Amplitube 2 Jimi Hendrix RELEASED this month!!!

[A_Gruesome_Discovery]

Line 6 (I don't currently own anything made by 'em, so I'm hardly being a fan-boy) have a clever habit of modelling guitar sounds as they sound on your favourite record, rather than as you imagine they'd sound if you were in the studio when your favourite record was being recorded...

Line 6's stuff often seems to have been pre-EQed to fit into mixes with the minimum of effort. Personally I think this is a wise route, since 'purists' are hardly likely to be using this kit anyway, and (unlike drums) the mixed sound isn't usually hugely different from the source other than some hi-passing and some subtle EQing.

I have to disagree with this one, but just a little bit. There's a lot of talk about the PodXT being too "fizzy" among users, and I find this to be in line with how a real, close-mic'd cab sounds through the board- especially with high-gain amps. There is still a bit of work to be done when you record a track with a Pod, mostly involving taming of the high frequencies, similar to a mic'd amp. However, the difference between the Pod and every soft amp I've heard so far (and going by the A2 audio clips, it'll be no different) is that with the Pod, you tend to have to take stuff away to get it to fit in a mix- it's subtractive work. With these amp programs, there doesn't seem to be enough there to begin with.

[A3ntar]

the order is Marshall, GR2, GTR.

No surprise that it goes from very good to bleh on that demo mp3. They are arranged to me in the order of best->worst. The GTR demo did not impress me at all. GR2 is really not bad.

[Vervil]

That sound clip with real amp and two sims is actually very strange and almost intentionally misguiding, no offense. Why didn't you made 3 soundclips of the marshall at high gain setting, and same thing with sims? This is to me like most unrecognizible, not really clean, not really distorted, not really nice, and not really ugly kind of sound, almost like you want to make people to belive that it is soooo similar to record a real amp and ampsim.

I have checked those user reviews at Harmony Central Grandaddy mentioned, and it is really interesting. I mean, people claiming to play guitar for 30 years and to be "Producers" write that for instance Amplitube 1 sounds incredibly real I guess comments for GR2 are the same, "it is sooo great", and when GR3 comes out, all softsim fans on K-V-R will then agree that actually GR2 vas very artificial but Amplitube 3 and Guitar Rig 3 are out, and they sound like real thing, and so on

Softsimulation is nice and handy thing, having POD instead of Zoom guitar processor is even beter. But it is still far from "Real Thing". I am really not a retro guy and all this computer revolution happening that allows me to record at my home is great, I love it! To be able to sound very similar to amps costing thousands of bucks for a price of few hundreds is incredible. But fooling ourselves that we are almost there, that piece of code (at current level and CPU Horsepower) can replace nonlinearity of smokin' amp pushing molecules of air in unpredictable way and give as great results is laugh. I was always buying digital stuff, a lot of different guitar processors, tried them all, was first in line to buy POD...
And after all that, I go to studio, plug Les Paul to REAL Marshall, record a track, and after that to hear other tracks I got from home with my project, recorded with ampsim, doing my best to make it sound "real".... is just making me press delete. This is so funny to read about people telling how their ampsims sound great, and real. Placebo effect in its greatness.
And yet, no one comes out to play me a song with sound that will make my jaw hit the floor, and made with ampsim, even if he claims that it sounds great... There are nonsoft forums with more realistic stance about this, and a lot of people there is trying to use sims, and actually I know that some big names producers are LIne 6 users, not heard for a good album recorded without real amps.

But it is getting better and I am looking forward, why not. Someone thought that Model E vst sounds great at the time, and now we have all those VA synths, even for free. So I have no doubt that there will be some kind of Amplitube X or Guitar Rig Y or something else that will make my job of a guitar player easier.

But please be more realistic. Softsims are great and helpful tools, but they are not solution for great tone, not yet. I have posted so much posts last few days so it might even look like I am softsim hater or something But it is just that I do not like poeple to be manipulated by marketing and hype. It is not that hard to find a clip of recorded amp and discover that some guy has with 100$ mic and 300$ amp recorded better guitars in his room than you could ever with any kind of ampsim, just look for it somewhere else, there is a world out of K-V-R and software

[Lunch Money]

Sure. I doubt you'll find anyone in this or any other thread who are claiming that the softsim is better than the real thing, so you're preaching to the choir but don't realize it. Any debates are had AFTER the understanding that we ALL have, which is that it won't compete with having 30 real amps in a real studio with real microphones and good engineering.

Nobody's an idiot (well, OK, very few are), so no need to laugh so delightedly at this epiphany of yours!

What amazes me is listening to the radio... legendary songs with allegedly legendary tone... and when you listen TOO carefully, the tone is actually asstastic most of the time. Part of the problem here is that we're listening SOOOoooo closely to the tones that we're losing the forest for the trees. You can't pay that close of attention without discovering flaws, the same way I can't listen to even world-renowned tracks with amazing real amps too carefully for fear of discovering too much fizz or an EQ I don't like or what have you.

Greg

[Vervil]

Maybe you ar right LM, on the other hand, I don't know. I mean, there are things as taste, and such... It is just that sometimes feels like it is candid camera or something when reading thru thread. When I hear something that sounds obviously not so good and so many people tell it is, what then, is it a matter of taste? Lack of knowledge? Different expectations?
Anyway, there are some other forums with people more interested in recording by itself or guitars etc, and there is almost some kind of consensus that for instance, Amplitube 1 was like, usable in some cases, but terrible in other. When GR2 came out some people made clips and people were dissapointed that it sounds so artificial. A lot of people do like Line 6 gear because it has some edge over the rest, but would be much more happy to record real amp. Anyway for a lot of people, it is SO OBVIOUS. Only here at K-V-R and few other sites I have noticed people rave about some things that are not-that-good, or make some strange comparations. Or it might be me, visiting wrong sites, who knows
Or simply this is software forum, and is natural for people to be biased.

[Lunch Money]

Could be.

I'd say that the main reason I continue to be interested in simulations isn't even the convenience of calling it up in my DAW. It's that I don't have the right room and the right microphones to record a real amp anyhow.

So, even in their current state, sims do a better job of getting a 'real amp sound' than a real amp does, because in my stupid basement apartment, the real amp, recorded, sounds like a bad sim whereas the fake amp at least sounds like a mediocre sim.

Greg

[Funkybot]

Could be.

I'd say that the main reason I continue to be interested in simulations isn't even the convenience of calling it up in my DAW. It's that I don't have the right room and the right microphones to record a real amp anyhow.

So, even in their current state, sims do a better job of getting a 'real amp sound' than a real amp does, because in my stupid basement apartment, the real amp, recorded, sounds like a bad sim whereas the fake amp at least sounds like a mediocre sim.

Greg

That's all too true. Not to mention I'm not a huge fan of a single 57 on an amp and usually put three mics on the amp when I do decide to not use my Guitarport and mic up the real thing. Then it's all about massaging and balancing those mics to get the sound I heard in the room (as opposed to that stock single SM57 sound), and that's some extra work without even factoring in the time it took to get the tone out of the amp. Meanwhile I can usually plug in my Guitarport and get a good tone rather quickly.

Now back to the topic, what I like about the AT2 clips is that they sound a lot more mic'd to me than my Guitarport does, more like what I get in my room with real mics. Also the breakup sounds pretty good in the just about to distort range. Also the cleans seemed damn good. The tones generally blow throughout (with maybe 2 or 3 I thought were good), but the potential seems there. Thus, I'm a lot more confident with what AT2 will be capable of since having heard these clips than I was beforehand. Will it be the be all end all that will see me dumping my real amp and Guitarport, highly doubtful, but what's wrong with having another tool? Besides AT2 certainly doesn't sound like my Guitarport, and I certainly don't always like the way my Guitarport always sounds like a Guitarport.

[grandaddy]

Unfortunately I recorded that clip very quickly and should have spent more time getting a decent tone - I initially did it purely out of interest for my own purposes just to hear an approximation of the original with the ampsim demos. My demos have now expired.

I would agree that current ampsims do not 100% recreate the sound of the original but they are now getting frighteningly close. An example of the disparity I find is when layering guitar sounds. Real amps seem to create an almost organic interaction which ampsims don't seem to achieve. However I do think most people can be fooled by an ampsim in the right context. I use marshall/guitar rig about 50/50 when recording now.

I stick by what I say about the AT2 demos, I think they sound really good and demonstrate great potential

[Mutant]

And yet, no one comes out to play me a song with sound that will make my jaw hit the floor, and made with ampsim, even if he claims that it sounds great...

Fredrik Groth of "The Storyteller" uses bass vamp and simulanalog plugins - imho his sound is much better than on 90% of commercial releases.

http://fredrikgroth.com/arch_spinoff.mp3

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/show ... p?t=216611

[Laguna Rising]

Any news from IKMM about Ampeg SVX ??


http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1513.html

Cheers

[dragonsoul]

Here are some real amps for anyone hasn't seen this site

http://www.proguitar.de/AudioDemo/Compa ... eAmps.html

Bad recordings of horrible music.

PLEEEAAAAASSSSEEEE....tune that guitar.

[championrabbit]

Here are some real amps for anyone hasn't seen this site

http://www.proguitar.de/AudioDemo/Compa ... eAmps.html

Bad recordings of horrible music.

PLEEEAAAAASSSSEEEE....tune that guitar.

Eesh.

Out of sheer perversity I've been back to listen to some more clips!



apart from the horrible recordings, out-of-tuneness and so-bad-it's-beyond-so-bad-it's-good music, what is the point of an amp 'comparison' almost entirely made-up of horrid soloing? How many people use their amps mainly for vomit-inducing blues-rock solos?

Surely some open chords and some barre chords, with maybe some picking in a vaguely contemporary style would be roughly 1000,000 times more useful?

This is may 'favourite' so far, check out the mains hum!!

[Amberience]

Yeah. If there were stuff in a Smashing Pumpkins vein, that would surely aid thousands of useless guitarists in their purchase

(note; I love the Pumpkins)

[Vervil]

And yet, no one comes out to play me a song with sound that will make my jaw hit the floor, and made with ampsim, even if he claims that it sounds great...

Fredrik Groth of "The Storyteller" uses bass vamp and simulanalog plugins - imho his sound is much better than on 90% of commercial releases.

http://fredrikgroth.com/arch_spinoff.mp3

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/show ... p?t=216611

Lol! I know this one! Actually, I have seen that thread and have that mp3, played to a friend few days ago because it was quite good. I really liked the sound, probably one of the best ampsim sounds I have ever heard. Not that I think it sounds better than mic-ed boogie, but it does sounds damn good for a plugin. Comparing it to commercial releases, there are some really ugly sounding CD's out there Maybe Andy will buy PC box in time and use it just for Simanalog JCM900, who knows Once again, that JCM 900 simulation is best piece of ampsim code I have heard.

[Mutant]

Not that I think it sounds better than mic-ed boogie

properly mic-ed boogie