Rocktron Intellifex

Hmm...got the original "blackface" version used. (no its not a Fender!) No manual, just read the online manual from the Rocktron website. So yeah, took a few weeks to make it work the way I wanted to. After that, pretty damn sweet! Editing patches is easy enough, as long as you're paying attention to what you're doing and take your time. Don't know if this has an upgrade or not. The Midi stuff on it is a godsend!

Jackson guitars, EMG 81 pickups, Audio-Technica wireless, ADA MP-1 preamp, BBE 482, Rocktron Hush Super C, Rocktron Velocity 300 power amp, 2 Marshall 1960 4x12 cabs left and right, blah blah blah. I bought this just for the heck of it, price was WAY too good to pass by and not try it out. The sound quality was better than I expected! I've stayed away from effects for the last 17 years because they always shitified the sound somehow or another IMO. But this is impressing me quite nicely! The factory presets seem to be a trophy case for wonderful sounding choruses and reverbs. On the other hand, most of them just aren't practical for regular use. Imagine gig volumes with THAT much reverb coming out the speakers! Not the hot ticket for the metal I usually play. But, after some careful tweaking here and there, its actually found a good place within my rig. And its quiet enough when its supposed to be too, even though I don't use the built in noise gate. Got a Hush Super C for that. I also like the fact that it gives me a good stereo sound instead of left/right mono, which I could only get out of my preamp if the chorus function was on. I like the Ducker delay the best, chorus/flange is sweet, too, and the reverbs are really impressive, even though I don't use much reverb. I like the in-your-face sound as opposed to sounding like your far away.

Had it for about a month now, no worries yet. Backup? Yes backup equipment is essential, but I've never had to use ANY of it. Yet. So my backups consist only of more guitars, (in case a string breaks which never happened yet as I have fresh, properly stretched strings for every gig), more strings, picks, and an instrument cable in case the wireless unit decides to go postal (which it hasn't yet) I think this should be dependable enough. If it proves me wrong, I can bypass it right out of the chain completely with minimum downtime.

I've emailed Rocktron before with questions about the other Rocktron stuff, and they've gotten back to me within 24 hours with a satisfactory answer. Other companies I've dealt with (with Jackson being the only exception) totally blew me off because I'm a nobody. Apparantly Rocktron cares and I needn't say more!

I pretty much laid out my opinions already. I've seen the previous posts about the prices that were paid for this unit both new and used, and I bet its safe to say I definitly am getting my moneys worth in spades. I've never tried out other manufacturers rack effects, but I sure would if they could be had for this cheap! I would be replacing this unit with another one if the unthinkable happened to it, however I'm certain I would have to pay a lot more for it than what I did pay for it. BTW I found this Intellifex in the used gear section at the local music store hiding under a P.O.S Rane EQ (which I also bought, but I returned that pile the very next day) There is nothing wrong with my Intellifex! No battle scars or any damage that I could see, and it does everything its supposed to! Why so cheap? Don't know, and I'm not gonna bitch one bit. In fact, I'm still pretty smug about it, being the cheap little slut that I am! A TEN!

If you are familiar with basic Rocktron controls set up, then it's pretty easy to use. If not prepare to spend some time with the manual.

I play a Mesa Triaxis and a Mesa Strategy 500 Pwr amp with and ART tube parametric EQ and occasionally a Rane dual 15 band EQ. Mesa equipment is extremely noisey, and my attempts to use the gate feature have only met with frustration and dissatisfaction. Some of the other effects are fair, but the gate sounds and feels like shit. I have run it through the effects loop on the Triaxis and it was bad. I ran the unit in a straight line with everything else, and that sucked too. I tried before and after the EQ - shitty either way. I mentioned that the other effects sound fair, while that is true, the Intellifex is not a reactive piece of musical gear. I have completely cut this thing out of my signal path because of signal and tone degradation. It's great for switching my other midi devices though!

I purchased this unit used from a friend who had had it for a while. I have had it for over a year and up until about a month ago it has been rpetty reliable. Now I'm having some problems with the locking up (what is this? Win 98 or some shit?). Nothing like playing through software that locks up on you. Maybe it's just this unit - maybe it's all of them. I don't know.

Never dealt with them.

Overall, I don't like the non-responsive feel and the gate has really sucked for me. I'm not impressed. I've got another friend who purchased his new and has also removed it from his rack. If you like the feel of playing through software and don't mind it locking up - this unit is for you! For me, the search continues.

Familliar with Rocktron rack units, it was a snap to get up and going.

Path editing isn't too bad. Each patch is assigned an effects order, so you are somewhat limited as to which effects you can use. Effects can not be simply turned on or off via midi controller or front panel--I think you have to turn the volume down on the effect to effectively turn it off via a midi controller.

Overall, the sound quality is excellent.

The pitch shifter is not intelligent, and it seemd to track slow to me. Having 4 voices on the pitch shifter is nice, but not really usable for me.

I thought the delay time were short. The longest being only in mono.

Chorus--up to 8 voices--was very nice and reverbs sounded great too.

The unit was quite but a loud beep occurred at power up.

seemed to be built with quality.

never dealt with directly. web site is good for manuals and patches.

Bought new at local guitar center.

Overall, it was good, but I returned it and got a used t.c. electronic g-major--you can read my review. I would have bought a new g-force or g-major instead of keeping the intellifex. I think both the intellifex and g-major retail for about the same price right now.

The tuner,eq,extra effects, sound quality and other options on the g-major made that the effects box for me and I think it's a much better buy and far mor versatile on sounds and features.

Great Sound.

Mine started to intermittently "Crash", It would just display a whole bunch of charactors on the LED and would stop responding.

I took it back to the guitar shop where i bought it and have not received it back yet (that was 10 months ago - no shit). They have passed it to different repair places, the first place had to wait months to get the schematics for it from rocktron because rcktron were being bought out by GHS strings or something. Its got to the stage were aparrently rocktron don't want to have much to do with supporting australian customers so all of the repair places are scrathing their heads. One guy said they could replace the system board but getting their hands on one first would be the greatest challenge.

It appears that if you live outside the US you're not going to get too much help from rocktron when things go wrong. The guitar shop that I bought it from were official rocktron dealers but have now stopped selling their products (I wonder why?)

Its an awesome unit, but I haven't seen it in 10 months. At this stage its useless to me. No I wouldn't replace it with a rocktron unit. Next time I will do more research into a brand before I buy their product. I play in a band which play atleast once a week when we are not touring and everyday when we are on tour. I need something that is relaible. I have had to borrow gear from people or play without the effects that the intellifex provided me.

Not a happy customer.

this is very relative. the intellifex have lots os parameters to make a present, and u got lots of possibilities from effects with this. but u must sit down, read the manual and play a lot with this unity. after u got the "mood" from intellifex become very easy to use. And they got a windows editor in rocktron's website.

my setup-> ibanez Jem -> jmp1 -> mesaboogie 20/20 -> 2x12" 200W spearkes..
I got no noise from intellifex(HUSH). and all effects are very clean and bright.. the only problem is the pitch shifter.. i lost lots of times to get a good sound...

it's ok

nver broke... but their website is very good, with some patches and information..

it's the best rack effect system that I ever get... clean and silent..
get this if u wanna a powerfull delay/rever/chorus system.

Getting a good sound out of this unit is a peice of cake. I use it as an FX loop for my mixer and it's perfect for anything from heavy guitar, to vocals, to bass, to even my harmonica. You have to ensure that the "input" knob is turned so that you see some activity on the unit's LED's. Them tweak the output level so that you don't kill your mixer and you're all set. Simply turn the preset knob and use the recall button to select your patch. Programming this unit take some getting used to however.

I'm using an Roland keyboard, Ibanez JS electric and a Korg ToneWorks AX1500G .. no amp. (I was using a Gallien Krueger , but I don't remember the model.) The Rocktron unit is is primarily used for reverbs and chorus. The reverberation is superior. The unit is 24 bit capable and can be used with vocals, bass, acoustic, keyboards. The sound is awesome when the levels are properly configured.

well sometimes I turn the unit on and it seems as though it's jammed. I restart it and it's fine. This happens 1/40 times. Once the unit is on however, it NEVER fails.

Customer support? .. who needs it. Although I'm using a power supply that's not made for the Rocktron, it's rated at an amp level that's slightly less that required. Works fine, but I should order a new one.

I play blues, hard rock, neo classical and progressive. I've been playing for 12 years now. If my rocktron got stoken, I would probably smash a couple of things and go on a rampage. It would hurt, but I would definately purchase another one. I love the ability to control it with a midi footswitch. I personally find it easy to use. It's a great asset to my home studio since it's my main reverb/chorus/delay unit. Compared to the Korg's reverb and to my software based solutions in my Cakewalk Sonar, I find the Rocktron untoucheable in terms of sound quality and flexibility.

It is difficult if you want to go beyond the presets. I own an original blackface one. i don't know if its any better or worse than the new ones. I got the manual with it, which you can't live without. There are extensive modifications you can do to the presets with the many parameter options.

Good sound quality. I mainly bought it for reverb and occasional delay. It is very good for reverb. Much better than a pedal reverb. The delay is very good, however, i wish that you could start from scratch and custom build your own, instead of modifying presets.

i don't gig

don't know. they make quality products though

Try if before you by it. like i said, i would like to be able to start from scratch and build from there, instead of the way its setup.

I'ts quite a hard job to get the feeling with this unit, also because when editing parameters you don't know exactly wich parameter you are going to save and what you are comparing...

Good, cristall reverb, nice delay and chorus, very warm...preset patches are quite difficult to use, better start from a blank blackboard;
Quite noiseless and good audio output, but the lack of balanced output really disappoint me!

Good quality...I can trust in it

When buying it I noticed a problem with the adaptor and they didn't help me at all, I had to ask the italian import company...no help without asking more money for a 20$ adaptor!In many cases they also let5 me understand I was disturbing them!
The unit was used but still under warranty

Good for all style of music and instrument, but some configuration limit the parameter set and in certain condition this can be a problem

This is the Online version. Not extremely easy to program. I read the manual one night, and programmed all my presets, and I've forgotten how to program it now. The manual is adequate, but I just wish it was a little more intuitive. It sucks to have to read the manual to remember how to store a preset, etc.

Hamer Studio > Mesa Boogie Triaxis > Rocktron Intellifex > Mesa Boogie Simulclass 2:90 > Marshall 1960AV 4X12. This does great time based effects. The chorus and delays are excellent, and the pitch shifter is good for a unit in this price range. Still have not been able to get a good flange sound except when I don't want it to. The reverbs are nice also. The presets are a little "wet" for my taste, and there is a flange effect that is unintentional when playing with alot of distortion and heavy reverb. Doesn't do anything spectacular, but is best to add subtle sounds to the signal. I'm a former owner of several Boss pedals, and a digitech unit. I miss being able to reach down and turn a few knobs on the pedals, but the convienience of a single rack unit to take the place of 3 pedals is great. I really wish it had a tremolo and a better flange.

I gig all the time without a backup, but I don't rely on effects. If I did, I'd probably want some kind of backup. I fear tubes going out more than this thing.

Haven't tried it yet.

I'm in 2 bands, a stupid hard rock/metal band, a funk oriented band, and I do some studio work for hip-hop groups. I've been playing for about 12 years. You can find these things for around 225 on ebay. For the price, they are great. Just know that there is a reason why TC Electronics, Lexicon, and Eventide units are so expensive. Its because they are better. Also, its hard to program on the fly, so you can't really use it to write, except with pre-existing effects. (At least I can't) For someone who just wants a bit of effects, I think it is perfect. If you want to sound like Steve Vai, get a better unit, and practice more. The units I compared it with were pieces of crap, like the Alesis Quadraverb, because of the price. For me, this is to tide me over until I can get a TCE G-Force.

I use the intellifex Online version 1.11!!
Presets are good but its a very long way to find out how to programm own style!!

I use Yamaha Dg 1000-intellifex online-Mesa Boogie 50/50!
I think the hush at the Bypass channels damage your real amp sound!
But the other effects without the Pitch Shifter have a very good quality!
I don`t know what i will do with the Pitch Shifter

Overall its a good FX! When you look at price and what you get for it is The intellifex better than the Ge Force!
I played both at stage and in the studio!
On stage prefer the Intellifex but at the studio take the Ge Force (attantion: Program Orgies!!!)