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I'm Looking for an iOS Amp Sim for Nylon String
I bought Gain Stage Vintage Clean to play with my Nylon Guitar and I really like the sound of it.
I'm just curious to buy something new, just to try something else. On iOS there is a lot of amp modeling for electric guitar, but not a lot of choices for nylon string.
I tried the acoustic amp on ToneStack, but I got better result with Gain Stage.
I will buy all apps that looks interesting. Feel free to suggest me stuff!
Thanks!
Comments
@Montreal_Music do you have a mic of any kind? I have an nylon acoustic and have always found that using a pickup or preamp and plugging it in always loses the tone of the instrument. It sounds snappy and bassy but loses all of the midrange growl and character.
I’d honestly say just mic it up. Spend your money on another app that will compliment the recording,
This is just my opinion of course, but the best acoustic sounds will always come from a mic. Toneboosters Enhancer makes them sparkle... maybe a tiny touch of chorus... 👍
I use a Godin Multiac:
There's AmpliTube Acoustic which also has a CS version you can try for free. Hasn't been updated in years, though.
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1038441801
I don't think you need an "amp" for a nylon string guitar but IK Multimedia sells an app
called "Amplitube Acoustic" that has a dozen add-ons but it's generally focused on steel string acoustics for playing the blues, etc. It includes "Stomp" box FX for compressions, EQ, Reverb, Delay.
You'll get the best sound by using AUM (it' records and has many built-in FX too) and a string of "best in class" FX apps:
1a. "Magic Death Eye Stereo" for compression but it's magic is tone enhancement adding extra harmonic excitation.
1b. Fab Filter "Saturn" is a good alternative to MDES for tone shaping a nylon string guitar.
1c. IK Multimedia's "MixBox CS" is a one stop shop for all these functions.
Bark Filter is another one stop one exciter adding extra brilliance using the "TripleBand Filter" and the "Limiter" option
A good Visual EQ helps fine tune the spectral envelope:
(at this point you may start to realize "MixBox CS" is a good deal)
@Montreal_Music Godin, great guitars. I’ve been lucky to work in guitar shops and have been fortunate to try these and they are very well made. This kind of kills my answer as it’s not a hollow body acoustic and doesn’t work well with a mic. All I can suggest now is plugging straight in with some compression, EQ, possible chorus, delay and reverb... sorry I cannot suggest anything else... good luck with your search..
my electric is a Godin too (5th Avenue Kingpin, archtop) and I also have an acoustic Art & Lutherie (a small parlour guitar) which is also part of the Godin brand
as of the nylon string sounds I found the Taylor EQ in in the FourTrack Recorder from Sonoma Wire Works came pretty close to the nylon sound I was looking for, the app didn't work well with other apps though and hasn't been updated for some years now (I don't even know if it still works to be honest), but the Taylor EQ had some decent acoustic tones
If I were recording a Godin I would go straight to MixBox.
The Irig acoustic stage is really good. I have never used the app but I use the device when doing live sound. I used it on an excellent classical guitarist who had a pickup and red eye (I think) DI. The irig acoustic stage served as the mic for the live stream and the DI was for monitors and stage sound. It worked great.
Think about the primary things an amp can do to any sound:
For a nylon string guitar, I assume the distortion you're looking for is very subtle saturation "warmth". In a real amp this comes from the electronics (either tubes or solid state electronics). In an app this is modeled. Likewise, there is some compression going on due to the nature of the electronics. Again, you'll probably want it to be subtle. EQ is a wild-card. What enhances a nylon string sound in pleasing ways? Acoustic guitar amps are tuned to supply a hopefully beneficial EQ character. They usually also have sound sculpting EQ knobs.
The reverberation I'm talking about in this case is that tiny reverberation (and other properties) that the amp cabinet itself imparts. Again, people pay big bucks for acoustic amps for these characteristics that can add life to the sound.
How the sound from the guitar is captured is hugely important too. A simple piezo pickup has it's own sound and carries little to none of the character of the guitar body. A mixed mic/piezo pickup gives flexibility. Capturing with a mic or mics is a whole other level.
So? Well, you're off to a good start with Gain Stage Vintage Clean. It imparts these characteristics in ways that are probably pretty close to what an acoustic amplifier would. Another worth checking out is Reamp. That has excellent sound shaping controls.
You can also experiment with Impulse Responses (Thafknar and Impulsation are good) to see if cabinet simulations give you good results. You can even get IR's of acoustic guitar bodies if your pickups don't do a good job of that.
Lastly, mic simulations can do wonders in compensating for the flatness you can get from piping pickups straight into software. You might want to check out MicSwap.
Maybe gain stage vintage clean app...
Since getting MixBox CS (and learning the 70 modules) I rarely open anything else
except some of the more complex audio mangling FX apps that MixBox CS can't emulate.
When you add up the cost of 5 or more quality FX apps, Mixbox CS is a better option financially.
I love MixBox CS also. It works on almost any track with any instrument.
@McD is Mixbox stable in AUM/ CB3? And was there some sort of aliasing issue? In short, are you satisfied? It sounds like it...
I have a Godin Multiac with the RMC pickups. I don't use an amp sim for it. I just EQ it to take out the piezo mids ugliness and then add a little bit of highs to lift the brightness. But, other than the piezo thing its all just to taste.
There are two other things to consider that I find really help. The first is string choice. Right now I have some flatwound La Bella Recording strings and the reduced finger noise really helps to tame the piezos. I usually use a low tension Hannabach set that I think sound great on the Godin.
The other thing is that I built a box that takes the 13-pin output and then mixes the strings to get a single output. I think that this sounds better than using the battery operated preamp mode. I think it has to do with with the signal path and the voltage levels in the preamps. It also means that I don't have to keep batteries in it. The downside is that the box was a total pain to solder and then you have to power the box.
Totally agree with this approach for nylon string, but the results will certainly be dependent on the room sound.
Works great in AUM. Haven't used it at all in Cubasis 3.
People often expose aliasing using graphs. I haven't heard anything artificial in MixBox
but there could be higher frequencies at play that appear in graphs. More often people
seem to like apps that trash their audio... Mix Box doesn't have any of those except the usual classic distortion FX.
It's fast and has very CPU efficient DSP coding which makes it a must have in my book
but it's $50 now. I can see a lot of people preferring to have fewer FX and spreading out
their payments to get there.
But there's always some schmuck pushing these $50 apps... my bad.
I bought one Reverb/Delay app on Mac OS X for $49. It's very nice... epic actually.
I finally bought Gain Stage Acoustic by Mani Consulting Limited Company and I really like it. I will probably buy the EQ from TB to go with it to fine tune my sound.
Random fact: I bought Kosmonaut at least 3 years ago and never really try it (I'm a Bram Bos fan boy and buy everything he cook). I tried it today with my 2 guitars and it's a really great sounding app with guitar! I will use it more often.
And the chorus from FAC is a little bit more complicated than your average chorus, but it sounds fantastic. Glad I bought it. 5 stars app. I'm always really impressed with FAC apps.
If there is something new for nylon string guitar, let me know.
I bought a couple of apps from Nembrini for my electric guitar and missed that one: https://www.nembriniaudio.com/collections/guitar-amplifier/products/acoustic-voice-guitar-preamp
I'm really curious to try it on iPad. I want to use it with my Multiac.
I haven't tried the Nembrini Acoustic Voice it on acoustic guitar, only on my Strat. It doesn't do much to make that sound like an acoustic IMO, but I don't think that's really what it's for. Gain Stage Acoustic is pretty good for a passable acoustic sound from the Strat when it's going to be in a mix, or if needed for sketching things out without a lot of hassle ... or for avoiding those terrifying quick guitar swaps on-stage.
in my opinion - sounds much better than gain stage acoustic - much more options.
@Montreal_Music I know this thread is a little old, but I am in the exact same. boat. I have a Godin Multiac nylon string that I absolutely love playing, but I have never been able to get a great sound out of it. I think that as good as any of these apps are, it is not as much about what they do as it is about what they expect the input to be. The nylon strings create enough of a different input that the algorithms don't produce the same results as they would with steel string. For instance, I got the Nembrini and it is excellent with my steel string acoustic, but not so much with the Multiac.
Did you ever find a workable solution? What is the best thing you have used? I'm desperately looking for something that makes this instrument sound as good as it feels to play.
I'm working with Gain Stage Acoustic and others apps for compressing the sound and different plug-ins (reverb, chorus, EQ), etc. I did not find a 1 in all app. A good EQ is really important.
I you want something physical (hardware), I suggest this amp:
I would do the same
I would try Rhino with a mix of IRs, if I had a mix of IRs
What is your goal? If you are going for a natural sound, I would think a good eq would be the way to rather than an amp sim ... plus whatever effects strike your fancy.
Looks like he's looking for new options and ideas.
Actually that would inspire me to do an effect processor in Drambo, dedicated to acoustic guitar.
That was my thought too. It always helps me to first see if I can identify what it is that I don't like about a sound before I go off trying to fix it.
This man also own a Godin Multiac nylon from where I live. He's a beast! He sadly past away a couple of years ago (struggle with alcohol unfortunately).
I wish I knew about him long time ago. But it's never too late I guess.
Quite honestly, I don't know how anyone can compete with the sheer volume of great choices available in the "Tonebridge" app, which is free (and works on both iOS and desktop macOS). It has an astounding variety of tones available.
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tonebridge-guitar-effects/id1117291846
macOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tonebridge-guitar-effects/id1263858588?mt=12
Eh, he's OK.
Seriously: I hadn't heard him before, so I went searching. The part of this vid starting at about 1:00 is really cool. That is some really impressive playing.