Sound vs function

[William Walker <billwalker@baymoon.com>]

As a fellow tone snob I feel your pain,  I'm still stuck in hardware  
mode and I'm able to do what you want with out involving a computer,  
but there are few hardware choices available that can do multiple  
loops and mine,  the LP-1 is currently out of production and the  
roland rc 50 has been discontinued. When the time comes for me to move  
to software I will still continue to use a small hardware front end  
and smaller floor looper  as both a safety net and also because I  
still prefer analog, even solid state over  modeling for guitar tones.  
To wit, my Custom Tones  Ethos preamp offers a scant two channels of  
guitar tone, essentially a clean and a dirty channel with an extra  
boost on the dirty channel, but it has an excellent speaker emulator  
output,  so I can get great guitar tones even if I have to run direct.  
Its like a dumble amp in a box, and I'm fortunate enough to have  
played a few in my time.  Effects are another matter as i can really  
see putting a lap top to good use with both pre and post effects.  
Right now I tend to have my effects pre loop when playing live  and  
honestly I like the fact that my ethos and M-9 and timefactor and  
other effects are easy to change on the fly, the frustration I have  
found with all in one modeling/effects amps is how clumsy they have  
tended to be when needing to change eq and parameter settings on the  
fly. To much bass for the room? what are you going to do, tweak every  
preset you have created each time you move to a new one?  i think the  
new modeling amp choices are much better than when I was using them ,  
and they have addressed a number of these issues, but they still feel  
and sound a bit flat to my ears. Plus I'm a bit tired of endless  
menus, and LCD screens. Time spent editing effects parameters and  
learning new platforms  is time not making music, and currently I'm  
more interested in making music with the tools I have, which as of yet  
have not proved limiting.  So if I was making the leap, I think i'd  
keep as much analog front end as possible, but keep it simple, and use  
a combo of Abelton  and Mobius, becaues cool people in the  know said  
so, and because Jeff Larson has a dog almost as cute as mine ,  and  
what ever cool plugs I could get my hands on, I would start to  
integrate...slowly.  I'd start with some Expert Sleepers stuff,   
because Os makes cool plugins,   and I'd become an absolute pest to  
many of you on this list.
 Bill