Hi all - and Happy Thanksgiving! I couldn't really think of a better place to put this, since I use Sonar X1 and most everything I post about typically pertains to it... I've been around these boards for what seems like forever, but I've been away lately because my business has been doing really well, and keeping me extremely busy. One of the side-effects of this is that I've increased my abilities in website design, specifically with a content management system called Joomla! (the exclamation is part of the name ) So, in order to make it a lot easier for me to update my site, which didn't seem to happen much before, I've redone the site in Joomla!. Now I can update the site at will, much like Wordpress allows if you are familiar. I've also added topics on Joomla!, the T3 framework that I use to make custom website templates, and Xara, the software I use to create all my graphics. I've not yet added any content in those areas, but will as time goes by. I'd love for you to stop by the site and let me know what you think. It is a work in progress for sure - and some of it is out of date but I think most of it still applies. I hope to be able to keep up with it better in the future and to add to this community like I have in the past. You can check out the site here: http://www.blades85.com Thanks for your time!

Looks cool, Blades. I'm happy for you that business is booming. Lots to be thankful for this year.

Hi again Blades.
 
WB.

Thought you left SONAR for Reaper?

Nope - never left Sonar.  I just haven't had any time on here as mentioned above.  I honestly haven't touched my Sonar setup in at least months - maybe as long as a year!

I'd really love to get Sonar X2 going, as it seems to add a lot of things that X1 seems like it should have had, but I can't justify the upgrade expense for as little as I've been using it. If I could get enough donations or ad revenue from my site to upgrade, that's the first place it would go! I've been fortunate enough to get a few donations (2 at $5) but my ad revenue in 3 years hasn't even been enough to get a check from Google.  Same goes for my affiliate account from zzounds.  I need about $100 before I'll have enough to do the upgrade.

I am trying to get back into it - making time for it.

Website: boring. Leave it to the pros. Most people can't successfully landscape their property either. This is no different.

KEv

Hey Kev.  Opinion accepted.

I AM a "pro", however.  It may be "boring", but it's to the point and the conversion has made me more able to update.  This site is more about content than artistic design or whatever.  I've actually purposefully taken a step back on the design from the previous version, which was a bit more graphical but a total PITA to update.

As mentioned above, this is a work in progress, so it will undoubtedly change, but I had to get off the old format, off the old hosting, and on to something usable.

Blades I think it looks pretty good. Simple but to the point. I used the line 6 UX2 as well. My only complaint is that it is not USB 2.0. I upgraded to the Pod Pro 3. better sounding and a much better interface.

I also have the Variax 500. A classic piece of gear. I got a Line 6 700 bass too. I liked the line 6 section of your site. For a personal website it looks good.

Thanks Marcus.  I also have a Variax 500, which I REALLY like.  It's been a great guitar that I got cheap when they were discontinuing the 500 model.  I really like the sounds I get out of the 500 with the Lester model that emulates the Les Paul Jr.  It just sounds really smooth to me, especially with a decent distortion.  I have a real Tele, which barely gets played because of some not-so-great frets and  I also have the 5-string Variax Bass, which I also like for all the tone options it provides. 

The USB 1.x interface on the UX2 has never been an issue with me for a number of reasons.

1.  I really only use it for monitoring effects.  My real audio recording goes through my Layla 3G.  This allows me to crank the latency in Sonar and still get really fast feedback on the effects/models.  This is less important now than when I got the UX a few years ago, but still pertains when I'm woking on something that doesn't fare well at low latency.

2.  It's just a single/stero device anyway and the bandwidth of USB 1.x is plenty for this.  In this case, it wouldn't really matter if it was USB2.0, as that extra bandwidth would never get used.  If it were an 8 channel device or something (which it couldn't be anyway), then it would obviously be a problem.  But not here.

3.  I use the PODFarm plugin now, which allows me to get at all of the models from inside of Sonar - still have the latency to deal with, but as I said this is less of an issue now - I still reserve this as mostly a mix-down thing anyway.  I don't have the newest version of this plug, which would allow me to split out the individual effects of the PODFarm, so I could access the delays and such without having to load up a whole preset.  This would help a lot, but I'm holding out on this to see what the new guitar fx models in Sonar X2 are like.  I may not need the PODFarm at all, or at least not the upgrade, which is something like $100- as much as the upgrade to X2 would be for me!  But I really do like the delay modules that are in the PODFarm better than anything else I've used (that came with Sonar).

Thanks again for the feedback.

Blades our basses are worth some money now. Since line 6 does not make them anymore and since they have not come out with a replacement product we have retained our value. I hope they become collectible because they are pretty hard to find!

I saw an ebay auction where a 700 went for 750.00. I paid 450.00 for mine when Line 6 closed them out and discontinued them. The 705 is worth more then the 700.

I sold my UX2 and then I upgraded to the Pod pro 3. ( A rack mount unit) I can't use Pod farm 1 with this unit. but I can use Pod Farm 2.5. One of the great features of Pod farm 2 is to use the effects without loading the whole plug in. If I want to use one of the delays I only need to load the delay in the FX bin.

I understand about using the UX2 to unlock Pod Farm while you use another Audio interface within Sonar. I do that as well. It is too bad it won't work with Pod Farm 2.5 because I think you would like that program better.