Hey Orren,
I'm kind of curious to get your take on the new Amp Designer and Pedal Board plugins - given your expertise in the area. How do you like them compared to some of the other "flagship" guitar processing software tools around? And how about compared to hardware?
Aw, thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm actually thinking of writing a complete review to be posted in the review section of logic-users-group.com, so I'll save the details for that. But here's my summary:
One thing I've found is that none of these software packages get all the models to sound good. It's always a bit confusing that you'll get a program that nails one kind of amp but gets another totally wrong. You always wonder "what happened with that one?" But there are no exceptions to this rule. So the question becomes, which packages have more that are on than aren't, and which ones nail the amps/pedals you're looking for.
When judging amp simulations, I am looking for two things:
- Does the model "feel" like an amp?
- Does the model sound like an amp?
For those who aren't guitarists, by "feel" I mean does it respond the way tubes do, which alternately compress or "breathe" based on how hard you play, and how the volume knob on your guitar is used. For example, when you play a string lightly, it will compress differently than if you slam your pick down hard on the string. And if you turn your guitar volume knob down, it will act as much as a "gain" knob, reducing distortion as much as volume.
When I say "sound like an amp" I never mean "sound like the specific amp I have in my studio." Especially with vintage amps, they all sound different. Even with modern amps, different runs may have components of non-identical tolerances, have used different manufacturer's tubes due to availability, etc. So you can have two Marshall JCM800s from different years that sound different, etc. But they both have the same "sonic footprint" even if at identical settings you can tell them apart. So that's the sort of "tonal ball park" I'm looking for.
In general, I would say that most of the simulations in Amp Designer, from the clean amps to mid-gain amps really capture the feel of the amps modeled. You can roll off your volume knob, play with picking dynamics, and the models will respond like a tube amp will. This is the most important feature for actually "performing" with the amps. To a guitarist using Amp Designer as his rig, this may very well trump all else. If you're reamping, this may or may not be important to you.
Some of the high gain amps are very responsive as well. I find the Brown amp and High Octane especially are excellent "players." For whatever reason, I don't think any of these simulations can get the feel of the Boogie right, and the "American Modern Stack" or whatever it's precise name is the weakest simulation. It feels totally overcompressed and un-amp-like no matter what you do. That doesn't mean you'll never get it to sound good, but if you've ever plugged into a real mesa boogie amp, you'll know that the software model isn't even an approximation.
As for sound, I think all of them are in the tonal ballpark of the amps they model. Some of them sound really good, and others not so good. I like the Fende and Vox simulations, and some of the boutique simulations, quite a bit. Some of the High Gain simulations are real winners-they sound open, which real amps do, while some simulations sound really dark and filtered. I think the lower-gain Marshalls sound really good, but the high gain ones don't have the richness of the real Marshalls. And as I mentioned, the Boogie is just...sigh...
Don't forget to mix and match cabinets with amps as well. I think the UI of moving the mics around in Amp Designer is genius-I'm sure that the other simulations will be copying it in the future. The Ribbon mic really sounds great, I love it! I sometimes find that switching out the cabinet and mic lead to a tone I prefer than the original cabinet matched to an amp. And also, I like to use IRs of my own speakers as well (more on that below).
I think Pedalboard is really excellent as well. Not all the distortion plug-ins are great-I think when pushed, the high gain pedals tend to sound quite digital. But used on non-guitar sources (vocals, drums, bass) or used in moderation, such as to add some "hair" to an already distorted amp, they sound fantastic.
The Tru Delay, the Vibe pedal, Heavenly Chorus, the Ring Mod, and Auto Wah all sound really fantastic. Some of the others do as well. But also, just ergonomically as plug-ins they are designed really well, with intuitive browser features, great routing options, easy UI, etc.
I think that Amp Designer and Pedalboard compare extremely well to all the packages out there. I think that Line 6, TH1, IK Multimedia and Native Instruments may have a simulation here or there that is better than Amp Designer or Pedalboard, but overall I think Amp Designer and Pedalboard are more consistent in quality.
The main advantage some of the others, such as Guitar Rig, have over Logic's offerings are the amazing flexibility. You of course have that level of flexibility with Logic as a whole, but not "in the plug-in" so to speak. For example, with ReValver (Peavey) or TH1 (Overloud), you can load IRs of your own speaker cabinets. You can't do that with Amp Designer, however you can turn off the speaker simulation then add your own speaker IR in Space Designer. (for information on how to record your own speaker in Impulse Response Utility, see the IRU manual.)
All in all, I'd say that Logic's guitar offerings just went from mediocre compared to the evolution of the other third party offerings, to world class. In fact, I've used Amp Designer and Pedalboard in addition to my real hardware amps and pedals in the latest track I'm working on-it definitely produces "release quality" tones, not just for scratch tracks.
Orren