Line6 Toneport UX1/2?

N

NicholasDWolfwood

Member
Dec 28, 2005
1,923
0
36
Hey, here's another quick question about gear.

I've been finding a lot of UX1 or UX2s on ebay for cheap, and was wondering what the quality on these were. If anybody has had one and also used an Audiobox/Firebox, what is the comparison? Are the pres as clean on the UX1/2 as on the Firebox, or are they a lot noisier, or what?

I'm still on the lookout for a cheap Firebox or Audiobox and have spotted a few but end up forgetting haha
 
well my toneport is quiet as fuck, and with a built in noise gate and hum eliminator in gearbox its even quieter, cant really commend on a firebox though, i dont have one but the toneport is a great piece of hardware and with a price to die for.

thats toneport!

(i sound like a flippin advert...ugh)
 
Eh, the big problem I've always had with Line 6 interfaces is no matter how good your computer is, you can't get the latency low enough to record in real time with ampsims (that aren't Gearbox) without horrible pops and clicks. Of course, you can record while monitoring with Gearbox and only recording the clean signal, but the DI ain't nothing too special in them either; Firebox or Mackie Onyx Satellite (love mine) gets my vote!
 
I'd get an onyx but I can never find any on ebay. I've found a whole shitload of audioboxes/fireboxes on there for $100-$150, though. there's an audiobox on there now for like $60 + shipping, ends in a few hours, I might pick it up.

from some googling around, the only difference I can tell between the two is the interface with the computer (usb vs firewire). would firewire vs. usb really make a difference, in my case? I'm running a q8200 with 4gb of ram on xp-32 (so it only shows like 3.5gb). to be perfectly honest I don't even need to monitor the ampsim, I'd rather just monitor the clean signal and add the vsts later (kinda takes the stress out of recording, only having to plug-in, set reaper up, and go as opposed to fucking with latency and vsts before I even play)

edit: I did just notice that the audiobox is usb1.1, which could pose a problem but I need an interface badly.
 
Eh, setting up monitoring with an ampsim in real-time is only a hassle when you have an interface that gives you latency issues - observe:



So Firebox without a doubt IMO!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
would the latency really be that bad on usb1.1 with as fast of a system as I have? I'm considering getting a firebox now for ~$180 but at the same time, an audiobox ends in ~2hr for ~$80.
 
I can't be certain tbh, but I know firewire is the safer bet! (and the Firebox has more than 2 outputs, which is essential for re-amping, should you ever want to do that)
 
I ended up just picking up that firebox for like $175 inc shipping. will hopefully have it later this week or early next week so I'll see how everything goes, hopefully my guitar tone wont sound so shitty anymore. my bass tone sounded half-way decent but regardless.

now here's a question, if I'm using the firebox - will I still be able to use my soundcard as the output in my DAW, or do I have to go through the firebox? as far as I know, reaper can only use one ASIO driver at a time.
 
Yeah, one at a time indeed, but now that you're getting a good interface you should use it as your overall sound card for everything! ;)
 
well, I have (and have had for ages) an audigy2 that I run a 6.1 setup on (as I use this computer for gaming, internet, music, etc as opposed to just for recording). how would I be able to sort that out, could I just go back and forth between the two, using headphones through the firebox for recording and then unplugging it and using my audigy for everything else?
 
looking over the firebox, it seems that the outputs are all 1/4" outputs. I have a logitech x-620 6.1 system, that has 6 speakers. 5 of them plug into the woofer via RCA cable, while the 6th has two cables: one with an SPDIF-type connector going to the woofer, and then another with 3x 1/8" plugs to go into the soundcard. how would I go about plugging those into the firebox?

I may just end up switching between the two, firebox with headphones for recording and then audigy for everything else.
 
NicholasDWolfwood said:
would the latency really be that bad on usb1.1 with as fast of a system as I have? I'm considering getting a firebox now for ~$180 but at the same time, an audiobox ends in ~2hr for ~$80.
Click to expand...

Whether it's USB 1.1, 2.0 or whatever, that really shouldn't affect latency as long as everything is monitored externally. Plenty of people have been recording for years with the toneport with slower computers than yours with no latency issues at all if it's set up correctly.
 
NicholasDWolfwood said:
looking over the firebox, it seems that the outputs are all 1/4" outputs. I have a logitech x-620 6.1 system, that has 6 speakers. 5 of them plug into the woofer via RCA cable, while the 6th has two cables: one with an SPDIF-type connector going to the woofer, and then another with 3x 1/8" plugs to go into the soundcard. how would I go about plugging those into the firebox?

I may just end up switching between the two, firebox with headphones for recording and then audigy for everything else.
Click to expand...

Yeah, now that I think of it, for gaming I'm pretty sure it's an encoded surround bitstream (DTS or Dolby Digital) rather than individual channels, and the Audigy almost certainly has a decoder that separates the stream into the individual channels, so you probably couldn't replicate that with the Firebox unless you downloaded a software decoder, which I guess wouldn't be necessary as long as you're happy with switching back and forth!

Petrovsk Mizinski said:
Whether it's USB 1.1, 2.0 or whatever, that really shouldn't affect latency as long as everything is monitored externally. Plenty of people have been recording for years with the toneport with slower computers than yours with no latency issues at all if it's set up correctly.
Click to expand...

But only when monitoring through Gearbox...
 
finally got this today, been toying around with it a little bit. my guitar tone sounds infinitely better than it did when I was going through my audigy2's line-in, but my bass tone sounds the same (at least to my ears). I'll post some samples tomorrow of what the bass sounded like through my audigy2 (then that through ampegsvx) and then through the firebox (then that through ampegsvx). maybe I'll post some of the guitar tones as well, one from audigy2->soloc and then one from firebox->soloc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

CubanDude
Interface: Line6 vs. Mackie vs. E-MU
Replies
12
Views
1K
Backline
beechstudio
B
N
Line6 UX1 Clipping Issue
Replies
0
Views
443
Backline
NicholasDWolfwood
N
X
Line6 toneport
Replies
0
Views
319
Backline
xAzagthothx
X
P
DFHS + toneport ux1!! yeah!
Replies
7
Views
586
Practice Room
prosacpils666
P
P
Problems doing DI with toneport ux1
Replies
2
Views
635
Andy Sneap
prosacpils666
P
Top Bottom
Back