Charfett since nobody seems to be replying to this... When I bought my 1101 there was a guy on here that said he had both the 1101/2101 and there were things he liked better about the 2101. You might be able to find the thread of you search. Id also suggest (If you're looking for something in the -$400 range) take a good look at the Eleven Rack and the GMajor 2 also.
As far as the whole "transparent" thing. Keep in mind that (IMO) it's not as important when youre running these effects in parallel (which is where most of them belong) because as long as you have that 100% analog uneffected signal running along side the effects it'll still keep most of your tone intact. The effects should just "add" to the signal. You never want 100% of your signal and tone subjected to an effects processor.
Wrote this quick on my way out, didn't want to not post it (I know how buying that GSP is probably burning a hole in your wallet LoL), hopefully I said all that i wanted to say correctly. Ill check back later
