Ditching the Amp. Guitar modelers/profilers/captures - hardware/software. What's your experience with Studio One

[madFloyd]

Here you can have a look at my electric (in deep blue color) and acoustic (green) sends and audio in with fx tracks on this screenshot I made. Note this is not my main computer so some things are in red because the plugins aren't here. Noting also that this is simply a template I always use with the Audio tracks disabled and other FX disabled until I might want to use them. SO something might look disabled but would be enabled if it were active. I do however always disable all Waves plugins now. I might turn them on if I were to do a recording with the guitar. But you have to keep them off when the template is opening a session because well Waves you know (2 minutes to load anyone?)? I removed things except the limiter off the master track some time ago because I only use limiter on master track anymore.

I will mention that my acoustic cost only 125 USD 12 years ago,and that incudes the handy pickup with jack built in. It's chinese or Korean. I need to do so much to make the sound good, that's why so much has been done.
BTW I don't know if you will be able to see this screenshot you may have to download it or use windows key + which magnifies your screen. Enjoy!
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I'd love to hear a snippet of what this sounds like!

 

[Craig Anderton]

I'm a huge Helix Native fan because its four paths make it easy to do multiband distortion. I much prefer multiband distortion over single-band distortion because of how it reduces intermodulation distortion, and allows optimizing frequency ranges for specific amps. I can't remember the last time I used single-band distortion. Also, Helix Native's delays have fantastic potential for vocals and synths.

For Ampire, I recommend three techniques:

• Insert a lowpass filter before Ampire and shave off the high frequencies. You can go as low as 4-5 kHz with some amps.
• Insert a parametric EQ after Ampire, find the "fizzy frequency," and use a narrow notch to get rid of it.
• Turn the input drive all the way down. Then, turn it up slowly until you get the sound you want. You generally don't need a lot of drive on most of the amps.

You can also do cool multiband tricks with the Splitter, but that means one Ampire per split, and the CPU consumption ramps up quickly. After getting the sound you want, transform the track into audio.

I presented details about all of these in my PreSonus blog "Friday Tip" series, but PreSonus pruned all the posts before a certain date and I can't find links or even whether they still exist. However, if all else fails there are details about these techniques in my Studio One Tips and Tricks book.

 

[madFloyd]

Craig, so nice to see you here!

 

[PennyZero]

Hat in the ring for bx_rockrack V3 (in general I’ve had happy finds with Plugin Alliance stuff). Like all the amp sims, it’s a journey trying to find the right combination of IR and other settings, but once you dial it in it’s great. As far as amp sims go, at least. Also worth noting, I use this for high-gain metal stuff as well as clean tones.

Used to use Ampire and Guitar Rig, but I’ve found more success with rockrack lately. Biggest tip I can give for Ampire is to modify the simulated mic positions. Tweaking those gave my tones infinitely more life.

 

[rwandering]

I use Helix exclusively now, with Helix Native if I want to do some post-recording tweaks (i.e., versus re-amping through the external hardware). Since I use Helix (and HX Stomp) for playing live, the whole ecosystem simplifies things while allowing for a tremendous amount of flexibility.

 

[sinan]

As an official artist of Kemper, I proudly use it as my primary amplifier for recording, connecting via SPDIF for pristine sound quality. In addition, I’m a big fan of Ampire and the entire suite of Neural DSP plugins. The latest 6.5 update has really taken Ampire to the next level, offering some incredible presets that have become essential in my workflow.