Line 6 GuitarPort XT Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased the Guitar Port from Amazon the other day, and when it arrived I was excited to see what my Les Paul would sound like though my computer. My old amp fried out a couple of years ago, and I have only been playing acoustic since. I was afraid that it might sound a little artificial. Boy was I wrong!
After only a few hours of use, I can tell you that this is going to reinvigorate my play. This product is much, much better than I though it could ever be. It sounds great! The ability to pick from 10 heads, 10 cabinets, and several effects allows you to create the exact tone needed for a given song. I have already saved 5 "tones". I can just pick from a list to grab a nice tube "warm" amp, to the heavy crunch I save for Metallica licks, to a sweet chorus with a bit of distortion for a number of rockers.
I also love the hum reducer which learns from your guitar, and removes almost all of the guitar hum. Between that and the noise gate, my guitar seems much cleaner than I have ever heard it.
A small but very nice feature is the tuner, which makes it pretty dead simple to tune your axe. There are a number of other features I have not used yet. You can play along with Mp3, CD, etc.
A previous reviewer mentioned that the online service is a rip-off and you have to watch "the fine print". I bought this product as an amp replacement, so I have not subscribed to the online service. You do not have to pay the online $10/month fee to use this product. All the cool stuff that I have mentioned is yours, forever.
All in all, this is the coolest guitar toy I have ever used, far better than any of the pre-amp pedals/effects that I have tried out over the years.

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GuitarPort� XT introduces major enhancements to the GuitarPort� hardware/software system.Now all GuitarPort customers get the incredible benefits of using the powerful GearBox� software platform.GuitarPort XT delivers 18 classic and modern guitar amp models, 24 cab models, and 28 must-have studio and stompbox effects.With GuitarPort XT and the GearBox software, you'll have an entire studio full of perfectly dialed in sounds to practice or play along with whenever inspiration hits. The GuitarPort hardware delivers studio-grade tone with 24-bit converters and 32-bit processing via USB and the GearBox software runs on both PC and Mac� - even the new Intel-based machines!Customers can also add the optional GuitarPort Online� service for the ultimate practice setup with tons of great tracks, tabs, and lessons.GuitarPort XT can take any guitarist � no matter what playing level or style � and make them sound and play better!

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EarMaster 5 Review

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(More customer reviews)I love this software. I'm a pretty crappy guitarist who decided to go back to the basics and learn some music theory (which I'm doing via the "absolutely understand guitar" DVD set by Scotty West -- I recommend that product as well -- the presenter has a tendency to ramble and excessively repeat himself but ultimately the material is solid and a lot of things are starting to click so it was worth hanging in there). Anyway, this software is a perfect complement to your music theory studies. I think that unless you're just lucky to be born with a natural talent, you're going to need some dictation of intervals, chords, scales, and rhythm to atune your ear to how they sound. Playing it on your own instrument isn't as effective because you can't help using your eyes and fingers as a crutch. With this software, you have nothing but your ears to find the answer.
Some small nits to pick, which I'm writing here hoping that emedia will read this and include in its next upgrade: (1) the sounds are pretty crappy and hardly like the instruments they're supposed to represent. I'd rather get a choice of three instruments (say, piano, violin and steel string acoustic guitar) that sound realistic than 60+ crappy MIDI ones. (2) I wish an exercise were included that helps you train absolute pitch. For this, I think the Deburgh method is good. It starts by playing two notes (Eb and F#) and you have to listen in to the character of each and once you can distinguish them you progress to other/additional notes. (3) Another thing that I would find extremely useful is if the scale identification (which is what I'm working on now) could be expanded beyond ascending/descending. My hunch is that a program could be written to pick out notes from a scale in a sequence that still sounds relatively musical (following some musical rules). Or alternatively, plenty of examples (a couple of hundred, so you can't rely on memory) could be stored of existing music pieces in those scales. Ultimately, I would like to be able to hear something on the radio and be able to pick up by the character of the music that it's in this or that scale/mode (even if I can't tell the pitch) and the included exercise (just ascending/descending) is a bit too easy.

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If you want to sing, improvise or jam with complete confidence, you need to recognize all the sounds around you. Ear training can make this possible. Making music with others will become easy and fun! EarMaster is your personal teacher. It is easy to use and provides instant feedback. EarMaster includes a Standard Tutor with over 400 lessons as well as a Jazz Tutor with over 200 lessons. Both will guide you and automatically increase in difficulty as your ear improves. Create your own customized exercises to improve the way you play, compose and notate any style of music!

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