line6 Gearbox Gold for $99

Musiciansfriend.com is offering Line6's Gearbox Gold audio interface + VST amp and effects modeling software for $99:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Line-6-GearBox-PlugIn-Gold-Bundle?sku=706521

I bought this package for $149 a few months ago, and at that price I considered it a terrific value. In addition to something like 70 guitar amp models, this package includes dozens of bass amp models and a half dozen great vocal setups. I have used one or more of these on every production I've done since I acquired the package.

I also own Studio Devil's VGA, and I use that a lot too because it's so easy to use and sounds so good. But the Gearbox Gold package offers a lot more variety, and all very high quality stuff.

The hardware interface that comes with Gearbox is okay for recording guitar and bass. If you have a better audio interface, which I do, you can just plug the Gearbox interface into a USB port and use it as a dongle.

Anyway, this is a really good deal on some really good stuff.

regards, lightninrick

ORIGINAL: keith

What's CPU load like on the plugin?

Pretty lightweight on my Athlon x2 4800+ desktop--I don't think it's more than 2% of CPU per instance, maybe not even that much. I can run multiple instances on my laptop, which is a much less powerful machine, without strain too. I usually have 2-3 running per project--one on bass, one on guitar, one on drums. No big deal.

Keep in mind that you have to have the interface plugged in via USB to use the plugin. It doesn't have to be designated as your audio interface, but the software has to know it's there.

Regards, LR
Regards, LR

ORIGINAL: dlogan

But the ability to record dry, monitor wet w/ almost no latency, then have the ability to change the tone afterwards was huge to me.

I also own the Line6 UX2 interface. It definitely does not operate at the same level of fidelity for playback as my Echo MIA. But it's great for recording--I can record both a dry track and a wet track at the same time, and later use either the same or a different preset on either track if I like. And when I bought the Gearbox stuff, I got access to all those models in the UX2 also.

Only real downer is that I can't run the UX2 and the Gearbox interface at the same time. Wierd. But I don't need to.

Regards, lightninrick

ORIGINAL: dance_lets@yahoo.com

The price seems a lot more reasonable even with the dongle.

Has anyone had compatibility issues with the dongle, with Sonar or other audio programs?

Been using it happily for a few months now and no problems. It is a dongle but it is also a very nifty near zero latency recording input you can monitor from with their "Tone Direct Monitoring". Since you monitor through the stand alone Gearbox application and not Sonar, the latency is greatly reduced. With this you can record the dry signal but monitor the processed signal.

I guess that would depend on your playing style. The dry signal is recorded automatically in time with the preexisting Sonar tracks just like anything recorded from any other interface. The processed signal you hear, but not recorded, has a latency of about 4-8ms depending on how low you can set the buffer in GearBox. This buffer is independent of the recording buffer that Sonar uses. With the speed of sound being about 1 foot per millisecond, that's about the same as playing along to prerecorded tracks while listening to your amp from 4-8 feet away. Either you are pulled early so that you hear the processed tracks in time or you are pulled late because you are listening too closely to your processed guitar.

If you go to
http://line6.com/toneport/movies.html
the ToneDirect movie explains and hypes it better than I do.

Or the GearBox 3.5 User Manual
http://www.line6.com/support/manuals/

Yes, you can do exactly what you just described. I use my Gearbox interface as a dongle while I use my Echo MIA interface for audio. Works fine.

Regards, lightninrick

ORIGINAL: yep

Big +1. This is a really fantastic deal, and is hard to over-state. You get all the sounds of Pod XT, Bass Pod XT, all the expansion packs (metal, vintage, some other stuff), a bunch of models of vintage preamps, tape delays, synth filters, and spring reverbs and other such goodies that usually only come in expensive plugin bundles, plus the Riffworks software, (which I haven't actually tried). This is basically every sound from any Pod ever made, and then some. The bass effects for SVT and sansamp are must-haves.

The software operates both as a stand-alone app with low-latency processing hosted in the included DI/dongle, or as a plugin in your host software. A dedicated low-latency processor for guitar is about as good an excuse for a dongle as I've come across, and it works great.

The is definitely a no-brainer if you're in the market for a guitar effects bundle, and maybe even if you're not.

OK I'm sold. I just ordered it. It almost seems to good to be true at $99!

Well I was slow to spend money. Now with S8PE coming, not sure if the newly included
Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 Guitar plug in makes the Line 6 Gold bundle moot. Certainly less amazing. $0 extra, but probably less sounds.

Less usefull? Can we reamp with it?

We'll see...

ORIGINAL: vintagevibe

ORIGINAL: yep

Big +1. This is a really fantastic deal, and is hard to over-state. You get all the sounds of Pod XT, Bass Pod XT, all the expansion packs (metal, vintage, some other stuff), a bunch of models of vintage preamps, tape delays, synth filters, and spring reverbs and other such goodies that usually only come in expensive plugin bundles, plus the Riffworks software, (which I haven't actually tried). This is basically every sound from any Pod ever made, and then some. The bass effects for SVT and sansamp are must-haves.

The software operates both as a stand-alone app with low-latency processing hosted in the included DI/dongle, or as a plugin in your host software. A dedicated low-latency processor for guitar is about as good an excuse for a dongle as I've come across, and it works great.

The is definitely a no-brainer if you're in the market for a guitar effects bundle, and maybe even if you're not.

OK I'm sold. I just ordered it. It almost seems to good to be true at $99!

I use the vocal preamp and bass amp models on almost every production.

My guess is that the limited version of guitar rig 3 will be about guitar amps, not the full range of stuff in Gearbox Gold.


Regards, lightninrick

I got this last week. Were it not for the dongle/interface thing, I'd be ecstatic. As it is, I'm merely thrilled.........