# Guitar Plugin with the best high gain amp sims?



## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

Had to get rid of my of my overkill rig. I dont tour. Looking for a guitar sim software that has the best high gain tone second to a kemper. Ive never played through a computer/interface. I play death and black metal. Engl, diezle, messa, biogner, randall... Looking for a simple to use plugin for high gain riffage.


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## budda (Mar 15, 2016)

Given how subjective "best" is, we can recommend stuff and you can make the call?

I liked the lepou stuff when I was trying VST's. I use garage band on mac w/ an 2i4, and the options within that alone have me covered. There's lots of editing room for amps and cabs in there.

Just like in real life, I think your IRs are going to play a pretty big part in the overall sound.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

Im going to be using a focusrite scarlet interface with dennon headphones.


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## JPhoenix19 (Mar 15, 2016)

The best-sounding plugins I've used so far are ReValver 4 and Amplitube 4 (especially the Mesa Boogie pack).


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## Petar Bogdanov (Mar 15, 2016)

Recabinet/Thermionik wins for me. It has a full featured trial, so you can try it out for yourself, before spending the very reasonable $50.


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## FifthCircleSquared (Mar 15, 2016)

I like using BIAS FX/Amp personally, and the non-pro version is pretty affordable. Clips:

https://soundcloud.com/approachingproficiency/false-hunger
https://soundcloud.com/approachingproficiency/bass-testing-with-bias

Both tunes are 100% BIAS for guitar and amp tones.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

Any of these sim programs have diezel amps?


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## tedtan (Mar 15, 2016)

Petar Bogdanov said:


> Recabinet/Thermionik wins for me. It has a full featured trial, so you can try it out for yourself, before spending the very reasonable $50.



Thermionic/Recabinet 5 is the correct answer.


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## mikah912 (Mar 15, 2016)

Slippery When Wet said:


> Any of these sim programs have diezel amps?



Revalver 4 has a generic "Demon" amp that's supposed to be a VH4, I think. I've never played a real one, but it's easy enough to download and demo without paying a dime.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

tedtan said:


> Thermionic/Recabinet 5 is the correct answer.




This looks like the best of any sim ive looked at so far!


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## WarMachine (Mar 15, 2016)

The best plug and play ive come across so far has been the tse x50v2.4, if you dig the 5150 tones. Believe it or not, the lepou legion can get really nasty with a tse od and ir's.


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## USMarine75 (Mar 15, 2016)

My experience has been with IM Multimedia Amplitube, Line 6 Vetta II, and Eleven Rack, and Toontrack EZMix. (FWIW I have a Kemper now)

I really love the stock metal tones from the metal and Guitar Gods packs with EZMix. Plug and play and lots of modern / high gain stuff.

EZmix Metal 6 Pack | Toontrack

However, they aren't very tweakable, unless I'm missing something. No easy way to just add effects or tweak things like tubes and EQ. I preferred Amplitube for being able to swap effects, pedals, rack units, etc (e.g. you could take a preset 5150, but change to KT88, add m3rd harmony, an OD, gate, and some reverb in less than a minute). And I bought the USB Wah pedal interface when it was on sale and that thing is awesome IMO. Basically the cheapest/best route I found to having a legitimate home recording and performance rig through your computer (if that's what you are looking for). 

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/stealthpedal/
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/metal/

I bought an Eleven rack and I was very dissapointed and returned it. There were very few models and at the time no plans for additions. So basically it had only 2 or 3 high gain amps included. It was a hardware version of Amplitube basically, whereas Amplitube was software driven (on your supplied comp). So although it may be more reliable than using your comp in a live situation, the tones and features were so blah for $800 (maybe now you could find one cheap and it would be worth it?). Honestly, I had an old Digitech pedal that was probably 90% as good and had way more features and was better for live performances.

I haven't used those other ones, and I liked bias but thought it was expensive, and not any better than EZMix and Amplitube which I already had.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 15, 2016)

Overloud TH2/3 with impulses.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Overloud TH2/3 with impulses.




Very nice boutique amp list!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 15, 2016)

I don't even use the boutique amps. I just used the Randall amp sims.  The Ultra+, SL+, and Grail modules on the Lynchbox amp kicked ass, and I liked the T2 if you want a darker, tighter sound.


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## Kazrog (Mar 15, 2016)

Petar Bogdanov said:


> Recabinet/Thermionik wins for me. It has a full featured trial, so you can try it out for yourself, before spending the very reasonable $50.



Thanks! 

BTW, Thermionik 5 is out now, with 25 amp models you can try free for 14 days. Demo downloads are here.


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## Ericjutsu (Mar 15, 2016)

Thermionik and TSE X50 2.4 are the best software amps I've tried. Bias is good too although I think it excels more at really low tunings.


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 15, 2016)

IMO Thermionik > Axe-fx/Kemper etc

The Psycho(5150) amp sim is the best feeling amp sim I've come across. I've been using TSE 808 and the Joey Sturgis Conquer All Impulse pack to record dry tracks for re-amping the last few weeks and it responds and tracks really well. It even sounds good without a boost up front which is where the majority of hi-gain sims fall flat.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

With these comoanies offering killer sims... How does one be able to jse several different companies. What software do you need?


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## Petar Bogdanov (Mar 15, 2016)

Lorcan Ward said:


> IMO Thermionik > Axe-fx/Kemper etc
> 
> The Psycho(5150) amp sim is the best feeling amp sim I've come across. I've been using TSE 808 and the Joey Sturgis Conquer All Impulse pack to record dry tracks for re-amping the last few weeks and it responds and tracks really well. It even sounds good without a boost up front which is where the majority of hi-gain sims fall flat.



The Psycho II model made me buy a 6505MH. Still can't make the amp sound that warm.


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## Elric (Mar 15, 2016)

Themionik is decidedly mediocre, IMHO. I've had it ever since it came out and it is unimpressive. I can't believe some of you guys are talking it up like its great. :-/ At least no one said Bias. Most of the plugins suck for high gain. The new Mesa Amplitube is pretty darn nice and the Engls are solid everything else in AT4 is weak, though (the "SLO" model is laughably bad and those new Marshalls are disappointing), and Revalver has always been solid thanks to the Peavey sims and customization features. So I guess those are the lesser of the evils.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 15, 2016)

What software do i need to jse these different sim companies?


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## Elric (Mar 15, 2016)

Most have demos so you don't have to rely on our opinions. Check out the free ones too: LePou, Ignite amps, etc.

You need a DAW program that supports plugins. If you are on a PC look at Reaper for a cheap solution on the Mac you could demo them with Garage Band.


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## jimmy906 (Mar 15, 2016)

check out the u530 by mercuriall 
U530 | Mercuriall Audio Software


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## blckrnblckt (Mar 16, 2016)

Free plugins I have in my collection:
Ignite Emissary
Lepou Le456
Nick Crow 7170
TSE X30 Sovtek

And some Mercuriall free stuff for lower gain.
I use GuitarHack and OwnHammer IRs with Ignite NadIR.
But I still like my Eleven Rack over the plugins for dynamics, but as someone said before, high gain is limited to a few amps.

If you're just looking to play amp sims and don't really need to record, you could use VSTHost or Podium Free if you're on a PC. I sometimes use my Eleven Rack as a USB interface just to see what amp sim plugins sound like and use ASIO to get low latency.


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## Aymara (Mar 16, 2016)

Elric said:


> If you are on a PC look at Reaper for a cheap solution on the Mac you could demo them with Garage Band.



I would recommend Reaper for a Mac too, because Garageband is a toy, that only supports 16 bit at 44.1 kHz ... good recordings require 24 bit. Reaper is much more powerful and easy to learn due to the many tutorials on Youtube and the superb forum.


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## Thermalic (Mar 16, 2016)

+1 on Reaper. Used it for 5+ years with no problems. Had Cubase as my first DAW before that but had pretty big stability issues with it.


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## RuslanK (Mar 16, 2016)

Fourteen Tanas, ENDL Lead E530 and other plugins from Vadim Taranov... but only 32-bit version.


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## GuitarBizarre (Mar 16, 2016)

Reaper is the best DAW on a budget. Cubase is much better but also expensive and there's no free trial.

As far as amp sims - I've been using Ignite Amps Emmisary for a while now, in combination with Recabinet 3 (I've not upgraded to 4, no reason to in my case). Best sound I've ever had.

Before that I was using Legion, but I found it incredibly harsh and "washy" in the 4K region. Lots of pick attack but also a "white noise" type sound in that area.

To the guy using Legion with a Tubescreamer VST in front of it - You're actually insane. Legion was literally designed not to need a TS in front of it to remain tight. I have no idea how you can stand the sound of it with one in as well - it's washy and harsh to begin with...


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## tedtan (Mar 16, 2016)

blckrnblckt said:


> Free plugins I have in my collection:
> Ignite Emissary
> Lepou Le456
> Nick Crow 7170
> TSE X30 Sovtek



The LePou and Nick Crowe plugs are probably the best free amp sims available. I used to prefer them over the paid options, too, but I find myself preferring Thermionic since it came out last month.




Elric said:


> Themionik is decidedly mediocre, IMHO.



Are you using the amp models in Recabinet 4 or the just released Thermionic? If you haven't tried the new one yet, give it a shot. If you tried it and didn't car for it, well then, carry on with Amplitube.




GuitarBizarre said:


> Reaper is the best DAW on a budget. Cubase is much better but also expensive and there's no free trial.



I get what you're saying if you mean that you prefer Cubase. But how is it better than Reaper (Reaper is so much more customizable)?


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## GuitarBizarre (Mar 16, 2016)

tedtan said:


> I get what you're saying if you mean that you prefer Cubase. But how is it better than Reaper (Reaper is so much more customizable)?



The best example I can give is what a friend said to me - Cubase is a program that is "As complicated as you want to make it".

It's not that it's customisable, exactly, it's just that it hides very little from you in terms of putting options in menus etc. Almost everything is out on display behind some sort of icon or button, but even though that's the case, it never feels cluttered - if you don't know what that icon means, chances are good you can ignore it and be absolutely no worse off for what you want to do.

Also, Cubase's midi input and midi editing is just worlds more intuitive than reaper's - If I could port one cubase feature into reaper it would, without a shadow of a doubt, be the way midi input is handled.


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## tedtan (Mar 16, 2016)

Cool, I can appreciate that if you want to use toolbars rather than menus or keyboard shortcuts, Cubase is probably a better initial fit for your workflow. Reaper has them, too, but you'll have to build most of them yourself.

As for MIDI workflow, they're different in how they handle things. But I hear about the same number of people complain about Cubase and Sonar (which started out as MIDI only sequencers) as about Reaper and Pro Tools (which started out as audio only). So this is probably a matter of personal preference and workflow.


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## Aymara (Mar 16, 2016)

Reaper is much more powerful, than many people claim again and again.

If Cubase is so much better than Reaper, why then do so many Native Instruments Kontrol-S users cry in the NI forum about issues, while I as a Reaper user smile and enjoy it, both on Mac and Windows? 

Cubase has some advantages in the MIDI field, yes, but that's it ... nearly. "Bug fixing takes ages", is what you hear from converts in the Reaper forum.

So, I have no problem, when someone prefers another DAW, but calling others much more powerful, is a theory, that requires proof 

Btw, can Cubase do video productions? As far as I know, that requires Nuendo and a much bigger budget. Well, Reaper can, thought it's not the best choice for that task.

But maybe anybody wants to tell us now, that Protools is also much better ... well, then read this:

REAPER In Shangri-La &#8211; Designing demon voices for Far Cry 4 &#8211; The REAPER Blog

Reaper, especially the new V5, is not perfect, sure, but it is by far the best and most easy to learn DAW for beginners, due to a huge free manual, many Youtube tutorials and the most powerful community of all DAWs. And it is definitely powerful enough for most home recording needs.

But the situation drastically changes, when we talk about it's use in a pro studio ... Cockos has no on-site support.

But maybe we should come back to topic, instead of starting a DAW war


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## WarMachine (Mar 16, 2016)

GuitarBizarre said:


> Reaper is the best DAW on a budget. Cubase is much better but also expensive and there's no free trial.
> 
> As far as amp sims - I've been using Ignite Amps Emmisary for a while now, in combination with Recabinet 3 (I've not upgraded to 4, no reason to in my case). Best sound I've ever had.
> 
> ...


From the guy that tried Legion with the TS up front.....easy fix




Noise gate


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## GuitarBizarre (Mar 16, 2016)

WarMachine said:


> From the guy that tried Legion with the TS up front.....easy fix
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I'm not... talking about noise?

I'm talking about the tonal character of the amp already being designed around the traditional "High gain with a TS in front of it" sound. It literally has that tubescreamer built into it already, and you're adding another. That amde it incredibly thin and icepicky when I did it by accident. I have no idea how you can stand doing it all the time.


Aymara - Reaper has it's own issues with Native Instruments stuff. For example FM8 and many similar NI plugins have a problem where certain sliders constantly reset to 0 in the GUI. Try opening an FM8 patch and trying to adjust the ADSR settings. The damn things won't stay put.


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## WarMachine (Mar 16, 2016)

GuitarBizarre said:


> I'm not... talking about noise?
> 
> I'm talking about the tonal character of the amp already being designed around the traditional "High gain with a TS in front of it" sound. It literally has that tubescreamer built into it already, and you're adding another. That amde it incredibly thin and icepicky when I did it by accident. I have no idea how you can stand doing it all the time.
> 
> ...



Ah, gotcha. Well, lightly boosting it gave me that extra something. IMO it didnt have the sustain without one. Combined with the right IR and EQ I got it to sound pretty gnarly. Just wanted to add to the OP that some great tones can be had from free vst's as well.


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## Kazrog (Mar 16, 2016)

Really quickly, I thought I should post some high gain Thermionik user clips for you guys to check out:

In a mix:


Just guitars:


Also, here's a Soundcloud playlist with more clips:
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/kazrog/sets/thermionik-5-clips[/SC]

The 14 day demo is feature unlimited, so you guys can try all 25 amp models, and purchase whichever ones you like in any number or combination you want.

I'm a metal guitarist myself, and my main guitar is a Ran Crusher 7 string. I started out modeling high gain amps before I got to the vintage/boutique stuff. 

If you guys have any questions, I'm happy to answer here, and I'm following the thread.


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## Aymara (Mar 16, 2016)

GuitarBizarre said:


> Try opening an FM8 patch and trying to adjust the ADSR settings. The damn things won't stay put.



I'm a Komplete 10 user and did that some time ago without any issues, sorry ... with R4.7 on OSX 10.10.5, so I don't know, if it works the same on Windows. But I never saw such reports in the NI forums too. Is FM8 up to date?


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## GuitarBizarre (Mar 16, 2016)

Aymara said:


> I'm a Komplete 10 user and did that some time ago without any issues, sorry ... with R4.7 on OSX 10.10.5, so I don't know, if it works the same on Windows. But I never saw such reports in the NI forums too. Is FM8 up to date?



Yes, and there are reports of this problem from as far back as 2009, in relation to preset saving.

A dealbreaker it is not, but I've noticed you have a tendency in threads like this to tout whatever you use personally as the best thing since sliced bread.

It's cool that you like reaper, I'm using it too, it's a great program. It's also cool that you like your Classic T, but you do tend to overegg the pudding about how good things are that you personally enjoy, and it comes off as insincere.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 16, 2016)

Kazrog said:


> Really quickly, I thought I should post some high gain Thermionik user clips for you guys to check out:
> 
> In a mix:
> 
> ...





I like dry high gain tone like the deliverance 60 and loose fat meaty like the randall rm100. Im just a drummer who likes to play a little guitar. I play a schecter hellraiser hybrid 7. Just looking for balls to the wall high gain... no recording... just jamming


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## Aymara (Mar 17, 2016)

GuitarBizarre said:


> Yes, and there are reports of this problem from as far back as 2009, in relation to preset saving.



Well, then I guess, it should already be fixed in the current version, because I didn't encounter this issue.



> A dealbreaker it is not, but I've noticed you have a tendency in threads like this to tout whatever you use personally as the best thing since sliced bread.



Sorry, if I'm sometimes a bit too enthusiastic 

But in case of Reaper, I'm totally convinced, that it's the best choice for beginners. You can download and use it for free for 60 days and there's enough learning material online to be able to do the first successful recordings in a few hours. In case you don't like it, you only have wasted a bit of time, but you learned a lot, which will help starting again with another DAW.

If someone starts with Cubase, he has to pay much more than for Reaper and in case he/she doesn't like it, the money is wasted. Furthermore the learning curve is much steeper, especially for absolute beginners.

But back to topic: I myself use BIAS FX, because I didn't like Guitar Rig, which is included in Komplete ... some nice effects, but the amps didn't convince me. BIAS is a nice overall package, but it's still buggy on iOS and OSX. So I'm interested in alternatives.

The Kazrog stuff looks interesting, but the pricing is ... whoa  ... if you want all. And I miss effects ... or have I overseen something?

My personal impression so far is, that the perfect sim doesn't exist and each has it's pros and cons, so the Kazrog and Amplitube modularity is a nice approach.

So when talking about amp sims we maybe also should talk about recommendable effects besides the most well known tube screamer 

Any tips?


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## Axe Cop (Mar 17, 2016)

I think the LePou stuff does just about any tone you want, exceptionally well.


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## Kazrog (Mar 17, 2016)

Running a special right now on all Thermionik purchases. 25% off with coupon code 68E7F623.

I will be releasing some FX models later this year. The focus of Thermionik is purely on accurate amp modeling, just as Recabinet focuses on accurate cabinet simulation. Effects models down the road will similarly be their own individual plugins. The philosophy is to keep everything modular.


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 17, 2016)

^Please make a noise gate plug-in for guitars thats similar to the Axe-Fx one. There are a lot on the market but most are really bad for hi-gain, or even guitars in general.


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## tedtan (Mar 17, 2016)

Kazrog said:


> Running a special right now on all Thermionik purchases. 25% off with coupon code 68E7F623.



You mentioned that you were considering creating a "create your own amp pack" option over on the Reaper forum. Is this still forthcoming? If so, do you have an ETA on that option?


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## tedtan (Mar 17, 2016)

Lorcan Ward said:


> ^Please make a noise gate plug-in for guitars thats similar to the Axe-Fx one. There are a lot on the market but most are really bad for hi-gain, or even guitars in general.



Something like this may already exist. basically, you'd just need a gate with a sidechain input or a loop so it can sense the full dynamics of your input signal while acting to squash the distorted signal (which has much less dynamic range than the signal straight from the guitar). Check for something like this over on the KVR.


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## Kazrog (Mar 18, 2016)

tedtan said:


> You mentioned that you were considering creating a "create your own amp pack" option over on the Reaper forum. Is this still forthcoming? If so, do you have an ETA on that option?



You can already buy amp models a la carte. With the coupon deal that's currently running, it is effectively a "build your own bundle" level of discount. The e-comm software I'm using doesn't explicitly support bundling, although I plan to work with the developer to arrive at a solution to that.


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## tedtan (Mar 18, 2016)

Thanks. I was thinking in a more general sense that that the "build your own bundle" option will probably be your biggest selling Therminonic add on once it's available since most guys probably have 5-10 amp models they use for pretty much everything.


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## Kazrog (Mar 18, 2016)

tedtan said:


> Thanks. I was thinking in a more general sense that that the "build your own bundle" option will probably be your biggest selling Therminonic add on once it's available since most guys probably have 5-10 amp models they use for pretty much everything.



Great news! Build your own bundle is live now - you hear it first:


Buy 5 or more amp models and get 23% off
Buy 10 or more amp models and get 33% off

Enjoy!


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 19, 2016)

Kazrog said:


> Great news! Build your own bundle is live now - you hear it first:
> 
> 
> Buy 5 or more amp models and get 23% off
> ...



Do you have a delieverance 60 mod?


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## Kazrog (Mar 19, 2016)

Slippery When Wet said:


> Do you have a delieverance 60 mod?



Not that amp specifically, but there are 25 models, many of them high gain. I will be adding more amp models over time, and that one has been a popular request, though.


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## Lach Rae Dawn (Mar 19, 2016)

Well, for just plugins... This is what I have and use.

EZMix:
has a lot of good expansions that can give some really good tones for guitar, (covering an extensive range as well, and covers way more than just guitar) but just as some one else has pointed out, its very limited on tweaking, its more of a preset box with 1, or two parameters tweakable (sometimes those parameters are tied to many different thing). Its an absolutely fantastic program for quick sculpting of sound, or cycling through chains for inspiration. But when I use it, I almost always have to use it in chains with other plugins for finer tuning. Excellent tool for the arsenal, but you will not get by with it alone in any serious manner.

Waves signature series: (such as the CLA Guitars, and a couple other plugins) 
I will mainly focus on CLA guitars in this batch, it can get results similar to that of Bias, and EZ Mix. It is a bit more tweakable (more options to dial in than EZ Mix) You can find this on sale at AudioDeluxe almost every other month or so. Extremely intuitive interfaces, and quick to dial in a nice sound. 

ReValver 4: 
- one downside is it requires to be tied to a usb key to be used on your pc - 
ok now that is out of the way, it is by far the most tweakable of any guitar amp sim modeler I have ever heard of. You can literally build your own amp/fx inside this program. It sounds nice, and ReValver 3.5 you could get pretty nice tones out of, so I have no doubt the same could be done, (and better) out of ReValver 4. I have used this one the least out of them (mainly because its the newest amp sim suite I have). Also it has a custom IR Loader!!! 

Now I would recommend this. Try ReValver 4 if you plan to go in depth in tweaking. Also its pricing module is far more flexible for people who want to try it out. Base product (and minimal amps/FX models) is completely free for you to download. It is not a Demo, it is the full product, just with not all the modules and effects. If you like it from there you can purchase more modules for it.


As for DAWs. I use FL Studio. It can do just about anything that all the others can do (and more great things are coming for it) plus I get free life time updates. It may cost more than Reaper initially, but over the long run FL Studio's price/value is unparalleled.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 20, 2016)

Kazrog said:


> Not that amp specifically, but there are 25 models, many of them high gain. I will be adding more amp models over time, and that one has been a popular request, though.



Ive went on the site... i dont see the 25 amp list. What are they?


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## Aymara (Mar 20, 2016)

Slippery When Wet said:


> ... i dont see the 25 amp list. What are they?



The amp list is here:

Thermionik | Kazrog LLC

And the cabinet list is here:

Recabinet | Kazrog LLC


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## MechyKola (Mar 20, 2016)

LePou. TSE. NickCrow. GuitarHack. God's cab. PreFix Gate. Carla plugin host. Done. Also don't forget parametric EQ


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## MechyKola (Mar 20, 2016)

Also use Ardour as your DAW. Great value with a 1$ "minimum donation" *cough* price *cough* Works on Linux and OSX officially and works on windows if you are happy to use nightly builds.


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## blckrnblckt (Mar 20, 2016)

I didn't realize there was a Mercuriall Cab 3.0 until this week. When I first looked at their free stuff, I downloaded Mercuriall Cab 2.1, and it didn't work for me. I just tried Mercuriall Cab 3.0, and I like it a lot. They seem more dynamic than my other IRs for some reason, and I don't need to load an IR every time.


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## Elric (Mar 21, 2016)

Aymara said:


> I would recommend Reaper for a Mac too, because Garageband is a toy, that only supports 16 bit at 44.1 kHz ... good recordings require 24 bit. Reaper is much more powerful and easy to learn due to the many tutorials on Youtube and the superb forum.



Coolness. I did not even know they supported Mac. I knew GB was free and the OP seemed like he wanted to get up and running quickly; hence the recommendation but, yes, Reaper is great.


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## Aymara (Mar 21, 2016)

Elric said:


> Coolness. I did not even know they supported Mac.



Reaper started as a Windows only DAW, but the Mac version is available for years now and pretty stable.

Garageband is quite nice for early beginners, because it comes with virtual instruments and amps. For learning purposes and quick demos it's quite nice, but for serious recordings it's not recommendable, because it doesn't support 24 bit. That's why I call it an appetizer for Apple's Logic, which I don't like, because it doesn't support VST, which is needed to be able to route MIDI output ... AU has no MIDI output.


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## Mathemagician (Mar 21, 2016)

Once you have all this set up in a DAW, you can just plug into your interface and play/practice with the amp sims and everything on right? Super noobie to this stuff. This thread has been super helpful.


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## Aymara (Mar 21, 2016)

Mathemagician said:


> Once you have all this set up in a DAW, you can just plug into your interface and play/practice with the amp sims and everything on right?



Yes, you can just play or record too. But a few amp sims like Guitar Rig or BIAS FX also have a standalone version just for jamming and / or developing sound setups ... here a DAW is not needed.


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## Slippery When Wet (Mar 21, 2016)

Aymara said:


> Yes, you can just play or record too. But a few amp sims like Guitar Rig or BIAS FX also have a standalone version just for jamming and / or developing sound setups ... here a DAW is not needed.



Os bias compatable with other sim software companies?


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## Aymara (Mar 22, 2016)

Slippery When Wet said:


> Is bias compatable with other sim software companies?



No, I don't think so, but you can combine it with other plugins in a DAW, e.g. other effects.

The question is, what you mean with compatible and if you mean BIAS FX or BIAS Amp. The later is only amp and cab simulation, the other has effects too, but allows no amp tweaking like the use of different tubes. If you want to capture your own amp, you need BIAS Amp Pro, but you can import that amp profile in BFX. But you can't import stuff from other plugins.

I would recommend downloading their demos.


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## FifthCircleSquared (Mar 22, 2016)

Slippery When Wet said:


> Os bias compatable with other sim software companies?



I'm not sure what you are asking, but I use BIAS with third party Cab sims all the time, either Two Notes WoS III or Ownhammer IR's.


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## I Shot JR (Mar 23, 2016)

Kazrog said:


> I will be adding more amp models over time



*Crosses fingers for Diezel VH4*
Love the 2 channel Recto model btw!


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## Kazrog (Mar 23, 2016)

I Shot JR said:


> *Crosses fingers for Diezel VH4*
> Love the 2 channel Recto model btw!



Thanks! Working on VH4, actually.


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## ComaPrison (Apr 26, 2016)

*Reaper and TSE X50 V2.4 *

*Web Page* - www.tseaudio.com/home

*Facebook Page* - www.facebook.com/TSEAUDIO/?fref=ts

*TSE Audio Collective - *http://http://tsecollective.boards.net

*Reaper - *REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits


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## ComaPrison (Apr 26, 2016)

Also here is a direct link to bunch of videos with demos and comparisons.

TSE X50 Videos | Tsecollective


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## jimmy906 (Apr 26, 2016)

also worth mentioning that buster odeholm uses the tse x50 on the new humanity's last breath ep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbqpPryyB4s

https://www.facebook.com/humanityslastbreath/posts/10154082017859544


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## gavinasaurus (May 4, 2016)

I play mostly technical death metal and i have amplitube max and bias amp. If you are looking for a good death metal tone amplitube has the best sounds. I mostly use the engl powerball amp they have because my real amp is an engl invader and its the closest sim i've found to it.

My opinion on bias amp is its a complete waste of money. Bias does have nice clean tones and good tones for rock n roll, but for heavier and more extreme types of metal it doesn't work well. The notes with bias just sound weak. I don't know exactly how to explain it but they just never sound very heavy and don't seem to want to ring out very well especially using a neck pickup. To be honest id kind of compare it to the way my real amp sounds when the tubes need to be replaced. I've downloaded tons of presets that people have made and none of them have a good technical death tone. 

Amplitube is much different from bias. It does take a bit of tweaking but with amplitube you can pretty much get any kind of tone you want. The notes in amplitube all seem to be able to ring out and sound heavy without having to turn on tons of gain or distortion. Which in my opinion is a good thing because the notes can actually articulate and still sound extremely heavy. I took the plunge and got the max version which is a bit pricey but does come with a lot of really nice sims. Though it is expensive all of the fx and distortion pedals are right there for you so theres no need to go purchase extra stuff. With bias you have to go buy bias fx and bias pedal which would probably end up costing you the same. 

No amp sim is perfect thats for sure. These are my opinions on the two programs i have. If your a death metal guitarist than I really don't think Bias is for you. It's not a bad program it just isn't very good for that style of playing.


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## gabrielc (Mar 27, 2017)

Elric said:


> ..., though (the "SLO" model is laughably bad and those new Marshalls are disappointing), ....



I had to post because I got really curious why you think that. Sure we all have different tastes and all, but I'd like to hear (er, read) your reason, honestly.

AT4 is my main sim program for awhile, I got the full thing. I always try other stuff of course, but mostly out of curiosity, I always end up going back to it.

So I found an interesting opinion because from other people who use AT4 whom I have talked with, and myself included, the SLO model has always been a grail to tone shaping. Mainly, just because it's knobs are all ridiculously sensitive and you can get it to sound like any other model by just changing cab/mic/speaker combination.

First, the overdrive has all from clean to death-metal-like, even without a booster/od, so, you're covered in any gain you want.
And then, like I said, Bass, Mid, Treble, all have an immense range. You can go from no treble at all to "wtf is this highs? Unnecessary! Bass from thin sizzle to just boom.

And last but definitely not least, the Presence knob. It's absurdly wide-reaching like no other, ever. Around 10-11 it's higher than the Rectifier Channel 3 on Modern.

So, that's why I got curious. Coz honestly, by messing with it, you can shape the SLO model to sound like just about anything else. (again, taking the cab/speaker/mic into consideration). So maybe that is your reason? It doesn't have a well defined characteristic of its own?

Cheers


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## Kazrog (Mar 27, 2017)

I Shot JR said:


> *Crosses fingers for Diezel VH4*
> Love the 2 channel Recto model btw!



Blue and Silver VH4 are emulated in the latest Thermionik as Fueled Blue and Fueled Silver. They're my favorite amps for high gain that I've emulated to date - really loving these for my own music.

Grab the latest Kazrog Complete Collection installer to try them out:

http://kazrog.com/products/kazrog-complete-collection-1/kazrog-complete-collection-1-downloads/


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