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• Review

For many recordists a simple two in/out recording interface will suffice, but a multichannel interface will afford many more options in terms of the amount of separate instruments you can record simultaneously and in the ease of routing audio in and out of the system.

Designed to satisfy this need, Line 6's new TonePort UX8 is the latest in a growing number of reasonably-priced 8-channel interfaces from various manufacturers but, unique among them, it has a neat trick up its USB-2.0-connected sleeve in that it comes equipped with the GearBox software package.

Gearbox is a set of amp simulations and effects derived from the POD series that can be recorded directly with near-zero latency monitoring or used just like any other standard VST, RTAS or AU plug-in.

Overview

The UX8 is a 2U rackmountable box with controls on the front panel and all the connections round the back barring a pair of instrument inputs and a pair of headphone sockets that have been logically placed on the front right where you can get at them easiest.

Eight simultaneous channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio can be sent to the computer, and each channel has front-panel controls that include an input gain knob, a 20dB pad switch and a high-pass filter as well as 'clip' and 'signal' LEDs.

Phantom power is applied from the front panel by two switches that turn it on universally for channels 1-4 and 5-8.

Every channel has an XLR mic socket and a quarter-inch jack line input, with channels 1 and 2 having those extra Hi-Z instrument inputs each of which has an extra pad switch to accommodate different guitar pickup types.

Back-panel sockets for a pair of footswitches and an expression pedal allow switching and controlling the GearBox software or control functions for your recording software.

Front-panel knobs control signal levels from the designated main stereo outputs and the two headphone outputs while the internal routing of signals to these and the main VU meters can be set in a software control panel.

The GearBox amp simulation and effects software offers 18 guitar amps, 24 guitar cabinets, five bass amps, five bass cabinets, six mic preamps, plus 29 stompbox and studio effects.

It also has other useful facilities for guitarists - besides the obligatory tuner there's a phrase trainer, which you can load and loop audio from hard drive, CD or internet for full or half-speed playback.

For practice use there's also an eight-step programmable drum machine with kick, snare and hi-hat sounds or a plain metronome.

How it sounds

Regardless of the GearBox software, the UX8 does the business as an audio interface for any sound. The mic inputs yield decent sounding results, with the bonus of the GearBox-modelled preamps to impart a special flavour when you need it.