Toys, Toys, Toys

I ordered a Line 6 TonePort UX2 several days ago from MusiciansFriend. Their online system is messed up; they can't seem to get the tracking information for the orders right. The package didn't arrive yesterday, so I figured it would be Monday at the earliest.

Much to my surprise, as I was walking out the door this morning, there it was waiting for me.

Getting the thing working wasn't quite as easy as I might have liked. Firstly, I had to install OS X 10.4 because the software won't work with earlier versions :( Luckily for me, I had a copy of Tiger, and it only took about an hour and a half to install the system.

Then I installed the software; which consists of something called GearBox, which is a utility you use to control the box's options, and Ableton Live, which is recording software.

First problem; the instructions say not to connect the box until the software tells you to. But it never did. After installation I launched the GearBox tool and it came up that there was no hardware attached (*duh*), did I want to run in a mode that pretends there's a box connected? Well no, so I had to quit, attach the box and launch it.

That worked okay. The little needle level's lit-up too. Excellent.

The software help suggested trying a guitar connected to it first. I plugged in my guitar and....nothing. The meters didn't register anything. Plugged the guitar into an amp just to check and that was working, so what's up? I tried help, I tried fiddling with various settings, and nothing.

Finally I just got a microphone and plugged that into the microphone input. Success!!

Then I tried the Live recording app. Didn't like it. I could record audio, but I didn't really want to.

Then I tried Deck, but I couldn't get it to work with the TonePort. Tried all kinds of things, but no luck.

So I tried GarageBand and Ta-Da! It worked. Now I just have to experiment with the options...