Plugin Alliance releases Brainworx Engl Amp Bundle: Guitar Amp emulations for Native Formats

Plugin Alliance has released the Brainworx ENGL guitar amp plugin emulations. It is designed to combine superior amp emulation with classic German amplifier engineering to give users a guitar tone studio on a level previously only available with DSP-based hardware. ENGL's E765 and E646 Victor Smolski amps are now available in native formats for the first time, and the bundle also includes the precision Brainworx bx_tuner plugin.

ENGL's high-gain tube amps have shaped the tone of a who's who in metal and hard rock guitar for the last decade, and that's showcased with shredder Victor Smolski's signature E646 VS plugin. By contrast, the vintage-minded E765 plugin runs the gamut from warm cleans to classic rock crunch.

The ENGL Amp Bundle puts signal paths and years of recording experience a mouse click away with an Auto mode that can step through each amp's 64 Recording Chains while a user plays.

Brainworx founder and CEO Dirk Ulrich, a rock producer for 15 years for the likes of Dream Theater, Toto and Roadrunner Records, crafted the Recording Chains at the Brainworx Studio, capturing three ENGL cabinets with up to nine high-end vintage and modern microphones through a rare Neve VXS72 console and high-end outboard EQs from Millennia, SPL and elysia.

"ENGL amps have long been a favorite of mine for both stage and studio, " Ulrich said. "I really dug deep to capture the tones used on so many of the recordings I love."

It also includes recording-specific features such as highpass/lowpass filters and a noise gate, as well as onboard Power Soak and vintage delay functions not on the original hardware.

"We couldn't be happier with the job Brainworx has done emulating our amps, " said Martin Kleine, ENGL's Assistant Managing Director. "Our sound is our livelihood, so we were very particular that these plugins captured it—and they do!"

Price: Both plugins are available separately for $149 MSRP each. However, combined with the bx_tuner, the ENGL Amp Bundle can dial in any guitar color on the rock and roll palette for $229 MSRP, a total discount of 28%.

Like all Plugin Alliance products, the ENGL Amp Bundle is available as a fully-functional, 14-day demo on Mac OS 10.6 or higher and Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 & Win 8 in 32 or 64-bit.