Amplitube 2.0 Out?

[Autocrat]

I see it started shipping - whatever that means.

http://messe.harmony-central.com/Mus...pliTube-2.html

Anyone have it yet?

I actually got v.1 with a "free" upgrade to version 2.0, but their website doesn't have anything about getting the new version.

If it was shipping why wouldn't they have the download version on their site?

[jwnc]

yes it shipping now. You will probably get an email soon with all the info on how to get your update.

[feyshay]

I can't wait for all the initial Amplitube 2 is great--blows Guitar Rig 2 and the POD away comments.
Followed by the all amp-sims sound like digital crap comments.

[sharky]

Originally Posted by feyshay

I can't wait for all the initial Amplitube 2 is great--blows Guitar Rig 2 and the POD away comments.
Followed by the all amp-sims sound like digital crap comments.

People post this... and yeah it's true to a point... but...

What converters are they using on the way in? What kind of DI are they using? These things are REALLY key with Amp modelers. I think a lot of people expect them to work magic without taking these things into account.

If you pay attention to the signal in, and work a little bit after (the presets are usually always a joke, eh?) you can get some really cool tones with modelers. I probably wouldn't do a whole rock record with all modeled tracks, but they have their place. And you can reamp later! I just think they're a great tool and though they never get you to A+ guitar tracks, they can get you B+ in a hell of a hurry with minimal fuss.

Some of the products out there really do suck, though.

That being said the 1st Amplitube was one that I've found pretty usable for demos and such for the past few years. Looking forward to the second version!

It's about time.

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by sharky

PWhat converters are they using on the way in? What kind of DI are they using? These things are REALLY key with Amp modelers. I think a lot of people expect them to work magic without taking these things into account.

If you pay attention to the signal in, and work a little bit after (the presets are usually always a joke, eh?) you can get some really cool tones with modelers. I probably wouldn't do a whole rock record with all modeled tracks, but they have their place. And you can reamp later! I just think they're a great tool and though they never get you to A+ guitar tracks, they can get you B+ in a hell of a hurry with minimal fuss..

I concur with all of the above. My experience: A good DI in through a quality pre into Guitar Rig 2 can make for great secondary and tertiary guitar tracks. That is, you can mic an amp for a primary texture, then model a doubling part for a support texture -- and the result can be cool and efficient.

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by feyshay

I can't wait for all the initial Amplitube 2 is great--blows Guitar Rig 2 and the POD away comments.
Followed by the all amp-sims sound like digital crap comments.

personally, i like to plug the guitar straight into the pre. seems to give a better tone that way. then, i process it with an amp sim (i have amplitube 1.x & amp farm). then, i'll run that signal through yet another, different amp sim. the result is amazing.

i prefer this to real guitar amp sounds.

--jon

[sharky]

Well, I installed Amplitube 2 today and played with it. I have to say its pretty good. The stomp box modeling on the memory man, fuzzface and tube screamer is almost worth the price of admission alone (for my purposes anyway).

Still hear artifacts when you hold out chords on higher gain models. The Dual rectifier model seems pretty bad (but then again I think the real thing is pretty bad). The 800 model is pretty usable. I tweaked around for about 5 hours to get 6 presets that I would use as starting points. I took a track I just recorded a few weeks ago on a new song with:

Bogner Metropolis -> 2x12 Open Back Cab -> 121 & 57 -> Chandler TG2 -> Bro Tools
Plexi -> Krank 2 x 12 Cab -> 57 & 421 -> 7th Circle API -> Brotools

Took that guitar track (not a bad signal chain) and threw it up on the left. I then double tracked the part on the right with the same guitar through my rig at home (no pro tools, Avalon U5 -> Lucid AD9624 -> Cubase SX) and then tried to get something in the neighborhood with Amplitube. I was pretty suprised that Amplitube could even be in the same neck of the woods. During more percussive parts and on many chord transitions the real deal shines over the modeled track, but Ampitube hangs in there.

The "dynamics modeling" or whatever IK calls it works... kinda. Still isn't like the real deal, but all in all they did a good job on this. The models are quieter, the interface is better than the previous version, the sound is pretty usable.

I'm sure this plugin will be REALLY useful as effecting other sources besides guitars. And is an improvement for anyone who uses modeling for some application now.

It is a MAJOR league CPU hog on Tiger. Watch out for that. I bet on PC its more reasonable.

Seems like keeping the "mics" off-axis makes things sound less fake/more real. As someone else stated earlier... the place where the modelling seems most apparent is the speaker->air->mic part of it. I really want to try to reamp some of the pre/eq models to a clean amp -> cab -> real mic(s) -> real signal chain back.

Anyone else playing with this new plug?

[johnnyvince]

My Girlfriend: "Johnny are you looking at porn again?"
Me: "No honey, I'm just on the Amplitube site, trying to see of 2.0's out yet. That girl is pree-tty skanky-looking tho...".

Haven't ordered it yet, but I like what they've done with the interface and new stomp models...it's much more slutty now! Maybe that's what they were trying to say. Did they take the time to balance the relative levels between presets? That's one thing that bugged me about 1.0, but overall I Amplitube 1.0 has been great for me. I've seen it slammed here and there on GS, and I agree that not every model is great, but I've gotten some absolutely killer sounds out of it!

My current recording signal chain is GTR > (secret weapon: Klon Centaur) > Radial JDV > Aphex 1100 pre/AES out > ProTools.

[NuSkoolTone]

Wasn't this thing announced like 2 years ago? Did it really take them THAT long to release it?

[sharky]

Originally Posted by johnnyvince

Haven't ordered it yet, but I like what they've done with the interface and new stomp models...it's much more slutty now! Maybe that's what they were trying to say. Did they take the time to balance the relative levels between presets?

Yes. The presets are more balanced. The only thing is they have tons of spring reverb on every model by default. Sounds heinous to me... more of the presets are usable than in AT1 in my opinion.

You can actually adjust volume in many more stages than in AT1. This helps a lot to get balance between patches and to get proper "gain staging". You can get the sound you want from a "module" and then affect the volume seperately. That probably makes no sense, but it does in the plug somehow.

[johnnyvince]

Just ordered it. $249 for an upgrade...OUCH! Yeah, they did announce it over 6 months ago, and it was supposed to be out in February, but is anybody really surprised it just came out now? Hopefully they were taking the time to get it right the first time, since IK's not much for incremental updates.

Umm, I think this is where I'm supposed to say, "POD sucks!"...