A love letter to the Eleven Rack

[Tito83]

My opinion about the UA pedals hasn't changed, they are hands down the best digital amp recreations bar none. But it's quite a lot of money for something I wasn't really getting a lot out of. Now I have four, they are all great, but I just can't use them live. I'd need a big pedalboard, I would need to add many things to make them work for me live and it's not something I'm willing to put that much money into.

I've been using an Ampero II Stage for gigs, and t's been good after some tweaking for the last month of gigs. Size is nice, easy to use, sounds and feels good live, has everything I need. Done.

I decided I was going to stay like that for a bit, with a solution for home playing and another once for gigs. It was when I decided to revisit my Eleven Rack since the whole reason I stopped using it was exactly that I couldn't commit to use it live.

I've been playing it for a week now and it's just awesome. The UA are more detailed, but the feel, the touch sensitive, it is there. I've said it before, and I've always preferred it compared to Fractal or Helix. Honestly, at this point the UA pedals look like a luxury I'm not really sure I'm willing to keep. I may just sell them and put the money into something else.

 

[RGB]

I still haven't moved on from the 11R...granted, I only use the Matchless and I play it into power amps and guitar cabs, but it still works for me too. Add an IR loader in the loop for direct stuff and it does what I need very well.

I like to run it in a Wet/Dry config with my Mark IIB for the dry side...kicks butt and sounds huge.

W/D/W

 

[Jarick]

I really liked the UI of the 11 Rack...it was simple enough that a few knobs and buttons worked for just about everything. Sonically it was pretty decent but limited by the lack of IR's. I think something like an IR loader with the 11 Rack would be solid, but at that point how far away is it from a Headrush?

 

[JiveTurkey]

I've kinda wanted another 11 Rack from time to time

 

[Jarick]

I've kinda wanted another 11 Rack from time to time

You should buy one and then buy a Headrush and shoot them out to see if there's any sonic benefit to the old high end rack hardware

 

[JiveTurkey]

You should buy one and then buy a Headrush and shoot them out to see if there's any sonic benefit to the old high end rack hardware

I don't want to buy one that bad

 

[HotRats]

Being a Protools user since version 6, the plug in version of 11R has been in my arsenal for several years (along with Line6 ampfarm) and never disappointed at the time.

I don't think I'd use an 11R these days given what is available on the market.

 

[Tito83]

I really liked the UI of the 11 Rack...it was simple enough that a few knobs and buttons worked for just about everything. Sonically it was pretty decent but limited by the lack of IR's. I think something like an IR loader with the 11 Rack would be solid, but at that point how far away is it from a Headrush?

It's just for home use, so that's what I'm doing. Just amp sim into an Audient interface and using IR's and other effects in Logic. Sounds and feels great to play. I've always wondered about the Headrush honestly, just couldn't make myself actually get one. I'm afraid I'll be disappointed and those seem a bit harder to sell.

Being a Protools user since version 6, the plug in version of 11R has been in my arsenal for several years (along with Line6 ampfarm) and never disappointed at the time.

I don't think I'd use an 11R these days given what is available on the market.

Personally, if I include an IR loader, after owning a few current mid and top tier units, the only other brand I'd put as actually "better" is the UA stuff.

 

[ragingplatypi]

I wonder if there’s bias going into the 11R because it was made before everyone felt the need to dumb down interfaces for guitarists. So anyone buying it knew they would have to crack open a manual or spend some time dialing in their tone.

I’m not saying the modern way of doing things is bad, because the gear is accessible to many more people. However I don’t think anyone buying an old Fractal, Kemper or 11R was approaching them with the expectation of instant gratification.

 

[HotRats]

I wonder if there’s bias going into the 11R because it was made before everyone felt the need to dumb down interfaces for guitarists. So anyone buying it knew they would have to crack open a manual or spend some time dialing in their tone.

I’m not saying the modern way of doing things is bad, because the gear is accessible to many more people. However I don’t think anyone buying an old Fractal, Kemper or 11R was approaching them with the expectation of instant gratification.

Idk, it's a 16 y.o. product made by digidesign/avid, a company that primarily made (and still makes) products for professional use in the music and broadcast industry.

I think the design is just consequence of the era was made and company history at the time

 

[Tito83]

I wonder if there’s bias going into the 11R because it was made before everyone felt the need to dumb down interfaces for guitarists. So anyone buying it knew they would have to crack open a manual or spend some time dialing in their tone.

I’m not saying the modern way of doing things is bad, because the gear is accessible to many more people. However I don’t think anyone buying an old Fractal, Kemper or 11R was approaching them with the expectation of instant gratification.

I'm perfectly fine without an editor with the 11R, I was really not with the Fm3.

 

[RGB]

I'm perfectly fine without an editor with the 11R, I was really not with the Fm3.

There is an Editor for the 11R...haven't used it in awhile, but it worked just fine at one time.

https://apps.avid.com/eleven-rack/?elq_mid=8727&elq_cid=10363205

 

[FuzzyAce]

I was close to gettin an 11R back a long time ago. But I was beginning to move away from protools and was knee deep into tube amps anyways. Timing wasn't right!

 

[Tito83]

There is an Editor for the 11R...haven't used it in awhile, but it worked just fine at one time.

https://apps.avid.com/eleven-rack/?elq_mid=8727&elq_cid=10363205

I don't know if it's currently working on latest Mac Os, but my point is that I really don't even want to use an editor, I can more pretty fast on the unit itself. That definitely isn't the case with Fractal anything.

 

[2112]

Never had the rack but wrote and recorded so many demos with the plugin back in the day.

 

[Jarick]

@Tito83 you could snag a used Headrush MX5, it has the same power as the older Headrush which is supposed to be an 11 Rack with expanded amps, effects, and an IR loader. You can run dual amps even.

 

[Leperclown]

I sold my 3rd 11 Rack a few months ago. Very solid unit, particularly the Matchless model, and great into tube power amps and guitar cabs. The White Boost is the best modelled drive pedal I have experienced. If I recall correctly, there was a problem with the software in Windows 11 (blue screened a laptop!).

 

[KingsXJJ]

Just need Josh to make an 11R vidya.

 

[banned]

I loved 11Rack back in the day - great guitar tones. Still great guitar tones and you could do a record with one easily - just can't match modern modelers for accuracy.

 

[Cactusprick]

brings back memories. Good times. Loved 11R while I had it.