Line 6 Toneport UX2

 Line 6 are the masters at taking hugely complicated and impressive technology and squeezing it into a cool looking box that a common or garden guitarist can understand. They’ve used their technology to model amps, model effects, they’ve even modelled guitars and slapped dozens of different ones into the “Variax”. In 2002 they released the cool looking GuitarPort, which introduced a collection of computer based guitar tones based on a selection from the Vetta amplifier. It sounded great and worked well but only had a single input, for guitar and so was limited in terms of being a useful recording interface.

The designers at Line 6 have spent some thinking about it and have released the Toneport range of recording interfaces:

• UX1 – Simple, stereo in/out, mic and guitar.

• UX2 – Cool looking, retro styling VU meters mic preamps, twin guitar inputs, digital output, footswitch jacks

• KB37 - A UX2 contained within a 37 note keyboard controller with expression pedal connectivity and MIDI controls.

Each comes with the updated version 3 GearBox software and Ableton Live Lite 4 recording software, so you have a complete studio package in one box.

For the purposes of this review we’ll be looking at the UX2.

First Impressions

It looks amazing although disappointingly it’s made entirely from moulded plastic - it’s pretty solid though. Those two VU meters on the front set it apart from any other piece of computer hardware. Line 6 know how to please the eye of the guitarist – just wish it was a tiny bit heavier.

Installation

Slap the disk in and you install the software and drivers before plugging the UX2 in. When instructed, you connect the cable, follow the instructions and it’s done. The UX2 connects with a single USB cable to a free USB port from which it also gets it power – no wall wart or other power supply required making this a completely mobile box.

Once installed the first thing you need to do is update the drivers and software. Line 6 make this easy by supplying the “Line 6 Monkey” which searches online for any updates and installs them for you. It also allows you to buy and download additional tones for the Gearbox and other Line 6 software.

GearBox (version 3)

The GearBox software is what the Toneport is all about. It’s like having a stripped down PodXT on your computer with fantastic models of preamps, effects, cabinets, vintage guitar and bass rigs plus vocal mic preamps and effects. For the guitar side you’ve got 18 classic and modern guitar amplifiers, 24 guitar speaker cabinet models, 5 bass amp and cab models, and 30 stompbox and studio effects. For the vocals you’ve got 6 mic pres and 4 effects.

When you first start up the software you are offered a tutorial which takes you to the excellent pdf manual. It’s packed full of diagrams and useful information that’s well laid out and easy to understand – nice one, nothing is more helpful that a decent connection diagram showing real things plugging into stuff.

So, guitar in, VU meters swing delightfully, default tone seems to be “American Punk” and yep, that’s Green Day all right – nice. Sounds great, just by plugging in and going with the defaults you get a fat crunchy tone with no hint of delay or latency that you may find in other software based systems, it’s instant, responsive and sounds like a guitar. At the top of GearBox you have your amp head where you can choose your model and cabinet, and beneath that you have a long row of stomp boxes which, when selected, show their controls alongside a graphic version of the VU meters. You can completely set up your own tones with your own choices of amp, cab and effects and store them as user presets. Or you can browse through the numerous presets covering clean, crunch and heavy models. One point of frustration at this point was that I couldn’t step through presets at the touch of a button, I had to click and then select with mouse or cursor keys – you just want to hit “+” or something and move to the next tone. The combinations of amps, cabs and effects available are huge and you could spend days checking them all out and the software invites you to do this with it’s clear and well laid out interface.

The tuner is worth a mention because having used loads of software tuners this is by far the best one I’ve come across so far – it’s a simple VU style, holds the pitch even when the sound is dying away and doesn’t flicker all over the place.

At the bottom of the GearBox software there’s a separate section that contains a browser to their online “GuitarPort” subscription service which is a bit like a magazine that gives you access to hundreds of tracks, lessons and riffs to improve your playing. Along with that there’s a Tone Library where you can get access to tons of additional presets and a Tone Locker where you can organise your presets. Two other features are the Player where you can play CD’s or audio files to jam along to. This also ties in with the GuitarPort Online in that lessons can be loaded here, looped, slowed down and played with. Finally here’s a metronome that is actually more like a little drum machine, which is a nice touch.

All in all the GearBox software is a fabulous collection of tones and tools, geared directly at the guitarist, that’s easy to use and helpful – you might even learn something. A plug-in version that you could use in Cubase and Sonar has just become available and they include a copy just to annoy you because you can’t actually use it until you stump up $199, which seems a bit steep considering it’s just extending the functionality of something you’ve already got. You do get a load more amps and cabinets though so it’s certainly good value as a standalone purchase but it would be nice to get a working version with the UX2.

Recording Software

The UX2 comes with Ableton Live Lite 4, a special version put together for Line 6. It’s a bit of an odd choice in that Live normally attracts the DJ, loop based musicians and seems geared towards that kind of music, however, appearances can be deceptive. Live can work like a regular multitracker, record a track of audio and then record another alongside etc. But it also has another side that is based upon loops. Live sets you up with a number of channels each with 4 slots into which you can drop sample loops. So you could drop in a drum loop on one channel and a loop of a bass guitar on another. Live intelligently matches the tempo of the loop so that they stay in time – magic. Set the loops going and then play alongside for an instant jam session. You can have different loops on the same channel and switch between them for verse and chorus and fills and Live comes with stacks of loops to get you going. Now the cool thing is that you can create your own loops by recording. Select a blank channel, arm it for recording and hit record on the first slot – as the loops play back you can record a riff alongside and then set that playing back in a loop as well. For anyone who’s used other recording software such as Cubase or Sonar then Ableton Live might seem a little strange but once you’ve got the hang of it it’s a useful piece of kit and it has some built in tutorials to show you exactly what to do.

While we’re recording let’s check out the hardware.

Hardware

The UX2 is essentially a stereo in/out box but set up to give you the maximum in versatility when it comes to recording. You’ve got two inputs for instruments, which will probably be a guitar or bass (!) one for normal level and a “Pad” input for instruments with active pickups. Next you’ve got two microphone inputs, on XLR connectors, with 48V phantom power for condenser mics and big plastic chrome knobs to control the gain. On the rear of the unit you’ll find a stereo line input for recording from a mixer or preamp or other line level device. To round off the audio inputs you’ve got a monitor input that isn’t a recording input but allows you to route the output of something else through the box. A stroke of someone’s genius is the two footswitch inputs on the back. Connect any regular footswitch and you’ve got remote control of GearBox or start/stop in Ableton Live. For outputs you’ve got stereo line out and an independent headphone output each with their own big plastic chrome knob. There’s also an S/PDIF output for those with a use for it. All the plugs and knobs are well laid out and it’s got big rubber feet that stop it sliding around when you’re trying to plug something in.

Recording can be done in a few modes and the GearBox software adjusted accordingly. You can have a mono instrument, mono microphone, stereo microphone using both mic inputs, you can use the line stereo input or you can use instrument and microphone simultaneously. This is nicely catered for in the GearBox software where you can switch between independent guitar and vocal effects. This is the perfect setup for the one-man-and-guitar pub performer with your guitar and vocal effects all taken care of through the same box, mixed together to a single output. There’s a bit of weirdness with the VU meters in this mode, warm and inviting though they surely are, in that the mic socket is physically on the left but it triggers the right VU meter and the guitar input, physically on the right, triggers the left VU meter – there’s probably a really good reason for it.

Recording quality through all the inputs is clean and more than satisfactory at 44.1 and 48kHz

With a smooth increase in gain over the preamps and enough power being pulled over the USB connection to keep my AKG C3000 happy.

Conclusion

The integration of the GearBox software and the UX2 hardware makes this an exceptional box of tricks for the guitarist. The guitar tones come from the PodXT and so are lively, full bodied, and like a good wine will mess you up with over indulgence. The vocal side is surprisingly good giving you some really warm and useful preamp models, although it would benefit from a better studio reverb. With the bass tones and the range of effects they really are covering every angle. The wah pedal though, could do with an autowah setting as trying to waggle a mouse while playing Hendrix riffs just isn’t funny. That said with the TonePort KB37 version you can add an expression pedal for exactly that sort of control. I guess that’s where the criticism starts to emerge – you have all this software, all these tones, effects and loop recording but no way to physically control it while you’re playing guitar. It is controllable via MIDI so you could add a MIDI floorboard controller like the Behringer FC-1010. This problem is common to all software but as Line 6 were also doing the hardware you wonder how hard it could have been to include a row of MIDI knobs (as they’ve now done with the KB37) and a tone up/down, effect on/off footswitch.

Tactile control issues aside it’s a great box and for a ridiculous price and the perfect companion to a laptop bound, wandering guitarist. If you’re looking to leap into the world of computer recording for a relatively small investment and big payback then this would be a good choice.

Toneport UX2 - £149

http://www.line6.com