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Topic: Modeler Test: Eleven Rack by Digidesign (Pro Tools) |
David Pinkston
From:
Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 17 Oct 2009 12:36 pm |
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With all the hoopla around the new competitor to the Line 6 and Fractal Axe-FX gear... I coerced my favorite Nashville producer/steel player to borrow one from a friend who had received a unit for eval.
Went over this morning and we spent a couple of hours putting it through a test drive. Since I have spent extensive time on the Axe-FX and a rack Line6 Pod I'll share my initial observations.
Street price is 899.00 at most places so it's a bit more than half the cost of the Axe-Fx Standard (1500.00 or 2000.00 for the ultra) and a bit more than the prices I've negotiated on the Line6 units.
Right out of the box it sounded great. We plugged a Zum into the front with no blackbox/freeloader needed as it has an impedance matcher built in. Dodging the overdriven sounds we found a clean/chorus preset that was beautiful with no mods needed. We also took the XLR out into a TC Furlong CB12 and it sounded as good as the studio ref headphones.
It was very easy to tweak as it has a series of knobs that coincide to the LCD knobs. When you turn it off of the preset the actual knob changes from amber to red. Makes it easy to tweak eq and effects on the fly in a live situation.
We also sent a series of lap steels through it with excellent results as well.
We didn't have a ProTools rig with 8.0 plus running so we can't comment on the interface and the plug-in features or re-amp capability, but that will be next. Even without the ProTools compatibility though this is one great box. The pricepoint is attractive and the sound wonderful.
Not one to get too excited too early but I am confident they have a winner and one that is worth a testdrive for steel players that are looking for a modeler and direct recording device.
Should be in stores this week.... |
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Bruce Bouton
From:
Nash. Tn USA
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Posted 17 Oct 2009 9:41 pm
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| Thanks David for the info. |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 17 Oct 2009 11:40 pm
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| Would love to hear some samples of steel through this unit. I've researched it a bit online, but of course it's all 6-string guitar. |
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Jeff Valentine
From:
Colorado Springs, USA
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Posted 18 Oct 2009 7:31 am
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Thanks for the update. I've been waiting for them to arrive at a nearby Guitar Center so I can plug into one. Other than the Pro Tools options, what's the primary difference between the Eleven Rack and a Pod X3. Have you used a Axe FX box the same way yet? If so, which one sounds better if price didn't matter?
Thanks, Jeff |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 18 Oct 2009 9:04 am Re: Modeler Test: Eleven Rack by Digidesign (Pro Tools)
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| David Pinkston wrote: |
| We plugged a Zum into the front with no blackbox/freeloader needed as it has an impedance matcher built in. |
Does the unit have an output&input at some (selectable) point in the chain so that you can insert an analog volume pedal? |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 18 Oct 2009 2:16 pm
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| It does have an effects loop; you can also use an expression pedal to control volume. |
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David Pinkston
From:
Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 18 Oct 2009 2:46 pm Modelers
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Q: Which sounds better...
Better is so subjective that I'll sidestep that. I only spent a couple of hours with the Eleven Rack. I will have a unit I'm picking up Wednesday and can do round two. I will say this though, the Axe-FX sounds incredible.
My problem with the Axe-FX is no headphone jack and a minimal software interface. It is a very boutique product, which causes it to cost more. Response time to the company is spotty in my experience. I would hope that future releases will improve in these areas. Also you have to dig in deep to make it work well with steel, and I don't see it as a live product. It's nice to have knobs for quick tweaks which the other 2 have.
The Eleven Rack will put more units on the street, and that will help cost be lower. I was impressed at how usable the presets were. Smart programming. Also with the knobs on the front that controlled the obvious tweaks I could easily use it live into a the PA or my TC CB12s. The TCs have XLRs in and I used them and the chain was prefectly silent.
I am not a fan of Line6 for pedal steel, but I respect all they have done for the industry and I have been able to make them usable. Their interface is user friendly. They seem fine for lap steel and guitar but since pedal steel is what most people want me to play I need something that will accommodate all 3. I have a rack unit and also a Pocket Pod that is a great little practice amp.
I do a lot of Pro Tools so I am hoping that the interaction with it will save me time when I have to go back and redo parts, but with good record keeping that can be done with any of them.
899.00 puts it in easier reach for people and with Digidesign behind them I have faith that it is a good investment. Fractal can close the gap if they can add a phone jack, a better software interface and some knobs at least for eq and get the price down. Maybe a big company will buy them and make that happen.
I'll update you once I spend more time with it next week.
I don't post samples for many reasons. It's a no-win. I would wait for them to come into one of the super-stores and go plug in or wait for a buddy to get one and test drive it. |
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Anthony Sims
From:
Cleveland, TN, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2010 12:44 pm Re: Modelers
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[quote="David Pinkston"]Q: Which sounds better...
Response time to the company is spotty in my experience.
Gotta disagree big time on this. The responses from the OWNER Cliff have been rediculously good everytime I have contacted them.
On the other hand, the bigger companies I have dealt with failed miserably in comparison.
I typically get an answer from Fractal within 1-2 days of sending a message.
I still think its by far the best processor I have ever tried...and I've tried almost everything out there.
(I have not tried the Eleven Rack because all of the discussions I have seen so far pretty much seemed to say it was a fairly good ways below the AXE-fx in features & sound)
Anthony
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Anthony Sims
www.facebook.com/ThePearlSnapPreachers |
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Anthony Sims
From:
Cleveland, TN, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2010 12:45 pm
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Also... Digidesign has been terrible about releasing any updates or anything on the Eleven Rack
The Axe-FX has new functionality, effects & amp releases all the time... most of the time directly from requests of the user community.
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Anthony Sims
www.facebook.com/ThePearlSnapPreachers |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 14 Jul 2010 8:15 pm
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| Does anyone have good quality samples of steel recorded through either unit? |
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robert kramer
From:
Nashville TN
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Bruce Bouton
From:
Nash. Tn USA
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Posted 20 Jul 2010 3:46 pm
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I've been using the Eleven Rack, in my home studio, for six months. It is a stand alone processor so there is no latency. It is also a protools interface. Steel guitar will overdrive the front end but I have learned to work around that. I am delinquent in sending samples of the overdrive to AVID in order to see if they can fix the problem.
If you go to Sweetwater sound on the internet you can hear some samples that I made when I first got the unit. I have much better sounds now that I have spent time with the the Eleven.
I do a bunch of overdubs for folks at my house. Everyone seems very satisfied with what I'm sending. It's a great piece. |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 17 Aug 2011 2:56 pm
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So how might this unit compare to a Brad Sarno Rev/rack effects unit? Does it have the warm tube sound in some of its modelled amp sounds?
Also, any idea how this would work going into Apple Logic Pro or Express?
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 17 Aug 2011 4:13 pm
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| John McClung wrote: |
| Does it have the warm tube sound in some of its modelled amp sounds? |
no such thing as a warm tube sound from a DSP based emulator. They try and try and never even get close to the magic of tubes + high voltage + air.
I am interested in hearing if the impedance buffer actually works, since I have never heard a modeler produce usable tone on a pedal steel, and I have tried quite a few.
Usually I find that the modelers work best in conjunction with a good amplifier that is mic'd up. Running both at once can do good things - especially in a stereo application. But for me, if its got to be one or the other, its going to be an amp!
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Milkmansound.com |
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 17 Aug 2011 5:21 pm
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So after more research, looks like you could run through a Rev, deliver that tube warmth to the Eleven Rack, then get all its goodies. Essentially that'd make the 11R a multi-FX processor, but with the Pro Tools integration and auto re-amping, so that could be a great recording solution, yes?
Anyone in Los Angeles have one of this I could hear a live demo with?
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 21 Aug 2011 6:04 pm
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One more question: is the Eleven Rack considered a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), or would you still plug this unit into a DAW and then go into the recording computer?
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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robert kramer
From:
Nashville TN
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2011 11:01 am
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| It functions as an audio interface, and Pro Tools is the corresponding software, but you'd still need a computer to run the software on. |
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Bruce Bouton
From:
Nash. Tn USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2011 9:07 pm
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Overall I have been happy with the Eleven as a protools interface.I use it exclusively to record at home.
B |
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2011 10:21 pm
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Good endorsement, Bruce, thanks. Do you use ONLY its effects when recording, or do you add in other sonic gizmos to get a better steel sound? I didn't see a whole lot of clean amp modeling available in the info online. If it satisfies you, I'm sure it's pretty cool.
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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Bruce Bouton
From:
Nash. Tn USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2011 3:24 am
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I have quite a few clean sounds on the Eleven. There's a twin and a couple deluxes and a boogie emulation that I use. I've had to play off the top of he volumn pedal more, since steel pickups can overdrive the front end. It's still very workable.
BB |
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