Amp Sims (Guitar Rig, Amplitube, etc.), what do you think of them?

[jkokura]

Based on my experience (about 10 years recording, though not consistently)...

Miking a good amp in a good room with good mics/pres/interface with a decent guitar player using a good instrument cannot be beaten for most forms of music that require touch, sensitivity, and are going to be used as standalone instrument tracks.

Using an amp program (especially the ones available today) will yield you great sounds if any one of the following is true:
- You do not have a good room
- You do not have a good amp
- You are not a decent player using a good instrument (sorry, bad players require more tweaking in DAWs)
- You are going to be doubling, tripling, quadrupling the track and it will be buryed in a very full mix

Basically, I prefer to mic my amp because the typical music I play features one, maybe two guitar tracks, rarely doubled, and I have good enough equipment and enough experience/knowhow to get a good sound. However, if you don't have to do it, it doesn't make sense in every case, especially if you're doing home demos or things like that.

I sound like a snob maybe.

Jacob

[MADWAGNER]

You bring up some good points, Jacob.  I personally prefer to set up 2 mics get the phase pretty close and hit record. And then pick between the 2 or blend them together. But it is all subjective and there is no "better method" in my opinion.

[gordo]

I've been using Amplitube for a while now and mostly because it's convenient for learning tunes or recording ideas without having to set up equipment.  I like the way it takes effects and while it's never gonna fool anyone that it's a real tube amp it does sound great in a mix.  I have a bassman and a THD setting that I call up that handles 99% of my tune-learning sounds.  I can't say I've found a way to use it live.  I take the same approach using a Variax guitar live, though.  On it's own nobody is going to believe it's a well miked banjo, but even pushed up front in a mix it gives the "illusion" that's at least credible.

I've also used modelers to reamp tracks and a mixture of real amp and modeler can get some pretty interesting results too.

Like a good effects pedal, it's just another tool in your trick bag.

[wgc]

I've had good experience with a rocktron chameleon in the late 90s.  In fact I sold a 100 watt tube head at the time to buy it because I didn't have space to record with any kind of volume.  A good sound guy I knew made it sound amazing during gigs I did back then, a few direct to the board.  I still have it but haven't plugged it in for a number of years.  I'm guessing it sounds a bit dated now preset-wise but could be tweaked.

The axe fx seems promising, but I haven't tried it. 

Bias for the ipad isn't bad at all though I haven't done much with it.  I've hated the other apps available to date, way too homogenized.

Really imho it comes down to context and getting a sound in a given room that is inspiring, dynamic, and sincere. 

Modeling software is programmed to respond in a few ways that may not always be appropriate, while an amp, cabinet, and the room can be "programmed" on the spot.

Hope this doesn't turn into a "tone is in the fingers" thread. 

[Vallhagen]

I think its a big difference in record stuff vs play/gig stuff. And an even bigger difference is the amount of spent money on things. A decent Marshall is 2000 USD or there about, simulanalogs guitarsuite is... 0 USD, and you dont even need a recording room or microphone.

I think the whole DAW world is fantastic, it actually gave the musical creativity back to me when i found it in the early 2000s. For no money at all i could suddenly create stuff which just 10 years earlier would have costed me more than i could have dreamed of, and it gave results that sounded decent or sometimes good. In rare cases damm good. I built a "no-budget" studio with a POD 2.0 (which is an amp sim in a box, right) and a microphone for vocals. Drum programming, mouse-clicked keyboard landscapes, always 6 guitar overdubs... luvd it all.

But, the feeling in the moment i play the guitar in a real amp cant be beaten by a simulator or a POD. And its the same with those modeling amps (Line6 stuff, Peavey vypyr etc), they just cant capture the feeling. They dont interact with the guitar. I can browse all those settings and 1000s of presets, without finding "that one sound".

I guess what i am trying to say is; for home recording, DAW and ampsims are wonderful cheap tools/toys, for live or rehearsal  (anything "with the band"), it is crap.

***

Detail: I prefer POD farm, ampLion and maybe Revalver. And the free stuff; simulanalog.

Cheers

[raulduke]

I was messing around last night with amp sims, and by the best 'cleanish' (ie. on the verge of breakup) tone I got was Soundtoys Radiator running into the cab emulations in guitar rig.

It sounded better to my ears than the emulations built into Guitar Rig (and it isn't even an amp simulation).

There is so much experimentation that can be done in a DAW. I think that is half the fun of it.

[peAk]

There is so much experimentation that can be done in a DAW. I think that is half the fun of it.

absolutely

I have been a heavy DAW-er for the past 15 years or so. That being said, having the ability to do anything (edits, retakes, multiple tracking, every effect possible, etc. etc.) sometimes makes me end up with nothing because of "option overload" syndrome. I can't tell you how many times I have tweaked stuff to death.

[twin1965]

I agree. You can tweak forever and forget about the music!

I've used Pod Farm, Amplitube and Fender Fuse software and they do have their uses depending on what you are recording. A mixture of mic'd amp and software works quite well.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[AntKnee]

I use amplitube when writing and recording at home about half the time. The rest of the time I use my Vox with a good old SM57. Amplitube is great for trying out different tones and amp combinations on the guitar part after you've recorded the track.

[jkokura]

There is so much experimentation that can be done in a DAW. I think that is half the fun of it.

The danger for me is that I play with it so long, and try new things, that I never actually 'finish' things. For my next big project my plan is to practice the 'finish it within a deadline' policy. If you experiment, you have to keep it to a reasonable amount of time spent, or it's hard to actually get things done! At least that's how it is in my case.

Jacob

[Leevibe]

I use amplitube when writing and recording at home about half the time. The rest of the time I use my Vox with a good old SM57. Amplitube is great for trying out different tones and amp combinations on the guitar part after you've recorded the track.

This is what I do a lot when I'm working on song ideas in GB. Just using the native sims. It's such a handy way to get the ideas down and still be able to tweak them in.

One problem I run into is that I get these amazing tones while I'm tracking but they lose all life upon playback. I don't know if it's some weird latency thing that creates a doubling effect or what. I've really noticed it with Logic exp. It's so disappointing to have all of that tone just vanish. Is it just me or has this happened to anyone else?

[zilla]

Jamup and bias for iOS are some of the best sounding sims I've ever heard.

[ian_guga]

I like amplitube... to my  ear some of  the amp sims are spot on - at least the small number I played in real life. Some are a bit off ...but not by much.

I really wish I was a kid now... you can get a reasonable guitar for couple of hundred, throw couple more in and you have the power of a digital studio to record and mix on your laptop ...if you wonder how some song is played - just youtube it and there are at least 5 different people teaching you (for free) or you got the software that isolates the solo for you and shows you the cord changes...

20 years ago 200q were getting you a shovel with wire for strings...and if you want to learn a solo - better steal some nail polish from your mom coz those cassette tapes are breaking from too much rewinding. Or buy the damn book and learn to read notation.

[peAk]

I like amplitube... to my  ear some of  the amp sims are spot on - at least the small number I played in real life. Some are a bit off ...but not by much.

I really wish I was a kid now... you can get a reasonable guitar for couple of hundred, throw couple more in and you have the power of a digital studio to record and mix on your laptop ...if you wonder how some song is played - just youtube it and there are at least 5 different people teaching you (for free) or you got the software that isolates the solo for you and shows you the cord changes...

20 years ago 200q were getting you a shovel with wire for strings...and if you want to learn a solo - better steal some nail polish from your mom coz those cassette tapes are breaking from too much rewinding. Or buy the damn book and learn to read notation.

So true!

[jtn191]

@ian_guga yeah its cool being younger with all this information at your fingertips, but everyone seems more isolated to me. It's harder to find someone to play with, but easier to record an album in your bedroom