ToneX Pedal



Here's some pictures, sound files and comments on my ik Multimedia Amplitube ToneX Pedal. It was delivered to me on 2/28/2023 and it's a just released product. This pedal is super compact and you can read all about all over the net so I'm not going to go into any kind of overview about it.

Let me save you some time though on getting started! When you get the pedal the first thing you want to do is to create an account on the ToneX web site and then register your pedal and THEN download the IK Multimedia Product manager. Doing things in exactly this order will allow to download the ToneX for MAC/PC or the ToneX app for IOS for free. Note that you can only manage the ToneX library AND download to and from the TONEX pedal from a regular computer. You can also download Amplitube 5 for free with your ToneX pedal purchase using the IK Product manager. The Amplitube 5 creates sounds using analog models of amps similar to what Fractal Axe does. You don't need it to run the ToneX pedal. ToneX differs from Amplitube 5 in that it uses AI functions to create the amp, cab and stompbox models.

The next thing you want to do is read the ToneX pedal user manual linked below. It's a quick read and it will take away from all the mysteries of the ToneX systems and all the acronyms and various hardware and software pieces. Next item is to read the quick start manual (also linked below) which will quickly bring you on board with the ToneX Pedal functions and controls.

A few things I noticed right away:

  • The Quilter TT12/15 combo amps have an FRFR mode. This is a full range/full response mode that will allow you to use the ToneX pedal as your amp and cab setting
  • All the Tone X presets have access to built in and fully fully adjustable Noise Gate, Compressor, Tone Model, Tone EQ and Reverb (Hall, Plate, Spring etc)
  • The EQ is extremely flexible and included mid-range level, frequency shift and Q as well as Bass and Treble levels and frequency shift. Even more powerful than most steel amp EQ sections!
  • The power supply is 9 VDC with minus polarity on the center of the power plug so you can power this as you do with most stomp box pedals.
  • The sides of the unit light up with a really nice glow!
  • The ToneX app does not appear to be able to directly control the actively selected preset on the pedal. Even the Eventide pedal offers full IOS control. I hope am wrong about this missing capability.
  • If you change the settings while using a preset, they are not saved when switching to another preset unless you explicitly save them. This gives you the option of quickly restoring a preset's settings to factory just by switchig to another preset and back again.
  • The Plate reverb sounds just like a hall reverb to my ears and can be quickly tailored to your liking in the advanced settings. The room reverb seems to be useful somewhat but I found all the Spring (1,2 and 3) reverbs to be totally unusable and very coarse sounding.
    • There is no effects loop in the ToneX. Not sure how important this is but its seems odd that they left it out. It would be nice if therre was a built in delay, separate from the reverb so you could run both at the same time. Maybe based on memory or CPU capacity they had to draw the line somewhere.

Some useful links:

If your going to use a USB-C ported computer be sure to have a USB-A to C adapter handy like this one: USB-C adapter on Amazon




Here's the best diagram I could find of the ToneX pedal that shows the signal flow and built in functions. The EQ and compressor blocks can be moved either pre or post of the Tone Model. Click on the diagram to enlarge it and click again to super size it. I'd like to see the manufacturer add this diagram as a live control of the ToneX pedal so you could see at a glance a full screen of all the settings and change them without navigating through different menus.



Review Summary

I started out with factory preset #2, Twin Reverb amp and cabinet with plate reverb and immediately got some great tones after adjusting the reverb settings. I like the lush sounding plate reverb and the room reverb sounds authentic. The spring reverbs are pretty awful and need more work. I know what a real Fender spring reverb sounds like in a good tube amp and the ToneX spring reverb is not even close to that in quality or character. It would be helpful when fine tuning a preset if the ToneX app was able to provide full screen control and viewing of the live parameters. You can sample the preset in the app but not control it from the ToneX app. The box is at first intimidating but after a few hours it becmae second nature to swap amps, cab and settings using the pedal's control knobs. The provided EQ is just awesome in that not only do you have Bass, Mid, Treble and Presence controls but Mid, Bass, and Treble shift and Mid Q functions are provided. More versatile tone controls than any real amp could hope to have. There is just no audible white noise and no audible digital artifacts coming out of the very clean outputs or headphone interface. Input adjustments, especially the global Input Trim easily allow one to compensate for any high or low output pickup. There's no audible intermodulation distortion when multiple notes are played at the same time and in fact no harshness anywhere on any string at any fret except where the distortion is intentional as in an amp's overdriven breakup. There are a lot clean amps that sound stellar with pedal steel including the Twin Reverb, Super Reverb and to some extent the Dumble model (DMBL). Note that there are many parameters within the amps and cabs that can be tweaked. Things like mic placement, cabinet resonance can be changed but I got great sounds out of this things with only minor reverb and EQ adjustments.

I didn't try this with the Quilter TT15 amp at all but the amp's FRFR Voice mode should be a good fit with the ToneX used as a preamp, compressor and reverb unit. The ToneX is quite a bit simpler to operate than my Fractal Axe 3 and finding a good tone is easy to do. For the studio or practice with headphones this unit eliminates room accoustics and provides suberb mono or stereo sound to my Zoom recorder with no preamp needed on the Zoom R24 inputs.

I went through all 150 presets and found 4 that were immediately usable for pedal steel (clean sound, nice EQ to my ears (YMMV)): 0.SPRVRB, 2.Twin, 7. Pure 57, 33.Shimme (super wide stereo sound). With minor tweaking I found 6 others that I thought were useable for pedal steel: 0.DMBL, 1.MKV, 18.Night, 20.TwinY, 23.Glass (BooWah! on C6), 26 John. Note that you can go crazy creating your own presets by mixing and matching Amps, Cabs and Stomps and adjust all the parameters including reverbs, compressor, EQ etc. For recording I would be quite happy just using the Super Reverb and Twin amps and cabs. With a bit of adjustment I can quicky get the same tones the real amps produce and with some mid range and EQ tweaks match them up real well with a Nashville 400, Webb 6-14-E, Fender Steel King or even a Walker Stereo Steel. I mention the Walker because you can use the dual outputs to feed two separate amps and get a super wide stereo sound.


Bottom line is that for a little more than the cost of a premium reveb stomp box, you can get a whole amp, cab, compressor and reverb system in a box that will do a great job in the studio with no amp and no mic needed. IMHO the room and plate reverbs cover all the bases I need. It's also perfect for practice with headphone and produces as good a tone as my Fractal Exe 3, Quilter TT15, Fender Steel King, Peavey Nashville 400 or Walker Stereo Steel setups. How this works with a PA system or FRFR amplifier at this point I have no idea.





Sound Samples



Here's some sound samples from my first few days of playing through this pedal. I primarily use this pedal with headphones and no FRFR amp setup. Recording is super simple as the stereo outputs of the ToneX pedal feed two channels of my Zoom R24 to record in stereo with no mic or intervening preamp needed. Numbers in the samples refer to the ToneX preset number.

Selection
Recording Method
 		Comments
Direct
 More Sounds
Direct
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Direct
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Direct
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Direct
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Direct
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Direct
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Direct
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Direct
 More sounds



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