KVR Audio

Monsum · Post by **Monsum** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:00 am

For fun, I compared some of the very first attempts to simulate guitar amps in software.
Five guitar plugins which are around 20 years old now.
Do you think that any of them still rock?

https://youtu.be/GIxxlO8xfFA

guitarzan · Post by **guitarzan** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:27 am

Monsum wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:00 am Do you think that any of them still rock?

Hell yeah — H&K Warp had something going on in their speaker cab modeling that is still unsurpassed — like genuine cab thunk. Very good feel, fun to play.

pough · Post by **pough** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:57 am

I miss the Roland JC120 amp sim in WarpVST...

guitarzan · Post by **guitarzan** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 1:04 am

Those early Hughes & Kettner zenTera modeling amps still go for big bucks — still way ahead of their time.

acousticglue · Post by **acousticglue** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 1:40 am

Nothing that newer software coupled with it can't fix

Audiority · Post by **Audiority** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:09 am

tanh() FTW

MMaarrkk · Post by **MMaarrkk** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 7:44 pm

I just have a sweet spot for the mda Combo for some reason.

Turello · Post by **Turello** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 8:33 pm

Warp still remains a little monster...

Monsum · Post by **Monsum** » Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:19 pm

Agreed, Warp Vst is excellent even today.
For all the other plugins in the comparison I really struggled to get something I'd be pleased with.
But with the Warp it was the other way round - I couldn't decide on the settings because I liked it in many different configurations.
It might not be the most realistic amp sim as per today but definitely makes you want to play your guitar through it.

guitarzan · Post by **guitarzan** » Wed Jun 03, 2020 9:09 am

All those other sims would still stack up fairly well if run through either a better cab model or speaker IR.

I'd say speaker cab modeling has actually regressed since WarpVST, while speaker IR use has become far more widespread (it was actually available then, just not very widely used until about 15 years ago or so).

Need a hybrid — good IRs can really capture the sound of a cab, but they don't have the dynamics that good cab modeling (like in WarpVST) can provide.

fese · Post by **fese** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:49 pm

Monsum wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:00 am For fun, I compared some of the very first attempts to simulate guitar amps in software.
Five guitar plugins which are around 20 years old now.
Do you think that any of them still rock?

https://youtu.be/GIxxlO8xfFA

Hey, what version of cubase is this? I had something similar looking in the 90s for a short time, but it only had very generic “rack”-like GUIs for plugins, horrible usability. My first tentative steps into digital recording after a Portastudio, I didn’t know shit about anything and I didn’t continue until SX3 (?).

jamcat · Post by **jamcat** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:39 pm

They all still sound better than Guitar Rig.

Monsum · Post by **Monsum** » Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:44 pm

fese wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:49 pm Hey, what version of cubase is this? I had something similar looking in the 90s for a short time, but it only had very generic “rack”-like GUIs for plugins, horrible usability. My first tentative steps into digital recording after a Portastudio, I didn’t know shit about anything and I didn’t continue until SX3 (?).

It's a little brother of Cubase - Cubasis VST 5 (long before they started calling the mobile app this name).
This version is not that old, I believe it's from 2003.
All plugins that didn't have their own GUI received a generic one.
I liked Cubasis because it wasn't overloaded with unnecessary features and it was much cheaper.

Early amp simulators comparison video