DigiTech Genesis 3

It's ok...needs some work to get it just the way you want, making it work with another midicontroller (read expressionpedal!!) is a pain in the ass. But overal you can get what you want, you just have to take your time.

My setup: Esp viper or epiphone V, both with EMG's, into a morley bad horsy into a/b/y box into either a 5150 2x12 with a rocktron replifex & boss ge-7 in the fxloop or the genisis3 into a poweramp. both lines run into the same 4x12 (behringer...the shit!!!, I split the cab in 2...using 2x12 for the genisis and 2x12 xtra to give me a 4x12 5150. All of this is controlled by a behringer (this company rocks) fcb-1010...
It's not noisy at all plus it has a built-in noise gate, so that wouldn't be a problem. There is no true bypass though, so if you would be wanting to use this pure for the effects, then pass. This unit has got some great distortion in it, and the effects are to die for, way better than all other stuff on the market (pods, vamps etc), the only thing you want to stay away from is the acoustic simulator.

The amp simulations are awsome, not true to the real ones, but who the &*^% cares and the ability to make it sound like you are using 2 amps at the same time is really frickin cool

I bought this thing second hand, and it still works like a charm, I've gigged with it with only an amp after it, and it survived. so yeah..good reliability, and guessing that most of us can't afford to buy everything twice (yeah..not everyone is a pro...just jet) it's gig-able without a backup.
But I've read that some people had some problem with it..so read that.

never had to deal with them

I play metal with influences from metallica to static-x to machinehead to korn. And it fits. You might be wondering, you've got all that other sh*t, and still you have this in your rig, it's flexibel, and it gives me room to get more out of my guitar sound, there is nothing I can't do.

So, if havn't got the awsome budget to buy expensive amps, go for this or the pods (easier to use), if you want to experiment deffinatly take this, if you are recording...BUY IT. If you really really want to sound like everyone else buy the real amps...happy spending

At first it might be a tad puzzling and frustrating so i'd recommend going trough the whole manual, cause once you get the idea of how the beast works it gets kinda easy.

Thats where i say it really excells, im a pro studio recording guitarist and you wont need anything else for recording end of story.

Goodbye all those other gimmicks, finally a "does it all" multi effect box that sounds incredibly great.

I did a couple of gigs with it and it never failed.
It's plastic, so dont drop your amp on it tought.

I wish it would have been made into a solid metal unit and with a direct power cord and internal supply.

My only fear is about this little power supply, it could have been a tad stronger, this little transformer box gets quite hot after a while.

Never had to contact them.

Im 37 and i started playing since i was about 14, all those years i bought analog pedals and other gimmicks, never really satisfied with my sound and now i got this, now i feel i got a music store filled with Amps and effects at the touch of a button...

I also record my own stuff with it and my computer at home, i play from Metal to classic, Blues, Funky, Jazz fusion, medieval anything and i can tune this baby to suit any style and sound.

Simply put i think its the best Guitar effect unit I've ever tried.

I have tried other fancy ones, rackmounts and all but their overkill and you end up spending much more time trying to figure and tweak your sound than actually play, wich is a nonsense from a creative point of view.

IT's a pain in the ass to tweak and use everything.

Great for metal, nu, shred, death, etc.. The guy was right on the money when he said any guitar you plug in will sound the same. Not the distortion, but your guitar reguardless of what pickups you have. With that said I love this thing for metal and constructed my own true bypass box so I can turn it off with the tap of the foot. I don't use this device for anything but distortion. Also, don't try running other pedals straight into the input of this. It craps out! It rapes the tone and sound horrible. Hence another reason for true bypass. This pedal kills the MXR dimebag and Doubleshot for distortion. If the guy wanted analog sound he was apparently too stupid to realize all digital does not equal analog. Duh

plastic, but lasting

excellent customer support.

This is a follow up to my earlier review. After spending some time with this unit. My opinions have changed alot from positive to more negative. The unit is moderately difficult because the smaller buttons and knobs control alot of facets of the FX on this unit. It's not intuitive and u have to remember what sequence of odd buttons u have to press to get to certain features of this unit. Even getting to the tuner is more difficult then the POD XT or V-Amp 2. They only have a single button u have to press to get to it. The Genesis, u have to press like 4 buttons before u can even get to the tuner. But that's just an example of the difficulty with some of the features.

This is where the unit is not so good. At first when i heard this thing, i thought it sounded great but it quickly started to annoy me. The sound is super clean and steril and digital. It's smooth and creamy but has no character or depth. It colors the tone and no matter what guitar u use, it all sounds the same. If you have a crappy guitar, this unit would be good but if u have a great guitar with nice pickups, this thing will make ur guitar sound the same as a $100 guitar. I can't seem to get the natural tone of the guitar nor remove that smooth silky sound to get the raw sound of the guitar through. There is also no true bypass. You can disable the amp and cab and FX but that's the best u can do and u can hear it muddy up the guitar tone. I tried using the unit just for reverb but it would color the tone of the guitar so u can't even make use of the FX alone. It's like looking through a class that always has a haze on it. If you like that synthetic digital sound and u want the same tone whether the volume is 10 or 1, then u'll love this thing. If you like natural guitar tone to come through and u like analog and varying tone based on attack volume and other factors, then u will hate this unit.

it still works and the knobs feel sturdy

no problem

Well, if u r a digital head, then u'll love this thing. If u r analog type, u'll hate this thing. No true bypass is annoying. FX r very cool. Unit does not allow guitar's natural tone to come through. It's like taking a delicious Ben and Jerry's vanilla ice cream and pouring all kinds of junk into like caramel, chocolate, and stirring it all up so it becomes a nasty soup. That's the tone of this thing.

UI is excellent, especially if you use the Windows-based GenEdit software, it makes setting up the patches and restoring them very easy and straightforward.

Using the unit itself was a bit more complex (not surprising, considering the amount of controls), but acceptable. I reverted to using GenEdit most of the time though.

I use an Ibanex SA series directly into the Genesis 3 directly into M-Audio for direct recording. That's how it's supposed to be used, as a direct recording digital amp.

I play mostly metal, death/doom in particular. I am sorry to say the distorion on the amp models really doesn't cut it for that genre, it was simply weak and unfocused. What was worse was the huge amount of digital artifacts/clipping I often notices when playing lower registers, especially palm muting (sometimes my speakers just farted with some of the amp settings).

Also, the effects sound VERY digital, not warm at all. Worse, they also exhibit a lot of digital artifacts that you'd never get on analog equipment.

In short, the Genesis 3 comes with a LOT of features, amps, effects, etc. The problem is that none of them are particularly good (for metal at least). You end up wishing you spend a bit more $$$ and had gotten something better.

In particular the inability to hook external pedals into it was very lacking. I tried using a Digitech Metal Master as my distortion (since I wasn't happy with the ones Genesis 3) had, but it was SO noisy when fed into the Genesis 3 unit it was unusable (even the built-in noise gate couldn't handle it).

End of story: after 6 months of wrestling with this unit I sold it on Ebay and lost nearly 50% of the money I paid for it. No more Digitech for me, ever.

Had no problems with it.

Never dealt with them.

Bottom line: lots of features, none of them good. Stay away from this unit, save up some extra cash and buy something better.

If you're into metal, stay away from this thing with a 10 foot pole. I tried my friend's Sans Amp GT2 after I sold my Genesis 3 and although it was not perfect for my style, at least it didn't have all the clipping/noise/crappy sound problems I had with the Genesis3.

Cheap product and you get what you paid for. Great if you bought your first guitar and don't want to blow $1000 on an amp...but you'll be looking for something better as soon as you figure out what power chords and palm muting is (2 months? 3 days? depends on your speed).

I purchased this unit brand new in box and it was obvious it was not operating properly from the moment it was powered up.
Unable to edit the effects sections

I was only able to get amp and cabinet sounds, they were very impressive.Unable to try outside of bedroom

Totally unreliable

since I purchased in the USA and I live in the UK my warranty is null and void.Customer support(USA)were speedy in responding but could not give me any help as to the problem.
The UK agent has never seen a genesis 3 but has charged me for a repair(approx $50)I am still awaiting return of the unit

Over the years I have had many stomp boxes and multi effect units and this is certainly the worst I have ever experienced I will never consider another product from Digitech.

There's afew things hidden in menus so it isn't totally intuitive from the front panel. However, it is very good and with the free editing software it is a breeze to edit sounds. Digitech doesn't claim that the tone controls work exactly like the original amp, but they are voiced well for each and are useful. I would like a presence control added, but you can't have everything. A nice touch is that the eq is more like a good mixer in that the mids and treble are semi parametric. The manual is adequite, but could be better. I downloaded the latest firmware and it works well.

In summary this is one of the best modellers available. The amp models are pretty convincing and the cabinet models are really good. I also own products from Line 6, Korg and Behringer. Far better sounding than any of the Line 6 products I've tried. It is more amp like and less artificial feeling. The feel is where this thing excells. I also like the low end of this more than the V-Amp. They are pretty close, but there's something a little better about this. The only modeller that I think sounds better is my Korg PX4, but that can't be controlled for live use easily. I think the Vox amps sound a little more convincing but this does sound good.

I use mainly PRS and a Fender Clapton strat. I'm going direct with it. The effects on this are very good. The reverbs are among the best I've ever heard in a digitech unit. I'm not trying to sound like other people, but you could probably nail most sounds with this.

But is it as good as a nice tube amp? No. I normally use Rivera amps and the feel isn't there yet. Not even close. No amp modeller I've played yet matches a tube amp for quality of sound and feel. But for what it is, this is very nice, especially if you need to cover a lot ground and have good effects. The Phaser and Flanger are right on.

I've owned it a couple months with no issues.

Haven't used it.

I pplay mostly in church and this is a good fit. I wish the tuning option couold be reached from a MIDI pedal other than Digitech's Control X. I think the Vox Tonelab will be superior to this, but at the price this is definitely the best for under $400. I own products from Line 6, Behringer and Korg and this is in the top ratings. Only the Korg PX4 is as good, but doesn't work well live. The Genesis 3 is far better than the PODs. If it were stolen I would probably bite the bullet and get the Vox Tonelab, but otherwise this is the best overall mix of features- especially at the price.

It is pretty easy once you go over the manual

It is quite good.as matter of fact,for practicing,and low volume situation,it does sound fantactic.Under these situations,it sounds better than using analog pedals.So the sound rating is playing at low to moderate volume level.

This is where rating takes a mega nose dive.If I could give it a negative 10,I would!The parameters keeps changing by itself!The delay,modulation rate,seeems to change on it's own.Untill I read the reviews on this site,I thought the problem I am having was an isolated problem.Well, looks like there are enough people with similar problem to start a political party.

I called Digitec,as another reviewer did, and told that it will cost me $80!!! to rectify what seems to be a defective product.What kind of company is this!It is one thing to charge repair cost for a product that was damaged due to wear or abuse,but it is totally wrong to charge repair cost when it is overwheimingly ovious that the problem is caused by some bad soft ware.

It is really to bad,because I do like this unit.I use it(without the effects that are problematic) with the x control remote foot controller.It is light and small,and for gigging,you can have the main unit stored way.I also like the effects in general.I urge other owners of genesis 3 with similar problems to voice thier discont.I have the feeling that there are a lot more than what we are seeing here.

The use of this unit is about as simple/difficult as any multi FX unit with all these features. You do have to read the manual to take full advantage of this unit. Overall tho, u can start using it pretty quickly.

I was surprisingly impressed by this unit's tonal quality and cleaniness. It was very clean and noise free. The clean tone is great and the distortion can generate any type u want from blues light rock to heavy metal and Eric Johnson and it doesn't sound cheap. I find that the tone on this is as good and better in some ways to the V-Amp but definitely better then the POD. I played it through my Crate G60 amp in the line in and it sounded pretty damn good. Recorded to the computer sounded excellent too. I was thoroughly impressed and pleasantly surprised overall.

I haven't had it long so i can't say.

No problems so far.

Overall, for the money i paid, i'd give it a 9 or 10. Only other one that i know gives as good a tone for this money is Behringer V-Amp 2. If your looking for a tubish clean sound, V-Amp will give u a better tone. For Distortion, this unit seems to have thicker higher gain sound. Overall, both units r good but of course, V-amp cost only like 120 and it comes with a case and a sturdy foot switch. It's tauce up tho. Digitech does have a slightly more synth quality tone but it's not a bad sound at all, it's just different. For more generic tone and live ampish sounding, V-Amp is the better choice.

Ease of use: well, that's kind of a tricky question. I would give this unit about a 7 or 8, because although it sounds great, it can be a little hard to edit it and tweak the effects. Well, that is before i got the USB to MIDI interface. Now, I use the GenEdit software, and editing is simple to get it how i want it to sound.
I have firmware version 1.2. I had it upgraded because i had the problems with it changing parameters on me (more about that later). Manual is good, but it could be more discriptive on the presets (as has been mentioned).
If you have and use GenEdit, very easy to use.

My setup is my current guitar of choice (PRS singlecut, dean EVO 7string, Fender Strat, Ibanez Acoustic/Electric are my favorites), that runs usually into a presonus bluetube (to help it get a little more gain and some of that "real" tube sound, i recomend it), then into the Genesis unit.
from there, i usually run it directly into my recorder using the spdif digital output, and use the analog outputs to go into a pair of studio monitors.
I also have the genesis hooked up to the Control X foot controler, either that or it's hooked up to my computer so i can change or edit patches with genEdit.
The sounds are great. They are so much better for recording then going through the hassle of mic placement and all that. Also, you get the sound of thousands of dollars of amplifiers for a tiny fraction of the price!
Okay, it doesn't sound *exactly* like your classic marshall jcm 800 or you fender twin or whatever amp, but it does pretty good. I would say that unless you art a totall tone guru, you wouldn't notice

It's dependable, but i never take it out of the studio. If i did, i imagine that it is sturdy enough to go gigging with.

I had the problem with the old firmware, but the thing is, i live about 3 miles away from the digitech factory. I just went on inside and asked the secretary for help. They got me fixed up pretty quick. It turns out all I had to do was update the firmware. I never had to call in, but I liked the service I got

In short: it's a great. better then the podXL and beter then te vamp. I would definatly buy this again if some punk stole it. it's probably my favorite piece of gear in the studio.