Never tried one of em man >>> ive herd of em but maybe one these days i will ;) sounds pretty killer tho i may have to order one of em and try ot in a 1x12 cab i have >>> i used a 1x12 cab/speaker on the recording above with Marshall 2000 DSL 100 head of mine ... and the other Guitar is Helix with Nebula cabs... i like to Record with 1x12 and 212 cabs sometimes but i also use the 4x12 too

 

Other contenders that sound great are Mercuriall's plugins. If they ever release a suite it will be definetely interesting!

Thermionik still gives me the best "amp in the room" feeling. Same as 3 Sigma Audio impulses so they pair up very well. That doesn't mean they're the best options when mixing, though.

I have mixed feelings towards the Helix. Some amps sound really good, but for example the Rectifier is beyond salvation. The overall feel is quite good, but there is also a very prominent "harsh" high end that doesn't go away that easily. Perhaps I had too high hopes as the hardware received very positive reviews. I wonder how would people react if they could hear Thermionik, TH3 or S-Gear in a floorboard unit... Nonetheless, I think Helix biggest downside is its price. I get why they did it, but still too expensive.

S-Gear feels completely abandoned at this point and I really want another contender to stand up. The developer is supposeddly devoted 24/7 to the software, yet in 6 years he has only added TWO amps (up to five). Perhaps is due to the zealots that reside in their forum asking to not add new content everytime somebody asks for it It was 75$ when it came out and for the quality that offered back in 2011, an awesome value. Now it's 150$ which will give it a hard time if more "suite" alternatives like the Helix come up.

I couldn't stand TH3 interface so I didn't really tested it much.

BIAS to me was just a marketing bluff disguised into a pretty GUI. SO many youtubers hyping it up. I wonder how much were they paid...

Revalver 4 didn't wow me either. Amplitube 4 crashed on my system and only the recent models sounded good.

Some EZMIX packs sound awesome. Really, really good. But to me they feel the absolute worst. They're like snapshots. Since you can't barely tweak them... Not very useful at all.

Aaaand that's all it comes to me right now about current ampsims.

 

Last edited: Sep 22, 2017

I'm using a Kemper Profiler Amp. I also use Soundtoys and Valhalla on top op this. I sometimes use some real pedals up front too, but I am trying to get rid of these from my workflow. I have used Amplitube from version 1 and I still use it, and I also like Helix Native. I would consider buying a Helix LT as I like to keep the guitar/keyboard processing away from the computer. I also use real vintage analogue synths, as well as software synths. That reminds me, I need to buy a reamping box to get the signals out of the computer and into my FX units

I use this method as I like to have different ways of doing things. I still work totally ITB sometimes, but I think it is good to have options. Most of my music is guitar based nowadays, so it works well for me. I went through a phase of using soft-synths for everything, but in the end I found it uninspiring. I still use them, but they are not the main event.

 

Last edited: Mar 4, 2018

I too @Zenarcist .. am edging away from the synth and coming back home to writing and playing my guitars. I could never drop vsti's from from my palette all together, but seem now to be relegating them to a completely supporting roll as these past months have come and gone. Instead of facing forward with my gaze on towards the screen, I find myself more and more perpendicular to my studio desk with guitar in hand. I am finding that it has helped me to again to find my inner voice and actually get something done for myself as these last couple of years have been a total black hole of productivity since my injury. As once again in focusing on holding a bunch of cobbled together wood and metal I hope to jump out of the rut that I have put myself in and to once again place myself on higher ground.

 

https://mercuriall.com/cms/details_spark





right here brother!

 

This is THE most ridiculous discussion on the planet... right next to "which car manufacturer is better, Ford or Chevy?" or "what food tastes better?"
I could care less what anyone thinks about guitar sound. I say this because I've been asked (as a Los Angeles studio session guitarist in the 80's & 90's)... AND I was also featured in Guitar Player Magazine for my tone and custom designed guitar rig. But still... it doesn't mean shit. It's no different than asking or worse yet, trying to tell someone what they are supposed to like to eat!!!!

Like a sphincter, EVERYONE has an opinion too... (sometimes... that's where the opinion emanates)....

 

Welcome to THE most ridiculous discussion on the planet......
Looks like you jumped right in without reading some great info offered in this thread.
Maybe you have forgotten more about guitar tones than any of us mere mortals would ever learn from a forum like this. Why are you here if you have nothing to learn or add?

You don't allow friends to recommend great new restaurants either?

Wait........Was I supposed to grovel and ask who you are? And who's rig you copied? If anything you sound like a bitter has-been.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 22, 2017

i smooch your ring, fine sir.....

 

Sounds like just another completely different opinion to me...

Why does Mercuriall have a Krank emulation in the iPhone offering, but not available as a plugin? Haha
I really need to demo Spark though.

 

Inspired by some of these guitar oriented threads, I finally setup a cab in the closet of an apartment made of cardboard walls. Sound level is so low that standing next to the amp I can hear my un-amped strings off of the guitar almost 50/50.

I was so lazy reaching for a sim when the real thing, even at these levels, adds a 3D depth along with proper pick attack. I hope my neighbor below doesn't complain.

The amp and cab cost me less than the Helix.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 23, 2017

I got borrowed today a Roland Bolt 30 which is a hybrid SS preamp/tube poweramp combo. Ungodly loud, but I'm having a lot of fun with a GT8 plugged into it bypassing the preamp. Sometimes is not about how accurate something sounds, but that lovely "bounce" amps and big ass speakers provide when hitting strings hard.

 

That was beautiful!

 

The s.c "amp in the room sound" can no ampsim do it is NOT what they are made for either.
But mic up a real half stack or combo and then RECORD with a Daw
And then do a head to head test using an ampsim with the same amp same cab same mic at the same distance and you get very close

 

I think the Neural Fortin Nameless and the new Plini Archetype sounds fantastic
Same with STL Tonality , Mercuriall,TH3 and Helix Native.
Revalver can sound good but it require some tweaking same with Bias but those are not on pair with any of the above mentioned
Never bonded with SGear the Marshall sound is good but it is something about it that i dont like.
Amplitube and Guitar Rig sounds really crappy although you can found some usable tones in both of those but ampwise they dont sound as good as any of the ones i mention above and that is strange consider Amplitube can use REAL names in their amps but hey it's all but the money not the sound i guess.

 

revalver 4

 

Hi guys im doing a little experiment .. i dont have a kemper but would like to know if any of you guys have one?

if yes... can you please send me a wav file 44.1 from the signal test tone? that the kemper run during the profilling process?

a dry wav recorded from the daw... i dont know if thats possible to do... or the sound will be the sound comingh from the amp itself.

im waitting to see since im pretend to share my experiment with you guys

i know its a 1minute average signal test ... send me the full signal test please

 

Mercuriall & Bias FX are two joke companies and their VST amps sound like GARBAGE

 

if i'd have to pick the one it would be bx_rockrack . covers everythang

 

The Neural DSP Fortin NTS Suite and the Archtype Plini are hands down the best guitar plugins ever made !!!!!

 

Step 1: Buy a tube preamp pedal (AMT, Victory, Mesa, Koch, Hughes & Kettner, Kartakou...).
Step 2: Connect it to your audio interface.
Step 3: Never have to buy guitar plugins again.

Much cheaper in the long run, and sound infinetely better. You can also buy a boost (Since you can't put it before the pedal via software.) and place both in a powerstrip with on/off switch.

I have a Soldano SLO clone that sounds fucking glorious sitting on top of my pc case. I put it against every SLO emulation out there through the same impulse and it was night and day difference. I won't spend a dime on VSTs ever again. I'd rather do it in hardware, which you can also buy used.

 

Last edited: Jun 5, 2019