KVR Audio

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 9:41 am

As of now, the very best sound can be had from the Orange Tree Samples or the Shreddage line from Impact Sound Works. My preference is either of these, for the time being. The acoustics of Orange Tree are to die for. The electrics are nice too.

Until modeled guitars are released that sound realistic enough to fool most musicians, these are the top choices as of this moment.

Rumdrum · Post by **Rumdrum** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:47 am

Hi!
I own all the soft guitars mentioned in this post. I would say they are all very usefull. The "best" is dependent on music style as some are designed for heavier stuff, some for jazz, some for rock etc.
That is easily detected by visiting websites and YouTube.

Then it is a matter of playing style. Which software can handle what. Are you a "soloist" or a "strummer"?

Do you require special chords that goes beyond the standards often included? Some soft guitars can handle that better than others.

Other than that the "best" is the one you put the effort into. Soft guitars require a LOT of effort to handle well. In that respect they are very unlike soft organs and many other soft instruments. Do not expect a soft guitar to sound to your liking "out of the box". It may happen but it is very unlikely. Expect to use time!

GUIs are more or less to your liking which perhaps make some of them more attractive to go deep into.

You will also need additional software, like guitar effects, amplifiers and cabinets, to get the right sound. Some have these included, some not. And are the included ones any good?

What is the total cost to get a decent soft guitar? Does it matter to you?

All in all I find it hard to pick one as the over all "best", but Ample sound is the one I use the most.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 8:13 am

That's not true of the Ujam guitars. They are so easy even I can use them and I am a clueless idiot when it comes to anything to do with guitars. I have one of the Shreddage instruments and I have no idea how to make it do anything useful. Literally no clue, it was a complete waste of $49.

Rumdrum · Post by **Rumdrum** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 1:47 pm

Ujam does not really count here as it contains premade loops that you are stuck with. Yes you can play it as well, but then it does not stand the competition of others if you want a guitar software that is supposed to sound like a real guitar was played. And, as I previously wrote: To get anything good out of a soft guitar you need to invest a lot of time. Obviously you have not since you do not understand Shreddage - a great guitar software btw.

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:05 am

Shreddage line and OTS guitar line are the very best that sampled libraries have to offer.

When MODO GUITAR comes out soon enough we'll know whether physical modeling can stand up to a really good sampled-based simulation.

So far the OTS guitars are very realistic but if MODO can put out an even more realistic guitar simulation then it will be worth the wait.

For drums and piano and tuned percussion I prefer samples. But for stuff that is as dynamic and animated like a violin or a guitar there are a few limitations. I think physical modeling can take us from 95% realistic to 99% realistic but it has to be done well. MODO BASS 2 has done it rather well in my opinion so if they can pull off the same level of realism with finer strings (bass guitars have thicker strings and low frequencies are easier to construct since they are less harmonically detailed) then they will have a winner.

But my hunch is we won't see the guitars for like another 6 years. I went on to that registration page and it returns a 404 or something to that effect meaning we don't know if they secretly pulled a Mickey on us. Companies can and do pull Mickeys from time to time and while it would be incredibly depressing (since I've waited one absolutely hell of a long time) it would not be anything outside the realm of possibility. I have been terribly disappointed before. Let's talk about Mokafix why don't we? Let's see how that panned out!

Maybe the guitars will get the Mokafix "treatment" - implied promises followed by dashed hopes LOL ROTFLMFAO!

TL;DR:- Life sucks. And then you die. Or worse, cannot life your life because of some major health problem.

A short version of the above TL;DR:- U get what U given and U suck it up.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:22 am

Rumdrum wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 1:47 pm Ujam does not really count here as it contains premade loops that you are stuck with. Yes you can play it as well, but then it does not stand the competition of others if you want a guitar software that is supposed to sound like a real guitar was played. And, as I previously wrote: To get anything good out of a soft guitar you need to invest a lot of time. Obviously you have not since you do not understand Shreddage - a great guitar software btw.

Who cares if it's so f**king hard to work with? I want results and Ujam's guitar VSTi deliver that in spades. The built-in riffs are the perfect basis for making your own, unique guitar arrangements quickly and easily. THAT is what matters, not that you wasted hundreds of hours working out how to get results out of Shreddage. Ujam got it right by getting a guitarist to play riffs in.

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:00 am

I reckon that I'll spend my life waiting for things that, for whatever reason, won't ever happen. Dreams can come true, for sure, but it doesn't mean that they will.

The only sure thing is change and there not always good changes. We can see what's going on around us in this small space rock of ours and it is not a pretty picture. The real world will strike us down cuz we live in a fantasy world.

That's me. Walking around with dreams in my head that the world either can't or won't fulfil, and the reason won't even matter. It never has mattered nor will it ever matter. The fact is, you have to accept that you won't ever get what you want.

So it's just working with what you have and making do with things that are not (and never will be) perfect.

To date I have yet to hear any bass or guitar VI pull off something that can convince me as a musician that what I am hearing is 100% a real instrument playing a real performance.

The best I am hoping for is 95%.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:53 am

That's you and it is definitely your problem. I just want something that can do the job of a guitar in a song and that's a piece of cake. In fact, I can't understand why anyone would want what you're asking for. After all, it's not like guitar players have gone extinct, you can still find them wandering around the place. All you need to do is ask one to play for you if you must have the feel of a real performance. Personally, I think musicianship is a load of twaddle, not worth worrying about.

sacer · Post by **sacer** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:38 am

still steinberg virtual guitarist 2

Ah_Dziz · Post by **Ah_Dziz** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:48 am

Still go with Orange Tree Samples 90% of the time. For fast rhythm stuff I sometimes use loops but often just play it in on a cheap Yamaha.

benjamind · Post by **benjamind** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:48 am

Ah_Dziz wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:48 am Still go with Orange Tree Samples 90% of the time. For fast rhythm stuff I sometimes use loops but often just play it in on a cheap Yamaha.

These, along with Shreddage, are the top choices right now. I think Amplesound do some fantastic stuff too. I listened to all 3 and Shreddage and OTS sounded the best to my ears. Amplesound is up there with the other two so in this case it's a personal preference (eg. some people prefer a strat, others prefer a tele, etc).

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:35 pm

Musiclab all the way.
Had OTS and dumped it. Sounds fine but just didn't get along with it in any immediate way. I can say the company support was easy and responsive to deal with, so not much of a loss to free myself from it.
Ample Sound? Only have the free instrument and while it seems okay, didn't strike me as intuitive as Musiclab. Anyone mentioning it should ALWAYS state that it's an iLok product for those of us not wanting to waste any time on that scheme. Complete nonstarter for many of us.
Shreddage always feels a bit heavy handed to me and only good for a specific style. YMMV, but is too limited for my range. This, along with others such as Indigenus, Vir2, etc. should again always state that they're Kontakt libraries. I think for myself that Kontakt fatigue has set in to a point that makes them last to or no longer worth considering when choosing to add those tracks.
Musiclab runs on it's own, without a host or iLok, has a very realistic sound that inputs great into your favorite ampsim and therefore has the versatility to meet whatever style I'm using it for. And for me at least plays intuitively.

Oh, and UJAM? That feels like a bad joke to me. I get why it has a market, but I'd rather play the instrument than key it.

Musiclab is my go-to for those tracks everytime.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:46 am

BBFG# wrote: Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:35 pmOh, and UJAM? That feels like a bad joke to me. I get why it has a market, but I'd rather play the instrument than key it.

Exactly! If you have a guitar and you can play it, why would you bother with any of them? It only makes sense to use any of these things if, like me, you are not a guitarist, doesn't it? Or am I missing something here? It makes Ujam the obvious choice because you don't even need to know anything about guitars to use them and they offer incredible versatility, although not necessarily a lot of range, note-wise.

So that's what I am failing to understand here - why would a guitarist not play their guitar, why would they use any of these fiddly, convoluted things instead? It's not like with synths, where the benefits of using software far outweigh any benefits of hardware.

BBFG# · Post by **BBFG#** » Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:07 am

Yes, you are missing something.

yellowmix · Post by **yellowmix** » Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:49 am

Orange Tree guitars are scripted for keyboardists primarily. It automatically chooses which strings to use. The performance controls and articulations are very flexible. So you can play expressively in real time. You can program it with a mouse but that gets tedious. It helps if you build expression maps in Cubase (or your DAW's equivalent) like you would an orchestral instrument.

They have DI samples so you can put it through your own chain/reamp. The presets they come with are really good too.

As for VST vs a Kontakt library, those VSTs are running off samples as well. If you want a truly modeled VST there is Wedge Force which is utter garbage, and AAS Strum which sounds freakishly too perfect and clean. But put it through a good chain and program it well and it might work for rhythm parts.

Best VST Guitar 2022