Marshall

It's the layout. The main screen with the amp face on it has a lot of "dead space" which I thought could be used for the cabs/IRs etc with less clicking between screens. No big deal.

Yep, I’m loving the Nembrini Marshall, but the GUI is not good use of screen real estate. Good point!

I tried this out before when it was on offer, but didn't buy in the end. I was really keen to demo it, because I had read great reviews, notably from Paul White at Sound on Sound. I found I could get better results from Ozone 8 Advanced, which I already owned, without much more effort. Granted, I have invested time learning Ozone, although I am a long way from being any kind of expert. I would say that Zynaptic will give you good results, and it's very easy to use but if you have tools such as Ozone already, then it won't give you anything you don't already have at your disposal.

Absolutely, when the track's finished! In the meantime, S Gear was the only amp sim that I used on my album Golden Years, link below 😉

This afternoon I have been recording material for my next album, and have been recording some rhythm guitar using the bridge pickup on my Gibson SG through the Nembrini Marshall which I purchased a couple of days ago at a knock down price. I used the default setting on the amp, just tweaked a little - not touched mic positions, cabs, IRs. I made it a stereo track and widened it a little using the brainworx bx stereomaker. I have recorded a guide vocal, bass guitar, and a basic drum track just to keep the beat. It'll take weeks for me to finish the track probably, but I just want to say, the rhythm guitar sounds amazing. I have used S Gear for years, and it'll still have many uses (the Nembrini is only one amp after all), but I could not have made this track before - the guitar sounds that good to my ears.

Not during my testing! Often, (but not always) I found the Nembrini sat perfectly in the mix, but it’ll depend what kind of music you’re making and what the guitar is competing with.

I spent hours using the demo in fully mixed songs, substituting in the Nembrini...doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s sweet. So I think it gives me something extra, but tone is such a personal thing.

It’s you I have to thank Christian, for putting me onto it. I love my S Gear, but try as I might I CANNOT dial in that clarity across all frequencies and crunch combined that I get from the Nembrini.

Well I think I’ll have to jump on the MRH810 at $27...Only one amp, but it is a really good “next gen” Marshall.

Totally agree Larry - for my little set up, I’m just saying I could easily go back to the stems, sort the issue there, and render a new stereo wav file for mastering. The new feature is a time saver for sure.

The ability to isolate and change vocals, bass and drums gain at the mastering stage is very clever, but that should have been addressed when mixing 😀

Looks great. I’ve no doubt I’ll be upgrading from Ozone Advanced 8, as it’s my mastering weapon of choice. The first half of the video illustrates some great new features.

Ditto! Not needed for my rock orientated music either.

Sid, you were the one that put me onto VB3 years ago on the old Sonar forum, and I’ve used it in many, many projects since. I see there is now a Version 2 - have you upgraded and is it worth it?

There's also Neural DSP Plini , which I am also demoing. Struck by the versatility and how easy it is to get decent tone - cleans, and breakups especially good. That said, I need to try to the acid test, which to me is using it in the context of a full mix on one of my own songs. Interested in your views.

I have been demoing the Nembrini MRH810 and I have to say, it is excellent. Has a lovely open feel to the driven and clean tones (I’m not into metal). A distinct lack of “mush” which is great. I’m A-B ing with S Gear, and it does offer something a little different. Considering how long it is since S Gear was updated, it shows what a class piece of kit it is that it can be in the same ballpark as the Nembrini. Also, trying the Nembrini cleans with my J Rockett Archer pedal - just a little volume boost and maybe zero or a touch of gain - very pleasing results, a great combination. I like the stock Nembrini IRs too. I’d be tempted at the sale price...have to look out for it.

I have been demoing the STL Tones Howard Benson Tonality plugin for the last 24 hours. And before downloading I watched the Andy James review , a guy I really respect A key selling point for this plugin is that you are supposed to be able to use the presets pretty much "out of the box" with just a little tweaking, and get a sound that will sit easily in the mix. Andy certainly agrees with this. I have tried and tried, but I can get absolutely nowhere near the sound I want. I have taken some of my existing songs where I used S Gear, and substituted the STL, and tweaked and tweaked...it doesn't get close to S Gear IMHO. I guess it is all down to personal preference. Sometimes I use S Gear in conjunction with my J Rockett Archer pedal and I think that combination produces really top level results. The lead guitar on this track starts at about 2.40 on this track and is recorded using S Gear... I guess it all depends what sort of tones you are after, and your own personal preference. The moral of the story is - demo amp sims yourself before you buy, and test in the context of a mix, not in isolation.

Wow, thank you all for your detailed replies and suggestions. I am a songwriter first and a guitar player second - perhaps I should have stated this upfront. I guess I am looking for another general all purpose amp sim, because I use cleans, overdriven and everything in between. So, I was wondering if S Gear is still top of the pile in this regard, or whether there is now something better. S Gear doesn't get much in the way of updates, so I thought there might be. I will certainly try out some of your suggestions, thanks again.

I have weaned myself off new software in the last couple of years, and have simply not kept up to date with significant new challengers. I have used Scuffham S Gear for many years - are there any new amp sims that have come out in the last year or two that may give me anything that good old S Gear doesn’t? Historically, I always felt S Gear was the best of the bunch, and I still love it, but perhaps technology has moved on? Interested in your views!

I moaned to XLN about the latest Windows update doing the usual and they said... “I'm sorry to hear that, but yes we've had issues with Windows updating changing the computer id we user for authorisation, making our system believe you have a new computer. However we did release a fix for this a couple of months ago, so if you run the Online Installer and make sure that it is up to date.” I asked for clarification as to whether this would solve it for future updates, but they didn’t reply.

Hi all Sorry if I am late to the party, but have XLN now fixed the issue whereby every major Windows updated resulted in XLN thinking you had a new computer, and hence the need to reauthorise?

Wow that’s quite a list! Worth it for the Melodyne fix alone for me. Bill

I listen to Dream Theater and there are about 10 people on the entire planet capable of playing their stuff...I am not one of them