ToneDexter 2 - initial thoughts and reviews

[idimata]

Originally Posted by Larrison

Prior to buying the TDII, I had a high opinion of James based on an email exchange with him about the UltraTonic. That gave me confidence that the TDII was going to be good to go once it was released and it made the wait easy.

He knows everything about these products and personally answers emails- usually within a day. Can’t ask for much more.

Thanks again, James!

I feel the same way!

[SpruceTop]

I'm getting some nice-sounding WaveMaps with my Taylor 614ce/ES2. I like the control the ToneDexter II gives me in making and adjusting the WaveMaps. Now, on to the Larrivee D-50 Moon Spruce JCL Special with LR Baggs HiFi.

[SpruceTop]

The ES2 can sound good as I've now heard via my ToneDexter II WaveMaps. My 2016 Taylor 614ce and 2019 Taylor 717e sound darn good through the ToneDexter II IRs.

[joshbennett]

Hi ToneDexter II users

I've joined up here both as an acoustic guitarist and also as a co-developer of the ToneDexter II. James and I have been collaborating across the pond (read: Pacific Ocean) for the last few years to build the successor to the ToneDexter, and personally I'm extremely proud of what we've created.

I'll be checking here regularly to help field questions and look for ideas for future software revisions. We've already incorporated a bunch of your ideas into V1.1, which can be downloaded now. A big thanks to our beta testers who helped to iron out this release.

Keep the ideas and feedback coming!

Cheers
Josh Bennet

[tadol]

Hey Josh! Thanks for joining, and for the great work you’ve done with James developing this! Looking forward to hearing more from you in the montgs ahead - Tad

[RJVB]

Just curious here: if the ToneDexter is a way to tune the sound of your guitar to your liking, would it be possible to use it with something like the ToneWood Amp rather than an external amplification chain?

[aschroeder]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

The ES2 can sound good as I've now heard via my ToneDexter II WaveMaps. My Taylor 614ce and Taylor 717e sound darn good through the ToneDexter II IRs.

I've had the same experience with my ES2 equipped Taylor 816ce. I've used IRs with it in the past with acceptable results, but the Tonedexter wavemaps sound much better. No comparison. With all of the tone and blend adjustments on the Tonedexter it allows you to do endless customizations to each guitar/pickup.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by aschroeder

I've had the same experience with my ES2 equipped Taylor 816ce. I've used IRs with it in the past with acceptable results, but the Tonedexter wavemaps sound much better. No comparison. With all of the tone and blend adjustments on the Tonedexter it allows you to do endless customizations to each guitar/pickup.

I've yet to WaveMap my 2015 Taylor 618e through the ToneDexter II. I've done this guitar through the ToneDexter I a few years ago but perhaps mic placement or whatever didn't yield the WaveMap results I was hoping to achieve. This weekend I'll give the Big Boy a run through the new 'Dexter II and hear what happens.

[Larrison]

Is anyone else using a dual source pickup? I have trinity western K&K setups, and I am thinking about trying to use them in crossover mode instead of the default blend mode. Just wondering how folks are liking that combo.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by joshbennett

Hi ToneDexter II users

I've joined up here both as an acoustic guitarist and also as a co-developer of the ToneDexter II. James and I have been collaborating across the pond (read: Pacific Ocean) for the last few years to build the successor to the ToneDexter, and personally I'm extremely proud of what we've created...Cheers
Josh Bennet

Wow! Welcome aboard. The TD1 is amazing and it's great to have you here for TDII.

[tadol]

A couple quick notes on things I’ve figured out (with a little help from James) -

I updated from 1.1beta to 1.1(release) - and like the update to the beta, it went to a black screen after the update. But the process to “recover” may be even easier than the official update process, so in less than a minute I was back up to speed with the latest official firmware - my problem may be specific to my OS version, or my browser and its version, but it’s quite clear that recovery is no problem at all.

I’ve been playing with multiple guitars, with different pickups, and different mics - I hate to say it, but it’s been too much fun. The whole process of training and adjusting is simple, easy and painless. Which means I’ve gotten a lot of wavemaps that I scroll through, listening through headphones as well as through an amp -

I noticed that if I made adjustments to a wavemap (eq, input, output, spaciousness, etc) those adjustments stay with the wavemap - even if you power off and restart. But once you make any adjustment to a wavemap, even one click up, then back down, it’s description name (that you’ve entered) changes from standard text to italic text. The italic is obvious if you look for it - but it’s also easy to miss (I notice that most of the wavemaps in the manual have italicized names) and even if you make an adjustment, then return it to it’s original value, the name remains italicized. This is good, and bad - the good is that you can train and set-up a wavemap, then go into the wavemap menu and choose to save it - and its name will become standard font. So then, you show up somewhere, and doing a bit of adjusting on your TD2 for the space, and it will remember - even if you turn off power - so your settings are good. You can even save the settings, with a venue name, so if it’s a place you play regularly, you can restore in an instant. And you can also offload the settings, to save slots, and restore them before you return to the venue - very nice. Bad though, because if you want to go back to your initial defaults, or maybe you have but don’t know it, you have to go to the wavemap menu and choose “revert to saved” so the name becomes non-italicized and you know for sure you’re back at your saved settings. It’s not that much of a bad, actually - more of an adjustment in usage and thinking -

Another thing which seems true (but unverified with J or J) is an empty wave slot is essentially a “straight-thru” from the pick-up - so you can save the empty slot (I chose #32) and name it, then plug in an archtop or electric guitar, then make any adjustments you need for EQ, etc, etc, and save that wavemap so you can use the TD2 as a eq and DI, with all the mix and output options built into the TD2 - I’ve only played with this at home, so if others get a chance to plug into their amp & mixer and see how they can use this, please report back!

[SpruceTop]

Playing today, a week after making WaveMaps of several guitars, my favorite guitars, so far, with WaveMaps processed through the ToneDexter II are my Adamas 2087GT-8 and my Martin D -18 with UltraTonic 3.2. The Adamas projects a crystal clear, well-balanced tone with no ToneDexter II preamp post-processing EQ needed and the Martin sounds like a Martin D-18 with all its Martin nuances with a touch of ToneDexter II post-processing EQ needed.

[sfearing]

Originally Posted by joshbennett

Hi ToneDexter II users

I've joined up here both as an acoustic guitarist and also as a co-developer of the ToneDexter II. James and I have been collaborating across the pond (read: Pacific Ocean) for the last few years to build the successor to the ToneDexter, and personally I'm extremely proud of what we've created.

I'll be checking here regularly to help field questions and look for ideas for future software revisions. We've already incorporated a bunch of your ideas into V1.1, which can be downloaded now. A big thanks to our beta testers who helped to iron out this release.

Keep the ideas and feedback coming!

Cheers
Josh Bennet

Hi Josh,
thanks for joining this forum to field our questions and btw. CONGRATS on an amazing piece of gear.
Question - I've been trying to download the newest software V1.1 and keep receiving the message that I cannot expand the downloaded file as it is "an unsupported format". I am a Mac user and assume that is the issue? I looked up BIN files and was told to try opening it with "archive utility" but that isn't working either. I have followed various instructions for opening MacBinary files and connet get in... What am I doing wrong?

=SF=

[sfearing]

Originally Posted by joshbennett

Hi ToneDexter II users

I've joined up here both as an acoustic guitarist and also as a co-developer of the ToneDexter II. James and I have been collaborating across the pond (read: Pacific Ocean) for the last few years to build the successor to the ToneDexter, and personally I'm extremely proud of what we've created.

I'll be checking here regularly to help field questions and look for ideas for future software revisions. We've already incorporated a bunch of your ideas into V1.1, which can be downloaded now. A big thanks to our beta testers who helped to iron out this release.

Keep the ideas and feedback coming!

Cheers
Josh Bennet

Hi Josh,
another software issue. I cannot connect with my TD2 on my Mac Mini (apple M1 chip) I have tried various ways to connect the USB to the MAc but nothing is showing up on the desktop and when I try nto access via the URL 192.168.7.1 my browser just times out. Again, what am I doing wrong

=SF=

[joshbennett]

Hi All

I'm on tour at the moment but I'll try and cover a few of the questions above, and when I get home if there are still problems I'll get them sorted out.

Firstly, Tadol, you're correct in that the ToneDexter II works as a standard preamp without any training. If you start changing gains and eq on an empty WaveMap slot, it will show as Blue and Italics, letting you know it's no longer at the default settings. You can rename, copy, save, revert to saved, download, upload, move etc, but it will show as blue instead of gold, letting you know there's no WaveMap attached. On the web interface it will also show as blue instead of red. WaveMap-specific parameters such as anti-feedback and spaciousness are disabled for these slots, but everything else works.

Regarding sfearing's questions, once you unzip the file you downloaded, your computer won't know how to open it (the unsupported format you were referring to), but it doesn't need to. Next to the zip file in your downloads folder there should now be a .bin file. That's the file you need to send to the ToneDexter, and to do that you need to connect to it, which leads me to your second post.

I have a Mac too, and I've connected successfully with both Chrome and Safari with version 1.1, but had niggling issues with V1.0 and Safari, so my first suggestion is to use Chrome if you can until you've upgraded. Have a look at your System Settings->Network for a connection that says "Go to http://192.168.7.1" or similar. It should have a green "connected" status if you have a ToneDexter connected with a good USB cable. Note that if you're not using the cable we supplied, a lot of Micro-USB cables only have the power pins connected as they're often supplied with toys/gadgets that just need to be charged, and they won't work.

If you've got a green connected Network to your ToneDexter, and you open Chrome and it's STILL not connecting, let me know. There might be some extra-tight security set up on your Mac with a Firewall that prevents such connections. As a last resort we can send you "in the tradesman's entrance" and restore your software with a factory reset, so one way or the other you'll get your upgrade!

Cheers
Josh