adamqlw
Member
Hey guys,
Time flies, I just realized that it's been almost a year since I bought my Digidesign ElevenRack. I'm still surprised on an almost daily basis by how good it sounds, thought I'd just put the word out there on an awesome product.
I am primarily a bedroom guitarist. I've been playing for about 15 years now for recreational purposes. Over the years, I've used a mix of solid-state, tube and digital gear (the Pod series, the Sansamp series, the Boss GT series, the Roland VG series, a Marshall Studio 15, a Mesa 50/50, a VHT GP3, and some other misc. things). For the last 5 years or so though, due to space/volume constriants, I have been focused on getting the best possible tone for me with the primary constraints being portability and volume. I was quite happy with the Pod XT Live when it came out, it was a fantastic value for money unit that I think did a whole lot of things reasonably well, but then the nerd in me pushed me towards a Roland VG99. While a versatile and interesting device, the VG99 never really seemed to do the meat and potatoes of my tone right. I spent a good year fighting with the unit, wasting almost 50% of my time tweaking and adjusting things instead of playing and recording. I finally got fed up one day and started looking around for a versatile rack unit that wouldn't compromise on tone.
My search started with the Axe-FX. The recordings I had heard were fantastic, the effects top-notch, and the reputation for upgrades and after-sales service second to none. Still, at $1500 for the standard unit, I just couldn’t justify it. While looking around, I came across the Digidesign ElevenRack. It was a relatively new product, and there wasn’t a whole lot of information out at the time. I was intrigued by the concept of the True-Z input, and the general buzz on the forums and videos. Still, I wasn’t about to plonk down the cash for a new and untested product without giving it a go myself. As it turned out, the ElevenRack was being distributed in Singapore by IMS Mahajak, and Guitar77 had them in stock. I called ahead and found out that they had a demo unit in the store. So, armed with my guitar and a pair of headphones (so I could get an idea of what it would sound like at home), I headed down to Guitar77. Suffice to say, I walked out of there pleased as punch with the ElevenRack. At the time though, I was only cautiously optimistic… in my experience with digital gear, the promise is always good, but in a couple of months the honeymoon period is over, and I start itching for something new.
It just so happened that after buying the ElevenRack, I started jamming again, and shortly after that, I joined a pub band that played every Saturday night. So it was a baptism of fire, straight into getting the tones at home and translating them to a live setting at various locations, and the Eleven Rack did not disappoint. Eventually I moved to a new position at work, which placed some pretty restrictive demands on my free time and caused me to exit the band. I was still keen to keep playing though, so I decided to start recording small things here and there over the weekend or when time permitted. The ProTools integration was so seamless, and the core tones so good, that only now looking back on the last 12 months do I realize how much time I have spent playing guitar because the ElevenRack just made it to easy to get a tone I was happy with whether it was for live use, recording or just practicing late into the night.
Along the way, I discovered a couple of other really neat things.
1) IMS Mahajak give fantastic service if and when you need it. They repaired my ElevenRack in double quick time and with minimum disruption when it broke down once.
2) Avid’s customer service is also pretty rock solid, and the ElevenRack development team are frequently on the Avid forums and directly engage customers with respect to what the unit can do and how it can be improved. This crystallized in the form of a phenomenal update that came out not long ago.
All in all, I couldn’t be happier with the ElevenRack. I can’t believe a year has passed and I’m still smitten with it. If you’re looking for a no-compromise quality modeler that looks, sounds and feels like an amp, you should really check out the ElevenRack. If you’re thinking of getting one and would like more information on what it can and can’t do, I’d be happy to help you out as well, just drop me a line. I’m just so happy with this thing and where it has brought me as a guitar player, and feel compelled to spread some of the love around
Here are some things I have recorded with it that will give you an idea of what it sounds like (all guitar tones are ElevenRack)
Highway Star (with actual band in the backing track, sans guitars) - http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/highway-star-guitar-oke
Tornado of Souls - http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/tornado-of-souls-solo
Classical Gas - http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/classical-gas
Losfer' Words - http://www.box.net/shared/4zxr2iya5o
Orion - http://www.box.net/shared/rkgrh4qy6c
My Friend of Misery - http://www.box.net/shared/2u9se0loj6
Time flies, I just realized that it's been almost a year since I bought my Digidesign ElevenRack. I'm still surprised on an almost daily basis by how good it sounds, thought I'd just put the word out there on an awesome product.
I am primarily a bedroom guitarist. I've been playing for about 15 years now for recreational purposes. Over the years, I've used a mix of solid-state, tube and digital gear (the Pod series, the Sansamp series, the Boss GT series, the Roland VG series, a Marshall Studio 15, a Mesa 50/50, a VHT GP3, and some other misc. things). For the last 5 years or so though, due to space/volume constriants, I have been focused on getting the best possible tone for me with the primary constraints being portability and volume. I was quite happy with the Pod XT Live when it came out, it was a fantastic value for money unit that I think did a whole lot of things reasonably well, but then the nerd in me pushed me towards a Roland VG99. While a versatile and interesting device, the VG99 never really seemed to do the meat and potatoes of my tone right. I spent a good year fighting with the unit, wasting almost 50% of my time tweaking and adjusting things instead of playing and recording. I finally got fed up one day and started looking around for a versatile rack unit that wouldn't compromise on tone.
My search started with the Axe-FX. The recordings I had heard were fantastic, the effects top-notch, and the reputation for upgrades and after-sales service second to none. Still, at $1500 for the standard unit, I just couldn’t justify it. While looking around, I came across the Digidesign ElevenRack. It was a relatively new product, and there wasn’t a whole lot of information out at the time. I was intrigued by the concept of the True-Z input, and the general buzz on the forums and videos. Still, I wasn’t about to plonk down the cash for a new and untested product without giving it a go myself. As it turned out, the ElevenRack was being distributed in Singapore by IMS Mahajak, and Guitar77 had them in stock. I called ahead and found out that they had a demo unit in the store. So, armed with my guitar and a pair of headphones (so I could get an idea of what it would sound like at home), I headed down to Guitar77. Suffice to say, I walked out of there pleased as punch with the ElevenRack. At the time though, I was only cautiously optimistic… in my experience with digital gear, the promise is always good, but in a couple of months the honeymoon period is over, and I start itching for something new.
It just so happened that after buying the ElevenRack, I started jamming again, and shortly after that, I joined a pub band that played every Saturday night. So it was a baptism of fire, straight into getting the tones at home and translating them to a live setting at various locations, and the Eleven Rack did not disappoint. Eventually I moved to a new position at work, which placed some pretty restrictive demands on my free time and caused me to exit the band. I was still keen to keep playing though, so I decided to start recording small things here and there over the weekend or when time permitted. The ProTools integration was so seamless, and the core tones so good, that only now looking back on the last 12 months do I realize how much time I have spent playing guitar because the ElevenRack just made it to easy to get a tone I was happy with whether it was for live use, recording or just practicing late into the night.
Along the way, I discovered a couple of other really neat things.
1) IMS Mahajak give fantastic service if and when you need it. They repaired my ElevenRack in double quick time and with minimum disruption when it broke down once.
2) Avid’s customer service is also pretty rock solid, and the ElevenRack development team are frequently on the Avid forums and directly engage customers with respect to what the unit can do and how it can be improved. This crystallized in the form of a phenomenal update that came out not long ago.
All in all, I couldn’t be happier with the ElevenRack. I can’t believe a year has passed and I’m still smitten with it. If you’re looking for a no-compromise quality modeler that looks, sounds and feels like an amp, you should really check out the ElevenRack. If you’re thinking of getting one and would like more information on what it can and can’t do, I’d be happy to help you out as well, just drop me a line. I’m just so happy with this thing and where it has brought me as a guitar player, and feel compelled to spread some of the love around
Here are some things I have recorded with it that will give you an idea of what it sounds like (all guitar tones are ElevenRack)
Highway Star (with actual band in the backing track, sans guitars) - http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/highway-star-guitar-oke
Tornado of Souls - http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/tornado-of-souls-solo
Classical Gas - http://soundcloud.com/adamqlw/classical-gas
Losfer' Words - http://www.box.net/shared/4zxr2iya5o
Orion - http://www.box.net/shared/rkgrh4qy6c
My Friend of Misery - http://www.box.net/shared/2u9se0loj6
