M-Audio Black Box

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.

Sounds are easy to get. The new firmware upgrade is awesome! really makes it into a whole other machine than what it used to be. My complaint is that it was a nightmare to install. I tried at least 7 times to get it done. I ended up going to the Yahoo Groups Black Box User site and found the fix.
Haven;t edited patches yet, but it is a menu deal like many effectors. Shouldn't be a problem.
Manual seems fine, especially after printing out the updated one.

I have only listened through headphones so far while playing my G&L Legacy, but the sounds are great. It really let the Straty sound of the Legacy shine through. I love the Bassman model. Many of the models are very good. Noisy? A few patches, but not any noisier than the amps would be that are being modeled.
Effects sound fine, although the choruses and such aren't as creamy as my Visual Sound H20. Where it shines is with the sync'd effects. Having them automatically be in time with the built-in drum machine or an external source is very cool.
All in all, this will be a great recording tool. I don't need it for liive use right now, but I wouldn't be scared to use it that way.

Don't know yet. It seems ruggedly built, but with all computer chip driven items, I guess it could get wiggy. This isn't against M-Audio; just the nature of the beast.

I sent an email a week ago before I bought it to ask a question. Haven't heard a thing back yet. I tried calling today to get my firmware issue resolved, and was on hold for about 10 minutes. I tracked the solution down via Yahoo Groups before anyone came on the phone. I just had a computer built, and the guy put the M-Audio Audiophile sound card in it. It was a few months before he was able to get them to give us a driver fix for a pop and click issue. This doesn't speak well for them as being customer-friendly.

This is a great bargain with the firmware upgrade additions and the free Black Box footswitch that was included. It will be an awesome recording addition, and will be great for a portable practice or small gig rig for me. I play CCM and lead worship, so it will be a good match for all that. I have lots of stuff I have accumulated over the years, and have been a gadget freak for a while. I can see replacing this with another one, since I am so impressed by the sounds of it. Having a drum machine and a mic pre and a direct recording interface in one box, along with a foot controller, all for $200.00 is amazing.
There are probably units out there that do certain things better than the Black Box, but none have the features and sounds for this money.
I give it an "8" only because of the firmware installation problems and the lack of customer support. Otherwise it would be a "10".

There's no doubt this is an easy unit to use, controls are pretty instinctive and common sense. Connecting to PC was ok, driver took a bit of fiddling to work, and Ableton requires some patience.

It is no possible to emphasise enough, as previous couple of reviews state, GET THE FIRMWARE UPGRADE (version 2.xx) - it addresses many of the moans on Harmony Central - M-Audio have well and truly sorted it out. Tweaks of the firmware were available before, but this upgrade actually increases the number of decent amp sounds and effects.

Before the upgrade I must agree the sound was weak - everything was too heavy, my Gibson SG pushed almost all the amps into a weak fuzzy sounding overdrive. SO WHAT - the units been completely re-programmed with the firmware upgrade and you can now get some great amp sounds out of it. Have only had it a day so I can't offer an exhaustive review of all the amp models, but the clean and slighly overdriven sounds I have been using are great - compares very favourably to my Vox modelling amp. Particularly like the Marshall and Fender models - they are good 'mature' amp sounds, great for blues or jazz. Conclusions - this isn't a toy for metelheads anymore but has some great usable amp models.

Some effects are nice too - numerous choruses and flanger sounds plus Roger Linn-style appregiators and trems. Unit has been criticised for 'computer music sounds' - there are some pretty out-there effects which may not be usable, at least its good fun!

Wouldn't gig it (its plastic!), brought it mainly as a USB interface for home recording. But seems sturdy enough.

I must say, the firmware upgrade was the reason i brought the unit, so from in that respect thumbs-up to m-audio. Plus a good website, manuals and a resource for sharing presets with other users. Not bad

OK - here's my take on Black Box. Its 99quid - thats the price of Pandoras box, a second hand Pod2 - or some zoom piece of plastic. BUT - its a USB interface which also works along (unlike toneport), with Mic-in, Ableton software, drum machine, etc. I admit, if you're not looking for a PC interface there are probably better units for the price. But to get you guitar onto computer this is an UNBELIEVABLE BARGAIN! Even with a basic usb-instrument interface and amp modelling software you'd spend well over #100. And this box is SO MUCH MORE. Yes it lacks 'vibe' and 'flare' - buts its functional, looks sleek and has real pots to control amp characteristics, volume etc. A lot of criticism has been thrown at the Block Box and, with the new upgrade, i don't think it deserves it. (for e.g. its not true that you cannot bypass the amp models or effects, or turn off the noise gate, & there are bass amp models and a mic-pre amp)
At the price the unit is selling for now (#99 at turnkey) i think it will genuinely be hard to beat.

Very easy to get a cool sound right out of the box. You do need the firmware upgrade to give it some mojo. It's a different box with this upgrade, no question about it. If you are using the version 1 firmware you are not talking about the same box.

There is a steep learning curve with the included Abelton software but worth the effort if you want to do some digital recording. This is what this thing is all about.

Get the firmware upgrade!!!!

The purpose of this thing is as a easy interface to your PC to recdord stuff and the amp sims are excellent!

It sounds killer with the firmmware upgrade. Did I mention this already?
Some people have tried to use this with an amp and that is not what it was meant for. Even the documentation does not expect you to use it with an amp.

Powered speakers? Ok that will work but not with an amp. It is not intended to be used with an amp.

The amp sims are quite good and get the essense of the amnp.

40 amp sims that work quite well.

Looks reliable. I am not ready to gig with this thing and although you couold use it for that purpose I cannot comment on it. It is a recording and practice tool. Mostly recording to a PC or Laptop.

I had a problem installing the latest drivers which included the firmware upgrade to v2. Called Customer support and the guy was way cool and kinowlegeable on this product. We did not resolve the problem right away but we made an appointment for the guy to call me back. He called right on time but I had resolved the issue without his help.

Very impressed by his callback right on time.

If you want to record stuff to your PC this is a great tool. It is also a great practice and jam/inspiration tool.

I would not hesitate to buy it again. The Line 6 toneport seems cool but this has way more features and the amp sims are easily as good if not better.

I have used alot of gear, so this was fairly easy to figure out, only looked at the manaul a couple of times

Through the phones it sounds fairly decent. using it through an amp was horribel, I think primarily because you cannot bypass the amp models. The effects are failry good, thoughalot of stuff I would never use, like synth sounding tremolos, etc.

Only had it a few days, so it lasted while I had it

No basis

OK, here is my main problem, and listen up all you gear manufacturers: this gear has absolutely no vibe, and did not elicit a bit of inspiration (with the exception of the looper). A piece of gear must be MUSICAL and INSPIRATIONAL and USEFUL, not just cool, convenient or a good copy of something else. This unit, in my humble opinion, failed in this regard and will not go down in history as a classic, must have unit (maybe that is not what they were going for). The first night it kept me entertained for a couple of hours through the headphones while I was surfing through the presets. But the next day when I plugged it into my amp I was very disappointed and starting figuring out how Musicians Friends return policy worked. I agree with many others in this forum who said that the sounds did not even come close to the demo (which was why I bought it). It is definitely not a good live unit.

I suppose you might like this unit if:
1. You are a new player and have never played through real analog and tube gear and so have no basis to compare this unit.
2. You need an inexpensive, all-in-one sollution for recording.
3. You like strange, electronic types of effects (blues and straight ahead rockers, stay away)
4. Money is no object and you can afford to but this for the one or two things it does well (I cannot, I have to get alot out of my gear to justify the cost).
5. You primarily record guitar direct and can spend time tweaking sounds in order to find a good one. I primaily mike tube amps to get tube amp sounds, and it is hard for me to go back to the direct guitar sound anymore.

Well...seems like I get the honor to review the reloaded version of the Black Box. Firmware upgrade on 17/03/2006.

Easy to use. Version 2 includes a new shift function giving you access to:
* mid control
* compressor
* 5 types of reverb

The updated user manual can be downloaded from the M-Audio website in pdf format and is very well written.
Once you get the picture, this enhanced Black Box is very easy to use.

I first bought the new Line 6 TonePort, which turned out to be a downer for me. Not because of the sound quality, I thought it sounded very good, but because of a chipset problem on my laptop(acer aspire 1804 3,2Ghz). Using TonePort, USB has an unreliable sound stream when controled by Intel series 915 chipsets. This would cause the stream to interrupt and replace the audio by nasty white noise every now and then. I tried a pcmcia usb card with a NEC chipset but the problem persisted. I eventualy got fed up, brought the TP back to the shop and swapped it for the Black Box. I had never heard of the BB before....

My first impressions were rather negative. It sounded metalic, dull and soulless. I didn't realy recognize the Plexi, Twin reverb etc
Also no reverbs, no compression, no bass amps...
I kept on playing for a couple of hours but in vain. I had already stored it away again in order to return it when I found out on the internet that a firmware upgrade had just been released.
Not having anything better to do on this rainy day, I started downloading and installing the firmware upgrade and gave it a second try.

Wwwhooooow... Now that's what I call good tone !!!!
If you have a BB, upgrade now!!!!!

It's a different product, it sounds alive, it sounds convincing.
The Bogner Extasy is a killersound.
There are 40 amps and 120 effects to chose from and they realy sound very good.
So far, the best I've heard in this range of products.
(I've tried out pretty much everything: korg, boss, line6, native instruments...)

The beat sync effects work very well. Very usefull.

No clue, just got it a few days ago. It looks sturdy though.

I don't want to find out...

I was looking for a not too expensive device/software being able to offer decent guitar and bass tones mainly for home recording activity and I am more than pleased. The BB delivers.
I have played loads of amps (from Class A to solid state) in 22 years of music playing and I think this product is closest as can be to the real things. Try it out for yourself.
Most factory presets come without effects or delay/reverb.
M-Audio is not trying to hide mediocre simulation behind a wall of effects. When you play the amps without anything added to it, it already sounds close to the real thing. Check it out.

Cool features: all BB owners can exchange their presets over the internet, the beat sync effects.... a must!, pretty convincing drum loops to play along with and also a nice addition of drum loops and samples on cd rom to be used with your favorite multi-track recording software, very convincing bass amp simulations and more...

All this for 289 euro, I'll give it a 10.
(20 years ago, one would have gotten 2 stomp boxes for this money. Isn't life great in the 21th century?)