Okay, I picked one up a while ago. Had a tough time bonding with it… But now I am making the effort. But I have to wonder… is it REALLY that much better than a L6 Helix (I have an LT) or an AxeFX? I don’t think so. I mean, it’s definitely all right, but I’ve played through Kempers also and I think those are pretty awesome. Then again, I don’t mind Boss either hahaha Anyways, thoughts on the ToneX/ToneXone folks?
That’s a marshall head through an Orange cab model…
It’s definitely not that great, and with all profilers it’s limited to the quality (and taste) involved in the profiles. A lot of people still prefer the Kemper simply because it has a great (and large) library of awesome profiles.
NAM is the highest quality/most accurate profiler available at the moment (you can hear this for yourself on YouTube via null tests) and it’s free!
hahaha I had to look NAM up, I have never heard of it! I swear thopugh - I have A/B’d the toneXone against my HelixlT and I honestly prefer the Helix! Could just be me though, I am still getting used to it and haven’t ventured past the models that came with the darn thing yet lol
Sorry I should have linked you haha! Nam is definitely worth playing around with!
Perhaps you just prefer modellers rather than profilers? I would recommend using the same impulse when comparing models so you can get a better feel for what the actual differences are (the speaker/impulse response is 80% or more of the sound imo)
I have a ToneX and find it really good! After updating the software, all the latest presets sound good to me. To be fair, we’re currently in the honeymoon period, and I’m probably not very picky when it comes to guitar sounds.
Random test with a Diezel amp and an IR from the Cracking the Code pack from back then:
In general, I think the baseline quality of all modern amp simulators and profilers is pretty high, so it may just be a matter of personal preference at this point?
PS: did you make a “Tone NET” account yet? Seems like a community of presets/profiles sharing for the ToneX. I haven’t checked any of them yet, but I would be surprised if you couldn’t find amazing sounding stuff that other people came up with.
Ironically, after years of using 15 year old freeware, I upgraded my recording computer about a week ago and had to find an alternative to the LePou Lecto I’d been using as plceholder tones while writing and tracking, before reamping with my real amp.
Since I own a Mark V and a Recto Roadster, I ended up with the Amplitube 5 official Mesa packs (actually, everything they make, since their Max “all of our amps and cabs and mics” pack was the same price as one of the Mesa ones on sale for the holidays), which I THINK supports ToneX. A lot of the non-lead-channel modes on that thing are in heavy use for me, so it was a great way to get the rest of the amps sounds I’d want, in a format that responds predictably to me.
It’s been an illuminating experience. One, because it really IS way better than LePou, which was always way better than it had a right to be. Took a little bit to get the input trim dialed in, but it really does do a fathgul job recreating the amps I use.
And, two, because it’s good… but even modeling the same amp, cab, and mics as the real thing, wgile mic position probably wasn’t 100% perfect… I A/B’d it against my actual amp, and definitely till think my real amp (through a real cab, through two very good mics, and into a world-class channel strip) sounds better. It’s easily good enough for what I’m doing with it. But I’m not going to stop using amps.
until these modelers can null with the real deal there will always be a compromise, and even then, will they ever feel the same?
It is worth noting though how amazing plugins are these days! Anyone who’s part of ‘Nail the Mix’ will attest to how often your favourite records are now just Neural Dsp (or similar) plugins.
That’s pretty good Tommo! Sounds great! I think a big part of the problem is that I absolutely hate the sound of my playing when I pick… hahaha So I don’t pick in my music that I create… But I love the sound of music created with great picking, I think I associate that sound with a good amp tone also…
Hmmm I haven’t done that yet, I will do so this weekend! Thankls for the suggestion!
I track throughmy real amp, with a DI and a thru out, so I’m less concerned about feel. I just needed something to make those DI tracks sound like a recording until I could reamp, and it does the job very well.
Interestingly, though, I get some big phasing issues when I play back both an Amplitube track AND a real amp track of the same performance at the same time, which had never been the case with LePou. I have to assume that this means technology is getting better.
Nam is free and can do this no problem.
Josh Scott from JHS wrote a really interesting article about modelers recently for his substack. I can’t link to it right now but it’s very easy to find.
If that was a reply to me, Amplitube has been working just fine. I’ll still reamp through my actual amps when I’m done, because they ARE better, but Amplitube’s Mesa models are great and gives me very workable “placeholder” tones.
Okay, I downloaded a bunch of different amp packs - both free and paid and… I still don’t love this thing. All I wanted was Something that could emulate a Roland jazz Chorus or a Fender Bassman to “ish” standards and I was left sorely disappointed!
But then, I bought this guy (Boss IR200) and well, since I am already a bit of a Boss fanboy it really seems to play nicely with my pedalboard which is exactly what I wanted. I might be stupid, lol because everyone raves about the ToneX, and I couldn’t seem to bond with it. Ah well. Boss for the win (for me) I guess!
This is just for quick and dirty practice at home, recording direct to Logic, that sort of thing. I am pretty happy with it!
It is interesting that you mentioned Logic, as it has fake amps and effects. Have you tried those?
Yep, I have used (and still use) them extensively. They are good, really good - but I just don’t “love” plugins. lol Not sure why. But I like the Logic plugins a lot better than the ToneX. I have an L6 HelixLT that I think sounds great also, but I wanted something I could use with my pedalboard!
It could be that a pedalboard and an iPad are the “future.”
A bit of an epiphany 9tonally) - my pedalboard with the IR200 at the end of the chain direct into Logic, and THEN a Logic amp plugin, holy dang do I love it lol Probably instantly achievable with the ToneX, but alas…toooo dense to figure it out! hahaha
No doubt in my mind that we’ll end up doing something like this. Cool amps are becoming cost prohibitive. Then again, so are guitars…
Can you run VSTs on an ipad? How about IRs and NAMs?
I’m just getting up to speed on the idea of IRs and NAMs. For my guitar building, I’m interested in generating custom IRs for piezos that I put in my acoustic guitars. I haven’t done it yet but I put a piezo in the guitar I’m making now to try this out.
I just learned that NAMs exist. Someone I know has some models of really out there old school 1930s or 40s Octal amps that are supposed to be great (if you’re into that). But currently it seems that no affordable pedal will run NAMs natively. It would be great if the HX Stomp would do that but it seems extremely unlikely.
I would love a pedal that could do all that stuff but at the moment it doesn’t exist.
Could you do it all with an Ipad and integrate it easily into a pedalboard?
I’m fairly sure you could even do it with a Raspberry Pi.
For the iPad, it’s just a matter of finding the right software, and it’s Apple so I’m sure it exists.
Edit: first Google result for “NAM apple” is an iPad NAM player. It didn’t look very good but I’m betting there are many.
Raspberry PI looks like it has some options, thanks!
