Plugin users: Who is going to give us the amp sim we're all looking for?

[metropolis_4]

I feel like I'm just waiting for someone to step up, stand out from the pack and give us the mature, professional amp sim plugin we're all waiting for.

• Native Instruments seems to have completely lost interest in developing Guitar Rig and it's become antiquated. The amps sound so dated by this point it's like a time warp.

• IK Multimedia is really letting AmpliTube show its years, and their business and development model seems too old fashioned to keep up with modern times. They've been a bit greedy and misleading by keeping old models in with new, making it difficult to tell them apart, and charging similar prices for them. Plus they seem determined to keep an old fashioned proprietary, monolithic system that forces you to buy in to their entire model, instead of being able to piece together components from other companies (IR loading, I'm looking at you).

• S-Gear is great, and Mike is a great guy. But development on it seems to be crawling along at snail pace. There's a lot of buzz about it now, but will they be able to keep that momentum going when updates and new products are so few and far between?

• ReValver is good, but not the most user friendly, and marketing and the website for it are confusing and not well designed making it more difficult to get a feel for it.

• GTR3 is ancient and Waves seems to also have lost interest in developing it

• SofTube seems to be making some awesome stuff, but you have to buy into the UAD ecosystem to access it.

I feel like there is a golden opportunity for someone to really step out from the pack and give us a solid, mature, modern product in this field. Sooner or later, some company is going to get smart and realize amp sims are being used by serious guitar players as a serious rig alternative to the traditional tube amp/pedals, and they are going to make a product geared towards serious guitarists. Not iPhone app hobbyists, or studio producers, but working musicians.

 

[jpage]

No money in it--musicians are tactile creatures that like expensive toys but do not like shelling out big bucks for software. Hardware is the only way to make any real profit

 

[metropolis_4]

I think there's some truth in that, but I don't think it's entirely accurate. It may be true for guitarists, but it certainly isn't true for other musicians.

A big part of the rest of the music world has already gone the software route, and guitarists are gradually starting to follow them. Anyone doing any kind of recording or music production seems perfectly willing to shell out big bucks for software because it has so much to offer (look at the prices for Waves bundles). Keyboard players have largely already gone the software route as well. Tons of professional keyboardists are using entirely software based rigs. Lots of companies seem to be making a good profit off of software for these musicians.

The market for guitarists finally starting to utilize software may be small, but it is growing, and it's only going to continue to grow. That's why I think there is a good opportunity for a company to provide a great product now and start claiming the market.

 

[mikah912]

No money in it--musicians are tactile creatures that like expensive toys but do not like shelling out big bucks for software. Hardware is the only way to make any real profit

Just like someone who looks at the major label offerings and concludes "Rock is dead", it's myopic to look at major amp sim makers and think "Wow...where's the good stuff".

Smaller developers like Kazrog, TSE, and Ignite amps (and even Lepou is getting back into the game) have really made some awesome new sims in the past year. Positive Grid is trying (and failing, IMHO) to disrupt things on the "professional" end.

 

[olejason]

For metal I'm happy with TSE and Bias. They're every bit as good as the big names in hardware modeling for high gain sounds.

 

[metropolis_4]

Just like someone who looks at the major label offerings and concludes "Rock is dead", it's myopic to look at major amp sim makers and think "Wow...where's the good stuff".

Likewise, it's shortsighted to look at the major amp sims out there now and think "well... this is as good as it gets".

There's awesome products out there, that's the whole reason I've decided to go this route for my live rig. But there's always room for improvement. And one of the exciting things about this field is that it seems to me there is more room for growth and improvement than any other guitar equipment related field out there. It seems like there are companies that are out there, but nobody has really made that product that pulls them away from the pack and provides the definitive product for the field. There's a huge opportunity for some company to be the one who turns heads

 

[ieso]

I get a lot of milage out of the ENGL Retro UAD plugin. I think it's pretty amazing, really. I use it as a stand-alone plugin but also as a cab sim for my real amps and a power amp + cab sim for my hardware preamps. I think there is a native version of it now. Built in gate, filters, delay, etc. Very happy with this one.

 

[mikah912]

Likewise, it's shortsighted to look at the major amp sims out there now and think "well... this is as good as it gets".

There's awesome products out there, that's the whole reason I've decided to go this route for my live rig. But there's always room for improvement. And one of the exciting things about this field is that it seems to me there is more room for growth and improvement than any other guitar equipment related field out there. It seems like there are companies that are out there, but nobody has really made that product that pulls them away from the pack and provides the definitive product for the field. There's a huge opportunity for some company to be the one who turns heads

Aside from maybe Native Instruments, they all seem to be firing on all cylinders to me. IK Multimedia is developing Amplitube 4 right now. Peavey just released Revalver 4, and they are working on a tone/amp match component to it. Positive Grid is about to release Bias FX. Those are all next-gen engines with stomps, FX, presets and adjustable cab sims (they all let you select mics and distance). Don't know what else you think they should come to market with.

 

[bugzapper]

"IK Multimedia is developing Amplitube 4 right now."

News to me. I'd love to hear whatever anyone knows about this.

A while back, I took advantage of IK's Amplitube group buy. The Slash Marshalls are my favorite amp sims.

 

[mikah912]

"IK Multimedia is developing Amplitube 4 right now."

News to me. I'd love to hear whatever anyone knows about this.

A while back, I took advantage of IK's Amplitube group buy. The Slash Marshalls are my favorite amp sims.

Read on....

 

[mikah912]

I do have one gripe with software sims, and it's the same one I have with Line 6 Helix:

There is an astounding lack of NEW models in pretty much anybody's lineup. Amplitube hasn't released a new amp since the ENGL Blackmore almost a year ago. Revalver released ONE new guitar amp model: The ENGL Powerball II. It's been almost a year since it shipped too. Recabinet 4/Thermionik is supposedly adding 20 new amps as purchasable expansion packs, but Kazrog has claimed it's been coming since April.

The collective guitar amp modeling lineup for everybody non-Axe-FX or Kemper is stuck in time: Recto, Fenders, Marshall, 5150, ENGL. It's great to have brand new modeling engines, but to have them in service of the same models over and over and over.....blech. There are exceptions like Line 6 having the Divided by 13 and Dr. Z models, or Amplitube having the Dr. Z and Orange suite. But by and large...same ol', same ol'.

That's one of the reasons I still love TH-2 to this day. They got a Randall Lynch box with several modules in there, Randall T2, THD Univalve and a couple of Brunetti amps And it's not just a fresh GUI over the same sounds. They definitely sound and feel different than the generic Overloud models of Soldano, JCM800, Recto, blackface Fender and so on and so forth.....Amplitube had this problem licked with the Custom Shop, but then they let it go to seed.

 

[bugzapper]

Read on....

Well, that's intriguing stuff. Thanks for the link.

There are many Amplitube models I haven't yet explored, let alone other brands I haven't tried.

IK has basically won me over by offering good sales and good upgrade pricing. I'd love to see pricing that motivates me to buy the Soldano, the Hiwatt, the Engls, or some of the cool-sounding pedals.

And, of course, it would be great to see improvements of many of the existing models. Especially the Rat model (I love Rat pedals, but this model has nothing to do with any Rat I've ever heard) and the dirty Mark Boogie (Never played a real one. Are they supposed to be that flubby in the low end?).

 

[RonH]

I use my Eleven Rack and just recently purchased S-Gear. S-Gear sounds amazing. I love it. I love using TSE Audio's Tube Screamer and Rat models with S-Gear. Sounds really good. I also like some of Logic's included pedals with S-Gear as well. So right now, S-Gear is the amp sim that is giving me all I am looking for.

 

[slugworth]

I like BIAS. And I love some of the more recent Amplitube models. Especially the Silver Jubilee (JCM Slash) and ENGL cabs. And the SVT Pro bass model.

I'm too much of a junkie to stick with Amplitube, but if I'm being completely honest, Amplitube does everything I want. That JCM Slash model alone can do at least 80% of everything I need.

 

[Technica]

What about TH2?

 

[bugzapper]

What about TH2?

Thanks for reminding me of this one. I have a version of it that came with Sonar, but I haven't tried it yet.

Any recommendations of particular amp models you like?