Personally I think nam and tonocracy sounded the best you pretty much can't tell the difference. The stl was good but had a bit too much high end fizz for me. Tone X i think would be great if the levels were correct. I would suggest watching ed s video on levels for the tone x.
@ampspedalspickups7 сағат бұрын
I’m well versed in the topic I’ve got two videos about setting levels. Everything here was reamped at the same level and the other 3 can handle this gain and Tonex can’t. I’ve tried various specs and it’s all different versions of the same issue. It’s just a different version of the tech compared to the other 3 and the results are pretty different. If I tamed the gain down then Tonex would handle it a lot better
@enthronedoath83707 сағат бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups ah then there must still be issues. I've not used to tone X since Ed brought his video and I had similar results to your captures so I just put it down to that but there must be still something on there. It's a shame really as the tone X is good when you get good results. Great video though I'd never heard of the tonocracy so I'll be giving that a go. 🤘🏻
@thethings470810 сағат бұрын
MAN !! i have to admite ; VERY VERY surprise by the quality of Tonocracy...
@ampspedalspickups9 сағат бұрын
Yeah the captures are super high quality, very capable
@jcugnoni12 сағат бұрын
You can get awesome results with any of these including ToneX (for mid gain). But each require a different process and level matching is difficult in some of them. So in my opinion, the process is what makes most difference. As a plugin Tonocracy is certainly the simplest and most productive. NAM is my preferred choice for many reasons.. But I like what I can do with the little ToneX One pedal. By the way, I got quite decent results with ToneX but not consistently...
@ampspedalspickups10 сағат бұрын
Yeah I've had some "ok" hits with ToneX, tends to be when I lower the gain down. Like even if I profile the same thing a few times it can be hit and miss. I'll be doing a video on "what I want to see from NAM" soon and the capturing side of things will be a lot of what we see from Tonocracy... Tonocracy gets a lot of things wrong (infant software so it gets a pass), but the one thing it does really well is the capturing side.
@WholeLottaBulldog14 сағат бұрын
Mate, i love your approach. I love your channel, too. Ive had my best luck with tonex by capturing plugins, like ndsp and stl josh middleton. Btw, where you at in Aus? Im in Melbourne.
@ampspedalspickups12 сағат бұрын
Yeah I can see it handling digital stuff a bit better and the gain coming out better… the real a,ps definitely have a rawness that it struggles with. Yeah Sydney here 🤜🤛
@-Tepp-18 сағат бұрын
That Fireball is awesome
@constantinranis20 сағат бұрын
I love the sound of Engl, it's so throaty, I did a shootout video on my channel not so long ago where I compare a real Engl Savage to some of the most well known amp sim captures on the market, everyone has its character and sound different but you can hear that Engl vibe on all of them. If you are interested I can share the link,I would like to hear your thoughts about them.
@ampspedalspickups12 сағат бұрын
Go for it! I’d love to get a real savage mk2 at some point, great amps
Started out with nam but now I use tonocracy. It’s more user friendly to me. One thing that I dislike about captures. There are just to many. I mainly use dialled in tones with a theme like metal or punk, for example. Not those packs containing every gain stage of an amp and the eq on zero. If you get my drift 😊 I still prefer modelling but capture can sound insanely good. Also, how do all these capture software hold up outing a boost, fuzz or distortion in front of it?
@ampspedalspickupsКүн бұрын
They should take boosts and pedals really well. The underlying tech does a good job of probing the amp response. It’s obviously one setting at a time but within that the push and pull response of the amp is pretty good.
@johndo96484 сағат бұрын
Never tried it it. Now I will. Thanks ☺️
@thatguyreiji1045Күн бұрын
As you mentioned the odd one out is most certainly the ToneX, I think apart from the real amp, the other captures can all be used in a real setting. Think it all comes down to preference. You can try your NAM captures in the Two Notes Genome plugin. It has few parameters you can use to tweak your tone even more. You should give it a look.
@ampspedalspickupsКүн бұрын
Yeah quite a few nam players like genome around. I’ve got it but haven’t used it much honestly, will give it a proper spin
@StudioAmpCapturesКүн бұрын
Great video, thank you.
@tsalagi782 күн бұрын
🤘🏽🤘🏽
@SeanRooneyMusic3 күн бұрын
Sorry man, if i buy Odin 3 snd have fortin nameless, how do i use Odin But use fortin for the actual distortion sound? Im a noob so sorry for the bad explanation
@ampspedalspickups2 күн бұрын
Haha it’s fine, when you load up plugins they just flow in a sequence. So when you load up Odin it creates the guitar/DI sound and then load up nameless after that it’ll straight away get processed as the amp sound
@SeanRooneyMusic2 күн бұрын
@ampspedalspickups perfect thank you!
@constantinranis3 күн бұрын
Does anyone know what is the best input settings for Otto Audio II II II ?
@ampspedalspickupsКүн бұрын
Not sure haven’t seen info… this is the kind of thing worth emailing the dev on and seeing if they can quote what their sim is calibrated to in -dbfs terms. If you find out let us know and we can add it to the spreadsheet, all good info.
@constantinranisКүн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups I ve already texted Otto and asked about three days ago, if he will respond of course I ll let you know
@elbambinomaloso1893 күн бұрын
Another dumb question here😂 The minimum gain on a Scarlett solo instrument input, is that with the INST button ON or OFF??
@ampspedalspickups3 күн бұрын
If the manual is quoting “instrument level” then they mean with the instrument button ON. Some interfaces boost the gain levels when the instrument button is ON… but mainly using the instrument ON you’re using the right impedence of that input…. The impedence of an instrument is a lot higher than a mic level so if it’s left OFF you’ll lose the top end of your sound So yeah if there quoting a dbu value against Instrument in the manual, it’ll be with the button ON
@elbambinomaloso1892 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickupswow thank you so much for responding. I did this and my stl tones sounds pretty good and clear. I think i need to adjust some other levels or eq maybe because i noticed with my 7506s i get slight a clipping noise when i play certain things almost like the headphones are farting out.
@robnolette3 күн бұрын
How does one use these plugins with stomp effects, like delay, chorus, reverb, etc.? That's why I like STL Tones and Neural DSP. One-stop shop. But these distortions sound awesome!
@ampspedalspickups3 күн бұрын
You’d have to have other plugins before or after this one. It’s kind of just the amp component
@buddhaclausstudios67627 күн бұрын
Do you know of something like this that samples existing music to create something similar?
@buddhaclausstudios67627 күн бұрын
Can it do instrumental tracks?
@ampspedalspickups7 күн бұрын
Yeah it can
@micronesia379713 күн бұрын
This thing is criminally good, clearly a djent/progressive modern metal oriented but it's so versatile.
@ampspedalspickups12 күн бұрын
So good, still one of the ones I pull up constantly to try out different guitars and pedals. They did a great job on nameless
@angelwolff9017 күн бұрын
The common denominator in all of these songs is they all sound like garbage generic garbage!!
@alejandroaaa17 күн бұрын
Great demo man, but the drums were a bit too loud and the guitar just got buried in the mix
@ampspedalspickups17 күн бұрын
Damn yeah that one really got buried when I hear it back. I’ll be doing this series again in September…. Definitely have upskilled the studio mixing side of things for next time around
@stevedurrant881518 күн бұрын
I just bought the real thing , and I absolutely love it .CH 1 on about 7 o'clock with a CS3 sounds great. Actually uploading captures to Tonex Tonenet while watching your video. I tried The Big Cat in STL, and it's pretty spot on.
@ampspedalspickups18 күн бұрын
My list of grail amps gets smaller and smaller and the lynx is still up there, sooooo sick man
@ferrencerosier996518 күн бұрын
Great review man!
@chugbawamba19 күн бұрын
perhaps you can do one for those without a multimeter real world use aka "plug your guitar in, hit hardest chugs and have peak level hit (___) Db (dbfs, dbu idk?) and also recommend a free metering plugin?
@eds475419 күн бұрын
@@chugbawamba that method doesn’t really work very well accuracy wise and leads to a lot of inconsistency between users. If you don’t have a multimeter, use the instrument input on your interface and refer to the specs. Or match your DI to a known headroom like the one on an interface. You can’t use the guitar to calibrate level, it needs to be a constant and known voltage source. Worth having a multimeter in a studio, you can get one for $10-20
@chugbawamba19 күн бұрын
@@eds4754 right but if you had to, not for giving a standard measurement, but for personal setup fast on fly aka ballpark.. I don't see why it wouldn't be helpful in a pinch. The meter will always be more accurate to science and calibration, but for a personal setup fast is what I am thinking
@eds475419 күн бұрын
@@chugbawamba The issue is that the peak level you see in the DAW will be different depending on the converters you use. One person could be using a converter that has low headroom, so chugs are already clipping, and someone else could be using converters with lots of headroom and the same chug is at -20dBFS. Each amp sim has no idea which converters are being used either, which is why they have to pick a value and allow everyone else to adjust for it. The options are either do it accurately, or guess. If I wasn't sure, I'd probably familiarise myself with that particular amp's real life counterpart to know roughly what amount of gain to expect and then adjust accordingly.
@bukowskimoho19 күн бұрын
How do you know whats the best level for reamping? Why choosing one level vs other?
@eds475412 күн бұрын
usually you’ll want your reamp as hot as possible, and then it means you can record DI’s with a good amount of headroom and still reach unity. 12-14dBu is usually a sweet spot but it can be slightly more or less depending on the gear you are using Generally consumer level gear will have lower output levels so that might determine how much signal you can get out of your reamp box. It also depends on the reamp box as some lose some level
@bukowskimoho12 күн бұрын
@@eds4754 great response Ed, I really appreciate your help as always!
@Fz3ro20 күн бұрын
I'm thinking of getting either AXURE GMP or ODIN 3 - I'm so torn, both sound so good! I want to play LOATHE/Erra/Periphery kinda riffs.
@ampspedalspickups20 күн бұрын
I’ve watched a few comparisons and after its run through amp sims they seem to come out pretty close to each other. The first general thought I’d have is this is the third iteration for Odin so they learnt a lot along the way and have been doing this for 6+ years now, it’s a lot of knowledge being poured into the product The second is I’d probably really dive into tutorials on both of them and take note how hard it is to work with the key switches. It’s easy to dump midi in and do some quick sound samples but if you wanna go deep with the stuff then key switches and articulations will be king. I haven’t gone that deep with Odin and I haven’t seen how deep axure is but the demo songs I’ve heard out of Odin with people going full brain power on articulations sound pretty awesome
@Fz3ro13 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups Yep, it's exactly that. I think if you have a clean DI (MIDI) going in, then putting it through a AMP sim you are going to get a good result. I'd be using it to mock up quick riffs and ideas and then when it's fleshed out, re-record with real guitar. So I guess it's the way you use it which matters. If it's not going to be used on the final product, then both of them would more than adequate. I do agree with you that AXURE has just come out, that'll get better over time and ODIN has had three iterations, so a lot of knowledge has definitely been poured into it!
@Mr_Bollie20 күн бұрын
Thank you for that! I'm on an RME as well, and this helped a lot. Now, there's hardware out there running NAM, being the Dimehead NAM Player. Perhaps it makes sense to have their specs as target, so it's gonna be just plug and play for owners of that device.
@ampspedalspickups19 күн бұрын
Would be interesting to know what the dbu headroom of the dimehead player is, I’ll have a look around and see if I can find their numbers I don’t think the dimehead player carries that much weight for nam honestly. Like yeah it’s a great player but long term I think many more will come and they will have the same issues, and I also see nam being incorporated into modellers as well. I think we mainly just need people and companies doing captures to do it to any kind of standard levels on their end so we know and can adjust accordingly What would really be a great solution is to embed the reamp level into the metadata of the nam file…. Then in theory if you told the nam player (in software or hardware) what your input is… things would just auto adjust perfectly. Of course this relies on people putting the right figures on both ends but when it’s done right it would be super seamless to flick through multiple packs without worrying about changing input gain constantly
@Mr_Bollie19 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups I agree! Sadly, there are little to no specs for the NAM player. I hope Dirk from Dimehead will enlighten us. Regarding metadata, that requires talking to Steven.
@StudioAmpCaptures20 күн бұрын
Great video Thanks! Thoughts for Topics to cover for future videos: 1 Difference between dBu and DBFS. 2: Headroom - How 13 dBu is how much headroom you have before you clip the input of your Interface. (using Pads may change this) 3: Impedance - Using instrument input when hooking guitar into interface, unless using the Line input if using something like a D.I box before interface. 4: Calibrating Reamp Box dBu without Multimeter using your interface instrument input to measure if you know interface specs. Is this as accurate as using multimeter?
@ampspedalspickups20 күн бұрын
Great stuff! The by product I get out of all this is researching these things and continuously going one level deeper…. And then trying to make it all digestible info for “old me” (I know what makes people tune out haha). Will include some of these, legend
@BrainDeadTX20 күн бұрын
Wow thank you! btw what’s the name of the Reaper skin? Looks very cool
@ampspedalspickups20 күн бұрын
It’s a modified version of the @reapertips free theme. Alejandro from reapertips is a weapon, great theme to start from and customise
@WEB-df1of20 күн бұрын
it would be great to be able to calibrate plugins for example if an ampsim expects -13 db for example but an overdrive (plugin) is used on the front of ampsim, you would have to calibrate the overdrive to see what its gain stage is before hitting the amp.
@eds475420 күн бұрын
Yeah, you calibrate for the first plugin in the chain. If a pedal is 10dBu and the amp sim after is 13dBu, you’d adjust your input level for 10dBu, and then decrease the output of that plugin by 3dB so it’s matched for the next one. Or you can set all of the plugins for unity, which makes it easier to bypass or combine different plugins without having to recalculate each time. if your input is 15dBu, you’d boost the input of the pedal by 5dB, and then attenuate the output by 5dB. Now you’re back at 15dBu. Then for the amp sim, you’d boost by 2dB. Both ways are fine, but I like the 2nd method. I just save default presets with the input and output levels already set
@WEB-df1of20 күн бұрын
Thank for the great work
@Metalman218920 күн бұрын
OMG this is crazy good
@eds475421 күн бұрын
Great stuff Nath, very well explained!
@ampspedalspickups21 күн бұрын
🤘🤘🤘
@DSKComposer21 күн бұрын
Hi Nathan - thank you for the video. I use a Grace M 101 as my Hi-Z guitar input, which then goes into my Lynx HiLo, and finally into my DAW (logic) wherein I use NeuralDSP plugins -- the Grace M101 preamp has gain from 10-75dB (10db being the lowest on the dial) -- so, would that mean I would need to set the inout gain in the NeuralDSP to +2.2?
@ampspedalspickups21 күн бұрын
It’s one notch more effort to do but we need to measure the signal basically. The more technical explanation of what’s going on is the neural amp sim is calibrated to -12.2 dbfs. When you plug straight into an interface with no preamp it’s easy to just read that input x is 13dbu or 18dbu below dbfs and you make the adjustment. But when you’ve got a preamp or di box or gain before that point you can’t really rely on specs, it just needs to be measured! I’ll have a video up in the next day or so, easy process. Ed S on KZread already has some out but I’ll get mine out very soon!
@DSKComposer21 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups Thank you!
@Bogren.Digital21 күн бұрын
Super cool demo track, Nathan! "Chorey" is named after Trivium' lead guitar player, Corey. He loves to use a micro pitch effect on his leads. Great to see you enjoyed these! 🤘 We called Fred Durst about doing an Ampknob bundle but he said he would do it for a nookie, so we have not been able to finalize the negotiations. ;)
@ampspedalspickups21 күн бұрын
🤣🤣🤣 Thanks legends 🤘
@bradsmithstudios888122 күн бұрын
This amp’s got shaking me like a dog shittin’ razor blades
@ampspedalspickups21 күн бұрын
This guy Alkalines <3
@pedrobexiga829122 күн бұрын
Your workflow with the fm3 doesn't need to be so complicated. The fm3 is a full blown interface that supports reamping. here is a fractal friday explaining how. kzread.info/dash/bejne/g4agzLmLnK_dqbw.html Although I do agree that using a plugin is a bit easier for tweaking because you can tweak at anytime without having the hardware plugged in. I have helix native for that if needed. Sometimes I will record with the fractal amp sims, then use native to facilitate the wet effects in a recording. It all depends on what you need - but reamping in the FM3 doesn't need to be complicated at all. I love my analog gear and use it quite often but I am a huge fan of the FM3 - and with the recent gap-less update the fractal is clearly the most versatile modeler - even compared to the QC in my opinion. My fm3 typically sits on my desk - for me it's been a tool that helps me practice more. I don't need to setup my pedals or amps or turn on the pc to get a quick practice in. And the models are Pristine.
@ampspedalspickups22 күн бұрын
As far as I could see running 2 interfaces at once in windows had its fair share of problems so people just use one or the other. If I only used one interface at a time I'd need to switch my speaker monitors between the two, or buy a switch which has its own problems. I have a full reamp setup here anyway so there's not really a benefit using the FM3 as the interface for reamping, I can just use analog and its fine. For me my computer is always on, firing up reaper and an amp sim takes like 10 seconds so its not a big deal getting that going, horses for courses I guess. Yeah fractal definitely still has that special sauce over every other modeller (software or hardware). I'll definitely be incorporating the inevitable axefx4 into my setup here. Its just hard to justify an axefx3 when I have so much digital and analog gear around here but never say never. If I'd bought the axe3 I would have kept it for all the I/O and a few other things... the FM3 just was in a weird spot. If I was doing any sort of jamming or gigging I would have kept it around but it kind of just didnt make sense. There's still days I miss it but eh, gear comes and goes... great unit!
@pedrobexiga829121 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups there a many ways to skin a cat. I just don’t think it’s fair to knock the fm3 because of specific “needs”. Reamping isn’t for everyone but it’s a lot simpler than you described with the fm3. It’s all about your workflow. In fact, if you wanted to put fractal modeling in your studio and not dish out axefx3 money, it’s completely reasonable to buy an fm3, wire it up for reamping and hide it in a drawer.
@ampspedalspickups21 күн бұрын
There's no way to magically make the reamping setup easier... you can digital reamp which isn't viable for me because I already use a different interface and hopping ports isn't a solution / getting a switcher isnt a good solution for me either. It's still reamping in real time like an amp and if im going to reamp in real time then I'll just real amps. When I use digital stuff I would ideally like the instant nature of a vst. Pair all that with the fm3 had limited I/O for the studio, no impedence options on the inputs, it was noisy for 4cm setups compared to the fm9 and axe3 and I could also sell it at a time that I didnt lose any money after owning it for 2+ years. If I was gigging and wanted a beast tone machine then the FM3 is the way to go but for what I'm doing around here it just didn't make sense because I already have a good analog setup with amps as well as endless amp sims in vst, it always kind of sat in the middle. One of the best things on the FM3 was trying out the new firmware and I'd rather get an axe3 because it obviously gets flagship firmware updates, has more ports, better for 4cm and more horsepower for things like dual amps, and also it has the tone match block that the FM3 didnt have. The FM3 is great but it didnt work for me and I shared a video about it, not sure whats hard to understand haha. If it works for you then great.
@Zombiebrains2422 күн бұрын
@7:35 sounds a bit like Falling in reverse
@MrTimMifsud22 күн бұрын
This is great! I have been testing this myself. However I want to know about microphone preamp plugins and whether we run a microphone at a lower level too and use the plugin for the gain?
@ampspedalspickups22 күн бұрын
I could be ignorant on the topic but I think it’s all less of a problem with mic preamp stuff. I guess conceptually it’s the same idea where they have captured or modelled the preamp behaviour to a certain dbu spec below 0dbfs but I guess the digital preamps are just adding nice saturation, it’s just less noticeable than a guitar amp reacting strangely to a guitar Would be something cool to explore and see if those plugins have a dbu spec from the manufacturer
@daveyjonesx23 күн бұрын
It's INSANELY good
@Robbie-uw2mp23 күн бұрын
Can someone please help; I dont have a DI box atm (getting one soon) and my guitar has fishmans. When I use the 'Instrument' input on my Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen, the signal clips even when the gain is all the way down, so I have to use the line input instead. I know that the signal will be weaker while using the line input, so should I boost the gain knob on my interface, or boost the input gain on my amp simulator to compensate for the fact that Im using line input instead of instrument input? Any help would be greatly appreciated
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
You could do either but it’s generally better to leave the gain at 0 and boost in the sim. In the manual for the interface they should quote an instrument level and a line level. No doubt the line level will be a higher dBu than the instrument. Once you get that number from the manual just check the spreadsheet for whatever ampsim you’re using and compensate inside the amp sim. So if your line level says 18dbu and the ampsim is 12dbu then inside the ampsim just gain it up by 6db
@Robbie-uw2mp23 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups the Scarlett solo has 22dbu on line input, and I use Neural DSP, which on the spreadsheet says their plug-ins have 12.2dbu, so I would leave the interface gain at 0 and boost the input on the NDSP plugin itself by roughly 10db? Thanks in advance, i really appreciate the advice
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
Yep that’s it! Just remember it’s a starting point. Even though I hit nameless at 12.2 I almost always use a drive pedal on max, heavy gain and even in some cases I’ll nudge the input a bit, in your case 10 to like 11 or 12. Imagine not knowing this and not touching the gain and you’re like, why does this amp sim suck…. Cause you’re 10db off the mark 🤣. But yep 10db in neural and you’re good to go!
@Robbie-uw2mp23 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups bro you are a life saver thank you so much 🙏 my six string with crappy pickups sometimes sounds a lot better than my higher end 7 string with fishman moderns and this is definitely why hahah, great video, I’ll be coming back for for, have a great day 👊
@hellaslayin717523 күн бұрын
Don't boost your amp preamp, boost the ampsim input instead. To get to ur needed level, otherwise it's like using a pedal Infront of the amp.
@LeonTodd23 күн бұрын
Really well done mate, important information!
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
🤜🤛 🤘
@HermitGhost23 күн бұрын
It's intended purpose is to replace musicians. It has no, nor will it ever, have any practical application for musicians. It will not be your drummer, keyboardist, bassist, or guitarist, it will only be your complete replacement.
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
rip us
@edneyhelenedossantos187523 күн бұрын
I can't make mine sound so good ever 😢
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
try running a hefty amount of clean volume/input gain into it... "might" help
@shaunflannigan59323 күн бұрын
Thanks for the video, I'm totally at a loss with this. I use a Line6 Pod Go wireless as my audio interface for Nureal DSP plugins. I drop the input level on the Pod to roughly -50 db as this is the point where I can't here the Pod sound signal coming through and colouring the plugin. Is this correct? I'm not recording anything just using it to play through FRFR speakes. Will tbe plugin react as its meant to at that level. Thank you in advanced.
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
That’s a weird setup with a bunch of questions to go back and forth. Probably easier to join discord and can talk there Sounds like there should be some DI with no pod processing coming out of the unit, shouldn’t need to gain the thing down to remove pod processing etc, it should be independent And then you have the frfr hooked direct up to the pod? I’m working on the next video on how to measure things with a multimeter, could be a bit simpler for this setup. When it’s a normal interface it’s easy to find the spec but I find any multi purpose thing it can be trickier cause it’s more of a guitar thing first and an interface second kind of thing… it will definitely work and we can find the spec but without having the unit on hand I’m just not sure how it all works off the top of my head
@michaelj.anderson111624 күн бұрын
I still can't figure out how to do this on my interface. I'm using the hi-z input on an Audient sono. There is an input and output volume knob and if I turn any or both of these to zero I won't hear anything. So not sure how this works in my situation.
@Durkhead23 күн бұрын
Dont worry about it, its not important. Its just easier to adjust the settings if the input level is lower. Say for example your setting the presence it will be less sensitive and easier to dial in. The whole point of these videos is they want the amp to respond as close as possible to the real amp
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
I had a look at the manual and yeah it’s a bit different to a typical interface. Not sure if we’re just talking about the input knob on the sono being the same as an interface gain. I’m working on a video where you can measure the level with a multimeter so you can essentially just leave your settings as is and we can find what your levels are and go from there Most of the time if the amp sim in your computer is reacting roughly how you’d expect then you probably aren’t far off from that specific combo of interface to amp sim input. It’s really about finding your input spec so that when you chop and change amp sims or really want to make sure you’re dialled in right on the ones you use all the time it’s spot on point Next vid will def be worth a watch for your scenario! Alternative is to join the discord and I’m sure we can work it all out on the sono
@michaelj.anderson111623 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups Thanks I appreciate the effort. I've been trying to figure it out for a while. Just can't wrap my head around it quite yet. I'll keep an eye out for the next video and I'll join the discord too.
@AT-wl9yq23 күн бұрын
You can't have a volume control on the input and the output. A volume control can only be on the output. The one on the input is a gain control. If you are turning one, or both to zero and no signal is passing through the component, you need to set them higher. Start with gain first. Gain is more important to get right because only gain can overdrive, or damage the signal. A volume control can't. Increase gain and test the results with the volume knob. Set it just high enough to where you get useable volume control, but no more. From that point, leave the gain knob alone and just use volume. You shouldn't have to play with gain again unless something in the system changes.
@TheBukman24 күн бұрын
Definitely a big topic. While I don't use amp plugins I do record DIs for ramping purposes and having to accurately match my direct guitar to amp level to my reamp level is so crucial. Ed's videos have been gold level info and I have gone down the full multimeter route as it is so much more accurate. Actually after doing the multimeter level match for my reamp chain I took it further to check how my levels changed when going through my effect switcher versus my guitar plugged direct into the amp. You would be surprised the amount of attenuation an effect switcher can introduce all of which changes what guitar signal the amp finally receives. People blame the switcher devices for introducing colouration but all it is caused by is usually just level attenuation or level increase. As soon as you adjust the out levels to match the input level the colouration is gone. With a multimeter and a solid reference tone (that I send out of a looper pedal) you can make it all match and for me I can then truly set and forget.
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
I think I saw you mention the looper pedal somewhere, pretty genius haha. I’ve been using Tonocracy a lot to quickly set levels so I didn’t have to pull up something to spit out the sine wave. But before that I grabbed a test tone app on iPhone and a lightning to 3.5mm cable to 6.5 into the interface, basically let me do the same thing as the looper, I measured it once and knew where the level was at. You can really streamline the whole thing with tools like that! When I saw you did the looper pedal I was like that’s genius, just like the phone app 🤣
@TheBukman24 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups I recently mentioned it in a reply to one of Ed’s videos. Great idea using a phone app. While I would probably keep using the looper the phone app would save me opening up a daw session and a signal generator and have to reamp and record it into my looper. Funny that the first thing I noticed when I started this testing was that my TC Ditto+ looper at full volume wasn’t at unity with the level recorded into it. It actually adds quite a bit of gain into the signal once it is playing back. I always assumed it was at unity gain with my guitar signal. Anyway these are all the things a reference test tone and a multimeter can tell you that your ears often can’t.
@constantinranis24 күн бұрын
I actually tried this with my SSL 2 , left the input at 0 and recorded something but i find the di itself looks and sounds very weak, shouldn't the di itself have a decent wave form?
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
Can be a bit deceptive when looking at the waveforms they can look low sometimes depending on the guitar. If you join the discord it will be easier to sanity check a few things. The spreadsheet says the ssl2+ at 0 gain is 15dbu so to hit a neuraldsp plugin you just go +3db on the gain slider. If you were to use stl amphub or tonehub that requires 5.2dbu so you’d gain it up +10db in the ampsim
@constantinranis24 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups if the wave forms are not a problem that they look so tiny then I'm ok with that. But it might be a good idea to include it as a side note if you send your stuff to get mixed by others and you send your dis
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
@@constantinranis yeah definitely, I’ll include the wave form thing when I do a follow up faq video. I’ve actually already got a session showing the same riff on 6-7 guitars and the waveforms are pretty different when the interface is at the same level, it’s a good visual to see
@dougb385423 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups but tonehub has it's own gain compensation stage does this matter ?
@ampspedalspickups23 күн бұрын
@@dougb3854 I could probably do a 3minute bit exploring this, but its basically 2 different approaches. The method I've got here by getting the dBu of the amp sim and matching it is arguably "perfect"... no guesswork, they give you a number, you match it, done. Their method is to try and get you into the ballpark. If I smash some chords on my active pickup guitar they are pretty hot, they peak at a certain point. If I do the same on bareknuckle or other hot passive pickups they generally peak lower... and then one step lower if I do the same on a strat they will peak even lower. Conceptually its like... hey let me know what type of guitar are you using... smash away at it... I'll guesstimate what input dBu you're using and then I'll match that to this amp sim. It actually works quite well even though its not "accurate". It's still a fair bit more complex than just telling someone "hey use this". If I didnt have the dBu spec of the plugin and they had this kind of thing I'd be ok with using it. But if you have both options its kind of no question, use the spec and dont worry about the auto thing.
@Notinserviceij24 күн бұрын
Im shocked by how many amp sim companies dont include this info in the manual In the audio engineering world, all this info is available on how to gain stage into the plugin/hardware in manuals and even in the product page Its garbage you have to message them to find out like its some magic hoodoo Like it legit makes their products worse if you dont hit amp sims correctly, its literally in their best interests and nudda nothing
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
It makes the problem WORSE because people have been using amp sims for 10+ years now so when they hear this input level thing they think its bro science and "why do I need to check, I've never done it before and its fine". If the company just said what the level is we'd just use it and it wouldnt even be an issue haha. STL, Neural, Mercuriall, Nembrini and many others seem to totally get it, have from the start... they tell us what they use and its easy. Companies like IK... it seems like they've captured/modelled things at different times and used different specs so they can't even tell us what to use because it seems like they barely know themselves. You can also tell this is the case cause some amps in Amplitube5 sound fine on one setting but then you switch to like their Orange amp pack and you need to wildly gain up your setup to remotely get a good sound going. I always thought their orange amps were bad... turns out its pretty obvious they've just been captured to a much lower input spec and you need to gain the heck out of things to make it work. Incredibly frustrating because you change from one amp to another and then it all sounds bad again. If this input spec was a well known big deal in the industry I doubt companies would do cowboy stuff like this behind closed doors. The more people treat it like common info the better we'll all be for it!
@ayeapprove24 күн бұрын
Wow, where did you get the TGI vocal stems from? :D
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
For this one I was trialling the new RX11, they have a module to stem split vocals. I've also used lala.ai in the past with varying success... RX came out very good, if I did it more it would be worth upgrading for sure... lala is way cheaper, get daily free credits, cool to noodle around with
@ayeapprove24 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups ah I see, I am a big fan of UVR but you have to play around with the settings
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
ah awesome, yeah I havent dived into it all of them too deeply. I actually thought I'd get some copyright strikes for dipping these in and out but so far so good :)
@WholeLottaBulldog24 күн бұрын
Great video. Tonex absolutely boils my piss when it comes to gain staging. Cant get a clear answer on input gain by authors, now even worse that ik multimedia recentred the trim figure a while back. Some captures are gold and in the zone, others have me wondering why tf anyone would upload such shite
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
Yeah this is “the problem” multiplied by a bad fix…. So what people reamp things at a level we don’t know and then the software tries to auto gain it by a level we also don’t know. It just makes it all hit and miss and at that point I’d rather use a modeller or my own captures where I know what’s going on At least with the Kemper and quad cortex they have hardware units for capturing so a lot of those levels are standardised between units. Nightmare stuff
@WholeLottaBulldog24 күн бұрын
@@ampspedalspickups yep, exactly. Wondering whether it's worth the hassle
@ampspedalspickups24 күн бұрын
Imo tonex has only really succeeded because they paired the software with affordable pedals. When it comes to live play this stuff is a lot more forgiving. If I ever used a tonex pedal I’d have to run a separate boost pedal in front of it. I’m sure boosting the heck out of the tonex pedal wouldn’t be “accurate” but it would be usable, and I guess that’s good enough for most folks. I’ve had a terrible time with their capturing tech. I just use nam, it’s insanely more reliable for results. Only a matter of time before nam has more and more pedals and possibly adopted into a line6 or a fractal.
Пікірлер
Personally I think nam and tonocracy sounded the best you pretty much can't tell the difference. The stl was good but had a bit too much high end fizz for me. Tone X i think would be great if the levels were correct. I would suggest watching ed s video on levels for the tone x.
I’m well versed in the topic I’ve got two videos about setting levels. Everything here was reamped at the same level and the other 3 can handle this gain and Tonex can’t. I’ve tried various specs and it’s all different versions of the same issue. It’s just a different version of the tech compared to the other 3 and the results are pretty different. If I tamed the gain down then Tonex would handle it a lot better
@@ampspedalspickups ah then there must still be issues. I've not used to tone X since Ed brought his video and I had similar results to your captures so I just put it down to that but there must be still something on there. It's a shame really as the tone X is good when you get good results. Great video though I'd never heard of the tonocracy so I'll be giving that a go. 🤘🏻
MAN !! i have to admite ; VERY VERY surprise by the quality of Tonocracy...
Yeah the captures are super high quality, very capable
You can get awesome results with any of these including ToneX (for mid gain). But each require a different process and level matching is difficult in some of them. So in my opinion, the process is what makes most difference. As a plugin Tonocracy is certainly the simplest and most productive. NAM is my preferred choice for many reasons.. But I like what I can do with the little ToneX One pedal. By the way, I got quite decent results with ToneX but not consistently...
Yeah I've had some "ok" hits with ToneX, tends to be when I lower the gain down. Like even if I profile the same thing a few times it can be hit and miss. I'll be doing a video on "what I want to see from NAM" soon and the capturing side of things will be a lot of what we see from Tonocracy... Tonocracy gets a lot of things wrong (infant software so it gets a pass), but the one thing it does really well is the capturing side.
Mate, i love your approach. I love your channel, too. Ive had my best luck with tonex by capturing plugins, like ndsp and stl josh middleton. Btw, where you at in Aus? Im in Melbourne.
Yeah I can see it handling digital stuff a bit better and the gain coming out better… the real a,ps definitely have a rawness that it struggles with. Yeah Sydney here 🤜🤛
That Fireball is awesome
I love the sound of Engl, it's so throaty, I did a shootout video on my channel not so long ago where I compare a real Engl Savage to some of the most well known amp sim captures on the market, everyone has its character and sound different but you can hear that Engl vibe on all of them. If you are interested I can share the link,I would like to hear your thoughts about them.
Go for it! I’d love to get a real savage mk2 at some point, great amps
@@ampspedalspickups Awesome kzread.info/dash/bejne/hZuLtqOJmdmcZqQ.htmlsi=7OXIbJKgvPBES6e0
Tone low X-pectations
🤣🤣🤣
Started out with nam but now I use tonocracy. It’s more user friendly to me. One thing that I dislike about captures. There are just to many. I mainly use dialled in tones with a theme like metal or punk, for example. Not those packs containing every gain stage of an amp and the eq on zero. If you get my drift 😊 I still prefer modelling but capture can sound insanely good. Also, how do all these capture software hold up outing a boost, fuzz or distortion in front of it?
They should take boosts and pedals really well. The underlying tech does a good job of probing the amp response. It’s obviously one setting at a time but within that the push and pull response of the amp is pretty good.
Never tried it it. Now I will. Thanks ☺️
As you mentioned the odd one out is most certainly the ToneX, I think apart from the real amp, the other captures can all be used in a real setting. Think it all comes down to preference. You can try your NAM captures in the Two Notes Genome plugin. It has few parameters you can use to tweak your tone even more. You should give it a look.
Yeah quite a few nam players like genome around. I’ve got it but haven’t used it much honestly, will give it a proper spin
Great video, thank you.
🤘🏽🤘🏽
Sorry man, if i buy Odin 3 snd have fortin nameless, how do i use Odin But use fortin for the actual distortion sound? Im a noob so sorry for the bad explanation
Haha it’s fine, when you load up plugins they just flow in a sequence. So when you load up Odin it creates the guitar/DI sound and then load up nameless after that it’ll straight away get processed as the amp sound
@ampspedalspickups perfect thank you!
Does anyone know what is the best input settings for Otto Audio II II II ?
Not sure haven’t seen info… this is the kind of thing worth emailing the dev on and seeing if they can quote what their sim is calibrated to in -dbfs terms. If you find out let us know and we can add it to the spreadsheet, all good info.
@@ampspedalspickups I ve already texted Otto and asked about three days ago, if he will respond of course I ll let you know
Another dumb question here😂 The minimum gain on a Scarlett solo instrument input, is that with the INST button ON or OFF??
If the manual is quoting “instrument level” then they mean with the instrument button ON. Some interfaces boost the gain levels when the instrument button is ON… but mainly using the instrument ON you’re using the right impedence of that input…. The impedence of an instrument is a lot higher than a mic level so if it’s left OFF you’ll lose the top end of your sound So yeah if there quoting a dbu value against Instrument in the manual, it’ll be with the button ON
@@ampspedalspickupswow thank you so much for responding. I did this and my stl tones sounds pretty good and clear. I think i need to adjust some other levels or eq maybe because i noticed with my 7506s i get slight a clipping noise when i play certain things almost like the headphones are farting out.
How does one use these plugins with stomp effects, like delay, chorus, reverb, etc.? That's why I like STL Tones and Neural DSP. One-stop shop. But these distortions sound awesome!
You’d have to have other plugins before or after this one. It’s kind of just the amp component
Do you know of something like this that samples existing music to create something similar?
Can it do instrumental tracks?
Yeah it can
This thing is criminally good, clearly a djent/progressive modern metal oriented but it's so versatile.
So good, still one of the ones I pull up constantly to try out different guitars and pedals. They did a great job on nameless
The common denominator in all of these songs is they all sound like garbage generic garbage!!
Great demo man, but the drums were a bit too loud and the guitar just got buried in the mix
Damn yeah that one really got buried when I hear it back. I’ll be doing this series again in September…. Definitely have upskilled the studio mixing side of things for next time around
I just bought the real thing , and I absolutely love it .CH 1 on about 7 o'clock with a CS3 sounds great. Actually uploading captures to Tonex Tonenet while watching your video. I tried The Big Cat in STL, and it's pretty spot on.
My list of grail amps gets smaller and smaller and the lynx is still up there, sooooo sick man
Great review man!
perhaps you can do one for those without a multimeter real world use aka "plug your guitar in, hit hardest chugs and have peak level hit (___) Db (dbfs, dbu idk?) and also recommend a free metering plugin?
@@chugbawamba that method doesn’t really work very well accuracy wise and leads to a lot of inconsistency between users. If you don’t have a multimeter, use the instrument input on your interface and refer to the specs. Or match your DI to a known headroom like the one on an interface. You can’t use the guitar to calibrate level, it needs to be a constant and known voltage source. Worth having a multimeter in a studio, you can get one for $10-20
@@eds4754 right but if you had to, not for giving a standard measurement, but for personal setup fast on fly aka ballpark.. I don't see why it wouldn't be helpful in a pinch. The meter will always be more accurate to science and calibration, but for a personal setup fast is what I am thinking
@@chugbawamba The issue is that the peak level you see in the DAW will be different depending on the converters you use. One person could be using a converter that has low headroom, so chugs are already clipping, and someone else could be using converters with lots of headroom and the same chug is at -20dBFS. Each amp sim has no idea which converters are being used either, which is why they have to pick a value and allow everyone else to adjust for it. The options are either do it accurately, or guess. If I wasn't sure, I'd probably familiarise myself with that particular amp's real life counterpart to know roughly what amount of gain to expect and then adjust accordingly.
How do you know whats the best level for reamping? Why choosing one level vs other?
usually you’ll want your reamp as hot as possible, and then it means you can record DI’s with a good amount of headroom and still reach unity. 12-14dBu is usually a sweet spot but it can be slightly more or less depending on the gear you are using Generally consumer level gear will have lower output levels so that might determine how much signal you can get out of your reamp box. It also depends on the reamp box as some lose some level
@@eds4754 great response Ed, I really appreciate your help as always!
I'm thinking of getting either AXURE GMP or ODIN 3 - I'm so torn, both sound so good! I want to play LOATHE/Erra/Periphery kinda riffs.
I’ve watched a few comparisons and after its run through amp sims they seem to come out pretty close to each other. The first general thought I’d have is this is the third iteration for Odin so they learnt a lot along the way and have been doing this for 6+ years now, it’s a lot of knowledge being poured into the product The second is I’d probably really dive into tutorials on both of them and take note how hard it is to work with the key switches. It’s easy to dump midi in and do some quick sound samples but if you wanna go deep with the stuff then key switches and articulations will be king. I haven’t gone that deep with Odin and I haven’t seen how deep axure is but the demo songs I’ve heard out of Odin with people going full brain power on articulations sound pretty awesome
@@ampspedalspickups Yep, it's exactly that. I think if you have a clean DI (MIDI) going in, then putting it through a AMP sim you are going to get a good result. I'd be using it to mock up quick riffs and ideas and then when it's fleshed out, re-record with real guitar. So I guess it's the way you use it which matters. If it's not going to be used on the final product, then both of them would more than adequate. I do agree with you that AXURE has just come out, that'll get better over time and ODIN has had three iterations, so a lot of knowledge has definitely been poured into it!
Thank you for that! I'm on an RME as well, and this helped a lot. Now, there's hardware out there running NAM, being the Dimehead NAM Player. Perhaps it makes sense to have their specs as target, so it's gonna be just plug and play for owners of that device.
Would be interesting to know what the dbu headroom of the dimehead player is, I’ll have a look around and see if I can find their numbers I don’t think the dimehead player carries that much weight for nam honestly. Like yeah it’s a great player but long term I think many more will come and they will have the same issues, and I also see nam being incorporated into modellers as well. I think we mainly just need people and companies doing captures to do it to any kind of standard levels on their end so we know and can adjust accordingly What would really be a great solution is to embed the reamp level into the metadata of the nam file…. Then in theory if you told the nam player (in software or hardware) what your input is… things would just auto adjust perfectly. Of course this relies on people putting the right figures on both ends but when it’s done right it would be super seamless to flick through multiple packs without worrying about changing input gain constantly
@@ampspedalspickups I agree! Sadly, there are little to no specs for the NAM player. I hope Dirk from Dimehead will enlighten us. Regarding metadata, that requires talking to Steven.
Great video Thanks! Thoughts for Topics to cover for future videos: 1 Difference between dBu and DBFS. 2: Headroom - How 13 dBu is how much headroom you have before you clip the input of your Interface. (using Pads may change this) 3: Impedance - Using instrument input when hooking guitar into interface, unless using the Line input if using something like a D.I box before interface. 4: Calibrating Reamp Box dBu without Multimeter using your interface instrument input to measure if you know interface specs. Is this as accurate as using multimeter?
Great stuff! The by product I get out of all this is researching these things and continuously going one level deeper…. And then trying to make it all digestible info for “old me” (I know what makes people tune out haha). Will include some of these, legend
Wow thank you! btw what’s the name of the Reaper skin? Looks very cool
It’s a modified version of the @reapertips free theme. Alejandro from reapertips is a weapon, great theme to start from and customise
it would be great to be able to calibrate plugins for example if an ampsim expects -13 db for example but an overdrive (plugin) is used on the front of ampsim, you would have to calibrate the overdrive to see what its gain stage is before hitting the amp.
Yeah, you calibrate for the first plugin in the chain. If a pedal is 10dBu and the amp sim after is 13dBu, you’d adjust your input level for 10dBu, and then decrease the output of that plugin by 3dB so it’s matched for the next one. Or you can set all of the plugins for unity, which makes it easier to bypass or combine different plugins without having to recalculate each time. if your input is 15dBu, you’d boost the input of the pedal by 5dB, and then attenuate the output by 5dB. Now you’re back at 15dBu. Then for the amp sim, you’d boost by 2dB. Both ways are fine, but I like the 2nd method. I just save default presets with the input and output levels already set
Thank for the great work
OMG this is crazy good
Great stuff Nath, very well explained!
🤘🤘🤘
Hi Nathan - thank you for the video. I use a Grace M 101 as my Hi-Z guitar input, which then goes into my Lynx HiLo, and finally into my DAW (logic) wherein I use NeuralDSP plugins -- the Grace M101 preamp has gain from 10-75dB (10db being the lowest on the dial) -- so, would that mean I would need to set the inout gain in the NeuralDSP to +2.2?
It’s one notch more effort to do but we need to measure the signal basically. The more technical explanation of what’s going on is the neural amp sim is calibrated to -12.2 dbfs. When you plug straight into an interface with no preamp it’s easy to just read that input x is 13dbu or 18dbu below dbfs and you make the adjustment. But when you’ve got a preamp or di box or gain before that point you can’t really rely on specs, it just needs to be measured! I’ll have a video up in the next day or so, easy process. Ed S on KZread already has some out but I’ll get mine out very soon!
@@ampspedalspickups Thank you!
Super cool demo track, Nathan! "Chorey" is named after Trivium' lead guitar player, Corey. He loves to use a micro pitch effect on his leads. Great to see you enjoyed these! 🤘 We called Fred Durst about doing an Ampknob bundle but he said he would do it for a nookie, so we have not been able to finalize the negotiations. ;)
🤣🤣🤣 Thanks legends 🤘
This amp’s got shaking me like a dog shittin’ razor blades
This guy Alkalines <3
Your workflow with the fm3 doesn't need to be so complicated. The fm3 is a full blown interface that supports reamping. here is a fractal friday explaining how. kzread.info/dash/bejne/g4agzLmLnK_dqbw.html Although I do agree that using a plugin is a bit easier for tweaking because you can tweak at anytime without having the hardware plugged in. I have helix native for that if needed. Sometimes I will record with the fractal amp sims, then use native to facilitate the wet effects in a recording. It all depends on what you need - but reamping in the FM3 doesn't need to be complicated at all. I love my analog gear and use it quite often but I am a huge fan of the FM3 - and with the recent gap-less update the fractal is clearly the most versatile modeler - even compared to the QC in my opinion. My fm3 typically sits on my desk - for me it's been a tool that helps me practice more. I don't need to setup my pedals or amps or turn on the pc to get a quick practice in. And the models are Pristine.
As far as I could see running 2 interfaces at once in windows had its fair share of problems so people just use one or the other. If I only used one interface at a time I'd need to switch my speaker monitors between the two, or buy a switch which has its own problems. I have a full reamp setup here anyway so there's not really a benefit using the FM3 as the interface for reamping, I can just use analog and its fine. For me my computer is always on, firing up reaper and an amp sim takes like 10 seconds so its not a big deal getting that going, horses for courses I guess. Yeah fractal definitely still has that special sauce over every other modeller (software or hardware). I'll definitely be incorporating the inevitable axefx4 into my setup here. Its just hard to justify an axefx3 when I have so much digital and analog gear around here but never say never. If I'd bought the axe3 I would have kept it for all the I/O and a few other things... the FM3 just was in a weird spot. If I was doing any sort of jamming or gigging I would have kept it around but it kind of just didnt make sense. There's still days I miss it but eh, gear comes and goes... great unit!
@@ampspedalspickups there a many ways to skin a cat. I just don’t think it’s fair to knock the fm3 because of specific “needs”. Reamping isn’t for everyone but it’s a lot simpler than you described with the fm3. It’s all about your workflow. In fact, if you wanted to put fractal modeling in your studio and not dish out axefx3 money, it’s completely reasonable to buy an fm3, wire it up for reamping and hide it in a drawer.
There's no way to magically make the reamping setup easier... you can digital reamp which isn't viable for me because I already use a different interface and hopping ports isn't a solution / getting a switcher isnt a good solution for me either. It's still reamping in real time like an amp and if im going to reamp in real time then I'll just real amps. When I use digital stuff I would ideally like the instant nature of a vst. Pair all that with the fm3 had limited I/O for the studio, no impedence options on the inputs, it was noisy for 4cm setups compared to the fm9 and axe3 and I could also sell it at a time that I didnt lose any money after owning it for 2+ years. If I was gigging and wanted a beast tone machine then the FM3 is the way to go but for what I'm doing around here it just didn't make sense because I already have a good analog setup with amps as well as endless amp sims in vst, it always kind of sat in the middle. One of the best things on the FM3 was trying out the new firmware and I'd rather get an axe3 because it obviously gets flagship firmware updates, has more ports, better for 4cm and more horsepower for things like dual amps, and also it has the tone match block that the FM3 didnt have. The FM3 is great but it didnt work for me and I shared a video about it, not sure whats hard to understand haha. If it works for you then great.
@7:35 sounds a bit like Falling in reverse
This is great! I have been testing this myself. However I want to know about microphone preamp plugins and whether we run a microphone at a lower level too and use the plugin for the gain?
I could be ignorant on the topic but I think it’s all less of a problem with mic preamp stuff. I guess conceptually it’s the same idea where they have captured or modelled the preamp behaviour to a certain dbu spec below 0dbfs but I guess the digital preamps are just adding nice saturation, it’s just less noticeable than a guitar amp reacting strangely to a guitar Would be something cool to explore and see if those plugins have a dbu spec from the manufacturer
It's INSANELY good
Can someone please help; I dont have a DI box atm (getting one soon) and my guitar has fishmans. When I use the 'Instrument' input on my Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen, the signal clips even when the gain is all the way down, so I have to use the line input instead. I know that the signal will be weaker while using the line input, so should I boost the gain knob on my interface, or boost the input gain on my amp simulator to compensate for the fact that Im using line input instead of instrument input? Any help would be greatly appreciated
You could do either but it’s generally better to leave the gain at 0 and boost in the sim. In the manual for the interface they should quote an instrument level and a line level. No doubt the line level will be a higher dBu than the instrument. Once you get that number from the manual just check the spreadsheet for whatever ampsim you’re using and compensate inside the amp sim. So if your line level says 18dbu and the ampsim is 12dbu then inside the ampsim just gain it up by 6db
@@ampspedalspickups the Scarlett solo has 22dbu on line input, and I use Neural DSP, which on the spreadsheet says their plug-ins have 12.2dbu, so I would leave the interface gain at 0 and boost the input on the NDSP plugin itself by roughly 10db? Thanks in advance, i really appreciate the advice
Yep that’s it! Just remember it’s a starting point. Even though I hit nameless at 12.2 I almost always use a drive pedal on max, heavy gain and even in some cases I’ll nudge the input a bit, in your case 10 to like 11 or 12. Imagine not knowing this and not touching the gain and you’re like, why does this amp sim suck…. Cause you’re 10db off the mark 🤣. But yep 10db in neural and you’re good to go!
@@ampspedalspickups bro you are a life saver thank you so much 🙏 my six string with crappy pickups sometimes sounds a lot better than my higher end 7 string with fishman moderns and this is definitely why hahah, great video, I’ll be coming back for for, have a great day 👊
Don't boost your amp preamp, boost the ampsim input instead. To get to ur needed level, otherwise it's like using a pedal Infront of the amp.
Really well done mate, important information!
🤜🤛 🤘
It's intended purpose is to replace musicians. It has no, nor will it ever, have any practical application for musicians. It will not be your drummer, keyboardist, bassist, or guitarist, it will only be your complete replacement.
rip us
I can't make mine sound so good ever 😢
try running a hefty amount of clean volume/input gain into it... "might" help
Thanks for the video, I'm totally at a loss with this. I use a Line6 Pod Go wireless as my audio interface for Nureal DSP plugins. I drop the input level on the Pod to roughly -50 db as this is the point where I can't here the Pod sound signal coming through and colouring the plugin. Is this correct? I'm not recording anything just using it to play through FRFR speakes. Will tbe plugin react as its meant to at that level. Thank you in advanced.
That’s a weird setup with a bunch of questions to go back and forth. Probably easier to join discord and can talk there Sounds like there should be some DI with no pod processing coming out of the unit, shouldn’t need to gain the thing down to remove pod processing etc, it should be independent And then you have the frfr hooked direct up to the pod? I’m working on the next video on how to measure things with a multimeter, could be a bit simpler for this setup. When it’s a normal interface it’s easy to find the spec but I find any multi purpose thing it can be trickier cause it’s more of a guitar thing first and an interface second kind of thing… it will definitely work and we can find the spec but without having the unit on hand I’m just not sure how it all works off the top of my head
I still can't figure out how to do this on my interface. I'm using the hi-z input on an Audient sono. There is an input and output volume knob and if I turn any or both of these to zero I won't hear anything. So not sure how this works in my situation.
Dont worry about it, its not important. Its just easier to adjust the settings if the input level is lower. Say for example your setting the presence it will be less sensitive and easier to dial in. The whole point of these videos is they want the amp to respond as close as possible to the real amp
I had a look at the manual and yeah it’s a bit different to a typical interface. Not sure if we’re just talking about the input knob on the sono being the same as an interface gain. I’m working on a video where you can measure the level with a multimeter so you can essentially just leave your settings as is and we can find what your levels are and go from there Most of the time if the amp sim in your computer is reacting roughly how you’d expect then you probably aren’t far off from that specific combo of interface to amp sim input. It’s really about finding your input spec so that when you chop and change amp sims or really want to make sure you’re dialled in right on the ones you use all the time it’s spot on point Next vid will def be worth a watch for your scenario! Alternative is to join the discord and I’m sure we can work it all out on the sono
@@ampspedalspickups Thanks I appreciate the effort. I've been trying to figure it out for a while. Just can't wrap my head around it quite yet. I'll keep an eye out for the next video and I'll join the discord too.
You can't have a volume control on the input and the output. A volume control can only be on the output. The one on the input is a gain control. If you are turning one, or both to zero and no signal is passing through the component, you need to set them higher. Start with gain first. Gain is more important to get right because only gain can overdrive, or damage the signal. A volume control can't. Increase gain and test the results with the volume knob. Set it just high enough to where you get useable volume control, but no more. From that point, leave the gain knob alone and just use volume. You shouldn't have to play with gain again unless something in the system changes.
Definitely a big topic. While I don't use amp plugins I do record DIs for ramping purposes and having to accurately match my direct guitar to amp level to my reamp level is so crucial. Ed's videos have been gold level info and I have gone down the full multimeter route as it is so much more accurate. Actually after doing the multimeter level match for my reamp chain I took it further to check how my levels changed when going through my effect switcher versus my guitar plugged direct into the amp. You would be surprised the amount of attenuation an effect switcher can introduce all of which changes what guitar signal the amp finally receives. People blame the switcher devices for introducing colouration but all it is caused by is usually just level attenuation or level increase. As soon as you adjust the out levels to match the input level the colouration is gone. With a multimeter and a solid reference tone (that I send out of a looper pedal) you can make it all match and for me I can then truly set and forget.
I think I saw you mention the looper pedal somewhere, pretty genius haha. I’ve been using Tonocracy a lot to quickly set levels so I didn’t have to pull up something to spit out the sine wave. But before that I grabbed a test tone app on iPhone and a lightning to 3.5mm cable to 6.5 into the interface, basically let me do the same thing as the looper, I measured it once and knew where the level was at. You can really streamline the whole thing with tools like that! When I saw you did the looper pedal I was like that’s genius, just like the phone app 🤣
@@ampspedalspickups I recently mentioned it in a reply to one of Ed’s videos. Great idea using a phone app. While I would probably keep using the looper the phone app would save me opening up a daw session and a signal generator and have to reamp and record it into my looper. Funny that the first thing I noticed when I started this testing was that my TC Ditto+ looper at full volume wasn’t at unity with the level recorded into it. It actually adds quite a bit of gain into the signal once it is playing back. I always assumed it was at unity gain with my guitar signal. Anyway these are all the things a reference test tone and a multimeter can tell you that your ears often can’t.
I actually tried this with my SSL 2 , left the input at 0 and recorded something but i find the di itself looks and sounds very weak, shouldn't the di itself have a decent wave form?
Can be a bit deceptive when looking at the waveforms they can look low sometimes depending on the guitar. If you join the discord it will be easier to sanity check a few things. The spreadsheet says the ssl2+ at 0 gain is 15dbu so to hit a neuraldsp plugin you just go +3db on the gain slider. If you were to use stl amphub or tonehub that requires 5.2dbu so you’d gain it up +10db in the ampsim
@@ampspedalspickups if the wave forms are not a problem that they look so tiny then I'm ok with that. But it might be a good idea to include it as a side note if you send your stuff to get mixed by others and you send your dis
@@constantinranis yeah definitely, I’ll include the wave form thing when I do a follow up faq video. I’ve actually already got a session showing the same riff on 6-7 guitars and the waveforms are pretty different when the interface is at the same level, it’s a good visual to see
@@ampspedalspickups but tonehub has it's own gain compensation stage does this matter ?
@@dougb3854 I could probably do a 3minute bit exploring this, but its basically 2 different approaches. The method I've got here by getting the dBu of the amp sim and matching it is arguably "perfect"... no guesswork, they give you a number, you match it, done. Their method is to try and get you into the ballpark. If I smash some chords on my active pickup guitar they are pretty hot, they peak at a certain point. If I do the same on bareknuckle or other hot passive pickups they generally peak lower... and then one step lower if I do the same on a strat they will peak even lower. Conceptually its like... hey let me know what type of guitar are you using... smash away at it... I'll guesstimate what input dBu you're using and then I'll match that to this amp sim. It actually works quite well even though its not "accurate". It's still a fair bit more complex than just telling someone "hey use this". If I didnt have the dBu spec of the plugin and they had this kind of thing I'd be ok with using it. But if you have both options its kind of no question, use the spec and dont worry about the auto thing.
Im shocked by how many amp sim companies dont include this info in the manual In the audio engineering world, all this info is available on how to gain stage into the plugin/hardware in manuals and even in the product page Its garbage you have to message them to find out like its some magic hoodoo Like it legit makes their products worse if you dont hit amp sims correctly, its literally in their best interests and nudda nothing
It makes the problem WORSE because people have been using amp sims for 10+ years now so when they hear this input level thing they think its bro science and "why do I need to check, I've never done it before and its fine". If the company just said what the level is we'd just use it and it wouldnt even be an issue haha. STL, Neural, Mercuriall, Nembrini and many others seem to totally get it, have from the start... they tell us what they use and its easy. Companies like IK... it seems like they've captured/modelled things at different times and used different specs so they can't even tell us what to use because it seems like they barely know themselves. You can also tell this is the case cause some amps in Amplitube5 sound fine on one setting but then you switch to like their Orange amp pack and you need to wildly gain up your setup to remotely get a good sound going. I always thought their orange amps were bad... turns out its pretty obvious they've just been captured to a much lower input spec and you need to gain the heck out of things to make it work. Incredibly frustrating because you change from one amp to another and then it all sounds bad again. If this input spec was a well known big deal in the industry I doubt companies would do cowboy stuff like this behind closed doors. The more people treat it like common info the better we'll all be for it!
Wow, where did you get the TGI vocal stems from? :D
For this one I was trialling the new RX11, they have a module to stem split vocals. I've also used lala.ai in the past with varying success... RX came out very good, if I did it more it would be worth upgrading for sure... lala is way cheaper, get daily free credits, cool to noodle around with
@@ampspedalspickups ah I see, I am a big fan of UVR but you have to play around with the settings
ah awesome, yeah I havent dived into it all of them too deeply. I actually thought I'd get some copyright strikes for dipping these in and out but so far so good :)
Great video. Tonex absolutely boils my piss when it comes to gain staging. Cant get a clear answer on input gain by authors, now even worse that ik multimedia recentred the trim figure a while back. Some captures are gold and in the zone, others have me wondering why tf anyone would upload such shite
Yeah this is “the problem” multiplied by a bad fix…. So what people reamp things at a level we don’t know and then the software tries to auto gain it by a level we also don’t know. It just makes it all hit and miss and at that point I’d rather use a modeller or my own captures where I know what’s going on At least with the Kemper and quad cortex they have hardware units for capturing so a lot of those levels are standardised between units. Nightmare stuff
@@ampspedalspickups yep, exactly. Wondering whether it's worth the hassle
Imo tonex has only really succeeded because they paired the software with affordable pedals. When it comes to live play this stuff is a lot more forgiving. If I ever used a tonex pedal I’d have to run a separate boost pedal in front of it. I’m sure boosting the heck out of the tonex pedal wouldn’t be “accurate” but it would be usable, and I guess that’s good enough for most folks. I’ve had a terrible time with their capturing tech. I just use nam, it’s insanely more reliable for results. Only a matter of time before nam has more and more pedals and possibly adopted into a line6 or a fractal.