FreeAmp 2 Authentic Amp Preset Contest

[matthewjumps]

I thought i'd start this off - we agree that we need to keep this kind of stuff out of the beta thread to keep it on topic .... im dont think there needs to be any rules - i guess just posting examples of real life amps so we can try and recreate them and see who gets the closest

so if you havent already got it, head over here

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... t=#1976598

and get beta3 and lets get this thing started....

posted by JBM in the Freeamp beta thread with the comment

this tone is a bit trebly, but it shows openness that i have not been able to get with freeamp

http://stashbox.org/uploads/1152733150/ ... ll%201.MP3

[TotcProductions]

You should post up the link to the Unprocessed wave file too, so people can try using JBM's actual guitar and playing.

[Jason Brian Merrill]

yes i have agreed on that once i realized it... even tho frettedsynth DID say to comment on the sound....

nice work, but i have found most of the sounds in this to.... [pretty much be crap, no offense. has anyone any samples of a decent sound they have gotten from this thing?

it just all seems very muddy to me.

the haters are coming

please dont count me in among them. I have come here honestly seeking a decent tone from this thing

interesting totc, but not exactly the tight sound i would be going for... seems rather... sludgy.

well, like i said, it seems like a real "muddy" tone, and yes, it DOES seem responsive but it also seems very "dark" and undefined. I just would like to hear what people have done with it. I like brighter but responsive tones.

I do like the synth feature alot too btw.

I dont want to act unappreciative. Just wondering what all the praise is for when, to me, it sounds sort of crappy

basically, im thinking im doing something wrong.

well, like i said, it seems like a real "muddy" tone, and yes, it DOES seem responsive but it also seems very "dark" and undefined. I just would like to hear what people have done with it. I like brighter but responsive tones.

I do like the synth feature alot too btw.

I dont want to act unappreciative. Just wondering what all the praise is for when, to me, it sounds sort of crappy

basically, im thinking im doing something wrong.

ok, did you listen to the 1st demos i posted? would that be muddy? if it is, download the preset zip, and tweak the eq and contour. is it still muddy?

yes, still really muddy and cheap, no offense. Sounds like my old zoom 505, imo. I will try again tomorrow like i saaid, maybe my ears are decieving me.

well, you cant step to those rythym sounds

WTF does that mean? I know for a fact I could step all over them...and piss on'em too while I'm at it. That's it, the war is on....more audio coming tomorrow, when I'm not drunk.

Goodnight folks.

hey man, no need to get defensive... im just saying i really like the rythym sounds of "the darkness" alot.. just a big, lively tone. I would love to see you get a similar tone and show me how, especially with a free plug!!!

[guitarzan]

OK, I offer an olive branch by making an attempt at a higher gain sound for Jason, sorry I flew off the handle in the other thread. I have a feeling that what translates as "muddy" to you in the higher gain settings is what translates as "warmth" to me in my low gain sttings - anyway, I made an effort:

http://stashbox.org/uploads/1152836470/ ... preset.mp3

[Jason Brian Merrill]

ahhh you like slayer... good... that is a good start.

but I dont hear any of that in the tones you posted. Im after good single tones. Good, playing tones. My gf is heavily into slayer (just saw them in montreal recently) and has shown me some of their stuff, and man, they have some tight guitar tones. I could never picture (please, no offense intended) any of the tones I have heard thus far coming from freeamp ever in a slayerish context.

well, like i said, it seems like a real "muddy" tone, and yes, it DOES seem responsive but it also seems very "dark" and undefined. I just would like to hear what people have done with it. I like brighter but responsive tones.

I do like the synth feature alot too btw.

I dont want to act unappreciative. Just wondering what all the praise is for when, to me, it sounds sort of crappy

basically, im thinking im doing something wrong.

can you also elaborate on 'muddy' ... what does that mean? frequencies smearing together?

undefined low end, smearing, not tight, unfocused...

Ok, another mp3...same riff I was using in the last two, except slightly tighter. This tone has a more "Boxy" quality to it...it's 4 tracks, 2 panned hard left and hard right, with the other two panned slightly off center, opposite eachother. 1 preset for the first 2, and 1 preset for the 2nd two.

FreeAmp2beta3-FightRiff-4layers

After listening, and playing a few different riffs...I've heard the lack of tightness that JBM was refferring to...maybe this can be solved with a better gate algorithm ( )...either way, I still think it's very useful, has a damn sexy GUI, and for christ's sake, it's free people...may not fit all tastes, but I'll hold on to it. Thanks Fretted Synth.

(BTW, works beautifully at 48khz/24 bit. Although, I forgot to dither it down in the mp3 above )

Peace

still sluudgy to me, but those are some nice harmonics

I dont think a gate algorithm can help it... it sort of sounds like a wet blanket over everything.

ill post some examples of my own in a bit.

I wasn't talking about the tone I posted, just the wall of sound practice in general. That's why I referenced other material.

Also, I don't think it's at all fair to compare FreeAmp2 to a Marshall. Nice riff though, and I hear what you're talking about. No, I don't think you'll get that tone out of FreeAmp2....but again, if that's an actual Marshall in the mp3, then I don't think it's practical to expect that from a free virtual amp sim.

Peace

no, it was podxt. not an actual marshall i should have made that clear. (it was a marshall SOUND) I have a marshall, but the preamp is busted. Sometimes i use the power amp to plug my xt into, but this was straight from the pod into my emu1212m...

recorded in reaper of course (another nice FREE software)

panned hard left and right, you can isolate each one if you want just by listeninng to each side.

i dont know why everyone is so stinking sensitive... I wasnt bashing freeamp, i was bashing this crazy convoluted way of getting a decent sound out it. I came here honestly asking to get a decent tone out of it. The Gui is excellent and it has a certain character i like in the sound, but it just seems to be soooo muddy.

free does not nessecarily equal good.... i can give you a turd for free too... but i dont expect you would get any good sounds out of it.
anyway, i dont mean to call freeamp a turd, i just want to know how to get some more open, real sounds, instead of the mud that i am getting from it.

but yes, a tuner plugin is a nice idea.

EDIT

not worth it.


ok but maybe a bit toned down

it's getting funny again now.

'good tone' is very subjective. i can achieve a pretty good bluesy sounding tone, a great clean sound, some great leads, and a good gain sound (atleast to my oldschool butt0x). so i like this and all that happy crappy. these tones are probably not going to be what others like, but i don't give a rats ass about that tbh, it's about what i want it to sound like and i'm not trying to emulate anything fancy here, just basic stuff.

i don't think it's very productive or useful to spar about ones opinion over anothers. muddy, GC (what does that mean?), blablabla, it seriously all starts to turn into a pissing contest about OPINIONs. it is charlie browns teacher on the phone.. wah wuh wuh wuhwuhwuhwuh wuh.

jbm; considering that FA2 was built by an oldschooler, it's going to have that oldschool flavor that a great many people dig, while obviously the nuskool people will about. this is fine right? i mean, it's fair to have diversity and things that excel at certain 'feels' etc? if you don't like it, i'd say don't use it. no one will have hurt feelings about it, it's not intended to be the be-all-end-all every-sound-possible kind of plug, it's intended to do what it currently does, and it pulls that off pretty damned well.

it's all so inane and banal now. we've gone over this tone debate for pages in this beta thread and the conclusions have been made, so can we all move on and keep testing this? joe has mentioned it's a evolution in progress, which means he is open minded about making adjustments and changes.

go ahead and delete the DLL if it's causing you grief of this magnitude though, it's clear that those who aren't into the current sound it can make aren't going to find it somewhere secretly locked up inside, atleast in it's current state. maybe it's best to just give up and stop wasting time trying to get blood from a stone, and dial in for instant gratification with your AT2, AT1, GR2, or pod*.*'s

your absence certainly wont bother any of us i can assure you, and i'm not saying that in a mean or cruel way, just a fact of the matter fashion as one would state the current time: "it's 7:07 PM eastern standard time"

I still say you all are so amazingly sensitive about this all...

Its not causing me any grief -- I just showed interest and wanted to try out a nice offering (free, wow!)

you think i want instant gratification? Well, funny. I actually just want an amp sim that sounds decent, without alot of tweaking. Then what you can do is tweak further and fine tune that tone until its perfect, just like a real amp. perhaps you can show me a clip of your blues tones -- something with life to it. IMO freeamp just sounds like garbage no matter what you do. And i have yet to have heard anything to the contrary.

Im oldskool AND nuskool. I like em both. From elvis to opeth .... Elvis in the mud or Opeth in the mud, either sounds like crap. Oldschool or "nuskool" it doesnt matter. mud is mud.

Im offering my constructive criticism and never meant to cause anyone any emotional stress and apparently i am causing it....

All im asking is for tips on how to get a halfway decent sound, or a preset, or a clip or something.

just show me what you love so much about freeamp... i dont see it... it would rock to have a usable free ampsim vst.

it just all seems very muddy to me.

What's your input chain...
Not all 1/4" inputs are created equal when it comes to recording DI guitar.
What's the impedence of your input? The higher the better.
As an example, the Emu 1820m has great fidelity... but it doesn't cope well with DI guitar recording from the 1/4" inputs. (Impedence is too low and that robs all the top end sparkle and makes the bottom end loose/flabby and 'honkey' sounding)

I'm not saying that soft amp sims are a perfect solution...
But a LOT of folks don't realize that the above is a MAJOR factor.

A quick example: If you listen to GR2 (or any of the amp sim software) while playing thru the Emu's 1/4" inputs... and compare the same preset when running thru the 1/4" instrument input on a M-Audio 1814, you'll notice a WORLD of difference. The DI guitar sounds good thru the 1814... and dull/lifeless thru the Emu. Simply a matter of impedence... (has nothing to do with the converters/fidelity of the interface - the Emu actually has better fidelity)
The 1814 instrument input was specifically designed for DI guitar/bass... and it's a very audible difference.

I would never use the inputs of the 1820m for guitar...

My signal path is

guitar.podxt.USB.PC.

so, its the same exact signal the podxt gets. parfait for any reamping challenge

I will post it in a bit, im really hungry!!!!

[Jason Brian Merrill]

http://stashbox.org/uploads/1152756856/01--02.wav

there is the real unprocessed one.

one of the things i like about freeamp is it seems to have a responsiveness to it... which is nice. But if that responsiveness also is combined with muddiness... forget it.

so, just so you all dont think im just bashing it, i actually like a certain aspect of its modeling.

hmmm, i dunno almost half this thread has to do with the sounds already.

anyway, one phenomenon i hear with this is the old "wah wah" sound.... its like when an amp gets too high gain, it suddenly sounds like there is a wah wah like halfway up on it.

its the same thing that the 505 suffered from.

i do however, like the "contour" control on the amp, as well as the chub and variac controls so easily available. great ideass.

indeed. I dont want a pissing contest or a flame war. I have honestly tried for about 30 minutes and cant find a usable hi gain tone on rythym. even the crunch tones to me, sound muddy. I M H O.

This is 2 tracks of slightly altered "May" preset with a bit of eq after recording. Spent more time on drums/bass/mix production than the guitar sound. Lead guitar is same preset with delay engaged.

http://www.geocities.com/t_m94948/fa2.mp3

this is the best i have heard so far. It still has that "wet blanket" effect, but it sounds nice on the leads.
See, this is a good sound, but certainly not one i would use most of the time. You can hear in the palm muting the mud, and you can hear on the open chords the "wah-wah" effect im talking about, except here it is less pronounced, and perhaps wanted, because its a "may" type of tone.

Here are two versions of Jason's file that I did. I'm not saying that they are what he wants. Just my expirimenting with things. Who knows, maybe I'm close? Doesn't sound muddy to me. But then again, it's me.

http://www.audiopedia.org/guitar.wav

http://www.audiopedia.org/guitar2.wav

They are not compressed, so they are larger files. Sorry, I'm in a hurry cause I'm getting hungry. Also, I didn't bring the levels up or anything, so you may have to turn up a bit.

Opinions? Jason, anywhere close?

Brent

these arent *too* bad. But what you will notice about them is
on the first one, it doesnt have that tightness on the palm mutes, and it has that artificial sounding "wah-wah halfway up" sound when the open chords hit. Now, i dont know, perhaps that is exactly what the dev was going for, but sort of sounds like crap to me in any context. I would like to hear some clips from classic rock or something that show the sounds he was going for. Cause i dont remember hearing this anywhere there, no offense. Perhaps im wrong, perhaps its just a matter of taste though.

Ok, the second one, not bad... but not enough gain. The problem with freeamp2 really comes in when you add a decent amount of gain.


one thing i want to set straight is i am not some metal head...

I do like some metal but that is not the only sound i go for --- Im into the sound of aerosmith, AC/DC, Nirvana, radiohead, i mean anything from the 50s to now.... so please dont pigeonhole me into thinking i want CHUG CHUG CHUG like that ignorant loser from before. One good example of a sound i love is anything from STP.. from core to tiny music, they touched on so many sounds with guitar amps, new and vintage, its sick.

Anyway, i hope my critique of this very nice offering helps in some way

[Jason Brian Merrill]

OK, I offer an olive branch by making an attempt at a higher gain sound for Jason, sorry I flew off the handle in the other thread. I have a feeling that what translates as "muddy" to you in the higher gain settings is what translates as "warmth" to me in my low gain sttings - anyway, I made an effort:

http://stashbox.org/uploads/1152836470/ ... preset.mp3

cool man! thank you.

thats actually not bad at all (not great but not bad).... there isnt as much "chug" in the "Chug" parts, but the open chords do indeed sound much more open.

do you have an fxp? I would love to mess around with this one such as, turning down the gain just a bit, and layering the sound..

dont worry about hurting my feelings, its all good

[guitarzan]

OK, I offer an olive branch by making an attempt at a higher gain sound for Jason, sorry I flew off the handle in the other thread. I have a feeling that what translates as "muddy" to you in the higher gain settings is what translates as "warmth" to me in my low gain sttings - anyway, I made an effort:

http://stashbox.org/uploads/1152836470/ ... preset.mp3

cool man! thank you.

thats actually not bad at all (not great but not bad).... there isnt as much "chug" in the "Chug" parts, but the open chords do indeed sound much more open.

do you have an fxp? I would love to mess around with this one such as, turning down the gain just a bit, and layering the sound..

dont worry about hurting my feelings, its all good

http://stashbox.org/uploads/1152837961/ ... chyfxp.fxp
I also used the TBT TubeLimit on it's default setting after FreeAmp2 (grymmjack kinda set that up as the standard with one of his first FreeAmp audio clips).

[Jason Brian Merrill]

thx

[TotcProductions]

Okie Dokie Jason. Did what I could...spent all the time I can afford to spend on this at least and this is the best I could do:

JBM Joke


































Just kidding. Still couldn't nail it perfectly, but here's what I really came up with:

Shot 1 (with minor built in Nuendo track eq, pushing around 936hz and 10khz)

Shot 2 Just FreeAmp2beta3, no EQ here)

Here's the FXP Figure maybe you can tweak it more to your liking.

That was fun. Good luck to the rest of you!

[FrettedSynth]

I thought you were joking about this thread

Farout

Fretted Synth

[TotcProductions]

I thought you were joking about this thread

Farout

Fretted Synth

hehe, I thought they were too. Then I saw it pop up, so figured I'd give it a go.

[koolkeys]

I think this thread could come to be a good preset bank creation thread. We can start with Jason's tone, and then have somebody else post another example they are trying to get, or a famous amp. And then we can see who can match it.

Excellent idea, and could also be a good learning thread for guitar tone. Hopefully it will stay civil.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: If you don't have something civil to say, go say it somewhere else. Nobody cares.

Brent

[Jason Brian Merrill]

indeed. i am sick of all the flamewars here recently.

[Jason Brian Merrill]

Okie Dokie Jason. Did what I could...spent all the time I can afford to spend on this at least and this is the best I could do:

JBM Joke


Just kidding. Still couldn't nail it perfectly, but here's what I really came up with:

Shot 1 (with minor built in Nuendo track eq, pushing around 936hz and 10khz)

Shot 2 Just FreeAmp2beta3, no EQ here)

Here's the FXP Figure maybe you can tweak it more to your liking.

That was fun. Good luck to the rest of you!

nah, its not perfect at all, but you know what, there is this quality to freeamp that is REALLY nice. I could definetly picture it in the context of certain music. However, there is something that flubs about with the palm muted parts. and it still could be a bit more "open" sounding. Also, you dont hear that much gain -- im sure if the gain were turned up the mud would increase alot...

But wow, this is the best yet, thanks for trying.
I am going to post up some other tones with wet/dry versions when i get a chance.