Recording - February 2010 - 26

BY FERNANDO CURIEL Avid’s Digidesign Eleven Rack A Swiss Army knife for guitarists Avid’s Digidesign Eleven Rack was not designed just with the contemporary guitarist in mind; producers, audio engineers and anyone interested in digital recording and/or complete guitar rig emulations will also find many uses for it. Eleven Rack is an 8-channel USB 2.0 high-resolution (up to 24-bit / 96 kHz) audio interface with twin embedded DSP engines inside to handle the labor-intensive and delicately crafted emulations. It comes with a fully-featured (48 stereo tracks) version of Pro Tools LE 8 optimized for guitar players, which includes a dedicated Eleven Rack Control Window and more than 70 effects and virtual instrument plug-ins. Eleven Rack doubles as a standalone hardware unit (with no computer) that is rich in connectivity features for use as a centerpiece in a live rig. You are able to plug into the Eleven Rack and send its output straight to a recording mixer, a live PA, a stereo power amp, or an actual guitar amp while bypassing the virtual cab emulation. Having one unit for all applications allows you to count on producing the exact tones on the road that you use in the studio.RECORDING FEBRUARY 2010 Turn it up to Eleven! You might be familiar with Avid’s Digidesign Eleven plug-in, on which this hardware unit is based. The amplifiers are based on an elite selection of 16 vintage and modern amps designed with an involved “Tone Cloning” process based on capturing every stage of the signal path, which allows for the often ignored emulation of power amp sag, ghost notes and cabinet resonance. The selection was inspired by classics by Fender, VOX, Marshall, Soldano and Mesa/Boogie, and some of my favorites include the Soldano, the Vox AC30 and both of the original Avid creations, DC Modern and DC Vintage. There are 18 effects that are completely new to Eleven Rack, and they offer a healthy selection of stompbox and rack effects to help you get the tone you seek. And lastly, the 7 cabinets and 8 mics emulated are convolution based (an impulse response process that has proven to be especially convincing and effective). Visit the manufacturers’ website for a detailed list of the models simulated. Switches, knobs, pots and jacks The Eleven Rack is rich with ins and outs and controls. If you’re curious about where they all are and what they’re doing, here’s a rundown. The front panel has the Power Switch, Volume knob, the Edit / Back (to enter Rig View, or hold it for about 2 seconds to enter User Options mode) and Save buttons. Below the LED screen you have the six rotary control knobs used to access amp and effects controls and other specific settings, pre-assigned depending on the current mode. It works like this: when the control knob’s light is amber, the current knob is assigned to an amp, cab or FX loop parameter; when it’s green, the knob is assigned to an effects parameter; red indicates that the current knob is positioned differently than the assigned control’s saved position in the current Rig. To the right of the LED screen you have the SW1 and SW2 buttons, used to navigate through editing views and toggle various switched behavior. To its right there’s a Scroll wheel used to browse through Rigs and navigate through the various tasks in the menu. Then you have two rows of four dedicated buttons, the top has Distortion, Modulation, Delay, and Reverb, and the bottom row has FX Loop, FX1, FX2, and Tempo/Tuner. On the bottom right you’ll find the headphone out, Output to Amp 1 (Left), the True-Z Guitar Input (with analog circuit impedance matching), an XLR mic pre with phantom power switch, a –20 dB pad switch, and a gain pot. The back panel has the FX Loop I/O (two 1 /4" Sends and two 1/4" Returns) with a switch to adjust the signal level, for line

Recording - February 2010

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