👾🎸🎶 BUY the M-Vave Blackbox - amzn.to/4h0qE7F If you’re interested in supporting my channel and also interested in purchasing the M-Vave Blackbox, consider purchasing using my affiliate link, which keeps the price the same for you, but throws a tiny bit of it my way! Thank you in advance!
I do agree that mvave should put the option of naming a preset and also i hope they fix the noticeable signal cut when switching to another preset or opening effects blocks.
@@johnhowellseroje4995 please send! Just got it today And I’m blown away. Period! What’s the Pocketx and Silverbox? Hopefully silverbox has tons overdrives and ambient effects that people call shoegaze? Dunno But I’m in. I pair this with a jogg and Mooer Radar. Wall of sound! I can’t believe this was 48 dollars!
I got a kmise overdrive and digital delay, and a m vave mini universe. All they sound freaking awesome! And with some tweaks i get nearly the same tone that i have with ir presets. I buy them because i cant take my whole computer out everytime i have a gig, the unique problem is that the drive needs and amp and cab sim to work properly, so i started looking at the cuve baby and tank g. After watch this video i buy a Blackbox, i prefer the modularity of knobs and switches in the tank g, but as i say i will only use this as a amp and cab sim, and probably some modulation like chorus, so, i will dont need to tweak parameters live often. It is awesome that channels like this creates reviews for cheap gear, really when you understood how acoustic and electronics works you can realize that dont need expensive gear to get "the tone" (i mean, that 10$ aliexpress drive sound EXACTLY the same in my effects chain that a really expensive sim of a TS9)
AM2 are profiles, not just for a pedal, but also amplifier profile, or Amp+pedal or pedal+pedal etc.. And to know which ones are cleam patches you just need to adopt a consistent workflow. like divide you amp profile setups in fours 1 is mild OD, 2 is mild Clean, 3 is rhythm distorted and 4 is solo, and repeat that for each Amp mostly. just work in fours, that way you''l know that1 and 4 and 8 and 12 and so on have a mild OD, some with some extra's on it like a phaser or chorus maybe. ans 2 and 5 and 9 and so on are clean-ish.. And use it together with a chocolate plus midi controller so you can enable disable effects on a preset, or with two chocolate pluses one for enabling disabling FX and the other for going through your patches in banks of fours.
@@CompanyGripGuitar I have now played with it for a few months, but i have to say that it is not all that good. I miss equalizers, and the ability to add a distortion effect separately for the amp that can be switched on and off with the chocolate controller. Also, the built in sounds arent very good imo, also, i downloaded like 400 captures and IR's and tried a bunchout, maybe 100 or so, and not a single Amp capture actually tickled my perfect sound itch..(except for some clean ones) they all have something that i don't like, and aren't even correctable with the SincoAnn application by extending the frequency ranges, nor with the cutoff possibilties of the IR's. You don't actually hear it rightaway, but you slowly start to realize that it misses something, and when you try to tweak it, you can't get it just right. If you have a distorted/overdriven amp that has a high sizzle and you want to cut it off you can only get it gone by cutting it off too far and than the sound is very muffled.. To make it sound better you need a separate overdrive/distortion and external parametric equalizer, and a external cab pedal also does a better job, i don't know why that is, and a lot of the sounds sound compressed even though there is no compression active, the boost effect also compresses the sound so that's not really usable either. I can dial in a excellent tone on my Hotone Ampero in no time that sound powerful and lively, even can cut the sizzle there with a parametric EQ if neccesary, and have separate OD's/Distortion effects that work perfect. So even if i can't load new Amps in my Hotone, it works a lot better than this little gadget. The Blackbox actually reminds me of the Mooer PE-100 sound wise, you can't get a perfect tone out of it, reasonably good, yes, but not perfect to my ears. Ofcourse the Mooer is an old piece of equipment and the Blackbox sounds a lot better, but the similarity is that it doesn't make me happy either..so i''l sell it again.. I have a few Amp sims on my PC in Cubase that sound a whole lot better as well. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it never really pleases me.
I have a Tank-G, and it's slightly noisy when doing high-gain sounds. I'm looking to buy a Blackbox for the GATE+OD sounds, which I feel the Tank-G lacks. Will this work, or is there a similar alternative someone would recommend?
I have a few questions regarding the charging - do you need to have the unit open to charge it? - and if not, how would you know if it's fully charged?
If by "open" you mean "on"…No, you can charge it while the unit is off. Right next to the USBC port is a tiny light that is red when charging, and turns blue (or green, I forget) when fully charged. I hope that's what you were looking for. 😊
Glad to see a quality review for this pedal. The possbility to load AM2 files is a game changer. I just noticed this device has an app, but i coudn't find the link. Do you mind to share it? Regards and congrats for your channel!!
Hi! Yes, there is an app on android and IPhone, it’s called “M-ECFS”, I have no idea what that means, but if you search for it in the App Store it should come up! Thanks for checking out the video!
Thanks for this great review. I bought a tankG and a black box. I'm trying to find upgrades, good tips etc, to use it at its max... AM2 files are amps or pedal captures, made with the SincoANN. Actually it's hard to find the best quality captures from real amps, people capture at low epocs. A man tried to capture with NAM file, perhaps, that increases quality. We can find actually tone x capture, NAM captures, plugin captures, or quad cortex captures, so , captures from captures... not satifying for me. We need more good content on this thing to investigate and use it at its best . I'm searching high quality captures (high epocs) from real amps, from clean sounds to metal sounds
I usually just make my own AM2 files based on NAM profiles. The process is a bit involved but on Google Colab it takes around 40 minutes to train at 5000 epocs.
I watched a video showing some of the process and it seemed pretty involved! I also saw a video praising the Tank-G as a “Kemper Profiler killer” what do you think of that?
@@CompanyGripGuitar If you're capturing real hardware it can be pretty involved, but if you're trying to capture vsts it's actually not that bad. If you're willing to do the work training your own AM2 profiles, I think both tha Tank-G and Blackbox ARE Kemper killers. With the the stock amps and IRs though ... not so much.
@@FaresMason I don't think it will be a kemper killer, but the result might be very good for the price. I've downloaded many captures from brazilian youtubers for free, but I don't have time to try. Same thing for IRs , this is new for me and don't have good IRs as "reference". There are so many shit on the web... A guy compared a good capture that takes time, and a quite low quality one, and the difference is real.
Good question. I like the Black Box better, I think there more FX and control, but it’s more menu-y, where as the Tank is all surface level, plus it has more foot switches for life stuff or even practicing… so, both are win some lose some. 🤷♂️
I would buy it if it was in stereo, for sure. I also use a portable Nux mp3 Pro when connected to an audio interface on both channels - you do get the stereo sound when using a ping pong delay or a chorus. I wonder if that's the case with this too. Can you hook it L+R to an audio interface and hear stereo effects? My money's on No.
@@CompanyGripGuitar I want to use it like as an audio interface when recording guitar covers on my phone. Instead of buying audio interfaces like M Audio M Track Solo which costs around the same price point, I'd rather get this. So I can use the blackbox as an audio interface and directly plug it into my phone, plus I have a pre-amp, amp sim, cab sim, and added effects pedal that I can use with my Zoom G1X Four. In this way, I can also directly plug it into the mixer during live performances - so I don't have to tinker around my sound at the venue - I can just prep it in my home before I would get there. Do you think it is actually a better idea? Or should I still go to buying real audio interface instead?
Thanks for your comment. I always like to go through an audio interface if I’m recording something as a final track. The pre-amps are usually much better, as well as the easy ability to gain-stage to get optimal signal. I think if you are just laying down demo track, then your idea might be totally fine. As far as plugging it directly into the mixer, it might be fine, but I haven’t tried it myself for a live performance. Hope that helps.
Hi @@tristan_840 I have the same idea than you, buy the blackbox rather than an audio interface and use it with my Zoom G1Xon ! So, did you buy it at the end? If yes what is your feedback? Thanks
I just bought mvave blackbox too, but I can't connect bluetooth on my android smartphone to play music like you showed. can you help me? but for M-EFFCS application it still works normally
Hi! Check your Bluetooth settings on your phone, sometimes there are two Bluetooth options for the Blackbox that need to both be connected. I’m not sure how Androids work, but you might need to set music permissions with the Blackbox also. Good luck! 👍🏽
I’ve used it in a number of scenarios, direct in, live amps, etc. I think it works well for both, but it’s also a budget multi-effects pedal, so it’s not going to sound as good or be as transformative as a set of Strymon pedals, for example.
@@CompanyGripGuitar damn!! If it was in stereo would be an insta sell for me! Can't understand why they did it mono only, even my 10+ years old little Mini Korg Pandora have stereo nice output! 🤦♂🤦♂ Some companies still don't get we are already going for 2025.
Do you try it with the M vave chocolate? I’m in the process of buying this pedal Blackbox so I’m going to made the test with the chocolate in the next days
I think the only thing that holds the pedal back for me is that there are no distortions or overdrives, but so far you can get some good gain tones by having the amps, plus with the ANN Tone Capturing technology included with it I don't think it would really matter in the end.
@@adamstein9333 boost is just a volume boost, essentially to make the preset "louder", Gate is just noise gate to there's no noise and compressor is.....a compressor.
Guys, I think this pedal is meant to be used with other pedals. I myself is considering buying this to act as a preamp, amp sim, cab sim, audio interface, additional effects, etc. for my Zoom G1X Four.
👾🎸🎶 BUY the M-Vave Blackbox - amzn.to/4h0qE7F
If you’re interested in supporting my channel and also interested in purchasing the M-Vave Blackbox, consider purchasing using my affiliate link, which keeps the price the same for you, but throws a tiny bit of it my way! Thank you in advance!
Grabbed one for 48$ shipped! Love it
Nice deal! Cheers!
Absolutely!
Amazing in-depth! When I finally make the purchase I'll make sure to use your affiliate link.
Thank you for checking out the video and for the kind words! Cheers!
I do agree that mvave should put the option of naming a preset and also i hope they fix the noticeable signal cut when switching to another preset or opening effects blocks.
Cheers!
I have this. It’s amazing and tweakable out the box
Does it really sound good
@ Yes, but You need to know some basics, IRs and ANN Captured a Must! Progressive!
Another huge plus point: ANN training software via SincoAnn (basically its a profiler/capture player)
To those who wants some captures of different tones i can send you
@@johnhowellseroje4995 please send! Just got it today And I’m blown away. Period! What’s the Pocketx and Silverbox? Hopefully silverbox has tons overdrives and ambient effects that people call shoegaze? Dunno But I’m in. I pair this with a jogg and Mooer Radar. Wall of sound! I can’t believe this was 48 dollars!
cool, what are the captures you have please? did you make them? from rreal amps?
@@johnhowellseroje4995 whats your email?
@@johnhowellseroje4995 would you please send me?
Please help!
It's really wild what they can do now for under $100
Agreed!!!
More like 50 from AliExpress!
the 10 hour use in full charge is not true, the unit is usable for abour 5 hours in full charge and the charge time is about 1-2 hours on drain.
Great review, man! Wish this device had the option to plug in extra switches, it’d so nice to use in a live scenario.
Thanks for checking it out! Agreed, that would be cool! Cheers!
It does, Check out the chocolate midi controller they make
ua-cam.com/video/5RDfjMEWzO4/v-deo.html
@@HerbieGordonMusic aren't they only work with the newer chocolate plus?
@@nyack666 they also work with the older version!
it is also a profiler pedal! do explore that feature :)
I got a kmise overdrive and digital delay, and a m vave mini universe. All they sound freaking awesome! And with some tweaks i get nearly the same tone that i have with ir presets. I buy them because i cant take my whole computer out everytime i have a gig, the unique problem is that the drive needs and amp and cab sim to work properly, so i started looking at the cuve baby and tank g. After watch this video i buy a Blackbox, i prefer the modularity of knobs and switches in the tank g, but as i say i will only use this as a amp and cab sim, and probably some modulation like chorus, so, i will dont need to tweak parameters live often. It is awesome that channels like this creates reviews for cheap gear, really when you understood how acoustic and electronics works you can realize that dont need expensive gear to get "the tone" (i mean, that 10$ aliexpress drive sound EXACTLY the same in my effects chain that a really expensive sim of a TS9)
AM2 are profiles, not just for a pedal, but also amplifier profile, or Amp+pedal or pedal+pedal etc..
And to know which ones are cleam patches you just need to adopt a consistent workflow.
like divide you amp profile setups in fours 1 is mild OD, 2 is mild Clean, 3 is rhythm distorted and 4 is solo, and repeat that for each Amp mostly.
just work in fours, that way you''l know that1 and 4 and 8 and 12 and so on have a mild OD, some with some extra's on it like a phaser or chorus maybe.
ans 2 and 5 and 9 and so on are clean-ish..
And use it together with a chocolate plus midi controller so you can enable disable effects on a preset, or with two chocolate pluses one for enabling disabling FX and the other for going through your patches in banks of fours.
That’s not a bad idea. I still think it would have benefitted from a better naming patch naming structure, but that is a nice workaround.
Cheers!
@@CompanyGripGuitar I have now played with it for a few months, but i have to say that it is not all that good.
I miss equalizers, and the ability to add a distortion effect separately for the amp that can be switched on and off with the chocolate controller.
Also, the built in sounds arent very good imo, also, i downloaded like 400 captures and IR's and tried a bunchout, maybe 100 or so, and not a single Amp capture actually tickled my perfect sound itch..(except for some clean ones) they all have something that i don't like, and aren't even correctable with the SincoAnn application by extending the frequency ranges, nor with the cutoff possibilties of the IR's.
You don't actually hear it rightaway, but you slowly start to realize that it misses something, and when you try to tweak it, you can't get it just right.
If you have a distorted/overdriven amp that has a high sizzle and you want to cut it off you can only get it gone by cutting it off too far and than the sound is very muffled..
To make it sound better you need a separate overdrive/distortion and external parametric equalizer, and a external cab pedal also does a better job, i don't know why that is, and a lot of the sounds sound compressed even though there is no compression active, the boost effect also compresses the sound so that's not really usable either.
I can dial in a excellent tone on my Hotone Ampero in no time that sound powerful and lively, even can cut the sizzle there with a parametric EQ if neccesary, and have separate OD's/Distortion effects that work perfect.
So even if i can't load new Amps in my Hotone, it works a lot better than this little gadget.
The Blackbox actually reminds me of the Mooer PE-100 sound wise, you can't get a perfect tone out of it, reasonably good, yes, but not perfect to my ears. Ofcourse the Mooer is an old piece of equipment and the Blackbox sounds a lot better, but the similarity is that it doesn't make me happy either..so i''l sell it again..
I have a few Amp sims on my PC in Cubase that sound a whole lot better as well.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but it never really pleases me.
I have a Tank-G, and it's slightly noisy when doing high-gain sounds. I'm looking to buy a Blackbox for the GATE+OD sounds, which I feel the Tank-G lacks. Will this work, or is there a similar alternative someone would recommend?
@@JanLenardRodriguez yep this works well
I have a JCM800 I bought new in 1987. It’s very noisy when doing high gain sounds:)
I have a few questions regarding the charging
- do you need to have the unit open to charge it?
- and if not, how would you know if it's fully charged?
If by "open" you mean "on"…No, you can charge it while the unit is off. Right next to the USBC port is a tiny light that is red when charging, and turns blue (or green, I forget) when fully charged. I hope that's what you were looking for. 😊
Exactly like Robert said. Thanks!
@@Sinistralitee if charged fully, the LED color change to blue
Im still digging Zoom G1 Four. Because in there you can stack two different modulation at one patch.
That’s definitely cool. And I agree it’s a weak point for both the BlackBox and the Mustang Micro Mini
Glad to see a quality review for this pedal. The possbility to load AM2 files is a game changer.
I just noticed this device has an app, but i coudn't find the link. Do you mind to share it?
Regards and congrats for your channel!!
Hi! Yes, there is an app on android and IPhone, it’s called “M-ECFS”, I have no idea what that means, but if you search for it in the App Store it should come up! Thanks for checking out the video!
Thanks for this great review. I bought a tankG and a black box. I'm trying to find upgrades, good tips etc, to use it at its max... AM2 files are amps or pedal captures, made with the SincoANN. Actually it's hard to find the best quality captures from real amps, people capture at low epocs. A man tried to capture with NAM file, perhaps, that increases quality. We can find actually tone x capture, NAM captures, plugin captures, or quad cortex captures, so , captures from captures... not satifying for me. We need more good content on this thing to investigate and use it at its best . I'm searching high quality captures (high epocs) from real amps, from clean sounds to metal sounds
Thanks for checking out the video! Yes. It’s a cool pedal, and I agree, we need some more info on it! I’ll make new videos as I find new things.
I usually just make my own AM2 files based on NAM profiles. The process is a bit involved but on Google Colab it takes around 40 minutes to train at 5000 epocs.
I watched a video showing some of the process and it seemed pretty involved! I also saw a video praising the Tank-G as a “Kemper Profiler killer” what do you think of that?
@@CompanyGripGuitar If you're capturing real hardware it can be pretty involved, but if you're trying to capture vsts it's actually not that bad. If you're willing to do the work training your own AM2 profiles, I think both tha Tank-G and Blackbox ARE Kemper killers. With the the stock amps and IRs though ... not so much.
@@FaresMason I don't think it will be a kemper killer, but the result might be very good for the price. I've downloaded many captures from brazilian youtubers for free, but I don't have time to try. Same thing for IRs , this is new for me and don't have good IRs as "reference". There are so many shit on the web... A guy compared a good capture that takes time, and a quite low quality one, and the difference is real.
love the spot on review! However im still wondering if i should get the tank g or this. What would you suggest?
Good question. I like the Black Box better, I think there more FX and control, but it’s more menu-y, where as the Tank is all surface level, plus it has more foot switches for life stuff or even practicing… so, both are win some lose some. 🤷♂️
"Silverbox" by Leo Jaymes is strikingly similar to this "Blackbox".
Interesting 🤔
No volume drop when chorus is engaged?
I have a Nux Plexi Crunch for 50 dollars it’s sounds pretty damn good tho, that pretty impressive for the price!!
Nice! I’ll have to check it out!
That thing sounds pretty darn good for 75 bucks. I mean it’s kind of a no brainer
Does this black box have a noise gate?
Yes
Does this pedal have a looper?
@@cmelo2011 No it does not.
Ok, thanks
I would buy it if it was in stereo, for sure. I also use a portable Nux mp3 Pro when connected to an audio interface on both channels - you do get the stereo sound when using a ping pong delay or a chorus. I wonder if that's the case with this too. Can you hook it L+R to an audio interface and hear stereo effects? My money's on No.
Yeah - you are correct; there is no stereo ping pong of any such type. If you put on headphones, same mono signal in both ears. Bummer!
Can you use it while charging?
Yes!
@@CompanyGripGuitar I want to use it like as an audio interface when recording guitar covers on my phone.
Instead of buying audio interfaces like M Audio M Track Solo which costs around the same price point, I'd rather get this.
So I can use the blackbox as an audio interface and directly plug it into my phone, plus I have a pre-amp, amp sim, cab sim, and added effects pedal that I can use with my Zoom G1X Four.
In this way, I can also directly plug it into the mixer during live performances - so I don't have to tinker around my sound at the venue - I can just prep it in my home before I would get there.
Do you think it is actually a better idea? Or should I still go to buying real audio interface instead?
Thanks for your comment. I always like to go through an audio interface if I’m recording something as a final track. The pre-amps are usually much better, as well as the easy ability to gain-stage to get optimal signal. I think if you are just laying down demo track, then your idea might be totally fine. As far as plugging it directly into the mixer, it might be fine, but I haven’t tried it myself for a live performance.
Hope that helps.
Hi @@tristan_840
I have the same idea than you, buy the blackbox rather than an audio interface and use it with my Zoom G1Xon ! So, did you buy it at the end? If yes what is your feedback?
Thanks
Do you know if its posible to adjust the input level. One of my guitars have a very weak input signal.
You would have to do it in the amp gain section. So not necessarily input, but same as if you were plugging into an amp.
Can random audience members connect to the bkuetooth and stream stuff in the muddle id your live performance??
I think no, cause u need to open the blackbox bluetooth first to connect
I just bought mvave blackbox too, but I can't connect bluetooth on my android smartphone to play music like you showed. can you help me? but for M-EFFCS application it still works normally
Hi! Check your Bluetooth settings on your phone, sometimes there are two Bluetooth options for the Blackbox that need to both be connected. I’m not sure how Androids work, but you might need to set music permissions with the Blackbox also. Good luck! 👍🏽
hi bro. you playing with Black box with real power amp and into the real cabinet right? and its sounds good?
I’ve used it in a number of scenarios, direct in, live amps, etc. I think it works well for both, but it’s also a budget multi-effects pedal, so it’s not going to sound as good or be as transformative as a set of Strymon pedals, for example.
Thanks for your Review I have a Question can this unit save 2 Drive or 2 Reverb or a Delay in one patch thank you
Hi, with each patch you only get a choice of one delay, one reverb and one drive per patch. Hope that answers your question. Cheers!
Is patch switching seamless and instant without a delay?
with a delay
Can u plug into return & send of the amp
Should be able to no problem. What would be your concern about it?
Stereo??
No stereo. Just mono. My least favorite part!
@CompanyGripGuitar i read it has stereo outs but I guess the FX is mono still
Yes. It is the same mono signal pumped out to both ears.
@@CompanyGripGuitar damn!! If it was in stereo would be an insta sell for me! Can't understand why they did it mono only, even my 10+ years old little Mini Korg Pandora have stereo nice output! 🤦♂🤦♂
Some companies still don't get we are already going for 2025.
3 more foot switched would make this live useable.
Sad that another 60 bucks tops.
Do you try it with the M vave chocolate? I’m in the process of buying this pedal Blackbox so I’m going to made the test with the chocolate in the next days
lods na try mo naba lightning to type c rekta wala na connector? gumagana ba? yung legit charging cable ng ipad or iphone
I haven’t tried that yet. Cheers!
Name of using app
M-EFCS
I wish M Vave made a better midi controller with good software support. I have the Chocolate, but its hard to use.
That’s what I’ve heard. I think they’ll figure it out eventually, but who knows how long?
How does one turn f/x on and off.in a live.Situation?
Otherwise it's useless for me.
You have to use the chocolate midi controller plus is better since it can connect via USB
I think the only thing that holds the pedal back for me is that there are no distortions or overdrives, but so far you can get some good gain tones by having the amps, plus with the ANN Tone Capturing technology included with it I don't think it would really matter in the end.
You get a boost, compressor and and gate, which I don’t understand. The mini efx has like 12 different stomps in it. I’m gonna buy that to pair it
@@adamstein9333 boost is just a volume boost, essentially to make the preset "louder", Gate is just noise gate to there's no noise and compressor is.....a compressor.
Guys, I think this pedal is meant to be used with other pedals.
I myself is considering buying this to act as a preamp, amp sim, cab sim, audio interface, additional effects, etc. for my Zoom G1X Four.
Try it with an acoustic. Mvave is not always high quality.....loose jacks and such out of my two cube baby AC's
didnt even get his toes wet lol
Hello I wish you can answer if you mind where did you got the app is that Android app or apple apple app thank you
Hello. I used the Apple app, M-EFCS on the App Store. Cheers!
Too bad its not stereo
Over 8 mins in and I have heard nothing. Next vid.
Effects are bad, like really bad.
@@milankotevski1663 Why?
the mod efffects are pretty ass but the reverb and delay and the ann and ir(imported) is aight