Amplitude 5 for $50? (looking for good amp plugin)

[WilburBufferson]

After resisting the amp sim thing forever, I am going to give it a try. Depending on which online review you read, this one tends to float into the top five. I'm also looking at the Tone King 2 plugin, and maybe Positive Grid. Will use this for laying down guitar tracks over bed tracks that were recorded in a professional studio. My audio I/O is a Scarlett 2i4.

I generally run my amps clean and use pedals for overdrive. Looking for good Fender cleans and blues/rock tones. I don't need the onslaught of FX options. I have a Pedaltrain Junior's worth of pedals that I would/could run in front of the soundcard (plus a dry signal).

Most of all, I don't want to have to fiddle endlessly with options, or tweaking for hours to get a useable sound. The full version of Amplitude 5 is on sale right now ($50 from $300) which seems like a good deal.

I'm interested in hearing any thoughts you might have.

 

[burntfrijoles]

I'm also looking at the Tone King 2 plugin,

Looking for good Fender cleans and blues/rock tones. I don't need the onslaught of FX options. I have a Pedaltrain Junior's worth of pedals that I would/could run in front of the soundcard (plus a dry signal).

Most of all, I don't want to have to fiddle endlessly with options, or tweaking for hours to get a useable sound. The full version of Amplitude 5 is on sale right now ($50 from $300) which seems like a good deal.

I recently acquired the Neural DSP Tone King Imperial II plug-in and it is wonderful. It has only a compressor and two different OD pedal emulations on the front end and just three time effects after the amp: chorus, reverb, dual delay. That's it. It provides great edge of break-up, blues and blues rock tones. The cleans are there but you have to reduce the input parameter in the plug-in to get them. I would say the Tone King is has more natural drive similar to a Tweed.

I have Amplitube 3 but I didn't install it when I upgraded my computer. I have no idea about Amplitube 5 but I know it has two Fender modules that you can purchase which are very good. At least they should be. The Fender module that I previously used with Amplitube 3 was excellent (as was the Hendrix module).

I have thought about upgrading to Amplitube 5 but the IK installer does not run natively on M1 Macs yet. I think Amplitube 5 does run natively.

 

[loudboy]

Try the Bluecat Free Amp VST - I really like the BF Fender tones a lot, have used them on a ton of stuff. Also has a JCM800 which is good and a modern Recto type.

 

[Len058]

I've got Ampiltube, with one of the Fender pack's. I was blown away by the Twinreverb sound. It's great!.

I bought 4 but now use the free 5 version. I can still buy amp- and speaker- sims through the custom shop. You can just try it for free, even the amp's can be tried out for a limited time.

Give it a try, it's free.

 

[Rolling Estonian]

I've got Ampiltube, with one of the Fender pack's. I was blown away by the Twinreverb sound. It's great!.

I've used Amplitube for several years now, the Fender Twin is my go to right off the bat, it's uncanny. For $50 and just $29 per collection it's a no brainer. I just may jump on the Fender2 at that price.

M

 

[WilburBufferson]

I've used Amplitube for several years now, the Fender Twin is my go to right off the bat, it's uncanny. For $50 and just $29 per collection it's a no brainer. I just may jump on the Fender2 at that price.

M

I bit the bullet today and bought Version 5 and the Fender collection for $56 USD tax-in. I found a coupon that worked (CTRLIK30). Let the tones begin!!!

 

[ravindave_3600]

Try the Bluecat Free Amp VST - I really like the BF Fender tones a lot, have used them on a ton of stuff. Also has a JCM800 which is good and a modern Recto type.

I hadn't heard of Bluecat but really like the demos in your link. What DAW are you using it with?

BTW I use Reaper and hate plug ins - can never get them to work right so it's probably a Me problem - but hope springs eternal!

 

[WilburBufferson]

What DAW are you using it with?

Currently have free versions of Studio One and Abelton Live 11. Haven't done the install yet. Contemplating getting a PC dedicated to recording (and not connected to the internet) so that I have a stable platform.

 

[loudboy]

I hadn't heard of Bluecat but really like the demos in your link. What DAW are you using it with?

BTW I use Reaper and hate plug ins - can never get them to work right so it's probably a Me problem - but hope springs eternal!

I'm using Reaper and have had no problems using any VSTs or VSTis.

There are a multitude of really great Freeware plugs that do everything I need to do.

I've found it best to organize all of them in their own directory, instead of letting the installers place them willly-nilly.

 

[Ben Harmless]

As a followup on this, despite my typical practice of using hardware boxes for direct recording AND not buying software that I have to maintain licensing and credentials for, I actually wound up plunking down for the $50 deal. I've been trying to wean myself off buying hardware, and I figured that maybe Amplitube would help in the quest to de-clutter my desktop.

Eh. Mixed success.

The stuff all sounds very good, though I feel like there are some gaps in the tones offered by the basic version - especially in the crunchy-but-not-saturated area. I really, really like some of the virtual 500-series rack effects in there - particularly the compressors and saturation stuff. It does suffer from two of the same issues I've found in many Marshall sims - they put a preamp gain knob on the non-master-volume models, and way, way too much gain on the JCM800. I was also sad that what appears to be the Bassman model doesn't get as crunchy as I think the real thing would, and they didn't include any truly small amp models - like a bandwidth-limited 8" Silvertone or something. Nothing that can't be solved via EQ or a custom IR though. The room mics combined with cabinet, speaker, and mic'ing options are really broad and mildly overwhelming, but definitely very effective.

I will honestly probably use it for playing with sounds and maybe inspiring something, but not for recording songs like the ones I write the most. I'm also likely to use the rack effects with the amp models bypassed, since the saturation and compression will probably sound killer on drums. The only issue there is that apparently, independent of system resources, there are some issues with running multiple instances live in the same session, and I've already run into those. Let's say 8/10 for sounds, 6/10 for utility.