This is by far the most useful demo of this device that I've watched thus far! I especially like the attention given to the clean amp sounds available in this box. Thanks for making this!
Great playing! That's usually missing from the majority of demo vids. Your sound is great no thrashing distortion like most. Great clean playing like a musician should. You convinced me to buy one of these. Happy holidays.
JDX is really impressive. Seems like a great solution to silent home recording. I love it's simplicity. Not too many choices to get lost in, and it sounds great. Nice demo, Sir. Thanks and cheers. 🍻
I recently purchased one of these and plan to use it at an upcoming gig in two weeks. Most all the available venues in my area are brewpubs. They operate so much differently than the night clubs we performed in for 25 years before getting into bluegrass music for a decade. Now we're a three piece classic rock cover band trying to adjust. These venues prefer a low volume. That makes acoustic drums a real problem. Plus, they don't like to allow ample set up time because the "stage" is usually a corner where they move tables to make room and like to keep those tables in place as long as possible to make money. So, we now have electronic drums and have decided to go ampless. Our first rehearsal went much better than expected. I'm really liking my Direct Drive so far. We'll have one more rehearsal prior to the gig. It will be a new experience but I think we're gonna like it. Like you, I too prefer the Combo/Normal and the Stack/Bright options. As a matter of fact, I wish the unit had a footswitch and I could alternate between the two. Thanks for the video. It is far more informative than all the others I found.
So can u tell if this is comparable to strymon iriduim? Im quite confused on Cab Sim feature. Jdx never stated that this device is a Cab Sim, most reviews does says its a cab sim. Ive been chasing my tone on stage all the time. Every cab sim i use is just good at practice but never in live.
@@kuyakoi3469 I have both the Direct Drive and the Iridium. I love and use them both. Sound, feel, and response wise, there is no substitute for my amp. But with all the restrictions at currently available venues, my amp is a no go. Plus, I'm 59 years old now, so not having to load and carry it is most refreshing. I can't give you a recommendation of one over the other for you. I use them both as needed. At my last gig, I used the Iridium. It performed wonderfully. One advantage it has is that I can have a Fender amp as my main setting but can switch to a Vox sim for other songs. Also, I have two Yamaha passive monitor wedges with 10" speakers driven by a QSC stereo amp. One wedge carries my normal monitor mix and the other just my guitar. All other band members use In-Ears. The setup operates much like a guitar amp in that, since I mix from stage, I can control MY guitar volume in the wedge by simply adjusting the level on the B side of my QSC amp. One disadvantage of the Iridium is that it doesn't have a built in D.I. So to use it live and get the best, warmest, most rich and realistic sound, I had to purchase one. I chose the Radial JDI. It works very well for my guitar and setup. It costs another $250 in addition to the $400 Iridium. The Radial Direct Drive is a turnkey unit for $250. It does lack some of what the Iridium offers, but the Iridium falls short of the Direct Drive in other respects. I'm rambling on and repeating myself. I just recommend them both. But as far as value for your dollar, the Direct Drive is mighty hard to beat. One thing for sure though, Radial makes VERY good gear. You can't go wrong buying their products. As far as the cab sim question, I consider both as cab sims. But, if memory serves at the moment, the Direct Drive may not use IR technology to achieve their cab sim sound. It doesn't matter to me either way. Does it sound good? That's what matters. So far, everyone in the band and audience who has commented says they love it. I've had no trouble whatsoever getting a great sound at FOH or on stage with either device. If anything, the job is much easier. Hope this helps in your quest.
@@tlb2732 same here, as much as possbile i dont like dragging amp on my gigs.. with all honesty i also dont mind much on that IR thing as long as theres an element of analog amp in my sound im good with it. I just purchased the Direct drive now. Thanks for your input.
Thank you for this strict review. The suhr pedal + fender & sm57 did work very well. JDX (Combo + Normal) does need a correction in the mid range to my opinion. At 7:55 the JDX kill the chorus effect whereas when mic'd the chorus is subtle but efficient. Very informative! Again, thanks
Aloha! 1) Great playing. Great songs! RnR4evr!🤘🏽 2) for years I relied on a Tech21/Sansamp GT2 if I needed to go FOH for smaller gigs where stage volume was a problem. And, on very few occasions, when my amp failed. I always had an EH Magnum .44 in my bag as an emergency. The problem was it didn't take pedals very well. Always came across as a little too "harsh" when I set it up for a British, low gain setting. This looks / sounds like you are able to run your entire pedalboard IN FRONT of the JDX!!!👍🏽 3) For recording or straight to P.A., it seems like a very straight forward way to consistently get good cab tones... INSTANTLY vs. fudging with mic placement as well as mic type. Not everyone has the same mics. Thanks again! Just placed my order🍻🤞🏽 Aloha!🤙🏽
Thanks for the comments Reese! Yeah, this box is a winner! I continue to take it to every gig, whether I use it or not. The main reason I bought one to try it was to run my pedal board straight into it, and then out to the FOH. If that sounded good, I'd keep the pedal. If not, it was going back. Luckily it sounds great with both of my gigging and recording pedal boards. Appreciate your comments and let me know if you like the pedal/box when it arrives. Rock on!
Rock and Roll LIVES.! Great Playin' - Great Comparison.! Mic'ed amp was warmer but the JDX sounded really good. especially when using more effects. Thanks..
Thanks very much! Appreciate the feedback. Ya I'm in the middle of recording a new song and I'm using a combination of guitar tracks recorded using the JDX Direct Drive box and miked up Fender and Marshall amps. Great pedal!
I think JDX is best because you don't depend of three important factors: 1. Model or brand of Amplifier (when we play in different places the amp never is the same) 2. Model or brand of Mic 3. Position of mic I think use a JDX or amp simulators like Bias, etc... are best because help us to hear the real pickups and effects sound that we´ve and the sound in a live show not depends on a staff person or a microphone
Stratodan 27 We do Broken Hearted Savior, and usually get great response. I love my direct drive so much the amps stay at home now. Question: I've been considering a fractal ax8 and I'm wondering how the DD might compare in term of just what the DD simulates--a Marshall tone and a Fender tone. Have you by chance had a opportunity to compare a Fractal Audio Marshall or Fender tone to the Direct Drive?
Tim, we must be eating the same cereal or drinking the same water or something. For over a year I wanted to pull the trigger on the AX8, but I decided not to buy it...1) because of the $ and 2) because I love using my stomp box pedal boards so much with my tube amps. But I did want something for my home recording "studio" and Sweet Water had a crazy blow out deal for the Eleven Rack unit recently so I ended up getting the Eleven Rack. Just got it actually and haven't had much time to check it out yet other than hearing the sounds thru headphones. The AX8 is an awesome pedal board unit for live work, and if I didn't already have 100+ great pedals and 2 great sounding stomp box boards (the small one is in this video) I would have bought the AX8. Although the idea of having such an expensive piece of digital gear on the floor for outside gigs, or rowdy bar gigs kinda concerned me a bit. So no I'm not sure how the cab and speaker sims in the AX8 compare to the DD. I'm hearing some excellent sounding Fender and Marshall amp sims in the 11 Rack though and I haven't started tweaking presets yet. My guess is (after watching lots of AX8 videos) that the AX8 probably sounds just as good if not better than the DD amp+cab sims. And you certainly get a ton more options to choose from. But I dig the JDX DD cuz it's small, and I can just set it to that Stack Bright mode and plug in my pedal board which I'm so used to using for live and studio work.
100 plus pedals is an impressive collection. I've owned 25-30, and just really only keep what I use, going through a minimalism phase. I'm running sp-Tim-ts9 mini-OCD-volume-tr-2-dispatch master (rev/del)-ditto x2- into the jdx DD (sometimes put my wha in the mix). Monitoring with a Yamaha dbr 10 (great speaker). My tone is really good, but like everyone else I'm chasing holy grail tone. I'm wondering if the ax8 or others might be overkill for me. A few extra effect would be cool, but I'm not likely to utilize all the amp/cab and effects choices. However, if the tone was significantly better than the jdx DD and pedals I'd be a buyer. So, I'd really be interested in your take on the 11 rack vs the DD with pedals. Oh yeah, What od pedals are you digging the most with the jdx DD?
Hi Tim. To be honest since I got the JDX Drive and the 11 Rack at the same time, I sorta put the 11 Rack on hold for a while cuz I've been digging the JDX Drive so much with my pedal board. I've really only scratched the surface w the 11 Rack. Just plugged it in to make sure it worked, installed the 11 Rack Editor on my computer, and listened to a few sounds. I like some of the pre set Marshall and old Fender amp models, but again I really haven't worked much w the 11 Rack yet. Over the next 6 months or so I plan to get into the 11 Rack to see what it can do. All of the OD pedals I've tried so far work well with the JDX. In the video you can hear the OCD, Golden Brownie, and Suhr Eclipse pedals. I probably had the gain up a little high for all the OD sounds I recorded....good lesson for next time :). The OCD and Golden Brownie work great w the JDX DD. I also tried my Xotic BB Preamp, Reverend Drivetrain II, MI Audio Crunch Box and 2 Tonebone pedals..... American Classic and Hot British distortion pedals. Happy to say, they all sound great thru the JDX DD. A simple tweak of the EQ, gain, or volume knob on the pedal gets you dialed in easily w the JDX DD. I'm still diggin' the Stack Bright setting!
It is cool. I'm in the middle of recording a new song and some of the guitar tracks that I recorded with the JDX sound better than the tracks I recorded with a mic in front of my amp.
This is by far the most useful demo of this device that I've watched thus far! I especially like the attention given to the clean amp sounds available in this box. Thanks for making this!
Great playing! That's usually missing from the majority of demo vids. Your sound is great no thrashing distortion like most. Great clean playing like a musician should. You convinced me to buy one of these. Happy holidays.
Thanks for the demo video! I bought my JDX drive a year ago and but did not have a chance to use it. I guess now I can use it for my recording .
Cool man. Check out the "Combo Normal" setting for clean stuff, and the "Stack Bright" for overdriven tones. Very versatile box!
Great video, super helpful, thank you for your time 😊
Sounds like a very usable box. I'm going to order one after this demo.
Cool! Glad you liked the demo. It is a great tool!
JDX is really impressive. Seems like a great solution to silent home recording. I love it's simplicity. Not too many choices to get lost in, and it sounds great. Nice demo, Sir. Thanks and cheers. 🍻
I recently purchased one of these and plan to use it at an upcoming gig in two weeks.
Most all the available venues in my area are brewpubs. They operate so much differently than the night clubs we performed in for 25 years before getting into bluegrass music for a decade. Now we're a three piece classic rock cover band trying to adjust.
These venues prefer a low volume. That makes acoustic drums a real problem. Plus, they don't like to allow ample set up time because the "stage" is usually a corner where they move tables to make room and like to keep those tables in place as long as possible to make money.
So, we now have electronic drums and have decided to go ampless.
Our first rehearsal went much better than expected. I'm really liking my Direct Drive so far.
We'll have one more rehearsal prior to the gig. It will be a new experience but I think we're gonna like it.
Like you, I too prefer the Combo/Normal and the Stack/Bright options. As a matter of fact, I wish the unit had a footswitch and I could alternate between the two.
Thanks for the video. It is far more informative than all the others I found.
So can u tell if this is comparable to strymon iriduim? Im quite confused on Cab Sim feature. Jdx never stated that this device is a Cab Sim, most reviews does says its a cab sim. Ive been chasing my tone on stage all the time. Every cab sim i use is just good at practice but never in live.
@@kuyakoi3469 I have both the Direct Drive and the Iridium. I love and use them both. Sound, feel, and response wise, there is no substitute for my amp. But with all the restrictions at currently available venues, my amp is a no go. Plus, I'm 59 years old now, so not having to load and carry it is most refreshing.
I can't give you a recommendation of one over the other for you. I use them both as needed. At my last gig, I used the Iridium. It performed wonderfully. One advantage it has is that I can have a Fender amp as my main setting but can switch to a Vox sim for other songs.
Also, I have two Yamaha passive monitor wedges with 10" speakers driven by a QSC stereo amp. One wedge carries my normal monitor mix and the other just my guitar. All other band members use In-Ears. The setup operates much like a guitar amp in that, since I mix from stage, I can control MY guitar volume in the wedge by simply adjusting the level on the B side of my QSC amp.
One disadvantage of the Iridium is that it doesn't have a built in D.I. So to use it live and get the best, warmest, most rich and realistic sound, I had to purchase one. I chose the Radial JDI. It works very well for my guitar and setup. It costs another $250 in addition to the $400 Iridium. The Radial Direct Drive is a turnkey unit for $250. It does lack some of what the Iridium offers, but the Iridium falls short of the Direct Drive in other respects.
I'm rambling on and repeating myself. I just recommend them both. But as far as value for your dollar, the Direct Drive is mighty hard to beat.
One thing for sure though, Radial makes VERY good gear. You can't go wrong buying their products.
As far as the cab sim question, I consider both as cab sims. But, if memory serves at the moment, the Direct Drive may not use IR technology to achieve their cab sim sound.
It doesn't matter to me either way. Does it sound good? That's what matters.
So far, everyone in the band and audience who has commented says they love it.
I've had no trouble whatsoever getting a great sound at FOH or on stage with either device. If anything, the job is much easier.
Hope this helps in your quest.
@@tlb2732 same here, as much as possbile i dont like dragging amp on my gigs.. with all honesty i also dont mind much on that IR thing as long as theres an element of analog amp in my sound im good with it. I just purchased the Direct drive now. Thanks for your input.
@@kuyakoi3469 You're quite welcome!
Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you for this strict review. The suhr pedal + fender & sm57 did work very well. JDX (Combo + Normal) does need a correction in the mid range to my opinion.
At 7:55 the JDX kill the chorus effect whereas when mic'd the chorus is subtle but efficient.
Very informative! Again, thanks
Thanks Jean Marc! Appreciate it and glad you liked it.
Aloha!
1) Great playing. Great songs! RnR4evr!🤘🏽
2) for years I relied on a Tech21/Sansamp GT2 if I needed to go FOH for smaller gigs where stage volume was a problem. And, on very few occasions, when my amp failed. I always had an EH Magnum .44 in my bag as an emergency. The problem was it didn't take pedals very well. Always came across as a little too "harsh" when I set it up for a British, low gain setting. This looks / sounds like you are able to run your entire pedalboard IN FRONT of the JDX!!!👍🏽
3) For recording or straight to P.A., it seems like a very straight forward way to consistently get good cab tones... INSTANTLY vs. fudging with mic placement as well as mic type. Not everyone has the same mics.
Thanks again! Just placed my order🍻🤞🏽
Aloha!🤙🏽
Thanks for the comments Reese! Yeah, this box is a winner! I continue to take it to every gig, whether I use it or not. The main reason I bought one to try it was to run my pedal board straight into it, and then out to the FOH. If that sounded good, I'd keep the pedal. If not, it was going back. Luckily it sounds great with both of my gigging and recording pedal boards. Appreciate your comments and let me know if you like the pedal/box when it arrives. Rock on!
Great demo - proof is in the sound - not the talking.
Thanks man!
Rock and Roll LIVES.! Great Playin' - Great Comparison.! Mic'ed amp was warmer but the JDX sounded really good. especially when using more effects. Thanks..
Thanks very much! Appreciate the feedback. Ya I'm in the middle of recording a new song and I'm using a combination of guitar tracks recorded using the JDX Direct Drive box and miked up Fender and Marshall amps. Great pedal!
The jdx is especially handy in the studio. Great box and a lot easier on the back
Pretty cool. The differences are far more noticeable with high gain, for sure. But I guess that’s often how it goes.
I think JDX is best because you don't depend of three important factors:
1. Model or brand of Amplifier (when we play in different places the amp never is the same)
2. Model or brand of Mic
3. Position of mic
I think use a JDX or amp simulators like Bias, etc... are best because help us to hear the real pickups and effects sound that we´ve and the sound in a live show not depends on a staff person or a microphone
Well said! Thanks for your comment. The JDX is exceptional. It should be in every gigging guitarists's gig bag! Awesome tool!
Bittersweet! Love BHTM and my Direct Drive.
I'm a big BHTM fan too! My band recently added Bittersweet to our set list. One of my favorite songs.
Stratodan 27 We do Broken Hearted Savior, and usually get great response. I love my direct drive so much the amps stay at home now. Question: I've been considering a fractal ax8 and I'm wondering how the DD might compare in term of just what the DD simulates--a Marshall tone and a Fender tone. Have you by chance had a opportunity to compare a Fractal Audio Marshall or Fender tone to the Direct Drive?
Tim, we must be eating the same cereal or drinking the same water or something. For over a year I wanted to pull the trigger on the AX8, but I decided not to buy it...1) because of the $ and 2) because I love using my stomp box pedal boards so much with my tube amps. But I did want something for my home recording "studio" and Sweet Water had a crazy blow out deal for the Eleven Rack unit recently so I ended up getting the Eleven Rack. Just got it actually and haven't had much time to check it out yet other than hearing the sounds thru headphones. The AX8 is an awesome pedal board unit for live work, and if I didn't already have 100+ great pedals and 2 great sounding stomp box boards (the small one is in this video) I would have bought the AX8. Although the idea of having such an expensive piece of digital gear on the floor for outside gigs, or rowdy bar gigs kinda concerned me a bit. So no I'm not sure how the cab and speaker sims in the AX8 compare to the DD. I'm hearing some excellent sounding Fender and Marshall amp sims in the 11 Rack though and I haven't started tweaking presets yet. My guess is (after watching lots of AX8 videos) that the AX8 probably sounds just as good if not better than the DD amp+cab sims. And you certainly get a ton more options to choose from. But I dig the JDX DD cuz it's small, and I can just set it to that Stack Bright mode and plug in my pedal board which I'm so used to using for live and studio work.
100 plus pedals is an impressive collection. I've owned 25-30, and just really only keep what I use, going through a minimalism phase. I'm running sp-Tim-ts9 mini-OCD-volume-tr-2-dispatch master (rev/del)-ditto x2- into the jdx DD (sometimes put my wha in the mix). Monitoring with a Yamaha dbr 10 (great speaker). My tone is really good, but like everyone else I'm chasing holy grail tone.
I'm wondering if the ax8 or others might be overkill for me. A few extra effect would be cool, but I'm not likely to utilize all the amp/cab and effects choices. However, if the tone was significantly better than the jdx DD and pedals I'd be a buyer. So, I'd really be interested in your take on the 11 rack vs the DD with pedals.
Oh yeah, What od pedals are you digging the most with the jdx DD?
Hi Tim. To be honest since I got the JDX Drive and the 11 Rack at the same time, I sorta put the 11 Rack on hold for a while cuz I've been digging the JDX Drive so much with my pedal board. I've really only scratched the surface w the 11 Rack. Just plugged it in to make sure it worked, installed the 11 Rack Editor on my computer, and listened to a few sounds. I like some of the pre set Marshall and old Fender amp models, but again I really haven't worked much w the 11 Rack yet. Over the next 6 months or so I plan to get into the 11 Rack to see what it can do.
All of the OD pedals I've tried so far work well with the JDX. In the video you can hear the OCD, Golden Brownie, and Suhr Eclipse pedals. I probably had the gain up a little high for all the OD sounds I recorded....good lesson for next time :). The OCD and Golden Brownie work great w the JDX DD. I also tried my Xotic BB Preamp, Reverend Drivetrain II, MI Audio Crunch Box and 2 Tonebone pedals..... American Classic and Hot British distortion pedals. Happy to say, they all sound great thru the JDX DD. A simple tweak of the EQ, gain, or volume knob on the pedal gets you dialed in easily w the JDX DD. I'm still diggin' the Stack Bright setting!
can you use it with an actaul amp as a regular DI box?
Great demo
Thanks man!
Great sounds!
Thanks Ron!
Great demo.. nice playing
I like that JDX
It is cool. I'm in the middle of recording a new song and some of the guitar tracks that I recorded with the JDX sound better than the tracks I recorded with a mic in front of my amp.