MusicRadar

The amp sims aren't exhaustive, but they cover all of the bases you are likely to need

1 of 2 » View in gallery

• Related News
• Review

Digidesign – the company behind the industry standard Pro Tools recording software – has had a longer association than most with amp modelling, starting in 1998 with the Line 6 Amp Farm plug-in for Pro Tools TDM systems.

In recent years the company has released its own amp sim software plug-in, Eleven, for Pro Tools. But now it has gone much further and come up with the Eleven Rack, a hardware unit designed to be the guitar player's ideal one-stop solution for use in both live work and recording.

Eleven Rack is an audio and MIDI interface with guitar amp and effects processing built right into it and it can be put to use in several ways. It can be used as a standalone unit without a computer in sight, providing a range of amp and effects sounds and connecting via an array of outputs to recording equipment, PA or amplifier.

It can be used as the front end for Pro Tools – it comes with Pro Tools LE software – with a bunch of special features that integrate hardware and software, both for recording guitar or re-amping previously recorded work, and it can also be used as an audio interface/guitar processor with recording software other than Pro Tools.

"The modelled sounds in Eleven Rack are top notch with plenty of the nuances you'd expect from a real amp."

As a 2U-high rackmount unit, Eleven Rack has connectivity that ought to take care of any live or studio situation. A mic input with phantom power, pad switch and gain control sits conveniently on the front panel should you wish to record vocals, acoustic guitar or anything else. But the main point of entry for guitarists will be the dedicated guitar input featuring Digidesign's True-Z circuitry, which has been designed to allow more realistic interaction between the guitar and the modelling software.

Digidesign says that this analogue input circuit replicates the input impedance of classic stompbox pedals and guitar amps, so that when you plug in and start to play the modelled stompbox or amp, you get the same response as when plugging in to the real thing.

The actual sounds are stored as separate 'rigs' with a signal chain featuring amp, cab, eight effects (volume, distortion, wah, modulation, FX1, FX2, reverb, delay) and an FX loop to which you can physically add your own pedals (mono or stereo).

The effects and the FX loop can be moved to different locations in the signal chain. Digidesign hasn't included models of every amp and effect under the sun, instead offering a small but meticulously chosen
selection of gear that will cover a very high percentage of theguitar tones you're likely to want to hear.

Classic Fender, Marshall and Vox amps are bolstered by Mesa/Boogie and Soldano models while the effects cover, arguably, the cream or most typical of each genre – Big Muff, Tube Screamer, Rat, Memory Man, Phase 90, Echoplex and so on.

A large display with six associated soft knobs lets you see and adjust everything from the Eleven Rack's front panel – amp controls are the default parameters for adjustment while the effects have individual switches to both make them active and put their parameters into the display for adjustment.

If you have Pro Tools up and running you get a graphical editor for Eleven Rack that makes editing the rigs even easier, with drag and drop functionality for placing effects in the chain.