[orb451]

I've been playing tube amps most of the 16 years I've been playing and recently got into recording. Given that I've got a crappy sounding room and noisy fiancee and noisy neighbors I'm kind of limited in terms of getting my 2x12 combo (Carvin V3) mic'd up and dialed in. So.......... I started using emulators and going direct. I tried FreeAmp (not too bad but too much lag on my system) and then Guitar Rig 3. The thing to me, with Guitar Rig is the bottom end always sounds either extremely boomy and boxy or flabby. For example, if I play the first minute or two of Harvester of Sorrow from Metallica with a tube amp, I can really lay into the palm muting and it sounds tight, but with GR3 at least, I can't get that kind of low end definition and *chug* without it sounding off... at least to my ears. But thankfully I found these *impulse* samples and combing GR3 with the impulses through Voxengo's BoogEx or whatever its called has helped a lot.

I've tried Aradz stuff as well and really like it for some applications. The latest thing that has me hooked is this thing called StudioDevil Guitar Amp. It's not a big VST like GR3 in terms of routing, effects, cabs, amps, mics, etc. It only has a few knobs and switches but combining that, with the impulses has yielded a much more solid tone.

It reminds me of the ol' Unix philosophy for any geeks (yes I'm one) out there, that is, find a tool that does one thing and does it well. Instead of the all-in-wonder-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink type programs that try to do too much. I think GR3's clean sounds are very cool and sound good, but the overdrive/distortion is lacking a bit, but if you spend enough time with it, like anything, you can get it to sound pretty good. Again, just my experience and my opinion...

Never tried Revalver or any of the other sims so I can't speak to those.