ToneDexter test drive - demo

[MrErikJ]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I've trained my Barbera, with has every other string out of phase. With that, all you have to do is play only alternate strings. With your LB6, you'd just need to skip the B string (If I recall correctly?) so no strumming. But you can play anything to train, even just single notes. Or take off the B string while you train, maybe? Shouldn't be a problem, and I know James did some demos with the LB6 specifically.

Yeah, the LB6 has its G&B string in opposite phase. James recommended muting them with something and/or removing them entirely when training. There was a dip in bass that he couldn't explain, possibly due to bleed through on the two crystals. The clips sounded pretty good but I felt they sounded somewhat hollow. However, I didn't hear James' guitar on its own so I may be judging the 'Dexterized signal unfairly, as the K&K and LB6 probably produce an exaggerated midrange that I assumed as real.

[Mkel12]

Great demo Doug... thanks! I, too, was curious about how the TD would work with my Amulet. I am on top of the list for the next batch that arrives at Mighty Fine Guitars, which should be about 11/1. Can't wait to try it out with my Neumanns (TLM 102 and 103). If those aren't optimal, I have a Shure Beta 57.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I bought a TD at SBAIC and find it has greatly improved the sound of my Bartolini PU'd carved guitar. I also set myself up as a dealer if anyone wants to try that.

[BluesKing777]

Thanks Doug!

Fantastic and precise demo.

I am in Australia and out of the loop for Tonedexter sales just yet but as soon as they pass the paperwork and release it here, it WILL be mine!

And I might have to go buy some of my old guitars back. And start writing lists of which file is who...


BluesKing777.

[Tommy_G]

Looks exactly what the Fishman Aura ought to and very likely will evolve to...

All Fishman will have to do to catch up is release their image making software as a saleable product.... Hopefully backwards compatible to prior Aura pedals etc.

[steelvibe]

Thanks Doug and thank you Tonedexter! That might be the best plugged in sound I've ever heard- just wow!!

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Tommy_G

Looks exactly what the Fishman Aura ought to and very likely will evolve to...

All Fishman will have to do to catch up is release their image making software as a saleable product.... Hopefully backwards compatible to prior Aura pedals etc.

That's always a risk with a small company - the bigger fish can swoop in and copy you or swamp you with marketing. But the ToneDexter guys have at least one patent, and to me, it sounds better than any Aura I've come across, and I have a bunch of them lying around. There's also different markets, I suspect. Fishman's going for mass market, people who want to plugin and turn the knob to D28 or whatever and be done. ToneDexter seems to be more for people who are willing to spend a bit more effort to dial in their tone, as easy as it is. The Aura's been around for almost 10 years, now, or close to it, and the Momma Bear predated them. They haven't decided to go after the "you can make your own IRs" market yet, and I suspect they wouldn't be interested for a number of reasons, but who knows. I also think there's room in the market for multiple players. You could say the same thing about almost any product. You know, Taylor could just release a guitar that looks and sounds like a Collings and Collings would be all washed up, right? Maybe, maybe not.

Regardless of what competition they may get, my take on this is that these guys have raised the bar, so that's a good thing.

[Tommy_G]

Yes... I am glad this is out. My biggest beef thus far with my Aura is being limited to the on board or gallery models... ( None of which match my specific guitar... Or ever could through that route... Their concept relies too heavily on the assumption of a proxy guitar.. And better digital conversion is always desired)

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by Tommy_G

Yes... I am glad this is out. My biggest beef thus far with my Aura is being limited to the on board or gallery models... ( None of which match my specific guitar... Or ever could through that route... Their concept relies too heavily on the assumption of a proxy guitar.. And better digital conversion is always desired)

All too true! Have Fishman updated the gallery since it started?

Adding a small percent of proxy on Auras is better than not having an Aura box and a quacker! When you have a match, it is pretty unbeatable - I have a couple but those ‘out there’ guitars are disappointing. (I have an old Lowden S35 Tasmanian Blackwood/Cedar with some kind of undersaddle and the Aura has a S25 Rosewood and it gives me a ‘boinggggg’ on the 2nd string.) But my J45 and Aura is excellent!

So I bought a Martin Retro D18E with onboard Aura and that is stunning! Probably the best I have heard.

Hopefully the Tonedexter can do this for all guitars with a decent piezo!


BluesKing777.

[Jabberwocky]

Thanks for the nicely executed demo, Doug. The Tonedexter, to my hoary old ears, sounded like a blend between the Trance Amulet and KM184 microphone. It is airier than the standalone Trance Amulet but more "processed" sounding than the standalone KM184 i.e. less natural sounding. Sounds better than the Trance Amulet on its own but I still prefer the natural sound of the microphone to the Tonedexter.

It looks in concept to be the piezo-pickup-condensor-microphone version of the Kemper Profiling Amp for electric guitar amps.

Interesting gadget.

[Petty1818]

I still have to get my Tonedexter but I am hearing a difference in the overall quality between the Aura and Tonedexter. IMO, the Aura imaging always had a slightly processed sound to it and one of the downsides for me was that it cut a bit of warmth out of the pickup and replaced it with a more hifi tone. I always found myself turning down the treble, which would then result in a muddy tone. The Tonedexter on the other hand sounds like a mic to me and it seems to add some body and warmth to the signal. I noticed that quite a bit with Doug's video.

I agree with Doug though, although Fishman have the resources to make a Tonedexter type of pedal, I can't see them doing that. Baggs and Fishman are after a great amplified tone, but their target audience really are musicians who want a "plug and play" solution. Just think about it, how many guitar players out there know little to nothing about pickups, preamps and DI's? I would argue that we at AGF make up an extremely small minority of players. I think if Fishman released something like this, a lot of people wouldn't even know where to start and it might not really take off.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Yeah, I skipped some details to keep the length down. This is using the slot 22, which is optimized for recording, which seemed the best match for how I was demoing this - direct input into the recorder.

For live use, you probably want to train in a different slot, and then of course you'll be playing thru an amp, but I didn't want to go thru micing an amp/PA for this demo. I think you have to experiment a bit with ToneDexter, your amp/PA/pickup, different character settings and so on, to see what works for your live setup.

Even when using the "live" wavemap slots, I have generally preferred lower character settings when playing thru a sound system, so a little ToneDexter can go a long way :-)

Thanks for answering my question, and thanks again for the great demo. If there was ever any doubt that ToneDexter can be an excellent tool for home recording, this demo should put an end to it. The Audio Sprockets folks deserve great credit for creating such a versatile and affordable processor which can be used for both live performance and home recording.

[SpruceTop]

Doug, a wonderful demonstration video for the ToneDexter! From my listening, once the ToneDexter is trained, there's no need to use a mic for live performance anymore and the Trance Amulet works well with the ToneDexter. Thanks!

[Groberts]

Where and how can I buy a Tonedexter?

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by Groberts

Where and how can I buy a Tonedexter?

If you're not in NorCal you might try the Audio Sprockets website: http://audiosprockets.com/

Fran