Guitar amp sim. plugins: Overloud TH-1 vs. Softube Metal Amp Room

[nas]

I've narrowed it down to these two and was wondering if anyone has tried both or owns either? The Overload seems the most versatile of the two (unless I also purchased both Vintage Amp Room with Metal Amp Room from Softube), but I really like Softube's simplicity and the demos sound great..... anyone have a preference to either?

Feedback (no pun intended) would be very helpful.

[MelodyMan]

Overload, i like that one!

I have TH-1 and it's a very versatile, good sounding and above all cpu-friendly amp-sim. With my J-station (still going strong after all these years, amazing sound) and Digitech RP500 i have all i need.

[Sascha Franck]

If all you mainly need is the relatively limited sound palette the Softtube model offers, then by all means, go for it, it sounds great. For anything else TH-1 is the ticket. It's by far the most CPU optimized of them all, it's sounding great, it doesn't need a dongle (Softtube does) and it doesn't cost a fortune (again Softtube does).

- Sascha

[thedommer]

Originally Posted by Sascha Franck

If all you mainly need is the relatively limited sound palette the Softtube model offers, then by all means, go for it, it sounds great. For anything else TH-1 is the ticket. It's by far the most CPU optimized of them all, it's sounding great, it doesn't need a dongle (Softtube does) and it doesn't cost a fortune (again Softtube does).

- Sascha

200 bucks is a fortune???

[KingDiamond]

Actually you can pick up a boxed version of Softube for cheaper now, $179 here Softube Metal Amp Room Native | Sweetwater.com

I use a lot of amp plug-ins and have tried a lot of them. Softube is great and I like it on some tracks, but for my main "big and wide" guitar sound I like using Amplitube Metal along with Voxengo Boogex running some IR's from Recabinet. I also like just using the line-out from my amp head into some IR's in my DAW, for me that gives the most 'organic' sound.

[Sascha Franck]

Originally Posted by thedommer

200 bucks is a fortune???

For what is more or less a single amp model, yes.
Add to this that TH-1 comes with its own IR loading cab module and all the ReCabinet impulses - quite a better VFM. Of course, in case you think Metal Room is *exactly* what you need, it's not too expensive. But if you need any other sounds, too, it is.

- Sascha

[nas]

The only thing that concerns me about Softube's Metal Amp Room is that it may not be as versitile for me as TH-1. I do need some good clean sounds and some semi-crunch sounds which Softube offers in the Vintage Amp package but purchasing both brings up the cost significantly. However, I noticed that Overloud just put out the TH-1 triode which seems to offer a more slimmed down and simplified version of th TH-1 and at about $100, is a great balance between, price, sound quality, and just enough versatility to offer some options without being too overwhelming. Now all I need to do is demo the packages and choose.. I do wish that Softube would make their demos available without the need for an iLOK key - have one on the way but it's silly to need it for a demo.

Still... sound quality and realism are my top priority so I guess if I was really convinced that paying more for both Softube's Vintage and Metal Amp would offer both versatility and significantly better sound quality then I would probably do it. From the sound of the demos though, they seem quite evenly matched in the sound quality department.

[Sascha Franck]

Originally Posted by nas

Still... sound quality and realism are my top priority so I guess if I was really convinced that paying more for both Softube's Vintage and Metal Amp would offer both versatility and significantly better sound quality then I would probably do it. From the sound of the demos though, they seem quite evenly matched in the sound quality department.

When you download and test the TH-1 demo, make absolutely sure to also check its IR cab module with some proper responses - I'm not sure whether the ReCabinet ones are included in the demo, in case they aren't, I could provide you with links to some very good cab impulses (or just send you a few that I consider to be pretty good, and no, they're not "stolen", just out of my collection of free IRs). This alone can really make a world of a difference.

- Sascha

[nas]

Originally Posted by Sascha Franck

When you download and test the TH-1 demo, make absolutely sure to also check its IR cab module with some proper responses - I'm not sure whether the ReCabinet ones are included in the demo, in case they aren't, I could provide you with links to some very good cab impulses (or just send you a few that I consider to be pretty good, and no, they're not "stolen", just out of my collection of free IRs). This alone can really make a world of a difference.

- Sascha

Hi Sacha

Thanks for the tip on the IR's and offering to send your favorites.. very much appreciated. thumbsup After I read your post, I contacted Overloud to ask if the IR cabs come with the TH1 Triode version and was informed that they do not. What attracted me about the Triode ver. is it's simplicity of choices - just the right balance for me - without sacrificing the basic sound quality. I do wish it came with the IR cabs, but what I will do is download both demo versions to see how much of a difference this will make and see if I can find workarounds.
Thanks again.