A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expect

Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

I have owned a 2112 and the 2120 and the Axe is light years ahead of it in the tone, feel and dynamics department. The effects are better all the way around, way better at control, setup and editing. I can't comment on Eleven rack, I just don't have the overwhelming urge to step backwards with gear :mrgreen: .
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

I can kinda answer for the 2101 side of things.... There is no comparison.

Remember creating your own custom effects routs/linkages? Yeah that not a problem. And you don't have a memory constraint of how many routes you could make. Just download Axe Edit and give it a look without the axe-fx unit. You just wont have any audio.

I cannot put them side by side because the last time I had a 2101 was about 15 years ago. Effects / memory management / has completely changed and progressed much farther then the 2101 could have ever done. Just goto the wiki and look at the depth of which you can edit/manage your effects. Plus there is effect automation (Controllers/LFO's/ADSR's/Envelopes/sequencers) that can be linked up to most parameters. Again... download axe-edit.

Computer front end (if you want) is a million years past what anyone has ever put together for the 2101. The axe-fx hardware interface is not too bad to get use to. For me, this was worth the price of admission.

PreAmp, Power, Cabinet simulation... Lets not get into this. It's not worth the calories I will burn typing it out.

2101 was amazing for it's time but, Axe-FX is a totally different beast and much more flexible.

What I have heard about the 11 Rack is that it is a very good sounding using but, lacks the depth that you can get into your effects and simulations. But, having the patch data stored into your protool's project file metadata is a smashing feature. My feeling, depending on what you use all this gear for to loose the 2101, and integrate the Axe-FX into your workflow. There are people who use both the Axe-FX and the 11 Rack together for recording purposes. Do some seaching around, we have no idea what you are trying to accomplish.
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

I had a 2101.

It had a lot of awesome 8v choruses and 8v detune presets for a nice variation in LA studio type sounds.
I'm not even sure if the Axe can do 8v detune.
I would agree 8v detune sounds over the top if I hadn't had a 2101.
Not saying I miss 'em [edit: I do...], but sure wouldn't mind having them again either (or all the preset data).

In the Axe you need to use two reverbs if you want a true stereo-in reverb.

The 2101 with the extra processor card crashed on me all the time... (bad contact or bad firmware?)

I still have the G-Force which I've just hooked up in the Axe's loop as a bit crusher and vintage tone sucker ;)

I may become "Ultra happy" now :lol:
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

I still have my 2101 and use it as a backup (esp for bass believe it or not!) The AxeFX's tones are light years ahead. The main thing which the 2101 has over the AxeFX is the way it handles delay spillover when changing patches. The AxeFX sucks at this really. The 2101 does it amazingly well. More so when you consider how old the unit is.

My 2101 still works after 16+ years where I've already gone through one Ultra. :?

For sound quality, there's nothing better than the AxeFX.
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

rdomain said:
The main thing which the 2101 has over the AxeFX is the way it handles delay spillover when changing patches.

Spillover on AxeFx works ok for me but I never owned 2101,
is it really that much better?
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

Definitely. There's no extra programming involved to be able to do it successfully on the 2101. Therefore there's no CPU wastage when programming patches. The AxeFX is quite clunky with regards to getting true spill over fx imo. The 2101 had the advantage of having dual processors so it was a piece of cake for the unit to handle it.
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

rdomain said:
The 2101 had the advantage of having dual processors so it was a piece of cake for the unit to handle it.
It didn't in its original version, and maybe it didn't have this easy spillover either without the extra CPU? (I forgot, but I think so). If it had, maybe it had reserved CPU power for it, even in presets where it wasn't needed, so every system has its pros and cons.

I also have to restate for maybe the 4th time that I loved the compressor in the 2101 for some settings. Maybe it had to do with my other gear at the time, but I could get the most awesome musical single note pop/slap out of it, making me feel "King of the World" when playing funky muted lines. Maybe it was because the compressor was analog, but I can't find it in the Axe so far, which is one of the only truely disappointing things in it. I'm sure the compressors are otherwise great (too good even maybe :mrgreen: ).
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

Yeah I upgraded my 2101 years ago to the 'Artist' model which had the 2 processors. The original release didn't. I believe the 2nd release did as standard? Too long ago! haha :lol:
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

Preamp: The 2101 had some great distortions and a nice "sparkly" clean but not much in the way of the tones in between those extremes (Such as Fender clean, AC30 grind , Marshall that can go from clean to dirty based on your guitar's volume knob).

Effects: I think the 2101 can do a good portion of what the Axe-FX can but never with the same clarity. Setting up custom configurations was a lot of work; with the Axe-FX it's very easy using axe edit.

Speaker Sim: IMHO not especailly usefull on the 2101. This is where the Axe-FX really shines. Excellent power amp modeling and speaker sims. Also the ability to add user IR's adds a ton of flexibility.

I do not have a MFC-101 yet but I am hoping it as seamless as using a Control One with the 2101 since that was one area where the 2101 really excelled.
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

Once you get use to how the Axe-Fx works, you can simply...

Expect Miracles!!!!!!!!!!
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

HAMERMAN409 said:
I do not have a MFC-101 yet but I am hoping it as seamless as using a Control One with the 2101 since that was one area where the 2101 really excelled.
That pedal was the worst ever for me. If you didn't have the exact right timing, it would switch again (*and* the paint just literally fell off too). Can't believe Pat Metheny has been using one...
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

vAmp said:
HAMERMAN409 said:
I do not have a MFC-101 yet but I am hoping it as seamless as using a Control One with the 2101 since that was one area where the 2101 really excelled.
That pedal was the worst ever for me. If you didn't have the exact right timing, it would switch again (*and* the paint just literally fell off too). Can't believe Pat Metheny has been using one...

The Control One or the MFC101?
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

rdomain said:
The Control One or the MFC101?
C1
It felt to me like the plastic switches couldn't stand very much, so when I tried to use it with respect and "shaky feet" :D it was very easy to have it switch to and fro. And yes, whole blotches of paint fell off in spots where I hadn't even touched it "ever".

I had a love/hate thing with the whole GSP-2101.
Sometimes it felt you could get anything out of it, if you just knew how (I knew even less then than now). But OTOH it had a lot of shitty sounds too and for me the hopeless crashing (many times a day) with the 2nd CPU card.
Loved the LA cleans and compressor.

If I had only known the PEQ trick then :lol:
I actually stumbled upon it once and used it, but didn't know how to tune it optimally then. I kinda figured I was using something that was "not done" :mrgreen:
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

Wow. I've got one of the originals and it's been through hell. I had to replace a couple of switches years ago but apart from that it's been great. Another cool thing I really liked with the controller was how you could change to a new patch and then tap the same button and it would go back to the previous patch. Really handy for quick intermittent changes especially when singing!

Never had any paint come off of mine. I've been using it recently even while I've been waiting for my Ultra to be repaired.
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

rdomain said:
Another cool thing I really liked with the controller was how you could change to a new patch and then tap the same button and it would go back to the previous patch.
Y, was my favorite thing about it too (and made it even more difficult to dependably change a preset :mrgreen: )
I'd absolutely want that in the MFC, but I think it already can(?)

Anyway, let's say I didn't have too much experience with it.
 
Re: A Digitech 2101 AND 11 Rack owner...tell me what to expe

Really handy!! I'm really hoping that's an option in the MFC101. If not, I'll be requesting it when I eventually do get one. Waiting on stock... :|
 
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