Amplitube 2 Hits-n-Misses

[SJ_Digriz]

After a full day of tackling AT2 I would like to give some Kudos and some constructive criticisms. Please chime in with your own "good things/bad things". This is not an Amp Sims suck thread. This is hopefully a chance to suggest improvements to AT2 (besides making it sound like an amp) and let them know things that were done that we like.

In general the new layout is vastly superior to AT1. It is easier to get around than GR but is missing some key things that GR got right.

Big Hit: Modulation Stomps.
VST Modulation effects in general were terrible. The guitar ones were embarrassing even among those. AT2's are excellent, especially the phasor and chorus. But, all five are usable.

Hit: EchoMan
I have a sweet spot for this effect. I don't care much for digital repeaters, I prefer a decaying echo. This works properly without causing the source to wash out(in the real units this was a crapshoot, I went through 5 to get one that didn't kill tone then was dumb enough to sell it). Excellent!

MASSIVE Miss!: Stand Alone mode
WTF? Did I miss an install option? I'm totally dumbfounded by this ommission. The idea behind DAW configuration is simplicity and ease of use/convenience. Especially with something that lends itself to the idea of Stand Alone. If the ability to go stand alone is contained in the Stomp IO then ,,!,

Miss: Midi Learn
Again, having all that automation is great, but what if all I want to do is attach my pedal to the wah? It becomes a cumbersome process that doesn't translate from project to project. Again, if I'm missing something let me know, because this is a huge void. If you ever do add this, don't be knuckleheads and limit it to |one CC->one control| like GR.

Hit: The effects in general
Even though I pointed out a couple specifically, I think the AT2's biggest good thing is that, with a minor exceptions listed below, the effects are fantastic. I could see putting this in a chain just to get the effects. The pitch effects are great. I haven't figured out how to do a decent whammy yet, but I'm assuming I can with the rack effect and some automation (again, MIDI learn would have made this much simpler to experiment with).

Miss: Filter Effects
They aren't "bad" actually, just very very very limited for where we are in VST land. The wah needs about 10 more options for example, things like range, toe heavy, heal heavy, roll width, voicing etc.... Hopefully those kinds of things will grow as we go. (*cough*MIDILEARN*cough*)

Hit: Routing
The routing system is great. The interface was not obvious, but once I found it and realized what it did, it is easy and flexible. I read it in the manual, but the stupid little screen shot of the 1-8 buttons with a description of "This is amp selector". Doesn't tell you jack shit about the fact that it is the ROUTE selector NOT the AMP selector. A more complete list of each of the 8 paths would have helped considerably. Anyhow, this is an easy thing to use now that I know how it works.

Miss: Noise Gate
Jesus, can't we have a gate that isn't an on/off switch? I have about 23948798732423 VST gates and they are horrible. This is no better.

Ok, that's enough for now. Join in. Maybe tell me I missed something. Or just call me names. Whatever floats your boat.

[TeleJuan]

My only complain would be CPU usage, though unckeching the oversampling options helps quite a bit. I do understand though that an application like this has to take up some CPU... no way around it.

When it comes to hits, I love the fact that you can mix up pre,s, EQ's and amps.... man, that's just awesome! Effects are great as well, I love the compressors myself.
And everyone's talking about high gain tone and all but I personally love the fat clean and soflty crunched tones I get.

The last thing I really really love is how fast a get good tones out of AT2. It would take me lots of tweaking on AT1 and GR to get something I liked. With AT2, chosing an amp and tweaing EQ gets me a better tone than AT1 and GR ever did.

It's not perfect, I guess, but it's the best out there, at least for me.

[_niko_]

I'll add my initial impressions. Been playing with it a bit over the weekend. Of course I haven't explored it in all its depth yet.

Good things:
- The amps are much better than in AT1
- The routing options are very nice
- The cab emulations are pretty good, I especially appreciate the micing options
- I haven't used the fx much yet, but what I tried so far sounded good

Bad things:
- I installed onto an empty Ikey, and found the installation procedure all but straight forward. If you must use a dongle, at least make the installation hassle free for the end user. It took me roughly half an hour to get the thing installed, registered and authorized, of course that can be partly attributed to my own stupidity, but a good installer shouldn't assume the end user to be clever, imho.
- This thing is a cpu hog. Two instances with jamstix and dfhs running and I already have to freeze or up my asio buffers
- I had some crashes in Sonar4.04 and Samplitude 8.21. Samp explicitly mentioned an error in Amplitube2.dll and I am pretty sure that Sonar's crash was also AT2 related. Both of these apps run totally problem free normally.

Wishes:
- decrease cpu load
- Enhancements to the cabinet options: More precise mic distance control, option for multi micing a single cab
- of course a bugfix for the crashes

[geekboy]

Maybe it's not that important, but... the tuner isn't great.

If anyone is using OSX, check out this nice strobe tuner:
http://www.katsurashareware.com/strobe/strobeau.html

[Funkybot]

Question for the people who've spent some time with this thing, how well does it do that breaking up AC30 or Fender rhthym sound and how good is the JCM800? The 800 is the most gain I think I'd ever need from an amp and I imagine it'd be the model I'd use the most. And just generally as far as the amps themselves go, where are the hits and misses there? Is it better at doing one type of sound over another?

BTW SJ, check out the gate in the Kjaerhus GAC-1 (I'd love to see this is a stand alone effect Torben), as it's more of an expander than a gate. When it comes to gating that, and the Cakewalk Expander/Gate that comes with Sonar are my two top choices.

[SJ_Digriz]

Question for the people who've spent some time with this thing, how well does it do that breaking up AC30 or Fender rhthym sound and how good is the JCM800?

Well, I have another post asking this exact question. I can't get the twin(american tube 1) to do anything twinish. The 800 is so noisy in my setup I can't use it. That's probably my problem though. The High Gain amp is even worse. It's just 0db hiss before I touch a string. I'm using an old Strat, but this is beyond that kind of noise. Again, it's most likely my DI setup.

I didn't really do a hits/misses for the sound, because I can't get a sound I like yet. But, in RL I just plug my strat straight into the twin and I'm happy. Toss a 57 in front of the cab and it shows up on the track the way I like it. I have a few effects, but I don't use them much. The only one I use consistantly is a Fulltone Choralflange.

BTW SJ, check out the gate in the Kjaerhus GAC-1 (I'd love to see this is a stand alone effect Torben), as it's more of an expander than a gate. When it comes to gating that, and the Cakewalk Expander/Gate that comes with Sonar are my two top choices.

hmm...don't think I tried the GAC-1. I'll take a look.

[guitarzan]

Miss: Noise Gate
Jesus, can't we have a gate that isn't an on/off switch? I have about 23948798732423 VST gates and they are horrible. This is no better.

FLOORFISH ( http://www.kvraudio.com/get/860.html ) is a nice noisegate. Much more than an on/off switch IMO.

[AndrewSimon]

The gate in Kjaerhus GAC-1 is great, I use it on everything.

[_niko_]

Just wanted to add that I totally agree with SJ_Digriz that the omission of a standalone version is a let down, especially for live usage.
Not that I plan to use it for that anyway

[Funkybot]

I'm using an old Strat, but this is beyond that kind of noise. Again, it's most likely my DI setup.

What's your exact setup there? You are going into a hi-z input right? Also have you tried jiggling the cable a bit once in? The cheap pre's on my M-Audio Omni are a little shot and the hi-z input requires some cable finessing to get the noise down, I'm wondering if that's the problem. Also make sure to turn the monitor off and spin around the room some to find the quiet spot for the single coils.

I'm really annoyed I can't demo AT2 myself as I don't have the dongle, but please, let's not have this conversation here, I'm just briefly venting.

[SJ_Digriz]

Also make sure to turn the monitor off and spin around the room some to find the quiet spot for the single coils.

having played this old guy for a lot of years, I'm used to having to find the right angle to play without noise. And I play with the monitors off.

What's your exact setup there?

really old Strat -> GT Brick -> Delta 1010

The thing is, that sometimes I don't have a noise problem and some times I do. I'm wondering if the brick has issues, or if like the outside refrigerator kicks on I get circuit noise. It doesn't happen if I go direct strat -> twin though, or at least not nearly as bad.

[SJ_Digriz]

so am I the only one who thinks that MIDI Learn is a huge missing feature?

[meeks]

No your not...it is a very big feature for me.

[asseca]

so am I the only one who thinks that MIDI Learn is a huge missing feature?

For me this is a major issue, do they expect people to play guitar, and fiddle with a mouse at the same time ???

The lack of proper MIDI support, including MIDI learn, is a weakness in ALL IK products.
The question is why they refuse to spend that little extra time to implement proper MIDI ...

[SJ_Digriz]

For me this is a major issue, do they expect people to play guitar, and fiddle with a mouse at the same time ???

The lack of proper MIDI support, including MIDI learn, is a weakness in ALL IK products.
The question is why they refuse to spend that little extra time to implement proper MIDI ...

My guss is that the Stomp IO will contain what we would call the MIDI learn function. Basically you will be able to assign parameters to the switches and pedals connected through the Stomp.

Other than that you are expected to use your host automation, which in my case is SX-3. This allows me to use Generic Remote to set external control. But, this is a total waste of time consuming and not user friendly at all.

If our only option for stand alone and MIDI Learn is Stomp IO, I think that would be a big mistake. But, I am speculating. I have no information that says that's how it will be.