I had to go watch some GT-10 videos, since this was the second time you mentioned it, and I haven’t heard anyone talk about that thing in 10 years.
eek. I definitely don’t want one of those.
well, the amp modeling and architecture is just as old on the 11 Rack. I haven’t heard anything high or med gain from it that I like.
I’m not going to position myself as some modelling guru, but I wonder if age is actually any indicator of quality, within reason?
By which I mean, 10 years ago Deftones’ guitarist used an 11 rack and it sounded like guitar. More recently he switched to AxeFX and yep, that sounds like guitar too. And I’ve seen more than one person online over the years say they think the 11r AC30 model sounds better than the Axe’s.
So, obviously it’s just personal opinions and 2nd hand info, but I wonder if we apply standards of obsolescence/ need to be cutting edge in the modeling world, when a better question would just be “does it sound good”?
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You know, this is the problem with spending good money on upgrading your software. Old hardware wise people would say its just finally warming up the way they want it.
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I’ve had one for I think around 6 years now… I think the AC30 sim on it is great, and that’s more or less the only reason I plug it in now… only because I have better options for other tones. I’d be interested to shoot it out against the Helix for the AC30 sound though.
That being said when I bought it, it was a godsend… being able to use it as an interface, guitar processor and mic input.
I think the main driving factor for increasing quality is increasing expectations. When amp modelers first came out, the novelty of it took precedence and people were willing to accept a certain level of sound degradation. But the guitar amp sim wars have ramped up to the point where people pretty much expect it to sound as good as if not better than a real amp, which has naturally driven better (or more accurate).
But IR measuring techniques haven’t really changed in the last 40 years, unless we’re talking dynamic convolution for the cabs, but static IRs sound just fine to me.
I’m not really t tone snob, so long as it doesn’t sound cheesy. The examples I’ve heard online sound fine to me, even if other options can sound better. I need something in rack format that gives me near zero latency amps sim. This seems to have all the features I need as long as it sounds somewhat decent. My only fear was avid’s crippling policies creeping into their hardware. It seems like most of that has been forced out of them on this product, so I’m 70% sure I’ll be completely happy with it.
The thing is I’ve been at this for a while. I remember when I had my first Digitech modeler, some DOD modeler thing that broke fast, Korg, Yamaha, Zoom, Rocktron and so forth. From all of these I remember the Rocktron Chameleon probably was the best one I’ve worked with and loved it at the time. Anyway, the modeling game continued with the newest and latest being more and more like the real thing. There came the POD and supposedly was a game changer. At that time I had moved on to analog modelers (Sansamp PSA-1 and ADA MP1 which I still have) and got the POD bean as my studio partner swore by it. I could never get anything that good, especially high gain out of this unit.
Anyway…moved on, Boss GT-10 is my latest and I’ve kept this one much longer than anything else because of its midi floor controller capability and that it can do amp switching, so I bypass most of the models and go in 4 cable mode, using amps/preamp and power amp configuration. So in essence, I am using the multifx unit as single pedals and as a controller for my patch switching, more or less a glorified pedalboard. I’ve disabled most of its modeling functions.
I remember the GT-10 and 11 Rack came out at about the same time, and the GT-10 seemed to sound more realistic. There was a Digitech rack unit that also came out about that time that a lot of people on another forum going nuts for and saying they were better than both, I think it was the GSP1101, not 100% sure on it though. I compared all these at the time and the GT-10 seemed to win out in most amp-like sounding, but I still preferred mostly real amp sounds and still do. Boss updated to GT-100 which had a touch more realism and now the GT-1000 which supposedly is on par with the latest modelers. Funny enough I did a test of the GT-10 patches and valve power amp sim and speaker IR response and if cabs are disabled on the GT-10 I’d say it gets rather close to their later models, so I think probably more of the tech goes toward the cab modeling.
Long story short, took out a friend’s Rocktron Piranha and honestly, today I could barely stand the thing, especially the distortion models. Digital modeling doesn’t age well for my ears. My Sansamp PSA-1 has aged better, in terms of tone I still get some sounds that sit rather well in a mix but I do blast it thru a tube power amp.
On the other hand I use a Boss Micro BR as a portable jam device/recorder, and that unit has a very basic GT-4 or GT-6 interface. Going super simple and not overdoing the settings I get some pretty good tones with it, especially the JCM800 simulations, and I know I can easily dial in some good tone with it, but it never ends up on a record, unless I am recording the said jam practice. So I guess there are all kinds of uses, as long as it is effective for the musician/recordist.
So if the AC30 sim is great on this unit and that’s what you’re after, go for it. It might also be worthwhile tweaking the unit and trying ti disable the speaker emulation and bring in outside speaker IRs and see how it fares. Usually that’s where I see the difference in the newer, latest gen modelers exceed the previous generations. That can easily be worked on since we’re mostly studio recordists/engineers on here, could be even done with freeware, NadIR impulse loader and some speaker sims by Kalthallen (even the free ones) would do the job admirably.
This x1000. I think it’s essential… but it’s also a pretty subjective thing. This debate rages with Helix users too… some swear by the internal cabinet sims, where others (me included) use IR’s for everything.
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Also a really weird thing that I’ve experience is my Joe Barden pickups sound amazing thru any kind of sound amplification device, anything I play them thru sound analog and tube-like 
I had a Boss GT 10.
Bought a Eleven Rack 5 years ago and sold the GT 10. In my opinion the Eleven Rack sounds much better, and I use it for recording and practice purposes only.
But I think the Boss wins in a band/rehersal/gig situation, lots of effects and control possibilities!
Cristina, I think you can record using both mic preamp and guitar input, and even line and digital inputs. All the input channels can be recorded simultaneously to Pro Tools or any other DAW tracks.
But the built in DSP effects only can be applied to one of the inputs.
So, you are able to simultaneously record vocals using the mic preamp (the direct signal into a DAW track, for later processing using plugins), and, say, a guitar using on board simulation and effects.
Oh maybe you’re right. I remember looking it up once and trying to do it, and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t possible. But I may have misunderstood something that I read. Thanks!
They ran out, and I don’t know if they are getting any more. I do see them on amazon for the same price though: https://www.amazon.com/Eleven-Interface-Pre-amp-without-Pro-Tools/dp/B005T2FLL2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543340084&sr=8-1&keywords=eleven+rack
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My eleven rack finally showed up this weekend. Hooked it up and played for a bit. Seems pretty nice to me. I haven’t done much more than scroll through some presets and screw around. It sounds perfectly fine to me, although I’ve never been a huge fan of the all in one guitar amp plugins (guitar rig, etc) for my guitar amps, and this has sort of the same issue that I have with all of those. So many options that I just find myself twisting knobs until I get something close to what I like. Just a workflow thing, but it’s great for plugging in and playing.
My biggest hope is that it increases the amount of time I spend practicing by making it as easy as possible to just plugin in and play.
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I’ve had a few days to mess with this thing a bit, so I have a slightly more of an opinion on it now.
Pros:
- obviously the price at $200 was a pretty big pro.
- Relatively easy to navigate
- Sounds perfectly fine to me
Cons:
- There are surprisingly few IO options. Actually, there are lots of options, but none that I need. There’s only one line output, and it’s XLR, which is just sort of annoying. I’d prefer TRS, but it’s a minor gripe.
- The SPDIF is being super flaky. I can’t sync it to anything. I don’t know if it’s the fault of the 11 rack or the other stuff I’m trying to sync it to, but whenever I try to use the spdif out, I get crazy popping.
- There’s an amp out L and and amp out R, but one is on the front and the other is on the back. Annoying for me, but I can see why they did it that way.
- The drivers are pretty bare boned.
- No headphone volume knob on the front. You can turn down the main volume, but that changes the main volume too. You have to use the software to adjust the headphone volume.
I can sort of get a workaround for the lack of TRS main outputs by using the fx loop output and sticking it at the end. But then I end up with the issue that I can’t quickly scroll through presets. Looks like the only solution is to make a couple of XLR to TRS cables. I hate soldering cables.
Verdict. I got more than I paid for. It’s just slightly annoying to get set up due to the choices in I/O they provided.
The SPDIF on mine went this way pretty quickly… it’s so noisy and crackle-y it’s basically unusable now.
I get clicks with mine sometimes, but it always has to do with the clock. I don’t remember what mine is set to now… I think the Eleven Rack is the clock source, and my audio interface reads from it. Anyway that’s what I would try if you haven’t already.
??? How does thing transmit and receive clock?
If its transmitting over AES, I’m guessing your driver sees the device as a Pro Tools peripheral? I’m really curious. I didn’t think a non-HD system had those sync options.
It’s through the SPDIF connection. I convert it into an optical signal that goes into my Audient ID14, and in the software for the ID14 there’s some clock settings. The Eleven Rack has clock settings as well. I’m not sure how it works technically, but that’s how I’ve been using the two devices together.