I bookmarked this one and I think it has a lot of valuable stuff to learn from one of the best out there in term of good guitar sound recording. Bass too. Crossed my mind and just thought I share it here.

 

From a perspective of a Jazz, Blues and vintage Rock player, there are just a few viable options in my opinion... (based on 40 years experience of playing real amps and about 20 years messing around with sims)

We are talking about Cleans and crunch (from warm cleans on a SSS strat /Dire Straits/ to a medium driven sound without pedals on a Les Paul or SG with low output humbuckers /AC-DC/Led Zeppelin/... )

Amplitube was for a long time the most adequate for these tones ... it is true that it sounds like someone "blanketed" the cabs but it was manageable with some EQ-ing and running the output through a analog soft clipper before it hits the PA.
Great for practicing and home playing since v4 came out.
Good for cleans or driven tones... it lacks some dynamics to be used on a breakup point between clean and drive (if that makes sense)
The Fender and the British collection being my go to choice
________________

Softube Amp room has some amazing Marshall sims, much more open than amplitube, but again, like amplitube, it makes the breakup point of an amp to harsh and that dynamic range of that breakup point is to short to play comfortably
________________

Neural DSP is the best so far... the white amp ("Plini" or something like that) is amazing ! an the "Cory Wong" has some clean capabilities unmatched so far in any amp sim that I tried.
"Plini" is able to live in that breakup zone and deliver great dynamics if you dial back the "pre" gain and go hard on the master "pot", that fore the enjoyment is really full for the type of music that I love to play... the included compressor pedal is soft and does what it needs to do if not abused.
Sounds Great with a Gibson 345 and Les Paul.
"Wong" is perfect for cleans and it does accept a wide variety of delays, reverbs, choruses and similar effects. The included reverb is not of my liking, but that is negligible... there are tons of reverbs to taste to chose from, in the digital and in the analogue world.
Sounds Great with a strat
"Fortin" is particular in it's rawness, but maybe a little to "strong" for me.
Sounds Cool with an SG

The rest of the line is just over the top, ...deep in the Metal realm, so I don't feel competent to express a valid opinion on them, other than saying "MONSTERS" !!!! ...had no idea that such demons were hidden in my computer case
________________

All in all, I am very pleased with the development in the amp simulations realm... the 3 above mentioned developers are doing a great job.
All the GUIs are user friendly in it's own way...
No.1 goes to Neural for it's simplicity and intuitive GUI
No.2 to IK Multimedia for fitting all that stuff in a GUI of a plugin size - Remarkable !!
No.3 to Amp Room... the Gui is cool and functional, but nothing special IMO

As a side note for Linux...
Amplitube 4 works great in Linux with an acceptable latency with a buffer of 128
Amplitube 5 works on Linux, but the latency is to long ... to avoid unwanted clicks and pops had to choose 256 samples (usable only for ambiental sounds with that latency)
Softube doesn't work for the moment as a Amp Room suite, but just as individual amp plugins at 128...
Neural DSP works on Linux at 128 bit with "Normal Oversampling" ... for High Oversampling, a buffer of 256 isn't enough ...512 is unusable for guitar playing

All of them have no performance issues on Win7 with a buffer of 64
I'll put my money in Neural DSP, for the Plini and Wong, hoping they will do some more "tame" Fortin like amps in the future ... and perhaps do something about the needed PC resources for their amps

 

Great comments, and this:

sweet one

I have to correct my opinion on TH-U. Thanks to you guys I've discovered how good are the riglibs. Great invention, both for quality and CPU usage, something TH-U already excelled at. Besides, it's not that huge on disk, compared to... ahem.. hello Amplitube. Especially if you don't install the supercabinets, something cool but not necessary for me.

I'm going to replace Kuassa for TH-U. I'll keep the wonderful Kuassa Wah pedal. So it'll be like:
- blazing fast: TSE X502
- all around: TH-U
- straight mix-ready brutal tones: Gojira (perhaps another softer one for leads like Plini, Cory..)

 

Last edited: Apr 19, 2022

since i have ik multimedia and komplete, amplitube 5 and GR6 is what i deal with. Amplitube 5 is night and day over previous versions imo. GR6 probably as well over its previous but the gui is clunky to me so i generally don't use. also helps that i have the ik z-tone pedal before the audio interface.

i missed neural's last sale by one day. think they're too expensive but for 49 bucks on sale, i'll buy some. liked the plini especially cuz it really smoothed out the sound of my strat/tele single coil type business being they tend to sound screechy distorted and have to tweak to get rid of that otherwise. its like sims tend to emphasize strings clanking against frets on electrics which is the nature of the beast. frankly didn't notice that much of a difference with the bunch of neurals i demoed and A5, with the exception of the plini and single coils really

 

Last edited: Apr 19, 2022

Interesting discussion...
With my custom 7 string guitar based on the EMG707 PU, my favorite amp simulators are (in order from the first I used to the current one)
STL Emissary, PODFarm, STL Andy James, NeuralDSP Nolly, NeuralDSP Gojira

Spoiler: My thoughts

Sometimes I wonder...
With the same amp simulator and different guitars, the results are not the same...
I mean what amp sim I like/fave, doesn't mean it matches with the guitar I use and doesn't mean it's as cool as the product demo right?

Is there a real relationship between the PU we choose and the amp simulator to determine the resulting guitar tone?
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I removed my EMG707 and replaced it with Bareknuckle Juggernaut or Aftermath? Is it very significant?

 

Last edited: Apr 19, 2022

I think the power unit is not that important, the pickup(s) on the other hand...
Sure, pickups are an important part of the sound but is the sound (more or less precisely) predictable? Nope, I really doubt that. It's a matter of trial and error.

 

mixwave benson-chimera

 

The most determining factors in an Electric Guitar's tone:
Pickups (Type, and then model) (maybe 66-75% of tone right there)
Scale Length (directly affects tone/harmonic content)
Bridge/Nuts/Hardware type/material
Woods and other construction materials
Set-Up..
Mojo/Soul.. Color?


Then ofc Amp and Cab,
and that's what we're talkin about..

Been toying with Neural Wong, Nolly and Plini lately and I'm quite impressed..
It still (and always) needs a little bit more dynamics/reactivity,
but the tones are Great, yes, very Realist indeed..
(and takes my Vox tube dist like a Champ)

Also got good results with Nembrini (XTC, Marshalls), PA/Brainworx (Mesa),
and Amplitube 4 will always be up there for the quality of their Cabs..
(didn't like 5th tho, very different..)

 

Last edited: Apr 19, 2022

Yeap, Rhino is my way to go !!! Gojira was my favorite but after i tried rhino i was blown away by it. If you haven't tried it yet, do it.

 

Most people like or directly love this one, I gotta give it a shot.

 

Nembrini, Neural, TH-U are my favorites. ML Sound Labs, Amplitube, STL Tones & Mercuriall are good too.

Also Peavey - Revalver is something I use from time to time, if I need some tones that are more raw. It's old but still good. I've heard nothing but good stuff from Aurora DSP - Rhino. I use their "Tuna" tuner which is aimed at downtuned guitars & I swear by it it's accuracy so I cannot wait to try Rhino. The demos are impressive but only time will tell.

To me, nothing beats Nembrini. That man is a beast at everything he touches. Whether it's a guitar amp sim or a bass amp sim, I'm always highly impressed by Igor Nembrini's work. His Darkglass emulations blow me away.

I just looked and they are running a spring sale on most products which is worth everyone's time if they are into amp sims. Most sims are $41 instead of a hundred-something like they usually are.

 

https://ampeg.com/software/
Is it free for life if you grab it within these 15 days? Or is it just a demo? When I click on "free download" it loads up the next screen that says: At this time, there is no software available that matches your selection.

This is despite it saying it's free on the previous screen... Is there any way you can share it if it's free? Because I can't access the link either way.

 

Last edited: Apr 20, 2022

When I need to load up more than just 2 or 3 cabs which most cab sims offer in their cab loader sections then my go-to is Libra because it lets you load up to 8 cabs at once and lets you mix/blend them. It's great for trying different cabs to A/B them, especially if you are browsing new tones but are unsure what you want yet. I swear by this cab loader. https://www.stltones.com/products/stl-ignite-libra-1

 

and where's pod farm? That one has some good sounds you can dial in as well, I tried Helix, the the interface is so cluttered and small that it is a bitch to configure and not that visual friendly as pod farm. when you pick the guitar and just don't want to lose the inspiration, what you need is something that gets you there fast - and that screams analog: some big knobs and the pedals and models that you know how they sound. its def. not numbers and percentages like helix. you might get there but by the time you do, inspiration has gone by... when you pick the tele you know how that baby is going to sound with the bridge pickup. when you go for the strat, for the gretsch... you know what's the sound they are going to get you and how close you'll be to the sound that is already in your head. Guitar plugs should be like that to you. (imo) otherwise you're going for the variax. and any and every plug will get you there.
Like it was said before, you can get a pretty good sound from all of them ITB just as long as you know what you're doing. amplitube is decent as well.
I'm guessing neural dsp is getting all the votes because of hard rock or rock in general? (if you crosscheck the results of this poll with the results of the "your Primary genre" from the sister site it kind of explains it) I was just checking neural dsp site again and I remember already having gone there and I can see again why I never got into them. Every single promo video has basically some generic hard rock sterile solo shredding thing in the background. IMO obviously. Even their plugin that could get me going, the tone king, that is supposedly vintage has some guy shredding some generic solo that looks like it's being played straight from the Extreme 80's solos catalogue. maybe my idea of vintage is before that 80's "vintage", but every single promo video just inspires me to look as fast as possible for the f%&% off button. With that said, I'm pretty sure I could get a good sound out of them. Remember when the Velvet U. truck was stolen or when Sonic youth's gear was stolen? didn't stop them sounding like themselves regardless.

but this is studio wise. for live applications? analogue pedals and a good guitar (with good pickups) (and though strymon for instance is not analogue in their pedals, it tries to be. and that's a good enough beginning) - although I wouldn't diss a good digital pedalboard, if you know what you're doing. it will take twice the preparation though - it's not a bad thing, but it's a different one.

 

Last edited: Apr 20, 2022

This one is an amazing plug. Has been my go to Bass plug ever since I discovered it. there's nothing it can't do. (nothing might be too much, but it's really amazing)

 

I played with a time-bombed demo of it and was very impressed because it sounded just like real Ampeg amps I've played through in the past. Is it really free right now? Because I can't access it. If it's free for a limited time can you or anyone else share the free installer with me? Since the webpage does not load the installer for me.

 

Only time will tell
Thank you

Thank you

Interesting, I haven't tried it live with my guitar...
But hearing the demo on YouTube is pretty good

======= ======= =======

Speaking of budget, before 2021-2022 I used NINJA quite often and it was my favorite at that time...
The sound is really cool for a free amp sim... And coincidentally it fits my guitar character...
Forgot to mention it before...
I recommend it if you want a free one...

Skip to 02:15

Have a good day everyone...

 

I don't think it's free. you have the 15 day trial and that's it. but it's worth every penny

 

Oh I kind of figured that's what it was. It says free for 15 days but I wasn't sure what this actually meant. Whether it was a 15 day window to acquire it forever or a regular demo. But neither option loads up for me regardless.

I tried the VR demo of it that time-bombed. Although, I was extremely impressed with it so I think I will end up buying it after I scratch some of the more important things off my plugin buy list.

 

@WIMA-

Amp sims seem more touchy about input level. A slight difference in the level at the guitar or interface will really affect how most of them are driving. So a guitar with hot pickups could easily sound really different than another guitar with similar tonal characteristics but lower output, I assume. But that should be easily compensated for with input trim.