The Big Guitar Amp Sim Roundup + Review

[ElKabong]

Mercurial Spark just went on sale 50% off for 72 hours. FYI. This is my favorite Marshall sim to date.

I am curious why a few products were not included in this big review thread. For example, these are missing and IMHO in some cases are some of the best:

• Mercurial
• JamVox
• Kazrog Thermionik and Recabinet
• Waves GTR
• SoftTube Vintage Room
• Plugin Alliance
• TSE X50
• Kuassa

Probably a few more I'm overlooking....

Spark is seriously great. It's a one trick pony, but it's a great trick.

Thermionik is discontinued; if OP doesn't already have a copy, it might not be easy to get a hold of.

[Dewdman42]

It’s not discontinued. The author told me he is hard at work on the next much improved version. I don’t know why it’s temporarily not available to buy.

[ElKabong]

It’s not discontinued. The author told me he is hard at work on the next much improved version. I don’t know why it’s temporarily not available to buy.

It is described on the Kazrog website as discontinued. I have also heard that a new version is in the works; but for the time being, there is no version available whatsoever.

https://kazrog.com/pages/discontinued-products

[Dewdman42]

It is described on the website as “discontinued temporarily”.

[Anderton]

I am curious why a few products were not included in this big review thread. For example, these are missing and IMHO in some cases are some of the best:

• Mercurial
• JamVox
• Kazrog Thermionik and Recabinet
• Waves GTR
• SoftTube Vintage Room
• Plugin Alliance
• TSE X50
• Kuassa

Probably a few more I'm overlooking....

There are several more, not to mention the ones included with various DAWs. The initial goal was to cover the most prominent/established sims during KVR's "Guitar Month" of August. As you can see, it went well past August. And the thread took off to a much greater degree than was anticipated.

KVR is currently considering whether to extend the thread to include additional sims, and if so, in what format - keep this thread going, edit this thread down to just the reviews (and comments related to specific sims) and then add to it, start a new thread, have separate threads for separate different amps, have me continue to moderate or have someone else, etc. etc.

[Dewdman42]

Excellent to hear!

[audiojunkie]

KVR is currently considering whether to extend the thread to include additional sims...

This has been a really informative thread! I've got it bookmarked so I can reference it later. I would love to see it continued and expanded to the other available modeler software packages!! I don't think there would be any benefit to changing the format or editing things. The context from the comments is just as important as the actual reviews themselves. If KVR is listening, my vote is to just continue on with this thread as it has been going, and continue reviewing the other available modelers.

[Dewdman42]

I can see a benefit to creating a consolidated summary page with a lot of the arguing removed, but I would also ask that this thread not be edited, it should be preserved as is also as there is still useful information coming out of the debates. The new consolidated summary should be something new.

[CapnLockheed]

I can see a benefit to creating a consolidated summary page with a lot of the arguing removed

Great idea? So when are you going to start working on it?

[qywx]

"-"

[Anderton]

I can see a benefit to creating a consolidated summary page with a lot of the arguing removed, but I would also ask that this thread not be edited, it should be preserved as is also as there is still useful information coming out of the debates. The new consolidated summary should be something new.

My concern about continuing with this thread is the longer it gets, the more likely it is that subjects/debates covered earlier will be repeated. If the thread becomes too long and there's a lot of redundancy, people might just give up trying to find what interests them. Another issue is that if someone just discovered this thread and has a comment on (for example) AmpliTube, which was covered early on, the comment would be dozens of pages later than the original review.

My preference would be to have a separate section for amp sims, have a separate thread within that section for each sim that's reviewed, and have another thread for comments on amp sims in general rather than any specific sims. That thread would be where people could post their "amp sims bad/amp sims good" comments; those who just wanted comments on specific amp sims could bypass the debates.

The other advantage I see to individual threads for individual sims is that if an update comes out, it could just be added to the thread.

But we'll see what KVR wants to do.

[Dewdman42]

Well anyway, thanks for writing the reviews and stimulating the discussion!

[Captngeetch]

Found the page interesting, but like movie reviews, taste differs from person to person. People always crow about TH3 and talk down about Amplitube. Me personally, I love Amplitube and use it on tracks more often than TH3, GTR etc. being able to add stomps, rack gear, cabs, room, mikes and adjust the placement of them including overheads is awesome. I also use T-Racks alot. Very High quality plugins IMO. But hey...opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. I appreciate your work none the less. It’s a good starting point at the very least. And it does help everyone see what’s out there as well. Gonna go back and see if you reviewed Peavey’s ReValver, another gem usually overlooked.

[CapnLockheed]

Gonna go back and see if you reviewed Peavey’s ReValver

Craig did a VERY in depth and VERY positive review of ReValver. I agree that it's often over looked. But I'm a little biased....I have been a beta tester since V1.

[Steve Bolivar]

Any thoughts/info on the acquisition of ReValver by Audio Media Research? I googled AMR but couldn't find much.

Nevermind. I just searched the thread and saw that you had a sneak peek of the beta of the next version and will post about it later.