DigiTech Genesis 1

The "What-you-see-is-what-you-get"-modelling amp from DigiTech. No hidden layers of funktions, no LED-display, just turn the knobs (see detailed decription in previous rewiews) and there you are! I think most of todays stuff - in an attempt to please everyone - suffers from to many features. "Jack of all trades, master of none!" that's what I say, but NOT THIS BABY! It's dead simple - the only modeling amp I know of where you don't need a manual! The downside: you can't store and recall sounds. Do I care: NO! Does it bother you? Well, it's up to you to decide...

I bought it as a practice amp, because - along with silent headphones operation - you can insert a CD/mp3-Player (at a fixed volume) through it. Very convenient for playing along to whatever stuff you please. Big selling point!
As I liked it's idiot-proof operation so much, I have also used it for demo recordings.
Does the "Tweed, one 12"-Speaker"-configuration sound like a '56 Deluxe? And which Deluxe, as Fender had huge production tolerances? And more the "new" sound from the 1956 modell or the "aged" sound that will come out of the same amp today?
Facing this dilemma, ALL (!) the modelling amps I know (POD, Yamaha, Behringer, DigiTech) always exagerate the original characteristics, like a caricature. On this unit, this goes especially for the effects! But if you're careful with the controls you can come pretty close to whatever you consider the "real" sound. (All my remarks concern the Fender and Marshall simulations, as I have no aural knowledge of or interest in newer, heavier stuff).

Using all-tube-amps for my gigs, I'm always concerned about a back-up. But there's no space for a second amp in our car/on the tiny stages we play, so a modeling amp would come in handy!
But would I use the GENESIS 1 as a back-up? NEVER!!! Made of cheap plastic, I can see it dropping, getting stepped on and failing to operate even before I have plugged it in. Too sad that Digitech chose to go the cheap route. I would have paid more for it, if it was more rugged :-(

Never dealt with them.

Playing what I would describe as "garage-lounge" and "swingy country" I can get the sounds I want (mostly fifties-Fender) from the Genesis. Would I buy it again?
YESS! This is the only item, apart from my Fender 50's Reissue Telecaster, that I use every f***ing day!! DigiTech take note: I would even pay a lot more for it, if it was made of metal! But I would not be surprised if DigiTech would discontinue production as it was nearly impossible to locate this amp in my country (Germany) and the few offerings on eBay indicate that the Genesis1 does not seem to be a big commercial success. Sad, but true.

This is simple to use. Just turn the knobs and play with them until you get a good sound. Tap tempo delay works well. Some amp simulations need EQ tweaking to get rid of muddiness. No presets, just knobs--nice for practicing or quick & dirty recording.

Okay, it doesn't sound like a Class A tube-driven amp, but what do you expect for 80 bucks!? It's great for playing through headphones. Gate prevents noise--just hi-mid-lo settings, but good enough to practice. Don't know if I would gig with it, but it's fun for practicing.

So far so good. Sometimes the amp selection knob clicks and doesn't change the sound, but otherwise the controls seem solid. It's a plastic case, so don't sit on it!

N/A

Bought on clearance---would probably buy another for $80 if I stepped on it. I play prog-rockish stuff, and this is great for laying down ideas. CD input and line out are nice too. Stick this with a basic computer and ProTools free, and you're jammin! I use this mostly for composing and recording quick ideas.

Keep in mind---it is perfect for what it is: an $80 jam box.

same as all before......VERY EASY TO USE.....

IN the studio a great Fender clean sound and a great Marshall lead tone is about all ya need..this unit has both dead nuts..the black face/1-12 tweed or 2-12 american is the Fender to die for when recording clean tracks, add the chorus & a little reverb, bam...Fender heaven. The Brit stack/vintage 4-12, or 2-12 blonde, give a great crunch tone, tunrn up the compressor, and gain, lead heaven. add the chorus & delay, super lead voice...I have miced Marshalls, and this sounded better on the leads....

have had it over a year use it every day...

I now have recorded 4 of my own CD's with it, and many other projects for other bands....I have owned the POD's, and they also have nice things to offer, but for the 2 best guitar sounds Fender/Marshall, it blows away the Line 6 stuff...

Nothing to figure out really. You'll read the manual once and never have to touch it again.

The bad stuff first: The speaker cab models are just filters that roll off various treble freqs. The "Direct" amp model is the only model that does not sound muffled by a pillow. Likewise, about half the amp models will please nu-metalers and absolutely no one else. The Bass, Mid and Treble knobs do not seem to have much range, but a decent equalizer between this and the amp should be able to fix that

BUT the Brit Combo and Brick Stack models are to die for! The Blackface is clean and punchy just like you would expect it to be. The effects are pretty good. The noise gate is effective and the delay/reverb is really nice. The other effects work as advertised, no giant functionality but no suprises either. .

I would gig with this, but I would be very careful about where you sit it on the floor. The knobs and the case are fairly light plastic and I can see a tragedy waiting to happen if someone (your 200lb. singer) steps on it full force. But look guys, this Digitech costs a hundred bucks new. You really do have the option of buying two and keeping one in the case if you wanted some redundant backup. The input output jacks seem nice and solid. Remember that you will need a nearby AC power supply since it uses a wallcube AC adapter.

No reason yet to deal with them.

If you look at this as a Pod Junior you might be dissapointed. However, if you look at it as a swiss army knife distortion generator with a few other toys added in, you will not be let down at all. Bear in mind that there is a headphone jack output that can also be used with your average computer speakers. If you want to wail away at converstational volumes in front of your desk this is the solution you've been looking for.
On stage, you might simply stick this on top of your basic tube amp combo and treat it like part of the control panel. It's a great tool for varying your tone in a subtle way from song to song so you aren't running the same tone all evening. There are no foot switches per se, but you will want to have ready access to it nontheless.
Yeah, I'd buy it again. Not that anyone cares, but I use it for loud but melodic rock along the lines of the Replacements, Guided by Voices, early Cheap Trick etc.. as well as the old school Page/Blackmore riffage. It's a good all around toy to have around for an everyday working bastard price.

Well thought box, clearly set up. Good connections, too. Stupid supply, go find one easily and for cheap(at least here in switzerland). Don't buy their switch, any non-latching one(better two) does the job. And no clicks or lag or sound drop when switching, very good point here.
Reverbs are super,even if factory set depending on the amp model you choose. Fx's are average and far too loud. Compressor very nice, good job, thank you to the engineers( I hate to set compressors), as for the gate. It's simple and effective, like r&r!
I only found 4 sound for my tastes, but like them a lot. 2 clean plus recto and high gain genetx. Strange speaker simulator, better use other stuff for that(turn it to direct, at least you can). I use a Rath ugly-green box and it sounds very better.
I found that setting the drive before noon for rythm and using a booster(the tube blower for example) for lead sounds works very well. I also tried to use the clean sounds with a piezo acoustic and you get a low mid boost, whatever you do( on the b flat 5th string) so it's not usable.
All in all a good companion with clarity and details and good price-performance ratio. I tried the v-amp and frankly the genesis is miles beyond. Really. Digicrap can't always be wrong ya know!

Very easy to use. Select an amp model and a cabinet model and you're ready to go. You can also easily tweak the gain and EQ and add effects.

To my ears the sound quality is very good. It probably doesn't sound exactly like a real tube, but I've been able to emulate just about perfectly artists like Yngwei, Korn, Spineshank, Ozzy, and many other metal bands. I've heard some people say that all the distortion amp models sound the same on this unit, but I could clearly hear destinction from each and everyone. Anyways, the effects sound great too. I also played with the clean amp models and think they sound good. I especially like the Brit Combo and Blackface clean models.

This thing is great direct recording into my computer. It really makes my songs shine now. It can be noisy, but nothing the onboard noise gate can't handle. I've found just about every amp model on this unit to be useful, so for $100 you really get your money worth.

I guess it's realiable as long as you don't drop it, step on it, or drop anything on it. The thing's made of really flimsy plastic so I wouldn't leave it one the floor. This is the only area that it doesn't do so well on, but as long as you treat it good, there should be no problems.

Never needed them.

Overall this unit is well worth the money. I got for only $65 on eBay, but a new one is still only $100, and that's still worth it I think. If you're looking for a simple to use amp modeler for home studio recording, then this could really help you out. Like I said, it probably doesn't sound exactly like a real tube amp, but it's close. Plus, in a mix most people probably couldn't tell the difference.

It doesn't get any easier. 9 knobs and 4 buttons...

knobs - gain, bass, mid, treble, level, amp sim, cab sim, effect modulation gain, delay/reverb gain.

buttons - compression, chorus/tremolo/phaser effect, tap-it (to set delay time), noise gate (high, medium, low)

When comparing this unit to my old DOD Tec8 that retailed for almost $250.00 brand new and also against the DI out on my Marshall, I was absolutely floored by how good this unit sounds.
I sold my TEC8 the same day I bought the Genesis. The compression is average. The Chorus is very rich (almost too much) the tremolo is kinda cheesy, the phaser is deep. None of these are extremely adjustable, but they all sound very , very good. The reverb is quite good. The delay is awesome.
The Amp modeling is top notch. Any sound you're looking for, you will likely find in this unit. The cleans I'd rate a 7 or 8. The distorted and overdriven sounds get a 9.
Overall sound quality is fantastic. 24 bit processing and true stereo output difinitely put this in a class with the Johnson and Behringer group.

Wouldn't gig with it. It's plastic and will break easily I would imagine. I've been using mine for recording into Sonar/Cool Edit and it works well for that purpose.
If I take good care of it, I would imagine I'll get about 3 years of solid daily use out of it. Maybe more. I have noticed these little suckers do heat up quite a bit, so hopefully that won't become an issure over time.

No need to contact them at this point.

I've been playing again for about 5 years after giving it up for about 10 years.
The Genesis fits my needs well for my amature/hobbyist musician recording studio I have going on. I have an acoustic collecting dust, a Fender Strat and a Marshall to go along with this unit.
I really like the sound this unit puts out. Great for direct pc recording. I wish it had more control over the modulation effects (chorus,trem,phaser) but for what I paid, no complaints whatsoever.
The modeling alone is worth the price. To get all the other goodies and kick ass delay and reverb to boot?!
These things are a steal. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. It has inspired me to want to make and record more music.
It's plastic though, so just don't drop it.......

Probably the easiest guitar effects processor to use. The manual wont do you any good coz you'll be able to figure out everything about the processor in like 15 minutes max.

I own a Fender Stratocaster(Japanese) and the guitar tone is quite awesome. Some people have sort of not taken a liking to the clean tones but I really dig them. You can get really heavy distortions with it as well. My favs are the Hot Rod, High Gain and of course, the Rectifier. The cabinets are awesome too, The American 4x10 being my personal fav. For Blues guitarist, the Tweed is the way to go. The Chorus and Flanger effects are as good as the V-amp2 or Pod, but the tremolo sounds really corny.

Well, i bought it from my friend who had been using it for a year. No problems with it so far. Haven't dropped it yet. Its great for gigs provided youve got the footswitch and can do with just a distortion and a clean patch. If you want a variety then youve got a problem on your hands.

Never contacted the customer support.... yet.

I play blues-rock and at times heavy stuff as well. Ive got some really rockin blues tones out it. You can nail any heavy tone out of it. Its really awesome for shredders too. Theres so much gain on this thing, you dont really need your right hand, you can just legato on your way to glory.

If I lose it, ill probably get another one... its really cheap. I personally prefer the genesis to the V-Amp 2. The tones are superior but the only drawback is the lack of variety you can have on stage. Ive done a little recording with it on my computer with an Audiophile card and the tones sound great, especially in stereo.

This is what brought me to the Genesis 1. Knobs for everything. What you see is what you get. No scrolling, no BS, just knobs and each one does just what it says it does.
I have owned the most complex, (Roland GT5, GNX2, many others). I can sit down in my studio with this and hit it right on the money with a few knob turns.

Great! No presets that sound like junk to erase. On here you start with close to what you want and then fine tune it. Do the amps sound exactly like thier predecessors? Depends. Tweed for example. What year? What tubes installed? New caps? Original speakers? Date code?
The point that I am trying to make here is that even the "tweeds" themselves sound so different. What it all comes down to is that it sounds GOOD. Good enough to record with easily. It captures the "mood" of the amps just fine and if you know how to tweak you can get a good sound. Good is what it is all about fellers.
Will I use them all, heck no. But the tweeds, Vox's, Marshalls, and a couple of others, heck yeah.

Don't know, but if I need to I will buy another one.

Seems good, going by the Digitech site.

I record everything from Country to Country Rock, Rockabilly, Blues, Soft Rock and even some fairly hot alternative. This little puppy surely can and does do what I like. I sometimes play it through a Gibson GA17RVT Scout, an old Gretsch Valco Compact TremVerb, or a 1938 Wabash for warmth or effect. Much of the time though it goes straight into my digital multitrack.
It is a winner. I would have paid more for it.
Knobs, peeps, it is all in the knobs and they are surely there.
I would buy another one if lost. It is one tool I will keep around.

Couldn't be easier. Very intuitive.

A *BIG* disappointment. I bought this as a desktop modeller to do
direct to disk recording. It is extremely difficult to get a decent
recorded sound. It sounds OK direct through headphones, but once
it's recorded, it sounds just plain awful. There isn't a single passable tone. The distortions sound thrashy and thin and the clean
sounds are terrible. As for blues and crunch, forget it. I also have
a J-Station, a Yamaha DG-STomp and had a V-Amp which this was
replacing. This was a very bad move on my part. I expected more
given it was more recent technology and in the same price bracket
as the V-amp2 and, instead I got much less. If you are into doing direct recording, give this box a *wide* berth. Any of the 3
mentioned leave it for dead. The FX are so-so, but I never use them
when recording anyway. Is it possible to give a box a negative score?
No? Oh well...it has to be...

It looks pretty robust and will probably have the usual Digitech
reliability.

Never used them, but if they are reading this...waken up guys!!!
Your design engineers have failed you!

I'm afraid this was a real letdown for me. Just out of interest,
I stuck it into the FX return socket of my Laney LC30 (all tube
30 watt amp) and it sounded OK-ish. Trouble was, it had no footswitch
option, so the DG-Stomp which I usually plug in here has it beat
again as it has big tough footswitches built in and sounds better.
I'm afraid you have a lulu here Digitech. It's useless for desktop
modelling and recording, only passable of headphones and, without
an expensive external floorboard, useless for live work.
I'm afarid it's another....