Line6 Toneport GX USB Interface

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zZounds Gear Experts Say...
The legendary sound of POD at an unprecedented price.

Professional producers, engineers, and musicians turn to Line 6 because they know that great mixes start with great recordings and great recordings come through TonePort. Install the free GearBox software and control an entire arsenal of guitar, bass and mic tones. No more worries about room dynamics or wasted hours setting up equipment, TonePort makes it easy to plug in and start recording your next hit song.

TonePort connects via USB cable to any computer and turns any room into a professionally designed, great sounding recording studio. It's like having a rack full of premium recording equipment right on your desktop.

Plug in to any TonePort and record your tunes with the tone you crave using any of your favorite recording application, including GarageBand, Logic, Cakewalk/Sonar, Ableton Live, and many, many more.

GearBox
You carefully construct every note and lyric of your songs, your tone deserves equal diligence. GearBox offers a world of meticulously crafted models, vintage guitar and bass rigs, and universally sought after stompbox and rack effects. This is the tone that pros rely on and only Line 6 provides.

Expand your recording arsenal with up to 72 guitar amp models, 24 guitar cab models, 28 bass amp models, 22 bass cab models, each with 4 dynamic mic options. 90 plus stompbox & studio effects, 6 mic preamp models, (Plug-in functionality upgrade for Windows RTAS /VST and Mac RTAS/AU)

ToneDirect
With Line 6's exclusive ToneDirect monitoring, you get fully processed read more audio in real time while you track. ToneDirect monitoring virtually eliminates the annoying latency caused by recording programs and slower operating systems.

ToneDirect beats analog direct monitoring options that force you to record guitar without hearing amp models and effects or make you listen to vocals without reverb! Hear the instrument the way you intend them to sound on the recording, while you record!
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WINDOWS
Pentium 4 1.2GHz or better (2.5Ghz or more recommended)

Windows XP (with SP2 only)

512MB RAM minimum (1GB or more recommended)

1GB free HD space minimum (10GB or more recommended for recording)

Drive speed 5400rpm minimum (7200rpm or faster recommended)

CD-ROM drive

Internet connection for online features

MACINTOSH
Intel or Power PC based G4 1.5GHz or better (G4 1.67 or better recommended)

OS X 10.4 or better

512MB RAM minimum (1GB or more recommended)

1GB free HD space minimum (10GB or more recommended for recording)

Drive speed 5400rpm minimum (7200rpm or faster recommended)

CD-ROM drive

Internet connection for online features

USB
One free USB 1.1 or 2.0 compatible port on computer (USB hubs are not supported)

For support or warranty questions, please contact the manufacturer:
Phone: 818-575-3600

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. (16 ratings)
Submitted October 3, 2008 by a customer from gmail.com

"Good for the price, but wait for Pod Studio if you have the money"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Overall, a great piece of goods. If it were to break, I would switch to the other (I have 2, both fully functioning, thanks to a warranty error). If both broke, I would go and buy the Pod Studio GX, which is the next generation Toneport, with an included VST version of Pod Studio, the next generation Gearbox. If you are on a budget, want a USB interface to use in realtime, that works not only with the included software, but with GR3, Amplitube, Revalver, and every other ampsim out there, go with this.

Sound
The sound quality is excellent, but... I'm not giving it a 10 because the unit picks up interference from a laptop wireless card unless the wireless card is shut off. Aside from that, it's got a lot of headroom, and doesn't attenuate very low or very high frequencies.

Features
The lack of an included VST version of Gearbox is probably the one biggest flaw that the Toneport GX has. The standalone has some nice features, but the Cabinet simulations don't quite make the cut. Using an impulse modeler in a DAW is a must for cabinet realistic sounds. To be fair though, there is no other USB audio interface in the price range that offers features as good as the Toneport does for the price.

Ease of Use
You install the program from the CD or from Line6's website, plug in the Tomeport, and play. Just like that.

Quality
While it's fine for the studio, fine for a read more jam session with friends, and fine for relaxed coffee shop gigs, it's a risk for a real rock gig at a pub, club, or theater. Keep in mind that it requires a computer to be running, a usb connection to be constantly maintained, and that unless you have a MIDI board you need to go back to the computer to change any settings.

Value
There is no other USB ASIO interface with comparable features for a comparable price.

Manufacturer Support
Line6's support system is a forum-based peer support system. Not the best, but the answers are there. It'd be nice to be able to email support, though.

The Wow Factor
Neither beautiful nor ugly, but it gets the job done, and it does have a nice colour scheme, now that I think about it.

Musical Background:
Hobbyist, On-and-off active musician

Musical Style:
Rock, Blues, Light Metal
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14 of 14 people (100%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
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