Bias Amp 2 Reviews...Holy Crap

[acousticglue]

sgear moving to iPhone or some crap like that

[metalifuxx]

I actually don't care if S-Gear is moving slowly in the development area. I'm completely happy with it how it is right now. Sure there can always be new features and stuff added. It's probably the only ampsim I play where I forget I'm playing through an ampsim with minimal tweaking. I just play guitar when that plugin is loaded up. I know people were clamoring for a drive pedal. I'd love to see a class A type EL84 power tube Vox/Matchless/Badcat model from Scuffham.

When I tried Bias it just felt stiff and rigid with like some unnatural overtone and the release and sustain on the notes didn't feel right on the overdriven crunch and higher gain sounds. I was more impressed with some of the cleaner sounds it has. There are some ampsims you just have to fight to get a good playable sound and then get that sound in the mix as well. I find Bias to fall into that category. Plus that laggy slow startup when you load the plugin and bring up the GUI any time to edit/tweak, which doesn't bring immediacy when you want to change a setting quickly. And the patch browsing/saving preset system, meh to that too.

[dr_tone]

I actually bought BIAS-Head a few weeks ago, which, AFAIK is basically the hardware version of BIAS Amp (Ver 1). I.e. same algorithms. Based on these, I would quite disagree with the above. I think, it sounds fabulous. And that is not saying just because I happen to own it. I play guitar for quite some time now (30 years) and have accumulated a whole basement full of amps, among them a Marshalls, several Fender-Combos, an Engl, a Mesa/Boggie Mk4 and even a Swart Amp alongside with some cabinets (1x12s and 2x12s); some of these are very much loved, especially my Twin and the Swart.

Well. This BIAS-Head is just among my nicest tone-machines. I especially found some AC-30 emulations that are just heartbreakingly sweet. I was several times almost pulling the trigger for a Morgan AC. But now, this is solved. I doubt that I could get a better recorded (!) tone out of a Morgan then out of BIAS head. Ofcourse, playing it would probably feel better, because a Guitar-Cabinet is way louder then studio monitors and moves a lot of air; and maybe the Morgan even plays nicer, rounder, more dynamic. But that does not necessarily translate into a great recorded tone; you have to factor in Mic-Choice and placement, room acoustics, preamp and other parts of the recording chain and so forth… in the end it almost never sounds as good as it feels while playing. Not so with the modelers. And especially these BIAS-algorithms seem to have captured that zingy-Tip end. In general, they are quite versatile on one hand while on the other hand have a good number of sweet spots. I also like the Deluxe rendition. Easily gets that snuffy sound with some hair on it. Also the fendery cleans are good, especially for in the mix. For recording this one is hard to beat.

So, to sum up my point, while it might be true that there are some interface quirks (not a big fan of skeuomorphic designs at all) and even some bugs (yet to be encountered by me) I totally dig the tone of these algorithms. I have also compared them to Yamahas algorithms (THR head), which are btw. also impressingly good (but lack in the glassy, voxy region) and to Line 6’s Helix (also Yamaha now, AFAIK, but for some reason still sounding like one generation of amp modeling behind). Soundwise I did not like the Helix as much as the other two but it scores with its live usability. Anyways. I don’t think it’s fair or appropriate to bash Positive Grid for their sound. Their amp modeling just sounds fantastic. And if Ver2 even improves upon it… hell, yeah!

[Julien Unison]

Well, I am part of those who have been harsh against Positive Grid plugins (I was telling they sounds great but are very slow and almost impossible to use due to their slowness).

I had BIAS FX already.

I 've recently read about BIAS AMP 2, have listened to some demos, inspected all it's abilities...


... And finally I have bought the Elite version of it (that is far less expensive in euros = 230 than in dollars = 299).

I totally changed my mind about Bias plugins. THIS Bias Amp 2 is very much more stable. And it sounds amazingly.

The Hiwatt clean sounds, the Twin Reverb sounds, the bluesy sound amps... I'm more interested by clean and crunchy sounds than by metal sounds. And I can tell you this plugin can excel into this.
And its online sharing presets bank is HUGE.
Its matching tool (to create a new simulated amp based on a miked real life amp or on a wav file) is really powerful too.
And the Celestion cab impulses are really super good.

[CapnLockheed]

Apples VS Oranges VS Pomegranates.

It's the same 'ol BS. Analog VS Digital, Tube VS Solid State....etc. I can't believe that people are still have this same 'ol non-sequiturial, oxy-moronic argument. There is almost NOTHING more subjective than tone...except, perhaps, taste. If you like it...good for you.

We're so lucky that we have so many choices now. We didn't back in the day.
Find what you like....use it....and kwitcher bitchin.

[wagtunes]

Apples VS Oranges VS Pomegranates.

It's the same 'ol BS. Analog VS Digital, Tube VS Solid State....etc. I can't believe that people are still have this same 'ol non-sequiturial, oxy-moronic argument. There is almost NOTHING more subjective than tone...except, perhaps, taste. If you like it...good for you.

We're so lucky that we have so many choices now. We didn't back in the day.
Find what you like....use it....and kwitcher bitchin.

Too bad more people can't have that attitude.

[generaldiomedes]

If two emulations are going after the exact same tube amp and one comes closer to the sound than the other .. not a matter of taste is it?

Audiophiles argue over the last 5% that’s what they do.

[CapnLockheed]

If two emulations are going after the exact same tube amp and one comes closer to the sound than the other .. not a matter of taste is it?

As a matter of fact it is.

one comes closer to the sound than the other

Says who? You?

Nice try.....but I'm going to have to call BULLSHIT. First of all who's doing the judging? Second of all give me 15 of the same model of ANY brand of vintage amp and you'll get a WIDE variety of differences in tone. Tolerances of individual components were not as tight as they are today and ,on top of that, component values drift over time.THEN get 15 people to judge which one of those 15 amps sounds the "best". And you'll most likely get 15 different answers.

The same goes for effects......Hendrix was known to have gone through HUNDREDS of the same
model of fuzz box before he found that one "magic" box.

So, I'll say it again.......

Find what you like....use it....and kwitcher bitchin.

Threads like this are a complete waste of time and I'm done wasting mine on this one.

[generaldiomedes]

No longer allowed to debate the merits of one product vs another .. gotcha!

[CapnLockheed]

No longer allowed to debate the merits of one product vs another .. gotcha!

The ONLY opinion that matters in this "debate" of yours is your own. Hopefully, one day you'll
figure that out.

Saying Sim A SOUNDS better than Sim B is has NOTHING to do with a DEBATE or MERIT.
That is merely stating YOUR preference and there is no way to prove that the tone YOU prefer is the BEST tone in the world. My point is that there is almost nothing in the world more subjective than tone. Debating which amp sim is the best is as pointless as debating which REAL amp is the best or trying convince a seasoned Strat, Gretsch or Rickenbacker player that their tone would be much better if they simply wised up and switched to a Les Paul.

That being said, if you want to pitch a hissy fit over a sim's GUI or preset handling I'm sure you can find plenty of others willing to agree. But even that can be subjective. One man's perfect workflow is another man's worst nightmare. Let's debate about which DAW sounds best wanna?

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Let's debate about which DAW sounds best wanna?

No debate, there; It's the one that I use

[generaldiomedes]

Saying Sim A SOUNDS better than Sim B is has NOTHING to do with a DEBATE or MERIT.:

Whether I prefer the Peavey 6505 to a Bogner Uberschall.. well that's completely a matter of taste.

For the final time, saying Sim A sounds closer to Amp A than sim B, where Amp A happens to have the tone I am looking for. If you are telling me that a Guitar Rig 5 Van 51 patch sounds as close to a real live Peavey 6505 as the Axe FX II XL+ 6505 amp model.. that's like saying The Legend emulates the Minimoog no better than some Synthedit emulation from 10 years ago

You can even say you think the Synthedit sounds better, but that doesn't make it a closer emulation.

/peace out.

[jacqueslacouth]

For me, the whole thing is just a bloody distraction. When my ONLY choice was my early Marshall Valvstate, that was what determined my sound. Of late, I find that I am much happier just plugging my guitar into the same old amp (25 years old now I think) and I am far more likely to make music than when I sit there twiddling through a gazillion tones on Amplitube Max, S Gear, Guitar Rig etc...

[ZargonTheMagnificent]

twiddling through a gazillion tones on Amplitube Max, S Gear, Guitar Rig etc...

For me, I think this is the wrong way to look at these sims. At least if productivity is an issue (it is for me).

I try to look at amp simps (I own and use Bias Amp mk1) exactly as I do a a real amp; I find a good sound, or at maybe a couple (at most a couple per guitar) and that's what I use. I can't say I've ever bought a real amp and spent hours and hours obsessively twiddling for an infinite number of usable sounds, so why would I want to do that with an amp sim?

Maybe everybody else changes their guitar sounds every project they work on? I don't. After all; WWJHD?

For £40 (or whatever the sofware costs), if I can get a couple of good sounds per guitar (and I only have a few guitars) then I reckon that's great value. The alternative is building a soundproof booth for amps that takes up space in my house, and is a PITA.

[funky lime]

Saying Sim A SOUNDS better than Sim B is has NOTHING to do with a DEBATE or MERIT.:

Whether I prefer the Peavey 6505 to a Bogner Uberschall.. well that's completely a matter of taste.

For the final time, saying Sim A sounds closer to Amp A than sim B, where Amp A happens to have the tone I am looking for. If you are telling me that a Guitar Rig 5 Van 51 patch sounds as close to a real live Peavey 6505 as the Axe FX II XL+ 6505 amp model.. that's like saying The Legend emulates the Minimoog no better than some Synthedit emulation from 10 years ago

You can even say you think the Synthedit sounds better, but that doesn't make it a closer emulation.

/peace out.

If getting a Minimoog sound is important, you use an actual Minimoog. Otherwise it doesn't matter, as long as the "attitude" or "spirit" of the gear is present.

If you expect a $200 plugin to sound exactly like a $3000 piece of analog gear, the problem is not the plugin; the problem is your expectations. If the free synthedit Minimogue gets you even remotely close to the idea you were trying to convey, then it is no better or worse than the modern counterpart.

After all, tools don't write music; people do. If your song sucks, it doesn't matter if your synth was a free plugin or the latest and greatest big-money emulation, or even the legendary hardware itself. And if your song is amazing, then the quality of the plugin will only really account for a very marginal improvement anyway.

Alas, this is a plugin forum, where the songs generally don't matter.

I reckon the responsiveness of an amp sim is far more important than how accurately it emulates a specific piece of gear anyway.