Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Where in NYC are you?! What are the names of your bands? I'm in South Brooklyn.

Both bands are based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. My main band is Jezo and the Element, with the infamous Jezo Black on vocals. She used to be in the band Spitfire America. I play guitar in that band.

I play bass in Mora Tau. Ronnie and Shauna from Mora Tau are also in Jezo and the Element. Only Ronnie plays bass.

I’m new in Mora Tau, so I haven’t played out with them yet. We had gigs with both bands that got canceled. [emoji853]

Here the Jezo and the Element SoundCloud page. On these recordings I’m playing all the instruments. I recorded everything in Logic Pro X at home. No amps or pedals were used during the recordings. [emoji16] We are going to re-record the songs with the band soon.

https://soundcloud.com/jezo-and-the-element

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Thank, I’ll check it out! I play guitar and keys in a crossover prog band, As Follows.
Soundcloud, https://soundcloud.com/as-follows

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Thank, I’ll check it out! I play guitar and keys in a crossover prog band, As Follows.
Soundcloud, https://soundcloud.com/as-follows

Cool stuff! Parts of Father Giles of Ham reminds me of XTC doing the Dukes.

I played bass in prog bands for most of the 70s. My favorite bands are Gentle Giant and King Crimson. I was a big Yes fan until around Relayer. Still have two ‘73 Rickenbacker basses.

Both my bands are very much in the grunge camp, but I like to add something different when I can.

If you listen to our song Cherry, the bridge section guitar part was inspired by Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Dance of Maya, mixed with the Pixies. [emoji16]

I sit around playing lots of John McLaughlin type stuff on guitar, but there’s never a place for it with the band. I haven’t played prog with an actual band in decades.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BeKindRewind]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

So I've got my scarlett hooked up and I've been messing with the Amp VST's for a few days. I know I recommended Helix and TH-U before, I also got into another one called Kuassa which is also excellent. But I found one I like even better.

https://neuraldsp.com/products/archetype-nolly/ this is the one I'm pretty sure I'm gonna settle with, it just sounds magical and feels just like playing a real amp. it's only 4 amps but it has everything from pristine clean to nuclear meltdown. might be worth checking out

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Every time I come across a Neural sample, I'm a bit blown away. I'll definitely have to check that out!

 

[Synapsys]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

The new POD Go seems more flexible for a home rig than the Stomp...

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

I really cannot imagine giving up hardware entirely and just living off an interface and PC. There is something satisfying about having a piece of gear that I can plug in anywhere and get great sounds - all you'd need is an XLR or two, or a set of cans. I had another thread about the Fractal AX8 I bought and if I were you, I wouldn't discount the direct hardware route!

You might want to wait for the fall, and consider the Neural Quad Cortex. They are positioning it as the best modeler to date, and if their software is any indication, it really looks like it combines the best of Fractal and Line6, and that it's going to kick ass. Never mind waiting for the fall, check it out and consider preordering it.

With plugins as standalone or companions to a DAW, you should check out the free trials of the Neural DSP Nolly and Abasi, and consider Helix Native as another solid in-the-box option. IIRC you can't "add" Helix hardware later on, I understood you either buy the Helix Floor/LT, or you buy the standalone Helix Native software. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It is soooo true that compared to Guitar Rig 5, Amplitube, Revalver, there are better options in 2020.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

With plugins as standalone or companions to a DAW, you should check out the free trials of the Neural DSP Nolly and Abasi, and consider Helix Native as another solid in-the-box option. IIRC you can't "add" Helix hardware later on, I understood you either buy the Helix Floor/LT, or you buy the standalone Helix Native software. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It is soooo true that compared to Guitar Rig 5, Amplitube, Revalver, there are better options in 2020.

If you have registered Helix hardware, you can get Helix Native For $99.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

You might want to wait for the fall, and consider the Neural Quad Cortex.

Honestly, that unit looks like everything I've ever dreamed of in a modern floor processor, including the touch screen! However, it's $1500, which gives my pocketbook serious cause for pause.

Also, the "more amps, more effects, more cabs!" thing always looks good on paper, but I'm getting a bit tired of having SO many options to choose from all the time, each of which has additional levels of tweaking and adjusting.

At this point, I'd rather have 4, maybe 5 seriously awesome amp sims, a handful of reliable IRs and a nice rounding of high quality effects that I can add onto as needed.

The regular Neural DSP plug-ins look like they might be a better fit in my case.

 

[BeKindRewind]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Honestly, that unit looks like everything I've ever dreamed of in a modern floor processor, including the touch screen! However, it's $1500, which gives my pocketbook serious cause for pause.

Also, the "more amps, more effects, more cabs!" thing always looks good on paper, but I'm getting a bit tired of having SO many options to choose from all the time, each of which has additional levels of tweaking and adjusting.

At this point, I'd rather have 4, maybe 5 seriously awesome amp sims, a handful of reliable IRs and a nice rounding of high quality effects that I can add onto as needed.

The regular Neural DSP plug-ins look like they might be a better fit in my case.

Heads up, the Neural Nolly plugin is on sale 50% off right now. Only for the rest of today, I think. It's not on their website but they posted it on the Facebook user group. Coupon code NOLLY50

Edit ; I got it. Time to record some awesome tuneage !


I kind of agree, btw. at first I wanted the Helix because it has a huge amount of amps, and tons of effects but I like the 4 amps in Nolly so much I can't see myself needing more. And all the huge amount of effects you get in Helix Native would be cool, but I can do all that with standalone plugins. A huge draw for Helix for me is the 1000's of available presets and line6 does have some cool synth effects and stuff but with a little effort I can create all that stuff within my DAW anyway

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

 

[MikeS]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Honestly, that unit looks like everything I've ever dreamed of in a modern floor processor, including the touch screen! However, it's $1500, which gives my pocketbook serious cause for pause.

Also, the "more amps, more effects, more cabs!" thing always looks good on paper, but I'm getting a bit tired of having SO many options to choose from all the time, each of which has additional levels of tweaking and adjusting.

At this point, I'd rather have 4, maybe 5 seriously awesome amp sims, a handful of reliable IRs and a nice rounding of high quality effects that I can add onto as needed.

The regular Neural DSP plug-ins look like they might be a better fit in my case.

This is my take as well. Long ago I used a Line6 Guitar Port. There were tons of amps, cabs, and effects, and after what seemed like an eternity of trying them all out and tweaking, I found myself using 3 different amps and only a handful of effects. Given that many options, I tend to suffer from analysis paralysis, so I'm taking a similar approach with looking for smaller suites with more limited options.

I downloaded the trial of the Neural DSP Nolly last night and played around for a while. What's interesting is that every one of the presets have a considerably heavier bottom end than clips on YouTube of the same presets. Several of them sound fizzier, too. Not sure if folks are post-processing these demos or not. I'm didn't go into it expecting not to tweak to find my favorite tones, but thus far it's not behaving like the demos I've seen. Maybe it's my hardware, I just don't know yet, but I still have 13 days worth of trial to play around.

 

[BeKindRewind]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

I downloaded the trial of the Neural DSP Nolly last night and played around for a while. What's interesting is that every one of the presets have a considerably heavier bottom end than clips on YouTube of the same presets. Several of them sound fizzier, too. Not sure if folks are post-processing these demos or not. I'm didn't go into it expecting not to tweak to find my favorite tones, but thus far it's not behaving like the demos I've seen. Maybe it's my hardware, I just don't know yet, but I still have 13 days worth of trial to play around.

Could possibly be your particular headphones, monitors or even your daw coloring it a bit? I find that using the EQ pedal to dial out some of the bass frequencies definietly helps it sound better, but then I always put high pass filters on guitars anyway to make room for the bass and kick drum, so that's the sound I go for anyway. but yeah seems to me the EQ pedal in this plugin is one of the most powerful things about it

 

[MikeS]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Could possibly be your particular headphones, monitors or even your daw coloring it a bit? I find that using the EQ pedal to dial out some of the bass frequencies definietly helps it sound better, but then I always put high pass filters on guitars anyway to make room for the bass and kick drum, so that's the sound I go for anyway. but yeah seems to me the EQ pedal in this plugin is one of the most powerful things about it

I haven't had a chance to play with EQ pedal yet, I was just judging the preset tones against what reviewers were claiming were preset tones. Tones are the same through both my monitors (Yamaha HS5) and my headphones (AKG K240). I tested both the VST in Reaper and the standalone and those are consistent with each other. It's possible that it's the Scarlett, or maybe I just need to tweak the EQ. I haven't ruled out anything else, either.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Heads up, the Neural Nolly plugin is on sale 50% off right now. Only for the rest of today, I think. It's not on their website but they posted it on the Facebook user group. Coupon code NOLLY50

Edit ; I got it. Time to record some awesome tuneage !

Nice find! Thanks for sharing!

Even at half-price, $80 for "software" always seems like a lot to me. I suppose it really isn't in the grand scheme of things...a new video game is $60+, a "cheap" pedal is $40, etc.,

That said, I took a chance on the deal Seems like a rare savings and these models basically encompass what I'm looking for as a core "amp" setup for my PC. Now to get them set up!

Curious what others who have experience with the Neural stuff are using along with these plug-ins? Any other essentials?

 

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

Best comprehensive & unbiased video I could find ..too bad I can't understand a word of it

That said I'd watch it for just the playing & the killer tones ...pretty ace all around. The fingers do the talking :bigthumb:

I think it's a fantastic unit for it's price & features...

Love mine

 

[donaldr]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

I played guitar and bass on Mac/PC for years. They sound good but never as good as a dedicated modeler IMO. The bad part of playing on a computer is you have to deal with updates (mainly on Windows PC), and that was killing my workflow. Say you have 30 minutes for playtime, you open the computer and bingo it's going for updates (long minutes) and have to reboot after, I was now left with 5 minutes to play guitar and gave up. And I'm not talking about obsolescence, so a PC solution might be good for 2-5 years at most.

I'm using an Avid Eleven Rack, live and at home, for the last 7-8 years, for guitar and for bass. Used it first with a tube power amp and 4x12" cab, but now only direct to PA. I can use a computer if I want (recording, backing tracks, etc.) but I can also use the Eleven Rack standalone (most of the time). Takes 30 seconds to start. I have a small midi controller (Tech21 Mongoose) with an expression pedal for wah/volume and that's it. Sounds incredible. I think you can get a used Eleven Rack for $200 this days. Works well with headphones too. I tried Garageband, Amplitude 4 and Revolver but found them not even close to Eleven Rack IMHO.

If you don't want to spend to much, I'm using a Zoom G1-Four (that I can throw with headphones in my gigbag). Incredible for $99. Very good practice headphone amp, and also not too bad direct to powered PA speakers. Might even works plugging in an aux-in of a bluetooth speaker.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

No f-ing way am I going to give up my amps. Like Joe says, there's a symbiotic relationship between the amp and the guitar. They're one instrument and you can't have a complete instrument without both halves.

https://www.premierguitar.com/artic...5SCRrvKZcYC7dMqyxAU7y0Ue6bfA87-T53TJtg7FE_CQQ

 

[Mincer]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

No f-ing way am I going to give up my amps. Like Joe says, there's a symbiotic relationship between the amp and the guitar. They're one instrument and you can't have a complete instrument without both halves.

https://www.premierguitar.com/artic...5SCRrvKZcYC7dMqyxAU7y0Ue6bfA87-T53TJtg7FE_CQQ

While I understand it, I think sometimes if you are gonna break down barriers, you have to change the way you work. I use amps, too. But sometimes I am not trying to created classic guitar sounds, or really, sound like a guitar at all...for that, I need a different system, as regular amps just don't do what I want.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

I picked up the Nolly suite for half-off on a whim a few days ago and I must say, I'm pretty blown away. In fact, I can't find a single thing to complain about! 4 great sounding, incredibly usable and well thought-out sims with a beautiful layout and a nice range of basic effects included.

I had read in multiple places that Neural is at the top of their game when it comes to amp sims and I have to agree...very satisfied overall. I'll be looking to pick up their "Plini" set and the Fortin "Cali" if they ever go on sale.

BTW, they have extended their 50% off sale for all previously on-sale models (Nameless, Omega, NTS, Nolly, etc) using code "lastchance50" for a very short time. I almost grabbed the Nameless because of the sea of amazing reviews and some really good YouTube examples, but I'm saving the funds for the previously mentioned amps.

If you're on the fence about "sims" and are basing your experience on AmpliTube, Revalver, etc., I say download any of the Nolly, Plini, and/or Cali suites and give the demos a try!

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Going Amp-less in 2020? What are the options?

I've just received my Native Instruments Komplete 2 interface. I got Guitar Rig 5 as part of registering it, and I lost 2 1/2 hours just going through the presets with my G&L Legacy! Good fun, some seriously cool presets, and good drive tones. I do also have Amplitube 4, with the Custom Shop, but I haven't tried that yet. Up until now, I've just used an iRig HD2 and Amplitube on my iPad.