Customer Reviews

DigiTech GNX4 Guitar Multi-Effects Pedalboard with Drum Machine

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

GNX4 builds upon the guitar workstation concept of GNX3, with the same underlying Genetex modeling technology but vast improvements in the user interface. Also, many additional features may just render useless much of your other equipment because GNX4 has it all on there.

Main improvements over GNX3:
- Global patch level control (making it easier to overdrive the amp models using master volume without clipping)
- More assignable controllers (interface slightly different and takes getting used to, but learning curve is small as with all DigiTech products)
- MIDI drum machine (no longer limited to 4/4)
- CompactFlash memory card (making GNX4 no less than a virtual 8-track digital recorder)
- MP3 player (allowing to conserve space on the memory card)
- Additional and/or improved I/O section and including phantom power for mic input as well as speaker compensation
- USB connectivity allows for numerous PC-based applications

Many multi-effects processors on the market today (see Line6 PODxT Live, Boss GT series, Vox Valvetronix, etc) pack more "models" "effects" and "features" into their mix. The DigiTech approach is rather different: the effects that are provided can be controlled any way the user desires.

So for example: although there are only 5 "official" delay types included with the GNX4, the actual possibilities are virtually unlimited as to how many delay models you can come up with. There are many parameters allowing you to tweak the delay pretty much any way you wish.

Of course, there is only so much tweakability you can pack into a single workstation under $500. So, DigiTech provides two LFO controls that allow real-time "parameter editing" to occur automatically at a set rate. Further control is provided by allowing user to adjust LFO speed in real time. The combination of expressive controls and adjustable parameters make the GNX4 a very powerful, flexible piece of equipment.

The GeNetEx amp-warping features, again, provides infinite tweakability with only a handful of starting options. By taking two of the 16 amp models, setting each up with its own EQ gain etc, then warping them together to a desired ratio makes it possible to create a perfect amp for your application - no need to rely on the built-in "historic" and "legendary" models. Same can be done with speaker cabinet models, whose perceived size can be adjusted by changing the resonant frequency. The interface for GNX4 is vastly improved over GNX3, making the amp- and cab-warping very easy.

Of course the GNX4 is not all-powerful (yet - maybe GNX5 will be?). There are certain things it won't allow you to do, most notably:
- you cannot run two different amp models out of the L/R stereo channels.
- volume level triggering is only available on certain pre-defined effects (there's a triggered phaser, flanger, etc) - compare to BOSS GT-8 that lets you use input level as yet another expressive control.
- S/PDIF output has been taken out.
- Order of effects in the chain cannot be changed, so compression always comes before noise gate, etc.
- The display is similar to a 4-function calculator, which can be limiting sometimes.

That said, GNX4 is one powerful machine. If you've never had a multi-fx before, definitely give this a try - it'll blow your mind! Plus, DigiTech offers great customer support and provides user forums for discussion, so you'll never have to be stuck trying to figure out how to use something.

With the upgraded (over the GNX3) drum machine in it, this unit has become very strong. After retiring my electric guitars for the past 10 years, I decided to lay down some tracks. I looked at the state of the art and this unit is what I settled on. I'm very happy with the effect quality, drum voices, and recording capabilities. I can plug in my guitar and microphone and get to work. I mic my classical guitars through this unit with good results. With the talkbox, whammy pedal, and wah effects, I don't need any stompboxs strewn about. I haven't read the manuals, but learning how to modify effect parameters, record to the compact-flash, and get the unit up and running with the accompanying software was a cinch. It has been troublefree. Although it's an excellent value, I realize that it's a bit much for the up-and-coming young musician. If you're serious about your craft, this is a good peice of equipment to have.

I like it.
I haven't tried the drum machine too much and don't have too much hope for it. And it's a little complicated to use. It would be cool if there were more connection with a computer, so that you could link up to a computer and create drum patterns or create new sounds or do custom tones by using some nice graphical software, rather than turning knobs and watching little LEDs.
That said, the thing ROCKS! I use it all the time now. The sound is more than passable, and the ability to toggle through a nearly limitiless selection of effects is really, really cool. I have 5 or 10 favorite pre-sets and just switch over to "blues" or "jazz" or "rock" or whatever I"m in the mood for.
The recording ability is really a winner. You can easily dump the track to the same compact flash card i use in my camera. Then playback and record at the same time. You can even easily pull tracks off a computer onto compact flash and play them while reacording new tracks. Makes mixing really easy -- just record the tracks, pull out the flash card, slide into the computer and import into your favorite mixer sofware.
All-in-all, well worth the $$

I have had the GNX4 for about three weeks now, and I am still discovering new features on this pedal. So far, the effects, drum machine, and recording aspects have been great. I purchased a 2GB CF card for around $25 in order to make use of the recorder within the pedal and to store additional patches. A large number of patches created by other GNX4 users can be downloaded for free, so that is really cool. I have briefly tried the included software, and it appears to work wonderfully. Recording through USB may take some getting used to, but it should come along with time. The only significant difficulty that I have encountered is getting the pedal to sound right through my amp. It has amp and cabinet modelers that provide great tones without being plugged through another amp (eg. when played through the computer or headphones). When played through an amp, I have found that the sound can get muddy. I believe plugging it through our P.A. system is going to take care of that problem. It is recommended by many that this pedal be played through a P.A., a cabinet with a plain power amp, or a guitar amp with a totally clean sound so it will not interfere with the GNX4 sound. Overall, I am very satisfied with this purchase.

After long years of using another guitar effect and pedals, I finally decided for an upgrade and purchased Digitech's GNX4. Being a "slow buyer", who first wants to get the information and "test drive", I've spent some weeks to learn the spec and hear opinions of others. Well, I knew it was a powerful effect, but the actual possibilities and unbelievable flexibility keeps on surprising me to this very day.
GNX4 is a solid built multieffect, which can be used in the studio, rehearsal room or on stage. Sound presets are both factory and user created, allowing maximum of control over the sound. Grouping the banks in rows of five presets gives enough sounds to be quickly chosen by selecting the bank.
A new function for me is the built-in 8 track recorder allowing recording of played material. I don't need to sit at my computer anymore to get my stuff recorded and working out ideas or drilling the riffs and licks. GNX4 offers it all. Needless to say, the variety of sounds has also been extended in comparison to my older effects. I would even give it 6 or more stars. If you're a beginner, semi pro or just professional musician, I'm sure GNX4 can work for you.

DigiTech GNX4 Guitar Multi-Effects Pedalboard with Drum Machine is an outstanding
Guitar effects processor. The presets are excellent and the ease of setup and the
sound quality are outstanding. The device has so many options that I have hardly
time to try out just the basic functions. It is a device is great for practicing
as well as concert gigs. The only downside was the device was shipped without
all software. The company however allowed me to download the software from its
ftp site.

Which isn't a bad thing. The GNX4 is a surprising product. I purchased it because I was unable to record using an external input thanks to the awful driver managers in Windows Vista, I needed something that could record in the device then spit the finished mixtracks onto a computer. The GNX4 did this.

What surprised me, however, was its versatility afterward. The GNX4 has a decent on-board recorder, but it is absolutely essential if you are doing a live show. Though daunting, its pedalboards become almost completely intuitive, as do its jam-man and amp creation features. Once a bass and condenser mic are plugged in the GNX4 can act as its very own mixing board, all live. I've managed to sing and loop guitar and bass tracks at the same time all the while switching sounds. Truth be told, I haven't even scratched the surface of the GNX4's capabilities because I haven't had the time, and sufficed to say I've invested much, much time because it's a gem to play with.

On the physical side the GNX4 is very very sturdy, and despite the fact that I've already put it through situations that would destroy most DigiTech plastic pedals, its metal exterior has proven incredibly tough and durable, in fact I'd warn you to stow it in your car carefully as during a fast stop it flew threw my car and nearly murdered me, and did manage to smash my car stereo into pieces...demonstrating that it is, despite its size, surprisingly light (The GNX4 did not receive a scratch).

Qualms include the GNX4's default of setting an incredibly (INCREDIBLY) loud 4 beat click before recording a song, and for that matter the fact that it requires a lot of tweaking when hooked up to an external output. The JamMan, also requires a bit more work to operate than I'd like, however it is quite usable with practice. The GNX4 doesn't really sport many recording frills, so edit it in an in computer sound editor. Also, you'll need at least a good solid straight day to set all your parameters up, as the default guitar sounds probably aren't going to cut it for you.

All in all I bought the GNX4 to record song ideas, but ended up staying for the reasons many already listed on this site's reviews. It is sturdy, useful, intuitive (read the manual though)and sports a very robust set of features. I would recommend it to live performers, and people who need a device to get ideas down fast, and, surprisingly, well.

I used to own a DigiTech RP250 Guitar Multi-Effects Pedal and DigiTech Jamman Looper and Phrase Sampler Pedal. I traded both for the GNX4. The GNX4 is older technology, but packed with features.

The guitar modeling is very powerful. If you are too lazy to make your own tones, look up the MFXSUPERMODEL package for the GNX4. I got pretty good at making patches on the RP250. The GNX4 doesn't have all the parameters that the RP250 had. I can't quite replicate some the sounds I had before switching. But the MFXSUPERMODELS sound incredible compared to anything I ever did on the RP250. I have no reservations about the change. If you want help creating your own patches, check out Digitech GNX4 Guitar Workstation: The Power User's Guide.

I like having the 4 switches to turn on and off parameters (distortion, chorus, delay, reverbs, etc.) in the middle of a song. The switches are labeled (AMP CHANNEL, STOMPBOX, CHORUS/MOD, DELAY), but you can assign anything you want to them, and multiple parms to the same switch. And not just ON/OFF, but a level for each parm. It makes it easy to vary your tone during different parts of a song. I also like the TAP TEMPO footswitch to set the delay timing to the tempo of the song you are playing. I didn't realize I needed to do that until I got out the manual! The expression pedal is also completely assignable. I have used it for volume, wah, amount of vibrato/chorus/reverb, LFO filter.

The GNX4 is very handy for practicing. It has a built-in drum machine. One practice we had without a drummer, we found that the drum machine had the perfect pattern for every song. Not as good as a real drummer of course, but kept the beat for us. You can vary the level of the drum machine separate from your guitar so everyone can hear the drums over your guitar. You can also load MIDI drum files or MP3 files from your computer and play those back too.

Everything that the JAMMAN pedal can do, this can do and more. You can record your playing to multiple tracks. You can record your signal dry without any modeling, and then play back with modeling. You can record yourself playing a rhythm part along with the drum machine, and then playback and practice a solo over the top.

You can also use 4 different inputs into the pedal. The guitar line, a mic line, and left and right line inputs. There is a MIDI input too, but this is just for the drum machine. You can set your levels on each easily.

Outputs include 1/4" stereo outs, XLR stereo outs, and a headphone jack. You can also tweak the XLR levels on the back easily.

The XEdit software makes it easy to create your own sounds on the computer instead of bending over and messing with the pedal. It looks like this has improved over the years based on the old reviews. Transferring MIDI and MP3 files is easy over the USB connection, as well as transferring recordings from the GNX4 to your computer. I have had some luck of converting MP3 songs into the right format to play back on the 8-track recorder, but you need to be computer savvy to do this with a program like Audacity.

I highly recommend a pedal like the GNX4, because after you buy it, you should never need to buy another pedal. The fact that Digitech has not created a "GNX5" after years is a testament to how good this pedal is! If you do not need the drum machine or JAMMAN, I would go with the DigiTech RP500 Guitar Multi Effects Pedal. It is the newer technology, similar switches as the GNX4, but no drum machine or JAMMAN for $100 less.

I also recommend the CNB PDC-410E Locking Aluminum Pedal Case, Extra Wide. If you have other gear, they also make larger cases. You won't find a better case for less. Much better than the GNX4 Gig Bag for the same price!

Hello. First of all I have owned this thing for over a year & I am very happy with it. The learning curve is steep but that's what you have to deal with in a device that has so much to offer & you simply have to spend the time to learn the thing. I'm still discovering all sorts of new stuff & ways to make this gadget work for me. Other than the obvious I use this gadget to do the majority of the recording in my studio including vocals. I also highly reccomend the great book by Craig Anderson who does all the how-to books for Electronic Musician magazine. It does cover a lot of details that the included manual leaves out or dosen't go into very well plus a lot of just good tips. This is definitely a box that you must plan on growing with, it is almost certainly not a "plug & play" item. Every person has their own guitar/playing style/guitar electronics & you have to start working with the GNX4 to get it to respond to what you do with the guitar you use. I have one major complaint that I really wish Digitech would address: The unit comes with pre-loaded patches to get you started but they are simply not varied enough. They just don't do this gadget justice, way too many distortion settings & not enough showing off all the wonders this thing has. The recorder side is very nice but where I am most happy is the MP3 player. I create my own backing Trax in my studio & all I have to do is USB this gadget to my MAC. The GNX4 appears as an external HardDrive & I just open the MP3 folder, toss in my trax & they are ready to play along with. When learning new guitar solo's for instance I use a nice prg on my MAC to slow the part down then load it to my GNX4 to practice. I've performed with this thing & my backing Traxs & had no problems. Can't reccomend it highly enough!