DigiTech GNX4

Easy to use: turn knobs, press buttons. Editing: simple and you can go deep into tweaking if that's your thing. Manual: the best of it's type I've ever seen, and crossed referenced very well. Getting good sounds: read the manual, or as we say in the IT profession, RTFM.

Digitech calls this a Worksation and not a modeling pedal because it's desgined to go from practice, to creative inspiration, then on to recording and live play. How long would it take you to buy and then learn the ins and outs of a separate recorder, drum machine, multiple effects boxes or a multi-effect box, a looper, and an amp modeler?

Sound: It's subjective. A lot of us get tones our ears like and some of you aren't liking what you're hearing. I don't know how you should configure this with the guitars, amps or monitors you have available, or how much time you should spend tweaking. But consider that the lack of tone you're getting may not be the unit's fault. With the number of people that gave this a 7 or higher, maybe you haven't found the sweet spot with your setup, or haven't found the tone setting option, like speaker compensation, that will make this work for you. A '1' rating seems really harsh, and when it's in every category, is suspect, like you're really PO'd or, sorry to say this, immature.

Effects: very usable, a good variety, and range in sound qulaity from OK to good. I like the selection of distortion boxes the best, although it's really fun to play around with all the other ones.

Amp models: I really don't care what's being modeled. I need a rich clean, a tight crunch, a naturally compressed and sustain filled lead, and a thundering scooped tone. Those are all there. The ability to perform deep editing and change the amps character is impressive.

Bass amps: The bass amps and cabs kick hard! I'm a gigging guitarist and bass player and I'm having a blast with these.

I can't rate this because a month is too soon to tell. The unit seems fairly tough. I'd never gig without a backup, no matter what kiind of gear we're talking about.

Haven't used them.

For 30+ years I've been playing rock and country with a Fender Tele Deluxe, Gibson ES355, G&L Leagacy, and Ibanez RG and use MuiscMan combos. I have a sinful number of pedals and other gear. The GNX4 is a tool for me to practice, create, and record, and I hope to be able to use it for live play either as an effects pedal in front of my combos or as a full modeler thru a pair of Atomic Amps I'm considering buying. I love the ability to practice, create, and record from a single unit. There's nothing I truly dislike. The day I bought this I was actually planning to get an XTLive, but I hit the internet to do price research before leaving the house and saw this and thought, hmmmm. The fantastic number of features sold me on it even though the XTL would be cool too.

What I'd like to see: a unit where you tell it the guitar you're using and that you want the tones from AC/DC's Back in Black. It configures your tone to that, offers a usable drum pattern with tempo, maybe a bass line to go with it, and off you go. If there's a clean passage in a song, then a crunch, then an acoustic part, the unit would create the patches for you, including effects. I'd use these patches as the basis for my own sounds as well as cover song duties.

I am writing this to defend a product I have come to appreciate over the last several years I have owned it. I don't know what precipitated that last unprovoked rant, but it seems rather silly. And who writes to bash a product they have never owned and have probably never used first hand? The product is probably about as easy to use as it can be considering the number of features it has. Look at the features and make a decision if you really need all that stuff though, or it could be more worth your while to buy something simpler with a newer generation processor. The screen could also use an upgrade to an LCD to make more parameters visible at one time.

Don't get me wrong, this thing only deserves a 7 or so if you rate how it sounds out of the box. If you go www.mfxsupermodels.com you can purchase different upgrades from a giant library of amp models that sound way better that what the unit shipped with. When digitech upgraded through the GNX series from GNX1-4, the capabilities of the units increased, but they never bothered to utilize the increased capabilities in the newer units to make the amp models any better. The guy who sells the upgrades is sound engineer who figured out how to do his own sampling of amps to create amp models. The result is 100% better that the original digitech models. Ok maybe it still only deserves a 9 or so, but I have to offset what the guy (read goofball) below rated it. You also have to rate these kind of things within the context of what they are. This is a "jack of all trades" kind of device, and for that, it sounds quite good. I also own an Fender Blues Deluxe, and of course the Blues deluxe model does not sound quite as good as a real Fender--duh! but it can also sound a lot more like a real marshall or bogner - or whatever - than my Fender can, no matter what kind of stomp box I put in front of it. Not to mention that the GNX 4 is alot easier to control for different venues or for PC recording than my Fender is. If you happen to have $50,000 laying around to build a home studio and by tons of different amps, mics, effects etc. knock yourself out. Of course you will get a better sound. But for $600 (price including upgrades) you will be hard pressed to get a better sound or find an easier way to record.

Sturdy enough. Unlike my Fender. I had to get it fixed after it got a BROKEN INPUT. Go figure. It does have a bit of a bug with the card reader, but nothing that interupts any of it's functions. If I shut it off when it is on a smart card preset, when I turn it on again, I have to switch the preset to the next number before it will output any sound (See customer support below). It needs a little jog in order to read the card correctly.

Easy to get ahold of and talk to. Very prompt response on email. I spoke to them about the above problem. The device is out of warranty, so it would cost me a flat rate of $85 to get it fixed. At this point, the problem it is only a minor irritation and not worth spending the money to fix.

I play metal, a bit of jazz, and worship music at church. I have been playing daily for 17 years. I own: PRS Custom 24, Ibanez RG270, LTD M207, Samick L5 knockoff and a cheap LTD 5 string bass. Old Yahmaha keyboard. Amp- Fender Blues Deluxe. GNX2, GNX4, various pedals, mostly DOD, and a Morley wah.

I'm not a user, that would be a mortal sin... however, the only thing that really matters to me is how it sounds, and I do have something to say about that. (read on)

I am a sound engineer, Pro Tools certified, AND a guitar player, so take heed of what I am saying. I've heard this being used by a couple of different guitarists in different styles of music and it sucks. Has no life, no energy. Distortion sounds 'phasy' with no definition, punch or clarity. Definitely sounds extremely digital- btw, that's a bad thing. Clean channels are too bright, harsh... Through SM57's this sounds sound even harsher, and through solid state amps just make me wanna shoot my head. You want to get some punch get a Mesa, or for some serious distortion that sounds like a monster will come out of the speakers and kill you, a Bogner Uberchall. You're definitely going to pay for that, but if you can't afford it, then get some analog distortion, or a couple of Boss pedals, which sound 100 times better. For the price of this junk, you can get all you need in nice little stomp boxes and have money for the patch-chords and the power supply's.


If you're a kid, you're 13, and your learning, fine, buy Digitech stuff.. if you're a professional, or even a working musician with some sort of public appearances, please, get yourself a nice tube amp, a nice guitar, and be done with it.

Too many plastic parts... not something you would consider stepping on I would say. Also, the inputs on these things go dead... i've see this issue on gigs as well. All Digitech pedals included.

I play classic rock and metal. Also been playing for 6 years.
I have Fender Strat, ESP Kirk Hammett, Les Paul, Mesa Boogie Triple Rec,
Fender Deluxe.

I think there are better remedies for achieving tone, and quality sounds.
Even amp modeling doesn't do the job in the studio like a real stack cranked to the sweet spot would, but they work.

For those of you who don't know, the converters on these digital pedals are bad. Digital conversion in these also causes 3rd order harmonic distortion... which is also bad. Not to mention jitter, lack of coloration and character, and no headroom.


That's all.

Took a chance and have this GNX4 now. Funny how many guys dont realize the potent power right below them. Out- o- da- box tones are like most modelers and lack. I used the speaker comp switches on and it killed the fuzzies. Editing is easy and easier once you watch some of the videos from mfxsupermodels site. Do that and you are Golden! The manual has strong and weak points. I have firmw 1.3 and no changes since then.

Dont forget, this is a recorder,mp3 player and a shlew of other things with Comp Flash access.

Sounds Fine. No bizz no buzz no noise. Through my Les its not too harsh like the GT-8 I tried. Effects are Golden! Love em! I also use a Mesa 20/20 power amp and will find a Sim90 soon. It also does kewl jobs with the Crate Powerblock. I can find satisfying tones easy. I have the superdisc model pack and its awesome! thanks to guys who suggested these libraries of sound! I had all the Pod packs too with my XTL but really like what the packs made for GNX4 better. I'm getting an ear candy cabinet since its so recommended. Ear candy to go with Ear candy!! hoo haaa

using my GNX4 live 2-3 gigs a month. People love my sound. Thanks go out to Matt, Greg and Mike (G3456), the prosound guys who made the superpacks. They helped me fine tune my sounds with my crappy Sheffield speakers. I emailed them at 1am and NEVER expected an answer in 5 min. They answered a few min later! I'm in AZ, I think that's around 4 am there time!! Wow! The GNX4 case is metal and its pretty tough. As long as I dont jump on footswitches I should be good a while

Digitech reps were always helpful. I have not used them though. The upgrade is the supermodels packs since Digitech never made a pack to support the item. Sometimes it can be better that way. No repairs yet to talk about. I have heard the USB port can get damaged if ya step on it. Duh!

Pretty much play hard stuff and alt for the last 12 years. I have an XTLIVE, had the Gt-8, GNX3000 and a few boss stompboxes. If stolen Id buy another no doubt. I comp this to the GNX3000 and the guys are right. The GNX3000 latency is too high for Live Use. Prolly why its gone down in price. POD sounds like doo doo to me and I don't like variax guitars. GT-8 was like the Pod. Thin and fizzy less control.

I love control assigns. Thank goodness Digitech made this so kewl! I did some homework picking out modelers and this option is great for LIVE. I can select from 160 presets with CF card and User locations. Easy. With the superpack it just gets better. Big Kudoes to those guys!

Recording- oh yeaaaah! It does that well! I have a 2G CF and have not ever ran out of space yet. No computer and get the tracks in quick. Add the ProTracks (I have Sonar) and its better. REAMP is the best. Select dry recording and reamp away testing guitar sounds without ever having to retrack them. Here again, the prosound guys answered all my Q's about this. I sent them so many emails they prolly hate me by now but they answer every time!! This whole thing is just easy and I dont see a better one coming. A huge combo of uses, adding superpacks give a library of amps to pick. The recorder and mp3 player for practicing and a pretty kewl drum machine Pods and Boss will not add.

easy to use. i've had it for two years. Sounds great.

After two years I thought that it sounded pretty good. I tweaked and got what I thought were great sounds. I guess that's all that my ears were used to. I purchased the supermodel pack and it gives you alot more options as well. But.......... reality hits and after playing straight through my 5150 tube amps I have to say the sound is thin. Still very good but you can hear the digital element. Kind of like comparing a vinyl record to a cd. No warmth and fatness. I like the fact that you have alot more sound choices but it is a compromise. I guess my ear is changing again.

very good

good

Good for what it is, think I'll go back to just three or four great tube amp sounds. The love affair is over. After all, thats what modelers are trying to emulate anyway, great tube amps. Ain't nothin like the real thing baby! I will keep it though just have it around for something different.

I've probably got an unfair advantage because I've been using Multi Effects units for about 12 years, so I've gained a fair bit of experience in setting them up. Having said that, the GNX4 has taken me longer than any other unit to get to grips with. But you are rewarded with better sounds than any other unit I've used.

The easiest way to edit patches is by linking to a PC and using the Edit/Librarian facility, it's then a simple matter of turning knobs and pressing buttons on-screen. The manual is really good, but take the time to read it and try to learn just one thing at a time. My unit came with firmware version 1.2, but the upgrade to 1.3 was easily managed on-line. It is daunting to start with, but you do have a massive array of features, so it really is worth persisting, as the expression goes, you have to pay your dues!

I can't emphasize this enough, budget for the MFX Supermodels deluxe on top of buying the unit. I play with some picky guys and since I bought the GNX4 and spent about 2 months perfecting it for live use, all the guys in the band have said that my sound is superb. If you get the Supermodels discs you get about 1000 ready made patches, and free monthly downloads for a year, but they are set up for headphone/home use. Take the time to follow Mike's advice (he is Mr Supermodel) and tweak the setup of the patches for live use with your amp, the results are amazing. The noise gate is brilliant even with really heavy George Lynch sounds I get no his through my Laney VC30 Class A valve amp.

If you buy some compact flash cards you can store the same patches set up for recording on one, home practice on another, and live use on the unit, or have another disc with patches set up for different venues.

It is important to set your amp with a flat EQ to get the best sound out of the GNX4, and always leave the speaker compensation button switched on, it makes a real difference.

It's built like a tank, I have no worries about gigging with it. Sometimes the Edit software appears flakey, but when I analyse any problems I've had, they are usually down to something I've done and they are always simply solved. I'm not worried about back-up, but I do have an amazing collection of stompboxes if I ever needed back-up.

I did need help to resolve a software problem and Digitech did get back to me in an hour, which I thought was really quick. But the best place for help is on the user forum (called the Sound Community). The depth of shared knowledge is really huge and other users are only too keen to share their experience and be helpful.

I did get an upgrade, but that was easy, so no worries there.

I mainly play classic rock in the band, but I also teach and play all kinds of styles. THe drum machine is excellent as is the on-board recorder, I haven't learnt the Pro Tools recording software yet.

Like I said before, get the Supermodels disc and there's patches, amp and cabinet models for every kind of music. I needed to create a particular artist sound and looked for a Vox AC30 model as a start point. I found I had 14 different AC30 patches in my Supermodel collection, including one which was really close to the sound I needed.

I have a Classic Strat and Gibson Les Paul standard and a Tanglewood electro acoustic all of which get played through my gigging amp, a Laney VC30. I've set the EQ flat on VC30 so I get the real benefit of the patches in all their glory along with valve warmth. I've got a long list of stompboxes including RObert Keeley modded Tubescreamer- the GNX4 renders them all redundant.

I've been playing for 32 years and the GNX4 has helped my playing more than any other single piece of gear I've owned. Buy one,buy the Supermodels disc, put some effort into learning how to use each feature, one at a time and you won't regret it and you will see your playing improve by leaps and bounds.

Excellent sounds. Firmware is 1.3. manual could be better but the Digitech forum and supermodals videos help a great deal. Editing is much easier now that I know how to work this. I've had the GNX4 for 3 months now. The model packs really add value to it.

better than artist sounds. many are in there but the forum has many more to pick from. The models disc has tons. I like changing the model amps in the artist presets. Effects are great. The volume range is over the top. Distortions and effects are not noisy. I use the GNX with a Behringer Ep1500 power amp and a JCM halfstack. Sounds great! Without the super model pack ( I have the hard rock one) the models are okay. With the model pack, it's excellent. I'd say an 8 for Digitech models. Then add a 10 for the super model hard rock pack.

I beat this unit. I ordered the case Guitar3456 suggested. Should be here in a few days. Gigs? all the time. From practices at the warehouse to the places we play. The GNX4 holds up really well.

Support is great. The forum dudes will answer questions. Since I have had the model pack, and even before I ordered it. I called the prosound guys that made the model pack and they helped me out more than 15 times with things I missed. Now I know. It took my pc unfreindly brain a minute to figure out the diff in the files and how to load them. I was making many dumb mistakes. Guitar3456 made me feel better. When I called them, they walked me through every single part of expression and control assigns. Since they did that, I ordered the packs. so glad I did so.

Classic Rock and cover band work. I played since I was 7. I have a whole bunch of pedals and stomp boxes I've sold since I don't need them. Mt guys are happy with my sounds. I'd buy a new GNX4 in a heartbeat. I tryed the G8, Zoom, and Pod Live. None came close to my ears. They didn't work as well with my live equipment. The GNX4 was perfect. I use the Compact flash card to record. I import tracks to Sonar. I can also go hands free but I'm used to how I do things already. Thanks to reviewers that led me to buy the GNX4 and the others that suggest superpacks. You guys are kewl

Relatively complex but OK to operate.

Raging from very poor on the treble side to good on recording loops.
The complete setup of simulating amp and speakers are totally wrong, the adjustment are all souding weird even distorted at the lowest level.
Sound recording on disk is good.

Totally unreliable. I owned the unit 14 month, never been out of the studio, plugged directly into a voltage regulator and the motherborad is finished. After two monts of waiting, still dont have the unit back from repair. Expected cost of 400$ !!!

Terrible absolutetly discusting. Waiting and waiting for the part, people there not even polite.

I play modern jazz and classical. Professionnal composer, associate member of Canadian Music Center. Been playing for 35 years. Director of research in electroacoustic field. Worst piece of equipment I owned. Very deceving...

With the computer program it's OK but generally complex because of the ton of features. A week point in use is the way to handle the loop live, you will have to save setting without the metronome clicks, by default there on.

Some strong point in the distortion and echos. Very bad in the EQ high is awfull, very very bad on the acoustic simulation. Will give good result on mellow and average sounds but defenitively very weak if you are looking for research sounds compare even to a GT-5. Device is strong on giving ample valve simulation but not so on precise very clean and sharp sound usually they sound like plastic or even distorted clipping mess even at low output or gain.
Strongest point is the recording, sounds is very good and you can loop very long with 2gigs card.

Warraty for a year, mother board finishec after 14 months. Cost for repar 450$ (can)...

Good at least they have service in many countries. Very expensive to repair no module inside only one main board, if something is wrong you pay a lot to have it replace...

Play a variety of music from modern Jazz to heavy wild impros, loopping stuff and doing some free experimental music, couple with a GT-5 and GR-1 and a Whammy, Marshall and Acoustic Image amps. Sound is good if you work with the strong points of it but would not do the job alone as a multi effect.

There's alot in this box and you have to be prepared read a little and play with it to get the sounds you want. The first time you plug it in, the defaults will be there to help you along, and they will do a fantastic job of showing you the capabilities. It's all easy to do, but with a little work you'll be able to make some magic of your own.
The manual is in easy read, hey, even the print is large in almost a "Dick and Jane" fashion. I would have moved the patching capabilities towards the rear of the manual, though, and started with warping sounds.
Firmware is 1.3 and no patches that I've seen.

Oh yea, the tuner! What a great tuner, easy to get to, easy to exit from, and even mutes when you use it.

The jam man is perfect for practicing to, and since I'm in a jam band, being able to let it run while stretching out ideas is fantastic. One problem though, no 3/4 rhythms.

The MP3 player is a great addition too. Hear we are practicing through headphones, and with a tap of my toe we can all hear a playback of the demo I recorded. It's the perfect practice machine

The best, the absolute best. I use the machine for practicing with the band through headphones, and it is the best amp simulator I've ever used. I thought I'd be stuck using a small amp and a micrphone to get a realistic sound, but this machine has it. I even used it at gigs through the PA. This was frightening, because I've never played a gig in my life without the comforting blue glow of a Fender behind me. It turned out great, more room on the stage and perfect for a three piece because now everybody can hear the guitar perfectly and hear the balance with the vocals.
Can I get my favorite artists? I'm just trying to get "my tone". I use the Blues patch, since that sounds like a Fender, and then changed the speaker simulator to sound like my much loved JBL E120, and it does sound just like it. The clean side is a blackface and it sounds like my blackface. I had to do quite a bit of tweeking to get the leslie to sound right, though. I think Yamaha had a better leslie simulator, but their amp sounds were no where close enough.

I like the Whammy pedal, and that is Digitech's claim to fame, after all. I really like that fine-tuning that can be done when you hook this machine up to a computer. I was able to have the expression pedal increase the leslie speed while also decreasing the depth at the same time. That's great flexibility that's hard to find in any effect box.

I use it for practice all the time, but I've only gigged with it a few times. Nothing bad's happened, but I did have some Digitech power supplies fail on previous gadgets, so that worries me.

They have a good website and I have had to contact the factory. It was just for a freebie offer, but they were helpful and eberything worked out perfectly.

Wonderful.

I never would have bought one for myself, it was a gift from my boss, (cool job, huh?) but the device has been perfect for several aspects of a musician's life. For practicing alone you have the jam man feature, for practicing as a band you have the MP3 player and amp simulator, and for performing you have all the effects and amp simulations you could ever want, all in one box. It really does it all.

I do not use the recorder or the recorder software that was bundled with it. Maybe I will in the future, but I already have a couple of digital recorders that are easier to navigate and I hate using a PC to do recording. The software for managing effects is perfect, though, and really makes tweeking easy.