to form an opinion.

Of the guitar plugins that I actually own and use, my I would rank them (in order of my favorite) as follows:

1. Amplitube 2 :Thumbsup:
2. Ampeg SVX (ok, it's bass) :Thumbsup:
3. Amp Farm 3
4. Guitar Rig 2
5. Sans Amp
6. UAD Nigel

1 & 2 are kind of like the Cranesong Phoenix/McDsp AC of guitar plugins.. much more "natural" sounding, (and responsive) when you play through them.

My current fav is my (non plugin) Orange tiny terror with an axetrak, and a bit of room emulation.

I had a Black Box but sold it (was too digital/sterile for my taste)

Cheers,

TC

I have amplitube 1 and if 2 is anything like 1, i can't see it being any good in my opinion. most of the amps in 1 sound too unrealisic for my tastes...i owned a black box too and sold it for the same reasons. can you give a little more info on the orange tiny terror? i've never heard of it.

[waterboy]

This link may be of help to you:
Orange Tiny Terror (http://www.orangeamps.com/tinyterror/)
It's a small, but very kewl head.
I think it retails for (apprx) $550 USD.

[rockdart]

Being a Line 6 Vetta HD owner, I can attest that yes, you must do a TON of tweaking. Using the Rat for gain and not drive works really well to warm the signal. I think the gate is pretty nice too.

But yeah - a bunch of tweaking. While you probably won't see all the features the Vetta HD gives, just know that it took me a good amount of time - probably in the neighborhood of 40 hrs - to dial mine in. I think it sounds great live. Slapping a 57 on it to record though, I really hear that Rat fuzzing away (I do use about 25% drive for live tone) and found it's much easier to just use my Marshall for recording. If I had time on my hands (read: more studio time $$$$) I know I'd be able to tweak it where I want it.

[Jadoube]

I really like my POD xt Live. It gets a specific job done... 'ok guitar sounds without a big ol Amp and room and mics etc'. But its just another hammer you bring to the job. And really, why wouldn't you spend time to tweak all the sounds? I do that with everything else, vintage Marshall stacks included... :-)

Cheers

[jdier]

So, the general consensus is this thing sux? That's a bummer.

It looks cool. Anybody had a good experience with it?

I have limited experience screwing with an actual POD, but the guitar port with gearbox sounds pretty much like a POD to me. I tend to just screw around with it for fun, not for tracking though.

[st robert]

i'll toss my hat in the ring and state that the pod xtlive is very usable for many things, the vox sound and twin being two of them, but it is required that you mess with it a great deal to get "the sound" you want. as mentioned above, ignore the names, trust what you hear. i did an entire album with it because money is tight. i now have a laney vc30 212 which i prefer, but that xtl got me through.

if this device's engine is the same, it'll be okay.

call me a clownfucker.

rob

[CaliTone]

Well, I bought Gearbox a few weeks ago and have played around with it some. My opinion is....


IT ROCKS! LOVE IT! (but still prefer the real thing):Thumbsup:

[Swafford]

My life hasn't been the same since I read in Tape Op that Pete Anderson won't track with amps anymore, preferring Amp Farm. It's worse then when I was 16 and the bad marxist dude told me there was no god and I was nothing more then a tool for capitalism, then we smoked opium and watched Monty Python and I thought, yeah, what a fool I've been. Torch the end of that glass tube again, my tall marxist friend whose sister is hotter then a supernova yet lighter then a butterfly wing. Damn she was sweet. Hell, I would have taken the scientologists personality test, I would have endured another LaRouchite lecture, I would have taken the flower from some poor sap krishna monotone, I would have thrown my languid body against the barricades in Paris to sit next to that one and smell her fresh smells.

Fuck it if at the minimum he wasn't right about god and me being a tool.

Anyway, now I stare at my line of amps and wonder if I shouldn't sell them and by some pod thing or another, and use the profits to buy some T-Bills or stocks in Shanghai or an interest in a terrorist training camp in our home of horrors Iraqistan...

I'm a tool for tubes and if god isn't a sagging rectifier, then shoot me now.

[djg251]

Regarding Gearbox,

I purchased the gearbox plug because of the flexibility of altering the sound without having to print. As i have tonebox and guitar port I found this feature appealing. I've posted a static mix of a twang tune I jammed with some friends just to give a demo of it's potential. I have found that gearbox, like most plugins, is good for some things, but not all. Sometimes I find myself going to amplitube or sansamp or Izo trash, depending on the application and ease of use. Please don't rip the mix too hard, it's just a static!

Hope this helps.

[PSN Big Al]

Sweet pickin'! :Thumbsup: