Product:
TONEX 2.0 / TONEX software
Summary:
Please significantly improve the workflow for importing, organizing and using separate DI Amp Models and cabinet IRs. The current library management becomes extremely slow and frustrating when working with larger third-party collections.
Problem / Use Case:
I regularly purchase third-party TONEX packs containing separate DI Amp Models and cabinet IRs because I want to use TONEX as a modular guitar rig: keep my EQ, effects, delay, reverb and other preset settings, and then quickly swap only the Amp Model or only the cabinet.
This should be one of the biggest advantages of working with DI captures and separate cabinets, but in TONEX 2.0 the library workflow makes this unnecessarily complicated.
For example, I recently imported a collection containing around 28 Amp Models plus separate cabinet IRs.
What I would expect is very simple:
Windows folder → drag all Amp Models into a folder in the Amp Model Browser
Windows folder → drag all cabinet IRs into a folder in the Cab/IR Browser
Instead, the current workflow requires far too many unnecessary steps.
I cannot simply drag purchased Amp Models directly from Windows into a user folder in the Amp Model Browser.
Content first has to be imported, often involving the Preset Browser, even when what I actually want is not a finished preset but only an Amp Model.
Then I have to create another collection/folder in the Amp Model Browser and manually find the imported models again.
With a large pack, this means searching for individual Amp Models one by one, identifying them, selecting them and organizing them manually.
Then I have to repeat another organization process for the cabinet IRs in the Cab/IR Browser.
In practice, the same purchased product ends up requiring separate organization in multiple places: Presets, Amp Models and Cabinets.
This creates unnecessary duplication and confusion between:
Presets
Amp Models
DI Amp Models
Cabinets / IRs
The distinction between these sections is useful, but the workflow between them is not.
If I buy a pack containing 20, 30 or more DI captures, I should not have to type the names of 20–30 amplifiers into Search one at a time just to locate them and move them into the collection where I wanted them in the first place.
This becomes especially frustrating when comparing sounds.
My ideal workflow is to create one finished preset containing my preferred:
EQ
gate
compressor
delay
reverb
routing
levels
cabinet settings
…and then quickly browse through different Amp Models while everything else stays unchanged.
For example:
Amp 1 + Cab A
Amp 2 + Cab A
Amp 3 + Cab A
and then:
Amp 1 + Cab A
Amp 1 + Cab B
Amp 1 + Cab C
This is exactly why separate DI Amp Models and cabinet IRs are so useful.
TONEX already has the sound quality and architecture to make this workflow excellent, but the Browser and library management currently make it much harder than it needs to be.]
Proposed Solution:
[Please improve the TONEX Browser with proper drag-and-drop and batch library management.
Most importantly:
• Allow direct drag-and-drop of Amp Models from Windows/macOS into a user-created folder or collection in the Amp Model Browser.
• Allow direct drag-and-drop of cabinet IRs directly into a user-created folder in the Cab/IR Browser.
• Allow importing an entire folder containing multiple Amp Models at once.
• If I drag a folder containing 28 Amp Models into TONEX, optionally create a TONEX collection with the same folder name automatically.
• Allow multi-select for Amp Models and Cabinets so multiple items can be moved, tagged, renamed or organized at once.
• Allow batch operations instead of forcing users to search and organize every Amp Model individually.
• Make it easier to distinguish and manage Presets, Amp Models and Cabinets during import.
• Do not require Amp Models to go through unnecessary Preset Browser steps when the user only wants to add them to the Amp Model library.
• Preserve folder structure where possible when importing third-party libraries.
• Add an “Import to collection…” option where the destination collection can be selected before importing.
• Make recently imported items easy to identify, for example with “Recently Imported”, import date, source folder or another filter.
• Allow sorting/filtering by pack, manufacturer, creator or import batch so newly purchased libraries can be organized immediately.
• Make switching between Amp Models and Cabinets inside an existing preset as fast and intuitive as possible, without changing the rest of the signal chain.
A simple workflow such as:
Select 28 Amp Models → drag to TONEX → choose “My Collection” → Done
would save an enormous amount of time compared with the current process.
The same should apply to IR libraries.
Priority / Impact:
High.
For users who own only a few Tone Models this may not seem like a major problem, but for users who purchase third-party DI packs, Amp collections and IR libraries, the current workflow scales very badly.
The more TONEX content you buy, the harder the library becomes to manage.
This is unfortunate because TONEX 2.0 is becoming increasingly powerful as a modular guitar platform. The sound quality is excellent, but the Browser/library workflow now needs to catch up with the capabilities of the rest of the software.
I would strongly encourage IK Multimedia to focus on library usability, direct drag-and-drop and batch management in a future TONEX 2.x update.