# Amplitube 3, Amplitube Metal, Guitar Rig 4, Peavey Revalver, TH2



## schecter4life (Jun 23, 2012)

Well, i went on an internet shopping spree after recieving a double check, and i purchased Guitar rig 4, peavey revalver, amplitube metal, amplitube 3, and Overloud TH2 for right at a grand (undisclosed retailer, should be obvious lol). and after much trial and error i finally have them all running (thanks to certain users for helping me with the impulse loading in revalver) i am VERY frustrated with my results.....

Is it just me, or does EVERYTHING in revalver, wether it be High gain, medium crunch, cleans, or a bluesy overdrive, sound better than the others?

Well the amplitubes to me sound like a cheap solid state metal amp, as in, muddy, bassy, and harsh, Guitar Rig just sounds fake, and TH2 sounds like an amp mic'd in the other room.

Yet revalver responds like a true amp sitting right in front of you, am i doing something wrong or is revalver just that good, i mean, for god's sake the 6505 and 6505+ sound like the real deal. And dont even get me started on trying to load impulses for all the others, its SUCH a hastle, yet revalver has an impulse loader built right in, and you have MUCH greater control over the sound parameters of the cab...

in my mind (or at least in my setup, which is guitar-->rocksmith usb cord-->pc--->revalver/amplitube/GR/TH2) you can't get a more real tone than revalver without actually having a real amp, i can understand the amplitube metal sounding worse, because it was inexpensive. just look at what i paid

Amplitube 3: $299 usd
Amplitube Metal: $60 usd
Peavey Revalver mkIII: $179 usd
Guitar Rig 4: $299 usd
Overloud TH2: $199

i paid around a GRAND total, but WHY does revalver sound so much better, is it just my signal chain or what? i expected amplitube 3 or guitar rig to come out on top...yet in my setup they are BY FAR the worst sounding...has anybody else experienced all 5 of these amp sims and SHARE the same opinion?

i mainly made this thread because im pissed i just spend a grand on amp sims to find out the 2nd cheapest was the best, and i want to know what i can do to squeek out a decent tone in the others so i dont feel like i wasted $800 of hard earned money ($13/hour maitenance at the post office..aka landscaping and trash taking out and cleaning...ALL DAY) I would like to keep them all so im prepared for any tone scenario (lol) but if need be i will RMA (right word? used to computer parts lol) the others for refunds and or more gear


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## Nirob (Jun 23, 2012)

revalver sounds better bcz it's a product of Peavey! Peavey makes real hi-gain amps, IK multimedia & Native instruments doesnt. Simple!

and i guess u'd be more pissed if u discover what kind of tone u can create with absolutely FREE amp sim vsts... here's a few samples, check them out

Downtuned Monster!'s sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free 




Edit : I tried them all, my advice : keep the Revalver, TH2 & Amplitube 3... get rid of the rest.. 

u wont need the amplitube metal if u have the amplitube 3, as it has all the amp sims from the amplitube metal pre-included in v.3
guitar rig 4 is outdated by guitar rig 5... v.5 has 2 new hi-gain amps and a much improved cabinet section


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## schecter4life (Jun 23, 2012)

Nirob said:


> revalver sounds better bcz it's a product of Peavey! Peavey makes real hi-gain amps, IK multimedia & Native instruments doesnt. Simple!
> 
> and i guess u'd be more pissed if u discover what kind of tone u can create with absolutely FREE amp sim vsts... here's a few samples, check them out
> 
> Downtuned Monster!'s sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


surprisingly no, those are plug ins yes, i wanted one that could function as a plugin AND standalone, as in i wanted to plug into my computer and jam and have it sound like i was playing through a realy amp....if i was to record i wouldn't hesitate to use an engl sim from lepou in fruity loops, but sadly you cannot use them as stand alone or lepou would have already killed guitar rig amplitube and all the others in one badass flick of the wrist
that link doesnt work.......

edit:: sorry yes it does, i had revalver running in the background and im using asio4all, therefore no sound from the browser xD


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## Nirob (Jun 23, 2012)

Here's your solution... and it comes for free too 

KVR: Pedalboard 2 by Niall Moody - Details

Edit : u CAN use those free plugins as a standalone with this free plugin host designed for live use. or u can load them up in the revalver standalone too


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## schecter4life (Jun 23, 2012)

Nirob said:


> Here's your solution... and it comes for free too
> 
> KVR: Pedalboard 2 by Niall Moody - Details
> 
> Edit : u CAN use those free plugins as a standalone with this free plugin host designed for live use. or u can load them up in the revalver standalone too


ok, i have lepou le456 downloaded, would you be able to give me a step-by-step on how to load it into revalver? im VERY new to this amp sim stuff, i still can't get revalver to load as a plugin in reaper 
aka what do i do with the .dll file when its downloaded...treat me as if i were a toddler that your teaching a power chord to lol


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## Quitty (Jun 23, 2012)

I find it really depends on your used impulse response - Revalver is significantly brighter than the others.

Now, this all comes down to taste eventually, but my impressions, as someone who's owned them all and then some;
1. Coming down to Peavey models, Revalver obviously is at an unfair advantage. If a 6505, JSX or Buddah is your thing, you're set with RV - i've been quite disappointed with the rest of the models.
The 'Demon' is fake sounding/feeling, the JCM is a 900 and therefore sucks donkey balls, the Mesa has an unavoidable clipping grind to it even on the clean channel and the Matchbox is so scooped it's unusable.
You can get crazy tones by playing with internal parameters, or even build your own home-amp (try 4 12ax7 tubes with an EQ between each one) but that's more for tweakers than players.

2. TH2 has the easiest to use impulse modeler ever - whether you're using your own or TH2's (which are pretty solid, give 'em a shot).
The Brunetti and Randalls are top notch, as good as they get. Others worthy of note are the Mesa (a clean channel worthy of the name, finally. And all the rest of the channels, actually). Tends to sit in the mix brilliantly.

3. Guitar rig is fake sounding, period. Nothing to save it.

4. Amplitube's CS models are the best of the bunch. The Engl model is nothing short of stunning, the Soldano model kicks all sorts of ass with an Eminence impulse and it goes as far as to show that the Jet City JC50, which is a Soldano clone, goes nowhere near the original. I've tried both real life counterparts and i swear you can hear the chinese OT on the Jet City.
The clean are also brilliant - some great fender models, a decent enough Mesa trirec (a little dull maybe) and some good Orange models if you can stand their amps - i can't.
Just use an external impulse and you're good.

And just as Nirob said, free VSTs are, at times, better than paid simulations.
Try Lepou's work - Lextac (Bogner-ish), Legion (sort of Engl) and Le456 (straight up Engl).

Also, Nick Crow's 7170 and 8180 and TSE's X30 and X50.


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## Nirob (Jun 23, 2012)

open standalone > click for new moudule > effects > VST host module

now u'll have the revalver vst host module in ur signal chain. now click load > add the location where u haave le456 saved as a path and refresh path > u'll see the le456 in the available plugins list > click it and it should be loaded & ready now.


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## Nirob (Jun 23, 2012)

Quitty said:


> 2. TH2 has the easiest to use impulse modeler ever - whether you're using your own or TH2's (which are pretty solid, give 'em a shot).



TH2's defult IRs are actually ALU's free Sperimental IRs... just with different names..


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## schecter4life (Jun 23, 2012)

Nirob said:


> open standalone > click for new moudule > effects > VST host module
> 
> now u'll have the revalver vst host module in ur signal chain. now click load > add the location where u haave le456 saved as a path and refresh path > u'll see the le456 in the available plugins list > click it and it should be loaded & ready now.


edit:: i got it working, but VERY diappointed in the sound of the le456.....the stock 6505+ is much better, but im still gotta try it with a lepou impulse and see if that helps, if not lepou just took a big hit in my book


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## Nirob (Jun 23, 2012)

schecter4life said:


> edit:: i got it working, but VERY diappointed in the sound of the le456.....the stock 6505+ is much better, but im still gotta try it with a lepou impulse and see if that helps, if not lepou just took a big hit in my book



 no idea man... try the revalver manual or the HELP section then... thats how i loaded them... and i have all my plugins in _*D:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins\Free Amp Sims*_ folder

EDIT ! : yeah try out the lecab2 (load it with a similar process and put it after the le456) with some guitarhack or catharsis IRs


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## schecter4life (Jun 23, 2012)

Nirob said:


> no idea man... try the revalver manual or the HELP section then... thats how i loaded them... and i have all my plugins in _*D:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins\Free Amp Sims*_ folder


after tweaking it sounds alright...but there are NO mids, i have the mid in me graphic eq and the amp sim itself turned all the way up, yet it still sounds like mettalica came through and stole all my mids and threw them in the trash


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## pushpull7 (Jun 24, 2012)

I hate to say it, since you are obviously in hell with so many things  but.....

Recabinet - Speaker Simulation for VST, AU, and RTAS

imho, everything sound more organic with this. I simple disable the cabs in the others and use this. No latency added, very flexible. Subtle controls, especially like the HPF. You can mute the one cab when checking to get get a feel for how they sound. 

My fav is GR amps, with their "screamer" w/o any cabs and fx with recabinet for high gain. The cabs in recaibnet vary widely. ymmv


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## asilayamazing (Jun 24, 2012)

revalver was sweet. i couldnt get lepou to sound that great, but even revalver was either boomy or shrill... i just dont like digital. thats just me


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## pushpull7 (Jun 24, 2012)

Checking out some stuff at GC this weekend was a nightmare not having my amp sims  e gads, it's REALLY tough to get anything I like out of the amps I played. The closest was the blackstar, that was pretty nice. The bogner line 6 was kinda cool too but still have a harshness I couldn't get into. 

Of course it's REALLY hard to tell with all the kids that just got out of school turning everything up to eleven to play "never never land" and "paranoid" badly


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## schecter4life (Jun 24, 2012)

chrisharbin said:


> Checking out some stuff at GC this weekend was a nightmare not having my amp sims  e gads, it's REALLY tough to get anything I like out of the amps I played. The closest was the blackstar, that was pretty nice. The bogner line 6 was kinda cool too but still have a harshness I couldn't get into.
> 
> Of course it's REALLY hard to tell with all the kids that just got out of school turning everything up to eleven to play "never never land" and "paranoid" badly


well i got everything working, and was NEVER able to load revalver into reaper, so i bought the full version of Mixcraft 6, it is WAY more user friendly, i had revalver up and running in it within 2 mins, i have decided that i wish to slap reaper in its difficult little face.... and in the end my tone found me, not the other way around, and that tone was LePou Legion with guitarhacks JJ impulses....this is its layout

guitar-->interface--->revalver mkIII--->TSE808 vst--->lepou Legion(when i downloaded this one it was INSTANT love)--->guitarhacks jj tube impulse (forget which one)--->mixcraft 6

i will start a new thread with my Raw mono guitar tone when its NOT 6:30 am....and hopefully a decent original mix in the coming days



asilayamazing said:


> revalver was sweet. i couldnt get lepou to sound that great, but even revalver was either boomy or shrill... i just dont like digital. thats just me


I don't think you will hold that opinion any longer soon as you hear the tone i squeezed out of Legion


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## Nirob (Jun 24, 2012)

here's a very old video i did using a ts808, legion & guitarhack IR


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## schecter4life (Jun 24, 2012)

Nirob said:


> here's a very old video i did using a ts808, legion & guitarhack IR



hahaha, you and me came surprisingly close in the tones we pulled out of legion, this is my RAW mono guitar tone, no compressor, no eq other than the amp sim's eq, and a shitty rocksmith xbox360 cord lol
pay NO mind to the HORRIBLE timing, ive been up all night and i was not playing to a click, although i probably should have 
Revalver+Lepou Legion+tse808+guitar hacks=epic win by schecter4life on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


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## Oxidation_Shed (Jun 24, 2012)

If I were you, I'd stick a LPF on there at about 7.9K to get rid of that horrible fizz you've got going on.

I'd say don't be afraid to EQ your tone with plug-ins, but be subtractive with it (take away from the sound, don't add to it). It sounds like there's a really nice tone under there somewhere, but it's buried under a load of junk.

It's hard to tell with so much fizz on top of the tone but generally you want to be low-passing around 8 kHz and high-passing around 80-100 Hz. Then you might find some isolated nodes of room excitement or cab fizz that you want to get rid of so get a parametric EQ, tighten the Q value as much as possible and set it to maximum boost, then drag the frequency around until you find the horrible junk frequencies and cut them a bit (not too much otherwise you'll ruin the character of the cabinet).

But you're on your way man.

The other thing I would suggest is - like what you are doing - using the best bits of each plug-in. I adore the noise reduction unit in GR and so always use it as my gate - if you compress between two of them it really helps tighten up your tone - but then love the TS emulation and Soldano/Engl models in Amplitube so I use them. Sometimes I'll use the Boost + EQ from my X3 Pro, but send that into LeGion: combining different modellers can really help you get a more unique tone.

And while the 5150 in Amplitube does suck, I'd definitely recommend not writing it off: with some good impulses it can run rings around the others in terms of realism.


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## axxessdenied (Jun 24, 2012)

AcmeBarGig - Affordable and Free Amp and Cab Modeling Suites & VST Effects has some incredible stuff. I prepurchased the head case suite a long time ago. Some fantastic stuff. I think their emulation of tube saturation is really great.


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## schecter4life (Jun 25, 2012)

axxessdenied said:


> AcmeBarGig - Affordable and Free Amp and Cab Modeling Suites & VST Effects has some incredible stuff. I prepurchased the head case suite a long time ago. Some fantastic stuff. I think their emulation of tube saturation is really great.


lol, funny you should mention, just made the switch to acmebargig's c-15. sounds a lil more like a real amp than legion


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## Kharem (Nov 24, 2012)

Seems like this threads been dead for a few months but hopefully I can get an answer without having to start a new one, anyone tried doing this and not been able to even find le456 in the vst list? I've selected the path and checked it multiple times, tried redownloading it and downloading the old version and nothing even shows up in the available vst's. 
Any clues?


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## Kharem (Nov 26, 2012)

Still can't seem to find any vst's at all through revalver, tried redownloading and coplying some that I had been using in audacity and reaper that I knew worked. Are they not suppose to work when revavler is run as stand alone?
Anyone got any ideas?


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## nickgray (Nov 26, 2012)

Sorry, but you've just wasted a grand. All that modeling software is pointless because you can get free VST plugins that will sound equally as good or better.


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