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Amp Simulators for Virtual Guitars

Has anyone experimented with splitting the signal and "layering" ampsims? Or combining low frequency output from one amp setup with high frequency output from another? There are so many possibilities, I'm scared to get sucked into that rabithole again.


Chr!s said:
For the truest, kvlt black metal, just like Mayhem used to make: You should ideally run a metalzone guitar pedal through the cheapest combo amp you can find, with the gain maxed out on both amp and pedal, absolutely no midrange, and record it all via a Fisher Price brand tape recorder.
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Thanks for the advice, much appreciated! Maybe I can dig up an IR of that recorder, I don't want to introduce any hardware to the chain.
 
Chris Hurst said:
I’m a guitarist as well and have tried them all. All are useable but it depends on what sound you are trying to ‘simulate’.

For Mesa gain, Lepou gets the closest for me (I play live through a Mesa). I personally cannot get Amplitube close. Brainwork also have a couple of Mesa sims which are pretty good for that sound.

Otherwise, I always turn to S-Gear, it is pretty good to be honest.

Having said all that, Kemper would appear to be the way forward, but expensive.
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As for Brainworx, they had a sale recently and I found their bx_mega dual that has a sim of a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. Just bought it so I have to install and try it out.
 
MartinH. said:
Has anyone experimented with splitting the signal and "layering" ampsims? Or combining low frequency output from one amp setup with high frequency output from another? There are so many possibilities, I'm scared to get sucked into that rabithole again.
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IMO it's basically never really necessary. You can do this with real amps too, and I know guys like Andy Timmons do or have done so. But it's not really worth it, I find.

The different frequency range blending is more common on modern metal music bass guitar as far as I know. Where the low end will be clean signal and the higher frequencies will be distortion.

MartinH. said:
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated! Maybe I can dig up an IR of that recorder, I don't want to introduce any hardware to the chain
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Lol. Really though, I think any high-gain amp, even the Emissary, is good for any genre of metal.
 
Zoot_Rollo said:
Odd and humorous.
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don't be too salty man. I'm sorry your to hurt your feelings.
Amplitube's is a steaming festering piece of banta dump. High gain amps wise
Especially their Mesa emus.

I know what I'm talking about. Been doing it for a long while and was able to shootout nearly every offering on the market against their analog counterparts.

 
kavinsky said:
don't be too salty man. I'm sorry your to hurt your feelings.
Amplitube's is a steaming festering piece of banta dump. High gain amps wise
Especially their Mesa emus.

I know what I'm talking about. Been doing it for a long while and was able to shootout nearly every offering on the market against their analog counterparts.

Click to expand...


Have to agree on IK’s Mesa collection. I was really disappointed by it when I purchased it. I don’t think it really sounds like a Mesa Rectifier at all.

Some of the other sounds/collections are ok though, but I prefer S-Gear.

Good shootout by the way! Amazing how different they all sound.
 
kavinsky said:
don't be too salty man. I'm sorry your to hurt your feelings.
Amplitube's is a steaming festering piece of banta dump. High gain amps wise
Especially their Mesa emus.

I know what I'm talking about. Been doing it for a long while and was able to shootout nearly every offering on the market against their analog counterparts.

Click to expand...


Wow, that's salty?

Talk about sensitive.

Hurt my feelings? Project much?

;)

Though i had the opposite experience, i would never discourage someone from trying something.

Or

Say something is good while simultaneously saying i never tried it.

It's just software.

Silliness.

"Long time..."

Really?

We've descended to comparing lengths so quickly?
 
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TSE X50 is by far my favorite for metal! Black can easily be achieved by using the right (wrong) impulse.

Revalver is cool as it can load other VSTs.

Blue Cat Axiom is a beast that I am now exploring. It is deep and a little different, but the price is worth it for Late Replies alone!

Kazrog plugs are beasts too.
 
kavinsky said:
Amplitube is one of the worst. Id suggest staying away from it.
The helix is great. The best up to this date. Pricey though

S-gear amps are nice but extremely dark, work fine if you have a bright source. Not an all-rounder.
Just fails to deliver modern tones in comparison to the axe/helix.

Fortin ampsims are also pretty good, but never tried them myself
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I disagree about Amplitube stuff... the "clean(er)" amps, Fender, AC30, Marshall's, HiWatt, etc... amps are great...

I'm not into the "Drop D" muted flat fifths "chugga-chugga-chugga" stuff so I can't really comment on the high-gain amps... :sneaky: ;) :cool:
I have a Helix unit and the Helix Native app... we agree there... they're both amazing :2thumbs:.

I'm getting a Kemper this year too...
 
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The kemper keeps tempting me. I think Amplitube's high gain sounds are awful..i mean they sound good at first but I get ear fatigue within minutes...they sound positively sterile in terms of feel. So many other options I enjoy playing more. You do get a very wide range of tone with it and its definitely better then say GuitarRig. I do like the Fender collection on it and the Jimi Hendrix stuff and sometimes I will combine some modern amp heads with the hendrix cabs and get some sounds that are cool and vintage dirty in a cool way...but still...I get ear fatigue very quickly while playing it. The feel is just not there for me compared to some others.

I'm a huge fan of the never-mentioned Vox JamVox3. Not for metal. But for Vox sounds..its very very good.
 
@kavinsky - great, like I need more encouragement to pickup a dual rectifier.

I like the comparison video, but I wonder about if the settings on the plugs could have been dialed to be brighter. Also the real amp sounded less gained, more clean somehow. Not that I mind, but in the spirit of conversation, the thought came to me that maybe setting up two plugs, one with a cleaner sound to capture that clean element of the real rectifier- you might be able to get the plugs closer.

Kemper still closer, but it’s not exactly like the real thing either, the real amps I profiled and compared to the kemper ‘breathed’ more. The kemper profiles do the opposite of the plugins, the profiled sound is cleaner and I find I have to turn up the gain a bit.
 
shawnsingh said:
I went for the Line 6 Helix Native plugin. Using it with ISW Shreddage 2 + IBZ + SRP guitars. Across the internet, seems Line6 Helix series has been well received, except for the cab IRs, and a lot of people say to load Ownhammer IRs instead. I personally am not experienced enough with guitar tones to worry about it.

Here are some examples of Shreddage 2 + Helix Native:
https://suonlabs.com/work-in-progress-guitar-example.mp3 (seek to 3:18 on this example)
https://suonlabs.com/1dJ9oQsD.mp3 (seek to 2:05 on this example)
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Nice tracks!
 
kavinsky said:
don't be too salty man. I'm sorry your to hurt your feelings.
Amplitube's is a steaming festering piece of banta dump. High gain amps wise
Especially their Mesa emus.

I know what I'm talking about. Been doing it for a long while and was able to shootout nearly every offering on the market against their analog counterparts.

Click to expand...


Cool video! Can you tell me what Cab IR/Sim was used with the Lecto?
 
Zoot_Rollo said:
Say something is good while simultaneously saying i never tried it.
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Based on the great sounding demos and universally high praise.
Never tried it myself yes, no contradiction here. It sounds a bit too cold/sharp plexi-esque to my needs.

Of course you can do music with anything you like. Doesnt change the fact that Amplitube pales in comparison.

MartinH. said:
Cool video! Can you tell me what Cab IR/Sim was used with the Lecto?
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Ownhammer Recto 4x12 V60 was used for all the amps, including the real Dual Recto
 
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A bit off-topic, but...

Those Norwegian bands used usually the best amplifiers they could get their hands into at the time. How the sound was then molded is completely another topic, though. Marshalls (JCM800/900) were often used, and many of them used what Pytten (the studio owner) had in Grieghallen- including also that infamous Peavey Bandit. And yes, Metal Zone was very popular in front.

Mixing was another thing. Pytten had the tendency on many albums to make one guitar very thin and evil-sounding while the other one took care of the low-mids. The lows were usually very absent from all guitars. Those combined together, accompanied with the phase-canceling room of his and a lot of cheap hall reverb made the overall guitar sound as we know it. But Pytten had also the tendency to make each album sound different (one of things which made him so awesome) to each other, so your experience may vary. Comparing e.g. Burzum's "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" to Aeternus' "Beyond the Wandering Moon" is rather pointless, even though many similarities can be indeed found.

For what it comes to reproducing the Grieghallen sound in general, it's also completely doable to an extent. Here are some fun experiments done with Bias Amp Desktop (v1).

The upper one is Hades' "Again Shall Be"- guitar sound switching between the album and emulated versions.

The lower one is a clip from Darkthrone's "Under a Funeral Moon" with also bass included-starting crossfaded in halfway in the bass break and then crossfading back to the real one after the drums creep in.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/hades_asb_ab-mp3.17695/][/AUDIOPLUS]

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/darkthrone_uafm_ab-mp3.17696/][/AUDIOPLUS]
 

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kavinsky said:
don't be too salty man. I'm sorry your to hurt your feelings.
Amplitube's is a steaming festering piece of banta dump. High gain amps wise
Especially their Mesa emus.

I know what I'm talking about. Been doing it for a long while and was able to shootout nearly every offering on the market against their analog counterparts.

Click to expand...

Its funny how only LePou is close to the sound (taking Axe FX out of the calculation). Winning against paid software :D
 
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