Soundwise

2 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

what the Trakhmann is actually doing

Well, it's a no frills tube preamp with just 2:1 amplification ratio, no tone or gain control. It matches the impedance and adds no distortion. Normally, you can hardly tell if there is any difference with it being on or off. But, the difference becomes very audible when you compare guitar signal recorded via AI's HiZ preamp vs TubeColour through line-in or even the same HiZ input.

Simply put, it's a vacuum tube based active DI-box.

To my ears, this plugin doesn't surpass ReValver's version and even, somehow, doesn't feel right. Too bad, as I had high hopes when this was announced.

22 minutes ago, DeeringAmps said:

what are you currently using?

I'm happy with a custom order tube preamp (Trakhmann TubeColour). I don't record guitar or bass without it, because it makes guitar sound so much better regardless of AI preamps. And for reamping I send DI (recorded with the TubeColour) via DBX DI-box to outboard gear (tube amps, preamps, pedals, floor multi-fx). If any of my tube amp is used, I normally connect its output to the AMT PE-15 and send line level signal back straight to my AI, or mic cabs, or both.

6 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

I was looking at the AKG 712's. They are $550 at Sweetwater and Guitar Center but $389 from AKG on Amazon. Makes me wonder if the ones on Amazon are fake? That's quite a price difference.

Since Samsung acquired AKG (along with other companies, like Harman, DigiTech) the prices have skyrocketed. You can still find NOS AKG headphones. AFAIK, Amazon policies prohibit selling fake product.

2 hours ago, scook said:

While the CA-2A is a decent plug-in, the only thing unique about it is the PC format.

There was a big shootout of LA-2A compressors, plugins, including UAD, and hardware. CA-2A was of of the best. Not sure if the site with this test is still online.

My first PC based on Intel 486 CPU had two HDDs - 200MB and 400MB. It couldn't play back mp3 files, but other than that it was a monster, running the latest Windows 98. I still have boxes of floppies with data created on that machine, but no floppy drive to read them. I've upgraded my PCs only 5 times since then. That's not a lot, considering the time span.

17 hours ago, Jim Roseberry said:

Suhr has the best Reactive-Load

Interesting! In what way is this device better than competing products, such as Two Notes Captor? Can you elaborate? FWIW, I don't care for IR loading capability and only interested in high quality DI signal.

1 hour ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

The sphere eventually goes out of round.

Pick a side!

vs

1 minute ago, Fret Flintstone said:

So the Sphere person could possibly use stuff that the Perpetual person doesn't have

Sphere person vs perpetual person. Sounds epic!

12 minutes ago, Will_Kaydo said:

I personally LOVE the AKG 712 pro Studio Reference Monitor Headphones.

My favorite headphones for ... basically anything, including mixing. I also have Sennheiser HD650, and use them occasionally, but 712s have more definition and better scene. With plugins like Sonarworks (or Toneboosters' Morphit) and ARStudio 3 one can easily make great sounding mixes.

On 3/9/2021 at 6:32 AM, BGJammer said:

I would like to have Cakewalk generate a simple bass track for me based (no pun intended) on chords from a guitar track and/or notes in a vocal track.

It's possible to build bass lines out of provided midi clips. Also, you can try Step Sequencer view. Unfortunately, there's no chord/melody line generator in Cakewalk.

Finally! Thanks!

22 minutes ago, Tony Carpenter said:

You should hear my drums through it on the master BUS! sensational.

Hey, Ringo!

43 minutes ago, Fleer said:

Would love to hear some guitars thru that

How's about symphonic orchestra and jazz bands?  I'd love to hear that!

Things I hate about S1:

• Leaving monitoring on doubles the output level for virtual instruments.
• Using solo track toggle (Alt+LMClick) makes midi drum track "stumbling in". I.e., some hits are doubled. Not always, though. Still irritating.
• It's difficult to find a working combination of safe solo state when using busses. Not intuitive at all.
• Unpredictable monitoring behavior on audio tracks. Sometimes it mutes audio during playback, regardless of Tape monitoring setting.
• Sometimes clicking on a plugin in the Mix section just unfolds it in the FX slot instead of opening the plugin's UI.
• Start and End markers must be set BEFORE you attempt to render a mixdown.

Other than that, I think it's a great program with a nice set of features.

I use Dell2416D 24" 2560 x 1440 monitor. Big enough for me and the resolution (resulting in PPI) is perfect for my eyes.

8 hours ago, Zo said:

I dont even have a guitar lol and can t bother you guyz anytime i need some licks

Why? You're always welcome, Zo. I've got so many chunks already recorded and would be happy to record a few lines when needed. Feel free to ask.

Sounds very authentic. But what's the point of this? What happened to the joy of expressing yourself in an improvisational frenzy?

1 hour ago, abacab said:

Yep, well that GK is better than no amp sim if you are using a virtual bass, as it fattens up the sound and eliminates that 100% DI quality of raw bass samples.

Raw bass samples isn't a bad thing per se. Most of the time I prefer DI bass to amped/reamped. A nice compressor and an EQ or a channel strip plugin help shape sampled bass sounds way better than any bass amp-sim I've tried. Also, it's not uncommon to split bass guitar signal via DI-box, running it through PA for audience and using an amp solely for bass player's convenience. But if you must use a bass amp, nothing comes close to Ampeg's tone and character.

IMO, so take it with a grain of salt.

On 3/5/2021 at 2:08 AM, abacab said:

Their Gallien-Krueger bass amp is cool. Free bundle with Amplion Free...

https://shop.audified.com/products/live-guitar-and-bass-bundle-le

I have Pro versions of both. GK amp-sim is very flexible. If you like GK bass amps, this version by Audiffied is a must-have. Unfortunately, I never liked GK bass amps, real or emulated. For some reason, the sound through these amps doesn't sit well in the mix. To my ear. YMMV.

5 minutes ago, Shane_B. said:

I had one of those way back when I used to play live. I regretted buying it very soon after. Never could dial in a good sound with it live. I ended up using it clean with a rack mount FX unit. I used a Strat back then and they don't seem to play well with those Mesa amps so maybe that was the problem.

I never liked MB Rectifiers either. They work well with active humbuckers for metal head-banging genres, though. What's your favorite amp?

2 hours ago, cclarry said:

It would be cheaper, if you already have a $99 IK Product, to buy the crossgrade offer at $299.99 and then buy a Pair of iLouds 
for $299.99 minus a discount at a Discounter....that get's you the same thing for less than $600...a savings of $300!
The pricing structure is nonsense really.  Not well thought out IMHO.

A pair of iLoud MTMs costs $700. For $300 you can buy iLoud Micro monitors, not MTMs.

To me iLoud MTM Pair + Total Studio 3 MAX Bundle seems like a solid deal. MTMs with two measuring mics, AT5 and ARC3 and Hammond and, maybe,  TR5Max for that price is still a little too steep, but with Jam Points it's tempting. I don't really care for other products in the bundle, as I find them not worth the disk space. And then, again, I still have AT4, ARC2, nice Hammond VSTis and almost complete TR5 as well as a pair of good monitors. So shelling out almost a thousand Euro for an alternate take of what I already have... Sorry, IK, no soup for you.

AmpLion 1 is kinda long in the tooth. Back in the day I used to like it and prefer to other amp-sims. Will definitely check out newer version.