DigiTech Genesis 3

Totally fun, that's right, fun to use and tweak. The only bummer is you have to move the knobs to see where you're at. A knob may be fully cranked but internally it's at half. You have to move the knob back to half and then values start to change. Other than that, it's easy.

I have a custom built PRS which goes into the Genesis and then out to a BR-8 digital track recorder with the effects off obviously. This thing sounds great, it's quiet and the presets are very useable right out of the box and even better with a little work. Of course the coolest thing is the warp button which lets you build 2 different amp and cab combos and then blend them together to make your own sound. Then you can save that amp and blend it with yet another and another into infinity. Could the distortions be a little creamier? Of course there is no tube inside. But I like the way it sounds over the POD and anythging else I've tried. The acoustic simulator isn't great but why would you use it anyway? Just play your acoustic.

Wish it wasn't plastic, but it never leaves my studio. I wouldn't really gig with it cuz I'd just use a real amp...this is an amp simulator!

so far so good

I play pop rock/ acoustic rock and make electronic music and have been playing for many years. I used to hate digitech I thought their stuff sounded cold, but they changed my mind with this baby. I consider this an all purpose tool to get great direct guitar sounds into my track recorder. And a quick easy way to invent new sounds rather than the typical ones you hear all the time. I researched a lot of other boxes and this is the best one. FORGET THE POD and the J station is made by didgitech so save your money and get this next level up!

Some of the presets are actually useable. Really.
Editing is easy compared to POD, J, etc. because of the display.
Anyway, using a computer is much more comfortable of course.
The display is ok but I would expect a large, backlit LCD.
It still is tricky sometimes to find the right parameter when editing effects.
The manual is ok but a little more of it would be nice.
I use the 1.2 OS version.
It's easy to use, just like all other amp simulators.
When you plan to use it live, you do not necessarily need the Digitech floorboard. (ControlX)
I use a Roland FC200 MIDI controller with it and it works ok.
The only feature that's missing (aside from the crappy tuner display) is the expression pedal.
The ControlX exp. pedal does NOT send MIDI CC#s, it's a proprietary signal.
You can assign the pedal to different parameters in different patches.
When using a standard MIDI expression pedal (like on the FC200) you can assign it to one parameter only.
That means you can't for example use the pedal for wah control in one patch and whammy control in another.
I can live with that and I will certainly not buy a seperate MIDI controller for a single device.

The amp and cabinet simulations are as good as it gets today.
Still nothing like real tubes and real moved air but very useful.
I plug the Genesis directly into my mixer via S/PDIF.
Sometimes I even go directly into a PC.
It's extremely quite, even at relatively high gain settings.
The effects are surprisingly good (well, it's by Digitech after all).
Pitch shifting is exceptional, way better than on my TC G-Force.
I haven't tried all of the fx anyway.
I bought this unit mainly for recording but I also use it for (very) small club gigs and sessions, where I plug it into the PA directly.
I give it a 10 for "amp simulation sound" compared to it's competition.
Compared to a real miked amp it would probably be an 8.

Well, it's plastic.
This is where I don't understand Digitech.
They sold the J-Station with a rugged metal housing, a really dependable device.
Now they sell the Genesis 3 for twice the price and it looks and feels like a toy.
It's just ridiculous.
I handle the unit very carefully and don't expect it fo fail anytime soon but I'd never use it for an important gig.

I haven't dealt with their customer support.

First of all, the Genesis 3 is a good device.
It does what it's supposed to do, emulating amplifiers and cabinets.
You can get a nice sound to tape or disk in a matter of minutes.
It still takes a tube amp, cab, great mike, engineer and good sounding room to get THE sound but that's not always necessary.
I compared it with the J-Station, POD2, V-Amp, Genesis1 and DG-Stomp before buying.
None of them sounded really bad, you really have to play all that stuff to find what's best for you.
I always found the POD to sound a little muddy on certain settings and preferred the J-Station, which sounds somewhat harsh on the other hand.
The Genesis 3 does sound a little better than the J but the tonal difference is minimal.
I chose it because it was the best compromise for me:
More amp and cab models than the J, digital out, display (still too small but better than all others), powerful and fresh sound.
I recommend getting some kind of amp sim device to anyone, it really helps your creativity.
For example, when I first turned on the G3 at home I plugged it into my computer and 15 minutes later had base tracks for two new songs.
The idea behind POD and similar devices is good and it really works.
You can save your ideas anywhere, anytime, and with a decent sound.
The Genesis 3 is one of the best amp modellers but at the moment it's a little too expensive

Relatively easy to use. Sounds OK without having to do too much, but it never sounds really good even with lots of tweaking.

This unit sounds very bland. The unit lacks any presence at all and sounds like you are hearing the guitar from a quarter mile away. The effects are weak.

It seems like in order to get smooth sounding distortion they took away any top end presence or shimmer.

I tried using this unit direct for recording, and it was wholly uninspiring.

It sounds like they have one basic distortion model and everything is a variation on that. The distortion is washed out. It sounds very processed and has no dynamics or subtlety. Very one dimensional. It just does not sound good.

In contrast: I have a Roland VG8-ex and that unit sounds incredibly good. The VG8-ex is very organic and musical and has great presence. You can even add in another pre-amp in the effects loop to layer your distortion if you like. The VG8-ex just plain sounds good on almost every setting,and there are tons of settings.

The Digitech Genesis 3 only sounds OK at best and there are not very many good or useable settings.

I don't know. It sounded so anemic I boxed it up and set it back after 15 minutes of trying it.

Don't know.

I play hard rock music. I thought this unit would provide good distortions. That was all I got it for, good distortions and some digital effects. I was very disappointed in the unit all the way around. It went back the the store immediately. I bought a Marshall DRP-1 for $50.00 used and it has better distortion sounds than the Digitech. Put the Marshall DRP-1 in front of a digital effects rack unit and you have a much better setup than the Genesis for about the same price. And if you really want truly good sound, the VG8-ex is absolutely incredible.

I would give the Genesis 3 a "2" rating, but I suppose it does sound better than an equivalently priced practice amp, so it may have some place in the world. So it gets a "4", but a reluctant four.

Just turn it on and plug it in. Would have a hard time believing you were able to get a bad sound out of it.

I've been playing for over twenty years. Played thru a lot of the equipment that the new modeling effects try to match. I was a Line6 man for amp sounds, not their effects. Digitech aced Line6 with Amp models, effects, and ALSO speaker modeling. I use a Roland KC100 keyboard amp, the Genesis sounds fantastic thru it. Much better than the POD2 I traded in for it. Play on a contemporary Christian Worship team. Play everything from crystal clean to heavy metal. This unit covers all. My inspirations, before coming to know Christ, are Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eddie VH, Alix Lifeson (RUSH), Randy Rhoads, Tony MacAlpine & Yngwie Malmsteen. This unit can get all of the required sounds.

Can't say, havn't had it long.

Don't know, havn't worked with them

This is currently, as of 11/6/2001, the best single guitar effects unit on the market. If it were lost or stolen would replace it immediatley.

The G3 is pretty easy to use but I had an RP100 for a year and am used to it's control parameters. It has decent sounds OOTB that can be tweaked to fit whatever sound you're looking for. The manual is absolutely necessary if you want to get deeper into the sound-shaping aspects.

For my purposes, the G3 works great! I'm running the G3 directly into my PC using the SPDIF into an M Audio 2496 audiophile sound card for personal music projects that range from Funk/Rock to Latin/Salsa/Jazz/Rock to Metal. The axes I'm using are a Kramer Focus 2000 - don't laugh, it rocks.., Fender Telecaster, Gibson Les Paul Jr. and an Ibanez MIDI guitar. The Les Paul Jr. has the soapbar pickups and is really noisy but that's the pickups and not the G3.
I'm using the G3 to create my own sounds so I can't say if it gets the sound of my favorite artists - unless I include myself to which the answer is yes. ;)
The distortions are great, the chorus and flanger are thick, stereo and have lots of editing options, the delay is pretty decent but the reverb isn't stereo and doesn't widen the sound.

Um, I only use it in a home studio so I guess I could depend on it. As for gigs, I haven't done a gig in a long, long time. ;)

I've never had to use customer support from Digitech.

For my personal music projects, the G3 rocks. It's very cool to get a hybrid amp sound that's kind'a Marshall Stack, kind'a Rectifier. I've been playing Bass, rhythm and lead guitar for 27 years, along with barely enough keyboards to get by. Other gear I own at the moment include a Rickenbacker 4001 Bass, a fretless Fender P Bass, a rare Kramer Flying V Bass and a Gibson G3 Bass.
If it were stolen, then I would get another.
What I love about it is the warp feature - being able to combine the characteristics of two different Amps and being able to tune the cabinets and the SPDIF output. The thing I dislike the most is the reverb.
I compared it to a Behringer V-Amp. I chose the G3 because it has the warp feature and SPDIF output.

Very easy to use, right out of the box. Doesnt take much reading in the manual to get you going. its version 1.0. I got it about 2 weeks ago. I like it alot. the patch editing is straight ahead easy. The manual if way the hell better than ANY of Digitech's other stuff. Normally Digitech's(and most everybodys) manauls arent very helpful. Usually written by computer geeks that speak in binary rather than english. good presets too.

I am using varius Jackson USA Soloists with it, I have plugged it into my home PA and also with headphones and both sound very well. which is cool. The preset patches are actually useful!!! Imagine that! Usually Processors have goofy patches that impress you in the music store so you buy it but they really have no practical applications in real music. This one does well. The amp models are true to form. They are very close to the real thing, In fact for $350 its almost too close. Its amazing the can put this product out for that price. I have a friend with a 79 marshall like the one they copied and we compared the old marshall with the Genesis 3's Marshall model and its very close. with a little tweaking it would be REAL close. The best part about the Genesis 3's amp modeling is that it "feels" like an amp, more so than any other non tube processor Ive played. I have a Digitech 2120 also and that has more of an amp feel but it has 12SAX7 preamp tubes in it. the acoustic simulator could use a little more work though its a little cheesey. But hey not bad for the price and all the other stuff you get. The Boogie model is cool, I really like the amp "warping" feature this is cool. I hope they put this unit out in a rack mountable version with 12ax7 tubes. Tha would be IT!!!!I rate it a 9 because of the acoustic simulator. Great effects.

Seems to be built well. I would never gig anywhere without a backup of somekind. too risky.

I have dealt with Digitech's customer support in the past and they have been terrific. I had a 2112 that had problems and they were great with helping me. I like that. Good service, good people. Very fair with service prices too.

I primarily play 80's rock/metal and it works well with that, the jam along feature is cool. plug in your cd player and jam with your favorite guitar god. I really like the headphones thing too. I like to be able to go places and play guitar and not disturb anyone. Overall I think this product is a winner, especially for the price, Good job Digitech!!! If they got that acoustic simulator a little better this thing would be perfect. If it got stolen I would definetly replace it. It has become a staple in my home studio now. I wish they had something like this 14 years ago when I started playing. I was also considering the line 6 POD but I read some not too favorable reviews on it and I have had good luck and tone with Digitech products so I stuck with them.

It will take a little bit of time in the manual as this unit can be pretty deep. But you can get very good sounds out if it pretty quickly. But to really nail the sound your after will take some patience. But I bet its in here. you really have to know how to warp the amps and cabs together to find its true potential, so don't expect to be writing great reviews if you have only been sitting in a loud music store for a few minutes. you need to take this thing home for a couple of weeks, as with any decent unit. you wont figure out the cab and amp morphing, or the cabinet resonance feature as they are a little hidden, and these will need to be tweaked to get the sound your after, so for ease of use ill have to give it a lower number than some other units I've had. But let me say that once you have the basic idea of how this thing works its very easy.

I am using this unit direct through my computers sound card and out to my power amp straight into my monitors. I also use some very good yorkville pulse 12 stage monitors. They are just like very good full range pa speakers. I bought the unit to record direct and it smokes for that, but it also sounds great live. I use the very same settings live that I do direct(with a little eq change) and use my yorkville monitors live. The sound I was after is the sustaining brilliant but ripping tube tone of a modded marshall cranked. I finally got it from this unit. I've had every other unit. I mean every other one. Without exception they have all sounded fake and harsh direct. Through my pa speakers I am blown away as it completely hits the heavy modded marshall sound with a vintage 4-12 cabinet. This thing has so much of that real 4-12 cab feel that I find myself trying to tune some of it out. As far as noise goes its not bad at all. If you try to run the gain and the compressor at there maximum you will definitely find some. The trick is to know how to setup the compressor so that you don't need much gain. The notes ring through clearly with punch to boot. and sustain for days. All of this with that real marshall feel. You get it direct to tape, or live if you have a clear flat eq power amp, and full range speakers. A lot of the amp models I'm not into, but what's so cool about this thing is that you can mix them to come up with different percentages of each. And the tonal possibilities are endless. I use mostly the rectifier amp model, but mix it with many other amp types to come up with new amp tones. The effects are decent. Id even say they are pretty good with comparison to a lexicon for example. I don't use heavy effects in any setting so I may not be the best to ask about the effects. But I will say that for what I need, ie. a little reverb, delay, and sometimes chorus, the unit does it just fine. Its always been my opinion that effects help your tone hide, and I want my tone to be up front and in your face, so I try to use as little of the effects as possible to get a slightly fuller sound. I also use the pickup simulator which is probably just some pre eq, but this can change the tone quite a bit. I like to use my hummers, (duncan jb,s) but set the unit with the single coil pickup sim on. it gives a little more bite and its a little less smooth in the heavy stuff. As for the cleans, they are in there, but also take a little tweaking. I like the cleans, they are usable. The acoustic sim could have been better. I wish it was!! The boss vf-1 has a very nice sounding acoustic sim, but the heavies were lacking any real amp feel. This genesis3 has to much amp feel. I love that. Its the first unit I've had that has a lot of that feel. But worth mentioning is the oberheim gm 1000. That is an incredible unit. I will get another someday soon. They are hard to find as musicyo.com quit selling them. Bummer!! I gave this unit a 10 for sound quality because I cant imagine it getting any better in the heavy amp tones direct. I've read a lot of reviews saying that this or that unit beats the pod pro, but I can honestly say that after having both for quite sometime, this is the easy winner. And my ears have been listening and playing guitar for over 30 years. Its just my opinion and yours may be different, but besides the oberheim gm100 this is the only unit worth writing a review. Ima not putting any other unit down, I'm just saying it impresses me a lot. And I'm pretty picky.

I've only had it for a few weeks, so I don't really know. its been perfect so far. but it is plastic, and would not like being dropped a bunch of times. or so I am guessing. but I am not an acrobat, I'm a player, so I shouldn't have any problems.

So far they have been great. any question I had, a man named dean has been more than willing to help. it seems they are great in this area.
But I have never had any digitech unit before. mostly because they sounded terrible. This one has changed my mind on this company. and worth mentioning is the fact that I didn't have to go through years of waiting on the phone to get to the tech guys!! I hated that from several other companies!!

Ill have to give it a 9 because the acoustic sim isnt to useful. The rest of the sounds almost prompted me to put a 10 anyways. But i am supposed to be real here. It suites my playing perfectly. My tastes and style are melodic lead guitar. progressive rock is probably the best way to describe my sounds. I suggest you get one of these units and dont give up on it in a few minutes. Read the manual and take the time to shape it to what you need. It will be worth it.
Anyone that wants to email with ideas or questions feel free to. Id love to get a database of presets going on this one. ITS A KILLER!!!

It's too easy. Just read the manual. Explains everything pretty thoroughly. Everything's in there!

I use a custom made Fender Strat with 2 Humbuckers (DiMarzio Super Distortion / DiMarzio PAF) right into the unit and since I don't have an amp into my Computer (via S/PDIF digital out) and out of the great 5.1 Dolby System Speakers. Thanks to the target system of the Genesis 3, this works great and I get a really clean sound. The amp models are
great. I also own a Zoom GFX-8 and a POD2. And I can honestly say that the Genesis3 is going to replace both of these units. The POD is good but the effects of the POD are crap compared to the Genesis3. And many models sound way better on the Genesis3 (i.e. Rectifier and Marshall Stacks). The Zoom unit has good and clean effects but the distortions are not good at all. So the Genesis3 will replace both of my old units. Also, at last I have a S/PDIF out for digital recording which is very important for me since I do a lot of HardDisk recordings.
I love the Genesis3 distortions and it has some very good clean sounds (some are warm others are bright. You choose!) . I don't care much about medium gain sounds since I always play with high-gain or ultra clean so I'm not going to say anything about those models.
The effects are really great too. The Compressor is great. Very clean and very versatile. Chorus, Flangers, Phasers and other modulation effects are of great quality. The unit has OUTSTANDING reverbs! I love them. And 4 good delays although I only use 2 of them. Pitch Shifting effects are also very good if you stay in reasonable fields.
The bottom line is, this unit rocks!

It's a desktop unit! You can't step on it. If you treat it respectfully it will be reliable. So I'm not gonna give it a rating.

The best! I have sent dozens of e-mails which were answered in 1 day max. Great! Dean Athens answered most of my mails. Great guy. Always helped out and knew everything about anything.

I play almost exclusively Hard Rock / Metal and that sort of music. Iron Maiden, Malmsteen, Dream Theater, AC/DC and Metallica to name only a few. I can come very close to the various artists sound. No one can get the SAME sound except the artist himself. But I'm really impressed by the unit because I can get any sound I want. Also, the Warping feature broadens the sound spectrum and gives you more flexibility than any other sound unit. And it comes up with very usable sounds. Thanks Digitech. Well worth the price!
I would definitely buy it again!

Very easy. Especially if you use the editor software. Even without the software, it is easy to use. It isn't cryptic like the pod. The knobs are all handy and the large display tells you exactly what's going on.

I'm dying to try out the digital output, but I don't have any other digital equipment. The analog outs are good and clean. Mostly I use this one with headphones at home. I did try it with my amp and it seems to sound great there, too. It has the target-system thing which lets you choose what type of signal to send out. (You can choose to go to an amp, an fx loop, direct, and so on). If you haven't tried the amp warping yet, you should. It is cool.

Seems totally reliable. I haven't had any problems with it. Even if something were to go wrong, i have all my patches saved on the computer because they give you an editor software. So, I could just restore my settings if anything ever happened. That is pretty cool.

I actually haven't had to deal with them on this one, but they've always been good to me in the past.

Everyone knows I'm a die-hard Digitech fan. I have the GNX1 and love it. Since I play out with my band a lot, I decided to get the Genesis 3 to stay at home. The cool thing is that these two are totally compatible. I use the Genesis to create new amp models at home. Then I can just dump the settings into my GNX1 if I find a sound I like. Or, I can use the editor software to save off amp models and import them into a patch for either model.