I've tried this and in person the tube amp wins hands down the Tone X didnt sound that great profiled compared to my amp. In a mix or recorded video a little closer. Plus once you profile and change the setting on the Tonex things can get even further away from the real amp. Tone X Eq doesnt work like the amp Eq.
I can’t tell the difference even with good headphones. I can usually tell the difference but the comparison in this video is indistinguishable. Nice work!
Was scrolling through the comments while listening to this. By the time I went back to watching, the A/B comparison had already happened and I never noticed.
Interesting. I guessed correctly, but actually liked the ToneX better. The Marshall has slightly more low-end and is rounder in the mids which makes it sound less aggressive and crunchy. Either way, they're SUUUUUUPER close. I wasn't really able to hear much difference in the mix, it was really only obvious in the isolated tracks.
Seeing all those captures you've done, and knowing that they are all done really well and with amp settings that have been dialed to perfection, is making me salivate. Seriously... my pedal arrives today and I'll for sure download your free captures, but I would pay money for the others so I hope you release them in some form in the near future!
There is no such a thing as amp settings dialed to perfection. John's amp settings are perfect for his signal chain, that is his guitar, his cables, pickups, and all the variables. Trust me, 90% of the time, your signal chain is going to be much different, thus you need different amp settings than John does to compensate.
@@franzmaurer7108 yep you are right, the entire concept of presets and sharing tones that has been around for decades is completely worthless. If only everyone else got the memo including the manufacturer's. Everyone is fooled but you
I didn't post my guess in real time, but I got it wrong this time! I thought for sure the amp was A, this one was close! Jon, your setup scrambles my brain and the whole time I was trying to follow along, your Joker Red Seven was staring at me...without blinking. Great video as always!
Great capture mate. It honestly sounds like it's one track. Enjoying all your uploads to tonenet. Cheers from Australia. I'm hoping to use mine together with my boss gt1000 floor modeller. Just gotta work out the midi out stuff. Keep up the great content
Cool, I just ordered a mint used Line 6 HX Effects to use the TONEX pedal with. I'm also going to using the HX Effects to change TONEX captures in the pedal for each "patch". Should be very simple and interesting playing back through powered studio monitors.
This is exactly my rig. Tonex gets in the Boss GT-1000 through the FX Loop 2. This way, I am still able to use the GT-1000 in a 4 CM with my 5150iii 50 watter and control everything (Tonex & 5150 channels) with MIDI. In addition, I am able to send Tonex to the amp FX Loop so it bypass the 5150 preamp.
B sounded a tad darker to me. A sounded maybe slightly more compressed, so I’ll call B the amp. Wild guess since they’re both nice tones! Thanks for the comparison
YAY! Another opportunity to completely and utterly embarrass myself by incorrectly identifying an amplifier that I've played on a near-daily basis for over a year now! Thanks Jon ;) Amp: B Tonex: A As always, 99% shot in the dark, but I maybe, JUST MAYBE hear a SMIDGE of extra compression in B. Having said that, without knowing where the changes were, I'd have absolutely no fucking idea there was even two different tracks 😂🤞 Edit: LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO 🤙 But yeah, riDICULOUSLY close!
Interesting. I picked correct but I actually prefer the Tonex version (A) just because it’s that slight lack of top end air actually helps it sit in the mix better. Love these shootouts!!
I'm getting my Tonex next week yeeey!! Also what an amazing capture. I also, like many others, preferred the capture slightly. But the difference was almost non existent at this point. And I was sure that A is real amp, because I've never before heard a capture sound punchier and tighter than the actual amp it is capturing. With Kemper and Quad Cortex that is literally never the case.
started off as B-amp, but further into track, couldn't make up my mind. isolated, it gives it away a little more. there's air or 3D to the tone of the amp. still, the tonex was so close and sounds great in the mix.
I like putting in headphones and setting my phone down. I’ll zone out doing chores or something and if I don’t notice when A/B are switched when isolated, I know it’s just as good in a mix. Def a great match
Mine finally arrived!!! I don’t have an amp that’s really worth capturing (Laney Tube Fusion 700), so I’ll be downloading the one’s from ToneNet for recording
Tonex has some issues in modeling the low end low kids. I can hear it every time. Would be cool if you did a graph with the differences in frequency response of both for example with fab filter q3
Okay it was clear, which one was which... the real amp always has a liiittle bit more sag and low mid frequencies than the profile... but it's absolutely incredible how close they are.
That's the closest I've heard out of these shootouts - exact in this case. I can always tell AxeFX or Helix from each other,( not a bad thing, just a little different in the high end freqs.) because I have both.. I currently use the ToneX in the loop of my Helix Floor, the routing is uber flexible for FX and I can use midi with Snapshots to do all sorts of automation and switching. Enjoying your captures with my ToneX App and pedal Jon!
How do you set it up? I have a headrush and was wondering where to put it in the chain to get fx before and after like in a 4 cable method with my amp.
Nice, I get mine in a few days and was thinking of using it with either my FM9 or Helix for effects. Have you tried switching amp models when changing your Helix snapshots like going from a clean to dirty amp capture and if so, what’s the latency like? Is there a noticeable gap when switching presets on the ToneX this way?
@@sveinunghamre324 If the headrush has an effects loop that is where you want to insert the ToneX pedal. Then the send/receive become your amp block, put typical pedals in front and time based effects post.
My guess is JCM 800 is B. I'm listening to this on a giant Bluetooth speaker. My reasoning is because B sounds slightly throatier in the mids. When you started playing one string at a time, it made it more clear to me that A was clearer sounding, which to me would mean it was processed more. But I could be wrong!
My guess was *A been the real amp. *B the pedal. When I listen to amp modeling I usually distinguish them apart with the sound of attack and the high end frequencies. They usually pop out more with amp modeling. I guess this is usually a bright amp then. Very nice.
Slight extra top end air on B so guessing that’s the real amp BUT these are ridiculously close. Either way, the fact that an amp and pedal can be so close blows my mind.
I think B is the Amp - A is tonex. I hear more extended high end and more dynamics on B. So… if I’m wrong and B is tonex… I will buy one at that very moment!
A - tonex. B - more definition because of another slight saturation stage (maybe transformer or smth.else, …could be loadbox, or tonex without dibox sounds more muddy). Looks like you could make a slight more DI box or loadbox saturation on tonex, and a/b would be identical
Literally cannot hear much of a difference at all, other than a slight compression difference. But amazingly, the one I thought had a tiny more compression was the Marshall. Lol Proves that ToneX is extremely good!
Guessing that A is the real one because it sounded just a little bit more dynamic and thick in the midrange, but it's close and coukd go either way! EDIT: I was so wrong, and not even mad about it! Such a great patch!
I've been keeping up on Peter Joseph's return to music he's using just a bogner helios and a noise gate to sling melodic death riffs, would love to see a helios or ecstasy on here but that amp wall is pretty full as-is :)
It's missing something, I guessed correctly because something with the high end, and the way the depth of the gain broke up and lost character. The ToneX has a "flatness" where the real amp had a much deeper characteristic going on with the gain that I can't quite put my finger on. You hear more of the guitar out of the tube amp, and less of the flat digital fizzyness that is in the ToneX it seems. The only way I can describe it is that there's more "resolution" to the real guitar amp, meaning there's just more to it. It sounds like the ToneX is in 720p and the real thing is in 4k, I know that makes no sense, but I'm trying to put what I'm hearing into words. It's kinda close, but not go out of my way to buy this close, especially considering it lacks features, like XLR, and you can't use the capture without spending extra money... lame!
Awesome comparison as always John! I stopped trying to guess, because even though i can hear a slight difference, it sounds so close that it doesnt make any difference to be honest. This thing is an absolute no brainer, even if it was more expensive. Only thing i don't like is experience with the software, but i think it will only get better from now on. I Also tried to use it with my FM3 in basically the same configuration as you have but felt, that it sounded noticably more "dull" and less responsive. Any ideas why?
@@SonicDriveStudio probably just my dumb brain telling me it's different because theres a bunch of cable inbetween that degrades the signal while it's no different at all lmao
i can maybe hear a slight difference, but it also seems to be less of a difference between the "big" JCM800 and studio classic... I'm still hesitant to get a SC20
I guessed B, slightly more reverb if that makes sense but it was very close. Considering the price and the options the Tone X seems good value in what's becoming a crowded market.
I thought A sounded slightly thinner but not bad. B I suspected was the real amp but honestly I wasn’t sure. The point about a capture though is that it’s a snapshot of the real amp. If you keep the same settings it’s bound to sound virtually the same. The problem comes when you add eq and gain to that snapshot. It won’t sound the same as changing the gain and eq on the original amp.
Honestly, I felt like it was super close. However, I guessed the tonex correctly in this video and the last one. You did an excellent job of getting them nearly identical, though, Jon.
Guess: A is the Tonex and B is the Marshall. Reveal: A is Tonex B is Marshall, I'm surprised I got this right for once. Track B had a fuller range of frequencies, the first sounded more like a tone capture
Hmmm🤔. Quite indiscernible! BUT, for sake of the fun, I'm going to guess that A is the capture and B is the amp. There's some tiiiiiiiiiiny pieces of audio coming through that behave like tubes do. Hoping I'm wrong! Let's see!
Damn I got the guess wrong. I preferred the sound of A, and thought it was the real amp because of the nicer break up on the high end. God damn, after watching all of these TONEX videos; I think you sold me on switching my HX Stomp for one.
@@SonicDriveStudio That's true. I currently use my Stomp as an Engl Fireball emulator with a boost and harmonizer. Using it in tandem with the ToneX will allow me to use an ACTUAL Fireball tone and free up processing power on the HX stomp to generate a better harmonizer sound quality.
Its really hard to tell but there is a slight difference. I like the amp better but if you weren't comparing them against each i doubt id hear it by themselves. The tonex id definitely s little tighter though
Amp modeling has gotten to the point where it's no longer about what sounds good, they all sound phenomenal. The only barrier right now is how it feels to the player. How does the "amp" respond to your playing style?
In the A/B between only the amps the real one sounds a tiny bit more clear / less muddy in the top end, but not by much. In the mix I couldn’t tell the difference at all.
It's very very close, but there is a difference. The real amp just seems to have a tiny bit more life and definition. ToneX sounds amazing though. I'd definitely have one.
Its ridiculously close. I feel like B is slightly cleaner, so that might be ToneX. But honestly I'd probably have just as much chance flipping a coin, it's close enough to be basically indistinguishable.
B was so much vibier and 3D. A felt immediately sorta cold, like a plugin of the amp. Subjective of course tho! Maybe the difference would be less on a clean sound.
I just got one of those pedals a few days ago. I been doing some capturing and for me, it was an easy pick which was the tonex....A. It sounds just a little less colored is how I would describe it. sort of like the real amp used a Neve or API mic channel and the Tonex used a real clean mic preamp. With some captures it actually may sound better dare i say.
In terms of capture, it sounds amazing! But I've never understood the appeal of captures/profiles since it's just a snapshot? I guess it's great if you have exactly the sound you want, captured. But if you want to tweak it, adjusting the treble on the ToneX doesn't behave like the treble on the real amp... But yeah, it's really cool! I hope they evolve the capturing process to allow capturing a "channel" instead of just a specific sound, by having you tweak the parameters of the amp during the capture process. That would be amazing! The pedal is super worth though, good sounds for cheap!
Well, for most of my amps I have a couple of settings (usually one per channel) that tend to sound good in general. So if I make a capture of an amp, it's usually my preferred setting anyway. There are exceptions where I just make an extra capture for the other settings if there are any, for example when an amp has a mid boost etc.
Oh this is awesome. Naive question but can you buy or download different amp models and upload them into the Tonex like you can with Amplitube and Helix etc..? For example go online to a forum where people have captured different amps. I love the Bogner Ecstasy amp and the sound of a Marshall JMP-1. It would be a dream to be able to get those sounds without having to buy the actual physical models. I know that Amplitude and Overloud have the JMP1 but to my ears they aren't close imho. But this comparison you did with the JCM 800 and ToneX sounds close enough so I would think someone could capture the Bogner and JMP1 and it would be almost identical.
I'm calling absolute bullshit on anyone telling the difference between these two. Don't get me wrong, I believe people THINK they can hear a difference. I thought I heard differences but then I scrolled down to hide the video to see if I could hear the changes and I couldn't make out a single cut. Do you have a JCM 900 with a Marshal cab to compare? It's my absolute favourite rock tone when paired with a Les Paul. Amazing vids dude.
So what I'm hearing is I can have my Mark V, 6505 and also go and download a super kraken, mt-15 and a Engl iron ball for $800 AUD in a portable pedal. I'm sold, better warn the wifey that this will be appearing soon 😅
Your tone models are the best I’ve heard. I’ve made dozens of captures and one issue I have that I have noticed with mine and others is that the Tone Model always comes out with less gain and less body. Your Tone Models seem to be a little dark than others when I run them though the same IR, but by adding EQ or a brighter IR I get amazing tones with your Tone Models. Do you find the trick to getting accurate captures is to dial in a darker tone with the amp and compensate with EQ or IR selection?
Woah, so you can run this through the USB input on the Helix? Am I missing something? I've seen a lot of people doing the 4 cable method, and now I'm way more interested in this if you can go directly to USB. Could you explain your setup a little bit more.
Jon, I've noticed you seem to use the Helix fairly often for reamping, not only for ToneX, but some videos in the past you've mentioned it. Is there a reason you prefer to reamp using the Helix, rather than the Axe FX III?
Love the idea of being able to use IR's to only monitor while making captures. It's a tad confusing at first, but after doing it a few times, it will become much easier, I'm sure. You're using helix rack, but do you think this setup would work the same with helix native or HX Stomp with HX edit? Thanks for all of your amazing videos and demonstrations. You're a very valuable resource and deserve way more subscribers.
@SonicDriveStudio oh bummer, you're right. I didn't think of that. Hmmm, there must be another way to monitor with IR's while capturing. I'm new to this system like everyone. It's pretty awesome!
Such great work, i really consider buying a tonex but i have an HX effect to play gig and the fact that the tonex doesnt include an fx loop scares me a bit. does it word with 4CM method ?
I own a few amplifiers right now from a Marshall 410H to a Fender Champ, so this pedal would be great for capturing them...but what I really want to hear are the captures of amps I don't own that either IK Multimedia had created, it the user-base has created before buying into the ecosystem. Can someone please make that video? That's why I would personally buy it.
Very close Captures, and I could barely hear and difference. Sometimes Amp B sounded like it had a tiny bit more bass, and was maybe a bit more dynamic. 🤷 I just downloaded the ToneX CS free software last night and did a quick test using my HX Stomp as the "Audio Interface" to my Laptop. I was getting a blended mix of my Stomp Preset and the ToneX Amp. Based on your video, it looks like I need to create a new Stomp Preset and set up the Blocks like the first row in your Helix Preset. If that's not right, please clarify how to set it up. I'd like to be able to hear/monitor the sound of the Amps in the ToneX CS software on my Laptop without my HX Stomp affecting it's tone. Thanks
Sounds pretty close eh? Damn... Let me know what you think!
Spot on
It sound good.But already made presets don't in my opinion.What do you think?
@@tomix1970pl1 to be honest, I just use captures of my own amp. That's where the fun is for me personally
I've tried this and in person the tube amp wins hands down the Tone X didnt sound that great profiled compared to my amp. In a mix or recorded video a little closer. Plus once you profile and change the setting on the Tonex things can get even further away from the real amp. Tone X Eq doesnt work like the amp Eq.
Great capture, thank you! I run this as a pre into the effectsloop of my amp. Sounds scary good with 6V6s and blackback
I can’t tell the difference even with good headphones. I can usually tell the difference but the comparison in this video is indistinguishable.
Nice work!
There was no difference, they use real amps to trick you with software then claim it was the combo guitar etc, fraudsters!!
Was scrolling through the comments while listening to this. By the time I went back to watching, the A/B comparison had already happened and I never noticed.
Dude, you look so happy in the thumbnail. Another great video. Thanks.
Interesting. I guessed correctly, but actually liked the ToneX better. The Marshall has slightly more low-end and is rounder in the mids which makes it sound less aggressive and crunchy. Either way, they're SUUUUUUPER close. I wasn't really able to hear much difference in the mix, it was really only obvious in the isolated tracks.
Seeing all those captures you've done, and knowing that they are all done really well and with amp settings that have been dialed to perfection, is making me salivate. Seriously... my pedal arrives today and I'll for sure download your free captures, but I would pay money for the others so I hope you release them in some form in the near future!
100%
There is no such a thing as amp settings dialed to perfection. John's amp settings are perfect for his signal chain, that is his guitar, his cables, pickups, and all the variables. Trust me, 90% of the time, your signal chain is going to be much different, thus you need different amp settings than John does to compensate.
@@franzmaurer7108 yep you are right, the entire concept of presets and sharing tones that has been around for decades is completely worthless. If only everyone else got the memo including the manufacturer's. Everyone is fooled but you
opens popcorn
I didn't post my guess in real time, but I got it wrong this time! I thought for sure the amp was A, this one was close! Jon, your setup scrambles my brain and the whole time I was trying to follow along, your Joker Red Seven was staring at me...without blinking. Great video as always!
I thought the same exact thing I was so sure that Marshall was the Tone X 😂🤘🏻
Great capture mate. It honestly sounds like it's one track. Enjoying all your uploads to tonenet. Cheers from Australia.
I'm hoping to use mine together with my boss gt1000 floor modeller. Just gotta work out the midi out stuff.
Keep up the great content
Thanks! Should be a cool rig with the boss!
Cool, I just ordered a mint used Line 6 HX Effects to use the TONEX pedal with. I'm also going to using the HX Effects to change TONEX captures in the pedal for each "patch". Should be very simple and interesting playing back through powered studio monitors.
This is exactly my rig. Tonex gets in the Boss GT-1000 through the FX Loop 2. This way, I am still able to use the GT-1000 in a 4 CM with my 5150iii 50 watter and control everything (Tonex & 5150 channels) with MIDI. In addition, I am able to send Tonex to the amp FX Loop so it bypass the 5150 preamp.
B sounded a tad darker to me. A sounded maybe slightly more compressed, so I’ll call B the amp. Wild guess since they’re both nice tones! Thanks for the comparison
This is the closest capture yet, really impressive.
We’d love to see the tonex as a preamp feeding directly a real power amp and a cab
I'd love that as well, any news on this? I can't find anything on youtube.
Yes would love to see how this works with something very easy to transport like the Orange Pedal Baby as a power amp.
I imagine it would work quite well since it really responds and sounds very similarly to my actual tube amps
YAY! Another opportunity to completely and utterly embarrass myself by incorrectly identifying an amplifier that I've played on a near-daily basis for over a year now! Thanks Jon ;)
Amp: B
Tonex: A
As always, 99% shot in the dark, but I maybe, JUST MAYBE hear a SMIDGE of extra compression in B. Having said that, without knowing where the changes were, I'd have absolutely no fucking idea there was even two different tracks 😂🤞
Edit: LETS GOOOOOOOOOOO 🤙 But yeah, riDICULOUSLY close!
Well done!
B sound better for me. it sounds more "open" after it could be a small tuning, perhaps reverb or treble
Interesting. I picked correct but I actually prefer the Tonex version (A) just because it’s that slight lack of top end air actually helps it sit in the mix better. Love these shootouts!!
I prefer the free neural amp modular app and even better quality tones, thats what you csll a game changer ho!
I'm getting my Tonex next week yeeey!! Also what an amazing capture. I also, like many others, preferred the capture slightly. But the difference was almost non existent at this point. And I was sure that A is real amp, because I've never before heard a capture sound punchier and tighter than the actual amp it is capturing. With Kemper and Quad Cortex that is literally never the case.
I honestly could not hear a difference. I kept my eyes closed and could not tell when you switched from one to the other.
I'm usually fooled but was able to pick out the real amp as it's transient response was better. The model sound more compressed.
started off as B-amp, but further into track, couldn't make up my mind. isolated, it gives it away a little more. there's air or 3D to the tone of the amp. still, the tonex was so close and sounds great in the mix.
They are so close (honestly a perfect match) it just doesn't even matter. I can't tell the difference as you dialed it in perfectly. Love it! 👍
I like putting in headphones and setting my phone down. I’ll zone out doing chores or something and if I don’t notice when A/B are switched when isolated, I know it’s just as good in a mix. Def a great match
@@JCleggy That is actually an awesome way to do it as you might actually notice the subtle differences more. I'll be trying that.
Honestly, not enough difference to actually matter. What a great platform.
I picked B because it sounded just a little clearer in the high end, but it was reaaaally close.
Mine finally arrived!!! I don’t have an amp that’s really worth capturing (Laney Tube Fusion 700), so I’ll be downloading the one’s from ToneNet for recording
I guessed right. And yes they're sounding more and more alike. The Tonex seems to be a tad thinner in the low end.
Sometimes I think I can hear that too but then I also hear that in the opposite way so it's hard to tell.
I guessed wrong. I don’t mind being wrong in this case because it shows how great this technology has gotten. It’s a win for all of us.
Tonex has some issues in modeling the low end low kids. I can hear it every time. Would be cool if you did a graph with the differences in frequency response of both for example with fab filter q3
Okay it was clear, which one was which... the real amp always has a liiittle bit more sag and low mid frequencies than the profile... but it's absolutely incredible how close they are.
It’s so freakin close!! Cool video man, thanks again. Hope you’re well!!
Thanks!
That's the closest I've heard out of these shootouts - exact in this case.
I can always tell AxeFX or Helix from each other,( not a bad thing, just a little different in the high end freqs.) because I have both..
I currently use the ToneX in the loop of my Helix Floor, the routing is uber flexible for FX and I can use midi with Snapshots to do all sorts of automation and switching.
Enjoying your captures with my ToneX App and pedal Jon!
Enjoy this capture too!
How do you set it up? I have a headrush and was wondering where to put it in the chain to get fx before and after like in a 4 cable method with my amp.
Nice, I get mine in a few days and was thinking of using it with either my FM9 or Helix for effects.
Have you tried switching amp models when changing your Helix snapshots like going from a clean to dirty amp capture and if so, what’s the latency like? Is there a noticeable gap when switching presets on the ToneX this way?
@@sveinunghamre324 If the headrush has an effects loop that is where you want to insert the ToneX pedal. Then the send/receive become your amp block, put typical pedals in front and time based effects post.
@@adamjones8218 Thanks for t info 👍
Sounds awesome! keen to hear how well Tonex can capture the ENGL fireball 100.
My guess is JCM 800 is B. I'm listening to this on a giant Bluetooth speaker. My reasoning is because B sounds slightly throatier in the mids. When you started playing one string at a time, it made it more clear to me that A was clearer sounding, which to me would mean it was processed more. But I could be wrong!
My guess was *A been the real amp. *B the pedal. When I listen to amp modeling I usually distinguish them apart with the sound of attack and the high end frequencies. They usually pop out more with amp modeling. I guess this is usually a bright amp then. Very nice.
Thanks for sharing the capture, I would be curious to A/B this against my JCM1H when I get my Tonex pedal!
I played the blind test first through my JBL speakers and then the Bose system and couldn’t tell. At all. Crazy
Close eh?
Sounds practically identical in this comparison. Even closer than other A/B ToneX demos I've watched, which were already near identical.
Slight extra top end air on B so guessing that’s the real amp BUT these are ridiculously close. Either way, the fact that an amp and pedal can be so close blows my mind.
I think B is the Amp - A is tonex. I hear more extended high end and more dynamics on B.
So… if I’m wrong and B is tonex… I will buy one at that very moment!
Good ears!
This is unbelievable!! imagine the sound quality 10 years from now.
A - tonex. B - more definition because of another slight saturation stage (maybe transformer or smth.else, …could be loadbox, or tonex without dibox sounds more muddy). Looks like you could make a slight more DI box or loadbox saturation on tonex, and a/b would be identical
B sound a little bit more open/rich so assuming the amp, but for the riff in the mix I think A is more tight and just as good...
Literally cannot hear much of a difference at all, other than a slight compression difference. But amazingly, the one I thought had a tiny more compression was the Marshall. Lol Proves that ToneX is extremely good!
B is the JCM800. It has more of that tubey sponginess.
Guessing that A is the real one because it sounded just a little bit more dynamic and thick in the midrange, but it's close and coukd go either way! EDIT: I was so wrong, and not even mad about it! Such a great patch!
this is the first shootout I've gotten wrong in a while, lol. Crazy.
I've been keeping up on Peter Joseph's return to music he's using just a bogner helios and a noise gate to sling melodic death riffs, would love to see a helios or ecstasy on here but that amp wall is pretty full as-is :)
I don't know what sound is the best - both tone sound awesome!
A? B? Who cares. That is a great sound and the first model I will download when my pedal gets here Saturday. Well done.
It's missing something, I guessed correctly because something with the high end, and the way the depth of the gain broke up and lost character. The ToneX has a "flatness" where the real amp had a much deeper characteristic going on with the gain that I can't quite put my finger on. You hear more of the guitar out of the tube amp, and less of the flat digital fizzyness that is in the ToneX it seems. The only way I can describe it is that there's more "resolution" to the real guitar amp, meaning there's just more to it. It sounds like the ToneX is in 720p and the real thing is in 4k, I know that makes no sense, but I'm trying to put what I'm hearing into words.
It's kinda close, but not go out of my way to buy this close, especially considering it lacks features, like XLR, and you can't use the capture without spending extra money... lame!
I hear Def Leppard High 'n Dry era in that tone!
Awesome comparison as always John!
I stopped trying to guess, because even though i can hear a slight difference, it sounds so close that it doesnt make any difference to be honest. This thing is an absolute no brainer, even if it was more expensive. Only thing i don't like is experience with the software, but i think it will only get better from now on.
I Also tried to use it with my FM3 in basically the same configuration as you have but felt, that it sounded noticably more "dull" and less responsive. Any ideas why?
Hmm it's hard to say why that is...
@@SonicDriveStudio probably just my dumb brain telling me it's different because theres a bunch of cable inbetween that degrades the signal while it's no different at all lmao
i can maybe hear a slight difference, but it also seems to be less of a difference between the "big" JCM800 and studio classic... I'm still hesitant to get a SC20
I guessed B, slightly more reverb if that makes sense but it was very close.
Considering the price and the options the Tone X seems good value in what's becoming a crowded market.
Great Tones mate I got the SC800 as well love it and this capture is identical :) ....what Input Gain are you running ? ......
I thought A sounded slightly thinner but not bad. B I suspected was the real amp but honestly I wasn’t sure. The point about a capture though is that it’s a snapshot of the real amp. If you keep the same settings it’s bound to sound virtually the same. The problem comes when you add eq and gain to that snapshot. It won’t sound the same as changing the gain and eq on the original amp.
Honestly, I felt like it was super close. However, I guessed the tonex correctly in this video and the last one. You did an excellent job of getting them nearly identical, though, Jon.
Good ears! Well done
Guess: A is the Tonex and B is the Marshall. Reveal: A is Tonex B is Marshall, I'm surprised I got this right for once. Track B had a fuller range of frequencies, the first sounded more like a tone capture
Almost indistinguishable in the AB test. I think there is something in the compression but barely!
Great model, thanks! I've been enjoying your Tonex videos. Would love to hear you tackle an Orange amp!
I did my Jim Root Orange in the Tonex pedal review!
Hmmm🤔. Quite indiscernible! BUT, for sake of the fun, I'm going to guess that A is the capture and B is the amp. There's some tiiiiiiiiiiny pieces of audio coming through that behave like tubes do. Hoping I'm wrong! Let's see!
This tone model works really well in my setup with an SD-1 in front and York Audio MV-30 as the cab.
Damn I got the guess wrong. I preferred the sound of A, and thought it was the real amp because of the nicer break up on the high end. God damn, after watching all of these TONEX videos; I think you sold me on switching my HX Stomp for one.
You can combine it with the stomp too for a very powerful rig!
@@SonicDriveStudio That's true. I currently use my Stomp as an Engl Fireball emulator with a boost and harmonizer. Using it in tandem with the ToneX will allow me to use an ACTUAL Fireball tone and free up processing power on the HX stomp to generate a better harmonizer sound quality.
Its really hard to tell but there is a slight difference. I like the amp better but if you weren't comparing them against each i doubt id hear it by themselves. The tonex id definitely s little tighter though
Amp modeling has gotten to the point where it's no longer about what sounds good, they all sound phenomenal. The only barrier right now is how it feels to the player. How does the "amp" respond to your playing style?
In the A/B between only the amps the real one sounds a tiny bit more clear / less muddy in the top end, but not by much. In the mix I couldn’t tell the difference at all.
Tech keeps getting better. I’d be interested in hearing from people using it live on how the “feel” is…especially compared to a fractal AX3 or FM9……
It feels just like the amps!
It's very very close, but there is a difference. The real amp just seems to have a tiny bit more life and definition. ToneX sounds amazing though. I'd definitely have one.
Can't wait to get home and try it
Highly recommend Mendals null test between the Cortex Kemper and Tonex to see just how close tonex is
I think someone needs to create a plug in or hardware unit that uses null testing to create captures.
Damn great tone!!! Sounds almost identical
Its ridiculously close. I feel like B is slightly cleaner, so that might be ToneX. But honestly I'd probably have just as much chance flipping a coin, it's close enough to be basically indistinguishable.
B was so much vibier and 3D. A felt immediately sorta cold, like a plugin of the amp. Subjective of course tho! Maybe the difference would be less on a clean sound.
Thanks for the hooking up informations - greatly appreciated
I just got one of those pedals a few days ago. I been doing some capturing and for me, it was an easy pick which was the tonex....A. It sounds just a little less colored is how I would describe it. sort of like the real amp used a Neve or API mic channel and the Tonex used a real clean mic preamp. With some captures it actually may sound better dare i say.
Thanks for going through your setup!!!!!
My pleasure!
In terms of capture, it sounds amazing! But I've never understood the appeal of captures/profiles since it's just a snapshot? I guess it's great if you have exactly the sound you want, captured. But if you want to tweak it, adjusting the treble on the ToneX doesn't behave like the treble on the real amp... But yeah, it's really cool! I hope they evolve the capturing process to allow capturing a "channel" instead of just a specific sound, by having you tweak the parameters of the amp during the capture process. That would be amazing! The pedal is super worth though, good sounds for cheap!
Well, for most of my amps I have a couple of settings (usually one per channel) that tend to sound good in general. So if I make a capture of an amp, it's usually my preferred setting anyway. There are exceptions where I just make an extra capture for the other settings if there are any, for example when an amp has a mid boost etc.
I guessed B, A sounded a little polished lacking a little bit of the mud, the real amp is very middy
Oh this is awesome. Naive question but can you buy or download different amp models and upload them into the Tonex like you can with Amplitube and Helix etc..? For example go online to a forum where people have captured different amps. I love the Bogner Ecstasy amp and the sound of a Marshall JMP-1. It would be a dream to be able to get those sounds without having to buy the actual physical models. I know that Amplitude and Overloud have the JMP1 but to my ears they aren't close imho. But this comparison you did with the JCM 800 and ToneX sounds close enough so I would think someone could capture the Bogner and JMP1 and it would be almost identical.
To my ear B is ever so slightly less bright so I will guess that it's the tome capture
Will you upload a capture of your Leviathan? Really want to try that out.
I'm calling absolute bullshit on anyone telling the difference between these two. Don't get me wrong, I believe people THINK they can hear a difference. I thought I heard differences but then I scrolled down to hide the video to see if I could hear the changes and I couldn't make out a single cut. Do you have a JCM 900 with a Marshal cab to compare? It's my absolute favourite rock tone when paired with a Les Paul. Amazing vids dude.
impressive considering 44.1
sounds very close, but i want to hear a 100w head...
So you could also capture an Axe FX amp model with the Tonex?
Well got it wrong but they both sound great !
So what I'm hearing is I can have my Mark V, 6505 and also go and download a super kraken, mt-15 and a Engl iron ball for $800 AUD in a portable pedal. I'm sold, better warn the wifey that this will be appearing soon 😅
I enjoyed your playing!
Your tone models are the best I’ve heard. I’ve made dozens of captures and one issue I have that I have noticed with mine and others is that the Tone Model always comes out with less gain and less body.
Your Tone Models seem to be a little dark than others when I run them though the same IR, but by adding EQ or a brighter IR I get amazing tones with your Tone Models.
Do you find the trick to getting accurate captures is to dial in a darker tone with the amp and compensate with EQ or IR selection?
Thanks! Hmmm, they don't sound very dark here tbh
Thanks for sharing this amp
Great as always 🤘
Thanks!
Woah, so you can run this through the USB input on the Helix? Am I missing something? I've seen a lot of people doing the 4 cable method, and now I'm way more interested in this if you can go directly to USB. Could you explain your setup a little bit more.
Jon, I've noticed you seem to use the Helix fairly often for reamping, not only for ToneX, but some videos in the past you've mentioned it. Is there a reason you prefer to reamp using the Helix, rather than the Axe FX III?
Love the idea of being able to use IR's to only monitor while making captures. It's a tad confusing at first, but after doing it a few times, it will become much easier, I'm sure. You're using helix rack, but do you think this setup would work the same with helix native or HX Stomp with HX edit? Thanks for all of your amazing videos and demonstrations. You're a very valuable resource and deserve way more subscribers.
Thanks! Hmmm with the HX stomp I don't know if it would work because you can't have two rows
@SonicDriveStudio oh bummer, you're right. I didn't think of that. Hmmm, there must be another way to monitor with IR's while capturing. I'm new to this system like everyone. It's pretty awesome!
Such great work, i really consider buying a tonex but i have an HX effect to play gig and the fact that the tonex doesnt include an fx loop scares me a bit. does it word with 4CM method ?
I own a few amplifiers right now from a Marshall 410H to a Fender Champ, so this pedal would be great for capturing them...but what I really want to hear are the captures of amps I don't own that either IK Multimedia had created, it the user-base has created before buying into the ecosystem. Can someone please make that video? That's why I would personally buy it.
Sooo - I saw there were a few more SDS tone models that we can't access (yet?). What do we all have to do to get your tone models?
Very close Captures, and I could barely hear and difference. Sometimes Amp B sounded like it had a tiny bit more bass, and was maybe a bit more dynamic. 🤷
I just downloaded the ToneX CS free software last night and did a quick test using my HX Stomp as the "Audio Interface" to my Laptop. I was getting a blended mix of my Stomp Preset and the ToneX Amp. Based on your video, it looks like I need to create a new Stomp Preset and set up the Blocks like the first row in your Helix Preset. If that's not right, please clarify how to set it up.
I'd like to be able to hear/monitor the sound of the Amps in the ToneX CS software on my Laptop without my HX Stomp affecting it's tone. Thanks
Imo A sounds better. Let's see which is the real one.
The real amp has a little more clarity and silkiness in the highs i think.
Great stuff...do you need to set the signal as sum L R in the Axe? And do you disable all the effects in the tone x patch? Thanks
OMFG. I CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
Are you doubling the guitar recording ? Have you have played it twice ?