Guitar emulation software

thomasross20

Apogee ONE for Mac looks good. DUET a bit more than I need. 

Looks like either the Apogee ONE or the KA6 from all I've checked out so far.

I never knew Reaper could handle video. Is it any good for that? I'll likely stick to Lightworks for the time being.

thomasross20

Apogee products will work with any DAW that is Core Audio compliant and Tracktion is, so it will all hook up if I go for that option.

Danny1969

There's generally no problem with changing DAW's in the middle of an album, to be honest most pro albums go through all manners of different treatment. Right now we are working on an album that was tracked in Texas, then re recorded on god knows what at Muscle Shoals in Alabama with different session guys, then mixed in Texas, then drop boxed over to England for editing and overdubs at my studio to then be then yet  remixed again by us and then mastered by Abby Road. God knows how many different formats that album has seen, all I can tell you is that the last guy who opened it before me was using PT10 on HD as Protools tells you that when you open it. . I opened it in 10 HD and then ported it over to my preferred native PT9 rig. There's no problem generally in moving things between DAW's as long as you consolidate the tracks or know how to you time stamp

thomasross20

I'm taking all your points on board. Honestly, I think Logic Pro looks great, especially for the price. Although it's Apple only (I always like to keep options open). 

First thing is first... I can continue to use Tracktion for now but I need the hardware interface and the emulation software.

NI KA6 and Apogee ONE both look very good. guitarguitar seem to sell the ONE for the best price, £170 (though currently not in stock). The ONE has a built-in condenser mic and minimal connections - pretty much just what I need. 

Assuming I go for one of those, next thing is software and Amplitube 4 has been mentioned a lot. 

Danny1969

Logic Pro is great, as in industry standard great

Not so sure about Amplitude, I mean I've got it but it's not exactly brilliant 

chrispy108

I'd go for the KA6, a mic built into a USB interface is never going to be great, and it'll be a faff to get it into the right place with cables hanging off it etc.

What are you using to monitor?

thomasross20

Problem is as soon as I think I've found "THE" piece of hardware, a whole bunch of negative reviews put me off. 

I've read about crackling, poor support and bad drivers for the KA6, and I've read the Apogee ONE is very flimsy and prone to breakage. 

FYI I listened to clips of the Apogee ONE mic online and I thought it sounded fantastic.

Yep, I might download a demo of LogicPro at some point. Not just now, though. 

I don't have dedicated monitors right now but was looking at some Rockitts. At the moment I use a wide range of things (though not ideal, I know!) - the new AT M40X headphones I got are good, very flat frequency response (why I got them), I use PC speakers, car speakers, some Sony speakers I have lying around - basically everything I can play the songs on I use to make sure it sounds good across a range of speakers. 

EDIT - I'd rather the KA6 didn't come with the free bundled software. I'd rather they lowered the price or something - I hate when bundled software comes with hardware like that unless you know you're definitely going to be using it (which I likely wont)

thomasross20

Danny1969 said:

Not so sure about Amplitude, I mean I've got it but it's not exactly brilliant 

Oh bugger. Well I need to get a shortlist of the top 3 or 4 and try the demos.

thomasross20

HOLD THE PHONE!!

I think I just read that you get free guitar emulation software if you buy Logic Pro. Has anybody tried this? 

I will delve deeper...! 

--> Quick clips I've heard and reviews I've read say the in-built sounds aren't anything special.

Danny1969

Well you certainly do if you buy Protools ... it comes with Digidesigns Eleven free

thomasross20

Is that what you use for guitar emulation?

Ouch - Pro Tools is expensive! Have to say I wont be buying that (no offence). If anything it'd be Reaper or Logic.

The Logic Pro integrated drummer looks like fun

Danny1969

I have used Eleven and Amplitude for scratch tracks but for anything remotely important I would mic an amp up or use something like a ToneLab or Sansamp ..... it's the style of music, Amplitude and Eleven are good at high gain stuff but not so good at early Marshall or Vox tones. Some of the best actual sims I've heard have come from UAD but that's another big bucks route

thomasross20

I have to say here... For years I've had zero problems with the toneport and gearbox software. It just worked. Gearbox may not have sounded the best and the hardware might not be *the* best but it was plug and play and I recorded a shed load of stuff (most of the album uses this). I find all this a headache - going to give it a rest for a bit.... 

And focus on finding an alternative video editor (or the one that is best suited to Mac)

thomasross20

Got round to getting Lightworks (for video) installed on the Mac. 

Works MUCH better than on the PC but still slightly juddery at times. 

--> Definitely need a different video editor.

Slightly disappointing yet it does do much better than the PC.

Heartfeltdawn

thomasross20 said:

Problem is as soon as I think I've found "THE" piece of hardware, a whole bunch of negative reviews put me off. 

I've read about crackling, poor support and bad drivers for the KA6, and I've read the Apogee ONE is very flimsy and prone to breakage. 

Then ignore reviews. On Gearslutz, a couple of threads opened up about the SPL Crimson due to interface crackles. Some people swore blind these things were unusable and that the drivers would never get repaired. If I believed those reviews, then my own Crimson is apparently useless and everything I've done with it is lies. Like I said on the other thread, anything crap gets amplified online. Look at Gibson. If you believe some threads, they've not released anything decent for a decade. 

Personally stuff like the One and the RME Babyface doesn't attract me because I hate breakout cables. I much prefer a box with connections to a multiple connection cable. 

ToneControl

thomasross20 said:

I have to say here... For years I've had zero problems with the toneport and gearbox software. It just worked. Gearbox may not have sounded the best and the hardware might not be *the* best but it was plug and play and I recorded a shed load of stuff (most of the album uses this). I find all this a headache - going to give it a rest for a bit.... 

And focus on finding an alternative video editor (or the one that is best suited to Mac)

heh, was that an intentional pun?

on the PC it "just worked"

now on the mac it doesn't...

whenever any mac/windows discussion is held, some apple fan boy always says "it just works"

it was used by Steve Jobs as he unveiled new products at Apple keynotes.

I've had the same sort of problem, devices that worked on 5 PCs not working on a new mac

I like my Mac so far. It's a bit confusing tbh, they seem to hide too much away, but basically it shares many problems with windows - and sometimes needs a lot of work to get things to function. What I have noticed is that more stuff is "incompatible", since apple don't prioritise backwards compatibility  - you are expected to upgrade software and hardware much more often

ToneControl

Danny1969 said:

I have used Eleven and Amplitude for scratch tracks but for anything remotely important I would mic an amp up or use something like a ToneLab or Sansamp ..... it's the style of music, Amplitude and Eleven are good at high gain stuff but not so good at early Marshall or Vox tones. Some of the best actual sims I've heard have come from UAD but that's another big bucks route

AT3 Fender is good for cleans

Eleven had one nice cleanish amp, the Fat Clean I think it was called

best sim cleans for me are on the AxeFx2, and the Kemper, no use for inside a PC though

I would say that using a multiband compressor after an amp sim makes a massive difference (I started doing this after using one from a mic's amp to get the feel back)

thomasross20

Just on my phone so short reply.
I see apple as more akin to a Unix box yes, as takes a bit more work to get compatible programs/hardware. "It just works" was unintentional on my part

Still either going to be the KA6 or ONE so far based on what I've seen. To be honest if I knew the updated toneports would 100% work I'd probably get one as the hardware had been solid and software worked fine on windows. Ok, the sounds weren't the best in the world but they're good enough, I'm not running a pro studio. That's why I got the original toneport - cost effective, had all the interface I needed and came with free emulation software which is good enough.

I wonder if I bought the KA6 and had problems if it'd be easy to return. The ONE would lock me into apple which isn't necessarily what I want.

I definitely have to try a new video editor as lightworks seems to be a bit jumpy. Mac does much better job than the PC but it's not as fluid as I thought - I think it might be lightworks, to an extent.

hubobulous

Reaper's great and its what we use. I'd advise that.

I use Peavey Revalver, but Amplitube gets a lot of love.

thomasross20

Got to be honest here, was disappointed that video editing wasn't overly smooth (again I think more due to lightworks than anything else) and my toneport didn't interface and it's going to cost an additional £500-1000 for hardware and software on top of the £2k for the macbook (extravagant all round). I'm going to give it a few weeks but if I'm not feeling the love John Lewis have said I can return this within 90 days no questions asked. I'm really not sure but the amount of digging I'm having to do and cash to spend is getting a bit much. Defo having a low point here!