Swanky Amp (release 1.4.0)

[garrinm]

Hi Garrin,
I'll look forward to trying this out tomorrow
Is there any reason to use the installer right now? (does it install any presets or anything else?)
Or is it OK to just copy the vst3 file manually?

It's fine to just copy the vst3 file. The installer does only that. The presets are packaged in the vst3 file directly. I made the installer in case there are users who don't want to go through the step of finding the correct directory to copy the vst3 file to. But I think the installer right now complains that the binary isn't signed so its kind of counter-productive.

[Spitfire31]

Version 0.10.0 for Mac is a bit over 600 kB (kilobytes!) because the "VST3" and "AU" in the DMG:s are aliases.

Better try again…

[garrinm]

Version 0.10.0 for Mac is bit over 600 kB (kilobytes!) becasue the "VST3" and "AU" in the DMG:s are aliases.

Better try again…

Yikes. It's fixed now, the files include the *actual software* xD. Thanks for dropping a line!

I do think Apple makes good software in most situations, but their installer ecosystem is shockingly an even bigger mess than Windows'... and it turns out `cp -a` doesn't mean the same thing on OSX as it does in Linux. Clearly I could've checked the size of the binaries though before publishing them. I do plan to automate the packaging at some point...

Garrin

[jbraner]

Yeah - it does sound a little different now.
I don't know if I'll be able to describe it well, but I think it really "thickens" the sound as soon as the preamp goes up higher than halfway. IOW my strat starts to sound like it's going through a few pedals first - and gets big and fat. And I can't seem to thin out the "middle" anymore. (and make it sound like a strat)
I don't really mean to criticise it - but it's a different amp now.
It definitely distorts more and easier and "bigger" now.

I used to think of it as a nippy little bastard (that's a good thing ) and could feel the little amp overloading and "not coping"
Where now, it feels like there's more muscle there. It's still nippy (when you turn up the preamp) but it's bigger and fatter and has more in reserve.

Also - the contol over the volume isn't there anymore - so when you turn up the drive it gets louder too, instead of just having more drive (at the same volume level)

That's just my £0.02 (worth $0.03). I'll just need to get used to it now.
BTW - I haven't really played too much with the speaker emulation. I like the sound of my own cab emulator (Torpedo Wall of Sound) - and it seems to sound better through a 2x12 open back cab w/ Alnico Blues, than most of the 4x12 ones I have.

[garrinm]

Yeah - it does sound a little different now.
I don't know if I'll be able to describe it well, but I think it really "thickens" the sound as soon as the preamp goes up higher than halfway. IOW my strat starts to sound like it's going through a few pedals first - and gets big and fat. And I can't seem to thin out the "middle" anymore. (and make it sound like a strat)
I don't really mean to criticise it - but it's a different amp now.
It definitely distorts more and easier and "bigger" now.

I used to think of it as a nippy little bastard (that's a good thing ) and could feel the little amp overloading and "not coping"
Where now, it feels like there's more muscle there. It's still nippy (when you turn up the preamp) but it's bigger and fatter and has more in reserve.

Also - the contol over the volume isn't there anymore - so when you turn up the drive it gets louder too, instead of just having more drive (at the same volume level)

That's just my £0.02 (worth $0.03). I'll just need to get used to it now.
BTW - I haven't really played too much with the speaker emulation. I like the sound of my own cab emulator (Torpedo Wall of Sound) - and it seems to sound better through a 2x12 open back cab w/ Alnico Blues, than most of the 4x12 ones I have.

Thanks for the feedback as usual!

I really want Swanky Amp to cover a large spectrum of sounds, but my focus was always to really get some good tones in that edge of breakup. It seems maybe it lost some of the character there, which is disappointing.

I'll try to make changes to get back some of that small amp feel, but I'm not entirely sure which direction to go in.

The staging is fairly different. Have you played with the "overhead" setting over 5 and/or the "stages" setting turned down to 1? That might get back some of that character.

Could it be an issue that the pre-amp drive knob just kicks things into high gear too fast? Do you get decent tones in the range 2-3? Maybe that range just needs to be a bit bigger?

It's possible this is also related to the tone stack changes, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're describing.

Garrin

[prodigal_sounds]

I basically agree with John. It does feel like a different beast, but not in a bad way. It feels like I could dial-in the same sounds I was experiencing with the earlier versions.

However, there does seem to be something up with the balance, my experience is different from John's. I had a patch where I turned DOWN the drive, and the output volume went UP quite noticeably. Nothing that couldn't be handled by turning down the volume. I will try and figure out a series of steps that reproduces this experience.

I like the mouse-hover help text - that really does help to understand what the controls are doing.

Although there were aspects of the previous versions that I liked, I don't think I would go back to them. I can get my perfect middle-pickup tone, still - it's just in a different place parameter-wise. The essential flavor of Resonant/Swanky is still here: very tweakable, very subtle, lots and lots of tonal choices, rewards persistence.

[jbraner]

It's possible this is also related to the tone stack changes, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're describing.

The problem is - I'm not exactly sure what I'm describing

but my focus was always to really get some good tones in that edge of breakup. It seems maybe it lost some of the character there, which is disappointing.

see below - I'd say this part is still great.

Could it be an issue that the pre-amp drive knob just kicks things into high gear too fast? Do you get decent tones in the range 2-3? Maybe that range just needs to be a bit bigger?

I'd say the difference is when pre amp drive goes over 5. 2-3 is great, and clean to light crunch are still great! For me, the big difference starts when pre amp drive goes over 5. It's the dirtier sounds that have changed the most.

the staging is fairly different. Have you played with the "overhead" setting over 5 and/or the "stages" setting turned down to 1? That might get back some of that character.

I've had stages at around 2-3 so I'll try going down to 1. I played with "overhead" all over the place (because I wasn't too sure what it was doing...)


I also agree that the mouse-hover help text is great!

Again - I don't want to sound like anything is "bad" now - but some of the character that I really liked seems to have gone (well, changed).
Keep in mind that this isn't "John B's amp" though - I'm just giving my £0.02

[jbraner]

Hi Garrin - it's me again

The staging is fairly different. Have you played with the "overhead" setting over 5 and/or the "stages" setting turned down to 1? That might get back some of that character.

Yes - setting "stages" to 1 is a LOT better! I didn't think to set it that extreme, but it does help "thin" the sound out a bit. I'm still not sure what "overhead" is doing (soundwise). I can't decide where I like it so I'm keeping it around 5 most of the time.

Here's another observation. for me, the sound gets kinda ugly with power amp drive > 4. there is a nasty "white noise-ish" kind of buzz that comes out. Pre amp drive does it too but not until around 10. Maybe it's desired and/or realistic, but it doesn't work for me - but it's certainly no problem to keep power amp drive <= 4

Come to think of it - with the power amp drive on 3, and stages =1 - I'm back into the sounds I like from the older versions

So, clean (pre amp drive 3-4 with power amp drive 3) and mild "crunch" (pre amp drive 6-7 with power amp drive 3) are sounding good here, with the strat - and even higher gain (pre amp drive 7-9 with power amp drive 3-4) are nice with "stages" = 1.
So, let's say most of yesterdays "complaints" are easily fixed by changing the settings (by more than a little "tweak")

it's the same great amp - but just goes higher up the Richter scale now

[acousticglue]

So far, and haven't tried newest iteration, its one of the best.

[DaveClark]

Here's another observation. for me, the sound gets kinda ugly with power amp drive > 4. there is a nasty "white noise-ish" kind of buzz that comes out. Pre amp drive does it too but not until around 10. Maybe it's desired and/or realistic, but it doesn't work for me - but it's certainly no problem to keep power amp drive <= 4

Hi John,

I actually like this distortion from the power amp, because it adds a sort of sheen to the sound. However, it does need to be kept under control. IMO it's best when it's just barely noticeable. With clean sounds, it may be best to avoid it. Although I haven't compared it yet, Strats and Teles are probably going to be harder to get under control. Anything that twangs will probably have increased dissonance for any type of distortion due to frequency modulation.

Regards,
Dave Clark

[acousticglue]

But strats and teles make up 78% of guitar market

[jbraner]

Well, as long as we know that's how it works - it's really no big deal to keep the power amp drive down.
As long as that's the way it's "supposed to be", rather than "somethings not right here"

dissonance for any type of distortion due to frequency modulation.

Pardon my ignorance re: terminology - but that must explain the sound I get (which I really don't like) from most Marshall amp sims. I know they're not "broken" - or everyone would be complaining about the sound - but there is a certain sound that I get when I crank up the drive, and it's put me off most Marshall sims.
Whether this happens with a real amp is a different story - which I have no idea about.

[acousticglue]

Yeah I don't like nonessential fizz

[garrinm]

However, there does seem to be something up with the balance, my experience is different from John's. I had a patch where I turned DOWN the drive, and the output volume went UP quite noticeably.

I made a small error in the output level correction. I will try to address this in the coming days.

I've had stages at around 2-3 so I'll try going down to 1. I played with "overhead" all over the place (because I wasn't too sure what it was doing...)

Increasing the overhead reduces the amount of distortion you get from the latter gain stages. In a small tweed-style amp it was really just the first gain stage contributing to the pre amp distortion (if you had a big guitar signal coming in), the next gain stages were used for inverting the signal and I *think* had enough overhead to handle pretty big signals from the first stage. So, to get that kind of sound, you should try 1 or 2 gain stages.

By contrast, reducing the overhead and stacking multiple distorted gain stages is sort of the approach of hi-gain amps. Can help get a really full sounding distortion... I think.

Here's another observation. for me, the sound gets kinda ugly with power amp drive > 4. there is a nasty "white noise-ish" kind of buzz that comes out. Pre amp drive does it too but not until around 10. Maybe it's desired and/or realistic, but it doesn't work for me - but it's certainly no problem to keep power amp drive <= 4

Hi John,

I actually like this distortion from the power amp, because it adds a sort of sheen to the sound. However, it does need to be kept under control. IMO it's best when it's just barely noticeable. With clean sounds, it may be best to avoid it. Although I haven't compared it yet, Strats and Teles are probably going to be harder to get under control. Anything that twangs will probably have increased dissonance for any type of distortion due to frequency modulation.

Regards,
Dave Clark

The power drive range in this plugin is pretty exaggerated, I would think most of the time it would be best in the range 2-4. I really let it get to 10 because if you want an over the top distorted sound it can be interesting. But it seems maybe it's too much parameter range. I feel like I need a "spinal tap level 11" switch somewhere to allow pushing things into that over the top range.

Garrin

[garrinm]

I'm wondering if anyone's had the chance to play with the "dynamic" setting on the cab section. I know some of you like using your own cab emulators, so maybe this isn't entirely relevant. But I quite like the effect on the sound: quietly played sections are bright and full, but when the sound gets very loud and distorted, the cab sort of "closes in on itself" (the upper shelf moves back a bit), making the distortion less fizzy and a bit softer.