Should I \"deflect\" from GNX3 to RP355?
Greetings all! Being that I am more of a \"private\" (which means I suck, so I will just play for my own enjoyment) guitar player, I wanted to hear some opinions from actual guitarists. (Damn that was a long sentence) I presently own the GNX3 (I know, I know...\"dude, upgrade!\") but was considering getting the RP355. My question is: Is it an upgrade? Sound quality better? As you probably can tell, I am a complete idiot in regards to this stuff. Any advice you can give me would be awesome. Who knows, it may even make me a half-assed guitarist!
Thanks all!
Thanks all!
Comments
Message Link:
http://www.guitarworkstation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4915&highlight=
I also have a GNX4, which is as old as dirt and has the original AudioDNA chip...but for my ears the '4 sounds 10X as good. Do an ear-test before you switch.
And don't forget - you already own the 3K!
I think he said 3, not 3K... but same difference.
Thank you for the help, ednrg. I suppose I'm gonna stay with my GNX3, for now!
Sorry for the goof. Brain death is SO sad, ya know??? :oops:
'Sup with that??? :?
Maybe we have to get out of the GNX workstation forum for more positive reviews of the other series. As for my vote, GNX3 good, GNX4 better, nothing else compares..... But I suppose most of us GNX owners bought our pedals for more features than just the presets alone.
When the GNX4 first came out, I ran to Guitar Center (ok, I drove :roll: ) to check it out. It was EXACTLY the same. Even the salesman, that I am friends with, said he came to the same conclusion.
What is better about the GNX4? It's got the exact same chipset, and you've lost the SPDIF.
The GNX4 has a few extra options, but if you are recording via PC/Mac, they are pretty much the same. In fact, I like the SPDIF recording better. Just my opinion.
My brother-in-law has the GNX3. Great machine. I was saving up my money to get one myself when the GNX4 came out. So I bought the GNX4.
Although I could probably tell you every feature on both machine 5 years ago, I can't recite off memory all the reasons why I went with the GNX4 over the GNX3. They do share the same chipset for presets, so from that viewpoint, they are basically the same.
IIRC, the \"improvements\" of the GNX4 over the GNX3 where that the GNX4 added CF card recording at a higher bitrate and more capacity than the GNX3. The GNX4 midi drums sounded much better than the drum sounds on the GNX3. The GNX4 had multiple stereo IN/OUTS whereas the GNX3 did not. I think my brother-in-law had to use two different types of cables to achieve a stereo out, but the GNX4 provides stereo out on XLR and 1/4\", plus the GNX4 also has the 1/4\" stereo line inputs. And I think the GNX4 had some other built in features that the GNX3 did not, but I can't recall exactly what they were. Like I said, that was over 5 years ago.
In no way did I mean to belittle the great GNX3. When I bought my GNX4, I got it on sale for only about $50 more than the GNX3. For me, and my needs, the GNX4 was well worth the extra $50. Plus, at that time, I got a free footswitch and free gig bag with the GNX4 promotion. So if you factor in the cost of those items, in reality, I got the GNX4 for less than what the GNX3 was selling for at that time.
For one, I wasn't SPDIF equipped, so that wasn't a factor. What WAS a factor was the computer connectivity: the '3 used MIDI (which, I think, has something to do with Elizabeth Hurley's workout routine?!? :roll: ), while the '4 used USB, which is very user-friendly for us brain-dead types. :oops:
Another huge factor was the ability to use a CF card and store 2GB worth of songs, loops, yada, where the '3 would only take a 128MB card that was getting hard to find. I filled it up constantly and was always erasing stuff to make room for new projects.
I seem to remember the Learn-A-Lick feature disappearing from the '4; too bad. But I really liked the routing options, how you could separate things between 1/4\" and XLR and so on.
And since I rarely used the internal drum machine (I have a nice little ZOOM unit), I didn't give that much thought either. And as I've mentioned, I'm about as familiar with MIDI as I am with Anne Hathaway's bikini collection (seen it a million times, but haven't ever been hands-on with it). :?
I rarely use the onboard recorder. It only gets used when I am away from home, so the card size for recording was never an issue with me.
When Microsoft comes out with new operating systems, there has aways been problems with getting the GNX4 & 3000 to connect, until Digitech came out with new drivers, etc. Once they retire the series, you may have to connect via the 1 1/4\" cable if you migrate to a new windows version.
I stay with spdif so I won't have these concerns going forward. It's the soundcard that makes the connection, not the unit itself.
What's not good is that Digitech dumped the Workstation concept. I think the continuing evolution of PC's, their OS, and how we connect to them makes it too difficult to offer up great products that will work for years. What I mean, is that I can take my Uncle's 50 year old guitar and jack it into an amp built today and it will play just fine. I can't take many computer peripherals (camera, mp3 players, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, etc...) that I bought 5 years ago and expect them to work on today's computers. I have lots of \"dead\" tech sitting in my closet that would still work fine if I was still running Win95, for example.
And I'm not anti-progress. But if we can settle in on computer interfaces, or at least provide a pathway of backward compatibility, then maybe a crappy OS like Vista won't kill a future GNX4. I never \"upgraded\" to Vista because of the problems so many people had with using their existing programs and hardware with Vista. But I saw all the heated rhetoric about the GNX4 Vista drivers not being available, not working, etc... Around that time, I just decided to drop all intention of using a computer interface for recording and just bought a stand alone multitrack recorder. USB might be a memory 10, 15, 20 years from now, but at least I know I will be able to record music on my recorder if I want to.
And if SPDIF works for you, more power to you. I have an old Dell laptop running WinXP that I dedicated to the GNX4/PTP package. Yeah, I'm stuck in time, but at least it was a time where both the GNX4 and PTP worked nicely on my laptop.
This is the reason I'm strictly old-school when it comes to music and recording. The GNX4 is as fancy as it gets for me, and there's no computer involved in my playing/recording setups. (except, of course, an old XP laptop that I use for XEdit). I record to a Tascam, I play through a mixer and powered speakers...the times I've tried computer recording have been dismal failures. So I've basically decided my computer has no place in my music setup.
I'm sure someday I'll grow up and figure out what MIDI stands for, and perhaps find a way to record on a computer without spending 90% of the time tearing my hair out instead of actually capturing trax. But for now, I'm content to have music be music, and keep my computer for it's intended purpose - surfing pourn. :P
I took a long evolution from using computer based recording to preferring stand alone recorders. When you talk of \"old-school\" recording I think that is what you mean - recording to a stand alone device. Essentially, my multitrack recorder is a computer with a 80GB HDD. But, all the OS and everything is set in firmware and doesn't crash or get a virus from the internet.
I fully embrace the new advancements in our new DAW software. AFTER I record tracks on my stand alone recorder, I will transfer them to my DAW for post recording processing. To me, that strikes the best balance of both worlds. As long as I have a path to transfer my .wav files to my DAW software, I should be happy for many years.
FYI, all my current recordings are of my band's live gigs, so I decided to go only with a stand alone recorder which simplifies my life. Post gig, I transfer my tracks to my DAW for processing. I hope the software, and computers, continue to improve over the years. I just was complaining that a lack of some acceptable standard musical interface in the PC world is a detriment to most of our products. I think the 1/4\" and XLR standards used on stage will be with us some time to come. I'd like to see some conscious decision made to standardize the way our musical gear talks to the computers. The closest thing I see to any standard in that respect is using .wav files on the recorders and being able to transfer them to my DAW software.
What I was speaking about was when you use a USB device, drivers are needed, whether by the OS itself or an installation disk. Since the GNX series has been discontinued, they will not be creating drivers for any future operating system. So, going forward, you run the risk of losing the ability to connect via USB, because there will be no drivers, not that USB will be phased out.
Of course, you would still be able to connect via the 1 1/4\" cable.
Like I said, it's all good. This wasn't meant as a GNX 3 vs 4 battle. Just stating (driver) facts.
what.... are .... you ..... talking about....
inbreeding?
I went with thw 3000 cause I do PC recording, no need for the recording option option of the 4, and the 3000 had more amp models. I still have the brochures I used to set in my truck at lunch trying to decide, the black color had little to with it. lol...
The GNX3000 just eightysixes the recording features basicly
I still cannot find a better PC Sound interface, I mean the interface alone will cost more the GNX models, and not as good, 24-bit low latency. I will keep the 3k just for that feature.
But want to give the RP1000 a shot for the 4 cable method
A chart I did long time ago, comparing the last three GNX models: http://www.44lbs.net/ilia/compare_GNX.pdf