Rocktron Chameleon On-Line

If you are willing to spend the time with it, you can get extremely good sounds. Have owned it for several months and still have not looked in the manual, though I may have to in order to gat a good flange sound.

I bought it mainly for the cabinet simulator, which allows me to go direct into a 4-track. After a few hours of experimentation I duplicated the sound of a marshall valvestate 8240.

Used only for home recording. After several months have had no problems.

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I spent serious hours trying out processors before buying it, and this was the best value. It does the most for the least. The Rocktron Voodoo valve had a slightly more "tube-like" tone, but it was $200 more. My Fender Strat Plus with a hot-rails pick-up in the bridge sounds great. I would buy it again without hesitation.

once you play with the knobs for awhile you start to get the hang of it, the stock presets mostly suck, but the good news is you can get about any sound out of it with a little programming editing patches is pretty easy,except for the post eq,it is pretty complicated,i still haven't figured it out completely the manual is excellent besides not explaining the post and pre eq sections very well i would have to say the sound quality is excellent, a very quiet unit

i use various jacksons with emgs and duncans the chameleon can be noisy, if you want it to, the hush is awesome, works perfectly the effects sound perfect with the exception of the pitch shifter i use a rocktron velocity 250 it hauls ass again, you can get about anyone's sound once you learn how to edit the presets

i've had the chameleon since the online model came out,howeverlong that's been i wouldn't worry about having a backup i've had absolutely no problems with the unit's operation

i have e-mailed rocktron numerous times and they always get back to me within 24 hours they were very helpful, easily the best customer service department i've dealt with

i play metal,hardcore i've been playing a long time i would definitly buy it again i love the speaker simulator i even use it through a 4x12 on some presets i hate the pitch shifter, it is basically useless i compared it to the mp-2 and the valve fx, and there was no competition there

The Chameleon DSP Guitar Preamp-
This unit uses Rocktron's normal editting procedure. Rotate the first knob the find the preset you want, press recall to select it, or use a MIDI controller. Editting patches: Rotate the last knob unit you find the effect or block you wish to edit (i.e. Reverb, Mixer, Delay, Distortion), then rotate the second to last knob to select the parameter you wish to edit (i.e. Chorus Level, Delay Time, Variac Adjustment), lastly rotate the final knob to enter your desired value of the selected parameter. Not too hard, the seperate knobs makes it easier for me. There are so many parameters that you can easily spend a ton of time tweeking. Any of the presets that appealed to me were easily adjusted to my better suit my tastes. (i.e. less effects)
The manual explains most of the options fairly well, and is available from Rocktron's web site for preview. Example of different settings would be helpful to understanding how to get different sounds.
Generally speaking, it is very easy to get a pleasant sound from the unit. If you want a really unorthodox sound, you may have more trouble figuring out how to get there if you don't know what goes into getting such a sound.

Rocktron = Clean. I used my Ibanez S-540 Guitar along with my trusty home stereo, as well as my Velocity 250 and Ampeg 412 cabinet.
At the highest gain settings, the unit really has little or no noise, and is pretty much raging. The multiple distortion settings allow you to achieve convincing amp sounds, especially if you minimize the effects.
Many of the presets are useless until the effects are reduced, but they show you what can be done and give you a starting point for your own experimentation. The distortions sound very satisfying. The clean tones are pretty good too. The Chameleon seems to be pretty punchy when you play, which I like. It reminds me of how a loud amp sounds.
The pitch-shifter is unintelligent, so plan on using it for special effects or octave settings.
Generally , the chameleon sounds really impressive. I have a Piranha which is Rocktron's MIDI Tube Preamp, and the Chameleon sounds just as good to me, with the exception that it doesn't clean up when you back off the volume knob the same way a tube pre does. It cleans up a bit, just not the same way. You could use a MIDI continous controller to adjust the gain and up to seven other paramters in real time. (although I never got to test this, I envisioned pushing the controller all the way forward for a raging distortion tone with a bit of delay for leads. Pulling the controlled back would reduce the delay and gain, while maybe increasing a hint of chorus. Lots of possibilities. You need a MIDI CC though.)
In many ways, more flexible for basic tone than my Piranha, or any other preamp/amp I've used. easily. (due to multiple EQ stages: Before the distortion, during the distortion [2 band], in the distortion stage [4 band], after the distortion stage [4 band], and the speaker simulator (the reactance control is incredible: dial up some 412 warmth)

Rocktron gear has always been reliable for me

Rocktron support has always been responsive to my questions, but I've never had to use their repair capabilities.

I play various styles of Rock music. The chameleon's flexibility make it relatively adept at covering a lot of sonic ground.
After playing for 12 years, I've gone through a good bit of equipment (most of it lately). The chameleon is well above average in terms of flexibility and sound quality. Get a nice even sound when playing with your band, run direct with the Chameleon.
The reactance control is great. I wish Rocktron made an inexpensive speaker simulator just so it could be available to everyone who wants to run direct. Turning it up boosts a particular frequency that reminds me of the low warm resonance of a 412 cabinet. Doesn't make the sound boomy or muddy. Makes it warmer. Dead on.
Multiple EQ stages allow you to tailor your sound in numerous ways. While you don't _have_ to adjust them all to get the sound you want, you can fix various tone issues with a little bit of thought as to "where would a little EQ fix this?"
The effects order is not configurable, and there is no effects loop, so if everything isn't to your liking, you may have to compromise. However, in my usage, it was a highly-usable unit with an extremely satisfying tone direct... even to the home stereo. :)
If you want to run direct, record, or are looking for a all-in-one unit that does not sound like a toy, check out this unit!

I found the Chameleon was easy to program and dial in just what your looking for. It has a compare button on the front panel allowing a quick comparison to the sound you are editing. The Chameleon is different then others i've used; it has only 4 main knobs for editing. I didn't have to refer to the manual once during my trial test! Although, I did brief through it to see If I missed anything. It's written well.

Sound quality is excellent. I know that's are tough statement to back up. First let me define this statement: I tested the Chameleon under several conditions. 1. Direct to Mixing console 2. Hooked up to a Tube Works MosValve in stereo with two 212 cabs (loaded with Celestions). Ok, first I should mention -- I didn't care for the presets that much (even though they were programmed by musicians worldwide). I had to tweak them for all of my setups. This unit really shines going direct to a console. You can get a hot driven sound and still hear every note clearly! When hooked to the MosValve setup, I had to increase the bass to get more "chunk" factor. I was able to get a great Al Di Meola tone when going direct using my Les Paul.

Well, I've only owned it for 2 weeks now, but it does seem solid and has an expensine look to it. This says more than the Digitech 2112 I had for 1 week-- which came in defective with intermittent weirdness. I didn't care for the 2112 ( I can get those same sounds with an old ADA MP1 with outboard processing and EQ). I like the clarity of the Rocktron. I can hear the instrument I'm using! Also, the Chameleon is extremely quiet! The HUSH works great. Even without the noise reduction, it has a clean signal!-- very usable

Once again, this is a new unit; therefore, I would not be able to share an opinion here....

Yes, I would buy the Chameleon again. I love the direct to board sound. I have tried (and own) a lot of units. This is the best direct to boad one yet.