Guitar amp software, speakers and the like

Jetfire

So, Ive been using Pod Farms for ever to record with, quite night time jams with head phones etc. Ive also been using a Mustang 2 for the same thing but I am beginning to wonder if I need the Mustang AND Pod Farms as well as my Mesa Boogie Mark 4 with its silent recording out. So, Im currently using shitty Dell laptop speakers (powered, mind you.. ) which is ok but:

A) I dont get decent clean sounds from Pod Farms, hence the Mustang

2) I cant really use the Mark 4 in the house unless its done using the silent outputs (which would be via the laptop and I guess, via pod farms for cab emulations so I tend to leave it down stairs to save me lifting it) 

III) My speakers are pretty shocking but do the job for what I want for now (ie Pod Farms, listening to music and youtube videos) they are fine. However, I do have some alright (but cheap, JTS HP535) cans for late night jams etc. 

So, does anyone have any suggestions what may be a good idea here? Id be happy to move the Mustang 2 on to help pay for new monitors IF they can do the trick of sounding good and more guitar amp like rather than a guitar amp within a set of PC speakers (which I have heard using AxeFX and Matrix power amps*)


*This is based on my opinion from what I heard at Birmingham guitar show back in Feb.. wasnt impressed!

octatonic

Get an Axe FX 2 or a Kemper if you can afford/justify either.

Everything else is worse than those.

If you didn't like the Axe FX then it could have been the way the person running it had it set up, or a lot of other variables.

I've done a bunch of albums with the AFX and I am very happy with it.

Jetfire

^^ wont happen this side of Hell becoming a skating rink. 

octatonic

Jetfire said:

^^ wont happen this side of Hell becoming a skating rink. 

There is nothing better.

The Mustang etc are built to a price- they don't remotely compare to the AFX.

Regarding the Mesa recording output side- they are a waste of time.

The Mark IV was released in 1990- things have moved on a lot since then.

Jetfire

Yeah, in fairness though and sorry if I sound abit cheap here..  I dont have £1.5k+ to drop on this.. 

Ianpdq

And the Mustangs are a great bit of kit for the money
=D>

octatonic

No problem.

I'm just laying it out for you.

The main reason people don't/won't buy the Axe FX is due to budget.

It isn't built to a price (at least in the way a Line 6 POD definitely is).

It is a pro product and most of the cheaper modellers aren't.

The AFX is very complex and there are many cases of people buying them, finding them overwhelming and then selling them on, blaming the modeller for not sounding right, when really it is operator error.

Everything else is going to be a step down from there.

If you're ok with that then are a lot of products out there that are either tonally compromised, functionally compromised or both.

I would probably go with a decent audio interface (like an Apogee Duet) and then use a good sim plugin (Amplitube, Guitar Rig, etc).

Software is regularly updated and you will get a much better class of audio with a decent interface.

Jetfire

Ive got a Line 6 UX2 right now which Im using with Pod Farms (Just to give an idea of the sound card I am using) which seems fine. Ive tried Guitar Rig and it never seemed right to me. Ill try it again now though just to see what the score is. 

So in your opinion the Recording Out isnt much cop? Ive tried it and its ok but I havent had much of a chance to fiddle with it.. 

octatonic

Jetfire said:

Ive got a Line 6 UX2 right now which Im using with Pod Farms (Just to give an idea of the sound card I am using) which seems fine. Ive tried Guitar Rig and it never seemed right to me. Ill try it again now though just to see what the score is. 

So in your opinion the Recording Out isnt much cop? Ive tried it and its ok but I havent had much of a chance to fiddle with it.. 

The UX2 is a pretty average sounding interface.

A Duet, or a Rosetta 200 will be a massive step up.

Night and day.

Recording out- no, it is totally pointless- it was ok for the time.

Speaking more generally- the best way to capture a live guitar performance is a great player, a great guitar into a loud amp, in a good sounding room with pro level equipment (mic, converter/tape).

Virtually no-one works that way these days.

I still do, when I can- which is when the budget is there- it usually isn't.

Mostly I use the Axe FX.

IMHO it is 95% there- for some tones (modern hard rock and metal) it is 101% there.

The Kemper is very good too.

The *other* modellers are less than 50% of the way there.

Some of them are truly awful.

The Mesa Recording output, if I recall correctly (it has been a while) is basically a split from the preamp, with a speaker load to mute the speaker.

You still need to use a speaker simulator (which is easy enough- I use Space Designer with the Redwirez impulses).

It isn't a great way to do it.

digitalscream

Better than any modeller (at a reasonable price) are the AMT preamp pedals. Run them into your interface, then a DAW of choice (I use Reaper) with the free cab impulses from Redwirez.

As for monitors...I got a pair of Tannoy Reveal 6s for about £100 off MR. They're passive, so I power them from an old Denon micro-hifi I got from eBay for £20 (the CD drawer, radio and volume control are knackered - none of that matters when you're using it as an amp, though, because it's all controlled by the interface).

Branshen

This isnt really relevant to your monitor question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y_03GX-bPI

ICBM

Get a Sequis Motherload Elemental and use it with the MkIV. They're not cheap even by professional attenuator standards, but they really work. You can use it as a silent dummy load as well.

You've got a great amp, all you need is a way to get that to your computer.

I *might* consider selling mine. Simply because I'm not using it and don't really have any likelihood of needing it in the forseeable future. PM me if you're interested.

Drew_TNBD

LePou plugins plus Redwirez impulses, plus Recabinet for it's dynamics feature and built in EQ, and ability to load two IR's at once... is good enough, and comes very close to the sound quality you get from the Axe FX.

http://lepouplugins.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.recabi.net/
http://redwirez.com/

For a fraction of the price. It's what I was using for all my demos until I got my EVH5150III, and now I just do the same but replace the LePou plugins with the EVH preamp. Even then, it's mostly about the convenience of being able to hit a footswitch to change channel, rather than having to use another track.

LePou 456, and xTac are my favourite two.

Deijavoo

digitalscream;100526" said:

Better than any modeller (at a reasonable price) are the AMT preamp pedals. Run them into your interface, then a DAW of choice (I use Reaper) with the free cab impulses from Redwirez.

As for monitors...I got a pair of Tannoy Reveal 6s for about £100 off MR. They're passive, so I power them from an old Denon micro-hifi I got from eBay for £20 (the CD drawer, radio and volume control are knackered - none of that matters when you're using it as an amp, though, because it's all controlled by the interface).

Now then, I've considered getting the S2 so as to try an emulate my SLO Clone at reasonable volume. Would you place this before or after your normal effects board? Regular dirt etc for me would be pretty much first in my chain but when it's acting as an amp sim would that change this?

TimmyO

The free version of Amplitube 3 is good - some decent clean sounds in there 

Deijavoo

I have the custom shop version of Amplitube but that microscopic lag just niggles at me. The SLO patch is very cool but not quite there. 

Deijavoo

ThePrettyDamned

I'd be inclined to get a series 2 AMT preamp.  Not heard many bad things about them, to be honest.  There is a youtube vid comparing the P2 to a genuine 6505+ head.

I use a UX2 interface and it's okay, but the volume knob is a bit broken now.  I've never been super happy with the Pod Farm tones, it can be pretty decent, but they do mostly sound digital.  It does a really great AC30 sound, weirdly enough.

I'm going to be getting a microphone so I can mic up my Bandit.  That way, I'll know just how much the interface actually matters - that is, I'll have my sound audible in the room, then I can work out how best to get that to PC.  Doesn't solve the silent practice option, but for recording, I think it will be better.  Clean tones, such as those used by jazzers, seem a bit easier to approximate with software, but for the really good drive and rawk sounds, the expensive stuff really does pay off.  

digitalscream

Deijavoo said:

Now then, I've considered getting the S2 so as to try an emulate my SLO Clone at reasonable volume. Would you place this before or after your normal effects board? Regular dirt etc for me would be pretty much first in my chain but when it's acting as an amp sim would that change this?

Well, you put it in the same place as you'd put the original amp's preamp - which, for me, is after the wah/tuner/phaser/boost. Then the stuff which would normally go in your loop goes directly after the AMT (on my board, that's the Flashback). From there, you can plug into any clean amp, or even a recording interface like me - that way, my pedalboard is essentially my home recording rig and I can guarantee to be able to get almost identical sounds to my normal live stuff.

Deijavoo

Ooh, that sounds like the justification to ditch dreams of Kemper away. 

In reality I just need my band/live tone to make more realistic demos than what I make just now. 

Cheers Mr Scream. 

digitalscream

Deijavoo said:

Ooh, that sounds like the justification to ditch dreams of Kemper away. 

In reality I just need my band/live tone to make more realistic demos than what I make just now. 

Cheers Mr Scream. 

Thing is, you have to pick ones that you're going to like; if you wanted all of them, it'd be more expensive than a Kemper

Check out Brett Kingman's demos:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=brett+kingman+amt&sm=3

He's pretty much tested the whole lot.