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Amp sims found my way
So I bit the bullet and got rhino….perfect amp sim for metal and down tuning…it’s the tone chasers dream but at the same time I also already had th-U only at barebones. But it also serves a purpose.never as a metal player you do need some different flavors in the taste of of tone. So within th-u I bought the metal collection along with the complete FX collection. It’s always fun to try different pedals. I also enjoy the grunge era so pedals will come up handy. And to be totally honest m completely amazed of the sound quality that I’m getting. You see initially I was just going to use these sims until I could afford a practice amp but I don’t think even a practice amp could sound this good. The problem is it’s so easy to purchase adding and the next thing you know you have spent another $40-50 bucks…..
So since this sounds so good I’m now considering buying better monitors or maybe something like an alto speaker which do you think would sound better. What are your thoughts???
Comments
Play and enjoy it.
Rhino and mammoth both sound really great.
I think these amp sims sound even better for high gain sounds, if you have real tube preamp or real distortion pedals to get already analogically distorted sound into them. You can get best of the both worlds this way. I have a mesa boogie v-twin pedals form tube preamp, which does wonders. But there are cheaper choices as well. I think it was behringer or some other cheapo company that made a simple tube preamp pedal that you can get for like 40-50 bucks used, should not be hard to google. The tube they come with sounds pretty crap, but if you upgrade the tube(quality tubes are like 20-25 bucks), you can get good tube distortion or just warmth/dynamics from them, or thats what i heard. That would be a perfect budget companion with these amp sims.
Or best would be to have an amp head that you run from FX loop to interface, to only capture the preamp sound and then use power amp sim and speaker sim. But not all amp heads can be ran without speaker in them and i think the simple tube preamp pedal does good enough job if you got good sims.
It is good you found the right tool for you. I would give anything to see the big smile on your face the day you will add something like Ownhammer Impulse Responses after your amp sims. But IR are another rabbit hole...
OwnHammer IRs can be loaded directly into both Rhino and TH-U
Yea rhino does have an impulse response section.
I bought Rhino but it didn't really do it for me, so I didn't dig much the app. Maybe I should give it another try. But it is good for @jdolecek49, no need to buy IR loader unless he wants to use it to load Reverb IR.
It is good that we have so much choice when it comes to amps on iOS. Personally, I am pretty satisfied with all the Nembrini apps the few rigs I bought in THU. I also find that the IR included in each Nembrini app are usually enough to give me the tone I want. So my Ownhammer IR folder is gathering digital dust on my device...
@jdolecek49
What is your budget, realistically?
How loud do you need it? Loud enough for a big room, garage, home studio, or loud enough for a big venue?
You basically have three options, an FRFR speaker like Alto or Headrush, a PA system which is basically the same thing, or a regular tube/solid state amp that’s set for a flat clean EQ.
FRFR speaker… you could get one Alto or one Headrush, but I would recommend getting a pair for the stereo image. Even though a guitar plugged into an amp traditionally is a mono signal, and plenty of guitar combos or cabs have one speaker in them meaning also mono, your guitar amp sims by default output in stereo (they can be switched to mono, but stereo is the default). So having a pair of FRFR speakers would let you take advantage of the stereo image and spread, and the stereo effects could be more compelling as well. Think about the fact that headphones are left and right as are studio monitors, so same principle. You could totally get away with using just one speaker though, as many do. Then you may want to switch your guitar amp sim to mono output and make sure that the frfr speaker is plugged into the correct out on your interface. Alto and Headrush are entry level. They’re definitely loud enough. With those kinds of FRFR speakers, since they don’t really behave like a guitar cab, the fizziness of a digital amp sim could be amplified. It won’t sound the same as it does in your headphones, so you will need to use drastic EQ to smooth it out. I had the Headrush 112 for a bit and sold it. It sounded totally fine for what it was. But frankly, those are all just PA speakers with some specialized eq contour buttons, and a guitar friendly form factor, nothing more. It’s kind of BS in my opinion. There are some really expensive FRFR speakers that cost 1-2k, that actually behave like a guitar cab with the proper air movement and feel in the room, made with guitar cabinet materials and wood (Friedman, Mission Engineering, etc…). In comparison the entry level FRFR speakers are just plastic, and act like a PA. As a general rule of thumb there’s a big difference between the 10 inch and 12 inch FRFRs so pick accordingly.
PA system… why not just get a used PA system, everyone has one and they give them away on every corner. It will be just as loud as an FRFR speaker, it will already come as a pair, and it’s already what is used in venues for FOH. I don’t really see the advantage of an entry level FRFR speaker vs a decent used PA. You should read up on the differences between FRFR speakers like the Alto and a garden variety PA system, there really aren’t any. It’s just a matter of wattage, speaker size, and some eq contours that are kind of arbitrary.
A regular tube amp. I have tried this option and it’s still my preferred way of outputting guitar amp sims. It just feels and sounds the best and you’re using a real guitar cab and speaker. Many players will tell you that this option is taboo, because amps impart their own preamp sound and guitar cabs are not frfr, so your amp sims will be colored too much. The key is to use a clean amp, set as flat eq and clean as possible. Don’t use the amp’s overdrive and distortion. And the amp has to have enough watts and headroom so that it doesn’t distort on its own from the loud signal coming from your amp sims and interface. For home studio I use a 15 watt tube amp and it’s totally fine. The tubes react in a pleasing way and the cab feels and sounds right. There’s a slight hi-fi sheen to the sound as is the nature of outputting amp sims, but it sounds much better than a fizzy and digital frfr speaker, at least to me. Also, if you have an amp with an fx loop, you can just go that route and bypass the amp’s preamp anyway. If you intend to play really really loud or at a venue, maybe a 40watt or 100watt amp. For tube amps you can try anything really, like this Celestion amp from Amazon for example…
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-611815-Amplifier-Celestion-Speaker/dp/B016JDJE9E/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=1CP0MSKNF4PW7&keywords=amazon+tube+amp&qid=1662838571&sprefix=amazon+tube+amp,aps,85&sr=8-3
Or the new Fender Pro Jr. IV SE, currently on an intro sale promo…
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ProJr4SE--fender-pro-junior-iv-se-1-by-10-inch-15-watt-tube-combo-amp?main_web_category_rollup=4/622/625&mrkgadid=3331288340&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=guitars&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046938600406&lid=92700046938600406&ds_s_kwgid=58700005283398296&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=374061998864&product_id=ProJr4SE&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9003377&creative=332063179656&targetid=aud-297527862170:pla-374061998864&campaignid=1708733951&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6_CYBhDjARIsABnuSzqvzNxoDQ5dT7FT4fUjW-crrRUE_DCKQTs5w52oz0gng-TjusmyknkaAhOCEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Or a used Fender Blues Jr. because it has a tonestack (bass, mid, treble, etc..)
For solid state the Roland Jazz Chorus is a good option, any size.
My point is try running your amp sims through a clean guitar amp that’s set flat, the cab could have one speaker, or two speakers in it for the stereo, and compare that to something like an Alto or a PA. I think on the used market you can do this with any budget really.
Another option is decent powered monitors. I run my audio interface into ancient Event powered monitors and it sounds great. Much better than through headphones. Ever since the quality of amp sims got so much better, this setup has displaced my Boss Katana amp…which is a great piece of kit at a reasonable price point.
This is only for bedroom use but I’m trying to achieve the highest quality sound. Right now I have some Mack I’ve cr4’sand they just don’t do it for me so that’s my I’m considering Aalto style speaker or bigger monitors
I have considered that. This is just for my bedroom but I want the highest quality sound that I could possible get. Jackie cr4’s so I’m considering getting a single Rokit 8 inch monitor, what do you think or should. Get something like an event,are the events better. Like the Jackie’s cr4 they were marketed as monitors but they are far from being with a flat response