Amplitube or GuitarRig? What's the best software amp sim?

[Mario8672]

I sold my Mesa Nomad 55 half stack a loooong time and got back into playing guitar a few months ago. Ideally, a nice hot tube amp would sound the best but is completely out of the budget. So I'm looking into software amp sims (like Amplitube or GuitarRig).

I've been using Guitar Rig 5 as well as Line 6's GearBox and am not really impressed. I mean, the tones sound pretty good, but the response is very unrealistic (and I'm running them through a very low latency soundcard). For you guys using software to play through, what do you reckon is the best one out there?

Still haven't tried Amplitube 3 yet, but I'm willing to pick it up if the feel is more like a real amp.

[Newc]

I'm using a SoundBlaster Audigy unit, and there's no latency with Amplitube 1, 2, or 3, or the free stuff from AcmeBarGig. Haven't tried GuitarRig or GearBox.

Double-check your ASIO driver latency in both the system and the vst/daw. I keep mine set to 5ms and even when speed-picking, there's no detectable latency.

[mjtripper]

Most have good latency response - as long as your computer/sound card does. If you can get your latency down in the 5-10ms range you should be fine with any of them. That said there are good models in both of them and it all depends on what type of tone you are looking for. For low to mid gain I like s-gear but for cleans I prefer amplitube. For fx I think guitar rig is the best out there. For hi gain amplitube and guitar rig both have a couple great models. Software wise I think all the line 6 is just too dated right now, it's the same as xt hardware.

[dvscool]

I really like GR5. I only use it at home for practice and learning tunes. I'm not sure exactly what my response time is but I don't notice any delay at all, so I'm assuming its fine. When I used to run it on my laptop I noticed the delay. Now, its running on a fairly beefy system and its sweet. I don't have a high end sound card. Sounds a bit odd to me that your noticing that delay, but....maybe its common and I'm just lucky.

[Mario8672]

It's not really delay that I'm noticing. It's more the dynamics and feel of a real tube amp aren't there. I picked up a demo version of amplitube on the weekend and I must say I like it better than Guitar Rig... except the layout which isn't as great imo. Upgrading my soundcard would probably have some benefits though... my Line 6 Toneport UX1 is on its 6th year now

[mjtripper]

A lot of the feel is missing in the older models from all the products. You have to play the more recent models to get an idea where each is headed. For Amplitube take a look at the slo or orange models and for gr5 look at van51. Any of the s-gear models feel pretty good, the man behind it is the guy that designed the marshall jmp-1 preamp.

[BayRocker]

I used Amplitube 3 for quite some time, but the distorted sounds always sounded lifeless no matter how much tweaking I did. I managed to get a few that sounded decent, but in the end, I bought a tube amp to get the tone I was looking for. I tried those other ones too, but Amplitube always had the best sound IMO. I still use Amplitube for the bass patches, some of those sound really good through the PA, and for certain clean tones.

[dvscool]

I tried Amplitube 3 just because of this post. Personally, I didn't find anything that sounded as good as the Van51 in GR. Van51 with a "screamer" in front of it sounds pretty dam good.......

[Devotee]

This guy Nick Crow has some killer free amp sims: http://nickcrowlab.blogspot.com/
The 5150 and 5150III models are pretty good too.



I tried these out with the Guitar Hacks Impulses plugin running God's Cab Signals Impulses and it sounds killer!

[Newc]

I don't see any software or hardware-based unit (rack gear) being able to replicate the dynamics and "feel" of a tube amp through a cabinet anyway, simply because the A/D converter can't keep up with the subtle nuances of fingering and picking technique.

Then again, these things are recording apps, meant to be used in a full-mix situation, where you've got to blend in with the rest of the band, so there's very little else going on for anyone to really notice.

[mjtripper]

I tried Amplitube 3 just because of this post. Personally, I didn't find anything that sounded as good as the Van51 in GR. Van51 with a "screamer" in front of it sounds pretty dam good.......

Yeah, van51 is one of their newest models and is probably the best high gainer in there. Probably the closest in amplitube to that feel would be the slo100 but with one of the more recent cabs. I forgot to mention earlier that all the sims I have tried benefit from is a really good 3rd party cab solution. If nothing else use the two notes pi-free with all of them so you are only changing the amp model. I used that for the longest time but it's only 1 cab and 1 mic so I've upgraded to the full version now and it's hands down the best cab solution I've tried yet. It's a good improvement for most of them and HUGE improvement for some like the line 6 speaker stuff. Also, if you are into fx check out gr5 first as it has more then the others but the killer piece of that is the routing. If you start using the little extra tools like the splitters, crossovers, etc you can create almost any type of signal chain you want. I have one setup that splits into 4 parallel fx which is cool. For that setup I'm using an amp from amplitube, the fx from gr5 and then two notes for the speaker/mic - not the best setup for workflow but I like the sound.

[Newc]

I've been using Amplitube 1 lately. I have the free/demo version of both 2 and 3, but since installing 3, the controls for 2 are locked to default settings, while 3's controls are fully adjustable. IIRC Amplitube 1 was a freebie when 2 was introduced, so it's fairly limited as far as amps and cabs and fx/stomps, whereas 2 was the one where they really focused on offering the optional add-ons you could buy, and then 3 has all the "name brand" detailed stuff like Marshall, Fender, Orange, etc, as well as name-brand pedals.

For the stuff I'm working on right now, Amplitube 1 suits me just fine, so I never bought the full version of 2, or add-ons for 3. For the more complex stuff I usually do i.e. inline fx/nuance stuff, I still use my rack gear.

The one issue I have with the software sims is the "noise". I know that real amps will have the noise, and the sims include a noise gate, but there should have been an option to turn it off completely without the gate. My rack patches can get noisy, but the gate is a lot more flexible in that, where it suppresses the noise without chopping up sustained trails like the sims do. Before paying for Amplitube 3, I'd have to be able to use a fully-functional version with a good noise gate add-on, or they'd have to have a "no noise" option. Or at least a noise level control.

[Hellbat]

The one issue I have with the software sims is the "noise". I know that real amps will have the noise, and the sims include a noise gate, but there should have been an option to turn it off completely without the gate. My rack patches can get noisy, but the gate is a lot more flexible in that, where it suppresses the noise without chopping up sustained trails like the sims do. Before paying for Amplitube 3, I'd have to be able to use a fully-functional version with a good noise gate add-on, or they'd have to have a "no noise" option. Or at least a noise level control.

The best noise/hum reduction I've used or heard is the Line 6 toneport with gearbox or pod farm. I don't know what witchcraft they use but it kills background noise amazingly well.

[Devotee]

I don't see any software or hardware-based unit (rack gear) being able to replicate the dynamics and "feel" of a tube amp through a cabinet anyway, simply because the A/D converter can't keep up with the subtle nuances of fingering and picking technique.

Then again, these things are recording apps, meant to be used in a full-mix situation, where you've got to blend in with the rest of the band, so there's very little else going on for anyone to really notice.

You'll be very surprised at the capabilities of amp modelling replicating the nuances of real tube amps, especially if you use a good cabinet modeller as well. The quality of A/D converters depends on your hardware interface but either way, i don't see why you'd want to use a VST amp sim through a real cabinet anyway... Just picture a laptop sitting on a 4x12

In my opinion, i think the best applications for amp sims lie in recording rough ideas and demo tracks, and for monitoring while tracking dry signals to be used for reamping later on. I've used them successfully for actual recording as well when using a real amp just wasn't feasible or possible.