Guitar Rig 6 / Amplitube 5... what else compares?

[Ah_Dziz]

There's lots and lots on the market these days for guitars. Not too much of it is in an "all in one" rack setup like the two mentioned in your post. I'm sure with some digging you can find some nicer amp plugins and tons and tons of different cab IRs to combine them with.

[AudioBabble]

Why not put the distortion pedals you have in front of the amp sims instead of endlessly searching for the ones that “come close” to what you already have?

I wondered when somebody might ask that!

First reason is purely practical, I only have a small space in which I do most of my DAW work. I use a FCB1010 foot controller and really dont have room for much else on the floor. I have another room connected to the DAW where I can use my full rig but in practice I tend to do a lot of stuff just sitting at the computer and grabbing a guitar off the wall. Second reason is purely theoretical at the moment: I like the idea of being able to go back and tweak or even replace effects for certain sections of recorded guitar tracks, with a purely VST signal path, I can even record the midi info so things like wahs could even be swapped/tweaked.

[AudioBabble]

And yes, I'm tending towards setting up a custom chain of VST stomps in front of whichever amp sim has the most accurate sound... although so far, Amplitube is the only one that seems to let you insert things into the amp's FX chain, which is quite important as it's something I do in my actual amps

I believe you can do that in Kuassa 360 by inserting effects between the head and cabinet modules. And even with individual plugins you could have only the head active and then another plugin with just cabinet.

That had occurred to me... I hate to be such a purist, but there is (or at least should be) a difference between placing something after the amp head as a whole and placing it after pre-amp but before power amp within the amp, which is how I use the FX loop on a real amp

[fese]

I wondered when somebody might ask that!

First reason is purely practical, I only have a small space in which I do most of my DAW work. I use a FCB1010 foot controller and really dont have room for much else on the floor. I have another room connected to the DAW where I can use my full rig but in practice I tend to do a lot of stuff just sitting at the computer and grabbing a guitar off the wall. Second reason is purely theoretical at the moment: I like the idea of being able to go back and tweak or even replace effects for certain sections of recorded guitar tracks, with a purely VST signal path, I can even record the midi info so things like wahs could even be swapped/tweaked.

That way lies madness!
But I totally get the space issue. I tend to go DI most often because of pure laziness (and I don’t use distortion that much anyway). But I have a small pedal board with a compressor and three distortion pedals that I sometimes use if I want a real tube screamer e.g.
Btw, if you want to get lost in tweaking, you should have a look at Blue Cat Axiom. You can even load third party VST plugins as pre and post effects in it.
And Fuse Audio Labs have some nice and cheap pedal emulations.

[Echoes in the Attic]

And yes, I'm tending towards setting up a custom chain of VST stomps in front of whichever amp sim has the most accurate sound... although so far, Amplitube is the only one that seems to let you insert things into the amp's FX chain, which is quite important as it's something I do in my actual amps

I believe you can do that in Kuassa 360 by inserting effects between the head and cabinet modules. And even with individual plugins you could have only the head active and then another plugin with just cabinet.

That had occurred to me... I hate to be such a purist, but there is (or at least should be) a difference between placing something after the amp head as a whole and placing it after pre-amp but before power amp within the amp, which is how I use the FX loop on a real amp

Ah yes, fair point!

[The Main Event]

Thumbs up for the Neural DSP Plugins. They are the best sounding out there in my opinion (having tried all of the other big simulation plugins). I mostly use Neural DSP and Amplitube (cause its more versatile).

[NinjaToon]

I wondered when somebody might ask that!

First reason is purely practical, I only have a small space in which I do most of my DAW work. I use a FCB1010 foot controller and really dont have room for much else on the floor. I have another room connected to the DAW where I can use my full rig but in practice I tend to do a lot of stuff just sitting at the computer and grabbing a guitar off the wall. Second reason is purely theoretical at the moment: I like the idea of being able to go back and tweak or even replace effects for certain sections of recorded guitar tracks, with a purely VST signal path, I can even record the midi info so things like wahs could even be swapped/tweaked.

I use a nano pedalboard under my desk with just some distortion pedals and analogue delay/chorus on it. Works well. Don't even notice it. Worth it for real distortion/overdrive/fuzz pedals IMO. But yeah depending on your space you may not have room for a controller and a small board. Those small board setups can be real small tho with the right pedals and flat connectors.

I'm actually planning on getting a D&H simplifier and ditching amp sims and just having a long single board, like a nano max with 4-5 pedals and a simplifier on the end. But I don't use guitar all of the time so I could leave it in it's case, upright against the wall or whatever when not in use and set up when needed; I'm more of a play a single chord or note through a mad effects chain type of player than a shreddage kind of player tho! YMMV

[AudioBabble]

you should have a look at Blue Cat Axiom. You can even load third party VST plugins as pre and post effects in it.

I'm so glad you mentioned Axiom... I've had Blue Cat's plugin bundle for some time and gave up on Axiom as it kept crashing when I loaded external VSTs... have since got the latest update of Blue Cat's bundle so, since you reminded me, thought I'd go back to it and see if the situation has improved... very happy to say it now seems to load VSTs, including Amplitube, Kuassa and GR6 quite happily.
This could be game-changer for me as I can now mix and match stuff but have it all unified into one visual window... plus Blue Cat's built in FX are none too shabby either.
So, basically half my mission is complete.. Axiom makes the perfect container for whatever FX and amp sims I want to use in whatever order - and I already had it!!

[electro]

Its not the first time I've heard Guitar Rig has accurate stomps. Anyone else with hardware for reference?

[dannyhawaii]

For Guitar Rig, you could try putting effects after the amp but before the cab. You won't get the power amp distortion like you would with a real amp but it's pretty close if you're not turning your master volume up high enough in real life.

[mumpcake]

Bit confused about the X-DRIVE, I don't see it in Ampltiube - seems it's a hardware pedal with digital modelling. Is it available as an add-on or something?

The X-Gear pedals are available as both hardware and as additional content for Amplitube. I think that if you buy the hardware the software version comes with it (currently they have a promotion where if you buy one you get the whole suite in software).

[jamcat]

You can also buy the software-only X-GEAR pedal in the Custom Shop just like any other models.

[Plugintester]

I like Amplitube, because you get a lot of gear, but most amps or presets need some tweaking in order not too sound too boomy, dull, harsh or whatever.
It also depends on the guitar you use, of course, I use a Fender Stratocaster and quite a lot of presets are not Strat-friendly, so mostly I have to use some eq to get the sound I want.

I think there is a big difference in response and playability between plugins and real amps and between plugins in general.
I have got used to Amplitube, though.

[psihaki]

Overloud! Rig player is realy good, (although boring looking, if that even should be considered), especialy if you dont want to go the Neural DSP route like everyone else

[jamcat]

I like Amplitube, because you get a lot of gear, but most amps or presets need some tweaking in order not too sound too boomy, dull, harsh or whatever.
It also depends on the guitar you use, of course, I use a Fender Stratocaster and quite a lot of presets are not Strat-friendly, so mostly I have to use some eq to get the sound I want.

I think there is a big difference in response and playability between plugins and real amps and between plugins in general.
I have got used to Amplitube, though.

The secret with IK products is you must always build your kit from scratch, whether it's AmpliTube or MODO DRUM. They do great modeling, but presets are an afterthought, at best.

For both AmpliTube and MODO DRUM, turn off ALL effects, zero out EVERY control, then select just the pieces you want. Suddenly it doesn't sound so artificial anymore.