KVR Audio

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sun May 11, 2008 12:32 am

Well this is what I'm thinking. I already have a portable sound device (Mackie Satellite) which does the job admirably.

So do I really need the stomp i/o ? I could probably get away with using a midi footboard to control it.. but something tells me the stomp i/o would be better integrated, and would allow me more than 16 parameters.

Makes you wonder if the reason they limited it to 16 parameters was so they could still sell some stomps.

The Stomp I/O is £468. That comes with Amplitube Metal.. but still... am I really gonna spend that much for control???

Re-routing the amps to my hardware amp+cab sounds terrific. Sounds much MUCH more like a real-amplifier to me, and gives you the interaction that you need.

This Wednesday, I'm going to take amplitube metal demo into the practice room with my band. I'm going to use a ProCo RAT purely as a volume adjuster - very very low distortion, filter open all the way, volume adjusted to taste, so that when the pedal is activated the input signal is attenuated, and the Amplitube amp would be more "clean" and when the pedal is off, the amp would be resorted to full gain mayhem!

Should work quite well, and if I'm happy with the tones at louder volumes, I will then proceed to investigate the Stomp I/O or alternatives.

The only thing bothering me is.. I'm going to Japan in June, and I will certainly want spending money!

A3ntar · Post by **A3ntar** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:39 am

Hey, IKMM finally released a standalone vanilla StompIO

Although you have to have any of the Amplitube software to be eligible for that pricing.

While I was expecting more along the 500$ mark, the MSRP is 799$....I can't wait to see the actual street price will be.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:00 am

massive rave reviews on that stomp i/o

If I didn't have all I need from ik, I'd consider

Gotta be a bargain to get those plugs AND that very nice looking unit!

Niksounds · Post by **Niksounds** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:57 am

Amberience wrote:Well this is what I'm thinking. I already have a portable sound device (Mackie Satellite) which does the job admirably.

One question
Your Satellite hi-z input is clean?

In my Satellite i have a noise in background, witohut any instrument connected too.
And this is a little problem with hi gain setting.

It's not a tragedy, but it's annoying..

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 5:12 pm

Niksounds wrote:
Amberience wrote:Well this is what I'm thinking. I already have a portable sound device (Mackie Satellite) which does the job admirably.
One question
Your Satellite hi-z input is clean?

In my Satellite i have a noise in background, witohut any instrument connected too.
And this is a little problem with hi gain setting.

It's not a tragedy, but it's annoying..

Hi! Sorry I missed this, trying to ween myself off of KVR.

Yes, my Hi-Z input on my Satellite is clean, and there is no noise at appropriate levels of gain. Of course turn it all the way up, and there is a little noise, but nothing too bad.

Auen Cross · Post by **Auen Cross** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:51 am

Just wanted to drop by and leave a note from a first-hand power test user of IK's amp lines. I'm a metal keytarist with a midi controller routed into RealStrat, FXed into some of the most popular amp boxes (I'm a big fan of NI Guitar Rig). I do alot of shredding style keyboard work.

For me, Amplitube 2 just didn't make the cut over revalver and g-rig, especially in the metal genre. The whole amplitube sound, routed through my ASIO audio at hi-q settings, just had a faded, surreal sound compared to others.

Ok, so IK Metal comes along. Yay. Well, I've got to say that from the sound viewpoint, IK finally came up with something I had in mind. Still though, for the price, it's pretty bleak. No stereo output. Excessive fuzz and loss of tone quality. Sandy (not the iron-gritty grind I like) distortion. Add that with the fact that many presets in the IK Metal have serious bugs. I've used the VST version in FL, energyXT, Ableton, and the low-key, free VSThost. It never ran properly. In XT it would mute off the audio, and in FL it went so far as crashing the whole FL 8 XXL.

My recommnendation? Save your money. Stick with NI, revalver, Line6, or whatever you prefer- your wallet and your ears will thank you.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:01 am

Is there anyone who is just very happy with this plug?

Auen Cross · Post by **Auen Cross** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:13 am

Well hibidy, let me say one thing good about it. It seems to run better on my lower-spec laptop than my gaming-computer-turned-into-DAW desktop. I'm thankful for that- it's pretty handy when I'm out on the road.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:31 am

well I guess what I'm saying is that I have not heard even one "ooooo, it's just awesome"

of course I haven't read every post, but still!

Auen Cross · Post by **Auen Cross** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:45 am

Yes, I suppose. BTW, are you a fan of Amplitube Metal? What do you use it for?

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:55 am

Auen Cross wrote:Yes, I suppose. BTW, are you a fan of Amplitube Metal? What do you use it for?

No, but I'm a HUGE at2/atJHE fan. They are by far IMHO the most realistic sounding to my ears.

What I use it for? Well, I mostly f... around... but the styles of music range so vastly, it's hard to say for sure

I'm gonna download the metal demo and check it to confirm/deny the bad marks

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:45 am

a quick check reveals some things:

too high a cpu use (yes, of course I know to check preferences

)

the "volume" is too low overall before clipping compared to at2 and jhe.

It's METAL! Which of course is a good thing!

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:20 am

Ok

well, it's just me...........but.......

chunky
buttery
smooth
bitting
authentic

these would be some of the words I'd use............so far..........

I'll try again tomorrow and see if it holds

Auen Cross · Post by **Auen Cross** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:58 am

To Hibidy: Such an objective review! i'll be looking forward to your posts tomorrow.

funkychickendance · Post by **funkychickendance** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:19 am

Auen Cross wrote:Just wanted to drop by and leave a note from a first-hand power test user of IK's amp lines. I'm a metal keytarist with a midi controller routed into RealStrat, FXed into some of the most popular amp boxes (I'm a big fan of NI Guitar Rig). I do alot of shredding style keyboard work.

Maybe when you get a little bit older your mummy will buy you a guitar.

//fnx

AmpliTube Metal - Released THIS month!!!