Amplitube 5 Max etc. on sale

Gear
#1

Apologies if this doesn’t belong on the forum, or is in the wrong section, but for anyone interested who doesn’t already have it, IK Multimedia has some New Year/NAMM sale pricing still going on for Amplitube 5 Max, Tonex Max, and a bundle that includes both and assorted other stuff.

As far as I can tell, this is the same pricing they did for Black Friday. They post some exaggerated comparison prices that I don’t think anyone ever pays, but the current deals seem decent, especially $150 for Total Studio 4 Max, which includes Amplitube 5 Max v2 and Tonex Max. There are also discount codes floating around the interwebs which should be pretty easy to find with google.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/ts4/?pkey=total-studio-4-max

#2

I purchased the full version of amplitude a while back. I find it unusable for high gain sounds. Absolutely awful. Really harsh highs and bloated low mids.
A quick google search showed quite a few people complain about the same thing.

Id recommend trying a demo first if possible.

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#3

Stop encouraging my amp simulator problem!!!

3 Likes
#4

Hi,

I’ve been on a real journey with Amp Sims. From Pod devices and GuitarRig2 back in the day, through to the Amplitube and Neural DSP days.

Just wanted to say I’m currently loving NAM (Neural Amp Modeler). The quality of tones can be fantastic, and many models (apparently “profile” is a Kemper trademark) are free.

The project really seems to be going places. It’s open source with a permissive license, so manufacturers are beginning to build NAM into inexpensive pedal-sized devices.

Here are links to the NAM player and the ToneHunt repository of free models :

A lot of models are profiles of amps only, so would need to be followed by an IR (impulse response) of a cab. Personally, I prefer to use a product called Quantum Speaker which is a collection of NAM models of certain speaker types using various microphone types. It sounds really good to me :

https://www.neutronstudios.com/quantumspeaker

Something I really like about using NAM is that the models are simple files without copy protection that I can just backup to the cloud and USB drives. You aren’t kept in a single company ecosystem, which is why I took an interest in NAM rather than Tonex.

We seem to be reaching great times where the realism is so high and the costs have been driven down.

3 Likes
#5

In that case, don’t look here either (though I think the deal below is weaker than their typical Black Friday deal):

#6

Hey, you’d be a good person to ask, lol.

I still demo primarily with the old LePou Lecto Rectifier sim, in 8x oversampling mode, because it gets me close enough to the Mesa smooth saturation sound that when I then go and re-record with a real Mark V or Roadster, it’s still very much in the right ballpark.

But, if I wanted to go a step further, and - ideally on a budget as this is just for demoing for me - grab something that did that Mark-style smooth saturation lead sound very well, think early Petrucci, what else should I look at?

#7

I’m not Tommo but the Mercuriall Reaxis is a really nice sim. It’s been my main amp for several years. For geopolitical reasons I’m not sure I’d buy it again, but the quality is great and it’s got a lot of bells and whistles.

1 Like
#8

Check out the neural dsp plugins. You can trial them for a couple of weeks. Best amp sims I’ve come across.

#9

Geopolitical? Where are they based?

Honestly, LePou isn’t half bad, for like 15+ year old technology, if you run it into a good mic sim. I’ve been really happy with how my demos sound, and it takes some careful mic placement for me to get real amp tones I’m happier with than the no-brainer plug and play VSTs. (to be fair, it also helps that the amp does respond a fair amount like a Recto as you dial in the EQ, so I just have some familiarity taking the front panel knobs and not making it sound like a 311 riff or a parody of a Recto)

#10

Sorry guys, I meant to reply and forgot! Yep, I have been using Reaxis too, and in particular the second Lead-2 channel (i) is my favourite (ii) should be reasonably close to a Mark II C+… according to Leon Todd at least :slight_smile:

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#11

The tonocracy plugin is a free option, which has a variety of amps (models and captures). I dont know if it will provide the sounds you’re looking for, but it might be worth a try as its free.

Edit: Tonocracy also allows you to make captures of your own gear using just an audio interface, so you could capture your amp and load the capture into the plugin: https://tonocracy.com/

The free version of the tonex plugin may provide some free captures of the kinds of sounds you’re after.

Alternatively, Neural DSP have the archetype petrucci plugin, and the mark iic+ plugin. Neural also occasionally do sales (often 50% off) which could be a good deal if they have the sounds you’re after :slight_smile: