what guitar amp modelling software are you using?

Denalihighway

howdy lads.

in a perfect world i'd have a nice live room with 30 grands worth of heads and cabinets and a rack of 20 guitars (plus the skills to record them very well) but alas...

could i be so bold as to inquire what guitar amp modeling software (for guitar and bass guitar) you are using and getting good results from?

Thanks

sumtings

There is a good round up of the amp modeling software on the market in Computer Music magazine this month.

I use NI's Guitar Rig, what I like best about it is the presets. The only thing I can compare it with is Line 6's Pod and I way prefer Guitar Rig.

Paolo_M

I'm just a hobbyist but I've tried most modelling software out there.

Amplitube is great for cleans. The Fender series is really nice.
It does not support IRs, that I can see, so that's a bit of a bummer.
It's mid gain/heavy tones are pretty weak.
Their bass amp sims are nice.

LePous stuff (all free) is great for mid gain through to metal. The LecTo is awesome for NuMetal/grungy stuff, the Legion does a great job for downtuned or 7 string metal.
The XTC is really nice and has some great mid gain and lead tones.
The HyBrit does a real nice mid gain.
He provides a free impulse loader called LeCab which allows you to load up to 6 IRs which is great for blending for those times that you just cant find that "one" perfect IR.
I really like the RecTo for adding a bit of grit to a clean bass track.

ReValver III is awesome. Their 6505(+) is frighteningly close to the recorded tones of the real deal.
It used to be flakey as f*ck but it's been worked and is much more stable now.
It can also provide a single interface for the amp sim, IR loader, tuner, FX pedals etc. which LePou's stuff does not.

These are the one's that I use regularly.
I haven't found one "do it all" package, and I suspect you'll also find the same.

GuitarHacks, Sneap, Gods Cabs and the Friedman awesome series are some great, free cab IRs.


Most offer free demos, I'd say it's worth spending the time trying stuff and see what works best for you both for a tonal and workflow perspective.

DamagedTrax

Paolo_M wrote: »

It does not support IRs, that I can see, so that's a bit of a bummer.
It's mid gain/heavy tones are pretty weak.

the cab stage on amplitube is IR. it just doesnt support external files.

and i have to disagree about the heavier tones, the new orange amps are stunning.

Paolo_M

DamagedTrax wrote: »

the cab stage on amplitube is IR. it just doesnt support external files.

and i have to disagree about the heavier tones, the new orange amps are stunning.

Nope, I'm pretty sure that it's cabinet simulations.
The fact that you can dynamically change mike positions confirms that it is not using IRs, whatever technology it is using.

I have heard some really nice heavy tones from the Amplitube SLO simulation using IRs. The Thunderverb also sounds nice.

DamagedTrax

Paolo_M wrote: »

The fact that you can dynamically change mike positions confirms that it is not using IRs, whatever technology it is using.

some sort of dynamic convolution similiar to nebula's engine i would assume, where a collection of impulse files are loaded (rather than one) and react dynamically to the incoming signal.

from IK multimedia's website

Amplitube takes full advantage of the power and authenticity of convolution in both our reverbs and cabs

Paolo_M

DamagedTrax wrote: »

some sort of dynamic convolution similiar to nebula's engine i would assume, where a collection of impulse files are loaded (rather than one) and react dynamically to the incoming signal.

from IK multimedia's website

If that is the case, Nebula should try and nick some of IK's programmers.
Their implementation of dynamic convolution is very CPU hungry, and Amplitube is very lite!!

DamagedTrax

Paolo_M wrote: »

If that is the case, Nebula should try and nick some of IK's programmers.
Their implementation of dynamic convolution is very CPU hungry, and Amplitube is very lite!!

i wouldnt say its exactly the same. there is also an element of ik multimedia's VRM technology involved but their cabs do add a noticable ram footprint.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

you can pick up digitech gsp1101's pretty cheap now

its very impressive and sounds as real as modelling can get to my ears.

its like a poormans AXE fx , but is well up there in terms of tone and feel.

mine always amazes me each time i use it.

spiderjazz

Paolo_M wrote: »

I'm just a hobbyist but I've tried most modelling software out there.

Amplitube is great for cleans. The Fender series is really nice.
It does not support IRs, that I can see, so that's a bit of a bummer.
It's mid gain/heavy tones are pretty weak.
Their bass amp sims are nice.

LePous stuff (all free) is great for mid gain through to metal. The LecTo is awesome for NuMetal/grungy stuff, the Legion does a great job for downtuned or 7 string metal.
The XTC is really nice and has some great mid gain and lead tones.
The HyBrit does a real nice mid gain.
He provides a free impulse loader called LeCab which allows you to load up to 6 IRs which is great for blending for those times that you just cant find that "one" perfect IR.
I really like the RecTo for adding a bit of grit to a clean bass track.

ReValver III is awesome. Their 6505(+) is frighteningly close to the recorded tones of the real deal.
It used to be flakey as f*ck but it's been worked and is much more stable now.
It can also provide a single interface for the amp sim, IR loader, tuner, FX pedals etc. which LePou's stuff does not.

These are the one's that I use regularly.
I haven't found one "do it all" package, and I suspect you'll also find the same.

GuitarHacks, Sneap, Gods Cabs and the Friedman awesome series are some great, free cab IRs.


Most offer free demos, I'd say it's worth spending the time trying stuff and see what works best for you both for a tonal and workflow perspective.

+1 to the LePou recommendations and the cab IR's, they make such a change to your tone that they're worth spending a bit of time experimenting with.

It's worth trying out TSEs models as well, his 5150 model is great, albeit processor hungry. His TS808 model is tasty as well. He has a model of a sansamp for bass as well, you can add a nice bit of grit with it.

This list from the Andy Sneap forum should give you a lot of options

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/541010-list-guitar-ampsim-software.html

spiderjazz

To answer your thread question, I'm using an Axe FX. Sold my tube gear (wasn't gigging at the time, and started getting interested in recording stuff) and bought the Axe, delighted with it for recording. I've started using it live now for playing bass, going straight into the PA, sounds great.

Denalihighway

thanks very much for the replies gents, very helpful

could i ask you something further, since it came up in a couple of posts above - if you could tell me which ones are particularly CPU heavy in your experience or particularly good in that regard too?

its likely i won't be working with a particularly powerful machine

spiderjazz

I found LePou quite good in general, didn't have processor problems with it. It's honestly just best to try em out and see if they work or not for you. A good option with them is to dial in a tone you like, and you can render the track down then, that can help save some CPU.

Paolo_M

As spiderjazz says LePou, and most others, are quite light on CPU usage.
Most software modeller programs have high and low quality modes which also help save on CPU.
Printing or rendering tracks is also very good practise for both saving on CPU but also forcing you to make decisions on your mix. Here's where tracking in the low quality mode and then rendering with it set to high quality works well.
Most programs are either free or have free demos.

Most aren't that CPU intensive anyway.
I'm running an Intel dual core with 4GB of RAM (fairly bog standard spec these days) and my demo project template has one Superior Drummer, two instances of LePou plugins, three ReValvers, one ApmpliTube and a SampleTank running with the buffer set to 64.
Never a problem.

pinksoir

I especially like the AcmeBarGig heads. My favourite is the Tamla Head; with a bit of tweaking you can get some sweet motown type tones.

http://www.acmebargig.com/product/tamla-head/#

Have a look through their Classic Hybrid Line under products. They're all free and I've found most of them good when run through a nice cab emulator like AudioEase Cabinet (which is unreal by the way)

PMI

Remember the palmer kit in there too....

trackmixstudio

I have never been able to get the punch and clarity from any of the amp sims available. Best bet is to get a small valve amp and a 57. I use pod farm with cab impulses for guide tracks and you sort of get used to the sound while tracking but once you put a miced guitar down the difference is massive.
Impulses tend to sound better than the included speaker sims in the modelers so I always turn off the included cabs and use my own impulses with Logic's "space designer" plugin.
Here is the 57/421 impulse I am using these days. Give it a go. It sounds pretty good.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2133088/57-421%20MESA.wav

Paolo_M

trackmixstudio wrote: »

I have never been able to get the punch and clarity from any of the amp sims available. Best bet is to get a small valve amp and a 57. I use pod farm with cab impulses for guide tracks and you sort of get used to the sound while tracking but once you put a miced guitar down the difference is massive.
Impulses tend to sound better than the included speaker sims in the modelers so I always turn off the included cabs and use my own impulses with Logic's "space designer" plugin.
Here is the 57/421 impulse I am using these days. Give it a go. It sounds pretty good.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2133088/57-421%20MESA.wav

Do you edit the DI track and then re-amp, or get the guitarist playing through the amp?

Splinters

Ive heard some amazing results from Guitar Rig (I think version 4). Its certainly the least digital sounding for high gain tones. Overloud TH2 is well worth a look too.

Although not software, Im using the Fractal Audio Axe Fx these days. Hands down the best modelling gear available, unfortunately at quite a high price but I really cant stress enough how much its worth every cent.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

i must say that the comment about punch and clarity is my experience as well - i use a small tube amp as well as the gsp 1101 and the amp always does the trick easier.

i use an sm58 though - it seems to just take the raw edge off compared to a 57 .