I’ll shout out the Bogren Amp Knobs. I have the Dual Rec and EVH amp knobs, and they hit that craving for that sound right away, no knob fiddling. I use them daily.
I just bought the Fortin Nameless X 2 nights ago and downloaded it to my quad cortex and it sounds amazing. It sounds very brutal and sounds like a real amp. I love it
Appreciate your takes on sims to the level of performing live, practicing, recording etc, not a lot of people go to the depth you do and it definitely helps me as a learner researching into sims to use to play around with
Nolly would be higher for me just because I love the JCM800 in it but I mostly play in drop D so the heavier amp sims aren't quite my thing. Glad to see Overloud TH-U get some love. I use it all the time and it's overlooked because it's not the sleekest looking plugin. Version 2.0 is coming soon so I'm curious to see how much they'll overhaul it.
Sweet! I never knew the THU Randall T2 amp sim even existed. Used the T2 live for many years. Still have 2 of them. A gen 1 & 2. In my opinion one of the best Bruce Egnator designs ever released. Have intended for awhile to get some captures of mine. But I guess for starters. I'll be adding the THU suite to my already overflowing library of amp sims!
I don’t know anything about Amp sim’s., but when I get my computer back/up and running…. I’ll definitely be checking all of these out. I still love my real amplifiers though,and don’t think that I’ll be giving them up anytime soon, but I very much appreciated the content X.! Oh yeah, I can’t wait for your new album to drop.! I’m sure that it’s going to be SICKENING, but in a good way.! Until next time….. Stay Metal, Stay safe, and don’t forget to Riff.!! 🤘🏻🔥😎
Hi Xander, prior to using the Quad Cortex what did you use for live/songwriting? Like what amps/ pedals did you use? You might have a video on it, but I'm relatively new and curious to your thoughts. Also, would you consider doing a video for a more budget set up for songwriting? Thanks for reading. Your videos are awesome!
don't sleep on NDSP wong in combination with other sim's though. i turn off the gate & cab and use the effects with nolly or plini sim's a lot. i like the shimmer a lot better than the one in gojira.
The Misha plugin was so bad that they took it off their store. If anyone is very curious there are cracked versions out there, I wouldn’t promote cracked software if said software was still available for purchase.
Dude the tone knobs are amazing, you should try them. The BDH 5169 is my favorite for rhytme and the Trivium Lead is also amazing. If you us the Neural DSP Petrucci try the brutality preset...it's way tighter sounding
I definitely like the list. I'm using Tonex and Helix myself. I used to use Helix live too, but it kinda died on me, so now I use Tonex, and our other guitarist uses an HX Stomp XL, so when I record, I use Tonex for my tones, and Helix Native to get his tones
Have you tried the Laney Ironheart amp sim? The high gain tones I've heard from their plugins have been absolutely amazing (I also might be a bit of a Laney fanboy, so there's that)
Not used it since my trial ended but I recall the JCM800 from Tonality Lasse Lammert being my favourite Marshall sim I’ve tried, enjoyed it more than the Archetype Tom Morello or Nolly versions
cool vid, but wish it was a complete list. I'd watch the full thing. Would have liked to have seen the trivium plugins and the berried alive one. Curious how those stack up.
@@Atticus_Moore I use it as a plugin in pro tools and then out of my interface direct to front of house. Program all automation, reverb, delay etc in pro tools
@@Atticus_Moore Yeah super easy. I'm surprised more people don't do it this way. Super easy to program in the DAW. Jason Richardson does it this way live with All that Remains. Cheers!
Hey !! Good video ! By the way, the THU Overloud Randall ; did have a difference bettween the Slate Digital vs the THU version OR is it the same ?? THANKS !!
Thanks for the amp sim review as I needed to get caught up on newer sims. 13:26 A six year-old amp sim as old? Lol. I use Pod Farm Platinum 2.5 from 2010 and as long as one knows how to dial it in it still sounds great. Some of my rack gear is 30 years-old. One of the issues I have with modern amp sims if they are marketed by being tied to a specific artist or influencer. Such a description tends to restrict the expected sound of what a plugin can make. "Oh, it sounds like that artist. I probably won't like it." They're trying to carve out niches when they need to be broader. Marketing a sim as a faithful reproduction of a specific amp makes a lot more sense. That, and a lot of high gain amp sims tend to sound flabby in the lows and low mids. I don't know how many Diezel or Randall or Bogner or Rivera or similar high gain boutique amp sims that all sound alike in that they are bad. I know a lot of these are geared to the Neural DSP, but for me the OG amp sims from the 00s are Line 6 stuff, Amplitube, Guitar Rig, and Revalver. Softube continues to make good stuff with its Marshalls and Metal Amp Room, which was based on the Studio Fredman amp room and 90s/00s Gothenburg Sound pioneered by Fredrik Nordstrom. I use these for different things as desktop PC DAW VSTs. Some get solos and melodies. Others get rhythm or clean parts or something that is difficult to replicate like a Marshall Plexi with all its complex, shimmery mids and string definition. Boosted JCM800s still sit best in the mix for me even though they can be light on the low end and brittle in the upper mids. But that's also why they mix well. Other amps sounded amazingly realistic but I couldn't get them right in the mix. Revalver 3 comes to mind. And its depth as far as doing the internals of a tube amp remains unmatched. I also like the GUI of moving the mics on a cab, as I find this much more intuitive than picking IRs from a list. Moving the mic all around and over the cab while trying to find a sweet spot with the room depth as a percentage just seems more like how it would be done in real life. *What I wish companies would do is put more of their R&D toward deep drum VSTs instead of a million superficial guitar VSTs.* We still mainly have only BFD and Superior Drummer for those of us who really like to customize a drum sound in great detail. All the other drum sims seem like set and forget lightweights like EZ Drummer or BFD Eco or some Kontakt sample library. I would like to see more flagship drum VSTs competing and driving realistic, non-sampled, non-clicky, non-sync to grid, varied velocity drum sounds forward with faster workflows for humanization of drum parts. I'd stick with what whatever one has/can find that still runs on potentially dated hardware and OSes. Once the OS is obsolete, I disconnect my computer and use it as an offline DAW, as a newer OS will probably require a new motherboard if the hardware is more than 10 years old. Upgrading to new software and hardware requires a complete reinstallation of everything, moving project files over, recreating the directory structure for the DAW/plugin/sample/recording drive libraries, etc. It's a real pain to get going again with new software and hardware. Thanks again.
Wes Borland is a top 3 guitarist of all time for me and the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place but damn his STL was total uninspiring. I’m only on day 3 but I’m having a hard time dialing in anything that I really want to kick back and jam with.
Total Ndsp nerdery here, as one can see. Absolutely nice plugs but unjustifiably overpriced. I will stick to my portion of Amp Locker by Audio Assault. Love em. Thanks for the vid, Xander!
timestamps for anyone interested
1:34 Neural DSP Archetype: Nolly
2:40 JST Toneforge Disruptor
3:58 TH-U Overloud
5:13 Neural DSP Archetype: Cory Wong
6:05 STL Tonality: Josh Middleton
6:35 Neural DSP Archetype: Petrucci
8:13 JST Toneforge Menace
9:22 Neural DSP Archetype: Tom Morello
9:49 Neural DSP Archetype: Rabea
10:40 Neural DSP Archetype: Gojira
11:56 ModernMetalSongwriter Clairvoyant
12:34 Neural DSP: Soldano SLL 100
13:26 STL Tonality: Will Putney
14:26 ML Sound Lab Amped Roots
15:12 Neural DSP Archetype: Plini
15:50 Mixwave Spiritbox - Mike Stringer
16:50 Neural DSP Omega Ampworks Granophyre
17:34 STL Tonality: Lasse Lammert
18:08 Otto Audio 11 11
19:02 JST Toneforge Misha Mansoor
19:31 Neural DSP Fortin Nameless X
20:20 STL Tonality: Wes Borland
21:11 STL Tonality: Andy James
thanks!
I’ll shout out the Bogren Amp Knobs. I have the Dual Rec and EVH amp knobs, and they hit that craving for that sound right away, no knob fiddling. I use them daily.
he’s so good
Seconded, the dual rec and the bass knob are in heavy rotation in my setup
I just bought the trivium 3 pack. I love it
1000%
The Trivium ones are great too, especially the lead one. Basically perfect metal lead tone when you open it
I just bought the Fortin Nameless X 2 nights ago and downloaded it to my quad cortex and it sounds amazing. It sounds very brutal and sounds like a real amp. I love it
Appreciate your takes on sims to the level of performing live, practicing, recording etc, not a lot of people go to the depth you do and it definitely helps me as a learner researching into sims to use to play around with
16:00 your “Angry” preset on the Mike Stringer is an absolute go-to for me! So chunky, so good! 🔥
I've been extremely impressed with Josh Middleton's plugins and even the drums. They're my plugin of choice for now. Thanks again for the content!
Otto audio 1111 with the the Zella oversized edition
Nolly would be higher for me just because I love the JCM800 in it but I mostly play in drop D so the heavier amp sims aren't quite my thing. Glad to see Overloud TH-U get some love. I use it all the time and it's overlooked because it's not the sleekest looking plugin. Version 2.0 is coming soon so I'm curious to see how much they'll overhaul it.
Sweet! I never knew the THU Randall T2 amp sim even existed. Used the T2 live for many years. Still have 2 of them. A gen 1 & 2. In my opinion one of the best Bruce Egnator designs ever released. Have intended for awhile to get some captures of mine. But I guess for starters. I'll be adding the THU suite to my already overflowing library of amp sims!
I use the Gojira and the Otto Audio 11 11 11 11. I use them both on my songs and it absolutely crushes.
Your presets on the Mike Stringer is the best heavy sound on that plugin IMO
I don’t know anything about Amp sim’s., but when I get my computer back/up and running…. I’ll definitely be checking all of these out. I still love my real amplifiers though,and don’t think that I’ll be giving them up anytime soon, but I very much appreciated the content X.! Oh yeah, I can’t wait for your new album to drop.! I’m sure that it’s going to be SICKENING, but in a good way.! Until next time….. Stay Metal, Stay safe, and don’t forget to Riff.!! 🤘🏻🔥😎
Oh man the Menace...I used that for most of my early covers on the channel, good times.
Hi Xander, prior to using the Quad Cortex what did you use for live/songwriting? Like what amps/ pedals did you use? You might have a video on it, but I'm relatively new and curious to your thoughts. Also, would you consider doing a video for a more budget set up for songwriting? Thanks for reading. Your videos are awesome!
don't sleep on NDSP wong in combination with other sim's though. i turn off the gate & cab and use the effects with nolly or plini sim's a lot. i like the shimmer a lot better than the one in gojira.
I use your presets on the stringer sim, ANGRY smacks!! If you sold your own sim with your tones I would 100% buy it
The Mike Stringer Mixwave plugin is being slept on, it's so good and has a nice UI with some unique features
The Misha plugin was so bad that they took it off their store. If anyone is very curious there are cracked versions out there, I wouldn’t promote cracked software if said software was still available for purchase.
I too love Gojira X, it's awesome!
You should have like a free or budget amp sim ranking. Cuz I love amp sims but these are way more expensive for me and many others
Dude the tone knobs are amazing, you should try them. The BDH 5169 is my favorite for rhytme and the Trivium Lead is also amazing. If you us the Neural DSP Petrucci try the brutality preset...it's way tighter sounding
The Josh Middleton from STL and Soldano SLO-X from Neural my go to
I definitely like the list. I'm using Tonex and Helix myself. I used to use Helix live too, but it kinda died on me, so now I use Tonex, and our other guitarist uses an HX Stomp XL, so when I record, I use Tonex for my tones, and Helix Native to get his tones
I have the Tonality Josh Middleton and I agree it’s solid but there are better options. Awesome list.
Have you tried the Laney Ironheart amp sim? The high gain tones I've heard from their plugins have been absolutely amazing (I also might be a bit of a Laney fanboy, so there's that)
I've basically been inseparable from the archetype gojira since it got the X update. Haven't even touched anything else.
Have you tried the Mercuriall stuff?
Neural amp modeler over all these amps, free and sit well in mixes
I use Amplitube 5 MAX, mostly. Can’t afford a Quad Cortex so I make do.
What about Fortin Cali? I still found it pretty awesome
I have Amped Roots and it crackles all over the place anytime I play anything agressive or fast. Major bummer
Not used it since my trial ended but I recall the JCM800 from Tonality Lasse Lammert being my favourite Marshall sim I’ve tried, enjoyed it more than the Archetype Tom Morello or Nolly versions
cool vid, but wish it was a complete list. I'd watch the full thing. Would have liked to have seen the trivium plugins and the berried alive one. Curious how those stack up.
Nice list dude. I use the mixwave mike stringer live and it rippppssss
How do you use it in your live set up?
@@Atticus_Moore I use it as a plugin in pro tools and then out of my interface direct to front of house. Program all automation, reverb, delay etc in pro tools
@misterkenova6695 thanks! that's how I figured it would work just wanted to be sure
@@Atticus_Moore Yeah super easy. I'm surprised more people don't do it this way. Super easy to program in the DAW. Jason Richardson does it this way live with All that Remains. Cheers!
@misterkenova6695 does he have a guide on how to do that?
Maybe you can do a video on the best free Amp Sim Plugins?
neural amp modeler
Hey !! Good video ! By the way, the THU Overloud Randall ; did have a difference bettween the Slate Digital vs the THU version OR is it the same ?? THANKS !!
Ah man. Wish you would’ve ranked some of the Bogren digital stuff. I agree with your other ratings though based off of what I’ve used
Dance moves @ 2:03 😎
Thanks for the amp sim review as I needed to get caught up on newer sims.
13:26 A six year-old amp sim as old? Lol. I use Pod Farm Platinum 2.5 from 2010 and as long as one knows how to dial it in it still sounds great. Some of my rack gear is 30 years-old.
One of the issues I have with modern amp sims if they are marketed by being tied to a specific artist or influencer.
Such a description tends to restrict the expected sound of what a plugin can make. "Oh, it sounds like that artist. I probably won't like it."
They're trying to carve out niches when they need to be broader. Marketing a sim as a faithful reproduction of a specific amp makes a lot more sense.
That, and a lot of high gain amp sims tend to sound flabby in the lows and low mids. I don't know how many Diezel or Randall or Bogner or Rivera or similar high gain boutique amp sims that all sound alike in that they are bad.
I know a lot of these are geared to the Neural DSP, but for me the OG amp sims from the 00s are Line 6 stuff, Amplitube, Guitar Rig, and Revalver. Softube continues to make good stuff with its Marshalls and Metal Amp Room, which was based on the Studio Fredman amp room and 90s/00s Gothenburg Sound pioneered by Fredrik Nordstrom.
I use these for different things as desktop PC DAW VSTs. Some get solos and melodies. Others get rhythm or clean parts or something that is difficult to replicate like a Marshall Plexi with all its complex, shimmery mids and string definition.
Boosted JCM800s still sit best in the mix for me even though they can be light on the low end and brittle in the upper mids. But that's also why they mix well.
Other amps sounded amazingly realistic but I couldn't get them right in the mix. Revalver 3 comes to mind. And its depth as far as doing the internals of a tube amp remains unmatched.
I also like the GUI of moving the mics on a cab, as I find this much more intuitive than picking IRs from a list. Moving the mic all around and over the cab while trying to find a sweet spot with the room depth as a percentage just seems more like how it would be done in real life.
*What I wish companies would do is put more of their R&D toward deep drum VSTs instead of a million superficial guitar VSTs.*
We still mainly have only BFD and Superior Drummer for those of us who really like to customize a drum sound in great detail. All the other drum sims seem like set and forget lightweights like EZ Drummer or BFD Eco or some Kontakt sample library. I would like to see more flagship drum VSTs competing and driving realistic, non-sampled, non-clicky, non-sync to grid, varied velocity drum sounds forward with faster workflows for humanization of drum parts.
I'd stick with what whatever one has/can find that still runs on potentially dated hardware and OSes. Once the OS is obsolete, I disconnect my computer and use it as an offline DAW, as a newer OS will probably require a new motherboard if the hardware is more than 10 years old.
Upgrading to new software and hardware requires a complete reinstallation of everything, moving project files over, recreating the directory structure for the DAW/plugin/sample/recording drive libraries, etc. It's a real pain to get going again with new software and hardware.
Thanks again.
Nice list! McRocklin is great!
I like Black Star amps they are the best I tried so far haven't tried Boss katana yet or orange yet. Peavy vypyr are also amazing
Wes Borland is a top 3 guitarist of all time for me and the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place but damn his STL was total uninspiring. I’m only on day 3 but I’m having a hard time dialing in anything that I really want to kick back and jam with.
Where’d you get the acoustic panels in the background?
Triple Rectifier is legit, also Soldano is ehhh
Have you tried Aurora DSP Rhino?
And nothing about the Bias FX OMNYSS ?
Was thinking of getting the Disruptor. Why not S tier? You said good things but didnt explain why A tier. Should i really go for something else,
You can't use "back in the day" and refer to 2 years ago :D
Bunk list
you gotta lay off the overalls man you aint a painter lol
Total Ndsp nerdery here, as one can see. Absolutely nice plugs but unjustifiably overpriced. I will stick to my portion of Amp Locker by Audio Assault. Love em. Thanks for the vid, Xander!