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Line 6 Tone Port UX2
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Average customer review:
Product Description
TonePort is the first line of USB recording and modeling interfaces, bringing world-class Line 6 guitar, bass, and vocal tone to the world of desktop recording. TonePort UX2 hardware interface is USB-powered and come with Line 6 GearBox modeling software, which provides a must-have collection of 16 guitar and 5 bass amp/cab models, 24 stompbox and studio effects (up to 10 at once), and 6 models of high-end studio microphone preamps. TonePort UX2 features a high-quality microphone input with preamp, a guitar/bass instrument input, stereo line inputs and outputs, stereo headphone jack, and an analog merge monitoring input. And theres more! It adds features like analog VU meters, a second microphone input and preamp, phantom power for both preamps, stereo digital S/PDIF out, dual footswitch jacks for controlling start/stop and punch in/out, and independent volume controls for the headphone and main outputs. Both units support 44.1/48KHz with 16/24-bit recording, and a 96KHz mode. TonePort UX2 both ships with Ableton Live Lite � Line 6 Edition recording software for a complete recording experience right out of the box. TonePort hardware and software is compatible with the most popular Mac and Windows recording programs.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #14540 in Musical Instruments
- Brand: Line 6
- Model: 99-073-0115
- Dimensions: 2.50 pounds
Features
- 16 classic and modern amp models based on PODxt, 24 speaker cabinet models based on PODxt, 5 must-have bass amp & cab models based on Bass PODxt, 24 studio and stompbox effects
- 2 Mic Inputs with +48v Phantom Power, 2 Guitar/Bass Inputs, Headphone Output with independent volume knob, VU Meters, Footswitch Jacks send MIDI commands to recording programs
- Stereo Line Inputs for your line out level gear, Stereo Digital Output S/PDIF via RCA, Stereo Line Outputs via balanced 1/4-inch, Stereo Monitor Input via stereo 1/4-inch jack, Pro Audio Performance with over 100dB signal-to-noise & dynamic range
- Tone Direct monitoring - unique, full tone low latency monitoring regardless of recording software's buffer size, 44.1 & 48KHz, 16 & 24 bit recording, 96KHz mode with built-in sample rate conversion for simultaneous input and output
- USB-powered, Rock-solid Drivers: ASIO, WDM, Mac OS X, Includes Ableton Live Lite, Mac OS X and PC compatible!
Customer Reviews
Decent hardware, awful software
While the device itself shows some potential, you will probably feel burned by the included software and overall nature of this purchase. I cannot recommend buying this product unless you are prepared to shell out additional monies for hidden expenses such as plug-ins and non-demo versions of applications. Unfortunately these additional purchases merely bring the product to a basic competitive level instead of offering anything special. I find this form of product marketing and packaging to be the ultimate in customer betrayal. I didn't get what I thought I was buying.
Upon opening the deceptive box and installing it I immediately felt "burned". You are basically being sold a "broken" piece of hardware that needs to be "enabled" and the installer itself attempts to lure you to a web site to buy more software.
Out of the box you can expect to plug in an instrument or mic, dial a tone, and commit a performance as a recording. That's basically it! But let's say you want to play with Line 6's famous Pro Tones after you record? Get out another $100 for an additional "plug-in" purchase. Clearly this type of functionality is the beautiful advantage of the computer platform, and while this device is technically capable of doing this, it won't unless you pay more to "un-break" the device.
So.. out of box, if you are not satisfied with your take you must erase it and start over: a music-making nightmare. Why Line 6 would do this to their customers and hold up the carrot of additional functionality for $100 is just insulting. It's no fun and its anti-music.
This state of affairs ruins what could be a perfectly fine hardware experience. The device itself seems solid and I appreciate the headphone jack for its decent power. All the potential fun that the computer offers to musicians is held away from initial Toneport UX2 buyers. Line 6 has ruined the "fun".
Quality USB Interface
Out of all the equipment that I have for my home studio, is is by far my favorite. Basically the Line 6 TonePort UX2 is a USB audio interface. As you can see from the picture it has multiple connections for your instruments, pedals, microphones and speakers.
What you may not know is that the device has its own built-in ASIO drivers, which essentially means you can use the device as an external sound card. The ASIO, IMO, is about as good as you are going to get in this price range. It does a considerably better job than my laptop's built-in ASIO (Sony Sound Reality) at reducing CPU load while minimizing latency.
This port also comes with its own software, GearBox, but that has already been phased Line6's Pod Farm. It comes with an updater so you can get the software for free, however if you want it in VST format you are going to have to shell out another 50 bucks. Pod Farm has a myriad of effects and amps and tons of presets for bass, electic and microphone. I am running this software on Windows Vista and I have not had any compatibility issues.
One thing you should note is that like any sound hardware you do have be conscious of your grounding otherwise you will hear feedback (buzzing).
Amazing power in a small package
I purchased the UX2 to replace my M-Audio MobilePre USB and I was quite amazed with the increase in quality of my recordings. The effects and emulators that are built in are very nice and transfer quite well onto your recordings. I'm using the UX2 with GarageBand on a Mac and I'm very happy with the setup. My only complaint is that the UX2/GearBox effects cannot be used directly within GarageBand so I'm unable to tweak effects once I've recorded my take, they're part of the signal and cannot be edited.
Overall you'll be very happy with this product!
