Has the Full MIDI and Bluetooth App-enabled Tonex One+ come too late for me?

I own 3 ToneX Ones to date, actually possibly 4 even, and while I always managed to get pretty decent tones out of them - they were also a source of significant frustration for me.

I had gotten used to the onboard control topology which can get complex as you have secondary and tertiary controls on every knob and switch! - you can read about that in my ’Satch Tonex One Edition Pedal Overview’ - where I dive into the tiniest of details. So the pedal is pretty decent, while it was always screaming out for a wireless app solution - although that was not at the root of my main frustration.

I get so many pedals in that once they’e on the board - I’m pretty quick at discarding the box and whatever came with it. I knew there was some sort of registration process to access the inner workings of the pedal - so I ripped off the front of the box - which contained the serial number. Not realising that there is a small card inside the box - which contains a different registration code - which you need to access the pedal fully. So I essentially wrecked my very first Tonex One by inadvertently trashing that slip of paper - when I realised - I emptied out the trash and had a really good rummage - but was alas unable to retrieve said paper - so that one still remains out of reach for me. There should surely be some sort of recovery system - but I’m led to believe that none such exists - and the pedal has limited sell-on value as a result.

That however was still not the main root of my frustration - no indeed - that happened with the EVH / Brown Sound Edition - which before I could register that and access the internal presets - I had to update no less than 3 different apps. For people who operate plugins all the time - this is possibly not a major challenge - but having to decouple the pedal from the board and connect it to apps in this manner is clunky, old-fashioned and beyond annoying to access! Especially for a mainly stompbox guy!

Now we finally have the Bluetooth-connected App - and hopefully you can run everything thorough that one same App - while I still see references to several! - I’m not sure I have the patience to process all that all over again!

IK Multimedia in UK and Italy have been in somewhat sporadic contact with me over the years - I thought I had earned some degree of acceptance after my Satch Edition overview / review (as referenced above) - while the contact remains very inconsistent. I got no heads-up for this release for instance.

I’m primarily a stompbox artist - and I generally favour the multiple-pedals approach - rather than the all-in-one multi-fx one - but I do like some aspects of all-in-ones - if you say want to supplement the board with a specific effect - then there’s no doubt that the ToneX One format is super handy for exactly that purpose.

I’ve gotten so frustrated by the constant need for updates and upgrades for some of my digital pedals - and having to connect the pedal via USB cable to a laptop. So the Tonex One+ is definitely a massive advance / improvement on that. But I’m already 4 units in - and this new one makes all those somewhat obsolete. The whole journey has been something of a mess - and I really don’t enjoy the overall ecosystem - or at least not the wired version!

Right now I’m not sure I even want to dabble again with these kinds of pedals - for sure they have their uses - but they are still a little fiddly in some ways - even with Bluetooth / Wireless App control - and you have the further novelty of potentialy having your settings updates interrupted by incoming FaceTime and phone calls.

I’m debating whether I should have another go at this format - I’m still not sure it’s entirely right for me, and however good those sounds can be - I have better sounding pedals in my reference collection and on the board already. For sure these are super handy as practice devices and fly-rigs - but you probably need a few more accessories to make best use of them - e.g. remote footswitch controllers. There are additional outboard switches you can deploy also - as well as Full MIDI now!

I’m really in two minds about this currently. Had IK Multimedia sent me one for launch - I might have been willing to check it out, but I’m not sure I’m going to be investing more money and time into this particular venture, I’ve already invested plenty, and not got too much out of it so far! This will always be a bit-player / supplementary device for me, and never the main event - so as with any pedal - mileage will vary! You can read up more about the Tonex One+ on the IK Multimedia Website!