One week with the Eleven Rack

[ratter]

Maybe still technically in the honeymoon period, but I rate this box a .

It mainly gets discussed as a cheaper, second-fiddle alternative to the Axe-Fx. I don't really see that as the case. It is less expensive, but I don't feel like the quality is lacking. What it is lacking is flexibility and model selection, which depending on your needs may or may not matter.

It's not an alternative to the Axe-Fx if you need the Axe's flexibility or need particular models that you can only get from it. But if you are looking for a simpler interface, have simpler needs as far as model selection, and if your tastes lean more towards the vintage, the Eleven is a very viable alternative.

It survived my a/b tests between it and my amp, and between it and the software plugs on the market (Revalver, Amplitube 3, etc.)

The tone is there, the feel is there. It gets the nod for feel even over the Axe IMO because of the True-Z input. It's a very powerful feature. It also gets the nod on the interface front. The front panel is much simpler, with dedicated knobs and buttons for all of the controls visible on the screen and individual on/off buttons for all of the "blocks" in a given rig. Hold the on/off button for a particular block and it jumps you to the controls for that block. Very well done. 1 USB cable to the computer gives you audio and midi i/o to the computer, the ability to update firmware, reamping capability, and the pretty graphical interface in PT. If they had allowed the use of that graphical interface in DAWs other than PT, it would be a grand slam home run. As it is, it is only a bases-clearing triple.

What remains to be seen is if they ever update it. Not only is the model selection slim but there is no update on the horizon. Contrast that with the Axe, where you wake up one morning to a cup of coffee and a new Marsha waiting for you. Or Shiva or whatever. That's beyond cool and Digidesign could learn a thing or two from that. Also, their customer service is pretty much non-existent. The price just makes those things a little easier to swallow.

 

[Audioholic]

I have heard rumors of an update coming. I don't think they will ever update and add to like fractal does, but I am sure they will come out with occassional updates. Glad to hear you are digging it!

 

[billm408]

I've had mine almost 2 weeks and really digging it so far. Very user friendly for a midi noob like me and I'm digging the tones I'm getting. I got mine through a friend at Digi/Avid and he assures me that new sims and fx updates are coming soon. I doubt it'll ever be as feature rich as the Axe, but it's a great unit for my needs.

 

[ejecta]

I recently borrowed a friend's 11R to check out again. I had one of the first ones to come out and it had issues with this phasy chorus thing going on all the time with all FX off. Couldnt get it sorted out by digi or Sweetwater. I sent it back. Shortly after wards tried the AxeFX and after a little over a month of tweaking and tweaking and tweaking, IR mix after IR mix couldn't gel with the amp models but loved the FX. So I gave up on modelers for the time being.

My friend said he was getting great tones from his 11R and and he has been through more amps than me. Actually he as a Bogner 100B that was EJ's. I trust his ear a lot so I thought I'd check his out.

After borrowing his for a few days and actually using it live.... for me and my tastes I liked the 11R the most of all the modelers I've tried. I wish it had the FX of the Axe but for feel and tone of the amp models I'll have to give the nod to the 11R.

 

[billm408]

Here's a quick run through of my current presets. The clean and two lead channels are all 11R, the rhythm tone is the Blue channel on my XTC. I'm still early on the learning curve, but it's getting there.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Does the 11R allow you to place effects where you want, like before the amp, and after it to emulate the sound of effects when you use them in the input of an amp and/or in the fx loop?

And while the Axe-Fx does have a LOT of amp sims, i don't find them incredibly different from eachother. When i got done tweaking my IIC+ and HBE patch, they friggin sound the same. May of been my fault though.

 

[ratter]

Does the 11R allow you to place effects where you want, like before the amp, and after it to emulate the sound of effects when you use them in the input of an amp and/or in the fx loop?

And while the Axe-Fx does have a LOT of amp sims, i don't find them incredibly different from eachother. When i got done tweaking my IIC+ and HBE patch, they friggin sound the same. May of been my fault though.

Yeah, you can dictate the order but there is only one straight path from beginning to end. You can't do any parallel paths like you can in the Axe. And it has a mono/stereo FX loop that you can place where you want to in the chain.

 

[billm408]

Does the 11R allow you to place effects where you want, like before the amp, and after it to emulate the sound of effects when you use them in the input of an amp and/or in the fx loop?

Yes. You can arrange the signal chain almost any way you want. Just like a regular rig, the tone can change pretty dramatically depending on where you place things. Just one of the many things I'm still learning about and tweaking on it.

 

[ejecta]

And while the Axe-Fx does have a LOT of amp sims, i don't find them incredibly different from eachother. When i got done tweaking my IIC+ and HBE patch, they friggin sound the same. May of been my fault though.

That happened to me too. I think it plays in part you like what you like and try to get that tone no matter the amp. Thats why for me the 11R not having as many amps isnt that big of a deal to me. YMMV. Also there was IMHO a underlying "sameness" to all the amp models in the Axe. I think that sameness was to me more of a feel thing than a tone and eq sameness.

 

[ratter]

And if you're like me, you sometimes gravitate towards using a very small selection of the available cabs and mics. I'm sure that adds to the "sameness" too. Even though there's only a '69 plexi model in the 11R, run it through the 2x12 AC cab rather than the usual 4x12, favor the bass channel over the treble channel, and you've got an entirely different sound.

 

[yngzaklynch]

 

[glassjaw7]

I'm late to the 11r party, but does it come with Protools software of any kind? Would it work with Garageband or Cubase?

 

[thiswaythatway]

And while the Axe-Fx does have a LOT of amp sims, i don't find them incredibly different from eachother. When i got done tweaking my IIC+ and HBE patch, they friggin sound the same. May of been my fault though.

That happened to me too. I think it plays in part you like what you like and try to get that tone no matter the amp. Thats why for me the 11R not having as many amps isnt that big of a deal to me. YMMV. Also there was IMHO a underlying "sameness" to all the amp models in the Axe. I think that sameness was to me more of a feel thing than a tone and eq sameness.

I hear what you're saying and agree. But I've been trying to dial in patches different. As i knew all along there's no way the Axe makes it feel like you own 30 different amps. I think it's a fun thing to play around with, but when you go see a killer player live how many different tones do you hear from them? From my experience it's very few, with effects thrown ontop of that tone. And i really do prefer to reach down and twist a knob instead of scrolling a menu.

 

[IndyWS6]

I'm late to the 11r party, but does it come with Protools software of any kind? Would it work with Garageband or Cubase?

Greetings
Eleven Rack comes with Pro Tools 8 LE, as well as several GB's of audio loops and sounds - plus a Pro Tools video training disk. I don't know how well it would work with Garage Band or Cubase, but the integration with Pro Tools is pretty sweet.

 

[glassjaw7]

I'm late to the 11r party, but does it come with Protools software of any kind? Would it work with Garageband or Cubase?

Greetings
Eleven Rack comes with Pro Tools 8 LE, as well as several GB's of audio loops and sounds - plus a Pro Tools video training disk. I don't know how well it would work with Garage Band or Cubase, but the integration with Pro Tools is pretty sweet.

Thanks. Any way I could use it in conjunction with my Presonus Firestudio? Or do you absolutely need the digi hardware for protools?

 

[Rogue]

Clearly, somebody can't dial their axefx in right.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Clearly, somebody can't dial their axefx in right.

Dial it in all you want, my Fortin Cali mod still stomps on anything it can do. TONEWISE.

 

[Code001]

Clearly, somebody can't dial their axefx in right.

Dial it in all you want, my Fortin Cali mod still stomps on anything it can do.

So the Fortin mod can do delays, reverbs, harmonies, choruses, et al? Wow!

 

[thiswaythatway]

Clearly, somebody can't dial their axefx in right.

Dial it in all you want, my Fortin Cali mod still stomps on anything it can do.

So the Fortin mod can do delays, reverbs, harmonies, choruses, et al? Wow!

When i have my Damage Control Timeline in the loop sure . Tone against tone the Axe can't cop the Fortin. The Axe has tons of gain and low end but there's something missing, some rawness that i haven't heard yet from it.

 

[ratter]

I'm late to the 11r party, but does it come with Protools software of any kind? Would it work with Garageband or Cubase?

Greetings
Eleven Rack comes with Pro Tools 8 LE, as well as several GB's of audio loops and sounds - plus a Pro Tools video training disk. I don't know how well it would work with Garage Band or Cubase, but the integration with Pro Tools is pretty sweet.

Thanks. Any way I could use it in conjunction with my Presonus Firestudio? Or do you absolutely need the digi hardware for protools?

My understanding is that PT won't even launch without some form of PT hardware attached. So I don't think you can use PT with the Firestudio alone. But the 11R comes with regular audio drivers so you can use it as your interface with DAWs other than PT. You just won't get the PT-only features, like the onscreen interface, the ability to store the 11R settings in the track itself, etc. Or of course you could just run the 11R into the Firestudio and use it that way too.

I didn't really dive into PT yet. Last time I used it was a couple versions ago. Supposedly this latest version is much improved. The graphical interface for the 11R is nice but since it's a pretty simply box, it's not that big a deal to use the front panel of the unit itself.