Hey what are the best amp sim plugins that sound as close as a real guitar today as possible?

I have native instruments komplete 11 ultimate so I got guitar rig. I am just waiting for it to get shipped.

I was going to buy shreddage 2 to go with guitar rig but it seems to get a lot of hate since they are better options.

So please tell me about your experience and recommendations when it comes to amp sim plugins.

It will be much appreciated!

Thanks

Peshti

 

i just tried the new mercuriall amp sims they are pretty cool. guitar rig is cool also. bias amp is good, uad stuff is deadly. but now, mercuriall sims are my new fav. hope they will do low gain sims in the future like a vox and fender

 

I'm using Shreddage 2 with either TH2 or GR5.
Loving the Van 51 amp in GR5 and use it on most things. Using that head (or others) and Reflektor loaded with 3rd party IR's and you are covered

 

I'm finding that Mercuriall, Thermionik (Kazrog), TSE X50 are my go to paid for high gain (and other) amp sims. For free stuff, have a look here: https://lepouplugins.blogspot.com/ Although they're getting older now, they're still kick ass freebies. Check out the Amp sim pack and Lecab. I actually considered these better than GR, Amplitube, or ReValver for high gain back then. There's also links to check out. After that it's all about the IR's and processing. You may want to consider something like a TS7/TS9/808 or something as well. Mercuriall has a free TS sim (and other stuff) but I haven't tried it yet. https://mercuriall.com/cms/details_freestuff

 

Lepou, TSE, Ignite Amps freewares
That's all you need for most situations
And the usual IR : catharsis s-pres high

payware : more complex question ... i found GR bad sounding, Revalver fizzy, TH3 not so convincing...
So start with freewares

 

"revalver" from peavey I will recomennd it a lot

 

Just demoed Scuffham S gear... Sounded pretty good to my ears... Much better than guitar rig... The one ive been using for many years now... S Gear sounds more real and less noisy...

 

Guitar Rig is terrible imo.
Amp sims are like real amps, they all have different characteristics, most of the ones who do high-gain well don't do low-gain well, therefore I divide them into two general categories:
Kazrog Thermionik, Ignite, Lepou, TSE, and Mercurial for modern Metal or Hard Rock tones. Notice that most of those are free.
Positive Grid BIAS AMP 1, Kuassa, S-Gear and Amplitube 4 for more vintage and slightly driven tones.

You should give examples of what kind of tone you're looking for to narrow the field.

 

Hey man, have a look at this thread.
https://audiosex.pro/threads/best-guitar-fx-cab-amp-emulator.31693/

 

just a thought too, as all the new gen amp modelling multi effect HD stuff is in the market place you can get something like a line 6 pod xt or Zoom G3/X for under 100 bucks. sometimes much less. these I find are better then any amp sim and you dont need your computer on to play them

 

Toneforge - Menace is my favorite and all I need for now.

 

Some facts almost everyone agrees:
S-Gear: very good for almost everything but very high gain tones. Few effects, CPU hungry
BIAS: good dynamics, very hard on RAM and CPU. You should ask yourself if you really need amp-matching (Amp) or going directly to FX
Overloud TH3: not the best sounding but you can do almost everything, lots of effects, and it's (like Overloud usually does) very cheap on CPU. Hard on RAM though
Amplitube 4: and all-around like TH3, sounds slightly better to me, specially the cabs, very CPU hungry
Helix Native: hard on CPU, light on RAM, good sound, lots of effects
TSE X502: few effects and amps but it really sounds good and light on CPU and RAM. My go-to unless I need a wah-wah complex lead sound, for instance
Free ones: LePou, Ignite Amps Emissary
Menace: haven't tested it properly, but seems like a good alternative to X502 to me

Mercuriall: new kid on the (z) block, haven't tested, too much options already lol

 

I know absolutely zero about "proper" tone etc having never owned or (rly) played a guitar. But I like the sound of Revalver, and find myself dialling in TH3 stuff a lot, too. Maybe because convenience, w/ latter. Although neither has a great reputation for authenticity AFAIK? I never see either get much <3 anyway...

 

what kind of guitar style tones?

 

all their VSTs, esp. the 3ch preamps, tube power amp and Emissary are stellar.
Don't forget to add Airwindows' guitar conditioner before any ampsim.

 

I've tried pretty much all of them and to me the tones Mercuriall plugins produce just can't be matched. Spark is absolutely insane for Marshall tones. The downside is that they refuse to release a proper suite, instead of the "mini suites" they always do (similar to TSE X50).

I used to love S-Gear. It's funny how groundbreaking it was, but how little the developer cares for expansion. It hasn't been updated since 2015 or something. They said next 3.0 update would include a new framework for hosting both old amps and new amps. OLD AMPS. They don't even plan to update them, lol.

I really wanted the Helix to be "the one". But I was dissappointed. Can't speak for UAD ones since I don't have an UAD card (nor I would pay 200$ for an ampsim).

 

For metal: Bias amp 2. I found this preset which is great: Mark V:25 SD Pegasus 8 Strong Tone

There are some good amps in it, but remember not everyone in tonecloud is professional. Most of the bad tones come from the wrong IR and Cabinet. After finding a good preset and tweaking the amp, use the amp match if you have any desired target.

 

I like Studio Devil. But to be honest my hearing is so blown it does not matter much which sim I use. That's my Studio Devil product endorsement.

 

I am a proud owner of Brainworx/Plugin Alliance GAV19T and Bassdude. Brainworx doesn't offer a lot of models, but that's what makes them different. The quality of each amp is unprecedented, better than any other simulation out there.

They don't offer any Vox or Orange amp simulation, their cab simulation is primitive, and their pedal collection is minuscule, so it's not for everybody.

I don't have any UAD card, but I guess Softube's amp plugins must follow a similar pattern too. Their Vintage Room plugin wasn't great, but so are all of Softube's first plugins. Their latest stuff are best-in-class stuff. Anyone tried Softube's amps ?

 

Hey, can you share those catharsis IR's? I used to have them, I can't find them on my drives. I tried some old links on the Sneap forum (among others), no go so far.