Paul J. Edwards

Originally posted by turnip Can I just use a normal 12AX7? Yes you can. Don't but the snake oil that tube dealers sell to make an extra buck.

Look, If you guys think I am out of line I will not bring it up again. OK?

Originally posted by tlbonehead I'm feeling queasy suddenly. Sorry but I don't get your point. If you think I am all wet say so. I'm not easilly offended. We can agree to disagree.

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe If we allow all of you to do spam threads, two things happen. We wind up with a board full of spam threads (and start getting complaints - most of them from respected forum regulars who I shall not name) and the REAL spammers - you kow, the nOObs who register and start spamming, corporate spammers etc. try to throw it back in our face - "well hey dood, I read the rulez, and it does say no spam, but uh, why are you letting everyone else do it?" But other than that, please just use the dedicated thread and don't give me a lot of grief over it, okay? I've been a member for a few years and I've never seen "a board full of spam threads". Where do you get this from? If a so called "well respected forum regular" is complaining why do they click on the well indicated Spam Thread. This just does not make sense. If I see a thread that has a subject matter of "OT: Spam" I just don't click on it. Corporate Spam is something else but a guy wanting to unload a piece of gear is way OK. Why such the heavy hand all of a sudden? All of the things that make this forum cool is slowly evaporating. The only things that I think should be deleted are: 1. Hate speach. Racism not "I hate Metal Music" 2. Threats of violence. 3. Porno. I'm willing to agree to the girly threads. 4. Libel. Acusing others of criminal behaviour. Mr X is a child raper. Not MR. X is an asshole. The effort to make this forum anemic is underway or..... The new owners are so afraid of a lawsuit that they need to remove anything that a puritan may be offended by. I am offended by censorship. Does that count?

One last thing.... You MUST upgrade the firmware to v2. It adds loads of amps and effects and transforms the thing into something that rocks. The original box was just OK. If you do decide to buy it when you set it up please get the upgrade. It's a world of difference. Good luck!

Originally posted by jamesp The difference is that if you want to play without a computer, you're outta luck with the Toneport. It's like a dongle with knobs. The Box, otoh, is a great effects box/pedal/drum machine all by itself. Ah... I see what you mean. You can't really plug the BB into a guitar amp. I gotta think powered speakers would work pretty good. One other thing is that the drum machine is not programmable. You can change the tempo and do some stuff with delay but that's about it. The samples that are there sound good though.

Originally posted by jamesp Nice playing Paul! Okay, now I've read up on the UX2. There's really no comparing the two. One's a software interface and the other's a killer effects processor with pedals that will also serve as a USB interface. The Black Box is better for me. If you want to record with the BB and a USB interface you will need to use some type of recording software just like the UX2. They both come with Ableton Live which can be daunting at times. Although I have not done a lot of research on the UX2 the main differerence is that the BB comes with some drum beats and it has time synched effects. That means if you use tremolo for instance. It will be synched to the tempo of the drum beat. Or it can be synched to a MIDI time source. This can give you some cool effects. It makes it easy to sync up delay repeats to the beat.

Originally posted by stevethgitarist hey, i want to buy either the Black Box or the Toneport, but i need some info first, if somebody could help me out... 1. can you record bass on the BB? i know it has the Fender Bassman amp model, but i want to be sure, cuz i know the Toneprt has 2 inputs, one for guitar and one for bass. 2. does the BB come with vocal effects? i know the Tonpeort does, not sure about the BB. how does the BB sound work? can you hook up the BB to speakers and use it as an amp? or do you have to use your computer speakers or headphones? overall, what do you guys think is better, the BB or the Toneport? I own a BB and I like it. You can easilly record a bass. It has 4 bass amp models, an SVT an Acoustic 360, a GK 800, and a SWR 500. They sound good, You can add effects to the mike preamp. You can easily hook uo the BB to your PA or use the headphone output. I love my BB! Here is a way simple recording I have done using only the BB... BB recording The other thing that is cool about the BB is that it does time sync effects. Your trem or delay is automatically sync'ed to the beat.

Thanks to all for the insight. I have to think it is user error on my part. I am just having a tough time with this stuff. Thanks again.

I have Abelton Live and I thing it sucks!! I wish I could find something as easy as my Tascam 4 track casette recorder. I can bounce tracks so easy and there is no latency. In Abelton I lat down a drum track and the try to put a rhythem track over it and it is way out of sync. I am using an M-Audio Black Box and monitor it from the BB so ther should be no latency. One day it works great and the next it sucks. I hate this {censored}!!!

Originally posted by JM350 Get Reaper it's as straight forward as anything and it's free. Don't be put off by the free part it's quite good and getting better by the moment. http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ I have been struggling with Ableton Live for over two weeks and I decided that I would give your recomendation a try. In less than two hours I was able to import an MP3 backing track and record a lead over it, convert it to an MP3, post it on the net, and report back here without reading a word of the manual!! Thanks dude this is exactly what I wanted! I may outgrow it (hopefully) but for right now to record and post simple tracks this program is just what the doctor ordered. I can't thank you enough. Here is what I did with Render... Oh the backing track I take no credit for. Bruce aka bds9487 did that fantastic backing. He does many others that are way kool. Kudos to Bruce. http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=20764

I have been struggling with this program. Does any one know of a simple mutitrack program I can run on my laptop. This {censored} is killing me.

Originally posted by talking_goat Just wondering what people use BFD with and how they use it?? Any tips and pointers for someone totally overwhelmed by BFD?? I am a total noob but what is BFD? I think I have it in my pants and I do know how to use it. Don't think you are talking about the same thing. Consider this a bump... OK?

Originally posted by grahawk Abelton Live is an excellant program. It's reputation is an audio manipulation tool for audio tracks and audio loops and the ability to do things on the fly. This makes it's really good for using audio tracks and loops in a live situation. It has developed a lot and while it's still fine for this it's become a true all rounder which has been widley adopted. It's one of the biggest success story in music software in recent years. Yes you should continue with it. Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep at it until I outgrow the lite version (only 4 tracks) and then decide to either upgrade and move on. I suppose a lot of the concepts and the same regardless of the program. Thanks again.

I don't think anyone is followingthis thread and I understand why. I really am such a noob at this stuff. I finally got Ableton Live to work. A lite version comes with M-Audio Black Box. I've spent some time with this program and after reading this forum I see no one mentions it at all as a good or desirable way to record on a PC. Am I wasting my time learning this program and if so what should I spend more time on? I don't have the cash to pay for Pro Tools or any of the DAW, or is it DWA, stuff mentioned here. Is Kristal, which is free, be better for me to get the hang of rather than Ableton Live? The Black Box with the v2 firmare upgrade is pretty cool. Amp sims sound good, USB interface with no sound card needed, Beat Box to get you started as well. Still I don't want to waste my time learning a program, Ableton Live, that will be of no use to me as get better at this stuff. So should I use Kristal at this point or continue on with Live? Thanks for any help you give.

Damn this {censored} is hard to learn!!!

I aqm such a newbie when it comes to digital recording that I feel stupid. Love this Black Box but the learning curve on Ableton Live is way steep. Only have few hours on it and was able to record a basic track but the overduba are way out of sync. Wish there was an internet forum for dopes like me to get up to speed.

Originally posted by jamesp Cool. I hope you like it. IMO, the BB is overlooked and undermarketed. Sure, it's not gonna be "the answer" afa Tone goes, but the Box is something else entirely. For a head start download the manuals and print them out. I've had manuals on my music stand for months! You're going to want to update to the V2 firmware right away, so you might as well download that too (see: USB Series.) Also, there's a free upgrade to Live Lite 5 GTR that you'll be eligible for, but I'd install the version that comes with the Box first. Watching the Ableton tutorials in advance will speed things up. I kept a folder of them on my desktop for awhile. It's an adventure. Have fun! UPS deliverd the thing today. Came with a pretty cool mike and an expression pedal for 2 bills. At first I was a bit dissapointed but after I was able to download and install the new firmware I am way excited. Big difference in sound between the two. The amp models actually do capture the essence of the amp. Not bad at all After I get the hang of the Live 5 software I have to find a place to host some stuff. So far so good. I am a happy camper!

Originally posted by jamesp No, you're not. At this point, I don't think there's a better deal out there for sketching out song ideas on a guitar and computer. IMO, the amps have always been salvageable with Ableton Live's (or a good amp's) compression and EQ, the new firmware's put both on the Box.. It'll work with stomps, but when you're running the Box and Live, why bother? The onboard looper (Delay, really) tops out at a minute, I think. But there's no end to what you can loop in Live. Forget all about models and/or numbers of presets or patterns. The possibilities for tone, combinations of effects and drum patterns are Vast. Presets are just there as sugguestions, or for quick, push-button access. If you're not happy with them, tweak away and save your new ones. It's simple. As I've said before, if you outgrow the Box, A: you're a golden God. B: You've had a fantastic intro-to/upgrade path for Ableton Live. And C: You've still got this amazing tool for hardware effects or a toy for fun practising. I don't see a downside. James, I've read you post a few times and I do think I made the best choice given my budget and knowledge. Thanks for the insightfull suggestions. I do appreciate it.

Originally posted by jamesp No, you're not. At this point, I don't think there's a better deal out there for sketching out song ideas on a guitar and computer. IMO, the amps have always been salvageable with Ableton Live's (or a good amp's) compression and EQ, the new firmware's put both on the Box.. It'll work with stomps, but when you're running the Box and Live, why bother? The onboard looper (Delay, really) tops out at a minute, I think. But there's no end to what you can loop in Live. Forget all about models and/or numbers of presets or patterns. The possibilities for tone, combinations of effects and drum patterns are Vast. Presets are just there as sugguestions, or for quick, push-button access. If you're not happy with them, tweak away and save your new ones. It's simple. As I've said before, if you outgrow the Box, A: you're a golden God. B: You've had a fantastic intro-to/upgrade path for Ableton Live. And C: You've still got this amazing tool for hardware effects or a toy for fun practising. I don't see a downside. Thanks! I bought one to day online via zzsounds.com Comes with a free expression pedal and a cheap mike. I am sure it will whet my appetite for something better but for two bills it seems like a cool solution that I could use as an interface with my PC. Hope to post some stupid stuff here!!

I just checked it out. This is not all all what I am looking for. Thanks for the input but it does not come close to what the Black box does. I want a recording interface so I can hook up my guitar to my PC (laptop). The fact that it offers some cool beats, bass and guitar models and effects is like icing on the cake for only 2 bills. I understand that there are other proiducts out there that will do the job better but certainly not cheaper. Am I wrong here?

Originally posted by The Cerastine Order The Blackbox is a pos in my opinion, look elsewhere for an amp modeler. Hate to say it, but Line 6 is still the best bet....guitar rig 2 sounds alot better than its predecessor. I have a Vox Tonelab and it gets the job done aswell. I am not looking for an amp modeler per se. It's the PC recording interface and the beat box that gets me. Does the Tone Port allow you to mutitrack on your PC. Guitar rig 2 is a software based guitar effect? Don't need that. Don't know about the Vox Tonelab but will do asearch for it. Does it allow you to interface with your PC via USB and do mutitracking?

Originally posted by JM350 If you are going to do real drums you will probabaly want an interface that can record at least four tracks at the same time. Presonus Firebox (about $300.00) along with two additional channels of micpre will do that. If your budget is tight you could get by with only two mics on the drums (overhead and kick) but just one is tough. When using a computer you total number of tracks is governed by how powerful your computer is. Sometimes the recording software limits your total number of tracks but usually that's only with some light versions, in other words software that comes free with some hardware. Software effects will suck up your computer's processing power much faster than track count, so it's not really how many tracks but how many effects. I'm not gonna do live drums. It comes with like 100 beats and able to use others on a CD. The effects are hardware based in the Black Box so there is no latency or stress on the PC. I just want down and dirty to record some ideas. I was wondering if someone has knowledge of this unit and if you can use stomp boxes with it too. I don't think it has a loop so I guess you would have to use them in line.

I am thinking of purchasing this thing. Anyone with any experience with it? I just want to lay down some tracks on my PC in a simple way and have it sound pretty good. Does anyone know if you can record bass with it? I'd like to lay down the drums and bass and then some rhythm then lead guitar. Matbe some overdubs and a vocal or two. Will I be able to do this with thing and my laptop? Thanks for any help or input you can give me. The only re3cording I have ever done has been on a Tascam Porta1 cassette 4 track. How many tracks can you do? Can you bounce stuff with the software that comes with it. Thanks again.

Originally posted by jamesp The Black Box is your inexpensive thingy. USB audio, onboard drums and MIDI or guitar bass in Live Lite - $200 and you're rolling. For now, the Box and Live Lite are more than you need. When you outgrow the audio interface (and you will) the Black Box will still be a useful tool. You won't outgrow Live Lite, you'll just want more. Like crack. This does seem like the cheapest and most painless way to make some recordings direct to my laptop. I also hear they have recently upgraded the firmware to include some reverbs and a bunch more drum loops. My B day is this month and I think that may be the easiest and cheapest way to go. Thanks to all for your advice. I appeciate it.