The problem is if somehow the guys from IK are tracking your cracked software and then... who knows?

 

If it's possible to try the paid packages in Tonex CS, one can create NAM models of it pretty easy.

Or maybe we can group buy some packs and try to share it through library.db files or presets (txp) and see if it works.

 

Last edited: Jul 29, 2023

I can't help but notice that Amalgam Audio's profiles are more expensive from Tonenet than they are buying direct from his site. I'm guessing that IK will be getting their cut.

 

Man I'm down for this ! Regarding high-gain profiles, very few tone.net and basically no IK (at all) complex rigs or amp+cab models are properly mic'ed up. 95% to say the least I ignored. Even the captures themselves are globally weird with a strange distorsion behavior, or noisy af. I found to this date an absolute 0 Mesa profile that can achieve a true modern metal mix.

On the other hand, some uploaders are golden. Mike Hatalak has near perfect captures everytime with his 5150 and 6505, UrZeit (like it or not) has a ton of gear captured properly, TMS is really decent.

I recently stumbled upon a video of Mendel bij de Leij demoing his pack and WOW that's good. I didn't really check other sellers but I guess there's good content available.

By the way, I absolutely don't know what happens after you buy a pack. No website explains how to install them. Does someone here have a clue ?

 

I received my packs via an instant digital download and I was also sent links via email. All you do is unzip the file, start Tonex go to the preset part of Tonex right click and use the import preset function. It's that simple, though it's a pain importing one preset at a time.

 

@MaxSxB
At least someone agree with me
As a metalhead for decades, i tested ALL the metal high gain from ToneNet (YES...)
And i know high gain metal amps since the 90's.

I spend hours and hours (days ...) testing them with the SAME IR.
Because most cab micing are made WRONG.

When i told ppl almost all toneX high gain s*cked for metal, and i couldn't get a decent "chug" from most of them, i got a sh*t storm.
Even a noob pretending he could chug with any amp (try to chug a Fender deluxe clean so ...)

More than that : toneX "amp only" s*cks.
They totally lack MIDS. Bassy and flabby. So no chug (again).
They are worst than "amp + cab" with cab disabled. Witch is very strange, because it is just an algo trick to remove cab after the fact.

Whereas most NAM "amp only" are very good. With mids and dynamic chug when done right.

I first thought it was due to user error on my side AND/OR user capture.
But now big names entered the game and sounds better, it is probably due to ToneX limitations.
And ppl needed to go around them,using tricks (like with Kemper since day one).

It seems now some ppl get it right ... but thousands captures already made since day one S*CKS big time.

Here are some of my fav (no cab + OH IR) for now :
KPA PEAVEY JSX
Peavey Invective 120 Modern
Peavey 6505 - Mesa Straight 4x12
JVM JS#2 - OD1-GR+OD808
JVM JS #3 - OD2-R+M77

Try ToneX "amp only" against NAM "amp only"
And compare ToneX "amp only" to "amp+cab" with cab disabled.

 

OK so they are classified as Presets instead of Tone Models, I get it ! Since Presets are usually based off of a Tone Model, do you know if there is a value in the ToneModel_GUID parameter of the bought captures in Library.db ? With this data, I wonder if it's possible to make them appear as Tone Models instead of Presets

 

I can't say I totally agree with you, I still have a huge library with mostly good captures, each one being good only in a certain range of drop tunings. A profile good with drop D will often sound bad with let's say drop A, and vice versa.

I don't use amp or stomp+amp models, because complex rigs and amp+cab got something that I can't reproduce with IRs : the feeling of the room. IRs are usually very dry, super tight, and in my opinion for a modern metal mix ready tone, that bit of room context is the key. IRs are generally quite heavy on mediums and have a "nasal" feature I can't stand. But that's totally a matter of taste !

Please do me a favor and try the following profiles, they chug really good and are tonally very well balanced :
- UR Agressive Two
- EVH Stealth UK V30 Rippin' (my absolute favorite, so good)
- Krank Rev 1 (good only from drop A# to G in my opinion, crispy af)
- 6505 Ham Rocket K100

Those are my go-to, my favorite ones, but not the only one I like

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2023

I am in for the group buy stuff.

Amalgam audio even have buy 5 get 10 offer going on rn.

 

@MaxSxB
I will test them thanks !

As far as my experience with profilers goes, i liked Antony Class captures on MOOER.
Some are using boost into the capture (preamp/amp only + boost).

I will try more AMP+BOOST captures and see if it is better than separate boost.

PS : NAM "Dual Rectifier 2ch Rev. F" totally obliterate anything i get into ToneX.
Need IR

 

Last edited: Jul 29, 2023

Guys I'm really down for a group buy. I fell in love with Mendel's pack. PM me if interested. It's quite expensive ($49) but it sounds very worth it. Watch this (from 18:24 especially, the embed feature doesn't take the timestamp...) :

Shop link : https://www.drumsandtones.com/product/the-mendel-tonex-metal-pack/

I'm also interested in OwnHammer's essentials packs (Recto and Orange), $19.99 each

Sorry @Harish Pamu , but to be honnest I watched some Amalgam's high gain tones demos, and to me it's not worth more than the next guy's capture. Thin, dirty, loooooow gain (lmao "high gain")

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2023

Yeah there's that. I do already own Amplitube in the 3.5 Studio Max bundle. I plan to get the legit Tonex Max either on it's own or in the Studio 4 Max upgrade when a good deal comes up. I've got plenty of Jam points to get another 30% off too

 

Just to be clear about the group buy idea:
If we buy direct from creator's website, we get txp files that can be shared. Some guys did a group buy some time ago and all went well.
So, for people interested in amalgam, tone junkie or any other partner that already sells without IK, in my opinion, it's best just go direct to the creator's website (not tone.net).

This test would be different, as not every IK partner sells/have their own websites, I was thinking about buying the most cheap pack through tone.net and check if it's possible to share it as preset (txp) or library.db file.

We also need someone with a legit license so the brought models can be imported to be exported as txp and db for others to try, as it needs legit access. Tonex CS only allows 20 models/presets and we probably are going to buy more than this. (Maybe do 20 at a time can work?)

Which makes me think, and, to be honest, every pack has at least one free model already avaiable in the library.db shared by Rodger in this thread and I don't think the paid stuff really "stands out" as something that already can't be found in tone.net or NAM for free.

But anyway, if we got all sorted, we can try.

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2023

To make a FAIR comparison between NAM and ToneX you must use the SAME amp (with same settings of course) and capture them with same DI same Loadbox and using the same volyme etc etc.

Not compare captures between same model of an amp made by different users which most likely is dialed in different and of course the cab is miced up different as the odds of finding two cabs that is miced up exactly the same is so little so it is probably better odds you will win on the lottery.

Sometimes i see people do a comparison of ampsims using a Mesa Rectifier which has many different versions that sounds different against a 5150 also many versions that sounds different
Even if you compare a block to a script letter 5150 it will sound different which is odd ad both is suppose to have the same circuit
And of course they have a totally different cab for each amp often the "match cab" it loads with and the cab might not even be miced up with the same mic "wow" when they compare ampsims.

It is kind of funny as Eddie pointed out in an interview when he launched 5150 i want to go to any music store anywhere in the world and just pick up a 5150 and i know they will sound the same not sound different like Marshall does.

Oh and speaking of noisy amps when i first tried out a 5150 i was impressed finally an amp that is not noisy when i play it today i think it is noisy AF as today i am used to softwares which is dead quite compare to a real amp.

I often point out what they do wrong in the comparison but they dont seem understand they still think it is a FAIR comparison they can answer i just wanted to show people how different they sounds "WOW"

And speaking of not using the same cab and same mic anyone who has miced up a cab knows that if you move the mic 1 mm you get a totally different sound so using the same IR when doing a comparison is crucial.

Bedroom/Computer players today dont seems to have played on a real amp so often (maybe they have tried one on a music store or they might have owned a modeling combo "Line6 Spider or similar" much less miced up a a real cab.

If you do a FAIR comparison the difference between NAM and ToneX is not so big as you say.

Sure NAM is still a little better at capture how the source amp sounds but the difference is so little you can barely hear it you have to listen very closely and of course you must listen to it isolated, and you need an analyser to see where ToneX dont get it right compare to NAM.
In a mix NOONE can pick out which one is ToneX.

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2023

Indeed, real amp vs ToneX comparisons are near indistinguishable guitar-only, let alone in a mix. Comparing different models of the same amp is like that guy I watched last year and I can't find anymore (so sad, that video was a must-watch, pure ignorance). He wanted to compare d'Addario and Ernie Ball strings tones with his combo mic'd up, HUGE difference, and he added something like "well I didn't position the microphone the exact same way, but it's not a big deal the difference comes from the strings".

Regarding the group buy, I'd rather go for a pack outside tone.net (if someone follows me for Mendel's pack ! Maybe Sonic Drive Studio as well), but I'd be happy to be part of an experiment with tone.net buys

 

@Guitarmaniac64
If you go that way, ANY digital track made for decades (especially in metal domain) is "amp like".
Dino Cazares use digital for live AND studio for more than 20 years.

Does it means Line6 digital was "as good" than now 20 years ago ?
Not at all.

I can even A / B Kemper vs Quad Cortex (bass response and mids especially) with the same rig captured.
In a mix ?
No way i can A /B them, and even A / B Helix and such.

Things get worse about FEEL : it was a revelation when i tried profiling VS algo.
So much that i will probably never play algo amps again.

Does it means "algos sound bad" ?
Not at all.

YES captured profile is more important than software used for it
For now, NO ONE is providing a good rig capture on ALL platforms to do a global comparison

Whereas they made vids about it ...

Note : I remember a friend of mine speaking about "all tubes" mandatory in metal ... without knowing Dino was using digital and Dimebag Darrel all transistor (warhead, Randall).
His TWO preferred guitarists

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2023

Just completed my sixth download session with the Tonex pedal.
Does anybody else have issues with the pedal taking a long time to connect to the Tonex software?
Today it wouldn't connect to the software although it was recognized by my computer.
Finally, I noticed a tiny little message in the upper left corner that my pedal wasn't being recognized due to outdated firmware.
Clicked on that, the firmware updated and the pedal connected to the software and allowed me to transfer data.
I thought firmware updates were automatic when you plugged in to the software
This is the only issue with the pedal I have: connecting to the Tonex program (to exchange data).

 

Try another USB port.
Avoid USB hubs.
And ultimately, try another USB cable.

Some hardware are REALLY sensitive to cable length, USB port and such.

 

Tried this, here are some NAM models I`ve created using Tonex CS and it sounds identical.

Keith Merrow - KM NGLE (HEAD ONLY)
Keith Merrow - KM UBER (HEAD ONLY)
Keith Merrow - KM DZELL (HEAD ONLY)
Mendel - 20 VINEDEATH DI