KVR Audio

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 5:14 am

I've never heard of MCDSP, either, and I've been on a couple music/recording forums for well over a year now. Not a LONG time, but long enough that you'd think (especially as a guitarist on the look out for such things) I'd at least have heard of this one by now.

Greg

Sicklecell666 · Post by **Sicklecell666** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 5:24 am

Lunch Money wrote:I've never heard of MCDSP, either, and I've been on a couple music/recording forums for well over a year now. Not a LONG time, but long enough that you'd think (especially as a guitarist on the look out for such things) I'd at least have heard of this one by now.

Greg

That's probably cause they're Mac only, ya ignerint wretch..

gumbo · Post by **gumbo** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 6:53 pm

Funkybot wrote:You probably don't hear about it much because it's Mac only. When will these companies learn ?

From the McDSP web site:

McDSP announces full Windows XP support for Pro Tools™ TDM, RTAS, and AudioSuite systems. McDSP's full product line will be available on Windows XP as a free downloadable cross-grade from mcdsp.com as soon as possible. We are working hard to get it out the door. Mac OSX and Win XP versions will use the same iLok authorization for hassle-free session interchange.

Everyone may now proceed to the "It's Pro Tools only? When will these companies learn?" posts...

Phaedo · Post by **Phaedo** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:25 am

I seem to recall reading a review of the McDSP thing in SoS that said "interesting, but Amplitube's better".

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:05 am

I've had a go at the McDSP plugins (all of them) on a PT HD rig and was not that impressed. They were OK, but nothing special (except maybe one of those warmerizer plugins.. don't remeber the name, which was quite nice actually). The guitar amp thing was mediocre at best.

Cheers!
bManic

electro · Post by **electro** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:19 am

are there any .mp3 demos of Aplitube2 yet?

dreibel · Post by **dreibel** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:17 am

I'm following this with some interest and trepidation.

I've tried the demos of Amplitube1 and Amplitube Live/LE, and while there are some cool things I like about it, I find both have this weird sort of sheen over the natural sound of my guitar that I don't particularly like. Plus I found the distortion pretty buzzy and fizzy, and was never able to get convincing sounding clean tones (which are important to me, as I also fool around with jazz and country playing). If they've solved these problems with Amplitube 2 though I would certainly be willing to give it a listen, and try the demo.

I recently dumped my POD 2 - even though it had been a great help in my compositions, especially recording late at night (I live in a basement apartment with an elderly landlady, and while she's sweet about my recording - she encourages me to make noise, as she wants to know I'm alright, it has to do with finding a fellow tenant dead in his room one day

- I don't really want to disturb her or the neighbors), I was finding the distortions to be way too compressed sounding and "squishy", and was never ever able to get a convincing clean sound out of it.

Last week just for laughs I went into my local Long and McQuades and tried a used Johnson J-Station with one of their Mexican Strats. The next day I went back and bought it! This was just what I was looking for, as it had the most convincing clean amp models I've ever heard, and the distortion sounds aren't bad either. Plus it had >much< better effects models - the chorus and trem are great, and I like its delay and reverb. Add in faux acoustic modeling, a harmonizer and even some bass amp models (the Dreibelbass has never sounded better

) and I've got perhaps the best direct sound yet. Too bad Digitech decided it was too much competition with its GNX series and placed Johnson in very deep storage

One I want to try out soon though is BOSS' GT-8 floorboard. This one has a feature I've wanted them to do for some time - effect sends and returns and jacks for channel switching!. Which means I could bring in my Peavey Classic 50 into the equation and use its preamps direct.......

RAYA · Post by **RAYA** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:57 am

@Nikgundam.

That was Guitar Rig!!!

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:12 am

dreibel-- I'm amazed your L&M even HAD a J-Station. The only place I've seen them is on eBay.

Greg

Funkybot · Post by **Funkybot** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:11 pm

I gotta say in the J-Station vs. Pod 2 debate the J-Station did have a more natural high end and better cleans, but I don't think it compares at all to the PodXt/Guitarport (and I actually still own all three, so it's not like I'm trying to justify a purchase). Of course, neither still really compares to recording my Fender Twin myself (gotta love multiple mic options, and real flexibility in regards to placement, and amount of mics), but then again, my amp needs to visit the shop, which none of my modelled amps never needed

.

Dreibel I agree wholeheartedly with your assesment of Amplitube 1, hopefully 2 is a big step up.

Nikgundam · Post by **Nikgundam** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:35 pm

RAYA wrote:@Nikgundam.

That was Guitar Rig!!!

Good RAYA

)

SJ_Digriz · Post by **SJ_Digriz** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:55 pm

Funkybot wrote:which none of my modelled amps never needed

None+Never = All of them have needed to go to the shop.

Ok, now that the english lesson is over.

The entire clean amp modelling problem. My twin or JCM800 play full bodied with incredible dynamics (and LOUD) when at 3 or 4ish V/MV combos. If I want dist, you only need to hit the line side to maybe 4 when the little growl starts to show up.

My biggest complaint on the models from anyone is that NOTHING happens unless everything is cranked to the max. There are literally no low range dynamics in the models at all, this includes stuff like the PODs and Line-6. But its 10x worse in the VST guitar models.

I can't imagine having my MV at f**king 8 or 9(don't even think about 11). The earth would shatter and we would all fly off into space. Again, none of this response from the models. They are only happy if you have the dials in this range. But even then you only get the distortion and none of the "guitar".

Cosmic Bandito · Post by **Cosmic Bandito** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:19 pm

I was browsing through the Jan Issue of Future music and came across their 'Top Picks' section. I usually take this type of editorial with a grain of salt but, but their lists included a slew of categories hardware and soft and were very well thought out. Suprisingly Vox Tonelab (tabletop version) was one of their favorite kit. So I found a 'mega thread' about it at harmony-central.com and heard some great user examples. This thing REALLY has a nice smooth sound for certain tones. Not sure if i can do modern heavy-distortion but classic driven and clean it does a superior job than anything else. I want one now!

Not suprisingly, Guitar Rig was one of thier favorite kit as well.

theshaggyfreak · Post by **theshaggyfreak** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:29 pm

I bought the J-station right before they quit selling them after a friend advised I should get one. Honestly, IMHO it's the best thing out there as far as simulation goes. The only thing I use other than the J -station is a Sansamp Bass Driver DI on bass. The Sansamp just has THE sound that I've always wanted for bass.

Funkybot · Post by **Funkybot** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:38 pm

SJ_Digriz, it was a typo buddy, relax now. There's quite a few sentence fragments in your post, and other grammatical errors in your post I could point out, but won't.

AMPLITUBE 2 !!