A very unorthodox live modeling rig

[OverDriven]

I recently had the chance to directly compare some LePou plugins (with impulses) to an AxeFX. IMO the LePou stuff sounds as good or better than the AxeFX with the right impulses (I'm using Redwirez). So here's my idea:

Buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856102002
I have a few of these right now as I use them for my business (digital signage). They're great little machines. You need to get an mSATA SSD and SODIMM RAM as it's a bare bones system (no RAM or HD included). Total cost is $475 outfitted with 4 GB RAM and 128GB SSD (which is more than enough). You could easily get away with a smaller SSD since you won't be installing much on here. Install Win 7 or 8.

Buy this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824185027
A 9" touchscreen to control it. $175. You could actually mount this in the top of a small rack enclosure and put the other parts inside on a shelf.

Buy this: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Scarlett2i4/
Has MIDI input for control and guitar direct in. $200. You could use the 2i2 and save $50, but there's no MIDI.

Get this: http://ifoundasound.com/Index.php?page_id=8
It's a free VST host for live use.

Get the LePou plugins and all the free VST effects you want. There are tons of good free effects that rival anything in the AxeFX.

Total cost of this rig is $850 and it literally can do anything that the AxeFX can and more. Would it look weird on stage? Yep, but so does an AxeFX. I can tell you that this system has enough power to have basically zero latency. I think the coolest part is that you can load any VST in, which gives you almost endless options. What do you guys think? It's certainly unorthodox, but any modeler is just a computer, software and a display device. This gives you a much larger display than any modeler, and a much nicer interface as well.

[darkintension]

The LePou plugins with RedWirez impulses are uhmazing.

I just would not be able to stop freaking out over a computer being accountable. I'd keep staring at it the whole night. But that's just me. It beats carrying around a tube head and a 4x12 I'm sure!

[OverDriven]

The LePou plugins with RedWirez impulses are uhmazing.

I just would not be able to stop freaking out over a computer being accountable. I'd keep staring at it the whole night. But that's just me. It beats carrying around a tube head and a 4x12 I'm sure!

I don't do the live modeling thing either, but for those who do this would be great. As for the reliability thing, I can tell you that little computer is very reliable. Any modeler is prone to bugs though since they're all computers. I don't think this would be any less reliable than an AxeFX.

[NinjaRaf]

I wouldnt worry about it being a computer. People talk about this all the time, but in reality...how many of us have computers that we almost never turn off? How often do they have issues? I never turn my desktop off unless I lose power to my house...that fucker is 4 years old and I dont really remember it ever crashing...

[Loop Bizkit]

Some friends and I built something similar to this not too long ago as a "proof of concept" idea with a macmini, a small touch screen, a presonus audiobox, and Akai LPD8 and a rack chassis. it was 2 rack spaces, and ran GuitarRig.

Novel? yes
Sound good? yep
Built for rack navigation? Nope.

Cool idea, if you have all of your patches written ahead of time, but unlike the AxeFX, not easy to tweak on the fly at a show if you need to.

Also, the LePou stuff sounds fantastic. I have those plugs, and an Axe. I am not on Cliff's nuts AT ALL, but I'll tell you that comparing the two is like comparing a motor to a finished automobile. My Axe sounds that I love have dual paths, multiple cabs, compressors, eq's and a CRAPLOAD of effects. Not just an ampsim.

Also, unless you're using an SSD, and have written a macro to launch the modeler at startup with the correct MIDI mapping, you have to startup a homemade modeler like you would boot a computer. Compare that to flipping the switch on an Axe and just playing. Not to mention having a tuner button with audio mute integrated onto the front panel, input and output sensitivity controls, etc.

Could you build something similar in performance, not just tone, to an AxeFX? Yes... But it's not as simple as you're laying it out. You need:

1. A front panel of rotary encoders that's MIDI-Mappable (Dissecting an Akai LPD8 works well)
2. A screen with touch capability (I know the axe doesn't have that, but you'll be running a softsim plugin that has some parameters that inevitably aren't reachable from your control set)
3. The ability to write a startup sequence for mac or win that launches the VST host AND sim session template on startup.
4. An interface with the proper input impedance (this is NOT the Scarlett...as the DI's are wayyyy too hot)
5. An attenuator at the output stage for volume control without degradation.

All told, you are in used pricing for an Ultra, or more, if you do it right, and it's clunky to operate.

[Loop Bizkit]

Also, the Muse Receptor is already in production, if you want an open VST host in a rack with audio ins and outs.

[gb74]

When I was at L6 I remember that the guy from Big Head Todd and the Monsters ( ) used to play live with a MacBook pro with pro tools and amp farm into a Mesa 2:90. That was a funny looking rig.

[OverDriven]

Some friends and I built something similar to this not too long ago as a "proof of concept" idea with a macmini, a small touch screen, a presonus audiobox, and Akai LPD8 and a rack chassis. it was 2 rack spaces, and ran GuitarRig.

Novel? yes
Sound good? yep
Built for rack navigation? Nope.

Cool idea, if you have all of your patches written ahead of time, but unlike the AxeFX, not easy to tweak on the fly at a show if you need to.

Also, the LePou stuff sounds fantastic. I have those plugs, and an Axe. I am not on Cliff's nuts AT ALL, but I'll tell you that comparing the two is like comparing a motor to a finished automobile. My Axe sounds that I love have dual paths, multiple cabs, compressors, eq's and a CRAPLOAD of effects. Not just an ampsim.

Also, unless you're using an SSD, and have written a macro to launch the modeler at startup with the correct MIDI mapping, you have to startup a homemade modeler like you would boot a computer. Compare that to flipping the switch on an Axe and just playing. Not to mention having a tuner button with audio mute integrated onto the front panel, input and output sensitivity controls, etc.

Could you build something similar in performance, not just tone, to an AxeFX? Yes... But it's not as simple as you're laying it out. You need:

1. A front panel of rotary encoders that's MIDI-Mappable (Dissecting an Akai LPD8 works well)
2. A screen with touch capability (I know the axe doesn't have that, but you'll be running a softsim plugin that has some parameters that inevitably aren't reachable from your control set)
3. The ability to write a startup sequence for mac or win that launches the VST host AND sim session template on startup.
4. An interface with the proper input impedance (this is NOT the Scarlett...as the DI's are wayyyy too hot)
5. An attenuator at the output stage for volume control without degradation.

All told, you are in used pricing for an Ultra, or more, if you do it right, and it's clunky to operate.

Just my thoughts on your list:
1. I don't think you need knobs when the screen is touch enabled. The fact that it's a touch sensitive 9" screen would allow you access to parameters far faster than going through menus on a rack unit.
2. The screen I listed is a touchscreen monitor.
3. You can make the machine startup any program and patch with a simple registry entry on Windows. With an SSD you can boot in seconds.
4. I'm not sure about the Scarlett, but my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (which has basically the same guts, just more inputs than the Scarlett from what I understand) works perfectly for direct input guitar. I record all of my music this way now and it's been great.
5. Bringing down the output volume on the Scarlet does attenuate the volume just like on the Saffire. You can do it via hardware or software.

[Loop Bizkit]

When I was at L6 I remember that the guy from Big Head Todd and the Monsters ( ) used to play live with a MacBook pro with pro tools and amp farm into a Mesa 2:90. That was a funny looking rig.

Skinny Puppy used to do it too.

When I was in Negative Red (think Manson-esque industrial), I had split duties as keyboardist and 2nd guitar. I took a Macbook running Mainstage, and ran softsynths and ampsims. I had a rack under the keyboard stand with a line mixer, audio interface, and DI's. It worked pretty well, but I had Ableton Live running backing tracks at the drummer's laptop, and sending program changes to my rig for synth patches and ampsim patches. It was a pain to hook up every gig, but we had it down to a science after a while.

With Solaris, we all had MIDI switchable amps, and ran backing tracks from the laptop.

[Loop Bizkit]

Just my thoughts on your list:
1. I don't think you need knobs when the screen is touch enabled. The fact that it's a touch sensitive 9" screen would allow you access to parameters far faster than going through menus on a rack unit.
2. The screen I listed is a touchscreen monitor.
3. You can make the machine startup any program and patch with a simple registry entry on Windows. With an SSD you can boot in seconds.
4. I'm not sure about the Scarlett, but my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 (which has basically the same guts, just more inputs than the Scarlett from what I understand) works perfectly for direct input guitar. I record all of my music this way now and it's been great.
5. Bringing down the output volume on the Scarlet does attenuate the volume just like on the Saffire. You can do it via hardware or software.

1. I totally disagree. I don't want to look for a field on a screen onstage, I want to grab a knob and turn it.
2. Yes, it is. Oops.
3. BIOS/ Post still takes a little bit. Once past that, windows boots quick. But you're stacking boot times. Agreed, with an SSD it's faster, but did the machine you mentioned have one? I may have missed that.
4. The DI's on the Scarlett are not the same as the Saffire. The ADDA's are.
5. Digital attenuation = bit reduction. This is why monitor controllers in the studio, for example, exist. MUCH better volume control without degradation using an analog attenuator. The only analog attenuator on most interfaces is in the headphone amp.

I'd be interested to see your build though, if you do it. I can get our unit from my pal at some point and toss up pics, hopefully. It's a fun project, but in the end, I still don't consider it more than a clunky replacement for a dedicated box like an Axe, or PodHD, etc.

[vickno]

Meanwhile, you can have IR's in a stompbox at 499 euro: http://www.two-notes.com/en/hardware/torpedo-cab/

[redeyes]

or just get a Kemper which can use an impulse converter.. far more reliable i'd bet

[fretless]

what about that IK iRig thingamajig

[OverDriven]

Meanwhile, you can have IR's in a stompbox at 499 euro: http://www.two-notes.com/en/hardware/torpedo-cab/

Not ever related to what I'm talking about. That's a speaker simulator. I'm talking about an entire guitar rig simulator with effects.

[OverDriven]

or just get a Kemper which can use an impulse converter.. far more reliable i'd bet

For more than double the price. I have no reason to believe a Kemper would be more reliable though.