View Single Post
Old 01-29-2013, 08:09 PM   #19
Swamp Ape
Human being with feelings
 
Swamp Ape's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Asheville NC
Posts: 1,335
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gooey View Post
So where's the difference - what actual disadvantages of actual amp recording and of simulation? Canceling out what benefits of either? I also don't see how digital reverb is intertwined with amp simulation (other than the fact that ones and zeros are involved in both cases). If it turns out that it would be beneficial to utilize a dedicated computer just to do the effects (in addition to the recording computer), I wouldn't care about that either. I'm awash in computers here.

Do you have any reason to expect there to be appreciable latency?
1) Speaking from my own experience, the disadvantages of "real amp" recording are mostly related to the fact that I can't make noise after certain times of the day - I tend to work late into the night often and can't have an amp blasting away. There's also space issues, and budgetary issues, etc. I would love to have a wide variety of heads and cabinets to mix and match to achieve certain sounds, but I'm broke and record out of my bedroom.

Conversely, I can use any of the amp sims I have any time of day or night without dragging out a bunch of gear, rearranging my room, waking up the neighbors, etc. The primary disadvantage of sims isn't tone or quality - rather it's the lack of physical speakers pushing air, and the fact that the unpredictability and distinct character of live amps is absent. I don't feel like your "paint by numbers" metaphor is very accurate - the wide array of available amps, effects, cabinets, impulse responses, etc makes possible tons of things I wouldn't be able to do otherwise. That said, I tend to use them more for boosting tone behind my "real amps" or late night experimentation than as a default mode of working.

2) Are you planning on using this setup in live situations, or is this purely for recording purposes?

3) Picasso was a wild experimenter with new technologies, more interested in unique effects he could achieve through burgeoning mediums like cinema and various types of printmaking than being worried about how this newfangled stuff would supplant oil paint and brushes. It might be wise to follow his example and look at advances in amp simulation as a tool you can use to expand your palette, not as some kind of affront to your sensibilities.

If you're genuinely interested in the ways that digital reverb and digital amping are related, do a bit of reading about impulse response and cabinet modeling vs room modeling. It's too much to get into in this thread.
Swamp Ape is offline   Reply With Quote