Amp reivews

[Tarekith]

So far the comments are that the amp sims are a bit brittle/trebly and the cabinets are a bit bassy. So used together it sounds just right? Or does it mean we're missing a bit of mid range mojo? Looking forward to trying it out in about 54 minutes... no 57...wait, an hour... nope 56... etc.

I didn't use either and my midrange was fine, if that helps.

[nathannn]

wow this is the first time i have heard of this..
softube's emulations are the best out there i cant wait to try this!!!

[mholloway]

like most here I get this is a freebie for being a suite owner BUT that said, 129 USD for everyone else? the feature set on this thing is so very far from being competitive with ANY of the competition that I just can't imagine who would pay that kind of money for a plugin this tiny, regardless of the sound, it's just quite small and straight-forward control wise, about 5% of what Guitar Rig offers is available here...it should cost Ten or Twenty bucks.

-M

[Winterpark]

hate to say it, but A-B with guitar rig4, amp comes up very short in terms of tone.

i like the way it's all simply laid out, and i'm sure i'll find a use for it... just not as an amp sim.

[leedsquietman]

I think that Live 8 Suite users are getting a reasonable deal here, given you get it for free. Paying $129 if you don't own Suite is what is more debatable.

What you have to consider is that Ableton have included this because Cubase (a long time ago at C4), Logic 9, Digital Performer 7, Samplitude Pro etc all include amp sims and cabinets. Apart from Samplitude's Vandal, none of the others included in DAWS come close to replacing the fully featured packages which make up Guitar Rig, Amplitube, etc. Magix sells Vandal as a separate VST for $199.

What you get is more akin to something like Studio Devil which is a $79 product with limited options compared to Guitar Rig 4, Amplitube 3, etc, but still sounds good, albeit with less amp and cab and miking choices and less FX options.

So I think what people need to do is compare AMP to Logic 9 or DP7 etc, rather than comparing it to a full retail specialized product costing more than a couple of hundred dollars.

I have not heard it (on Live 7 still) so cannot comment and I don't know about Softube's reputation with amp modelling, but they make KILLER compression and EQ plugins, so it would surprise me if this really sucked. I think it just doesn't offer as much depth, options and sounds as established guitar amp/cab sim software, but if you didn't already own GR or AT (I do), then it might be similarly useful as Logic 9 or DP7's amp sim software.

[3phase]

hate to say it, but A-B with guitar rig4, amp comes up very short in terms of tone.

i like the way it's all simply laid out, and i'm sure i'll find a use for it... just not as an amp sim.

[Machinate]

I think that Live 8 Suite users are getting a reasonable deal here, given you get it for free. Paying $129 if you don't own Suite is what is more debatable.

It's just there to pretty up the Suite some more, I think. It certainly helps make the Suite look like an even better deal now.

[3phase]

I think that Live 8 Suite users are getting a reasonable deal here, given you get it for free. Paying $129 if you don't own Suite is what is more debatable.

It's just there to pretty up the Suite some more, I think. It certainly helps make the Suite look like an even better deal now.

it surely does.. But as with the other suite plugs the standalone price dont leaves much other options than buying suite..

They are all overpriced as individual downloads.. i really wonder if the ever sell some of theiere plugs as single packages..
ok..some people have too much money... But i doubt that the individual plugs go in big amounts...
Its rather a marketing trick to lead users to the decission to go for suite.
I allmost did in the past when they had a reduced offer.. but i was too late... so never mind...
I rather pay for 3rd party plugs that run platform independent..

[pepezabala]

I now was a bit disappointed on first check, did try right now like half an hour after breakfast, haha. The rack presets are eating way too much cpu and do not sound so impressive, especially if you compare them with the GR library.
Amp is quite cpu-intensive as well. I have a macbook 2Ghz and for liveconcerts I will need to continue to use my pod in order to keep cpu-usage down.

But cabinet is a nice little effect, if you put saturator, distortion, redux or whatever in front of it. makes it all sound like real strange guitar amps.

[agent314]

Anybody have any data on the CPU hit of the different amps/cabs?

With Guitar Rig, I love the sound quality, but you can have a single, relatively simple amp setup take up 20-30% CPU, and up to more than double that on Hi Quality mode.

I'd certainly trade a little less emulation accuracy if it means lower processor hit and (hopefully) a more stable plugin.

Not to mention the ability to incorporate it directly into Racks, etc.

I'm excited to try it.

[davepermen]

They are all overpriced as individual downloads.. i really wonder if the ever sell some of theiere plugs as single packages..
ok..some people have too much money...

and those people don't just buy the suite in the first place? they sure do, not?

[pepezabala]

Anybody have any data on the CPU hit of the different amps/cabs?

With Guitar Rig, I love the sound quality, but you can have a single, relatively simple amp setup take up 20-30% CPU, and up to more than double that on Hi Quality mode.

I'd certainly trade a little less emulation accuracy if it means lower processor hit and (hopefully) a more stable plugin.

Not to mention the ability to incorporate it directly into Racks, etc.

I'm excited to try it.

hey, this needs for sure more time to tweak and experiment, I only did very little this morning, and with headphones. But I found that I could get a nice tone with saturator and cabinet with a very low cpu-hit.

[rydan]

I just can't imagine who would pay that kind of money for a plugin this tiny, regardless of the sound

Regardless of sound? That's a bit like "who would buy a LA-2A compressor when you can get a behringer one with more knobs much cheaper?"

[8O]

Just mucked around with the presets and really liked the sounds... even limited to the presets and macros, some really nice quality sounds there... makes it a bit frustrating that I can't go in and edit them now...

[alex.the.forge]

Just mucked around with the presets and really liked the sounds... even limited to the presets and macros, some really nice quality sounds there... makes it a bit frustrating that I can't go in and edit them now...

+1

yeah I feel like the odd one out I actually like it. I haven't done any A/B tests and it's late, low volume, but loading up an old track that had guitar rig on it I'm liking the sounds I'm getting

when I first heard about it I just assumed I'd more likely use it on other stuff like synths and drums, but I think it's definitely going to be used for guitar as well just because it's easy to use and really pretty good

The presets in the audio FX racks folder are cool, but i think I'm more likely to just drag in an amp and cab plugin each and tweak from there.