Boss GT-8 vs. Digitech GNX4

[Fxrs]

Originally posted by Shiny_Surface GT8, especially with an amp. It is the most flexible, and will mesh easily with your DC5. I have no problem with the amp modeling, it's "good enough" for late night brainstorming and as a backup to my real amps. I did have to create my own patches from scratch, and wasn't impressed by the presets. GT8 is built alot sturdier and not as shoddy as the XTLive, which looks real cheap and very non robust to me........

I bought one to use with my DC-5 and it did NOT mesh easily with it. I brought it back the next day. The GT-8 is a very cool unit, but if you want to use it in the loop (including the 4CM) it sounds like {censored}! The loop only lets thru I think 90% of the signal, not 100%. It sounded very "far away". It was ok thru the front, but if you're gonna do that, save yourself a few bucks and get the GT-6. It'll do ALMOST all the GT-8 will do.

[MCon]

 

Originally posted by Shiny_Surface Just for kicks I ran my GT8 into a loop return of a Mark IV head and it sounded awesome! Oh well....

 

 

Have you tried it with the 4 cable method yet?

[Fxrs]

Originally posted by Shiny_Surface Just for kicks I ran my GT8 into a loop return of a Mark IV head and it sounded awesome! Oh well.... Maybe because the Mark IV has a series loop I'm guessing .

I know that the Rectifiers (newer ones anyway) have 2 dials for the signal control in the loop. I only have 1 "mix" control.

[IWillGuitBuy]

GT-6 is down to $299 at Musicians Friend

[travis bickle]

the gt-8 sounds great in the loop of my recto. and it switches my channels with each patch. beautiful.

[paranoid726]

thanks to many who posted here. I looked that the pod but went with the GNX4 recently and love it. Found out you have to turn the speaker compensation switch to "on" and leave it on. That's when it kicks A$$ ! Even the guys at the music stores don't know that which I was surprised.

[SkyhighRocks]

I have an xt Live coming next week and can't wait to try it out. I did get to put a GT-8 through the paces at Gc for a couple of hours a few months ago and I could not get anything to sound even remotely good through a Marshall amp. I turned preamps off and tried it through the front, loop....it was decent but the amp lost alot of it's good tone. I would like to try it again and see if i could get it to sound better...but on about 2 hours of testing it, I told them to put it back in the box and put it back on the shelf.

[RojerD]

I'm afraid I won't agree with Digitech trashers. The gnx4 has very decent amp simulations and effets for those into that thing. Of course you can pick whatever amp/speaker sim you like, including none. I wish people would not make themselves look ridiculous, giving advice when they don't have a clue.

 

What the GNX4 has that the others lack is usability :

 

This baby packs a full featured looper that doubles as an 8 tracks recorder. How can a musician not DREAM of recording/retaking/looping multiple vocal/GT tracks without leaving his guitar? You might use your computer or not, doing so. How is that a gadget?

 

Built like a tank. I wonder what one of the trashers means with "aluminium". Maybe his glasses were made out of it

 

It can be your mac or pc soundcard, 4 mono inputs, uncompressed 24 bits 44100 wav files. Latest asio drivers are stable (at last) and, though it won't go below 10ms latency, it should be a problem only for those demanding very fast softsynth response. I play realistic drums without having to complain. Not bad for a freebie. Direct monitoring shouldn't be a problem since you can route whatever source to your monitoring setup and record other ones, including unaffected guitar. How about tweaking your patch AFTER recording ?

 

The onboard mic preamp is very decent and surpasses most small mixers channels. Line in is true, for once. Connectors were meant for the road. If you distort that thing or lack gain anywhere in the chain, you did something wrong.

 

I could go on and list another bunch of excellent features but that would do little for the thread. One thing makes the difference with the competition though : inputs, outputs and routing. Look at the audio specs and considere what it means to have +22db on the line/speaker outs ! The discerning gigging musician will bypass the cheap mixer or play without in a small band. My choice is to plug the band's mixer INTO the gnx4. Gigging solo: no mixer at all, just a channel strip for vocals and an external reverb vor both vocals and guitar.

 

Considering it ships at

[fly135]

I have a GNX4 and it's my favorite multifx. I'll admit the reason why I like it is the 8 track recorder/looper, drum machine, and mp3 backing track player. If it wasn't for those features I probably wouldn't even use a multifx. I had both an X3 Live and the GNX4 at the same time. The X3 is a nice unit, but lacks the GNX4 feature set so I got rid of of. I have also had a Boss GT-8. I would not recommend the GT-8 to anyone unless they plan to go 4CM and use their amp for gain tones. The gain tones (amp models) on the GT-8 are the worst/fizziest of the higher end units. And the GT-8 Wah was IMO terrible.

 

If you are into Metal then perhaps the X3 would have the best tones, but other than that I think the GNX4 can match the X3 tone wise despite being an older design. The GNX4 has cabinet tuning that makes tweaking a bit more difficult for me. When I start tweaking the cabinet tuning I think it gets my ear confused. But maybe that's just me.

 

I still like my separate pedals better than using the multifx, but the versatility of the GNX4 means you can do things with it that you can't do with pedals. As with the other units you can assign multiple FX switches to a signal switch. For example, you could toggle the amp mode, delay, and chorus on one footswitch. So you could switch a clean chorus with delay and a crunch tone with no FX on one press. And the 8 track recorder/looper kicks butt.

[bluffalo]

that was quite a big bump guys...

[fly135]

Holy cow! LOL, if it's at the top of the list I'll post.

[jaytee123]

 

Im trying to decide between this two pedalboards, I think I will use every feature available, so feel free to debate the positive and negative aspects of each, important differences, etc, Distortion very important for me, and distortion versatility too. Sound quality of course is always on top. Note: Money is no problem and therefore not a factor in the fight thx for info + opinions

 

 

Neither. Zoom G9.2tt.

 

No "fizzy" high gain models.

[Mr. Brady]

Holy old thread batman. I have both the GT8 and XT Live. The GT8 is better for live use with a tube amp. The XT live has better direct and recorded amp sims, but doesn't sound as good through a tube power amp as the GT8. GT8 has better quality effects.

[Fat Albert]

I've used a GT-6 and GT-8 for years strictly as an effects board, and they have always gotten the job done. They're of course not going to sound as good as a full-blown custom pedalboard, but they also don't weight and cost nearly as much, and they definitely don't sound bad by any means. They're pretty easy to setup once you get the hang of it, and with the four-cable method (just do a google on it), you have a ton of flexibility on your hands.

 

The modeling on the GT-8 is ok - not stellar, but it works well for what it is. Since you'd already have the GT-8 with you, one upside is that should you amp blow up before a gig, you can still go direct and finish the show (assuming you have it all properly dialed in). It also works fine for laying down quick tracks or practice with headphones.

[locust tree]

I've owned a GNX1 for many many years now. I only ever use it for practicing with the Jam Along jack, and it's pretty rough even for that. It's a terrible unit, and at this point its modeling algorithms are totally dated. To get anything remotely usable you need to get really heavy handed with its para EQ, and even with parameters maxed out it still generally sounds like it has a blanket over it. This thing dates back to the early days of modeling and it shows.

 

I was honestly surprised to crack open this thread and see that Digitech is even still selling it - any of their newer stuff beats the hell out of it.

 

To the guys that are singing its praises... do yourselves a favor and mess around with any newer modeling hardware or software. Guitar Rig 3, GTR3, newer Line 6 stuff (although their algorithms are due for an update as well). If you like modeling you won't believe how far the new stuff has come.

[HKSblade1]

Out of those boards, I'd pick the GNX-4 too. Our former guitar player would use that box for one man gigs. He had those flash cards loaded up with different songs. Ran the whole thing through a small PA system. Always sounded good. He had over 40 gigs a year with that box and afaik he's still usin it.

 

I bought a GNX4 4 years ago. Still have it, but have not figured the box out yet. I did use the looper and 8 track recorder and it sounded good.

 

I also had (4) X3Live pedals and could never get one good one. They all broke within a month or less. Blank screens, have to reboot it. Noisy crackling. That thing was a total pos imo. When I returned the last X3Live the manager at GC said they were taking a beating on customer returns for that pos. Said he RMA'd more than half of the stocked X3 Live's. The X3 bean was fine.

[fly135]

I've owned a GNX1 for many many years now. I only ever use it for practicing with the Jam Along jack, and it's pretty rough even for that. It's a terrible unit....To the guys that are singing its praises... do yourselves a favor and mess around with any newer modeling hardware or software. Guitar Rig 3, GTR3, newer Line 6 stuff (although their algorithms are due for an update as well). If you like modeling you won't believe how far the new stuff has come.

So the GNX4 is bad because you've tried a GNX1. And even though we are talking about floor boxes we should be looking at computer based modelers. mmmKay:wave:

[locust tree]

So the GNX4 is bad because you've tried a GNX1. And even though we are talking about floor boxes we should be looking at computer based modelers. mmmKay:wave:

 

If by "tried" you mean owned for 6+ years

 

GNX4 = GNX1 + multitrack recorder the OP isn't going to use. They all have the same core set of models and effects. Product knowledge anyone?

 

And fine, nix the computer stuff. Seriously, you've been out of the modeling game for a while if you think $400 for a new GNX4 isn't a highway robbery when you can get an RP1000 for that price or a freaking GSP1101 for $100 more. We're talking about technology that's almost old enough to land in the POD 1.0 era here.

[musicdog400]

Not everyone is into tweaking which is understandable. But you kind of need to know if they are when they give a review of a complicated modeler.

 

There are couple of things not often talked about that can make a big difference. For example if the effect routing is flexible enough, placing an EQ before and after distortion can fix some normally unfixable problems with mud.

 

Also splitting the sound into two identical amp models, routing lows to one and highs to the other is really cool for a clear distortion sound. I mean if you think you can never play low 3rds with a lot of distortion and have it sound correct, try this. Flexibility becomes really important if you are into tweaking. I use Line6 stuff but the GT-8/10 appears to be even more flexible.

[Deny]

If by "tried" you mean owned for 6+ years GNX4 = GNX1 + multitrack recorder the OP isn't going to use. They all have the same core set of models and effects. Product knowledge anyone? And fine, nix the computer stuff. Seriously, you've been out of the modeling game for a while if you think $400 for a new GNX4 isn't a highway robbery when you can get an RP1000 for that price or a freaking GSP1101 for $100 more. We're talking about technology that's almost old enough to land in the POD 1.0 era here.

 

Not really, there are a couple more things the GNX4 has that I believe the GNX1 doesn't:

 

- Speaker compensation button;

- Presence control;

- Stompbox modeling.

[fly135]

 

Seriously, you've been out of the modeling game for a while if you think $400 for a new GNX4 isn't a highway robbery when you can get an RP1000 for that price or a freaking GSP1101 for $100 more.

I guess this is the kind of opinion you get when you can't decern between features. The GSP1101 is a rack unit that needs an external controller. The GNX4 has an 8 Track recorder/looper that does more than the $300 Jamman. Two entirely different animals. I've owned the GNX4, X3 Live, and GT-8. They each have their purposes.

 

I don't think the tone of the GNX4 is as bad as you think it is based on comparisons against the units I've owned. I prefer the amp/cab tones of the GNX4 over the GT-8. IIRC you're screwed if you need an IPS on the X3. It's up to each individual to decide what their priorities are.

[Spizzledude]

I couldn't make the GNX4 work for me. Every time I cranked it live it turned into harsh, digital, treble crap. I bought that Super Models pack too.

 

My GP100 (which was the precursor to the boss pedal line) was much warmer at higher volumes though it couldn't do high gain worth a crap.

 

The Snax kills 'em both, even the lowly Standard.

[HKSblade1]

My GNX4 had fizzy sounds. After a few reads over the forums, I realized the speaker compensator filter button wasn't on I didn't think about it, but there are 2 of those switches. After that, it sounded pretty damn good. I bought the updater disc for the rock amps. Those sounds were better than the factory ones imo.

 

Zent, I have the standard too. Those floor boxes are not in the same ball park so I won't compare them at all. So to this point imo, and I think a lot of us can agree that no matter what box or rack modeler, high gain tones especially are a big problem for getting the "real amp" vibe. At least in my experience with GNX-4, X3Live, GT-10, GSP1101 and even snax..

 

I can't just judge by these clips with stacked guitar tracks. I've never heard a good clip of one of these things compared to it's mono real amp. Turn all the effects off on those boxes and listen. Not a real amp tone imo. Just sayin it takes more "extras" like reverbs, chorus, enhancers to make those work. Even the can be improved with those IR's cabs from rewirez.

[Deny]

Thing is, real amps ALWAYS have an effect on them: the room ambience. If you add that to your modeled sound when recording direct, you'll find out that it sounds *a lot* more like a real amp. This is also true for practicing wearing headphones. Please note that in order to emulate this you'll need a unit with a pretty good reverb (GNX4 has a few decent ones, I hear the AxeFX' are stellar) and tweak it right until it sounds close to a real room.

[zyx345]

I had a GNX3 and sold it for a POD XT. I prefer the POD XT only because of the expandibility with the model packs. Things I missed from the GNX3 are the whammy effect and built in recorder.

 

For a good recto type tone I prefer the Big Bottom model on the POD XT.