KVR Audio

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:45 pm

After trying and playing through S-Gear, i found it very difficult to go to back to any other ampsim, maybe besides X50 for extreme high gain. The new Emissary sounds and feels good for higher gain metal too.

I love running my analog drive pedals into S-Gear (well my whole board in general too).

The newer Audified multi drive stomp pack is awesome, for response/feel and tone authenticity for most of the pedals. And The Scream usually wins for best in the box tube screamer.

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 8:47 pm

Oh and the Audiority drive stomp pedals (Rams head, silicon Fuzz Face, DS-1) are all great too. He got those right with response and tone. Probably the best in the box fuzz tones to date.

abhor · Post by **abhor** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:33 pm

reggie1979 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:10 pm I've recently gone back to Kuassa Creme, but you have to set the oversampling high on it or you get some nasty artifacts bending high notes.

Not a metal guy but love high gain. Examples would be nice from some of you guys giving such high praise to certain units. Some of them I just couldn't get on with myself.

Thermionik 5 might be the best high gain amp series I've used. Tse x50 is up there too. Mercuriall is my third, especially spark and e530.

Emissary is free as is Vadim's stuff.

Impulses though are by far the most important and frustrating part of amp sims.

WoodMan · Post by **WoodMan** » Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:44 pm

Was wondering what people thought of the EXE Consulting sims:

http://www.execonsultingtx.com/download ... imulators/

which are all free.

abhor · Post by **abhor** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:48 am

It's a nice project and has alot of options but I can't get sound that doesn't suck out of them.

I forgot softamp psa. That thing is great. For free.

monkeymanx · Post by **monkeymanx** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:51 pm

After putting most amp sims through their paces I ended up with Overloud TH-U. I think this is the best all around full package in the software world. Even after having the Axe FX II, I feel like TH-U produces excellent results. Plus they have a good IR browser built in.

DaveClark · Post by **DaveClark** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:59 pm

abhor wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:48 am It's a nice project and has alot of options but I can't get sound that doesn't suck out of them.

I forgot softamp psa. That thing is great. For free.

Ouch!

Please describe what you are trying to do via PM or dave_clark at execonsultingtx dot com so that I can improve the sound. High-gain? Clean? Solo? Mixes? Do the demos on SoundCloud sound bad? If so, how? I cannot get a good sound for mixes out of any of the usual guitar amp sims, but I can easily get good sounds (to my ears) for mixes out of my own stuff. Anyone else having problems is also encouraged to contact me.

Thanks,
Dave Clark

abhor · Post by **abhor** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:50 pm

High gain and ultra high gain are what I've played with. I think it's the mids that are irritating me. Decent levels of gain sound like they are being put through a metal zone. I can smooth it all out but the cpu usage is intense (mercuriall x8 like) and I can't see the benefit yet.

reggie1979 · Post by **reggie1979** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:11 pm

And that is the rub with sims in general, they have funky mids that are not pleasing, say through cans. But, if you cut them, it gets lost in the mix.

When you are listening to a "real" amp the diffusion of speaker to ear translates those mids in a more pleasing manner.

Trust me, I struggle with this personally. Some days I dig what I have, and some days I'm in amp sim hell.

poonna · Post by **poonna** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:45 am

reggie1979 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:11 pm And that is the rub with sims in general, they have funky mids that are not pleasing, say through cans. But, if you cut them, it gets lost in the mix.

When you are listening to a "real" amp the diffusion of speaker to ear translates those mids in a more pleasing manner.

What about a real amp recorded through a mic? Do you still feel the same? It’s a fairer comparison because all amp sims are supposed to sound like recorded amps, not live amps.

abhor · Post by **abhor** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 4:39 pm

It's funny people spent 50 years trying to get a "real amp" to sound like a recorded amp on tape without the variation and breathiness. Now everyone wants their record ready amp to sound like a "real amp" amp again.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 4:41 pm

the thing to do here is give the thing enough gain

I got a shocking thing to happen with Amplitube Jimi Hendrix (AT 2, ≊ a decade ago) several times, it rattles and vibrates, simply a matter of driving it hard enough.

DaveClark · Post by **DaveClark** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:03 pm

abhor wrote: High gain and ultra high gain are what I've played with. I think it's the mids that are irritating me. Decent levels of gain sound like they are being put through a metal zone. I can smooth it all out but the cpu usage is intense (mercuriall x8 like) and I can't see the benefit yet.

Hi abhor,

So you are listening to the amp sim solo?

I judge the sound of an amp sim based on its sound when mixed and played back as part of a song played back through THX type of speakers (not monitors). In other words, I judge an amp sim based on what I believe a typical listener (assuming that there is such a thing) hears in a typical finished song, not what guitarists or mix engineers hear when constructing a song in a studio. My amp sims are not amp sims for practicing guitar, playing guitar for enjoyment, etc. The amp sims I've purchased, and I have quite a few of them, have bad-sounding artifacts that stick out in mixes but sound fine when played solo.

On CPU usage: More recent amp sims, not yet released, have a lower-CPU usage option and effects.

Regards,
Dave Clark

abhor · Post by **abhor** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 6:05 pm

DaveClark wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2019 5:03 pm
abhor wrote: High gain and ultra high gain are what I've played with. I think it's the mids that are irritating me. Decent levels of gain sound like they are being put through a metal zone. I can smooth it all out but the cpu usage is intense (mercuriall x8 like) and I can't see the benefit yet.
Hi abhor,

So you are listening to the amp sim solo?

I judge the sound of an amp sim based on its sound when mixed and played back as part of a song played back through THX type of speakers (not monitors). In other words, I judge an amp sim based on what I believe a typical listener (assuming that there is such a thing) hears in a typical finished song, not what guitarists or mix engineers hear when constructing a song in a studio. My amp sims are not amp sims for practicing guitar, playing guitar for enjoyment, etc. The amp sims I've purchased, and I have quite a few of them, have bad-sounding artifacts that stick out in mixes but sound fine when played solo.

On CPU usage: More recent amp sims, not yet released, have a lower-CPU usage option and effects.

Regards,
Dave Clark

I test them on a solo track mono'd, mix them using monitors and then play them back through the speakers in my house and then my truck. It's sort of a gauntlet. Life has taught me anything that sounds good solo will take over a mix and make it sound like mish mashed dishwater.

That's how I judge a sim - in its place in something I've already mixed and liked.

acousticglue · Post by **acousticglue** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:25 am

If things stick out in mix then compressor needs adjusted on mix or level adjusted

Best Amp Sims