M-Audio Black Box

This is for Black Box Reloaded version. It is easy to get good sounds from the black box. The amp sims are great, and the tempo synced effects are a blast. Patch editing is easy enough, but there are a few buttons to press and knobs to turn to get there. The manual answered all of my questions.

I run this directly into my computer for recording purposes. It's drivers work as expected and the direct monitoring from the device eliminates latency. When using an amp I use a 60W Peavey with a Sheffield speaker. This is a clean sounding device. All of the effects are very good. The tempo syncing effects are very interesting for the electronic musician as the allow midi editing/following. I do not try to sound like my fav artists, but I don't see why you couldn't.

It is plastic and will mount to a mic stand. I wouldn't want to drop it, but I will using during a gig. It has been dependable for the 3 months I've owned it.

M-audio = solid products at good prices. Web support has been great, and I've never had to call them (I own many of their products). Drivers available easily from their website. They also have a toneroom site for this product for the sharing of patches.

I create electro-rock. This tool is especially suited to computer music. It is a perfect match for my needs. I have been playing guitar for 5 years. I also own a Boss GT-6. I would buy another if this were lost or damaged. I love that this is an effects box, an amp sim, a tuner (hold the buttons very briefly to engage), an audio interface (also has a mic input)and a sound card. I hate that there is no accompanying foot pedal, but they do sell one (I use an FCB 101 for this purpose). It also has basic drum tracks to play along with, so also a great practice tool. It is simple once set up, and the effects are inspiring. It's midi capabilities make it extremely versatile (which matters not to most guitarists, and is probably why it's been discontinued). A great value used.

Relatively good design

I want less frills and more good clean sound options. I ended up using essentially only 3 different amp models in the BlackBox. The sound I got out of it for those options was good.

My BlackBox died! I can no longer output to my amp or accept mic input.

M-Audio basically ignored my claims. Actually, I had to wait a month just to receive their automated response, and that is all I have gotten from them. Let's not support companies like that! Read above stories on bad service from M-audio.

Honestly when your product breaks, the overall rating tanks.

Based on 3 days use (more later) very easy. We immediately upgraded online to 2.3 with loads of new amp models etc. which again was a doddle. At this point we were happy bunnies.

OK, interesting amp models and a decent reverb. Not as good as my Pod XT, but that's not the point, I was looking for a a new tool and for 3 days this was it... The clean sounds from the expanded amp set were excellent, and by just tweaking it you can really get a retro feel from Nashville to Sun Studios. Some great Spaghetti Western twanging 'verbs.

PS: I'm sure you can get all the post-Hendrix 'I can't play but I love to widdle my fingers around with a fuzz boz on' saw tooth distortion options as well but if that's the sound you are after I'd go for a Rolf Harris Stylophone.

CANNOT DEPEND ON IT AT ALL.

Bought from a main dealer in Central London, brand new, ??100. Switched it on, checked it was OK, then had to leave to do work abroad and build a new studio. Returned to it a year and month later and switched it on, downloaded the new upgrade and spent 3 days (perhaps 7 hours total) using it successfully when it suddenly croaked. So barely 8 hours into its working life I rang M-Audio.....(to be continued)

(continued from above)...and M-Audio said, "sorry mate it's a MONTH out of warranty so we won't even look at it unless you send us 40 quid NON-REFUNDABLE even if we CANNOT fix it." So where's the incentive?

It had already cost more than 12 quid an hour thus far for the honour of ownership and now M-Audio want want more just to look at it. If they had fixed it we would have probably griped, paid the extra and put it down to the evils of the corporate culture that owns pop music. But with no agreement other than "we'll have a look" we were not prepared to throw good money after bad.

And just to make it clear - it has not been dropped, shocked, used as a beer mat, mouse trap or frisbee, soaked in liquid, connected to bad supply or nailed to a wall. It had lived its life in a box in a studio and was got out to use on 4 OCCASIONS, 3 of which it worked.

Consequently we abandoned any thoughts of an M-Audio based recording set up - which this was to be part of - so M-Audio's loss in the end.

UPDATE: I put the Black Box on eBay and it was bid to three quid with twelve hours to go when I decided the box was worth three quid to me to keep my unpaid utility bills in and I'll use the Black Box as an illuminated coffee cup stand once I get the courage to get it out of the drawer again.

NO IFS, NO BUTS, ABSOLUTELY THE WORST SERVICE EVER. IT'S M-AUDIO'S DEVICE SO IF THEY HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN BEING ABLE TO FIX ANY BUG WHAT CONFIDENCE DOES IT INSTILL IN CUSTOMERS?

WE SHOULD HAVE USED THE MONEY TO GO TO THE RACES. AT LEAST WE MIGHT HAVE BACKED A WINNER. 100 QUID WASTED AND NO COMEBACK - 'NUFF SAID....!

This unit ain't overly user friendly but a little time spent with it and you should be able to find your way around without much problem. I didn't have a manual when I bought it (second hand) so I just twisted dials and was able to do a fair amount. Later in the day I downloaded the manual and didn't learn a whole lot more than I did by just playing with it.

I play a Godin SDxt through a Behringer V-Tone GMX 212, a Alvarez AD60SC and a Epiphone Viola bass. I played guitar as a teenager and then lost the guitar and the interest for about 20 years and only started playing again about ten years ago. I play mostly church, and classic rock and classic country such as Cash and Beatles.
I didn't find this unit noisy but I don't push the high end either.
Some of the effects are better than others, play around with it. Some work better with a humbucker pickup and other with a single coil.
My advice is to mess around with the setting till you find what you like, there sure ain't no lack of variety.

This seems to be a fairly solid little unit, I would use it on a gig for sure.

Never had to deal directly with them but I have been to their web site for the manual download and it was easy to get.

For what I need: amateur recording, occasional gigs and fun with sounds at home, this is a great unit for me. What I like about it is the drum machine, the sycn, the variety of effects and the fact that it doubles as a midi device. I haven't tried it with GarageBand yet but I will soon.

Fairly simple layout, although not entirely intuitive. Exhibits some strange behaviors when switching between functions. Lacks a power switch which really says "CHEAP" to me. Can only handle one input at a time.

I use this mainly as an input device for Pro Tools. The on board sounds are terrible. Too many artifacts and digital noise, especially in the high register.

Cheaply built, often switches from Bypass to the Vox setting on its own. I would never take this to a gig whether I had a backup or not.

If it were stolen or lost it would not be missed. It fails in its most important function: sound quality.

I've used various amp modellers/pre-amps/recording interfaces over the years and this one has it's strong and weak points. It has a limited number of parameters to adjust but the ones it provides seems to be well chosen and very effective. Compared to the vast number of parameters that my Line 6 POD XT live has, this unit is definately much simpler to get to terms with. The firmware update makes things slightly more complex because of the "shift" functions, but they are definately worthwhile and dont take too long to get used to. One thing I do find iritating, is the 4 rotary encoders used to adjust the various parameters seem to be a bit touchy and tend to leep from one extreme to another rather than a smooth linear adjustment. I had some issues trying to get ProTools M-Powered to select the Black Box as the hardware interface over my M-Audio Firewire 410. ProTools can see the Black Box but wont select it unless I reboot the PC with the Firewire 410 turned off then everything works OK - annoying but not a critical problem. Also, there is no adjustment for the viewing angle for the LCD. When I first got it and turned it on, I thought the display was faulty, but realised that you must view the screen from an angle in front of the unit, not direcly above. The users manual is in PDF form (like a lot of other brands these days) which I find annoying and cheap but at least everything is available as a download. Speaking of downloads, I have to give M-Audio full marks on making the firmware upgrade a free download. I would expect any manufacturer to make firmware updates that address bugs and faults free, but this update is a complete makeover with heaps of new sounds and features - fantastic & well worth it. For once, I've actually found an effect process that has some great useable presets out of the box! The high-gain patches are very good and require minimal tweaking to get good useable tones.

I use the unit mainly for recording & practice but also I have found some of the beat sync'ed effects can take my creative juices of in directions I would not normally go - they can be really quite inspiring. The noise gate is pretty effective at keeping the noise on high-gain setting under control. As far as sounds go, I'd put this up against my POD XT Live without a problem - it's not quite as varied in it's selection of different tones but what patches are available are very good, especially mid to high gain. Very easy to get "the record" sound of your favourite artist. Effects are all good with the tweaking that is available, no where near as tweakable as most other units but still effective all the same.

Plastic case with metal base, slightly flimsy knobs - don't think I'd like to gig with it but then I don't really think it was designed as a live unit.

Havn't needed to contact customer support but the website is vey good. FAQ seem to cover most general problems.

Great unit with very usable sounds, bougt the unit second hand for AUS$110.00 (retails for AUS$399.00)so I really can't complain. From what I have found with the Black Box, I really don't think it deserves some of the negative comments some people have thrown at it. For a recording pre-amp system to get a great sound into your PC or multitrack recorder, I really think you could do much worse than the Black Box - just make sure it's upgraded with the V2 firmware.

Not easy to edit or change patches.

Won't work with Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Good if somewhat limited. Reverb is pretty limited.

It seems moderately solid

Crap

I made the mistake of buying the Black Box. It doesn't work with Windows Media Center Edition. I found that out when I couldn't get the ASIO drivers to open and I sent a support request to M-Audio. They told me they only support the use of this device with Pro or Home.

I can't use this for what I bought it for which was to record into Ableton Live 5.

The box itself is ok as a digital multi-effects box but you can do better with Line 6 or Zoom. These boxes have more flexibility.

As as stand alone unit is very easy to use. I mean, all the buttons and knobs have their label, and with the upgrade you just need to read the screen if you can't remember the double tap menu. The presets are ok and they represent a very good (not the best!) usage of every effect or amp. Editing patches its very easy, just have to look at the screen. Manuals are ok, as said the "upgraded" one is the best.
If you have problems dealing with delay times using measures and tempo, you can also use miliseconds, but the combination of measures and tempo makes it really easy to get what you want, specially when you have the tempo saved with your presets.

I haven't used this unit to make many recordings (although it was the main purpose when I bought it!). I am mostly using it as a modulation and delay unit (amp sim's off). Having said that, you'll guess I run the unit trough the loop effects of the amp. Right now I'm using a Ibanez RG270 trough Boss SD1 or DS1 (Analogman modded), to a Marshall Valvestate S265. Thoug it's not an exceptional setup I can really get very very intersting tones, enough to play very fine covers. So, getting back to the BB, I can fairly say that it almost doesn't colour your guitar tone. I mean, when delay and effects are off, you can unplug it from the loop and barely note it. I don't particuarly like the choruses, but the rest of the effects are ok (rotary speaker's are great). The delay it's nice, and as I said has the plus of tempo and measure settings, so by tapping the tempo you can adjust very easily to your needs. The way I'm using this unit, some of the effects doesn't sound as good as they sound when hooked to a computer, but they can give you lots of good uses. As an example I can play "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" with my DS1 distortion, instead of using the amp simulation that the preset patch loads. Also the sweep efect its ok to play stuff like Vertical Horizon's "Every thign you want" riff (using DS1 and 535q wah)

I upgraded the unit a couple of days after buying it, to get the feeling of both worlds. After I upgraded it, a problem started with the delay program, it was kinda pop pop pop along with tempo setting. Once this problem shows, the only way to "eliminate" it it's by RESETING TO FACTORY SETTINGS... and loose all of your presets. So every time it happens, I have to download again from my computer all the presets, and this is not a nice situation if you're gigging. So when I have to rig, must carry the usb cable and a laptop to prevent the pop problem. Besides that, no other problem that I noticed.
(I understand this is not a live performance multieffects machine, but this isn't a nice situation even if you are recording at home...)

The pop problem lead me to contact M-Audio techs trough the web's support in their site (I live in Costa Rica). The problem this approach has it's that forces you to get three or four automated responses suggesting to upgrade the machine and checking the connections). It tooked about a week to get someone "into" the problem. They could not solve my problem, the final opinon it's that it could have "a hardware failure", and the case was closed. And maybe it is a damage in my unit, but it would be more expensive for me to send this forward to the US and back then, so I learned to live with the pop. :(

I've been playing for almost 15 years with up's and down's. I like instrumental rock mostly, but always tried to get any guitar tone and effect as close as I hear it on records (right now I'm in a cover's band, playing U2, The Cure, Greenday, Vertical Horizon, Queen, etc. and I need versatility on the effects to get the closest sounds). When I bought the BB (for recording purposes only) I was using a Zoom 3030 for delay's and modulation in live enviroments, and the sound quality I got from the BB moved me to replace the Zoom with the BB, even for those live situations. Tough it's not designed for live applications, I've managed the way to make it flexible on stage, by combining the exp pedal and the other two pedals to control effects and delays. I just wish it wouldn't have the pop problem. For the price, It's a very good deal, not only I got a good effect unit, but an good computer interface and an excelent simulation machine.
I guess I had bad luck with the pop problem, no one else have mentioned it here, so I suppose I could reccomend this unit, at least with the usage I'm giving to it I can say it give's me what I need.

It's fairly easy to use. I was able to get some good sounds out of the box. Editing is easy. I didn't need the manual to figure it out. I didn't upgrade the firmware right away. I wanted to get a good taste of it before I did. It took a few tries and don't know what I did different the last time I tried, but it worked. There should be more help from M-Audio on this issue.

I bought this from Musicians Friend and received the foot pedal with two switches as a bonus! The foot pedal is very easy to connect and program! It's pretty hard to beat a deal like this.

I bought this because I needed a good sound that I can take with me when I travel. I wear headphones, and it works great for that purpose. It is only noisy on high gain settings as you'd find in playing through a real high gain amp. I like clean sounds anywhere on the dial up to total distortion depending on the project. I think the delay is good, but am not totally impressed with any of the other effects. They may be good, but I don't get into over effecting a good natural sounding guitar. The overdriven amp sounds are impressive. I've never heard a better digital recreation with any of the other high end units on the market.

It seems reliable. I wouldn't gig with it since I already have and use the amps this box is imitating.

Their web site is pretty good. I've never delt with them, so I don't have an opinion.

I play varied styles. Clean bluegrass and folk acoustics, surf, classic rock, blues, old metal to Steve Vai type stuff. I've played guitar since about 1963... played in several bands through the 70s, 80s and 90s. I, currently, like to play in roadhouses. Those crowds are very good to me. That's where the fun is. I'd probably buy another if were lost. I like it for what it is, a small package I can take on the road and play without disturbing the next hotel room. I don't hate anything about it. I've owned a Digitech GNX4, Boss ME50 and a Digitech RP10. All of those work very well and I don't have a complaint with any of them. I just like the small package and sound of the Black Box. It sounds great in my PA, but less impressive through my Fender Twin Reverb.

This is with firmware v2. There is a bit of a learning curve with this device. Most of it is pretty straight forward(if you've worked with Line6 Pods you'll probably ave no trouble), but, you do have to remember what button gets you to what secondary screen when you double tap, hold down, etc. However, the manuel is easy to follow and informitive. Saving patches is a synch, editing effects can be tedious(for example, it took me an hour to figure out exactly how to tweak the autowah. but it works out well. <br>I did have quite a bit of trouble with the blackbox software. I had to reload it several times before it would recognize my blackbox and allow me to upgrade the unit to the new firmware, and I am still having a few problems with its drivers and hooking it up to the computer, but I have an older system, so it could be as simple as that.

My setup is a Yamaha Pacifica(tele model, GFS Bigmouths, Active circuits, usually played with inner coils running parallel-[megaswitch P-Switch])straight into the Blackbox with Cheap Sony Headphones or plugged into a very nice PA (which I don't own and have no idea how to run or even what brand it is). <br>
I never heard this unit with the original firmware on it, so I can't compare it like those posted below me. My first experiance on getting it up and running was plucking a few notes and thinking, "my God, thats awesome." The Bassman model I was on at that time is very, very nice, does it sound exactly like a Bassman, no, but, it sounds very good. <br>
Most of my experiance comes from Fenders so I can say with a bit of validity that this unit does Fender very well. As for the other amp models, I'm not completely sure if they replicate that sound very well, but most of them sound good. I've never played much with VOX, Marshall, Budda, or any of the others. <br> The 'black box custom' models I'm not sure about, 'Solid' IS ok, but many of the others I can't really see myself using. 'Hollow' is a bit weird. 'Octave is pretty neat though' Is it noisy? No, at least not for me, I don't play much (or at all) with high gain, but there is a noise gate if you think you need it.<br> The effects really shine. They make this unit stand out from anything the others (Line6, zoom, Berhinger, etc) have to offer. Most can be beat synched, The TremoloSynch is pretty neat, kinda of a trance like sound. The Appargator is neat too. The SciFi sounds are unuseable though, why put those in? I didn't like the wah at first, but its starting to grow on me(even though I have my own wah pedal and don't need the blackbox for that particular effect). <br> For effects, this unit has almost anything you need and most of the stuff you want(well, almost...no phaser): Compressor, EQ, Drive, Noise Gate, Tremolo, Chorus, Pan, Delay, Reverb, Flanger, Wah, Talk, Auto Wah, Auto Talk, Filter Sequence, Tremolo Sequence, Appagetor, Fixed Filter, Rotary, a few others I can't think of right now, and some midi controled effects I have no idea how to use). Oh yeah, and 99 beats and grooves you can play along with at your own tempo.<br> In defiance to the people below who said this thing probably shouldn't be used live, I did, in fact finally get to use it live the other night. Turned a few heads, namely the other guitarist and the soundguy. Sounds beautiful through a PA(I wouldn't play it directly into a guitar amp, thats not what it was designed for...it would probably work good in a keybooard amp). Very nice saturation in the PA.

Yeah, the top is made of plastic, but the bottom and back is solid metal, which leads me to think most of the chasis is metal under that plastic. Still, its not a stomp box, so don't stomp on it and you'll be fine. Used it at a gig the other day and it worked great.

N/A, hopefully never will be.

I play mostly Praise and Worship. I've been playing since '98. If it were lost or stolen I couldn't affor to get a new one. This is a great value. I used a POD v2 for a few years (never owned it, just used it twice a week at the church). It was between this unit and the POD v2 at the same price. I chose the Blackbox because it had more effects(and control over those effects), more amps, drum loops, mic in, and digital out, as well as a large, easy to see and understand, user interface. Its also about 2 years newer technology. <br> What do I wish it had? Control over speaker sims, a software based editor, and a larger online tone library. Its a gret song writting tool and works great live.