Tone Port UX 2

[Bigg John]

Hey Sascha !!!!

Good to see you, Brother. (man, i have missed KVR)

Speaking of Vamp, one time we were on a thread talking about a Rockman, and you posted some of the most brilliant "tone samples" from the Vamp.

I was wondering, could you please repost those mp3z ????
It was like 3 or 4 30 sec clips in various styles. I had saved the old one, but I seem to have misplaced it.

[darcyb62]

Question about re-amping... I've got a Korg3000g. With that I have analog's out and spdif out. My pc currently doesn't have an spdif in so I need to upgrade my soundcard, but once I've done I am wondering if its reasonable to drop in a splitter between the guitar and the Kork. I would then send one output from the splitter to the Korg route the spdif channel in Tracktion to one channel. Then take the 2nd output of the splitter and connect it my Tascam US122 and route that to a 2nd channel in TRacktion. That way I have a clean unprocessed recording that I can do be used to reroute back through the Korg and through the spdif channel. I'm thinking that should work just fine or am I missing something,

[bk]

Now you want to run the second (Un-muted) track out of your soundcard and through the input of the GuitarPort. Adjust the amp settings to taste and bounce the guitar track down.

If you should decide to change your mind later then you just delete the second track and make another duplicate of your original and begin again.

Ah. I was trying to make this happen all inside the guitarport. I hadn't thought about using an additional sound card, and using the analog outs of the guitarport. Thanks, I'll give that a try.

[Lunch Money]

Not sure if I mentioned it in this thread, but I saw a Boss GT-6 in the local used music store for $300 CDN in pretty good shape. The connectors looked a bit corroded, but they were still usable.

S/PDIF out, which makes it a nice match for my Audiophile. BUT, $300 is still a chunk of change for me and I didn't bother testing the unit until I think I can afford it. Should've done, just to see if the models are any good!

Greg

[bigwayne56]

Here's a couple of other options people....

Best DI/Reamping/Modeling/Live setups you can get with AMAZING tone both in the studio straight thru the board and Live/Gigging...

http://www.tech21nyc.com/sansamp_intro.html

and something new I found recently through some people over at the Cakewalk/SONAR forums.....

http://www.damagecontrolusa.com/main.htm

Ex-Line6 employees that wanted to add REAL HOONEST TO GOD TUBES to the Line6 stuff but were rebuffed and then started their own company instead.

Hope it helps and to all a good day.

Wayne

[Lunch Money]

Thanks Wayne. The main problem for me with the SansAmp-- The 3 amp sounds are too limited. The Tweed model is great when driven a bit, but it doesn't clean up to a smooth very gentle drive. There's a hint of grainy fuzz leftover. The Mesa-Boogie emulation is of the Mark I, not their newer higher-gain line.

So, no AC30 and no high-gain amp (though I've disparaged high-gain amps, I'd still like one there, just not cranked up!). Plus, although the cab sim is fairly non-intrusive (really just a glorified EQ), it can't be bypassed and I would always get the vague sensation that I'm adding a cab impulse to a cab, ya know?

The damagecontrol items look simply awesome. I lust after those. Again, though, for the money spent I'm not sure there's enough flexibility.

Greg

[Sascha Franck]

The Damage Control thingies are great, tested one in the shop recently.
Not sure about their worth in a recording setup - I don't think the demo MP3s are *that* great. Can't tell by myself as I only tried them in front of a clean amp.

[Lunch Money]

I've been reading a heap about the UX2 and I'm actually moving back towards this as a possible unit for my needs. I don't know that it would be my be-all-end-all forever solution, but for the next few years it would do the job admirably, I think.

The UX1, not so much for my needs, but the UX2...

The resolution and features meet my needs as a guitarist and sometime-vocalist, and depending on how successfully it acts as a sound card I could replace my current cumbersome mixer/pre/soundcard setup. OR, if it's not quite THAT capable just yet I can use it as a sound module and connect with the digital output to the digital input of my Audiophile, leaving 2 analog inputs and another digital input intact on the Audiophile.

I dunno. It's looking awfully tempting. I'm still waiting for a few more user reviews or a review by a trusted magazine before I can think about shelling out...

But if I get it and it's 'capable', then I can sell off my mixer and soundcard, which will allow me to recover part of the cost, too.

<Ponders>

[VMan88]

I just picked up the UX2 a couple days ago and I can safely say it runs perfectly with my setup. I use the dreaded emu 1212m as my main soundcard and run the analog outs of the UX2 into the 1212m. I did try out the asio drivers that come with the UX2 and was pleasantly surprised at the audio quality and low latencies I could attain. The gearbox program is spectacular, so much flexibility!! The added vocal preamps are sweet, I used those to mic my amp for some additional flexibility, though really, that was just for expermintation. I can't see using my amp anymore...the amount of models included covers everything I need, and if I outgrow it, I can get the model packs. I used a Line 6 Spider 75w for most of my work but wanted something quick and decent for recording. The sounds are just beautiful, everything from clean to insane sounds great. I especially like the "hum learn". When comibined with the noise gate, I can have my strat 98% up on volume with NO noise...WITH both computer monitors on. Well worth the cash..and the interface just looks so damn cool

[Lunch Money]

Awesome, VMan! Glad to hear an actual user review. A question-- since the UX2 has 2 outputs and a flexible software interface, can you record the dry AND effected signals simultaneously instead of a stereo guitar or microphones?

You could always use a splitter/DI and go into the mic pre if needed, but it seems to me that it'd be easier for Line6 to just do it via the Gearbox? Any thoughts? I can imagine it being a Gearbox update patch, too, so I'd hesitate to buy a splitter in any event.

Thanks for the feedback, though.

In your estimation, if my soundcard is fairly limited but well-respected (Audiophile 2496), am I better off keeping it around and using the UX2 in audio mode, or would the UX2 be a decent direct replacement as a main soundcard?

I only ever record in 24/41.1 as it is anyhow, so the extra resolution options of the Audiophile are a moot point.

Greg

[Sascha Franck]

So, what are the lowest latencies you can get with it?

[Lunch Money]

A good question. The ToneDirect makes for a good selling point, but how much real-world time is TRULY saved by bypassing your sequencer's monitoring path? And since I personally believe that anything 8ms and less is usable in the first place, how much of the ToneDirect marketing strategy will just be playing to the placebo effect of the bypassing of the sequencer?

Greg

[larsby]

I'm gonna buy an UX2 for my mac when I get my next paycheck.
Already tried the utterly bad and sucky Fastrack USB, had to sell it. so much noise and very very low input signals. I thought it was broken, but apparently its supposed to be that bad.

Anyways, I sold that, but that money got eaten up by other expenses, but soon, real soon!

[VMan88]

So, what are the lowest latencies you can get with it?

Cubase reports 5.813 ms, so definitely low enough for realtime playing. To answer the other question, if you can record dry or effected, the answer is yes, but it isn't like a vst where you can record your part, and then change the sound later, you would have to reamp to do that. BUT, there is a way to record BOTH dry and effected, I read about it briefly in the manual on the cd (I hate that it doesn't have a printed manual, I need my bathroom reading material ) so it CAN be done. I think you can look here to find out more info:

http://line6.com/support/knowledgebase/toneporthelp/

I also had a pleasant surprise yesterday...when you launch, the line 6 monkey (the auto updating program) told me there were updates already, to improve the asio drivers! But man, I never got this low a latency with my emu. As for a replacement for the audiophile, I would say that is a real possibility. I am keeping the emu ONLY because I mixdown (on export) to 32/96khz, don't ask me why, I just feel better doing that If it wasn't for that, I would definitely use the UX2 as my main soundcard. As it is, I am going to hook the outputs of the UX2 to my mixer and and use it for tracking..it's sounds that good. I know it sounds like I am blowing alot of sunshine but it is nice to have bought something that works right out of the box with no problems, and blows me away with it's versatility. And really, for the price, you can't beat it.

[billybk1]

For those interested, I posted a little mini-review, of my experiences, with the UX2, over at the Cakewalk Gear forum:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.asp?m=642117


Cheers,

Billy Buck