I was going to wait until I got home from work, but instead opted to go to work a bit late. (See how I didn't blame you Avid guys for my being late for work...?
)
There were a couple of
trivial annoyances with the purchase process:
- I didn't realize that I already had a login for the Avid store, this being my first purchase ever.
- It seems I had to enter my address and phone number multiple times.
Like I said:
trivial. Total time lost: about a minute.
The download and installation was utterly simple and flawless. I used a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard. I had already installed the latest ER drivers.
The whole process, from walking into the room to having the ER cabled back to the board and ready to play, took about 20 minutes. That put me right at the time I was
supposed to have left the house for work.
So I did what any of you would have done: I took my favorite guitar out of its case, plugged headphones into the ER (so as no to wake Mrs. TDD) and began to explore.
First thing, I added speaker breakup to my favorite patch (based on the Tweed Lux). It really takes the edge off of the amp breakup tones, which is just what I was hoping this feature would do. (I can't wait to play this through the PA tonight.)
Next up, the new digital delay. Very cool. I love the old-school sound of the tape delay, but the sound and features (pong and ducking) of the digital delay will open up new realms for me.
Finally, the new chorus. This'll definitely satisfy those who whined that the original chorus/vibrato - with it's one-knob chorus control - didn't give them enough creative range. Oh, and it sounds awesome, of course...
That took up fifteen minutes, and I would've missed my boss's weekly staff meeting had I dallied any longer with the ER. I reluctantly powered down the rig, put my guitar back in its case, and drove to work. Only to find that the staff meeting got pushed to tomorrow...
Oh, well...
I'm really looking forward to trying out the new Fender amp models tonight. I'll have to spend some time exploring the new factory presets, too. And the SVT: I
can't wait to play that through the PA (with sub, of course). And... and... and...
Maybe I should just go home "sick"... <cough cough>
One observation regarding the UI: I set my ER display to show just the knob positions (without the numeric values) because I have a dislike for "unnecessary" precision. However, there are enough "mode" settings in the new features that I'll probably change that display setting so that I can see the full configuration at glance.
I really want to thank the Avid guys (Chris and The Chimp, plus all of the other good folk who contributed in their own essential ways) for the great work you've all done in creating and delivering the ERXP. As a computer user since long before the early days of "personal" computing, I've become a bit jaundiced over the years by having paid for so many upgrades that delivered more value to the vendor than to the customer. You guys have turned that model on its head: the ERXP delivers substantial new functionality at a very reasonable price. 