# BiasFX2 or Amplitube or etc...



## 777 (Mar 5, 2020)

Looking to replace GR5 with something better. Wondering what the best thing is

https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-guitar-plugins found this article that seems to suggest BIAS sounds the best overall.


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## Sylim (Mar 5, 2020)

rule #1 - there is no "the best"
there is only the best plugin that suit your needs. 

that being said, imo bias is overrated. it has that constant harshness at 3k no matter what. i tried amplitube. it´s good, but doesn´t impress me. i used TH3 for a long time. i really like it, but it´s not exactly plug and play. it needs tweaking and experience to get great tones. but once you do have the experience, the tones are awesome. but right now i´m really into Mercuriall. all their plugins are really good. but they are rather individual amps, not a complete amp suite. so more purpose built plugins.

but lots of people rave for Neural DSP. haven´t tried it yet, but i´m suspecious when it comes to hype. Bias taught me that.


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## trem licking (Mar 5, 2020)

I agree with Sylim there is no "best", but if there was... BIAS would be the worst. i wanted to like it because of the interface and customization, but it doesn't sound very good... GR5 surely sounds better than it. 

all that aside, all the other new guitar amp suites in the last few years are good but my favorite is definitely TH-U for interface and sound


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## Metropolis (Mar 5, 2020)

@777 If you want something to do everything and a lot, check out Overloud TH-U. Good tones and very little pricing gimmicks, unlike Positive Grid Bias and IK Multimedia Amplitube...

Then there is Neural DSP stuff and Mercuriall for example which have best amp tones in my opinion. Neural DSP Archetype: Plini & Nolly are proven to be very versatile and great sounding. Mercuriall has got Spark for Marshall tones and ReAxis for Mesa Mark fans. Both have good sounding basic effects and impulse response loading capabilities.

Neural DSP and Overloud have fully functional free demo versions, and you can use them 14 days when activated.

I tend to stay away from most stuff because they don't handle feel side of things regarding power amp depth and presence. In the end also bad cab simulation can ruin everything, which is why I almost every time use ir's instead of ir based cabs which many of these softwares have.



Sylim said:


> but lots of people rave for Neural DSP. haven´t tried it yet, but i´m suspecious when it comes to hype. Bias taught me that.



The real difference there is Neural DSP really lives up to the hype and their amps sound and feel better than almost anything right now in the realm of software amps. And people actually kept using Neural plugins instead of just leaving them after doing paid advertisement to youtube.


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## 777 (Mar 5, 2020)

Have to say Im pretty shocked that BIAS is seen as so bad. The tone videos I watched seemed pretty good. Neural sounds like a good option - I was kinda looking for a complete amp/fx package tho


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## Avedas (Mar 5, 2020)

I used Bias FX for a bit because I had the free Lite version that came with my Scarlett. The UI was one of the worst-programmed desktop applications I've ever used but more importantly, didn't sound all that great. It's not terrible and definitely usable, but I wouldn't pay money for it.

I didn't really like any of the big Youtube paid demos done with it either. Sithu Aye did one where he re-amped one of his songs entirely through Bias and it sounded very noticeably worse. The demo Paul Masvidal did was also pretty brutal.


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## XAiAX (Mar 9, 2020)

Hi,

I have both Bias amp 2 and Bias Fx 2 Pro edition, they both sound great when you understand the tone shaping system they are going for, and from my experience with it the UI is user friendly.
The Bias amp plus the Celestion IR the pro comes with really enhance the tones you can achieve, with the addition of mic placements.
The Bias fx 2 give all the tools you need to shape a sound even further. Like most guitar amps, the drive and distortion pedals help tighten up the sound.
Most guitar players uses some type of boost(clean/ distorted) or some overdrive to improve their sound, along with Eq and compression.
Bias is really for tone nerds trying to push the envelope, I'm looking for a sound close to this but I want to make it mine, not replicate what been done before me.
I appreciate a good organic sound but in a post organic world I could care less if my tone is as organic as a Marshall JCM 800, Mesa Rect, ENGL, or Peavy. I need something that is close
so I can rock out and enjoy myself and record great sounding guitars in a mix, you get that with Bias.

Here People enjoying it:









And for those who want to measure sticks,
here you go:


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## rahnvu (Mar 9, 2020)

The matching sounds good, but all the others kinda sounded like what you would get out of whichever kind of amp sim from 5+ years ago. 
No matter what amp sim you end up with, the most important part is always good quality IRs, which is once again proven in Ola's last video where he tries out the old Behringer V-Amp! 
Try Ignite Emissary with for example the free Kalthallen IRs. Or if you want everything in one, I'd recommend TH-U.


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