IMPORTANT! Audio equipment should ALWAYS be powered up and down in a certain order. The power amp feeding your speakers should ALWAYS be turned on last and turned off first. If you turn other pieces of audio equipment on while they are connected to the powered speakers, loud transient pops will occur which can damage your hearing and your speakers. Always turn on all of your other audio devices that are connected to your powered speakers BEFORE you turn on your powered speakers. The same is true for turning things off. ALWAYS turn off your powered speakers BEFORE you turn off any other equipment connected to them. Following this simple rule will ensure that both your ears and your speakers will function normally for a long time to come. Hello From Roger Linn Thank you for purchasing the Black Box, a very exciting product created collaboratively by Roger Linn Design and the great folks at M-Audio. You may know of me from having invented the first digital drum machines in the 1980s, or from my MPC MIDI Production Center products with Akai in the 1990s. But you may not know that I'm also a guitarist, and my passion for guitar sound led to my more recent creation of the award-winning AdrenaLinn beat-synced guitar effects processor (www.rogerlinndesign.com.) Now I'm very proud to combine many of the best parts of AdrenaLinn with M-Audio's considerable expertise in computer-centric products. The result is the Black Box. What is the Black Box? It's a superb amp modeler combined with a unique effects processor that syncs to an internal drum machine. Plus, it's a complete digital audio interface to your computer. The beat-synced effects are the part I enjoy most: tremolo, flanging, delay--even looped sequences of filtered tones or arpeggiated notes and more--all playing in perfect sync to the beat or your recording software. I think you'll find--as others have--that the Black Box will lead you down a path of new musical ideas and headturning recordings. On behalf of all the creative minds at both M-Audio and Roger Linn Design, I'd like to welcome you to the brave new world of the Black Box. Introduction Thank you for choosing the M-Audio Black Box. The Black Box has been designed to inspire any guitarist by providing great-sounding amp models, drum loops and beat-synced effects. Using the convenience of USB, the Black Box is also a high-resolution 24bit/44.1kHz audio interface for your computer, complete with instrument input, microphone input and balanced analog outputs. Included WDM, ASIO II, and Core Audio drivers allow for easy setup with any Windows XP or Mac OS 10.3.7 or higher compatible recording application. As a stand-alone device, the Black Box is primarily a songwriting tool. However, the analog outputs or digital S/PDIF output can be used to send your guitar's processed signal to other recording devices. The main outputs can be used with powered monitors like the M-Audio BX5s and the headphone jack can be used with standard headphones. There are 12 amp models, 43 beat-synced effect types, an independent beat-synced delay effect and 99 different drumbeats to choose from. You can tap the tempo on the Black Box front panel or use an external momentary pedal like the M-Audio SP-1 to set up your rhythms. All of the effects automatically lock to the tempo of the drumbeat. This way, the sounds of your effects are always in perfect sync with the drums. A chromatic tuner is also included. Even if you are an experienced musician and digital recording enthusiast, we recommend you take a few moments to read through this owners' manual and familiarize yourself with the Black Box's features and operation. You may also want to refer to your audio software's documentation, to better understand how the Black Box's features are integrated with the audio program. Your experience and enjoyment of your Black Box will be greatly enhanced by a good working knowledge of your audio software. 3 English What's in the Box Your Black Box package contains the following: < < < < < < < Black Box CD-ROM containing driver software and user manual in PDF form. CD-ROM containing Ableton Live Lite 4 GTR and Pro Sessions Drum Loops Printed Quick Start Guide USB cable 9 Volt AC 1A Power Supply Mic stand mounting bracket with screws Minimum Computer System Requirements If you intend to use your Black Box as an audio interface with your computer, please make certain that your computer meets the minimum requirements below. See the "Driver Installation" section later in this manual for instructions on use of the Black Box with a computer. Windows < < < < Pentium III ­ 500 MHz or higher 128 MB RAM Windows XP (SP1) with DirectX 9.0b or higher Onboard USB connection The Black Box is not supported under Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME or Windows 2000. Mac OS < Macintosh G3/G4* 500 MHz or higher < OS X 10.3.7 or later, 512 MB RAM < Onboard USB connection or installed USB-interface PCI card *G3/G4 accelerator cards not supported Front Panel Connectors < Plug your headphones in to the jack with the headphone icon (11) < Plug your guitar into the Guitar Input jack (12) 4 < < < < < < < < < Plug dynamic microphones into the Mic input (1) Use the Balanced Outputs to connect to powered speakers or an analog mixer (2) Use a 75-ohm S/PDIF cable to record from the S/PDIF digital output (44.1kHz only) (3) Included, optional mic stand mounting hardware (4) Connect an expression pedal, like the M-Audio EX-P, to the Expression pedal jack to control functions like wah effects (5) Connect a momentary pedal, like the M-Audio SP-1, to the P1 (6) and/or P2 (7) jacks to control functions like Start/Stop (6) Connect the USB connection on the Black Box to your computer with the included USB cable (8) Only use the 9V AC 1000ma power supply included in the package. Using an improper power supply can damage your unit (9) Use a Kensington lock system with the Kensington lock slot to protect your unit from theft (10) Top Panel Tap Tempo Key (31) This key allows you to enter the tempo for the drum machine by tapping the tempo. As the effects are beat-synced to the drum machine, this also sets the tempo of the effects. The drums do not need to be playing for the effects to lock to the tempo. Amp Key (22) Pressing the AMP key brings up the four AMP menus in the LCD; Amp Select, Amp Drive, Amp Bass and Amp Treble. The rotary control under each menu parameter in the LCD allows you to change the parameter value. Holding the AMP key down for 1/2 second will turn the amp effect off. AMP OFF will be displayed in the LCD. Holding the AMP key down for 1/2 second again will turn the amp effect back on, and AMP OFF will disappear from the LCD display. 5 English Rear Panel Connectors FX Key (24) Pressing the FX key brings up the four Effects menus in the LCD; Effect Select, FX Speed/FX Frequency, FX Depth/FX Key and FX Wet/ Dry mix. The rotary control under each menu parameter in the LCD allows you to change the parameter value. Holding the FX key down for 1/2 second will turn the effect off. FX OFF will display in the LCD. Holding the FX key down for 1/2 second again will turn the effect back on, and FX OFF will disappear from the LCD display. (When both the Amp and FX keys are pressed simultaneously, the Compare function is activated. COMPARE will be displayed in the LCD. This allows you to hear the sound and see the settings of the preset before you edited any of the values. Press the Amp and FX keys simultaneously again to exit the Compare function.) COMPARE will disappear from the LCD display. Delay Key (26) Pressing the Delay key brings up the four Delay menus in the LCD; Delay Time, Delay Repeats, Delay Volume and Drums to Delay and Filter. The rotary control under each menu parameter in the LCD allows you to change the parameter value. Holding the Delay key down for 1/2 second will turn the amp Delay effect off. DLY OFF will display in the LCD. Holding the Delay key down for 1/2 second again will turn the Delay effect back on. DLY OFF will disappear from the LCD display. Utility Key (28) Pressing the Utility key brings up the four Utility menus in the LCD; Preset Volume, Guitar/Drums Mix Balance, Expression and Momentary Pedal Assign and Tempo. The rotary control under each menu parameter in the LCD allows you to change the parameter value. When both the Delay and Utility keys are quickly pressed simultaneously, the Tuner function is activated. TUNER will be displayed on the LCD along with the note value of the currently played string. Quickly press the Delay and Utility keys simultaneously again to exit the Tuner function. TUNER will disappear from the LCD display. The Start/Stop Key (32) Will start and stop the drum machine. When in play mode, the tempo LED will blink at the current tempo. When in stop mode, the LED will be dark. Rotary Controls (13) These are used to change the parameter values. They are also used to name presets. When a parameter value has been changed, EDIT will blink in the LCD display and PARAMETER will be displayed. This is a reminder that you must store any changes to keep them. If the changes are not stored and another preset is loaded, the previous preset will revert to its stored settings. LCD Display (33) All presets, parameters and values are displayed in the LCD. Mic Input Controls The mic input knob (17) boosts the level of the mic input signal. The green Signal LED (21) will light when a detectable threshold input level is reached. The red Clip LED (20) will light if the input signal is too hot. The best input signal level is achieved when the green LED is solid and the red LED only blinks occasionally. Input/Playback Knob (16) This knob is used when recording into a multi-track recording application or DAW via USB. It is a ratio control you can use to balance how much input signal you hear versus how much playback signal you hear from the DAW. When you are overdubbing tracks, you'll need to hear previously recorded tracks or a click track to play along with as well as your input signal. Adjust this control to fit your needs. When you are mixing down a song, this knob should be turned all the way to the right as you will not need to hear any input signals while mixing. Output Level (15) This is your volume knob. It controls the level sent to the Main Outputs as well as the headphones. Guitar Input Controls (14) The guitar input knob boosts the level of the guitar input signal. The green Signal LED (19) will light when a detectable threshold input level is reached. The red Clip LED (18) will light if the input signal is too hot. The best input signal level is achieved when the green LED is solid and the red LED only blinks occasionally. Operation of the Black Box is primarily accomplished by changing presets and drumbeats. Presets A preset is a unique combination of all the settings that affect the guitar sound, including guitar amp models, effects and delay. There are 100 fixed factory presets (0-99) and 100 editable user presets (0-99). To change between presets, press the Preset Increment (Up arrow) and Preset Decrement (Down arrow) keys. The 100 user presets follow the 100 factory presets. The active preset number and 6-character name will always appear after a preset is selected. To edit the settings that comprise a preset, you'll use the AMP, FX, DELAY and UTIL buttons. When one of these buttons is pressed, the lower part of the display will show 4 names. These are the functions of the 4 rotary controls below the display. For example, when 6 you press AMP, the 4 rotary controls will have the functions AMP, DRIVE, AMP BASS and AMP TREBLE. Drumbeats A drumbeat is a unique rhythmic drum pattern. There are 100 drumbeats numbered 0 to 99. To change between drumbeats, press the Drumbeat Increment and Drumbeat Decrement keys. The active drumbeat number and name will appear after it is selected, and remain in the display for 1.5 seconds. After that, the display will revert to what it was showing previously. To view the active drumbeat, press both buttons simultaneously and the active drumbeat number and name will appear for 1.5 seconds. Below is a list of all the drumbeat names. Editing the Parameters of the Black Box Editing the Amp The Black Box has 12 different amp models for you to choose from: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 FBSMAN . . . . . . . . . . . Fender Bassman FDELUX . . . . . . . . . . . . Fender Deluxe Reverb FTWINR . . . . . . . . . . . . Fender Twin BRTCLN . . . . . . . . . . . . Vox AC 30 BRTRCK . . . . . . . . . . . . Marshall JTM-45 BRTPLX . . . . . . . . . . . . Marshall Plexi JMP-50 BRTHVY . . . . . . . . . . . . Marshall JCM-2000 MAVRIC . . . . . . . . . . . . Mesa Boogie Maverick HYWTT . . . . . . . . . . . . HiWatt DR103 LAMOD . . . . . . . . . . . . Soldano SLO 100 USMETL . . . . . . . . . . . . Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier UBER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bogner Uberschall 7 English Adjusting the Amp When you press AMP, the 4 rotary controls wil ...