# Alternatives to Pod Farm?



## Phalanx (Jan 15, 2012)

Hi guys, I'm quite new to recording and I have a UX2 with Pod Farm.

I'm really quite frustrated that the version of Pod Farm which comes packaged with it is not the full version. I'd really like to try out the ENGL simulator and all that. 

I don't particularly want to buy more components to this incomplete piece of software. Are there any alternatives I could look into?

Thanks


----------



## C2Aye (Jan 15, 2012)

Lepou plugins. They're fantastic sounding and they're all free so you pretty much have no excuse not to at least try them out. 

LePou Plugins

All you need are some good impulses and to run a tubescreamer vst in front of in. The impulse faq sticky thread has a huge pack of free impulses to download on page 2 of the thread and TSE808 is a free vst that imulates a tubescreamer. Personally I use Guitar Rig for the tubescreamer and compressor in front but it's your choice what you drive the Lepou plugins with. 

I use Lepou LeGion as my main ampsim and Lecab 2 to load impulses. Just in case you aren't convinced as to their quality, here are some soundbites of the tones I've been getting with Lepou LeGion.

Arrow + Knee = Adventure Over by C2Aye on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

New Groove (Periphery Cover) by C2Aye on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

(Note that I've used Guitar Rig 4 for cleans and bass)


----------



## JamesM (Jan 15, 2012)

Vote number two for LePou LeGion.

Cptn Ndrpnts (#3) by jsmccabe on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


----------



## Phalanx (Jan 15, 2012)

C2Aye said:


> Lepou plugins. They're fantastic sounding and they're all free so you pretty much have no excuse not to at least try them out.
> 
> LePou Plugins
> 
> ...



Very interesting. I'm a noob at recording at the moment so I haven't really mastered the arts of compression, balancing and EQ (etc etc). But these sound very good - especially compared to Pod Farm. 

I'll experiment with these. Thanks a lot. I hope your Physics exams went well.


----------



## Phalanx (Jan 15, 2012)

The Armada said:


> Vote number two for LePou LeGion.
> 
> Cptn Ndrpnts (#3) by jsmccabe on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free



Damn, the mixes in the thread sound fantastic. I've definitely got to experiment with this. Seems way more flexible than pod farm.


----------



## Heyitstahtoneguy (Jan 15, 2012)

I also had the ux2, i bought the metal expansion pack, you can get good tones out of it, just hours of tweaking. There are many ways of getting a good tone out of it. But it depends on what your using it for. If you just practicing, try using the Dual feature, search the pod farm website for peoples presets that they put up, and search on here. If, however you are recording, most of the time the tone will sound like something you wouldnt enjoy using, but it sits well in a mix. Also, try using Cab IR's. There are threads on here that explain how to obtain, use, and define them. Within the Ruins recorded there album Invade with pod farm. Im currently recording a new EP with pod farm, and a few custom IR i have made myself from an old Marshall lead cab. Its a good learning tool to use to. I also agree that Lepou plug-ins are an excellent alternative to pod farm!


----------



## harrothahobo (Jan 16, 2012)

The free stuff is amazing but I CBF working inside a DAW everytime I wanna play guitar and work on my tone. The alternatives are Revalver MKIII.V and Overloud TH2, I haven't worked with TH2 but people seem to love it: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/BwJwRjg8In0

Personally I love MKIII.V because everything is in the one place, and its possibly the best impulse loader I've seen aswell.
This is Ola Englund on MKIII.V:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/91lrZUVuQH4

I downloaded his patches he used for this clip but I couldn't get my guitar sounding like this cause I have concluded that the impulse he is using is magic, but I just used his patches as a starting point and got a pretty epic guitar tone out of it. PS sorry I don't have any clips of my guitar tone up on the inturdnet yet, I'm planning on it soon lol


----------



## Phalanx (Jan 16, 2012)

Heyitstahtoneguy said:


> I also had the ux2, i bought the metal expansion pack, you can get good tones out of it, just hours of tweaking. There are many ways of getting a good tone out of it. But it depends on what your using it for. If you just practicing, try using the Dual feature, search the pod farm website for peoples presets that they put up, and search on here. If, however you are recording, most of the time the tone will sound like something you wouldnt enjoy using, but it sits well in a mix. Also, try using Cab IR's. There are threads on here that explain how to obtain, use, and define them. Within the Ruins recorded there album Invade with pod farm. Im currently recording a new EP with pod farm, and a few custom IR i have made myself from an old Marshall lead cab. Its a good learning tool to use to. I also agree that Lepou plug-ins are an excellent alternative to pod farm!



I'll definitely give that a shot with pod farm. I realised that without PF, the input into the UX2 is very quiet unless I boost it a little in PF anyway. No harm in using an unmodelled tone before reaper I guess.

Maybe when the metal pack is on special offer i'll check it out. I'm more interested in clean tones at the moment anyway.



harrothahobo said:


> The free stuff is amazing but I CBF working inside a DAW everytime I wanna play guitar and work on my tone. The alternatives are Revalver MKIII.V and Overloud TH2, I haven't worked with TH2 but people seem to love it:
> Randall T2 High Gain - YouTube
> 
> Personally I love MKIII.V because everything is in the one place, and its possibly the best impulse loader I've seen aswell.
> ...



Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check those out when I get home from work tonight. Hopefully I'll have a nice tone to show you guys tonight or tomorrow night.

Thanks


----------



## metalmusicproduction (Jan 16, 2012)

Also check out the x30, x50, and the TSE (808). The x30 and x50 are amp simulators, the TSE 808 is a tube screamer simulator. Check them out here: TSE AUDIO - SOFTWARE . I have also heard great things about these but havnt had a chance to try them yet Shred 1.0 :: Free VST Amp Suite | AcmeBarGig


----------



## ExousRulez (Jan 16, 2012)

Check out these guys, they do a ton of testing out those and sound great

fearcomplexmusic&#39;s Channel - YouTube

MattismPL&#39;s Channel - YouTube


----------



## ExousRulez (Jan 16, 2012)

harrothahobo said:


> The free stuff is amazing but I CBF working inside a DAW everytime I wanna play guitar and work on my tone. The alternatives are Revalver MKIII.V and Overloud TH2, I haven't worked with TH2 but people seem to love it:
> Randall T2 High Gain - YouTube
> 
> Personally I love MKIII.V because everything is in the one place, and its possibly the best impulse loader I've seen aswell.
> ...


 The randall t2 in your post was not an amp sim it was the actual amp.


----------

