GT-100 Driver 2.0 .rar
Sandrine Willert
I bought the Boss GT-100 multieffects guitar pedalboard, connected via USB and downloaded the driver, but in Cakewalk it's greyed out in the Audio - Devices section. Running Windows 10, btw. I was hoping to record with the GT-100 direct through USB in Cakewalk, has anyone else been able to do this? Am I missing something or are they just not compatible? My usual interface is the IK Multimedia Axe I/O.
When using ASIO Driver Mode only one driver may be used at a time. This is a limitation imposed by the ASIO spec. To switch drivers deselect both input and output drivers before making a new selection.
I liked your review, thank you.
But I must warn any win 7 x64 owner that the drivers are not digitally signed, so windows will not install them.
Consequently, you will not be able to use boss tone studio nor GT 100 librarian, this makes it like a prehistoric pedalboard.
I always like to look at these silicon based 'tube amps' (now that's a conundrum in itself) and keep up with the newest kid on the block. At the moment the Kemper Profiling amplifier is probably the king on the block and honestly, I don't think the GT-100 is going to DE crown that amp any time soon. But then again, the GT-100 is much cheaper... could you really expect the GT-100 to reasonably do that? probably not.
But of course that's all conjecture until I review the GT-100 right? And actually I like Roland gear; it's usually built like a tank and from what I see the GT-100 is no exception. There's usually a lot to see in new GT processors (and even some of the older ones the GT-5 was really cool at the time) so rest assured our review below will cover lots of angles and even do a short comparison of tech specs between the GT-10 and the GT-100 (its an obvious comparison really). And remember it's worth visiting www.youtube.com/tonymckenziecom for video reviews as they come out - you never know what you might find on there.
But video reviews don't come near these reviews on tonymckenzie.com and actually never will (even though some videos are hours long from me). So the review is now online below - it's a long one and it's going to be one hell of a ride with the GT-100 from all accounts... but lets see if it really delivers everything that the unit claims (like the VG-99 did).
The GT-100 is at last out there to see, like (or not) and buy (or not). It's been a very long wait as far as I am concerned and with a release date of February 2012 Roland dragged there feet on the release of this unit. I received this one on the 19th April! It seems that Roland corp. are always falling being schedule on release dates. The GT series of pedals I have used off and on for a long time. My first one was a GT-5 (I liked the colours) but the sounds were 'ok' but not earth shattering. The unit was built well as is the other Roland kit out there (read GT-6, GT-8 and GT-10) and this GT-100 is no exception to the rule in that department.
The basic idea with the GT-100 is really to make things even easier than the GT-10 for users of the pedal and I like to see 'easy to use' as opposed to 'here's the 150 page manual' approach because it should allow musicians to actually make music - remember that's why you bought it? right? So the two screen GT-100 was conceived. Roland say the unit has the next generation of COSM processor and new 'vintage' sounds like never before. But they might indeed say that if they have thousands of units to sell.. but that's just my take on sales speak. That familiarity when you are in front of this unit is immediate with the old tone grid idea and one or two other familiar aspects of the earlier GT-10.
But there are some new things as well as some of the older stuff now gone forever. I'll cover some of this aspect later in my extensive review but for now there's the A/B channel thing, its a bit like having two amp setups with a switcher between the two (at least in the real world of tube amps it is) but like anything else the emphasis from the sales speak is over the top a little. The digital out has vanished (as on the GT-10) but there's an audio in (for you Appleites) and you can use it on any analogue audio signal from any similar device such as an Android phone etc.
Now all you need to do (other than listen) is to sum up whether you want to pay an extra $150 or 150 for that massive change of product (not). To be fair, there is far more under the surface of this new kid on the block than the older GT-10, but I think the GT-10 (if you MUST buy a Roland floor pedal) is a great bargain at its newer discontinued price and as I write they are out there for as low as 269 or less. It might cost more now. But we will undoubtedly visit this area later in the review.
I always like to get inside a new piece of kit just to see what's going on in there and what is not. Its a great way of seeing what you just bought from a quality point of view, and while I agree that we don't want to spend too long on a pedal like this inside, it does give you a pretty good insight to exactly how the manufacturer sees quality and whether the thing is thrown together in some sweat shop or not.
On examination of the pedal it felt pretty much like the GT-10 in size and weight (there's a few variations but without the two side by side its hard to tell). There's about 12-15 screws underneath and the bottom plate comes off easily. Its not held on to the unit with any screws on the sides. Inside you will see the I/O board, a small board for the foot pedal and a main board with one or two other bits and pieces. The main board holds the latest stuff for this pedal and the rest is typically ordinary and what you might expect in this sort of unit.
The main board has the Roland COSM processor on there (which they don't tell too much about tech specs) and some memory on board. It's typical of a very well made digital board from the 21st century as you might expect from a far east manufacturer. Its actually made in TAIWAN but don't hold that against it as there's some really high end stuff made there these days (lots of Taiwan manufacturers went to China - so this unit is higher cost than Chinese origin for sure and probably higher quality too).
There are a number of additions to this unit such as the looper and the USB out for connectivity to your PC which sounds exciting, but we shall see. I noticed that there was not a huge amount of memory on the board, and no way of expanding it (as per the GR-55 with a memory stick... if only... but more of that later). Overall I got a feeling of high quality build, but somehow also a feeling of 'low cost' syndrome as you will see for yourselves with the not huge amount of technology in the GT-100 to produce what this pedal does. In fact this pedal could be substantially smaller if the designers did things in other ways and I think even the VG-99 could look big in comparison.
But this IS a floor pedal, so we want to get at least a reasonable size to the unit and Roland kept it similar externally to the GT-10. But with that board being so small I wonder what the cost of that main board really is? Take off the retail of the GT-100 in the UK of a VAT hit 20% by the government (that leaves about 320) now remove 20% for the dealer (margins are tighter on Roland/Boss Kit) leaving 250, take of the shipping and duties etc. (lets be generous) -30 and it leaves a unit price of approximately 200 to 220 (approx. $300) and I would say that Roland is making good money.
From my experience of far east (read China and Taiwan) products and manufacturing they are doing well and the cost is likely to be low on the hardware - but a little higher with this unit being made in Taiwan. But of course there's all that development work. Really? well it IS a different pedal, but I do get those lingering feelings of deja-vu with this GT-100 somewhat, but we shall see later in the review what that's all about.
So concluding inside, a nicely made unit, mainly showing high quality components, a good housing and put together so it looks cool on the outside. I found just one cable slightly tight (a board connecting cable) but it was not particularly concerning. Funnily enough, this unit was made better than the Axe-FX II I saw inside - which cost over five times the cost here in Europe - there are no bad weld joints of ANY kind and I would say that for the price the GT-100 is a winner in the build stakes.
Thankfully Roland (I might call them Boss but it reminds me too much of Bruce Lee) have had a direction of making the GT series easier to get to grips with over the years. And that manual now comprises of no more than 60(ish) pages including all that safety stuff and the index at the back. Now no matter how you look at it that IS an improvement. Remember, we want to make music and we don't want to end up being some geek that spends all day trying to find enough time to read the 160 page manual and then never having the time to apply to the product what you read... and when you do... you forgot what to do. Sound familiar? It might be to you, but if that is the case then the GT-100 is really not for you.
Actually its one area where I could think of many products out there within this realm that could benefit from taking a leaf out of the human interface that Roland have and are continuing to develop. It makes getting those sounds easier so there's more time to play your music. So lets take a closer look at some of the easy settings and controls of the GT-100 and how we control parameters and how they are presented to us.
As you can see from the above image, on the left screen is what I will call the 'target' item (in this case the Global EQ) and on the right screen the parameters which we might want to change for our own needs. Knob 4 allows selection of the target and in the right window the parameters will change for that target. There are also sometimes more than one screen contents in the right screen and these extra screens are easily chosen with the 'page' buttons below the screen.
The GT-100 has 200 user patches in there and 200 factory patches, which you could use to make our own new patches from. For me these are easily enough patches for use and I think you could easily go over the top with so many patches available. But if you wanted to make your own patches then Roland Boss has seen fit to help you. The truth is, that the facility called EZ-TONE has been used on previous models including the GT-10, so if you have used one of those then the routine is familiar - with a few exceptions for the better. As you can see on these image above I chose EZ-TONE from the buttons to the right of the screens and up popped this little ditty. The 'target' on the above screen is the EZ-TONE patch create (in the left window) and in the right window we are presented with basic tones, i.e. blues, rock, country etc.
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