IK Multimedia has been in the guitar rig emulation game for a long time. It released the first version of AmpliTube way back in 2002. And while the company has branched out quite a bit since then into synths, microphones and studio monitors, it hasn’t given up on the world of guitar just yet. In September it released Amplitude ToneX, an AI-powered update to its long-running modeling software. And now it’s combining that cutting edge software with its line of AmpliTube effects pedals to make a play at the increasingly popular market for hardware amp emulators.
The ToneX Pedal, at least physically, appears to be nearly identical to the other members of the AmpliTube pedal family. Though, rather than just offer a selection of delay effects, it can play host to entire rigs — from amplifies, cabs and even effects pedals. Users can capture and recreate their own gear if they want, great if you’ve got a lot of heavy (and expensive) vintage gear that you don’t want to risk at your next gig at the local punk rock bar. Just make a digital emulation, save it to the pedal and plug that straight into the venue’s PA. Of course, what will be of more interest to most is the library of over 1,000 Tone Models that are included with the ToneX Max software, and the over 6,000 user generated models on ToneNet.
The pedal can store up to 150 presets at a time that model everything from modern metal rigs to individual pedals. What’s more, if you’ve got a collection of impulse responses (IRs) you’ve collected, you can load them on the pedal as well to customize your selection of cabinets, and the pedal even has mic simulation built in, so you can plug straight into your DAW without having to sacrifice “room tone”.
Beyond that, the ToneX Pedal has a noise gate, EQ and compressor circuits, as well as five reverbs borrowed from the AmpliTube X-Space pedal. Plus it integrates with AmpliTube 5 on your computer, and can even be used as an audio interface for directly capturing guitar tracks, and it has MIDI in and out to make sure everything syncs up right. The ToneX Pedal is available now for $400,