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The Best iOS Guitar And Bass Apps - An Article I Wrote For MMP

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Comments

  • edited August 2022

    @Jamie_Mallender said:
    We all have different ears I guess. The amps in THU did impress me but they’re not in the same league as Nembrini. And I think the pedals are superior in Tonestack, where you definitely get a lot more for your money. But what I really dislike is the interface. What’s the point of having pictures of the gear if I can’t touch the gear and move the settings? That whole side panel thing just seems lazy and whilst I believe the future of iOS music is dependent on users accepting significant price increases I don’t want to pay a lot for something that feels to me, a little half arsed.

    I had a bad experience with THU, so I’ve deleted the app. I purchased some pack that came with a boss octaver pedal, the one to pitch down to sound like bass. It sounded terrible. A garbly mess with glitchy tracking, unusable. Wrote to them, sent videos comparing the pedal to ToneStack, other apps and even THU’s own “legacy” octaver, that was usable. There was clearly something wrong with this pedal. Well their answer was it was based on a monophonic bla bla bla, basically blaming my ears and/or me not understanding what an octaver is supposed to sound like. I solicited a refund and was declined.
    Besides this personal experience, I also purchased a couple of Fuzzes that I didn’t enjoy and in general I find their products overpriced.

  • I will give the writer of the article and the website it was published on the benefit of the doubt, since it seems to be a list of apps the writer likes to use rather than a comprehensive list. Still, it’s strange that the actual game-changer app wasn’t even mentioned. A very well written article nonetheless.

    In the article, apps like Amplitube are overlooked and considered old or obsolete because they’re IAA, and Tonestack Pro is chosen as the best guitar suite app since it’s AUv3. Tonestack Pro is the very definition of an old app, an app that was simply upgraded to AUv3 with little to no dsp improvement. I’ve compared the IAA Tonestack to the AUv3 Tonestack, and to my ears they sound the same. It is well designed, with some wonderful features and components. It also has a loyal following, no doubt about that. But it can’t be overlooked that it’s still an app from the “old guard”. To my ears it has the trademark thinness, digital feel, overcompression, and rinky-dink soundstage of the older apps. It does not have the fidelity or full frequency range and width of the newer apps. It also doesn’t have impulse response implementation. Additionally, it’s disappointing that the IAA Tonestack had a failed AU hosting implementation, and the updated AUv3 app dropped that feature altogether. Now imagine if Tonestack was actually a host of third-party audio units, considering it has the tape deck. Nevertheless, it’s a good app for beginners and I use its octaver effect all the time. I particularly like the Doom Gloom preset. I personally would never use it for recording, without IRs and other major tweaks to its fidelity in post. For someone who is used to playing Tonestack 5 years ago, alongside Bias and Amplitube, I get it. I only started with digital sims in 2019 and was lucky to have skipped all that stuff, going with Nembrini and Overloud from the get-go. When I cycle back to those other older apps, it’s just silly and obvious how digital they sound. For some players that’s actually the preferable sound in their ears, just not for me. My “aha” moment is from the uncanny realism of Nembrini and Overloud. I do think Amplitube sounds pretty good and has held up reasonably well, but I agree that IAA only is not the way to go. Bias FX to me sounds horrible. I do like ToneStack from a sound design standpoint, it’s just that it sounds over-compressed and feels squashed and stiff like an old app.

    20th Anniversary by db Audioware, formerly Flying Haggis, is probably the best sounding of the old generation apps. Even though it’s a newer release, it’s still an update of an older dsp. What I mean is that there’s still a digital fizz and stiffness to feel and response. However, it implements stock stereo IRs, and that makes it sound pretty amazing, especially if one sticks to the clean-ish sounds with tasteful use of reverb and room knobs.

    Mammoth is ok and Rhino is very good, if one likes that sort of user interface. Rhino is near the top of the list for guitar sims currently on the iOS market. And wouldn’t you know it, it uses IRs! Personally I think the user interface is too cryptic and trying to be cool, so I find myself reading the manual or constantly tweaking just to understand what a knob does. The user interface reads like a menu at a craft beer shop or dispensary, rather than an actual piece of music gear. Once I cracked open the Rhino manual and understood the components, I was very impressed. Mammoth doesn’t even come close to Nembrini’s Blackice or Overloud’s Bass Rigs, but Rhino is really quite amazing, and versatile!

    Gain Stage Vintage Clean is an amazing clean preamp. One of the best on iOS, period. I would say it shares DNA with Saturn, in the sense that both are really high fidelity saturation plugins. It’s not really a guitar cab sound and feel, but it’s a great DI kind of sound with awesome color, like a good preamp.

    The Stark app does not sound good. Not even sure why it’s on the list.

    Which brings me to Nembrini. There’s no doubt when Crunk came to iOS followed by Nembrini’s other releases, the ante was upped, if you will. Nembrini’s attention to digitally recreating an amp’s actual circuit point to point, recreating the response and feel, and infusing it with analog flavor, is second to none. The effects are also amazing, helping deem “guitar suite apps” unnecessary. Nembrini is not perfect. Getting a pristine clean sound with any of the amps is next to impossible, the presets are useless, the IRs aren’t great, and most of the amps are voiced too bassy with whacked out input/output levels. So in that sense Nembrinis behave like a real amp in a room, rather than a recording of one, and after a lot of adjusting, coupled with third party IRs, they are the best that we have on iOS

    Nembrini’s algorithms coupled with use of stock IRs has been an incredible development for iOS guitar, but I would not call it a game changer as the article suggests. The actual game changer that was sadly omitted from this article, is Overloud Rigs bringing Kemper-like technology to iOS. While Nembrini is bringing improved amp algorithms with default use of IRs (upping the ante), Overloud is bringing actual real life amps (game changer). And by the way, they use IRs! When I first heard and played a Choptones Rig, it was my “Aha” moment where I realized that iOS amps could sound just like the real thing.

    It’s strange that the writer of the article didn’t bother to delve deeper into this app, because it was expensive and the user interface was not to his taste. Either he can’t really hear the difference, or he’s willing to overlook sound quality and fidelity in favor of how an app looks. If I were playing on an iPhone for example, why would I want to twiddle tiny knobs that I can’t even see. I much prefer a side menu with zoomable components. I actually don’t know why I prefer the menu style interface of Overloud, even on iPad, but I really do. Perhaps because I started with it and got used to it. User interfaces like Bias and Tonestack really annoy me, go figure. I understand that a side menu is a deal breaker for some people and thus they can’t get into Overloud. You can use the knobs on the desktop version, and on iOS you can press components on/off or operate toggles. So I hope that in the future Overloud will update the app to give users the option of using knobs since it seems they can.

    My opinions are based on what I perceive as the best sound quality, as I am also a professional musician. Overloud has figured out how to smooth out the digital fizz, or how to conceal it. Nembrini and Overloud are the most full and open sounding apps, the least compressed, the broadest, and the most realistic feeling. They have the most input and output range without crapping out. That is the point I’m trying to drive home. If you read around the other gear head forums, like TGP for example, whenever guitar on iPad comes up as a topic, you see comments like “on iPad I use Overloud” over and over. Sometimes Nembrini. Overloud has been a major player in the desktop market for a while. Their licensed amps like Brunetti, DVMark, Randall, are truly special. Their rack and stompbox effects are so freaking good that other companies like Antelope Audio or Gospel Musicians license them and place them inside their interfaces, suite bundles, and apps. Just think about that! Some would consider Overloud on desktop old. It certainly looks old and clunky. Nembrini is more of a newcomer, but while on iOS it’s often touted as the holy grail, on desktop it gets a lot of flack and criticism. As the famous saying goes, YMMV.

    Finally, impulse responses aren’t mentioned in the article at all. The fact that iOS is now powerful enough where we can load them into Rhino, Overloud, Thafknar, Nembrini IR Loader, etc… that’s the real game changer. All the newer apps are using stock IRs, even 20th anniv., and it makes a huge difference. In fact, any old guitar head sim can be greatly improved with a third party IR as the cab. Digital cab components and cabinet emulation has always been the weak point. This is not the same as emulated cab outs on the backs of real amps or emulated cab outs on real stompboxes. Those are analog, have been around much longer, and are much better. In the digital realm, we have impulse responses that must replace cab sims for good, and this is in a way 80% of the sound, much more so that the amp part. So an app like ToneStack that doesn’t use IRs, I can’t even take seriously. The common thread here is Rhino, Nembrini, Overloud Rigs… they use IRs. That’s a big part of what makes them sound so good. I would say that an IR loader is actually where the best iOS guitar tone lives. There’s just no excuse anymore to not use them.

    @Jamie_Mallender no offense mate, this is a forum after all. Did someone say “guitar sim thread”? I’m like a squirrel to a nut. Carry on 😎

  • @tahiche said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:
    We all have different ears I guess. The amps in THU did impress me but they’re not in the same league as Nembrini. And I think the pedals are superior in Tonestack, where you definitely get a lot more for your money. But what I really dislike is the interface. What’s the point of having pictures of the gear if I can’t touch the gear and move the settings? That whole side panel thing just seems lazy and whilst I believe the future of iOS music is dependent on users accepting significant price increases I don’t want to pay a lot for something that feels to me, a little half arsed.

    I had a bad experience with THU, so I’ve deleted the app. I purchased some pack that came with a boss octaver pedal, the one to pitch down to sound like bass. It sounded terrible. A garbly mess with glitchy tracking, unusable. Wrote to them, sent videos comparing the pedal to ToneStack, other apps and even THU’s own “legacy” octaver, that was usable. There was clearly something wrong with this pedal. Well their answer was it was based on a monophonic bla bla bla, basically blaming my ears and/or me not understanding what an octaver is supposed to sound like. I solicited a refund and was declined.
    Besides this personal experience, I also purchased a couple of Fuzzes that I didn’t enjoy and in general I find their products overpriced.

    Totally agree, Overloud would not be my first choice for octaves and fuzzes. Every fuzz pedal in there actually sucks. There is a good octaver in there called the Harmonizer, tracks really well, but it’s more of a rack unit than a stomp.

    However, I must point out that the Overloud Boss Octave pedal functions as it should. It is not designed to track well, and the glitchiness is a quirky part of the effect. In fact, I have a Boss OC-2 on my board right now that does the exact same thing, depending on how I play. There’s nothing wrong with the pedal as designed. You may find this video useful, it explains why some octave pedals glitch or track badly. It actually has to do with the player’s technique, sending confusing harmonics to the pedal, and the gear, and this is exactly how Overloud devs explained it to me when I complained. It’s not supposed to track like a POG or some other perfect octaver, Boss OCs actually do this…

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:
    I will give the writer of the article and the website it was published on the benefit of the doubt, since it seems to be a list of apps the writer likes to use rather than a comprehensive list. Still, it’s strange that the actual game-changer app wasn’t even mentioned. A very well written article nonetheless.

    In the article, apps like Amplitube are overlooked and considered old or obsolete because they’re IAA, and Tonestack Pro is chosen as the best guitar suite app since it’s AUv3. Tonestack Pro is the very definition of an old app, an app that was simply upgraded to AUv3 with little to no dsp improvement. I’ve compared the IAA Tonestack to the AUv3 Tonestack, and to my ears they sound the same. It is well designed, with some wonderful features and components. It also has a loyal following, no doubt about that. But it can’t be overlooked that it’s still an app from the “old guard”. To my ears it has the trademark thinness, digital feel, overcompression, and rinky-dink soundstage of the older apps. It does not have the fidelity or full frequency range and width of the newer apps. It also doesn’t have impulse response implementation. Additionally, it’s disappointing that the IAA Tonestack had a failed AU hosting implementation, and the updated AUv3 app dropped that feature altogether. Now imagine if Tonestack was actually a host of third-party audio units, considering it has the tape deck. Nevertheless, it’s a good app for beginners and I use its octaver effect all the time. I particularly like the Doom Gloom preset. I personally would never use it for recording, without IRs and other major tweaks to its fidelity in post. For someone who is used to playing Tonestack 5 years ago, alongside Bias and Amplitube, I get it. I only started with digital sims in 2019 and was lucky to have skipped all that stuff, going with Nembrini and Overloud from the get-go. When I cycle back to those other older apps, it’s just silly and obvious how digital they sound. For some players that’s actually the preferable sound in their ears, just not for me. My “aha” moment is from the uncanny realism of Nembrini and Overloud. I do think Amplitube sounds pretty good and has held up reasonably well, but I agree that IAA only is not the way to go. Bias FX to me sounds horrible. I do like ToneStack from a sound design standpoint, it’s just that it sounds over-compressed and feels squashed and stiff like an old app.

    20th Anniversary by db Audioware, formerly Flying Haggis, is probably the best sounding of the old generation apps. Even though it’s a newer release, it’s still an update of an older dsp. What I mean is that there’s still a digital fizz and stiffness to feel and response. However, it implements stock stereo IRs, and that makes it sound pretty amazing, especially if one sticks to the clean-ish sounds with tasteful use of reverb and room knobs.

    Mammoth is ok and Rhino is very good, if one likes that sort of user interface. Rhino is near the top of the list for guitar sims currently on the iOS market. And wouldn’t you know it, it uses IRs! Personally I think the user interface is too cryptic and trying to be cool, so I find myself reading the manual or constantly tweaking just to understand what a knob does. The user interface reads like a menu at a craft beer shop or dispensary, rather than an actual piece of music gear. Once I cracked open the Rhino manual and understood the components, I was very impressed. Mammoth doesn’t even come close to Nembrini’s Blackice or Overloud’s Bass Rigs, but Rhino is really quite amazing, and versatile!

    Gain Stage Vintage Clean is an amazing clean preamp. One of the best on iOS, period. I would say it shares DNA with Saturn, in the sense that both are really high fidelity saturation plugins. It’s not really a guitar cab sound and feel, but it’s a great DI kind of sound with awesome color, like a good preamp.

    The Stark app does not sound good. Not even sure why it’s on the list.

    Which brings me to Nembrini. There’s no doubt when Crunk came to iOS followed by Nembrini’s other releases, the ante was upped, if you will. Nembrini’s attention to digitally recreating an amp’s actual circuit point to point, recreating the response and feel, and infusing it with analog flavor, is second to none. The effects are also amazing, helping deem “guitar suite apps” unnecessary. Nembrini is not perfect. Getting a pristine clean sound with any of the amps is next to impossible, the presets are useless, the IRs aren’t great, and most of the amps are voiced too bassy with whacked out input/output levels. So in that sense Nembrinis behave like a real amp in a room, rather than a recording of one, and after a lot of adjusting, coupled with third party IRs, they are the best that we have on iOS

    Nembrini’s algorithms coupled with use of stock IRs has been an incredible development for iOS guitar, but I would not call it a game changer as the article suggests. The actual game changer that was sadly omitted from this article, is Overloud Rigs bringing Kemper-like technology to iOS. While Nembrini is bringing improved amp algorithms with default use of IRs (upping the ante), Overloud is bringing actual real life amps (game changer). And by the way, they use IRs! When I first heard and played a Choptones Rig, it was my “Aha” moment where I realized that iOS amps could sound just like the real thing.

    It’s strange that the writer of the article didn’t bother to delve deeper into this app, because it was expensive and the user interface was not to his taste. Either he can’t really hear the difference, or he’s willing to overlook sound quality and fidelity in favor of how an app looks. If I were playing on an iPhone for example, why would I want to twiddle tiny knobs that I can’t even see. I much prefer a side menu with zoomable components. I actually don’t know why I prefer the menu style interface of Overloud, even on iPad, but I really do. Perhaps because I started with it and got used to it. User interfaces like Bias and Tonestack really annoy me, go figure. I understand that a side menu is a deal breaker for some people and thus they can’t get into Overloud. You can use the knobs on the desktop version, and on iOS you can press components on/off or operate toggles. So I hope that in the future Overloud will update the app to give users the option of using knobs since it seems they can.

    My opinions are based on what I perceive as the best sound quality, as I am also a professional musician. Overloud has figured out how to smooth out the digital fizz, or how to conceal it. Nembrini and Overloud are the most full and open sounding apps, the least compressed, the broadest, and the most realistic feeling. They have the most input and output range without crapping out. That is the point I’m trying to drive home. If you read around the other gear head forums, like TGP for example, whenever guitar on iPad comes up as a topic, you see comments like “on iPad I use Overloud” over and over. Sometimes Nembrini. Overloud has been a major player in the desktop market for a while. Their licensed amps like Brunetti, DVMark, Randall, are truly special. Their rack and stompbox effects are so freaking good that other companies like Antelope Audio or Gospel Musicians license them and place them inside their interfaces, suite bundles, and apps. Just think about that! Some would consider Overloud on desktop old. It certainly looks old and clunky. Nembrini is more of a newcomer, but while on iOS it’s often touted as the holy grail, on desktop it gets a lot of flack and criticism. As the famous saying goes, YMMV.

    Finally, impulse responses aren’t mentioned in the article at all. The fact that iOS is now powerful enough where we can load them into Rhino, Overloud, Thafknar, Nembrini IR Loader, etc… that’s the real game changer. All the newer apps are using stock IRs, even 20th anniv., and it makes a huge difference. In fact, any old guitar head sim can be greatly improved with a third party IR as the cab. Digital cab components and cabinet emulation has always been the weak point. This is not the same as emulated cab outs on the backs of real amps or emulated cab outs on real stompboxes. Those are analog, have been around much longer, and are much better. In the digital realm, we have impulse responses that must replace cab sims for good, and this is in a way 80% of the sound, much more so that the amp part. So an app like ToneStack that doesn’t use IRs, I can’t even take seriously. The common thread here is Rhino, Nembrini, Overloud Rigs… they use IRs. That’s a big part of what makes them sound so good. I would say that an IR loader is actually where the best iOS guitar tone lives. There’s just no excuse anymore to not use them.

    @Jamie_Mallender no offense mate, this is a forum after all. Did someone say “guitar sim thread”? I’m like a squirrel to a nut. Carry on 😎

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I don’t see much real progression with amp modelling. In the 2000’s I used a digitech RP20 and sometimes I still compare it to things like Overloud and prefer it. Like you said, a good cab IR will get you 80% of the way there.

  • Something I love about Nembrini, which I noticed with the Ecstasy, Faceman, Hiwatt apps, and the Minotaur stomp, is that I can really hear my guitar’s wood, fretboard, and character. It’s almost like the circuit is closer to my guitar and the algorithm lets that transparency shine through. With lots of other sims there’s a certain compressed distance, and a digital correction to the tone and feel. I’ve noticed really crappy out of tune guitars sound totally fine with an older sim, and then a completely different guitar will sound almost the same. Digital correction. Nembrini actually sounds like what you put into it, there is something special about those digital circuits…

  • Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I don’t see much real progression with amp modelling. In the 2000’s I used a digitech RP20 and sometimes I still compare it to things like Overloud and prefer it. Like you said, a good cab IR will get you 80% of the way there.

    Totally a lack of progression. I’ve actually gone back more towards hardware and a regular amp and pedalboard, but I’m always working on a hybrid setup. To me the next progression is actually figuring out how to make an FRFR sound good. Digital sims are pretty convincing in a DAW or direct to FOH, on a recording, but live they’re only as good as the speaker you’re sending them through. And I must say, it’s a huge weak point and cheapens the whole experience. I want an FRFR that can actually make an amp sim sound good live that that doesn’t cost 2k. Until then it’s just for home studio imho.

  • Wow, @JoyceRoadStudios! Why should I not be surprised at your typically informative deep-dive into iOS guitar rigs? You once again cover a ton of rig options in depth with detailed information, personal experience, and clarity.

    Jamie did an excellent job as well at bringing-up his rig faves and I'm pretty certain between the two options all of us have had our own personal rig opinions validated.

    That's the beauty of the AB forum to me. The great variety of opinions on various apps gives us all starting points in our musical journey — as well as caution signs on things we should avoid.

    BTW Jamie, I totally loved the "Positive Cash Grab" moniker!

    We all can nitpick about the various iOS guitar rigs, but as a long-time user, I'm eternally greatful for all the incredible new options that have appeared in recent years. In the past, guitar sims (especially heavy rock and metal) were virtually ignored. Today we have a plethora of options and as a result we are all musically blessed.

  • @Ben said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:

    @Ben said:
    Hi @Jamie_Mallender. Very helpful stuff. Thanks for this.
    Would you be kind enough to post a screenshot of an example in AUM of one of your set ups?
    I’m mostly interested in how you use Blackice with Tonestack pedals and/or Roxsyn.
    That would be so great. If you have the time. Thanks!

    Here are a couple of screenshots of a recent chain I made for bass experiments. Any questions you have anytime, just fire away. Always happy to help.

    Thanks so much for that. Been arranging analog gear for a number of years but of course iOS is a different animal and the landscape is always changing.
    Why is it you use Schlap compressor over say Magic Death Eye or one of the many that are highly touted? Or the onboard compressor in Blackice?
    Also, interesting that you put FAC Chorus at the end.
    I’m going to have to make another run at chaining pedalboards together in ToneStack Pro.
    Not sure what I was doing wrong but I had no luck starting from scratch and adding pedals without amplification to create my own preset.
    Thanks in advance for any input.

    Hi Ben. I do use other iOS compressors on bass at times and Magic Death Eye is one of them but I play a lot of bass and I switch compressors over all the time and also their position in the chain just to hear what happens. I just love the way Schlap responds and the sound I get from it. It is infinitely more versatile than Magic Death Eye and I play a lot of different styles. I can find settings in Schlap where I can slap and tap, rake chords, finger style, pick - whatever and it will deal with it. Magic Death Eye I feel I need to adjust it for different styles. But I do love the sound of it.

    FAC Chorus is at the end because I liked the way it sounded there with what I was playing at the time. I spent a lot of years playing live with modulation pedals in the loop. Then a producer asked me to bring my phase 90 to a session and put it right in front of the amp. Mind blown! I then realised that the “correct” order of fx was utterly bogus and that the only real knowledge one needed was to be open minded and experiment and trust the ears. This is where iOS is so much fun with fx chains. 1 swipe and that phase 90 is tormenting the front end of the amp instead of sounding all clean and sensible in the fx chain. Delay before reverb - except when it sounds more interesting the other way. No rules in music - it’s art - be creative and trust your ears. I’m always here to help Ben and if you ever want to message me directly and not on the forum, my e-mail and social medias are all listed under my videos.

  • edited August 2022

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    @tahiche said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:
    We all have different ears I guess. The amps in THU did impress me but they’re not in the same league as Nembrini. And I think the pedals are superior in Tonestack, where you definitely get a lot more for your money. But what I really dislike is the interface. What’s the point of having pictures of the gear if I can’t touch the gear and move the settings? That whole side panel thing just seems lazy and whilst I believe the future of iOS music is dependent on users accepting significant price increases I don’t want to pay a lot for something that feels to me, a little half arsed.

    I had a bad experience with THU, so I’ve deleted the app. I purchased some pack that came with a boss octaver pedal, the one to pitch down to sound like bass. It sounded terrible. A garbly mess with glitchy tracking, unusable. Wrote to them, sent videos comparing the pedal to ToneStack, other apps and even THU’s own “legacy” octaver, that was usable. There was clearly something wrong with this pedal. Well their answer was it was based on a monophonic bla bla bla, basically blaming my ears and/or me not understanding what an octaver is supposed to sound like. I solicited a refund and was declined.
    Besides this personal experience, I also purchased a couple of Fuzzes that I didn’t enjoy and in general I find their products overpriced.

    Totally agree, Overloud would not be my first choice for octaves and fuzzes. Every fuzz pedal in there actually sucks. There is a good octaver in there called the Harmonizer, tracks really well, but it’s more of a rack unit than a stomp.

    However, I must point out that the Overloud Boss Octave pedal functions as it should. It is not designed to track well, and the glitchiness is a quirky part of the effect. In fact, I have a Boss OC-2 on my board right now that does the exact same thing, depending on how I play. There’s nothing wrong with the pedal as designed. You may find this video useful, it explains why some octave pedals glitch or track badly. It actually has to do with the player’s technique, sending confusing harmonics to the pedal, and the gear, and this is exactly how Overloud devs explained it to me when I complained. It’s not supposed to track like a POG or some other perfect octaver, Boss OCs actually do this…

    Yeah I agree with this - in real life I dislike the Boss Octavers, and much prefer the Whammy and POG when it comes to creating fake bass tones from a guitar.

    In Overloud the Whammy emulation is pretty decent, and this setup gives me a fake bass tone that I like:

  • edited August 2022

    @richardyot said:
    Yeah I agree with this - in real life I dislike the Boss Octavers, and much prefer the Whammy and POG when it comes to creating fake bass tones from a guitar.

    In Overloud the Whammy emulation is pretty decent, and this setup gives me a fake bass tone that I like:

    It is hardware not software, so maybe not approprite in this topic, but this pedal gives me a nice bass sound:

    https://www.t-rex-effects.com/quint-machine

    Tracking is good on the 6 and 5th string, 4th and 3th get's a bit artificial. And the way you play (thumb or pick), and the guitar or pickup you use is important too. For basic bass lines it serves me well.

    Nembrini has an app based on this pedal, Quinta Pitch Machine, but from what I have read, there is latency in the output.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I don’t see much real progression with amp modelling. In the 2000’s I used a digitech RP20 and sometimes I still compare it to things like Overloud and prefer it. Like you said, a good cab IR will get you 80% of the way there.

    Totally a lack of progression. I’ve actually gone back more towards hardware and a regular amp and pedalboard, but I’m always working on a hybrid setup. To me the next progression is actually figuring out how to make an FRFR sound good. Digital sims are pretty convincing in a DAW or direct to FOH, on a recording, but live they’re only as good as the speaker you’re sending them through. And I must say, it’s a huge weak point and cheapens the whole experience. I want an FRFR that can actually make an amp sim sound good live that that doesn’t cost 2k. Until then it’s just for home studio imho.

    A couple of months ago I bought a Strymon Iridium, and I really like the simplicity of recording the tone direct into the iPad using the actual pedals on my board. A lot less futzing around, because I can dial in the tone I like on the Iridium straight away, and get the tone I want from the overdrive/fuzz/modulation pedals on the board. And physical pedals still have the edge in terms of sound. Chow BYOD is very good, but the physical Big Muff is more satisfying.

  • @richardyot said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I don’t see much real progression with amp modelling. In the 2000’s I used a digitech RP20 and sometimes I still compare it to things like Overloud and prefer it. Like you said, a good cab IR will get you 80% of the way there.

    Totally a lack of progression. I’ve actually gone back more towards hardware and a regular amp and pedalboard, but I’m always working on a hybrid setup. To me the next progression is actually figuring out how to make an FRFR sound good. Digital sims are pretty convincing in a DAW or direct to FOH, on a recording, but live they’re only as good as the speaker you’re sending them through. And I must say, it’s a huge weak point and cheapens the whole experience. I want an FRFR that can actually make an amp sim sound good live that that doesn’t cost 2k. Until then it’s just for home studio imho.

    A couple of months ago I bought a Strymon Iridium, and I really like the simplicity of recording the tone direct into the iPad using the actual pedals on my board. A lot less futzing around, because I can dial in the tone I like on the Iridium straight away, and get the tone I want from the overdrive/fuzz/modulation pedals on the board. And physical pedals still have the edge in terms of sound. Chow BYOD is very good, but the physical Big Muff is more satisfying.

    How does the Iridium perform compared to say a Nembrini amp sim?. I’ve been setting up my rig now that I have the Tascam Model 12 and I can’t decide on the amp sim thing… The Iridium looks great but it’s a bit pricey. I’m on the lookout for a second hand Yamaha THR or Vox Adio, something that feels like a real amp. For now I’m using a cheap Zoom pedal (B1On with hack to have both bass and guitar fx from the G1on and the other stomps) and it doesn’t sound bad, pretty decent emulations. Sometimes I believe we overthink things and this turns into unnecessary complications and spending. The 50€ Zoom pedal is probably better than a unit costing 10X from a few years back.

  • @tahiche said:

    @richardyot said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I don’t see much real progression with amp modelling. In the 2000’s I used a digitech RP20 and sometimes I still compare it to things like Overloud and prefer it. Like you said, a good cab IR will get you 80% of the way there.

    Totally a lack of progression. I’ve actually gone back more towards hardware and a regular amp and pedalboard, but I’m always working on a hybrid setup. To me the next progression is actually figuring out how to make an FRFR sound good. Digital sims are pretty convincing in a DAW or direct to FOH, on a recording, but live they’re only as good as the speaker you’re sending them through. And I must say, it’s a huge weak point and cheapens the whole experience. I want an FRFR that can actually make an amp sim sound good live that that doesn’t cost 2k. Until then it’s just for home studio imho.

    A couple of months ago I bought a Strymon Iridium, and I really like the simplicity of recording the tone direct into the iPad using the actual pedals on my board. A lot less futzing around, because I can dial in the tone I like on the Iridium straight away, and get the tone I want from the overdrive/fuzz/modulation pedals on the board. And physical pedals still have the edge in terms of sound. Chow BYOD is very good, but the physical Big Muff is more satisfying.

    How does the Iridium perform compared to say a Nembrini amp sim?. I’ve been setting up my rig now that I have the Tascam Model 12 and I can’t decide on the amp sim thing… The Iridium looks great but it’s a bit pricey. I’m on the lookout for a second hand Yamaha THR or Vox Adio, something that feels like a real amp. For now I’m using a cheap Zoom pedal (B1On with hack to have both bass and guitar fx from the G1on and the other stomps) and it doesn’t sound bad, pretty decent emulations. Sometimes I believe we overthink things and this turns into unnecessary complications and spending. The 50€ Zoom pedal is probably better than a unit costing 10X from a few years back.

    The Iridium is IR-based, so it sounds really good. Personally I prefer it to the sound of Nembrini apps, but of course YMMV. The Iridium is rather dark, which is partly why I chose it (the equivalent Walrus Audio and UA pedals are noticeably brighter if you check the YouTube comparisons). I like a darker tone though, my favourite iOS sim is the Choptones Fender Super Reverb which is also dark.

    The great thing about the pedal though, is that my tone is dialled in very quickly, much quicker than when using sims.

  • @richardyot said:

    @tahiche said:

    @richardyot said:

    @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I don’t see much real progression with amp modelling. In the 2000’s I used a digitech RP20 and sometimes I still compare it to things like Overloud and prefer it. Like you said, a good cab IR will get you 80% of the way there.

    Totally a lack of progression. I’ve actually gone back more towards hardware and a regular amp and pedalboard, but I’m always working on a hybrid setup. To me the next progression is actually figuring out how to make an FRFR sound good. Digital sims are pretty convincing in a DAW or direct to FOH, on a recording, but live they’re only as good as the speaker you’re sending them through. And I must say, it’s a huge weak point and cheapens the whole experience. I want an FRFR that can actually make an amp sim sound good live that that doesn’t cost 2k. Until then it’s just for home studio imho.

    A couple of months ago I bought a Strymon Iridium, and I really like the simplicity of recording the tone direct into the iPad using the actual pedals on my board. A lot less futzing around, because I can dial in the tone I like on the Iridium straight away, and get the tone I want from the overdrive/fuzz/modulation pedals on the board. And physical pedals still have the edge in terms of sound. Chow BYOD is very good, but the physical Big Muff is more satisfying.

    How does the Iridium perform compared to say a Nembrini amp sim?. I’ve been setting up my rig now that I have the Tascam Model 12 and I can’t decide on the amp sim thing… The Iridium looks great but it’s a bit pricey. I’m on the lookout for a second hand Yamaha THR or Vox Adio, something that feels like a real amp. For now I’m using a cheap Zoom pedal (B1On with hack to have both bass and guitar fx from the G1on and the other stomps) and it doesn’t sound bad, pretty decent emulations. Sometimes I believe we overthink things and this turns into unnecessary complications and spending. The 50€ Zoom pedal is probably better than a unit costing 10X from a few years back.

    The Iridium is IR-based, so it sounds really good. Personally I prefer it to the sound of Nembrini apps, but of course YMMV. The Iridium is rather dark, which is partly why I chose it (the equivalent Walrus Audio and UA pedals are noticeably brighter if you check the YouTube comparisons). I like a darker tone though, my favourite iOS sim is the Choptones Fender Super Reverb which is also dark.

    The great thing about the pedal though, is that my tone is dialled in very quickly, much quicker than when using sims.

    The iridium is really well regarded. Along those lines I’ve been strongly considering pre-ordering the Two Notes Revolt. The new UAD pedals (woodrow, dream, ruby) are also supposed to sound good, but there’s no headphone out and they seem expensive for what they are and rely on a glitchy app for firmware etc.. Two Notes Revolt is all analog and has a tube in it, but there’s an emulated cab out instead of IRs, so you can bypass the cab out and use an IR pedal or app. It has a balanced xlr out and a regular 1/4 out which you can use at the same time to send to amp and FOH/DAW, rather than a “stereo” out. These types of devices really bridge the gap, as they can be used in an amp’s fx loop to add more preamps channels, or sent directly to DAW/FOH.

    Which brings me to another point. In the past guitarist like Flo have insisted that an audio interface must see the purest and dryest signal it can in order for the apps to sound best with it, so the guitar must go straight to the interface with nothing in between. That’s just not true. There are so many players who put pedals, especially overdrive pedals, in between their guitar and interface input. I’ve seen this on touring boards as well, overdrive pedal -> volume pedal -> interface -> iPad for modulation and IR, etc… as long as the interface input level/gain is set correctly, having an overdrive pedal in front of the interface going into iPad is such a great way to add real color and restore the feel…

    One thing I haven’t tried is sending an audio interface’s line out or monitor out into a pedal, like a modulation or a compressor or something, before it goes out to speakers, but that experiment is for another day…

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:
    Which brings me to another point. In the past guitarist like Flo have insisted that an audio interface must see the purest and dryest signal it can in order for the apps to sound best with it, so the guitar must go straight to the interface with nothing in between. That’s just not true. There are so many players who put pedals, especially overdrive pedals, in between their guitar and interface input. I’ve seen this on touring boards as well, overdrive pedal -> volume pedal -> interface -> iPad for modulation and IR, etc… as long as the interface input level/gain is set correctly, having an overdrive pedal in front of the interface going into iPad is such a great way to add real color and restore the feel…

    I’m reading about this. I get completely lost with concepts like impedance, which happen to be crucial.
    From what I’ve been researching, you’re right, a pedal going into the interface should be perfectly fine. It’s instrument level, like a guitar, if there was a problem there you’d have the same issue going into a n amp. Right?.

    One thing I haven’t tried is sending an audio interface’s line out or monitor out into a pedal, like a modulation or a compressor or something, before it goes out to speakers, but that experiment is for another day…

    I mean to do this with my new Model12 interface/mixer. Reamping sort of thing. I’ve read mixed opinions as to if a reamp box is absolutely necessary. The interface’s out will be line level (lower impedance?) while pedals expect instrument level (higher impedance?). Depending on the pedals it’ll work better or worse. Youll basically have too hot of a signal for the pedal to handle, which apparently can be tamed by lowering the interface output volume (although impedance won’t change). Since I’m not aiming for a pristine sound but rather mess things up I might be ok with the extra distorsion or whatever artifacts.
    Not sure if I should record guitars with pedals (BigMuff, other fuzzes, distorsion, Modulation) , or dry and add them later (line out from mixer to pedals back to daw). Guess I can record both a dry signal and wet and decide later if I need to change something.

  • @tahiche said:
    Not sure if I should record guitars with pedals (BigMuff, other fuzzes, distorsion, Modulation) , or dry and add them later (line out from mixer to pedals back to daw). Guess I can record both a dry signal and wet and decide later if I need to change something.

    Delays and reverb by all means later in the DAW, but fuzz and overdrive I think it's best to capture with the performance - not only is the pedal very likely to sound better, it will also help with the performance because the sound and the vibe are a crucial element when you are playing. Also, leaving all the decisions for later, and creating extra work are a real workflow killer.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:
    I will give the writer of the article and the website it was published on the benefit of the doubt, since it seems to be a list of apps the writer likes to use rather than a comprehensive list. Still, it’s strange that the actual game-changer app wasn’t even mentioned. A very well written article nonetheless.

    In the article, apps like Amplitube are overlooked and considered old or obsolete because they’re IAA, and Tonestack Pro is chosen as the best guitar suite app since it’s AUv3. Tonestack Pro is the very definition of an old app, an app that was simply upgraded to AUv3 with little to no dsp improvement. I’ve compared the IAA Tonestack to the AUv3 Tonestack, and to my ears they sound the same. It is well designed, with some wonderful features and components. It also has a loyal following, no doubt about that. But it can’t be overlooked that it’s still an app from the “old guard”. To my ears it has the trademark thinness, digital feel, overcompression, and rinky-dink soundstage of the older apps. It does not have the fidelity or full frequency range and width of the newer apps. It also doesn’t have impulse response implementation. Additionally, it’s disappointing that the IAA Tonestack had a failed AU hosting implementation, and the updated AUv3 app dropped that feature altogether. Now imagine if Tonestack was actually a host of third-party audio units, considering it has the tape deck. Nevertheless, it’s a good app for beginners and I use its octaver effect all the time. I particularly like the Doom Gloom preset. I personally would never use it for recording, without IRs and other major tweaks to its fidelity in post. For someone who is used to playing Tonestack 5 years ago, alongside Bias and Amplitube, I get it. I only started with digital sims in 2019 and was lucky to have skipped all that stuff, going with Nembrini and Overloud from the get-go. When I cycle back to those other older apps, it’s just silly and obvious how digital they sound. For some players that’s actually the preferable sound in their ears, just not for me. My “aha” moment is from the uncanny realism of Nembrini and Overloud. I do think Amplitube sounds pretty good and has held up reasonably well, but I agree that IAA only is not the way to go. Bias FX to me sounds horrible. I do like ToneStack from a sound design standpoint, it’s just that it sounds over-compressed and feels squashed and stiff like an old app.

    20th Anniversary by db Audioware, formerly Flying Haggis, is probably the best sounding of the old generation apps. Even though it’s a newer release, it’s still an update of an older dsp. What I mean is that there’s still a digital fizz and stiffness to feel and response. However, it implements stock stereo IRs, and that makes it sound pretty amazing, especially if one sticks to the clean-ish sounds with tasteful use of reverb and room knobs.

    Mammoth is ok and Rhino is very good, if one likes that sort of user interface. Rhino is near the top of the list for guitar sims currently on the iOS market. And wouldn’t you know it, it uses IRs! Personally I think the user interface is too cryptic and trying to be cool, so I find myself reading the manual or constantly tweaking just to understand what a knob does. The user interface reads like a menu at a craft beer shop or dispensary, rather than an actual piece of music gear. Once I cracked open the Rhino manual and understood the components, I was very impressed. Mammoth doesn’t even come close to Nembrini’s Blackice or Overloud’s Bass Rigs, but Rhino is really quite amazing, and versatile!

    Gain Stage Vintage Clean is an amazing clean preamp. One of the best on iOS, period. I would say it shares DNA with Saturn, in the sense that both are really high fidelity saturation plugins. It’s not really a guitar cab sound and feel, but it’s a great DI kind of sound with awesome color, like a good preamp.

    The Stark app does not sound good. Not even sure why it’s on the list.

    Which brings me to Nembrini. There’s no doubt when Crunk came to iOS followed by Nembrini’s other releases, the ante was upped, if you will. Nembrini’s attention to digitally recreating an amp’s actual circuit point to point, recreating the response and feel, and infusing it with analog flavor, is second to none. The effects are also amazing, helping deem “guitar suite apps” unnecessary. Nembrini is not perfect. Getting a pristine clean sound with any of the amps is next to impossible, the presets are useless, the IRs aren’t great, and most of the amps are voiced too bassy with whacked out input/output levels. So in that sense Nembrinis behave like a real amp in a room, rather than a recording of one, and after a lot of adjusting, coupled with third party IRs, they are the best that we have on iOS

    Nembrini’s algorithms coupled with use of stock IRs has been an incredible development for iOS guitar, but I would not call it a game changer as the article suggests. The actual game changer that was sadly omitted from this article, is Overloud Rigs bringing Kemper-like technology to iOS. While Nembrini is bringing improved amp algorithms with default use of IRs (upping the ante), Overloud is bringing actual real life amps (game changer). And by the way, they use IRs! When I first heard and played a Choptones Rig, it was my “Aha” moment where I realized that iOS amps could sound just like the real thing.

    It’s strange that the writer of the article didn’t bother to delve deeper into this app, because it was expensive and the user interface was not to his taste. Either he can’t really hear the difference, or he’s willing to overlook sound quality and fidelity in favor of how an app looks. If I were playing on an iPhone for example, why would I want to twiddle tiny knobs that I can’t even see. I much prefer a side menu with zoomable components. I actually don’t know why I prefer the menu style interface of Overloud, even on iPad, but I really do. Perhaps because I started with it and got used to it. User interfaces like Bias and Tonestack really annoy me, go figure. I understand that a side menu is a deal breaker for some people and thus they can’t get into Overloud. You can use the knobs on the desktop version, and on iOS you can press components on/off or operate toggles. So I hope that in the future Overloud will update the app to give users the option of using knobs since it seems they can.

    My opinions are based on what I perceive as the best sound quality, as I am also a professional musician. Overloud has figured out how to smooth out the digital fizz, or how to conceal it. Nembrini and Overloud are the most full and open sounding apps, the least compressed, the broadest, and the most realistic feeling. They have the most input and output range without crapping out. That is the point I’m trying to drive home. If you read around the other gear head forums, like TGP for example, whenever guitar on iPad comes up as a topic, you see comments like “on iPad I use Overloud” over and over. Sometimes Nembrini. Overloud has been a major player in the desktop market for a while. Their licensed amps like Brunetti, DVMark, Randall, are truly special. Their rack and stompbox effects are so freaking good that other companies like Antelope Audio or Gospel Musicians license them and place them inside their interfaces, suite bundles, and apps. Just think about that! Some would consider Overloud on desktop old. It certainly looks old and clunky. Nembrini is more of a newcomer, but while on iOS it’s often touted as the holy grail, on desktop it gets a lot of flack and criticism. As the famous saying goes, YMMV.

    Finally, impulse responses aren’t mentioned in the article at all. The fact that iOS is now powerful enough where we can load them into Rhino, Overloud, Thafknar, Nembrini IR Loader, etc… that’s the real game changer. All the newer apps are using stock IRs, even 20th anniv., and it makes a huge difference. In fact, any old guitar head sim can be greatly improved with a third party IR as the cab. Digital cab components and cabinet emulation has always been the weak point. This is not the same as emulated cab outs on the backs of real amps or emulated cab outs on real stompboxes. Those are analog, have been around much longer, and are much better. In the digital realm, we have impulse responses that must replace cab sims for good, and this is in a way 80% of the sound, much more so that the amp part. So an app like ToneStack that doesn’t use IRs, I can’t even take seriously. The common thread here is Rhino, Nembrini, Overloud Rigs… they use IRs. That’s a big part of what makes them sound so good. I would say that an IR loader is actually where the best iOS guitar tone lives. There’s just no excuse anymore to not use them.

    @Jamie_Mallender no offense mate, this is a forum after all. Did someone say “guitar sim thread”? I’m like a squirrel to a nut. Carry on 😎

    You’re reading the article of course, from the point of view of professional musician, a guitar player with a wealth of experience. But I was writing for a specific target audience. Mobile Music Pro caters more towards the beginners. They like overview articles that don’t delve too deep. It’s not really for you or I. This is why I didn’t get into IR’s because in this article I’m not trying to teach pro guitarists how to record the best possible session sound, I’m helping with first steps. It was also an article designed to point people to things I recommend, not to tear any software down, that’s not MMP’s style and it’s not really mine. Of course, it doesn’t mean that because I omitted something I think it’s bad.

    I have used THU, I don’t own much of it but I’ve used a lot of it in a studio I frequently session for. Although I can’t bear the interface I would use it if I thought it was the best sounding but I just don’t. It has amps that have no competition on iOS, but I prefer Nembrini for most of them. Just, to my ears, Nembrini wins. I mean, we all have different ears and use cases and I totally accept that not everyone will agree with me but, I can only recommend things on how well they sound to me. I’ve used pedals in THU that were really disappointing but I really rate many of the Tonestack ones. The amps not so much but I basically use it as a pedal board. It gives me a tuner and a board of FX - into a Nembrini amp and for example, Eventide Spring… My main use case for Tonestack Pro though is for jamming, teaching, writing, experimenting - a suite of great sounding stuff for not a lot of money. It doesn’t mean that I’m saying it’s going to build the ultimate recording chain. But for the most part I do really enjoy the sound of it and I can happily recommend it as great value. But THU isn’t consistent enough for me to recommend it.

    As professional twangers of things with strings we get highly passionate about how we feel about guitar software and it’s all good, it’s ok to disagree - and disagree we do. But it’s a shame you went there suggesting that I couldn’t hear the difference or that I’m overlooking sound quality for looks. That’s quite a condescending thing to say. And then you say, “no offence.” Erm, ok.

    Nembrini amps are easy to get a great clean sound on, it’s all in the input level - but 20th anniversary has beautiful, effortless cleans. At that price I feel confident in recommending it to anyone who’s looking for cleans, which is what I recommended it for.

    To me, it’s immediately obvious how Rhino works but less so Mammoth. When you persevere though it’s amazing what you can get out of it. If you’re into the more extreme bass sounds, it’s the absolute daddy - depends on your use case. Like with Stark, you declare that it does not sound good. What you mean is, it doesn’t sound good to you. And that’s fine. But it sounded great to the people who paid for last weeks online session.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:
    Something I love about Nembrini, which I noticed with the Ecstasy, Faceman, Hiwatt apps, and the Minotaur stomp, is that I can really hear my guitar’s wood, fretboard, and character. It’s almost like the circuit is closer to my guitar and the algorithm lets that transparency shine through. With lots of other sims there’s a certain compressed distance, and a digital correction to the tone and feel. I’ve noticed really crappy out of tune guitars sound totally fine with an older sim, and then a completely different guitar will sound almost the same. Digital correction. Nembrini actually sounds like what you put into it, there is something special about those digital circuits…

    I wish I could’ve expressed this as articulately. Post of the day for me.

  • You’re reading the article of course, from the point of view of professional musician, a guitar player with a wealth of experience. But I was writing for a specific target audience. Mobile Music Pro caters more towards the beginners. They like overview articles that don’t delve too deep. It’s not really for you or I. This is why I didn’t get into IR’s because in this article I’m not trying to teach pro guitarists how to record the best possible session sound, I’m helping with first steps. It was also an article designed to point people to things I recommend, not to tear any software down, that’s not MMP’s style and it’s not really mine. Of course, it doesn’t mean that because I omitted something I think it’s bad.

    I have used THU, I don’t own much of it but I’ve used a lot of it in a studio I frequently session for. Although I can’t bear the interface I would use it if I thought it was the best sounding but I just don’t. It has amps that have no competition on iOS, but I prefer Nembrini for most of them. Just, to my ears, Nembrini wins. I mean, we all have different ears and use cases and I totally accept that not everyone will agree with me but, I can only recommend things on how well they sound to me. I’ve used pedals in THU that were really disappointing but I really rate many of the Tonestack ones. The amps not so much but I basically use it as a pedal board. It gives me a tuner and a board of FX - into a Nembrini amp and for example, Eventide Spring… My main use case for Tonestack Pro though is for jamming, teaching, writing, experimenting - a suite of great sounding stuff for not a lot of money. It doesn’t mean that I’m saying it’s going to build the ultimate recording chain. But for the most part I do really enjoy the sound of it and I can happily recommend it as great value. But THU isn’t consistent enough for me to recommend it.

    As professional twangers of things with strings we get highly passionate about how we feel about guitar software and it’s all good, it’s ok to disagree - and disagree we do. But it’s a shame you went there suggesting that I couldn’t hear the difference or that I’m overlooking sound quality for looks. That’s quite a condescending thing to say. And then you say, “no offence.” Erm, ok.

    Nembrini amps are easy to get a great clean sound on, it’s all in the input level - but 20th anniversary has beautiful, effortless cleans. At that price I feel confident in recommending it to anyone who’s looking for cleans, which is what I recommended it for.

    To me, it’s immediately obvious how Rhino works but less so Mammoth. When you persevere though it’s amazing what you can get out of it. If you’re into the more extreme bass sounds, it’s the absolute daddy - depends on your use case. Like with Stark, you declare that it does not sound good. What you mean is, it doesn’t sound good to you. And that’s fine. But it sounded great to the people who paid for last weeks online session.

    With respect, Jamie, I understand how my adamant proclamations came off as condescending or insulting, and for that I do apologize. I appreciate your honest and articulate response to my quasi diatribe. You’re selling yourself and promoting your packs and channel, and you have been doing a great service to the iOS music community and making it more prominent around the world, so thank you.

  • I totally agree about the transparency of the Nembrini apps. THU may be that way too, I don't know.

    In fact, the very first thing I realized when I loaded up my first Nembrini purchase was how sloppy my guitar playing had become after years of having the "life" squashed out of it by amp sims. What a joy now, to be able to express myself again, though. B)

    It's not just the aesthetics of THU that bother me. I like to believe that the look of an interface doesn't matter to me after the first 10 minutes or so. What I just can't get along with is the byzantine labyrinth of purchase options, not to mention the mammoth amount of storage it takes. No way I would want to try to explain that to someone I was recommending the app to. Neither would I want to wade through all the boutique and collectible amps on offer to figure out what to recommend to someone looking for a "vintage fender tone" or something. I'm just not enough of a gear-head to know what is what. Nembrini I can understand. THU makes my head hurt. I definitely wouldn't want to dip into THU options in an article or video. It'd take all day.

    Eh. Wait. I'm not here to diss THU. I'm here to say I love the feel of Nembrini amps and the simplicity of stuffing them into a guitar chain when I have a hankering for a particular kind of tone.

    Tonestack? Used to be my favorite by a mile. Sadly the amps fit into that older tone-sucking genre that I've been liberated from. If I used more FX then Tonestack would be a treasure-trove for me. I just don't though.

  • @BroCoast said:

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    I think the Nembrini amps are of similar quality (if run through a non-Nembrini IR)

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I disagree that it’s just marketing. I put a lot of hours in with Amplitube and Bias. Imo, both apps were/are capable of a decent sounds as long as one is not looking for touch sensitivity where playing dynamics (without big volume knob changes) makes a significant difference in the distortion character.

    I could never manage touch sensitivity with them. With Nembrini and Overloud , I find that I can get touch sensitivity similar to a real amp.

    They may not sound as good in the room as the real thing but in a mix they hold up well.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:
    Totally a lack of progression. I’ve actually gone back more towards hardware and a regular amp and pedalboard, but I’m always working on a hybrid setup. To me the next progression is actually figuring out how to make an FRFR sound good. Digital sims are pretty convincing in a DAW or direct to FOH, on a recording, but live they’re only as good as the speaker you’re sending them through. And I must say, it’s a huge weak point and cheapens the whole experience. I want an FRFR that can actually make an amp sim sound good live that that doesn’t cost 2k. Until then it’s just for home studio imho.

    have you considered the sub $1k FRFR powered cabs from Line6/Kemper/etc? or, is a FRFR amp into a good traditional unpowered guitar cab an option? you would lose the ability to change virtual speakers on the fly. but i wonder if the physical frequency shaping of a real speaker is part of the magic of live electric guitar?

  • edited August 2022

    @espiegel123 said:

    @BroCoast said:

    Yes Overloud is the best on iOS, no contest.

    I think the Nembrini amps are of similar quality (if run through a non-Nembrini IR)

    Still my take on sims is people get caught up in the marketing. I got great tones with Amplitube’s Princeton model 10 years ago… as good as any Choptones rig.

    I disagree that it’s just marketing. I put a lot of hours in with Amplitube and Bias. Imo, both apps were/are capable of a decent sounds as long as one is not looking for touch sensitivity where playing dynamics (without big volume knob changes) makes a significant difference in the distortion character.

    I could never manage touch sensitivity with them. With Nembrini and Overloud , I find that I can get touch sensitivity similar to a real amp.

    They may not sound as good in the room as the real thing but in a mix they hold up well.

    Sure if you are playing with distortion I can imagine there is absolutely an improvement in touch sensitivity. I never used distorted sims because I felt like they just flatlined things. I have always used my Klemt Echolette or a pedal for any distortion.

  • @JoyceRoadStudios said:

    You’re reading the article of course, from the point of view of professional musician, a guitar player with a wealth of experience. But I was writing for a specific target audience. Mobile Music Pro caters more towards the beginners. They like overview articles that don’t delve too deep. It’s not really for you or I. This is why I didn’t get into IR’s because in this article I’m not trying to teach pro guitarists how to record the best possible session sound, I’m helping with first steps. It was also an article designed to point people to things I recommend, not to tear any software down, that’s not MMP’s style and it’s not really mine. Of course, it doesn’t mean that because I omitted something I think it’s bad.

    I have used THU, I don’t own much of it but I’ve used a lot of it in a studio I frequently session for. Although I can’t bear the interface I would use it if I thought it was the best sounding but I just don’t. It has amps that have no competition on iOS, but I prefer Nembrini for most of them. Just, to my ears, Nembrini wins. I mean, we all have different ears and use cases and I totally accept that not everyone will agree with me but, I can only recommend things on how well they sound to me. I’ve used pedals in THU that were really disappointing but I really rate many of the Tonestack ones. The amps not so much but I basically use it as a pedal board. It gives me a tuner and a board of FX - into a Nembrini amp and for example, Eventide Spring… My main use case for Tonestack Pro though is for jamming, teaching, writing, experimenting - a suite of great sounding stuff for not a lot of money. It doesn’t mean that I’m saying it’s going to build the ultimate recording chain. But for the most part I do really enjoy the sound of it and I can happily recommend it as great value. But THU isn’t consistent enough for me to recommend it.

    As professional twangers of things with strings we get highly passionate about how we feel about guitar software and it’s all good, it’s ok to disagree - and disagree we do. But it’s a shame you went there suggesting that I couldn’t hear the difference or that I’m overlooking sound quality for looks. That’s quite a condescending thing to say. And then you say, “no offence.” Erm, ok.

    Nembrini amps are easy to get a great clean sound on, it’s all in the input level - but 20th anniversary has beautiful, effortless cleans. At that price I feel confident in recommending it to anyone who’s looking for cleans, which is what I recommended it for.

    To me, it’s immediately obvious how Rhino works but less so Mammoth. When you persevere though it’s amazing what you can get out of it. If you’re into the more extreme bass sounds, it’s the absolute daddy - depends on your use case. Like with Stark, you declare that it does not sound good. What you mean is, it doesn’t sound good to you. And that’s fine. But it sounded great to the people who paid for last weeks online session.

    With respect, Jamie, I understand how my adamant proclamations came off as condescending or insulting, and for that I do apologize. I appreciate your honest and articulate response to my quasi diatribe. You’re selling yourself and promoting your packs and channel, and you have been doing a great service to the iOS music community and making it more prominent around the world, so thank you.

    Thank you for saying this. I’ve reached a point where I’m not sure what to do about YouTube. When I started doing iOS videos I didn’t want to focus just on things with strings but clearly that’s my forte. There’s no point me making the same videos as Doug but I do like synths and fx and drum machines and have fun with that. I get sent a lot more codes for that stuff than guitar because, the guitar stuff for iOS is still quite limited. I get less views for iOS guitar apps so I suppose I do a mixture. I didn’t come into making iOS videos trying to trade off what I’ve done before - I didn’t say I’ve played for this famous person or that famous person or say I’ve got endorsement deals with these companies - notice me, notice me I’m a big deal. I just kind of wanted to start from the ground up and learn how to do a new thing so I just made a few videos and developers noticed - started sending codes and I’ve built it very slowly and organically. But now that lockdown is over, views are terrible and Im gigging and sessioning and teaching again so I have less time to make them so the algorithm kills me. It kind of feels like there are hardly any string twangers into iOS and the ones that are don’t seem to bother with my videos so at times I wonder what the hell Im doing. My time could probably be used more constructively elsewhere.

  • @Jamie_Mallender said:
    It kind of feels like there are hardly any string twangers into iOS and the ones that are don’t seem to bother with my videos so at times I wonder what the hell Im doing. My time could probably be used more constructively elsewhere.

    I think the problem you are facing is the same as most other iOS content creators: iOS is a niche, and the niche itself is very fragmented.

    A guitar-centric iOS YouTube channel is a niche within a niche, and that's not even taking into account that the market is further fragmented by genre. I think there are quite a few guitar players around here for example, but they're all into completely different styles of music, so that itself can limit the crossover appeal. A metal fan might not want to watch a video by a jazz player, a blues player might not connect stylistically with an indie kid.

  • @Jamie_Mallender, I liked your article. I just got my first guitar on Friday, and I bought 20th Anniversary on your rec and it is great, much nicer than walled garden GarageBand, and it is AUv3! Putting Other Desert Cities after the clean tone is amazing. I can't believe the sounds I am making (with all three chords I have learned so far, haha). I am even running my patches created in KQ Dixie (which lacks the drive parameter when compared with NFM) through 20th Anniversary now.

  • @richardyot said:
    A couple of months ago I bought a Strymon Iridium, and I really like the simplicity of recording the tone direct into the iPad using the actual pedals on my board. A lot less futzing around, because I can dial in the tone I like on the Iridium straight away, and get the tone I want from the overdrive/fuzz/modulation pedals on the board. And physical pedals still have the edge in terms of sound. Chow BYOD is very good, but the physical Big Muff is more satisfying.

    I'm using a Vox Mystic Edge pedal the same way. It's Vox's own Vox-in-a-box, with a built-in cab sim (that you can switch on and off). It's the same NuTube technology that's used in Vox's MV50 series of amp. The Iridium's more flexible (more amp styles, more cabinets, reverb), but the Vox pedal is around US$150, can use a 9V battery or power supply, and is pretty compact (same size and format as a compact Boss pedal).

    Like you, I'm happy to use AUv3 effects for delay, reverb, and tremolo.

  • @richardyot said:

    @Jamie_Mallender said:
    It kind of feels like there are hardly any string twangers into iOS and the ones that are don’t seem to bother with my videos so at times I wonder what the hell Im doing. My time could probably be used more constructively elsewhere.

    I think the problem you are facing is the same as most other iOS content creators: iOS is a niche, and the niche itself is very fragmented.

    A guitar-centric iOS YouTube channel is a niche within a niche, and that's not even taking into account that the market is further fragmented by genre. I think there are quite a few guitar players around here for example, but they're all into completely different styles of music, so that itself can limit the crossover appeal. A metal fan might not want to watch a video by a jazz player, a blues player might not connect stylistically with an indie kid.

    Very true. I feel like I ought to know what to do about it but I don’t if I’m honest. There’s an iOS Guitarist group on Facebook, but it has about 3 members. There’s also one for iOS rock and metal musicians that hardly anyone but me ever posts in. I’ve thought about trying to establish an iOS guitar + bass group. But I don’t know whether to do that on discord, Facebook, Reddit etc.. when I post an iOS guitar app video in a group for guitarists or bass players I get either no response at all or shot down because iOS isn’t up to the job by some out of touch pompous numptoids. So I feel there’s a lot of work to do, stronger together. Would love to hear any thoughts on this.

  • @circledsquare said:
    @Jamie_Mallender, I liked your article. I just got my first guitar on Friday, and I bought 20th Anniversary on your rec and it is great, much nicer than walled garden GarageBand, and it is AUv3! Putting Other Desert Cities after the clean tone is amazing. I can't believe the sounds I am making (with all three chords I have learned so far, haha). I am even running my patches created in KQ Dixie (which lacks the drive parameter when compared with NFM) through 20th Anniversary now.

    I’m just glad to be of some help to someone. That’s a nice feeling. One of the reasons 20th Anniversary is so popular is because it works really well with synths. KQ Dixie is a nice app too. I’m fond of that one. Any time I can be of any help, just let me know. ✌️


  • I’ve made a post in a group I run on Facebook - iOS Music YouTubers. I’d love to hear your thoughts either there, here or wherever.

    “Do you play guitar or bass? If so, please get involved with this post.

    Would it be cool to have a group somewhere that focuses on iOS guitar and bass apps? Should I just try to get all those people together here in this group or does it need to be separate? Is it worth it? Are there enough of us? Should it be on Facebook, Reddit, Discord etc…

    Please feel free to share this post wherever you like and please comment below, let’s hear your thoughts.”

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