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Guitar Amp/FX app discussion
So, there are quite a few apps out there that are pretty varied.
What are your opinions on each one? Authentic amp sounds? Quality of cab emulation? Quality of FX? Connectivity? Cost?
I invested in Bias FX 2, and frankly I have been disappointed. Cost was low as it dropped considerably on sale, but there’s still no AUv3, and it’s rather nondescript in sound.
Thinking about just uninstalling and finding an alternative.
Comments
Tonex
I been playing Electric for likee 42 years and used many amps. My main one I kept was my Tweed Blues Deluxe loaded with a 12" Celestion. Unfortunately at our church we now only use in ear monitors. 👂 That's why I had no choice but to move to the digital Sim world. I said this because hopefully my advice is of some worth to you. I personally tweaked the tones in Bias FX2 and completely feel my tone is in there. Same with THU Overloud and Nembrini. I think we have reached a point where we are so blessed to have all these options and technology for us guitar players!
Of course, sound isnvery subjective so what may sound good for me might not for you.
On the FAC AX-8 which I'm using live at church, the Morgan AC20 Deluxe model is totally worth the price of the entire pedalboard unit. It truly sounds so real!
Hopefully you don't give up on Bias FX2; I'd say, try listening on real full frequency monitors or a mono powered PA speaker which basically is a FRFR system.
Doesn’t seem to get rated as high as some other amp emulation apps (currently has a 4.0 rating). What do you like about it?
There are quite a few options.
For single amps Nembrini offers sims of many of the popular amps
Some nice freebies in their effects as well
I’m a big fan of the BG Extasy and the MRH 159 Brown Sound
I typically pick them up at 9.99 on sale and I think they are excellent
https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/nembrini-audio/id1493296895
For a more “ all in one” solution with the option to expand there’s THU Overloud
You can use your own impulse responses in the amps. I got the metal expansion and Mid Gain Monsters rig and I like ‘em
You get quite a bit for free and can expand if you like what you hear
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overloud-thu/id1478394489
Or you might like Tonex by Amplitube
Haven’t tried them myself but worth checking out
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amplitube-tonex/id1613359930
If you’re looking for something with a different type of GUI and good tone there’s Rhino by Aurora DSP. More aggressive sounds for 8 string djent sounds but also some good less saturated tones too. You can also add your own impulse responses on these so it’s very customizable
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rhino-guitar-amp-sim/id1581107188
If you need a bass amp, (or a really fun app to use as a pre-amp into another amp) Aurora DSP also has Mammoth
https://apps.apple.com/ly/app/mammoth-bass-amp/id1517411435
Chowdhury DSP has the excellent, free, BYOD (Build Your Own Distortion) that offers multiple effects and some amp impulse responses that can get some great results.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/byod/id1595313287
I picked up the ToneStack Pro Pot ‘o Gold add on. the amp sims feel a bit dated but the effects are really good particularly the Filters, EQ, and Wah effects. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tonestack-pro-guitar-amps-fx/id1529842791
I’m sure other folks will have their own picks for what’s best, but those are what I use.
Well, to me it’s the most authentic best sounding thing going for guitar software right now. And the easiest to get a good sound from. They are tone captures of your whole overdrive/distortion/amp/cabinet. Users upload their own captures. So people have thousands of dollars worth of equipment and create “captures” of their chain and upload them for free. It’s pretty great! You can also load your own impulse responses.
That’s not going to cover modulation and delay and whatnot. Does have reverb though, nothing crazy…
Also yea BYOD, Rhino, and Nembrini stuff all pretty good dang good too.
I mean Tonex UI could be a little better. And it’s a little confusing and buggy sometimes, but the technology and idea is revolutionary! It’s also free (with some IAPs). I paid 50$ I believe to be able to download as much as I want. If I remember right you only get so many downloads in the free version. But you can still use everything. It comes with a lot. I think people were mad initially when it came out because on the free version the amounts of downloads you get and using them on different devices is a little frustrating, it wants to take your available downloads sometimes even if you should be able to use them. I just paid the 50$ and sold many guitar pedals. Couldn’t be happier honestly
I just use Rhino with my own IRs for the most part anymore maybe with byod for some extra. It has helped end the endless tone rabbit hole for me. I do like Tonex but I want more control over my sound than it lets me do
Thanks for commenting on Nembrini - I have most of the free apps downloaded, so might check out an amp or two next time they’re on sale if they drop to $9.99.
This is the ultimate list for this. BYOD and Rhino are my top 2 but ToneX is great as well.
Is it possible to load 3rd party presets into the app. That would change my opinion of it. Certainly did for the desktop PC version. I'm not saying it's the best thing as I can't compare it to anything other than my 2 amps and the Fractal AX8. But for me it closes the gap enough for me not to worry about firing up the AX8 or amps unless I want to feel the wind in my hair.
Just my personal preference.
I used biasfx2 and thu for years for practice and recording, they are both very good. It does take some time to dial in a sound you like. Thu I found to be more useful with auv3 and the crazy amount of whole molded rigs they have for sale. I have abandoned both of these in recent years and use my trusty 5150iii and 4x12 for recording and practice. I could never get used to that little bit of latency I was getting while playing, probably didn’t buy a good enough interface
One thing with latency, and you probably know already. If you set sample rate really high, 96 khz, (with a small buffer), the latency is lower. If the interface allows this. That is nice if you only play, and not record. Record in 96 khz is probably not what you want.
In hind sight, I have bought a lot of cheaper solutions, like Ipad apps, multi efx pedal, amp sim pedals, small tube amps, what I should have done with my money is buying a Kemper as a one and only solution and never look back. I regret this.
Bias/JamUp still does the job for me after all those years.
The distortion pedals are cool, but all of their other fx are (frankly) crap imho, so routing to external units (IOS/hardware/whatever).
I‘m using a high quality impedance converter/preamp, though.
Am I the only one on this forum using Eventide for guitar?! BYOD is a great choice! Instead of ToneX I took ToneStack Pro / Roxsyn. Rhino / Mammoth and Nembrini 8180 have the best sound out of the box for my ears. Luckily, I’m not yet cursed with the infinite quest of finding my holy grail of amps.
I would hope not, as Eventide make some great software and hardware that works really well guitar. Definitely a must have for anyone who approaches guitar from an ambient perspective.
@ Luxthor: Lots of people use the Eventide apps as part of their effects chains.
@michael_m : re cabinet emulation, I almost never use an amp sim’s built-in cabinet emulation. 95% of the time I use my preferred IRs. THU and TONEX and RHINO can load external IRs. And when I use a Nembrini amp, I use an IR loader (either THAFKNAR or the Nembrini loader or BYOD.)
What sim will sound best, depends a lot on the sound you like. Sims find that TONEX has the most realistic response to pick attack when they play…but there needs to be a capture that suits your preferences.
There are some TONEX captures I like quite a lot.
If switching between effects chains is a critical thing, THU is set up well for that. I use rigs in THU (rigs are captures like in TONEX) more than their sims.
ToneStack has a nice effects collection, but I am not a fan of its amp emulations.
My favorite Nembrini are the Dumble simulation or the Extasy (through an Ownhammer Vox IR).
@espiegel123 Thanks for the input on IRs, as that’s definitely going to be a factor for getting to an authentic sound. Why do you not use the cab emulations? Are they just not that good?
I have yet to hear a cab emulation that I like as much as my preferred IRs. There seems to be a general consensus about this. While the Nembrini apps include IRs, I mostly don’t like them as much as my preferred ones. But that is a matter of personal preference.
Maybe it’s secret sauce?! 🤫 CrushStation and MangledVerb are almost uncontrollable regarding their chaotic nature, but I agree with you that the majority probably slap Blackhole™ at the end of the chain for that everlasting ambient magic.
Somehow I missed that information for Rhino, I didn’t know it could load custom IRs. Thanks!
Guitarist and Eventide H9 user here! I use it mostly for delays, spring reverb (I really like the H9 spring reverb), the harmonizers, and the distortions (usually I feed the digital distortion through a Hudson Broadcast).
What I never use is Blackhole, or any other swooshy reverbs. I like space/silence in songs, and these things just splash all over it.
Agree that the Eventide FX are out there. For me, that’s the point. There are one million other options for bread-and-butter guitar FX.
I’m not a great guitarist but I do like to play guitar. I’m definitely keys first.
I have quite a few different amp sims on iOS including AmpliTube (with some unlocks), ToneStack Pro with all the unlocks, and some really old and really old ones such as AmpKit+ which I used to use back when the Apogee Jam first came out.
Ultimately I like GarageBand the best on the ‘phone! It also has the bonus that it’s obviously part of a DAW so you can record whenever you like and it’s easy to add drums and stuff… but I also like the tone the best too. It might not be the most realistic but I just like it. Especially the AC30 style amp.
And on iPad, I like Logic’s built in guitar amp sim. The pawnshop amp is fun
On desktop I also just tend to use Logic. I have AmpliTube 5 (nearly all of it) , Electrum and a bunch of stuff like the odd PA amp and some other bits and bobs I can’t remember off the top of my head. I also have an Audient Sono interface that has a 12AX7 valve pre amp stage and built in amp modelling via two notes which is cool. I love the fact I can play guitar through it without needing a computer at all. It can record a clean guitar at the same time as through the sim but I still tend to gravitate to Logic guitar amp sims.
One reason I like the Logic sim on Mac is that when you change amp and cab, your settings all remain the same. It takes away a big chunk of friction. I like having a separate pedal board plugin too. Makes it easy to find sounds really quickly.
On desktop I tend to use AmpliTube 5 more as an fx box than a guitar amp sim. On iOS it’s not auv3 so I don’t tend to use it at all. It’s much more convenient for me to host an amp sim inside a DAW for lots of reasons, including being able to easily use other fx such as delays and reverbs on sends.
I wouldn’t try and suggest the GarageBand/Logic sims are in any way the best but they do work for me. And to reiterate I’m not a ‘guitarist’, but I do like to play guitar.
Living in a tiny home, I don’t have space for my guitars anymore but I do use Eventide a bunch and used them a lot when I had my guitars as well.
BYOD and Saturn are my top 2 but Rhino and Mammoth are also amazing. Those and Nembrini are better then ToneX, Bias 2, etc in my opinion.
How does crush station compare to other distortions? It’s one of 2 Eventide app I don’t yet have and I’ve always been curious about it.
Crush Station is awesome for octave fuzz, dying battery sounds and all kinds of normal drive & compression. It’s one of my favourite apps.
Well I’ve only been playing for 40 years, so my opinion may not carry as much weight 😆
I’ve also used many different amps. My go to when I was a lot younger and playing in bands (in the 80’s) was a 50 watt JCM800 2x12 combo which had Celestion speakers.
But being one in the camp of chasing all of the Nembrinis, THUs, Tone Stacks, etc. I finally found something that gives me the sound and the tones I’ve been searching for, a small pedal, the GE 200 by MOOER. This pedal, which allows the loading of custom IR files (I use a few select Ownhammer IRs from the (r)Evolution bundle) and I’m able to dial in the exact “toanz” that I want.
MOOER also has an iPad app in the same series that you all might be familiar with; GE Labs (which I’ve never used)
Nowadays I don’t produce as much guitar music, as I don’t have all the free time these days, most of my music time is in the middle of the night, when the house is completely quiet and everyone else is asleep. Even an unplugged electric guitar can “disturb” certain people while they’re sleeping, I’ve discovered.
The more “family friendly music production” these days, is of course synthesizers, headphones, and that nice quiet piece of glass on the iPad Pro.
That’s something I had considered, but had been looking at the NUX Amp Academy:
https://www.nuxefx.com/ampacademy.html
I have seen quite a few video reviews that have given high praise to both the amps and the can IRs.
Maybe I’ll pick one up at some point, but I would also like to have an option on my iPad so I can reamp some clean recordings that I might store as ideas before finishing them up.
Gave it some thought to see how long I have been playing guitar. I think it’s 43 years, but there are definitely some periods I should not count as there are a few years here and there where I didn’t own a guitar.
? I’ve been away for too long: it’s Overloud THU related to Auria’s Overloud THM (the amp sim I use when my JTM30 wouldn’t do the job)?
You had me at dying battery 😂 I’ll probably grab that and QVox to finish out my Eventide collection next time they go on sale.
My favorite for great easy to tweak sounds is
20th Anniversary. There I said it.