KVR Audio

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:58 pm

Hi,
I just bought all IK's Amplitube products (Fender, Ampeg, Jimi, 2 and Metal)
+ the X-Gear. I've tried to program my MIDI controller to stear some
of the parameters but without the succes. Neither the X-Gear own "MIDI learn" nor the Live 8's MIDI learn "Configure" seem to work.
Anyone who has got the Live 8 MIDI learn work with the Amplitube? How?
Live 8 MIDI learn works well e.g. with my Guitar Rig 4, why not the Amplitube? -
I must do something wrong although try to proceed according to the manuals.

Harry

sockofgold · Post by **sockofgold** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:04 pm

I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember that Amplitube's MIDI implementation is horrendously bad.

electro · Post by **electro** » Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:05 pm

Its hard to use. 1st you have to internally assign knobs to the Generic Parameters 1- 16. Then assign those parameters to your VST host.

Peter - IK Multimedia · Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:12 pm

I personally haven't found it that hard to use in X-Gear. As electro points out, you choose which parameter you would like to control and assign it to one of the generic params, then use MIDI learn or your host's automation. It is Chapter 9 in the manual (page 81). Thanks!

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 6:47 am

Peter - IK Multimedia wrote:I personally haven't found it that hard to use in X-Gear. As electro points out, you choose which parameter you would like to control and assign it to one of the generic params, then use MIDI learn or your host's automation. It is Chapter 9 in the manual (page 81). Thanks!

Peter,

If you read carefully my short question above, you'll notice that 1) I've red
the manuals and tried to follow the manual instruction without succes, so it's no use just generally "refer to the manual", I presume step-by-step instructions "in other words", 2) you also notice that I have similar kind of products (GR4) plus about 100 other plugins, which MIDI learn work fine.
There you can conclude that I'm not quite newbie doing the MIDI controlling and there must be something very different witht the Amplitube.
I'm the first one to humbly admit that I have a lot to learn and that
I can do misstakes.

But I think that the client who has bought about 10 of your products deserves better instructions and attention in his problems, when he tries to
USE the products.

In other words: please try again with more detailed instructions!

Harry

Peter - IK Multimedia · Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:13 pm

Harry - I understand. You can get support via the support form and they are there to do just that, to give details and attention to your problems. Thanks!

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:41 pm

Peter - IK Multimedia wrote:Harry - I understand. You can get support via the support form and they are there to do just that, to give details and attention to your problems. Thanks!

Hi, Of course I've sent the question + detailed speks of my DAW to the
IK support. But sharing this problem in this Forum may help other user
in the similar situation - that's why these platforms exist after all,I think.
In addition to that, the end user "field feedback" can sometimes be quicker
and also more accurate than the manufacturers.
Let's see what the IK's "official reply" will include and when it arrives. H.

pandashake · Post by **pandashake** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:51 pm

Posting so I can be notified of the answer.

electro · Post by **electro** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:22 am

Since X-Gear is variable, automation has to follow suit. But you can't for instance assign several different pedals or different AMP knobs in X-gear to the same parameter#. That was an oversight.

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:59 am

Quite Frankly I bought Amplitube 2 and didnt' use it for well over a year awaiting midi cc control, which came much later in the form of Xgear. I said then and repeat now that it is unnecessarily cumbersome and probably one of the worse implementations of midi cc of anything coded in the last two to three years. As part result of that, is I hardly if ever use my Amplitube 2 or SVX software.....as someone mentioned above GR3 or 4...... you right click midi learn move a knob move a midi pedal or something and bingo. What is so hard for IK to understand that is the way to do it? As tempting as the price is for the 4x1 it is for reasons like this why I personally choose to no longer invest in IK stuff. How hard is it to look at what the competition is doing. And no I dont' think the sound is worth it as personally I prefer another Guitar Amp simulator software.
rsp

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:45 pm

zvenx wrote:Quite Frankly I bought Amplitube 2 and didnt' use it for well over a year awaiting midi cc control, which came much later in the form of Xgear. I said then and repeat now that it is unnecessarily cumbersome and probably one of the worse implementations of midi cc of anything coded in the last two to three years. As part result of that, is I hardly if ever use my Amplitube 2 or SVX software.....as someone mentioned above GR3 or 4...... you right click midi learn move a knob move a midi pedal or something and bingo. What is so hard for IK to understand that is the way to do it?rsp

According to this feedback its quite obvious that my original question
(see above)concerning the MIDI controlling of the Amplitube-series (X-Gear)was
well-grounded. I haven't got one single comment here where someone tells
his been succesful with the X-Gear/MIDI + Live 8, neither has IK's support replied anything yet.

I've just got Peter's laconic comment "look at the manual", which hasn't helped me forward a bit because the plugin won't behave like the manual says (or the manual is badly written).

Therefore I have to express my astonishment of the indifference of the
manufacturer towards their own clients. One could imagine that they are
more interested if their products work and try to find out where the
possible problem is. IK is eagerly selling their products, but they
should understand that nowdays in the world of Internet, the so called "after sales" is more and more important.
Namely, the unsatisfied client which the salesman leaves behind him today,
is the potential new client in the future in the next marketing operations.

I hope that the IK, which products I really highly appreciate, will now step
forward and listens their clients. This Forum e.g. is a good place to
take care of this kind of relations - the official manufacturer support seems to live their own life and have their own time tables.

Harry

Peter - IK Multimedia · Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:49 pm

I think you misinterpreted my comments, I'm glad people help in forums but the manual and contact support comments are meant just as they are - that is how we do perform support and what they are there for. The good thing is that you have an outlet to state what you have about timetables of our support, which we've been focusing on so I will definitely forward that feedback (and the other feedback about MIDI control which is also a great bonus from threads like this).

There is no indifference meant or IMO shown here at all, I believe that is a misinterpretation. If anything, we've shown a far greater interest in people's concerns and listening on the forums quite a bit more lately and I'm proud of that. People have commented on it in a positive fashion and I plan on keeping it up.

I will contact support to make sure they are aware of the lack of response. I'd say check spam folders and such, but I honestly feel you might take that the wrong way too. Just being honest here, I don't think we're getting a fair shake in this thread since the channels I've suggested are the absolute correct channels to get proper help. As far as the manuals (and check out some videos on it in our YouTube channel if you like), that suggestion still seems valid for me as that's how I had figured it out and it does work exactly as stated there for me. Hence the suggestion to contact support since that is not the case.

Again, I will put forth your concerns and the suggestions made here as I always do. Thank you.

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 8:33 am

Peter - IK Multimedia wrote:I think you misinterpreted my comments, I'm glad people help in forums but the manual and contact support comments are meant just as they are - that is how we do perform support and what they are there for. The good thing is that you have an outlet to state what you have about timetables of our support, which we've been focusing on so I will definitely forward that feedback (and the other feedback about MIDI control which is also a great bonus from threads like this).

There is no indifference meant or IMO shown here at all, I believe that is a misinterpretation. If anything, we've shown a far greater interest in people's concerns and listening on the forums quite a bit more lately and I'm proud of that. People have commented on it in a positive fashion and I plan on keeping it up.

I will contact support to make sure they are aware of the lack of response. I'd say check spam folders and such, but I honestly feel you might take that the wrong way too. Just being honest here, I don't think we're getting a fair shake in this thread since the channels I've suggested are the absolute correct channels to get proper help. As far as the manuals (and check out some videos on it in our YouTube channel if you like), that suggestion still seems valid for me as that's how I had figured it out and it does work exactly as stated there for me. Hence the suggestion to contact support since that is not the case.

Again, I will put forth your concerns and the suggestions made here as I always do. Thank you.

Peter, my concern regarding the "official support", in addition to that they are slow (anyway from the user point of view, no reply yet), their first comments are typically too generic, no matter how carefully you try to report your problem. That means that the correspondense may take serveral weeks before the supporter get to the point.
I suggest that you or the IK support team will publish ASAP
more detailed instructions how to use the X-Gear MIDI controll. I've red the manuals and watched all the available videos (e.g. to following ones), but
I've not managed to program my MIDI controller to stear the X-Gear. Harry

Peter - IK Multimedia · Thu Dec 03, 2009 1:23 pm

Harry_HH, please PM the email address you used for your support request so I can get this sorted. Thanks!

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:53 pm

Peter - IK Multimedia wrote:Harry_HH, please PM the email address you used for your support request so I can get this sorted. Thanks!

This is a message (and a Christmas present) for all the Live + X-Gear -users.
As you can read in this thread, about a month ago I posted question concerning the MIDI automation of the Amplitube X-Gear inside the
the Ableton Live (Live8 ). I also tried to get help from the IK support -
first thy told me that my official request (request #413089) was lost in their system, then about two weeks ago I got a message where they regretted not having time for my problem but promised to start working with it soon. So far I haven't got any answer from the IK support. Because any of the KVR Forum member hasn't had any solution either, I presume no one has known how to use the external MIDI controller to move any Amplitube, e.g. the wah pedal with the MIDI expression pedal inside the Live. (!?) And I think this is quite a relevat feature, don't you?

Now - here's the solution! Thanks to the great Ableton tech support's Michael Duehr:

1. Load Amplitube XGear
2. Load Wah FX into STOMP
3. Open AUTOMATION window in the Plugin GUI
4. Select the WAH Parameter of the Wah FX and press ADD to activate the Host automation
5. In Live, activate the MIDI Learn function and and select the Plugin Parameter in Live6. Move the MIDI Pedal, then deactivate Live's MIDI Learn READY!

(As you can see, this is not what the X-Gear manual offers as a solution).

Be my guests, I want to share this information with the KVR memebers, that's why these Forum are. This information may be useful for the IK support,too.
(IK may even sell a couple more products when the potential clients find out how versatile the X-Gear is). BTW, I think that Amplitube/X-Gear is great product.
Michal even sent me attached screenshot pictures of the procedure,
those who have the same dilemma which I had and can't solve it according to the information above, send me a pm and I incude Michal's screenshots to you.
I'm sure Michael don't have anything against this.

Happy Xmas and Great New Year, for everybody.

Harry

Amblitube and MIDI controll - how?