IK Multimedia TONEX

[Byrdman]

One warning, Tonex is cheap, but if you get into a capture buying habit, it can get expensive. I pretty much only use my captures and paid captures, but I am careful about what and how many I buy.

I don't know if he is doing a sale now, but Amalgam OFTEN does 5 for the price of 3, 10 for the price of 5 etc. type deals so maybe plan out what you want and take advantage of those deals. 5 or 10 packs from Amalgam should cover a TON of ground for most of us if you choose carefully.

I appreciate the warning! I'm really interested in a select few, hot Rodded 2203/4, late 60's Plexi, and 90's Dual & early 00's Triple Recs, for what we play in the band that I feel like my Stomp XL is lacking. More than likely, I'm just not dialing it in as good as I should but if I can get a handful to cover what I'm lacking so I can spend the time practicing vs tweaking, it's a win/win for me.

 

[synthpenguin]

One warning, Tonex is cheap, but if you get into a capture buying habit, it can get expensive. I pretty much only use my captures and paid captures, but I am careful about what and how many I buy.

I don't know if he is doing a sale now, but Amalgam OFTEN does 5 for the price of 3, 10 for the price of 5 etc. type deals so maybe plan out what you want and take advantage of those deals. 5 or 10 packs from Amalgam should cover a TON of ground for most of us if you choose carefully.

Totalllly, and thank you for the warning!

I am taking my time, and still haven't actually bought any yet lol. My plan is to avoid both overspending and file management overload, so I've been playing with the samples from Amalgam and Amp Gems (and a few Tone Junkie ones and other freebies) to get a feel for what I want (what I will actually use), and just plan to buy a few. Also, I cleared all the presets on my unit, and then I put different things I've been trying out into the later banks, intending to build my "final" presets in the first few banks, and deleting presets to narrow it down as I gravitate away from them.

I know I'm getting Amalgam's Benson one. I love the sound and feel, just as I expected to based on all I've heard of those amps (and my attempts to emulate them in the Helix lol). Getting a good Benson sound without having to sell any organs was a big impetus for getting a capture device originally.

From there I had planned to get a Marshall-like, a Vox-like, and a scooped Fender of some sort. For the Marshall, tbh a lot of the factory direct / amp-only captures get me close enough for the classic Marshall rock sounds, which I only want occasionally, so I'm thinking of getting the Amalgam Tweed Bassman pack to cover the rest. There was an Amalgam Marshall I tried that I liked a lot too, but I don't remember what it was offhand (maybe the Super Bass?). I feel like a Bassman with a pre-low cut can get me close enough when I want that too though.

For the Vox, I tried a bunch of captures and didn't like most of them except for the Amalgam AC30 one. Most of the others I tried didn't seem to capture what I like about a driven Vox, at least in the samples, even if they did the clean thing well. I may go with that AC50 instead though (it really does sound good), but its driven sound overlaps quite a bit with the Benson and Bassman. I know I should probably check out Matchless etc too, but eh.

For the mid-scooped Fender sounds... I think I'm actually covered well enough by the factory amp captures and a few free ones I grabbed from Amp Gems, at least for now. When I'm not trying to emulate another sound (which isn't necessary in the digital realm), my Fender needs are pretty "keep it simple". Also, unlike the Amalgam ones, the Amp Gem freebies are actually direct captures, so I can use them as-is. If I decide later to look at more sounds like this, I'll actually probably check out the Magnatone Twilighter captures. A lot of artists I like use those DR-ish Magnatones, so I'm interested; there are no sample captures though.

There are all the things that are edge cases for me like the Oranges and the 5150s too, but again: eh. I still have my HX Stomp too anyway.

So that basically narrows me down to 3 to 5 packs, but probably just 3, and either way I plan to use either the 3 for 2 or 5 for 3 coupon codes Amalgam has on their site right now :)

 

[synthpenguin]

For anyone practicing with headphones ~ I've found the stereo reverb at the end with settings of Type=Room, Time=1.5 to 2.5ms, Pre-Delay=20ms, Color=-5, and Mix=20 to 25% works really nice for a little more of an "in the room" feel.

 

[bucephalus]

One warning, Tonex is cheap, but if you get into a capture buying habit, it can get expensive. I pretty much only use my captures and paid captures, but I am careful about what and how many I buy.

I don't know if he is doing a sale now, but Amalgam OFTEN does 5 for the price of 3, 10 for the price of 5 etc. type deals so maybe plan out what you want and take advantage of those deals. 5 or 10 packs from Amalgam should cover a TON of ground for most of us if you choose carefully.

I think, in my time with tonex, that deal is always good. The Bartel Roseland is so fucking good.

 

[Richard_G]

Yeah - the Bartel Roseland from Amalgam is great!

 

[Byrdman]

I hate Fedex! I'm in Central FL, my Tonex shipped from Sunrise, South FL, on Monday. It was scheduled to be delivered by EOD yesterday and when I looked this morning, it was in Maryland.

WTF FedEx

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I hate Fedex! I'm in Central FL, my Tonex shipped from Sunrise, South FL, on Monday. It was scheduled to be delivered by EOD yesterday and when I looked this morning, it was in Maryland.

WTF FedEx

At least it is doing something. My stuff will hit Indianapolis, then sit for days when I'm probably within 45 minutes of the hub/sorting facility.

 

[DrewJD82]

I hate Fedex! I'm in Central FL, my Tonex shipped from Sunrise, South FL, on Monday. It was scheduled to be delivered by EOD yesterday and when I looked this morning, it was in Maryland.

WTF FedEx

I could have picked it up for ya! If you folded Ft. Lauderdale in half I’d land smack down on top of that IK location. I’m waiting for @IK Multimedia to make his way down so we can hit up Quarterdeck before he realizes he’ll need to have security following us through the IK studio.

Also, if the modded Marshall thing is also your thing, don’t sleep on @Deadpan’s JEL caps!!!!

 

[Byrdman]

Also, if the modded Marshall thing is also your thing, don’t sleep on @Deadpan’s JEL caps!!!!

No worries! I will be checking that out!!

 

[IK Multimedia]

I could have picked it up for ya! If you folded Ft. Lauderdale in half I’d land smack down on top of that IK location. I’m waiting for @IK Multimedia to make his way down so we can hit up Quarterdeck before he realizes he’ll need to have security following us through the IK studio.

Also, if the modded Marshall thing is also your thing, don’t sleep on @Deadpan’s JEL caps!!!!

I promise I'll be down there soon. I look forward to some Quarterdeck and some time in the office/studio which apparently used to be a place where they did ballistics testing for some of the "three-letter agencies". The heavy-ass door on the studio is a leftover relic of that.

 

[DrewJD82]

I promise I'll be down there soon. I look forward to some Quarterdeck and some time in the office/studio which apparently used to be a place where they did ballistics testing for some of the "three-letter agencies". The heavy-ass door on the studio is a leftover relic of that.

Seems that's a popular thing for the alphabet agencies; the DEA and DOD used to occupy 2 floors of the building my office is in and we find stuff buried in walls all the time, like half an evidence locker's fencing makes up a portion of our main office or all the wiring from the DOD's cameras in the ceiling. Can't say I miss having them for tenants as those government leases come with additional inspections and security measures that are a bit over the top for a standard commercial office building.

 

[Byrdman]

My ToneX arrived yesterday afternoon. I got it registered, ToneX Edit and ToneX Max downloaded and spent about an hour running through some of the presets on my headphones. I play with HB's so I lowered the Input Trim to about +2.5 since it came at +8.5. That seemed to help the tones out a lot.

With just the limited time I spent with it, it seems the UI is much better than when I tried it before with the CS. I'll be spending time this weekend getting to know it better, so any tips, shortcuts, etc. would be appreciated.

 

[EOengineer]

My ToneX arrived yesterday afternoon. I got it registered, ToneX Edit and ToneX Max downloaded and spent about an hour running through some of the presets on my headphones. I play with HB's so I lowered the Input Trim to about +2.5 since it came at +8.5. That seemed to help the tones out a lot.

With just the limited time I spent with it, it seems the UI is much better than when I tried it before with the CS. I'll be spending time this weekend getting to know it better, so any tips, shortcuts, etc. would be appreciated.

I had been gradually migrating away from modeling over the last year or two. Tonex sort of found a strange new lease on life here after I threw it on my spare pedalboard with some drives, fuzz, univibe, analog delay pedals.

For whatever reason, having those options out front of the Tonex halted the non stop tweaking I tend to experience with modeling and got me back to focusing on playing and being creative.

I’d recommend thinking of Tonex as part of a larger chain. Use some fun toys along with it like you might if using your preferred pedals and amps. Tonex responds to pedals very naturally, so give yourself some room to have fun with it.

 

[Byrdman]

I had been gradually migrating away from modeling over the last year or two. Tonex sort of found a strange new lease on life here after I threw it on my spare pedalboard with some drives, fuzz, univibe, analog delay pedals.

For whatever reason, having those options out front of the Tonex halted the non stop tweaking I tend to experience with modeling and got me back to focusing on playing and being creative.

I’d recommend thinking of Tonex as part of a larger chain. Use some fun toys along with it like you might if using your preferred pedals and amps. Tonex responds to pedals very naturally, so give yourself some room to have fun with it.

That is one of the reasons I wanted to start using this. I have never been a pedal guy but do use effects on my Stomp XL with the HX amp models.

For now, once I figure out how, I plan to put the ToneX in the loop of my XL and see how that works.

 

[Byrdman]

First question of the day, lol...

What is the best way to try captures from Tonenet? Can you try with out DL-ing them or you just have to listen and then if you think it's a keeper, you DL it to library and then import it to Tonex Edit which puts it on your pedal?

If anyone would take the time to tell me their workflow, I would be very appreciative! BTW, simple, bullet points, etc. explanation is all I'm asking. Don't feel like you have to write a dissertation here, unless you feel like that's necessary

 

[AlbertA]

First question of the day, lol...

What is the best way to try captures from Tonenet? Can you try with out DL-ing them or you just have to listen and then if you think it's a keeper, you DL it to library and then import it to Tonex Edit which puts it on your pedal?

If anyone would take the time to tell me their workflow, I would be very appreciative! BTW, simple, bullet points, etc. explanation is all I'm asking. Don't feel like you have to write a dissertation here, unless you feel like that's necessary

You should be able to audition from the Editor right?

 

[Chocol8]

What is the best way to try captures from Tonenet?

While heavily medicated.

 

[synthpenguin]

For whatever reason, having those options out front of the Tonex halted the non stop tweaking I tend to experience with modeling and got me back to focusing on playing and being creative.

Yeah, I haven't had the option paralysis problem with modelers that some do, but it's sort of interesting how I end up interacting with the Tonex a lot more like an actual amp--finding some nice sounds (by way of finding the right capture rather than tweaking tone controls) and then forgetting about it. imo most modelers can get good, usable sounds without a lot of tweaking or "tricks" these days, but they can definitely push you to approach it a little more analytically too, for better or worse.

 

[Chocol8]

I end up interacting with the Tonex a lot more like an actual amp

This was a huge part of my happiness with Tonex and why I prefer the One to the OG pedal. I put a couple captures on it that represent how I would have the amp(s) setup, and then use it exactly like I would use an amp. Same pedals, same workflow, same not messing with the amp tones at all within or between songs.

The biggest difference is when I find a capture to settle on, I might make 3 profiles out of it. 1) DI for use with a power amp into a cab. 2) add IR, and a light balance of reverb and delay for headphone use, and 3) A version with an IR and less or no reverb/delay for use through FRFR. There might be some small EQ tweaks between them, but essentially I am after very similar results, and then the pedals do the rest.

I can imagine if I was much younger and grew up with Fractal or Helix, I might find the old fashioned workflow limiting, but I find the limitations to be a benefit that helps me focus on playing.

 

[Richard_G]

Yeah, I don’t use Tonex as an all-in-one-solution, but as an amp sim combined with other pedals.

Here’s the latest iteration of my Tonex pedal based board (I also have a Tonex One on another board):