Christian Jones

I don't know man, it sounds like something's wrong over there, or just not ideal it's hard to say, but I feel like you should be getting better results w/ sims. Btw, and I don't know if you discovered this when testing it, but that big awesome clean sound on the Vermilion exists on channel C. Tyler from Honest Amp Sim Reviews also raved about that channel C, that's where it's at, but actually that amp has some pretty dope stoner doomy drive sounds on the other channels too, it's a pretty rad amp all around actually. If you're not getting that clean sound on channel C of the Vermilion, or any good sounds from it then something probably ain't right or ideal over there. Likely it's a gain staging issue and you probably need to reduce the gain on the UR44 and/or elsewhere. That's one of the great things about the Pre 73, when in DI mode I can drive the input real nice w/ the Mic gain knob and get some Neve-ish color, or I can back off on that and turn up the output knob instead and get a less colored signal, but to get a good sparkly *clean* sound from any of the amp sims I need to back off on both and gain stage it in the sim. I have a relatively complicated chain - or not so much complicated but I certainly don't plug straight into the interface and it's more of a traditional chain like you would w/ a real amp. I play through two different amp sims simultaneously so as to mimic splitting my signal between two amps, and each one sounds different: One amp gives me an Alice in Chains type of metal sound, and the other gives me a Siamese Dream era big muff sound and I blend the two together to get what I call a metal muff sound. The Siamese muff sound is the dominant sound and the AIC metal sound is there to give the muff sound a little more definition and to make it a bit more chuggable. Because let's face it, big muffs aren't exactly known for their definition, but I achieve it this way in spades. Here's my chain: Among other things I play a Warmoth baritone strat w/ a Custom 5 in the bridge and Pearly Gates in the neck (both Seymour D), that plugs into a TC Electronic Spark boost pedal (w/ barely any gain boost added as it's just there to put back the gain the splitter pedal takes away - and that splitter btw is advertised to *not* suck any of the gain but it does suck a real tiny amount but the Spark fixes that), then into a Boss TU-2 (yes, for the tuner AND the buffer and the buffer *does* make a difference in my signal strength/integrity), then into a SubnUp Octaver, sometimes a CAE Wah, then into a Radial Twin City Splitter - then from there one output goes to a PSA-1 that has a Big Muff and a Swollen Pickle in it's input and a Small Clone in it's effects loop (and btw, amazing Fender cleans and TWANG omg the twang the PSA has is stupid = real good) and the other output from the splitter goes to the Golden Age Pre 73. Both outputs/preamps then plug into respective inputs of a lowly RME 9632. 64 or 128 buffer and no noticeable latency. And once ITB the PSA is met by whatever IR I want to give it (usually an OwnHammer Fender or Diezel) where I then monitor the PSA signal via the daw input monitoring (no hardware monitor) and the Pre 73 goes straight to the Nembrini Marshall. All I can say is I get some amazing sounds and I'm a rabid tone chaser since the dawn so I know good tone and how to make the best of what I have. As my signal travels through all those pedals, preamps and splitter the TU-2 helps keep that signal/gain strong and is noticeably weaker w/o it, and though seemingly counter-productive plugging into the Spark before the tuner works best. I'm getting a new nut put on my Warmoth baritone now, but when I have it back I can post some audio samples of the sounds I get through this setup, probably in a separate thread idk, but my point is if you're not getting amazing sounds from the top tier amps sims then I think something ain't right. Probably gain staging. Or maybe just a preference thing idk. In fact - and this is just my opinion - the sounds I'm getting are so good I'm totally fine w/ recording my serious final tracks w/ the sims, and like Craig Anderton, I'm able to get some great sounds w/ sims and no one would have a clue I'm using them. I mean I wouldn't deny it if asked, but I don't broadcast it because a great sound is a great sound, who cares how I got it. Btw, the Joyos are cool, try sending the Joyo signal into a track in your daw where you have an IR Loader inserted w/ some cool IR to run the Joyo through. That's how I run my PSA-1 and I bet it'd be dope.

Well I was actually referring to leaving a Cakewalk session open and just sitting there w/o closing it - not whether or not the computer itself gets turned off. I actually never turn that off. LOL that's f'n awesome dude, was that during one of your trips to Bali? 😂 That's just straight rock n roll dude you got my respect 🤘 How'd your neighbours get in, did they have to break in, like bust a window? Hil-arious

Maybe a dumb question, but sometimes when working on a session, when I'm done for the day I'll save it and then turn my monitor off and leave the session open but no activity; just sitting there until I return which could be a day or a few. I don't always do this, I sometimes do it when I'm working on some kind of sample editing and just want things to be left exactly as they are till I return. Is this putting unnecessary hurt on anything like drives, CPU etc even though there's no activity?

Sounds like you're in one of those "grass is greener" phases. Scuffham is fine and is still one of the top tier despite the lack of updating (though isn't there supposed to be an update that's something like 2+ years in the making?), so if you're happy w/ it but want to see about improving things from there I'd spend your money on a good character front end - not just a great transparent DI box, but one w/ vibe and color that be dialed back.

Good to know man thanks. I use humbuckers all around even in my Strat I have a Fast Track. I thought I could play my stoner doom w/ a single coil cuz I do this stoner doom twang thing, so I installed a Virtual Vintage Solo 1st Gen and I loved it but I really needed the humbucker and I wasn't doing amp sims at the time yet so I don't know how it would've faired, but probably just fine. What kind of pickups were those crappy ones you replaced? Right on. Why? Never heard of that.

Nope... I mean yep lol the Pre 73 is a mic pre but it has a DI switch that turns it into a DI box when engaged. It's funny too cuz I bought it years ago as a demo model and use it as a mic pre, and because my interface only has Line Ins I was shopping hard one night for a good DI box for my new sims, reading reviews and Youtubing and just getting my due diligence on when later it occurred to me that that Pre 73 has a DI switch lol and here I was about to buy something. It can be a clean DI or a character DI and the character side is rad for sims.

Thanks guys I'll try all the suggestions here. I think the sound I'm really after is something more of a rockabilly slapback w/ sort of a twangy chicken pickin type sound but sans the actual hybrid pick/finger technique they use where the finger pick portion tends to really give that "chicken" sound. I guess I'm more about the pick-only technique w/ a twangy swingin slapback. I found this free Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer pedal sim vst from Distorque called Vitamin C that's pretty cool actually. Some old wonky compressor pedal that some guys used back when. Check it out here http://distorqueaudio.com/plugins/vitamin-c.html Here's a sloppy example I just recorded w/ a clean sound from my PSA-1 into my RME interface where the signal then meets the Vitamin C followed by a Fender Deluxe IR and Echoboy Jr. on an aux hooking up the slapback. I'm still dialing in the sound.

Just like Domino's who successfully gaslit the f out of everybody?

And once you've scored the best amp sim there is (Scuffham is among those) don't forget to invest in some of the best IRs available, they are what I consider to be the third/final portion of the general equation in setting up an amp sim rig. Don't buy subpar IRs; unfortunately there's no way to demo these with your own set up so only go after the best, such as those by Ownhammer. My favorites from them are the 410 SPRVRB (4x10 Fender cab), 112 DVRB (Fender Deluxe Reverb speakers, the 6-pack bundle for half the price) and the Heavy Hitters Collection Vol. 1. I'm not usually crazy about stock IRs, but the Nembrini sims come w/ some great Choptones IRs and I haven't felt the need to stray from them yet. These are just my opinions of course, but I will only ever recommend what I deem to be the best of something because that's all I ever go after and what I want for my brothers. Also, google articles by Craig Anderton and others on how to treat and get the most out of an amp sim. You may already be hip to a lot of this, I don't know. One more thing - not to get you spending more money than you thought, but while we're on the subject of the absolute best; a good front-end/DI box leading into your amp sim can make a *huge* difference in the quality of tone you get from that sim. I'm talking about crafting a killer DI signal to send to the sim. You can plug straight into the instrument input of your audio interface, but my tone improves greatly by using the DI on a Golden Age Pre-73 and going through the Line In. It's a Neve clone and has great character and color (the "color" can be dialed back) and I can drive the input if I want with it real nicely and it just works famously w/ the sims. Those are what I consider the major parts that determine the quality of your amp sim tone; front end, sim, and IRs (and hopefully a good interface, and the Gibson custom shop LP goes w/o saying... - sike, I don't like Gibson, I do Warmoth and Fender). I mean, if your tone is gonna be reduced to code then why not get the best is what I'm saying. It doesn't have to cost too much. You can go real crazy with a front-end of course but I mean that Golden Age Pre 73 is around $200 or something used. What's your audio interface anyway and what's your latency like?

And I'll say this. I'm not crazy about the all in one suites like Amplitube and BIAS FX. Not saying those suck but I'm just *very* particular and the way I see it, if I'm going to be reduced to relying on amps sims for my tone then I must have the absolute stone cold best, so I go after the piecemeal stuff. Something like BIAS FX 2, which I have, has a couple things in it that are ok, but a lot of bloat that isn't, imo. I recently scored the best Marshall sim in the business, the Nembrini MRH810 on sale for a little over $50 but it's back at its usual $137 for now - and that's just for *one* amp, a JCM800 head.. not 3, 4, or 20 amps for that $137, but a single amp for that price. So yeah piecemeal will likely be more expensive, but again, I must have the best if it has to be sims and not a real amp, so it is what it is. Depends too on what sounds you're after. You want an amazing clean amp w/ a big 'ol huge clean sound check out Kuassa Vermilion which can be had for around $17 right now (usually $39) from everyplugin. Another great Marshall is the Kuassa Caliburn, also on end of summer sale right now and in that one you get three Marshalls. But the Nembrini stuff are "next Gen" amp sims and Igor Nembrini also makes all of Brainworx's amps, and Brainworx sims are about the best in the biz... But if you see some amps on Brainworx that you like, you'll see that they're all very pricey, like $149 per amp - so don't buy them there, but rather scour the KVR buy/sell section where folks are selling their licenses *super* cheap. Like, Brainworx bx_bassdude (Fender Bassman sim) is $149 on Brainworx, but I scored it literally for a few dollars from someone off KVR. Then it was just $20 for me to activate the licence, which was fully covered by my PA voucher. So I won't recommend amp suites because I don't like them. If you want the best then be looking at Brainworx, Nembrini, Neural DSP and a couple of the Kuassa amps. I'm not a Mesa fan.

Yeah there's some cool stuff out there. What type of sounds do you prefer?

That's Bob Bone, always looking out, thanks brother. Honestly I don't think it can be done. It's weird that a synth like Absynth would have a rhythmic lfo, ring mid, whatever it is and not be able to sync it. What's causing the rhythmic thing is the "freq shift" in that "Mod" cell or whatever you call those things in the "Patch" area, but there's no sync parameter that I can see. But the grimy organ-ish sound is cool and I can remove that lfo under it and create my own w/ something else, but that's what's supposed to be the cool thing about presets; they already do what you want. Or not. Dang.

I'm hoping to be able to get some chicken pickin guitar sounds from a vst compressor the same as you'd get from something like the Dyna Comp hardware pedal. Can anyone give me some guide lines to follow to try to achieve this effect w/ a vst compressor? I know of a Dyna Comp style pedal vst I can buy from Sknote, but I feel like this effect could probably be had from something I already have. I have Waves Gold, those four T-Rack CS compressors, API collections, SSL Channels and the Blue Tubes stuff that came with Sonar. Can any of these work? What type of settings wold I be looking at? Many thanks

I'd post this at the NI forum and I may still, but answers can take forever to come there. In Absynth 5, in the Spectral Expansion library, there's this preset called "Granny Smith" and it's got this organ-ish sound w/ an LFO type thing layered under it and this LFO thingy has a rhythmic movement to it, but for the life of me I can not get it to sync to host tempo or even Absynth's tempo and I've turned every "sec" button to "beat" that I could find as well as clicked to "Sync" button but no go, and from what I understand Absynth already syncs stuff that can sync to host automatically. In the Patch area where you have all those cells, this rhythmic LFO thing is actually coming from a "Mod" cell and I guess it's a ring mod that's doing the rhythmic thing and it appears there no way to sync it, but I hope I'm wrong. Can anyone who may have it pull up this "Granny Smith" preset in Absynth 5 which is found under the Spectral Expansion library and see if this patch can be synced? I'd be super grateful

Man, there ain't no one left

Just wanted to ask real quick and probably the answer is obvious, but how does one know what updates they'd want and wouldn't want? At that tenforums link they talk about sussing out a driver that came w/ an update that screwed up your system somehow, so it seems to me that you'd first have to let Windows update everything however it will, and if in that update a driver was installed that screwed things up then you would take reactive measures to address it - is that the idea? It seems so, because otherwise how else would you know that a particular update would hurt you unless it first hurts you? So it's about reacting and not necessarily preventing? And if there *is* a way to prevent it where do you go to see what updates should be hidden? Like, is there some forum where folks are saying this update component is cool, that update component isn't cool? Anyone who knows feel free to post and thank you!

Though he couldn't do that and sing at the same time

Assuming you saved a given project as a project file (sorry, forget the actual extension but you just make sure to save it as a "project file" in the "save as" field, as opposed to, say, a Template file) AND click the 'save audio in it's own folder' box also there in the save dialog pop up, as doing so will store all the project's audio files in an easy to manage folder that will be stored next to your project file in a given project folder rather than those audio files being stored in some global Cakewalk folder along w/ other projects' files, which is a total mess. At that point your project file and the associated audio files folder will be in a single folder together and you can simply copy (don't cut, just in case something goes wrong) that folder to any storage medium and transport it to the new PC. An alternative is you can save each project as a Bundle file and that will consolidate the project file AND audio files into a single file which you can copy and transport in the same way. Either way, as long as any plugins you used in the projects on the old PC are now present on the new PC the projects should open fine on the new PC.

Talking about a new platform sounds like a subscription deal. What about the user who doesn't want everything? I intentionally don't want access to everything under the sun so I'm not even close to being down for subscribing monthly to an entire catalog of products. Brainworx is doing this but you can still buy individual stuff and though their prices are kinda nuts lately at least you don't pay forever, I hate that. Everything's a freakin subscription now man, they even got this t-shirt subscription deal where they send you a new t-shirt every month lol who the hell needs a new t-shirt each month.. and you don't even get to chose it lol anyway. This model only succeeds because people embrace it. We need to be in the streets w/ the rest of the old guard

No they shouldn't win a record for that cheese, that was a bunch of pedal boards not one board. What they should've done was make one legit giant board with aisles to properly access all the pedals

I liked the 20-string djent guitar-off better.

The tone suck must suck

That looks good man. I'm really digging this developer's stuff lately, some of the best sims in the business, would be cool to check his effects out. Pretty sure he makes the Brainworx effects and definitely does their amps.

John, do you have Dimension Pro and Rapture etc from a previous Sonar installation? You may already have what you need. Do you have Kontakt? Personally my favorite synth maker by far is Steve from Synth Magic https://www.synthmagic.co.uk/store.html - he doesn't charge a whole lot for those and they're the best I've heard of their kind and he'll probably be having a fall sale on those already low prices. Those are vintage style synths but a good sound is a good sound and you can make it work in your genres. I own many of those and one of my favorites is the Logan Big Band which will probably be on sale for under $13 soon. Read the descriptions of the synths and listen to the demos, many are good for leads. You can find other great and inexpensive synths on https://www.kontakthub.com and https://www.sampleism.com - but of course, you need the full version of Kontakt which now that I think of it you probably don't have because if you did you probably wouldn't be shopping for something else as even the factory content of Kontakt would give you what you need but anyway.

I just give in. Life is short. Buy some stuff.