Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

All about the tools and techniques involved in capturing sound, in the studio or on location.

Moderator: Moderators

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by resistorman »

Well, I ordered one for a little over $200. I figure I’ll be able to sell it easily if I don’t like it.
User avatar
resistorman
Frequent Poster (Level2)
Posts: 2679 Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 12:00 am Location: Asheville NC
"The Best" piece of gear is subjective.

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by CS70 »

Exactly - ridiculous price. You're in for a good surprise, especially if you are used to battle with latency.

I hope the one you got has the latest firmware and the expansion pack installed - most do by this time (they're "latest" but pretty old by now), but just check.

As usual, most of the presets are a bit over the top, so after skimming them you want to build your own patches. Best to do on speakers rather than headphones.

And the best is that it's a perfect DI machine, over S/PDIF one of the channels is wet, the other is dry..
User avatar
CS70
Jedi Poster
Posts: 7798 Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:00 am Location: Oslo, Norway
Silver Spoon - Check out our latest video and the FB page

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by CS70 »

Gutter Pup wrote:
Rather than try to describe what I mean, here are a few of many examples (btw: If you aren't yet familiar with these guitarists and/or the equipment they used, you might wanna check 'em out someday ! ) :

- Gibson SG (with humbucking pickups) into cranked (max volume) Marshall amps
e.g. Eric Clapton w/Cream - 1968 - "Crossroads" from the "Wheels of Fire" album
...

I agree that nothing beats the immediacy of a nice tube amp, but keep in mind 99% of the sound on these tracks is the guitarist. Give Clapton an overdrivable amp and any guitar and he'll be able to make the Crossroads sound no problems (I love that version and misspent a lot of my youth playing it for hours in front of the cassette player).
User avatar
CS70
Jedi Poster
Posts: 7798 Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:00 am Location: Oslo, Norway
Silver Spoon - Check out our latest video and the FB page

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by uselessoldman »

Question is can any of the amp sims produce that dynamic warm smooth distortion that makes a valve amp so uniquely sensuous? Clearly that is the challenge as that is the penultimate sound any musician wants expected and desires. But its not just the amp that creates that tone, your speakers are also JUST as critical and why its best to use a amp sim in conjunction with G12Hs if that is your target tone (in reference to Clapton).

Like a Boss Katana that some people rave about, is it good? Yeah its OK, for the money its nothing special. A box of tricks, something Boss have always been masters of so you would expect it to sound good.

In fact its two amps that create those warm smooth uniquely value tones. The initial saturation gain of the pre amp and the drive of the power amp. But I would still argue that quite a few amps sims do a pretty good impersonation !!
uselessoldman
Regular
Posts: 246 Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 7:39 pm

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by resistorman »

I look at amp sims like any other plugin simulating analog gear. Does it sound good? Does it inspire me to create and mix music? Who cares if it’s 100% accurate...
User avatar
resistorman
Frequent Poster (Level2)
Posts: 2679 Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 12:00 am Location: Asheville NC
"The Best" piece of gear is subjective.

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by resistorman »

CS70 wrote:Exactly - ridiculous price. You're in for a good surprise, especially if you are used to battle with latency.

I hope the one you got has the latest firmware and the expansion pack installed - most do by this time (they're "latest" but pretty old by now), but just check.

As usual, most of the presets are a bit over the top, so after skimming them you want to build your own patches. Best to do on speakers rather than headphones.

And the best is that it's a perfect DI machine, over S/PDIF one of the channels is wet, the other is dry..

The listing said the expansion pack is installed, so I should be good to go. Thanks!
User avatar
resistorman
Frequent Poster (Level2)
Posts: 2679 Joined: Sun Nov 22, 2015 12:00 am Location: Asheville NC
"The Best" piece of gear is subjective.

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by Watchmaker »

I've been using IK Amplitube for years and I simply go to amp models I like and use the knobs as if I were using a real amp. Usually I'm dialing in the same tone I'd go for in a real amp. I don't find using the plug-in less expressive or engaging than cranking up the mini-recto or custom reverb and I don't have latency issues. I'm running a modest 8 year old iMac.

The development of IR technology is blowing my mind and I'm finding it hard to keep up with the different things that are going on these days so I'm sticking with what I know until someone pushes me outta the rockin chair.
User avatar
Watchmaker
Frequent Poster
Posts: 1146 Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:00 am Location: Upstate NY, USA
Where does sound exist?

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by The Elf »

resistorman wrote:I look at amp sims like any other plugin simulating analog gear. Does it sound good? Does it inspire me to create and mix music? Who cares if it’s 100% accurate...

Any prize off the fourth shelf, mate! :thumbup:
User avatar
The Elf
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19940 Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2001 12:00 am Location: Sheffield, UK
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by Gutter Pup »

uselessoldman (btw: can I go by 'anotheruselessoldman" ? Sorry, I'm not clear on what you are recommending when you said:

But its not just the amp that creates that tone, your speakers are also
just as critical and why its best to use a amp sim in conjunction with G12Hs if that
is your target tone (in reference to Clapton).

Sorry if I'm being lame here, but, how do you use amp sim software with an
actual amp ?

Well, I'm coming to realize that my expectations of amp sim software are just too unrealistic. Sigh - I'll probably just drag an amp with a removable speaker jack out of the studio, and use a Palmer ADIG-LP PGA-04 speaker simulator/load box . . . (which, frankly, I rarely use as I am underwhelmed by it as well).

Caveat: I'm just an old curmudgeon, who, unfortunately, has lived all of his life in this satanic, hell hole of a pit - otherwise known as "Los Angeles" (translated, means City of the Angeles :sick: ). I helped manage a cool guitar/drum shop when I was a "kid" (40 + yrs ago !), and tried out and/or heard basically every (non-handmade/non-custom) guitar, amp, and pedal that was commercially available (at least in the USA) back then, have read countless different guitar/recording magazines over the years (my wife is always on my butt to get rid of them, so I'm now down to about 100 or so copies), saw tons of local bands, and knew the equipment of most, and have gone to way too many NAMM shows. Why do I bother telling you this ? It's just because I'm hoping that it might help explain why I am being such a pain in the ass, and am a bit weary of the age-old claims/hype by some equipment manufacturers that "this [blank] is revolutionary, and sounds just as good as, or far better than, a real tube amp" . . .

Anyway, to your relief, I'll finally shut up now, take out my teeth, and drink a laxative . . .
it's 11:24 pm, hell hole time.
User avatar
Gutter Pup
Poster
Posts: 20 Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:23 pm

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by The Elf »

Gutter Pup wrote:Well, I'm coming to realize that my expectations of amp sim software are just too unrealistic.

I don't think so. It works for many people. The problem is that nagging doubt - many people just use them and have done with it - and are being heard on recordings every day with nobody worrying a jot about it.
User avatar
The Elf
Jedi Poster
Posts: 19940 Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2001 12:00 am Location: Sheffield, UK
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by rggillespie »

I'm feeling similarly to you Gutter Pup, there's something very uninspiring using simulations. I've tried the line 6 pod, then amplitude and now the Strymon iridium but not hit it off with any of them. But for the neighbours, I would play through and mic up my amp, that's the sound I recognize and it has the scale of an electric guitar that I love. I'm inspired to play and record. Playing through my pc and hearing it back through my monitors/headphones is just a flat experience in comparison. It's like being there and seeing a great landscape, whereas the amp simulation is like looking at a photo of that great landscape. Different strokes for different folks I suppose, and they work great for plenty of people, I'm just not feeling much love for it. I'm reading up on the universal audio ox now, it seems highly rated but I suspect I will still feel removed from the process, and its not cheap. Its a tough nut to crack, hope you find a solution that works for you.
rggillespie
Regular
Posts: 194 Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:24 am

Re: Direct, Simple Question re: Guitar Amp Simulating Software

Post by CS70 »

Gutter Pup wrote:Well, I'm coming to realize that my expectations of amp sim software are just too unrealistic.

They aren't. You just get what you believe you will get. The main issue of age is that you forget your beliefs are just that - and that some might be wrong, some might be right and some might have once been right, but they have now turned to wrong. Age is about crystallized beliefs. And back pain, I hear.

Sure sometimes you have to do the same you would with real amps - try and try different combinations until you find the magic (which is why I still have a dozen amps... never been one to sell equipment!).

For example, I spent the better part of last week trying at least half a dozen combos to get a specific sound I have in mind for a guitar line, but haven't managed yet. I know I get it with the Mesa, my pedalboard and a well-positioned microphone, but since the studio is closed due to lockdown and I'm stuck home and so is all the family, a miked amp is simply not an option (the amp is too loud and the room is never quiet enough).

So today or tomorrow I'm gonna try the Mesa with a loadbox and a BluBox cab emulator. I've been looking at the Torpedo Captor X and the Shur IR but gotta exhaust the options I have already first.
User avatar
CS70
Jedi Poster
Posts: 7798 Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:00 am Location: Oslo, Norway
Silver Spoon - Check out our latest video and the FB page
Post Reply