best guitar amp sim for use in REAPER

[LCipher]

Title says it all. Heard there are issues with some in REAPER with positive grid?

Not *just* looking for the "most super realistic etc" - want ease of use, good tone, etc too. But it does have to sound good. Don't want to cobble together a bunch of plugins to make a sound either. Just one to use for pretty much everything.

Looking at:
* Amplitude 4 Max (I have Fender so I can get the max for about $125)
* Guitar Rig 5 (seems a little old, I have the player)
* Positive Grid / Bias ?? (seems confusing what to buy)
* Waves GTR? Old?
* Overloud THD (meh?)

I play jazz, some classic type rock, indie/country, would like decent acoustic simulator, etc. NO METAL - I know metal players have super (legit) specific requirements etc. Does not apply to me.

NO S-GEAR! That's what I was using. Yes, it's good but others are pretty darn good too these days. Scuffham can go f**k themselves with their CR scheme. I want "reasonable" CR not something I have to beg for a license if I change/add a harddrive and forget to deactivate or whatever.

Opinions? Leaning toward Amplitude...

[DVDdoug]

I'm not a guitar player, but it might help if you say what amp you'd like to simulate. And, someone's probably going to ask what guitar(s) you play. Is your avatar a clue?

...I didn't know that acoustic sims existed. I'd be surprised if they sound realistic, although maybe you could get away with it in a mix.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by LCipher

NO S-GEAR! That's what I was using. Yes, it's good but others are pretty darn good too these days. Scuffham can go f**k themselves with their CR scheme....

OT: What is their CR scheme, I've had SG for a few years now and would like to know what the problem is that has caused you pain in the event I have a problem/rebuild etc. in the future. If amplitube is IK, I generally just stay away from IK as I don't like their avoidance of proper OS guidlines historically which causes it's own set of usability issues from time to time.

[richie43]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

OT: What is their CR scheme, I've had SG for a few years now and would like to know what the problem is that has caused you pain in the event I have a problem/rebuild etc. in the future. If amplitube is IK, I generally just stay away from IK as I don't like their avoidance of proper OS guidlines historically which causes it's own set of usability issues from time to time.

Scuffman is the only sim I use if I need a sim. Their copy protection is one of the few I actully prefer. No isses ever for me.
https://www.scuffhamamps.com/support...t-deactivation

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by richie43

Scuffman is the only sim I use if I need a sim. Their copy protection is one of the few I actully prefer. No isses ever for me.
https://www.scuffhamamps.com/support...t-deactivation

Just wanted to make sure if I had a failure I could still use the same CR and not get sucked into the iLok scheme, if they do that to me, they lose a customer instantly which means I then have to go back and freeze stems of who knows what projects used it. I can get by fine with POD Farm or other stuff I have if I have to (since I still mic amps most of the time anyway), it's really historical projects I care about.

Sounds like the OP is saying sometihng like "My machine crashed, I didn't have a chance to deactivate" and they gave him grief.

[richie43]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

Just wanted to make sure if I had a failure I could still use the same CR and not get sucked into the iLok scheme, if they do that to me, they lose a customer instantly which means I then have to go back and freeze stems of who knows what projects used it. I can get by fine with POD Farm or other stuff I have if I have to (since I still mic amps most of the time anyway), it's really historical projects I care about.

Sounds like the OP is saying sometihng like "My machine crashed, I didn't have a chance to deactivate" and they gave him grief.

I hear ya....Maybe the support has changed, but almost 2 years ago I had a hard drive issue and had zero problems getting them to sort it out for me. Unusually friendly and helpful for me.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by richie43

I hear ya....Maybe the support has changed, but almost 2 years ago I had a hard drive issue and had zero problems getting them to sort it out for me. Unusually friendly and helpful for me.

OK, that's encouraging, thanks for the info.

[LCipher]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

OT: What is their CR scheme, I've had SG for a few years now and would like to know what the problem is that has caused you pain in the event I have a problem/rebuild etc. in the future. If amplitube is IK, I generally just stay away from IK as I don't like their avoidance of proper OS guidlines historically which causes it's own set of usability issues from time to time.

I sorta over-reacted. But they go by machine *configuration* not machine ID. What I got into was going from OS to OS - I keep two HD installs until all is well. That (on same motherboard) is TWO S-Gear activations. Forget to "de-activeate" and you lose it. Swap a HD etc. Lose a HD, etc

So you have to contact support - which they did re-activate my licensees, and they DO have an i-lok option (which I don't have etc).

But aside from that - it's good sounding, I (opinion) don't care for the UI though.

So -yeah, it's "ok".

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by LCipher

I sorta over-reacted. But they go by machine *configuration* not machine ID.

Cool, good to know. FWIW they do better than XLN does, any major OS update deauthorizes Addictive Keys and Drums. However, their credit you have 5 authorizations (IIRC) and I can just log in and remove an old one and add a new one even if the same machine. S-Gear though doesn't seem to be affected by major updates for whatever reason. Thanks for the info.

[zeekat]

Originally Posted by LCipher

I want "reasonable" CR not something I have to beg for a license if I change/add a harddrive and forget to deactivate or whatever.

Rules out Waves GTR then. I like how it sounds but stupid sensitive licenser made me stop using it, had enough worrying when installing or removing completely unrelated stuff on the computer will deauthorize all my waves stuff.

[g4greg]

+1 for the kuassa stuff.

Vermillion is absolutely wonderful for low gain crunch and clean sounds...

But as weird as it sounds, I really like their high gain "creme" for low gain as well.

I just like the "no frills" approach of the creme.. and the tube setting really sounds nice when it's on the verge of breaking up.

No the kuassa stuff doesn't try to emulate anything, but that's probably why I like them. They just sound good, and are soooo easy to tweak. Like a real amp

[pipelineaudio]

Ignite....grab all their stuff

Even if you buy some of the other good ones, the free stuff from Ignite is something I use every single day

TSE

Both of these run extremely well, TSE may also be WDL if I remember right

BIAS sounds great, but as you see, it can be hard to tell just what to get from them and documentation is scary poor. Also BIAS is very "sticky" in REAPER, seemingly for the same reasons that it writes a bunch of hash to the RPP the way Slate and Revalver did before the fixes

[RDBOIS]

Hello.

I use, all are free btw,:

Free Amp 3

Many clean tones w/wout some grit, loads of effects to boot as you please (dial them in or set them to the BPM of your project and choose the lenght) - if you check out my soundcloud and listen to my The Cure cover song you'll hear this vst AMP (all guitars were DI into FA3)

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=580

The Emissary by Ignite Amps

This amp has no frills, but it will dial in a very nice sound to your acoustic guitar. I like it very much; brings instant richness; turns a cheap microphone recording into something better...

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/emissary-by-ignite-amps

The Shred Suite

This free plugin has many presets, but you can modify everything (cabinet, room, delay, reverb, eq, etc.) Hours of fun testing out the various presets; will dial in for you some very cool blues tones, soft to hard rock, and well heavy metal (not your things, but it is there if you need). Clean? Meh... Not so good; The Emissary has an unbeatable sweetness to it, go with that!

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=2409


***

That it. I only use free VST plugins, and these are my favorites for clean, clean-ish, and some colored tones (e.g. blues, rock, alternative, etc.)

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by RDBOIS

Hello.

I use, all are free btw,:

Free Amp 3

that is the one I used to use - it is great for glassy clean tones. It used to have that synthedit problem of not allowing multiple instances - is that still the case?

[RDBOIS]

Originally Posted by Eddy

that is the one I used to use - it is great for glassy clean tones. It used to have that synthedit problem of not allowing multiple instances - is that still the case?

Haaa yes, but you can trick Reaper!

Do it like this:

Go to the Reaper plugin folder and locate the vst: FA36_Full.dll

Copy and paste the dll and rename it like this, for example (note the 2): FA36_Full2.dll

Do it again: FA36_Full3.dll

FA36_Full4.dll
FA36_Full5.dll

etc...

Name it whatever you want, the point is that Reaper will think it is a different VST and the conflict will disappear. I run three instances without a problem! In the example above you would have 5.

[foxAsteria]

Whatever amp you use, the key element it getting a realistic sim tone is quality speaker/cab impulse response files. I use AmpliTube amps most often but their speaker sims aren't great so I'm almost always adding Pulse. There are tons of free IR files on the web, but it takes time to sort through and find the really good ones. SimulAnalog Fender Twin is a great freebie too.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by RDBOIS

Haaa yes, but you can trick Reaper!

Do it like this:

Go to the Reaper plugin folder and locate the vst: FA36_Full.dll

Copy and paste the dll and rename it like this, for example (note the 2): FA36_Full2.dll

Do it again: FA36_Full3.dll

FA36_Full4.dll
FA36_Full5.dll

etc...

Name it whatever you want, the point is that Reaper will think it is a different VST and the conflict will disappear. I run three instances without a problem! In the example above you would have 5.

excellent! +1