Do you think modelers will get there in the next 10 years?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tone Monster
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So are we talking sound vs feel? Sound wise, if all things are done right, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference in a recording. I say virtually because somebody could get lucky and guess right...lol. Feel and response could hold a fair argument in some cases but if the gear if dialed in right I say it is virtually impossible to tell the difference again. Most users, myself included, aren't as savvy with the modeling stuff as with real gear so learning how to use what you have is key. These modelers have so many ways to adjust things that it takes time to get a handle on it but it is time well spent IMO. YMMV
 
I can't get my Axe-Fx III to sound and feel exactly like my specific tube amps but I can get it to sound and feel as good as my tube amps for the sounds I go for.

Digital is already there for a decent percentage of possible guitar sounds imo, but you still have to do the work. If you want to use a modeler with a solid state amp and real cab, you still have to spend the effort to make sure you dial in the correct impedance curve to match your real cab and even then, you can't just use some bargain basement SS amp and expect it to deliver the same hugeness as a cranked 100w tube power section.

Also, FRFR will never sound or feel like a cab in the room, that's just physics. Just like how taking a tube amp and running it into a reactive load and IR's into an FRFR system will never sound or feel like that same amp through a real cab either. Or hell, just like taking a tube amp and cab will never sound and feel like a mic'd tube amp and cab through a PA. Anybody who judges modeling through a PA against a tube amp through a guitar cab in the room is misguided. They're two completely different things.
 
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I really want to do the amp sim and IR thing here at home. Should I just buy amplitube or do you guys recommend something else? Just to fuck around with is all....
 
20-some years later I still think the POD 2.0/2.3 was one of the best modelers out there.

Pick the Soldano model, and recording direct was never easier.

Now does it compare to a tube amp? Not really, but man I really enjoyed how those sounded.
 
I could get the Herbie in the AxeFX3 to sound really good. But plugging into my Herbert is just better. Digital is cool and has its place but I prefer tubes.
 
I ran a podpro-bbe-mesa 20/20 into 2 4x12's for a long time. Have had different versions of the pods for years. They work. Might not be as good as the real thing but I've gotten some good sounds out of them.
 
I disagree with everyone who thinks modeling won't get there but will it matter by that time is the real question....
 
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In a recorded mix at home digital is often superior. What I actually mean is that the ease of use combined with modeling and direct recording makes it so much easier for musicians to put ideas and work down in to audio than micing and figuring out that whole recording world.

Better? No. More practical? Sometimes.
But, yes, put it next to a solid Tube amp and it’s completely subjective; but it isn’t quite ‘there’ yet.

But man, these last few years they have gotten great.
 
Cant tell you how much I love popping on my headphones, firing up an awesome drumbeat, and rocking away to amazing arena stereo sounds. Rarely turn on an amp anymore.
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Definitely, and depending on the style of music, they're already there or have surpassed tube amps in some areas. The level of advancement in the last 5 years is really amazing to me, mostly on the VST side, but they are all computers. For a long time we had 2 approaches; Line 6/AxeFX and Kemper, we all know the differences in approach. About 3 or 4 years ago I stopped playing my Kemper altogether after finding Neural and STL plugins. I found them just as good or better than the Kemper was (maybe it was just the cab sims, the most important part anyway).
I do not have a Quad Cortex, but I have played one, and I think it is better than the Kemper. 10 years? I would be shocked if any person or machine could tell a tube amp from a modeler.
 
Tennis buddy stopped over a few weeks ago. Saw my guitars and stuff in my home office. Had an old Sony headphone splitter..turned on my little Boss unit, DrumLoops and hailed away. He yanked off his headphones with wide eyes and said..”Oh shit!!! Is that you!!!” He actually thought is was some recording u til I told him to strum my guitar. I might get one of those Mackie 4 headphone amp splitter things just for this.
 
guitarplayer said:
Tennis buddy stopped over a few weeks ago. Saw my guitars and stuff in my home office. Had an old Sony headphone splitter..turned on my little Boss unit, DrumLoops and hailed away. He yanked off his headphones with wide eyes and said..”Oh shit!!! Is that you!!!” He actually thought is was some recording u til I told him to strum my guitar. I might get one of those Mackie 4 headphone amp splitter things just for this.
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Yeah but that’s a tennis buddy and per your dining room you guys were drinking wine. The real cork sniffer test will be when your golf buddy shows up and it’s lite beer evening.....
 
Technology always moves on...
Sure there will be modelers...

In the house we use the robot vacuum...
Does it clean? yes!!
Better than when you do it on your own? No...
Does thecleaning while you can play guitar? Hell yes!!

Modelers will not replace tubes...its just convenience...
 
My main issue with digital is tweaking on the fly. Where amps you can adjust something mid song. A lot harder with digital. Even if your digital unit has knobs you usually have to hit something to save it.
 
I have Fenders and Bogners and the full Synergy thing. They sound SO good. But honestly I can get a really good sound through my Katana, and through a closed back cab a REALLY good sound (and I am a snob for that "edge of breakup" thing the modelers have traditionally struggled with).

Also, shout out to the previous poster who mentioned the POD Soldano model. It was great!

We are chasing all this because the CHASE is fun. We are designed to explore. It fulfills us. What is interesting is the younger generation of players is going to an almost sterile clean type of sound, even many of the "shredders".
 
sahlomonic said:
20-some years later I still think the POD 2.0/2.3 was one of the best modelers out there.

Pick the Soldano model, and recording direct was never easier.

Now does it compare to a tube amp? Not really, but man I really enjoyed how those sounded.
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Interesting point.

I remember back in the day really enjoying that Soldano model (IIRC, it was the X88R or whatever it's called) and the "Line6 High Gain" model on the POD 2.0...
I wanted something newer than the 2.0 at the time, so I got a used Digitech Genesis 3, that had the amp and cab 'warping' feature and some interesting stuff. But as the years went by, I started to detest the Genesis 3's kinda plasticy sound, even after lots of tweaking.
I sold it, but since I wanted to at least have *something* for simple, direct recording, I got a used POD X3, precisely for those aforementioned models, that weren't available in the standard POD Xt. (Only per expansion card, I believe). And I still kinda dig that tone.
I think I used it to create a decent Satchel tone on the Line6 forum (where you can upload/download patches).

I still have that POD X3, but I fire it up maybe twice a year. Play my Engl Savage 60 through a Marshall 1966B 2x12 most of the time at home.
 
Set up properly ‘through a PA system’, Kemper sounds virtually identical to real Amplifiers, does it feel exactly the same? Not quite, but close enough. Some actually prefer the feel of the Kemper.

For me, with my powered Kemper, It’s the ‘in the room experience’ through 4x12 cabinets where it does not hold up to real amplifiers… but really, this is not one of the main reasons that Kemper was built.

But listening to the FOH PA, or ‘in studio monitors’, it’s pretty much already gotten ‘there’, in my opinion.
 
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It is all about the feel. I saw a band in early 2000`s all line 6 youd never know it. I bought a kidney bean and thought it sucked . :p
 
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