Thoughts on the Eleven Rack?

The original Op was about the Eleven and how it compares to the other amp sims and such. My post was not about "what is best" for any particular usage and is NOT meant in any way a comparison to what I do as to others....It's simply answering a post about the Eleven which I have a lot of experience with.

I record REAL amps all the time and a large variety of such on a large variety of mics. Are they 'better' than the Eleven or viceversa? It depends on the session and the needs of the project. It's all tools in the end.... And how those tools are implemented into the needs of the project.
 
I have no direct experience with the unit as I've never owned or used one.
However. I've had observation of it's results.
Saw a Rush tribute band. Quite good actually. Guitar player used an 11Rack, a power amp and a 4x12 marshall cabinet.
Sounded great to me. Very authentic sounding.

Like the above poster said it's a tool. And as a tool, it seems quite versatile.
The end result is up to the player.
:D
Edit: from what I've seen and heard from those who own them, I'm thinking about picking one up. They're not that expensive and it can't hurt to have one in my studio rack for those times I can't record an amp.

Hell, you could always do scratch tracks at 3am. Even keeper tracks could be done and then re-amped later.
 
just surfing craigslist saw this -

"I bought an Avid Eleven Rack new from Sweetwater like 4 years ago, but I barely use it and it just sits in my rack. I've used it just a handful of times, and it's in near-new cosmetic condition. It works exactly as it should and I've never had any issues. It sounds great, too, but for me it's just easier to use a plug-in most of the time. Would be a great addition to a live rig or recording setup. There are tons of ways to interface with your setup. Comes with great presets and everything is editable. Can sync up with your foot controller. It's a real workhorse.
$275, cash only.."

Im thinking about getting an outboard too, for the days you dont want to use the mouse and plugins.
Itd be cool if it was just laid out like a guitar amp head and a few channels and some fx, but I dont need the 8000 program settings.
Maybe a "HD bean" for $150 might work? a little simpler.
I just about bought a HD Pro rack but then read it didnt sound any different than the plugins...so?
 
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Well, I got one. Just picked it up today. Learning it and going through the amps.
Stock settings suck, but then again, I've never found any presets on a piece of gear to my liking.
Playing around with amps, cabs, mic choices, I'm getting some realistic sounds I'm pleased with.
Good intial impression. :)

I'm not using it with any software. Just using it as an 'analog' device either into my interface or console. Yes, I'm committed to a sound, rather than doing a clean into interface, but I'm a 'no fear of commitment' kind of guy. :)
Besides there's zero CPU usage. And I like to hear exactly what is going to 'tape'.

I admittedly got this pretty cheap, the guy i bought it from was expecting great plug and play sounds right out of the box. He wasn't too tech savvy and it confused him. So after only a month it went up for sale.

Anyway I'm still learning it but so far all good :D

Hell, for about the price of a botique guitar pedal, you can't beat it. Even if only used at 3am for capturing inspiration or scratch tracks when you can't crank up a real amp, it's worth getting.

Oh by the way, there's bass stuff in there, and you can use it as a mic pre for vocals or whatever.
Pretty versatile unit and in standalone mode, you're not using up CPU resources

Would it replace a real miced amp? Don't think so. But in the context of a mix with properly setting it up, I'd bet only two out of a hundred could tell it wasn't a real amp.

Not bad, not bad at all.
:D
 
Well, I got one. Just picked it up today. Learning it and going through the amps.
Stock settings suck, but then again, I've never found any presets on a piece of gear to my liking.
Playing around with amps, cabs, mic choices, I'm getting some realistic sounds I'm pleased with.
Good intial impression. :)

I'm not using it with any software. Just using it as an 'analog' device either into my interface or console. Yes, I'm committed to a sound, rather than doing a clean into interface, but I'm a 'no fear of commitment' kind of guy. :)
Besides there's zero CPU usage. And I like to hear exactly what is going to 'tape'.

I admittedly got this pretty cheap, the guy i bought it from was expecting great plug and play sounds right out of the box. He wasn't too tech savvy and it confused him. So after only a month it went up for sale.

Anyway I'm still learning it but so far all good :D

Hell, for about the price of a botique guitar pedal, you can't beat it. Even if only used at 3am for capturing inspiration or scratch tracks when you can't crank up a real amp, it's worth getting.

Oh by the way, there's bass stuff in there, and you can use it as a mic pre for vocals or whatever.
Pretty versatile unit and in standalone mode, you're not using up CPU resources

Would it replace a real miced amp? Don't think so. But in the context of a mix with properly setting it up, I'd bet only two out of a hundred could tell it wasn't a real amp.

Not bad, not bad at all.
:D

Which did you get specifically? I may just have to spend my wife's birthday money on one...

THIS one?
 
I dunno. They all look the same to me. If they made different versions I don't know. All I know is mine came from Sweetwater about a month or so ago I must have a newer version.

Ok, here's some observations from messing around with some of the Fender blackface amps.

Dayum! :D

First you play around with the amp settings, then the cabs, then the mic choices etc.

I'm running this thing mono into my trusty old tascsm m520 mixer. And I'll be dammed if it doesnt sound like a Deluxe miced up with a 57 in the other room. :)

Just that alone makes me happy and I feel good about spending the coin.

If you get one play with it, its pretty simple.

I heard of guys getting rid of them cause they couldn't dial in a good sound. I call horse shit. It's not hard at all.

I'm sold :thumbs up:
 
I dunno. They all look the same to me. If they made different versions I don't know. All I know is mine came from Sweetwater about a month or so ago I must have a newer version.

Ok, here's some observations from messing around with some of the Fender blackface amps.

Dayum! :D

First you play around with the amp settings, then the cabs, then the mic choices etc.

I'm running this thing mono into my trusty old tascsm m520 mixer. And I'll be dammed if it doesnt sound like a Deluxe miced up with a 57 in the other room. :)

Just that alone makes me happy and I feel good about spending the coin.

If you get one play with it, its pretty simple.

I heard of guys getting rid of them cause they couldn't dial in a good sound. I call horse shit. It's not hard at all.

I'm sold :thumbs up:

This is why I have three of them in my studio. Even if I'm only tracking things that will get replaced with a live and loud amp. Everyone gets to play together at tracking.....No bleed into drum mics.....with a careful set-up chances are the tracks taken will be at least a layer if not the actual track used....and YEAH...they are easy to use as well as feeling like an amp....unlike most of the other guitar interfaces. I also use them all as analog devices. No latency ever.

The only differences in the Elevens since they were released has been software upgrades, bug repairs and the basic programs internally have always been updated. There are three rather good online groups dedicated to these things. You can upload settings people have built. You can upload factory tweaked settings. You can share what you come up with. Most are free. And there's an uploader software thats free and makes it a snap.
 
Hey...it's a great studio tool to have, for sure...and hard to beat at that price.
There are many live gig uses for it too...especially with involved sets where you need many options at your fingertips...and also for the guys who have given up on wanting to carry heads and cabs to gigs (wussies ;) )

I don't deny that in dense mixes and many live situations, no one would really notice...though I don't know how much it actually "feels" like an amp when you don't have an actual power amp output going to a reactive speaker load which is where a lot of "feel" comes from...plus the sound of that speaker and cab.
That all may be hair-splitting for some...but there's a reason some still prefer real amps for their playing....though for $250, the Eleven rack is not much of a risk, even if it ends up just sitting in a rack for occasional use (kinda like most of the amp sims/plugs that I have, and never use.)

Considering the pile of high-end amps and pedals and such that I have in my studio, and that I have yet to try every potential tonal possibility with them...
...I don't need to get another box that adds yet an almost endless number of new possibilities. :D

Of course, that's me...we all have our prefs and comfort zones...and we all like audio toys! :p
 
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