Can't make my mind up - S-Gear or Amplitude 4?

[Sound Mechanics]

I've been trying the demos and so far they both sound much better than my Logic Pro X Amp designer.

S-Gear sounds a little harder, Amplitudes free amps sound slightly smoother and more playable to me (I don't keep tweaking the sound).
Also it's not possible to demo the complete new offerings with Amplitude... so that should make it even better.

Have I answered my own question?

Just wondered what others feel.

[skipscada]

I'm a not very knowledgable hobbyist user of S-Gear. I don't know Amplitube in any form. My experience with S-Gear is that it instantly gives me a nice, realistic sound and feel. However, in the context of a mix the presets tend to be too forward/reverby/hyped for my use, so I usually end up adjusting things to make the sound fit. That's normal procedure, of course - expecting a preset to just fall into place by itself is asking too much. I'm no expert tweaker, but it seems pretty easy to me to adjust the sound once I know what I want.

I'm not sure what you mean by "harder". Do you mean that the dynamics are less controlled (loudness spikes), that the high frequencies are less controlled ...? It could simply be that Amplitube presets generally use more compression or a different EQ curve. I don't know, just suggesting. Ultimately, both are surely capable of producing the sound you want, so the question is how easy/hard it is for you to get there with each tool.

If you like what Amplitube does for you and your guitar, why waste time looking for something else?

[Sound Mechanics]

I'm a not very knowledgable hobbyist user of S-Gear. I don't know Amplitube in any form. My experience with S-Gear is that it instantly gives me a nice, realistic sound and feel. However, in the context of a mix the presets tend to be too forward/reverby/hyped for my use, so I usually end up adjusting things to make the sound fit. That's normal procedure, of course - expecting a preset to just fall into place by itself is asking too much. I'm no expert tweaker, but it seems pretty easy to me to adjust the sound once I know what I want.

I'm not sure what you mean by "harder". Do you mean that the dynamics are less controlled (loudness spikes), that the high frequencies are less controlled ...? It could simply be that Amplitube presets generally use more compression or a different EQ curve. I don't know, just suggesting. Ultimately, both are surely capable of producing the sound you want, so the question is how easy/hard it is for you to get there with each tool.

If you like what Amplitube does for you and your guitar, why waste time looking for something else?

Thanks for the reply.
It could be something to do with compression. S-Gear seems more 'in yer face'. I've a 15 day demo of S-Gear so I should be able to decide where to put my money at the end of that.

[zvenx]

Hi,
I have Amplitube 3. I dont have Amplitube 4, haven't tried it but listened to demos and looked at a few tutorials.
I started with Amplitube 1...I also own Guitar Rig 5, S-Gear and TH-2.
I have tried most if not all of the others, Positive FX, Revalve, Studio Devil etc.
My humble opinion...
Amplitube 2 was good for the time, Amplitube 3 was overhyped, I used it for a bit until I got TH-2 and never used Amplitube 3 again.....
All of that changed when I got S-Gear.
It was and still is the best sounding guitar amp/cab software simulator for my ears, fingers and guitars and of course music.

It is why I haven't even bother to download Amplitube 4 and TH-3.... It was that ahead of them, for me.
So my vote would be S-Gear.
However if it hasn't becoming obvious to you that it is the better choice, quite possibly we have different acoustical aesthetics and you might want to ignore all I have said

The main thing I dont' like about S-Gear, is that I wish it had more stomp box type effects and effects in general, but for the amp and cab.. I haven't heard any software I prefer.
my two cents
rsp

[Ivan_C]

What kind of sounds are you looking for ? What are your preferred music styles ?

It's difficult to say that one amp sim will be always better than other ones, since they have all their "tone", theirs pros and cons...

For example, a lot of people say that S-Gear is very good for clean / crunch tones, but lacks of something for very saturated sounds. Amplitube 4 is a good choice for most of what people are looking for, but some of the custom shop amps are not good, while others are great. The price is an argument too. TSE X50 is great for heavy sounds etc.

[Sound Mechanics]

What kind of sounds are you looking for ? What are your preferred music styles ?

It's difficult to say that one amp sim will be always better than other ones, since they have all their "tone", theirs pros and cons...

For example, a lot of people say that S-Gear is very good for clean / crunch tones, but lacks of something for very saturated sounds. Amplitube 4 is a good choice for most of what people are looking for, but some of the custom shop amps are not good, while others are great. The price is an argument too. TSE X50 is great for heavy sounds etc.

I usually go for vintage 70's rock type sounds from clean to overdriven.

[mmann]

You should just go with what sounds best to you.

For myself I decided that ReValver 4 and AmpliTube MESA/ Boogie & Fender work the best. S-Gear wasn't bad but didn't sound any better than MAGIX Vandal or Overloud TH2 let alone my top picks, so I let the demo period run out.

[skipscada]

... a lot of people say that S-Gear is very good for clean / crunch tones, but lacks of something for very saturated sounds.

I suspect that's one of those things that's been repeated so often people automatically think it's true. As a user, I certainly haven't found it short on very good saturated sounds. I suspect someone somewhere didn't find a preset with exactly the extreme hi-gain sound he wanted and complained about it, and it's just stuck. The proof is in the pudding - just try the demo.

Actually I seem to remember that the majority of the factory presets mainly cover the zone from "just breaking up" to "heavy distortion", which chimes well with the philosophy behind the product. I guess completely clean tones and completely distorted ones are realtively easy to get right in an amp sim, while the ambition behind S-Gear is to give guitarists access to those elusive sweet spots in between. I for one could use more clean-ish factory presets. But don't turn that statement into "they say S-Gear can't do clean tones".

[Ah Xoc Kin]

I use S-Gear more often. I have AmpliTube 3 and too many of their additional amps and effects, and cannot recall when was the last time I used it. It is not bad, but I prefer S-Gear. I am not even interested in AmpliTube 4.

[Sound Mechanics]

I use S-Gear more often. I have AmpliTube 3 and too many of their additional amps and effects, and cannot recall when was the last time I used it. It is not bad, but I prefer S-Gear. I am not even interested in AmpliTube 4.

What do you prefer about S-Gear, sound, price, etc?

[fese]

Whatever you decide, decide fast, as today is the last day where s-gear is available for $99. But I guess you know that.
I actually bought s-gear yesterday and I think I already prefer it to amplitude 3 or guitar rig. I prefer clean sounds and I can get those better and faster in s-gear than in the other two, those always sound a bit artificial to me and lack that shimmer and sparkle of slightly driven tubes. I find it is hard to make sound bad, and I actually prefer it not having hundreds of amps and effects and stomps and whatnot. It is flexible, but not overwhelmingly so.
Only thing I don't like are the tiny fonts on the GUI, really hard to read.

I also tried recabinet 4 but didn't really convince me, not bad sound wise, but GUI and handling weren't to my liking. Also, those frequent loud noise bursts in the demo are a pita...

[zerocrossing]

I haven't tried Amplitube 4 yet (I exclusively use a Kemper these days and love it) but when I was using v3, I picked up S-Gear as well. In my opinion, it's a coin toss. Both sound equally good. I tend to like the UI and general workflow of Amplitube though. You can dig a bit deeper, and of course now that you can buy things ala carte you can really customize it to your liking, where as with S-Gear, you get what they've modeled and that's that. Now that I don't use amp modelers much (I still like them for bass, and my favorite's are the IK's Ampeg modeles. I'll use them for effects on synths and drums as well) I'd probably sell S-Gear if they allowed for such things. Not because I dislike it, but because it's less tweakable.

[zabukowski]

S-Gear all the way - IMHO absolutely the best guitar amp-sim plugin on the market ... especially it impresses me in a musical aspect. Real response and playing feel, you know what i mean.

I own TH-2, Revalver 4, Guitar Rig 5 and some Amplitube packs (Hendrix, Metal etc.). Never been fan of Amplitube stuff but i like fuzz stomps in it. I always found input gain staging and response in Amplitube a bit tricky - but that is probably only me ...

[cknapheide]

I tried s-gear, bias, revalver, overloud, kuassa, guitar rig 5 and amplitube 3 amp sims and finally bought kuassa creme and vermillion last year. I found s-gear sounding too processed and amplitube 3 only usable for clean sounds.

Now with amplitube 4 it`s a big change in my opinion. The red pig and the brit silver are great. The cab room is awesome.
Doesn´t beat a real amp, but playable and inspiring.

[Sound Mechanics]

I tried s-gear, bias, revalver, overloud, kuassa, guitar rig 5 and amplitube 3 amp sims and finally bought kuassa creme and vermillion last year. I found s-gear sounding too processed and amplitube 3 only usable for clean sounds.

Now with amplitube 4 it`s a big change in my opinion. The red pig and the brit silver are great. The cab room is awesome.
Doesn´t beat a real amp, but playable and inspiring.

Interesting, I'll try the demos of the two you mention - there seems to be a lot of sims out there nowadays!