Line6 GearBox Plugin...vs Amplitube & GR?

[woodie]

uh oh, squids.....looks like Amplitube (and GuitarRig for that matter) are finally going to have some serious competition. This is finally going to get interesting....

http://www.line6.com/gearbox_plugin/index.html
GearBox Plugin Gold Box Bundle
• 78 guitar amps, 24 guitar cabs
• 28 bass amps, 22 bass cabs
• 6 mic preamps
• 80 plus stompbox and studio effects

AMPLITUBE v2
• 14 Preamp and 14 EQ models
• 7 Power-Amp models
• 16 Cabinet models
• 6 Microphone models
• 21 Stomp Effect models
• 11 Rack Effect models
• High-precision Tuner
• 2 Guitar rig chains

[O.L.T]

Wrong

Another proggie will KILL all mentioned

Of course, the Line6 sycophants will still want Gearbox. (There are pills now for those types.... )

[Squids]

I like the little gear box actually. Looks pretty cool. The specs listed above don't exactly match up though. For instance, AmpliTube 2 has 20,000 different hybrid guitar amps mixing more components of modeled Fender, Vox, Marshall, Supro etc. It's not 78 vs 20,000 because you can combine some components in the Line 6 one but... anyway, accuracy of the modeling and sound quality (which subjective) is a big difference. Dynamic Saturation Modeling does also make a difference to many people's ears (including my own, that animation in the harmonics is key to me). But, is the Gearbox a full multiplatform plug-in with multiple instances and everything? AmpliTube 2 is.

Anyway, you could even pick up the Gearbox AND get AmpliTube 2. The biggest difference is always going to just be the character of how it sounds and all I know is that many people love the sound of AmpliTube 2. Spec-wise you get a ton for the money. You also get all of these discounted cross-grades to other IK products like Ampeg SVX for example. But, each person has to decide what they like in the end. A lot of these products have some great features, it's just a matter of which one you think is going to work and sound best for your music really. No one listening to your music knows how many amps or effects you had!

[beergeek]

I have a toneport and the Gearbox software...I haven't gotten the plug yet but I'm sure I will.

I also have AT1 and AT2. Sometimes I use Gearbox, sometimes I use AT1, sometimes I use AT2 and sometimes I run through Gearbox and THEN through AT1 or 2

Having Gearbox as a plug will be nice. The modeling is very good, the mic pres are good for vocals and the user base in terms of addtional pre-sets is huge. More stomps than AT2 but some of the ones in Gearbox are the same as the ones in AT2. Some of those seem better done in AT2 than in Gearbox, in my opinion. Also, if you are just getting the plug in, you don't get all the models. You only get to use the models you already have. That's the difference between Gold and Silver, what model packs you get.

The only significant advantage Gearbox has now is that it's a plug and a stand alone. There's no RTAS until next summer, can't tell for sure but it says AU for Mac and VST for Windows. I don't know if that means there's no VST for Power PC or not. There IS a Universal Binary.

BUT....AT2 has an MSRP of $399 and Gearbox Gold has an MSRP of $699. Of course, that includes a Toneport. I don't see it anywhere without a toneport but if you already have some line 6 hardware PODXT, Toneport...etc you can get the plug-in only from Line 6.

Which means, whether you like it or not, it's dongled in a way. And like I said before, you don't get any new models, you just get to use what you already have as a plug-in. Still, that's something I'm looking forward to

Not sure about replacing one of those dongles vs replacing a syncrosoft dongle. Both with IK and Line 6, you have to be registered so your license info is always there...

Anyway, enough rambling, I'll let you know when I get the Gearbox plug how it compares to using AT2.

Seems to me that you can't really modify the signal flow with the Gearbox software unless you do some editing with Line 6 Edit (it's free but hey, something else to learn ) and there's only one rig per instance. Whoops more rambling

[beergeek]

Oh yeah...I almost forgot the most important part...

You can't buy Gearbox from eSoundz and although I'm winking, I'm not joking. You won't find the same level of customer service practically anywhere.

[woodie]

I like the little gear box actually. Looks pretty cool. The specs listed above don't exactly match up though. For instance, AmpliTube 2 has 20,000 different hybrid guitar amps mixing more components of modeled Fender, Vox, Marshall, Supro etc. It's not 78 vs 20,000 because you can combine some components in the Line 6 one but... anyway, accuracy of the modeling and sound quality (which subjective) is a big difference. Dynamic Saturation Modeling does also make a difference to many people's ears (including my own, that animation in the harmonics is key to me).

no idea on whether the specs are accurate or not, squids....I just copied/pasted those 2 lists from both of the sites homepages.

But, is the Gearbox a full multiplatform plug-in with multiple instances and everything? AmpliTube 2 is.

I read on the Line6 forum that you *CAN* use multiple instances in a host. I may be wrong here, but I'm sure I read it can in someone's post in the Line6 Forum. Maybe the video mentioned it as well....be sure to watch that too.

Anyway, you could even pick up the Gearbox AND get AmpliTube 2. The biggest difference is always going to just be the character of how it sounds and all I know is that many people love the sound of AmpliTube 2. Spec-wise you get a ton for the money. You also get all of these discounted cross-grades to other IK products like Ampeg SVX for example. But, each person has to decide what they like in the end. A lot of these products have some great features, it's just a matter of which one you think is going to work and sound best for your music really. No one listening to your music knows how many amps or effects you had!

Well, there's no doubt about that = it's up to the end-user to decide....just like trying to pick which guitar amp you want = NOT AN EASY TASK! As far as demoing both products, though...that's going to be tough as 1) Amplitube requires a Synchrosoft dongle and 2) GearBox requires the TonePort box, which (I think) is the heart of the modeling and therefore acts like a dongle that you have to have connected to the computer in order to use GearBox, even if you don't use it as a DI box). I'm sure the likes of GuitarCenter will probably have a setup to demo it and not sure on Amplitube.

It'll be interesting, though, to read everyone's experience esp. those who have both Amplitube and GearBox. The heat is on....I really want one of these things, but squids.......that friggin' dongle situation really sucks.

[woodie]

I have a toneport and the Gearbox software...I haven't gotten the plug yet but I'm sure I will.

yeah...be nice to know how it goes for ya, beer! I wonder whether the new box will include better/updated modeling? ...and whether or not between the hardware units and TonePort boxes (for the same amp/cabs patches)...would they sound exactly the same?

Having Gearbox as a plug will be nice. The modeling is very good, the mic pres are good for vocals and the user base in terms of addtional pre-sets is huge. More stomps than AT2 but some of the ones in Gearbox are the same as the ones in AT2. Some of those seem better done in AT2 than in Gearbox, in my opinion. Also, if you are just getting the plug in, you don't get all the models. You only get to use the models you already have. That's the difference between Gold and Silver, what model packs you get.

I don't have any Line6 stuff, but been thinking about it and patiently watching the show on the sidelines. I would have gone for Amplitube probably already, but then they came out with the whole dongle thing....dammit!! And now Line6 GearBox...which (for me)....is looking REALLY good and a viable solution I'm looking for.

Which means, whether you like it or not, it's dongled in a way.

At least the TonePort box, although needs to be connected at all times...actually does something useful which I believe it's also required since it's the "heart of the modeling" and so the processing is done "offline" and not all in the VST itself. (At least that's what I understand).

Not sure about replacing one of those dongles vs replacing a syncrosoft dongle. Both with IK and Line 6, you have to be registered so your license info is always there...

I do not like dongles again...i do not like them, sam-i-am!

Anyway, enough rambling, I'll let you know when I get the Gearbox plug how it compares to using AT2.

Yes Beer! Please let us know!

Seems to me that you can't really modify the signal flow with the Gearbox software unless you do some editing with Line 6 Edit (it's free but hey, something else to learn ) and there's only one rig per instance. Whoops more rambling

no idea what you mean here, beer. sure looks like you'll be able to whip stuff up right there on GearBox and create your own setup...like Amplitube/GuitarRig....right?

[whyterabbyt]

yeah...be nice to know how it goes for ya, beer! I wonder whether the new box will include better/updated modeling?

Gearbox has been updated, but I dont think there's any changes to the sounds.

...and whether or not between the hardware units and TonePort boxes (for the same amp/cabs patches)...would they sound exactly the same?

Yes

At least the TonePort box, although needs to be connected at all times...actually does something useful which I believe it's also required since it's the "heart of the modeling" and so the processing is done "offline" and not all in the VST itself. (At least that's what I understand).

Nope. The PC does all the modelling. The Toneport is an audio card, but doesnt do any processing.

[TeleJuan]

I got Gearbox that use all the time as preamp for acoustic and vocals but I barely use the guitar amps because I also got AT2 and it's WAY BETTER than Gearbox. Gearbox is cool and sounds ok but is no competition for AT2....not even close. I know, the dongle is there and it's not cheap, but AT2 sounds so good that I don't care about the $$$ and the dongle...

For someone that doesn't have any guitar amp sims, Gearbox may do the trick for a while but if you want a$$-kicking tones, wait, save the money and get AT2, it's the way to go.

[blades]

At least the TonePort box, although needs to be connected at all times...actually does something useful which I believe it's also required since it's the "heart of the modeling" and so the processing is done "offline" and not all in the VST itself.

If the new DI works anything like the UX1/UX2, NONE of the processing is done on the hardware and it relies on your CPU for everything, which is why this plug-in is not a huge jump - seems basically like a rerouting within the standalone gearbox or something.

Now, I can say that the Gearbox standalone works good on a well-powered system (which you'd really need for any of the plugins anyway) and the "tonedirect" latency is really pretty amazing, allowing you to run Sonar or whatever at a higher latency that would be unplayable, without feeling that latency, so you can keep your DAW overhead low while the Gearbox is doing its thing and when you are done tracking, you can just close the Gearbox and do whatever latency you like for your mixing.

I'm interested to see how the "reamping" will work with the new plugin from the perspective of how you can use tone-direct monitoring and recording dry - without having to use the ASIO driver, which you have to use if you want to split the output between what you hear and what gets recorded. I use a Layla3G with WDM, so I'd have to sacrifice that to use the toneport this way, which won't work for me, and not being able to record dry while hearing effected would defeat the purpose of the plug-in, and the latency required to just bypass the toneport and use the VST would be no fun to me!

[beergeek]

Seems to me that you can't really modify the signal flow with the Gearbox software unless you do some editing with Line 6 Edit (it's free but hey, something else to learn ) and there's only one rig per instance. Whoops more rambling

no idea what you mean here, beer. sure looks like you'll be able to whip stuff up right there on GearBox and create your own setup...like Amplitube/GuitarRig....right?

nope...Gearbox has a specific routing and you can only use one stomp from the list. Goes like this:

Gate>Volume>Wah>Stomp>Delay>Cab>Compressor>EQ>Modulation>Reverb

Now, obviously gate, delay, compressor, eq, mod and verb are all stomps in AT2 AND in Gearbox, you have a bunch of models to choose from in each of those categories but that's the path and I don't even know if you can change it.

AT2 lets you vary the path more at least in my experience, your mileage may vary depending on your knowledge...I never rtfm so I'm disadvantaged in that way

Toneport also doubles as a nice audio interface as you mention.

In the end, they're both pretty nice products and they both have some really nice modeling. I personally think they compliment each other nicely.

Buying a Toneport and upgrading to a Gearbox plug-in is cheaper than buying the plug-in with a Toneport. WHY you ask? Because the Gearbox Silver Or Gold both come with more models than the Toneport does by itself. I paid like $129 for the Toneport and another $198 for the model packs that give it the same models as a Pod XT. And there's still more models I could buy but they're mostly for Metal and I don't do Metal

[whyterabbyt]

nope...Gearbox has a specific routing and you can only use one stomp from the list. Goes like this:

Gate>Volume>Wah>Stomp>Delay>Cab>Compressor>EQ>Modulation>Reverb

You can actually move certain of the effects upstream or downstream of the Cab. (at least I think its the Cab; they wont let me play with my GuitarPort in work).

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

nope...Gearbox has a specific routing and you can only use one stomp from the list. Goes like this:

Gate>Volume>Wah>Stomp>Delay>Cab>Compressor>EQ>Modulation>Reverb

Well you could always load another instance of Gearbox and use whatever additional effects you want before or after the Gearbox plug-in with the amp sim, so the VST version actually becomes infinately more flexible than the standalone one. I'm probably going to pick up Gearbox VST soon as I already own Guitarport, but I imagine I'd be picking up AT2 at some point in the future as well because based on the demos I've heard the character of the AT2 sims is entirely different than those of the Line6 ones. AT2 sounds a little more raw to me based off of what I've heard, while I find the Line6 sims to be very polite and processed. I could see how someone would want and use both though.