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 User Guide    

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Auto Wah (ATOWA1 - ATOWA2)

Also known as envelope wah, this effect simulates, for example, a wah pedal that automatically rocks back and forth each time a new 
note is played.  Because of this automatic rocking back and fourth, you can achieve an affect that is simply not possible with a standard 
wah pedal.  A perfect example of this effect can be heard on the guitar solo in the song, “What I Am,” by Edie Brickell and the New 
Bohemians. Instead of a speed control, this effect has a “frequency” control. You can think of frequency as a “brightness” control.  
Lower values create a deeper tone while higher values create a brighter tone.  Each of the eight variations has a unique character. In 
auditioning them, play both loud and soft notes to get an idea of how each variation responds to dynamics. 

Wah Pedal (WAHPDL)

The “wah” pedal has been around since the early 60’s. The wah pedal uses a bandpass filter that exhibits a resonant peak at its 
bandpass frequency. The resonant peak can be moved up and down in frequency by the player, and this makes for a striking emulation 
of  the  human  voice  making  a “waaaah” sound.   A  standard  wah  pedal  usually  has  an  on/off  switch  at  the  toe  position,  but  since 
expression pedals have no such on/off function, a momentary foot switch connected to the rear panel must be used to turn the wah 
effect on and off. 

Talk Box (TLKBX1 - TLKBX6)

This simulates the classic talk box effect made popular by Peter Frampton’s song “Show Me the Way” and later by Bon Jovi’s “Living 
on a Prayer.” Originally, this effect was generated by a device that piped the instrument’s sound into your mouth via a plastic tube.  
Moving your mouth as you played added vocal characteristic to the sound, which was picked up by a mic.  This simulation doesn’t 
generate specific words, but it does replicate a variety of mouth movements—without making you choke on a plastic tube. Each of the 
eight variations has its own unique character. In auditioning them, play both loud and soft notes to get an idea of how each variation 
responds to dynamics.

Volume Swell (SWELL)

With this effect, the strike of each note is silent but immediately fades up in volume afterward. For best results, try to silence each 
note before playing the next one. Otherwise, you’ll hear a little bit of the subsequent note as the volume is very quickly being turned 
down from the full level of the last note’s sustain. 

Fixed Filter (FIXFLT)

This is like having a single parametric EQ before the amp models. Use the FX Freq control to set the frequency and the FX Wet/Dry 
control to set the amount.

Fixed Flanger (FIXFLA)

A flanger is actually a very short delay (0 to 10 ms) with feedback that moves up and down periodically, so a fixed flanger is merely a 
short delay with feedback. This can be used to achieve a sound similar to that of your amp in a small brick room—you can even use 
the FX Freq control to set the size of the room.

Talk Pedal (TLKPDL)

This is the same effect as the talk box above but in this case the frequency of the talk box is control by the external expression pedal. 
You can think of this as a wah pedal with a talk box sound. 

Sci-Fi Effects (SCIFI1 - SCIFI5)

These sounds are just plain wacky. Use them to add an unexpected element to your performance or recording. 

Tremolo Sequences (TRSQ 1 - TRSQ20)

Similar to the classic tremolo effect, but here the volume pulses in pre-programmed two-measure looping rhythmic patterns.   There 
is no speed control for this effect as it simply follows the current tempo or incoming MIDI Clock.  The depth should be set at (99) 
for best results.  There are 20 different 32-step looped tremolo sequences, some with soft volume pulsing and soft with hard volume 
switching. Don’t try to play rhythmically; best results are obtained either by holding sustained chords or arpeggiating the individual 
notes of chords in time to the rhythm. Examples of tremolo sequences in the presets are preset 84 (“GRNDAY”), the sound from 
Green Day’s 2004 hit “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, 90 (“SYNCOP”), a sequence of syncopated rhythms, and 94 (“3+2+2+”). 

Summary of Contents for Black Box

Page 1: ...User Guide English Reloaded with updated rmware and additional features...

Page 2: ...r Hardware to the Computer 28 Using the Black Box with the Computer 29 Driver Installation 30 Windows XP SP2 30 Mac OS X 32 Control Panels 37 Effects MIDI Page 37 Latency Page Windows Only 37 Presets...

Page 3: ...fore I think you ll nd as others have that the Black Box will lead you down a path of new musical ideas and head turning recordings On behalf of all the creative minds at both M Audio and Roger Linn D...

Page 4: ...acintosh G3 G4 500 MHz 512 MB RAM OS X 10 3 9 10 4 4 Onboard USB connection Please be sure to also check your DAW software s minimum system requirements as they may be higher than those of the Black B...

Page 5: ...Panel Connectors Plug your headphones into the jack with the headphone icon 11 Plug your guitar into the Guitar Input jack 12 Rear Panel Connectors Plug a dynamic microphone into the Mic input 1 Use t...

Page 6: ...ys simultaneously will change the display to show the current drumbeat number and name for three seconds Preset Increment up arrow key 27 A preset is a unique combination of all the settings that affe...

Page 7: ...ffect off and DLY OFF will display in the LCD Holding the Delay key down for another half second will turn the delay effect back on DLY OFF will disappear from the LCD display Utility Key 28 Pressing...

Page 8: ...ion of all the settings that affect the guitar sound including guitar amp models effects delay reverb and compression There are 100 xed factory presets 0 99 and 100 editable user presets 0 99 To chang...

Page 9: ...ion Shift Amp Drive This permits the level of drive to the compressor adjustable from 0 to 99 CMP 0 no compression CMP 99 maximum compression This is a Shift parameter To view or adjust it 1 Press the...

Page 10: ...h EQ 28 SCOOP Custom high gain model with scooped mid 29 CRISP Custom model with a 60s twangy tone 30 HOLLOW Custom model with a hollow tone 31 BITE Custom model with biting high notes 32 NECKPU Custo...

Page 11: ...who valued it for its solid tone and kindness to their backs when carrying it around The little speaker didn t deliver much low end but the uniquely crisp high end more than makes up for it 6 MAR 45 b...

Page 12: ...imarily for heavy playing and aggressive styles of music this amp blows all others out of the water It delivers extreme gain and volume while staying focused no mushy sounds here This model is guarant...

Page 13: ...or something completely different 31 BITE a custom model with biting high notes This custom model gives a great treble bite on the high notes coupled with a nice overall warmth Sort of like an AC30 of...

Page 14: ...Select this one to get the clean warm sound of plugging directly into the console Thought we don t recommend drive settings above 0 overdriving it will produce a sound similar to the opening of the Be...

Page 15: ...t 16T 1 16 note triplet 2N 1 2 note 32N 1 32 note 2T 1 2 note triplet 32T 1 32 note triplet 2 FX Freq frequency controls the brightness of the effect for lter tremolo random lter or lter sequence effe...

Page 16: ...r TKBOX2 Talk Box 2 same as 1 but louder notes result in lower tone FTREM3 Filter tremolo 3 slow up and down band pass lter TKBOX3 Talk Box 3 slow attack and decay speeds FTREM4 Filter tremolo 4 sawto...

Page 17: ...he same recording The method the engineer would use to manually get the two tape machines closer in sync was to put his hand on the ange the circular top metal piece of the tape reel and press down rh...

Page 18: ...wn unique character In auditioning them play both loud and soft notes to get an idea of how each variation responds to dynamics Volume Swell SWELL With this effect the strike of each note is silent bu...

Page 19: ...ajor at the start of bar 2 Other examples are presets 95 98 To start don t try to play rhythmically best results are obtained either by holding sustained chords or arpeggiating the individual notes of...

Page 20: ...ke a ms setting match the tempo of your song On the Black Box you simply set the delay time using note values Try a half note 2N for starters or dotted 1 8 notes 8D for a great syncopated effect This...

Page 21: ...Delay On Off To turn delay on or off hold the Delay button for one half second When off the Dly Off icon will appear in the LCD screen Reverb Time Shift Delay Time This permits the selection of one o...

Page 22: ...ed to 1 2 or 1 4 of that value to t within 625 ms Editing the Utilities The Utility key provides access to the following settings PresetVolume Noise Gate Guitar Drums Balance Link Drumbeat Expression...

Page 23: ...tween will play a combination of both A middle setting of EQU means that the output of the drums is equal in volume to the output of the guitar effect A setting of SEP means the drum signal will come...

Page 24: ...p Tempo once Tempo Source Shift Tempo This permits the choice of one of three sources for the playing tempo TPO PR Preset tempo Whenever a new preset is selected its assigned tempo automatically becom...

Page 25: ...Amp On Off Hold foot switch while pressing Amp key FX On Off Hold foot switch while pressing FX key Delay On Off Hold foot switch while pressing Delay key Reverb On Off Hold foot switch while pressing...

Page 26: ...uter keyboard permits a single key to have two functions the new Shift mode permits a single row and column in the 4 x 4 menu matrix to have both a normal and shifted menu function For example the new...

Page 27: ...ink and the rst three characters of the preset name will blink To rename the preset turn the rst three rotary knobs to change the values of the rst three characters The fourth rotary knob is used to s...

Page 28: ...mware of your unit You can always start by running the unit as a class compliant device and then install the drivers later in order to obtain these other features if you need them However be sure that...

Page 29: ...position right in the middle MUTE the track in the sequencer that you are using to record and adjust the output level to taste When you are done recording that track turn the mute off Turn the mute ON...

Page 30: ...your computer s Autoplay function is on an M Audio menu screen will come up If not you ll need to browse the contents of the CD and select Autoplay With the M Audio menu up use the Product drop down...

Page 31: ...Windows will identify the Black Box You may be asked if you want to search the internet for a driver Select No not this time and press Next Your computer will display a New Hardware Found message ind...

Page 32: ...the M Audio driver CD into your CD ROM drive and open the CD to view its contents Click the Open Me icon An M Audio menu will appear Use the Product drop down menu to select Black Box Then click on In...

Page 33: ...important information on changes that may have occurred since the writing of this manual so be certain to read through it Then click Continue You will then be presented with the License Agreement Cli...

Page 34: ...User Guide 34 Select a destination disk for the installation and then click Continue In the Easy Install box click Upgrade...

Page 35: ...User Guide 35 English You will need your Administrator Password for the next step After you enter it click OK and then click Upgrade On the following box click Continue Installation...

Page 36: ...he Black Box will now be available in your Audio MIDI Setup Be sure that the device is shown as M Audio Black Box If it is only listed as Black Box the unit is still being recognized only as a class c...

Page 37: ...selection Timing Source The delay and lter effects of the Black Box can lock to the internal drum machine tempo or external MIDI beat clock Simply left click on the radio button to make your selection...

Page 38: ...l not appear if you are running that operating system However most Mac DAW applications do allow you to de ne a preferred buffer setting in the application It has the same effect as the adjustment des...

Page 39: ...s for an optional rmware update will also be copied to your computer However the new rmware les are not uploaded to the Black Box during the driver installation Select the latest rmware version from t...

Page 40: ...the Mic Input Connect your guitar or bass s instrument cable to the front panel Guitar Input Adjust the mic and guitar level inputs so that your strongest signals only peak the red clip indicator occ...

Page 41: ...ttle of both A middle setting of EQU means that that output of the drums is equal in volume to the output of the guitar effect A setting of SEP means the drum signal will come out of one output while...

Page 42: ...ailable Register online at www m audio com register to receive FREE product updates and for the chance to win M Audio giveaways Black Box Tested to comply with FCC standards FOR HOME OR STUDIO USE WAR...

Page 43: ...anced 2 0dBV 1 26Vrms Signal to Noise Ratio 100dB 48kHz a weighted Dynamic Range 100dB 48kHz a weighted THD N 0 0024 92 5dB 1kHz 1dBFS 48kHz Frequency Response 0 2dB 20Hz to 20kHz 48kHz 0 3dB 20Hz to...

Page 44: ...ata source is used to modulate the frequency of the effect s speci ed lter type 1011 nnnn 0ccccccc 0vvvvvvv Control Change nnnn channel ccccccc control number vvvvvvv value If control number 32 bank s...

Page 45: ...55 beat 2 and tick 3 it is automatically changed to bar 1 beat 2 and tick 3 Song Position Pointer messages are not sent out System Real Time Messages Status Description 1111 1000 Timing Clock When re...

Page 46: ...llows in next 2 bytes 0000 0001 M Audio ID MSB 01h 0000 0101 M Audio ID LSB 05h 0000 0001 Black Box family code LSB always 01h 0000 0000 Black Box family code MSB always 00h 0000 0010 Black Box family...

Page 47: ...to modify the currently selected preset or as a response to a Request Stored Preset message If this message is sent from an external device to Black Box while a user preset is selected the preset is s...

Page 48: ...t stored preset 0000 000b Bank select 0 for factory preset 1 for user preset 0nnn nnnn Requested preset number 0 to 99 1111 0111 End of Exclusive EOX Select Drumbeat Message ID 8 When Black Box receiv...

Page 49: ...Black Box family member ID MSB 00h 0000 1001 Message ID for Select preset 0000 000b Bank select 0 for factory preset 1 for user preset 0nnn nnnn Requested preset number 0 to 99 1111 0111 End of Exclus...

Page 50: ...00h 0000 1011 Message ID for Transmit preset edit buffer 0000 0010 FileVersion for preset data structure 0ddd dddd Preset data 64 bytes coded into 74 bytes of 7 bit MIDI data see Data packing below 1...

Page 51: ...should either wait a full second or wait until a Save Complete ID 17 message is returned before sending any further messages Save Complete message ID 17 After a Transmit Preset message is received by...

Page 52: ...ce sends this message it should either wait a full second or wait until a Save Complete ID 17 is returned before sending any further messages Copy User Presets to Factory message ID 20 This message in...

Page 53: ...99 positive modulation depth 7 FX Wet Dry 0 99 0 dry 99 full effect This parameter is unused for the following effects TREM1 3 PAN1 4 VIBRA1 2 SWELL and ARPG1 20 8 Delay Time 0 118 consisting of 0 99...

Page 54: ...R Mic Guitar Note 1 All modes pass the USB input to the L R analog outputs Note 2 The Input Playback knob determines the mix of digital and analog output 7 Gate 0 off or On1 On9 9 gate thresholds 8 Se...

Page 55: ...4 EEEEeeee Memory byte 4 5 FFFFffff Memory byte 5 6 GGGGgggg Memory byte 6 Then it is sent over MIDI with the MS bits rst as follows 0 0GFEDCBA Packed MS bits 1 0AAAaaaa MIDI Data Bytes 2 0BBBbbbb 3...

Page 56: ...C 0 820 391 191 Assistance Technique e mail support m audio fr mac m audio fr fax 33 0 1 72 72 90 52 Site Web www m audio fr M Audio Germany Kuhallmand 34 D 74613 Ohringen Germany Technical Support e...

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