Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Comments
Devil's advocate:
You are not a great guitar player. If you are test/refund/report. You will hear a difference and it might surprise you.
Stark is worth $10 just to stay in AUM with a well designed interface that presents everything in a 6 inch by 2 inch square. It only works in that square by design. We asked for just that.
WTF will ToneStack do in the AU GUI? They might just start over as easier to design and sell it for $5 with $100 in IAPs.
I'd love to see if 5 audio examples of Stark, Bias and ToneStack (I personally hate Amplitube for the same reasons cited by the OP. I didn't tire of playing Stark yesterday).
TIP: for consideration. I added NYCompressor after Stark and it gives it even more depth.
It's an AU so the sound can be enhanced with extra tools easily. I also put a DC-9 (Tube Screamer clone) before it for some extra pre-amp saturation.
It definitely adds "room" to keyboards and synths for $10. What else does in an AU App?
Seriously. Is there an IR Reverb in AU form yet?
So. Sit on your thumbs and you'll want it later for $20.
PS: Klevgrand can use the income to make more Apps.
Devil’s advocate on the Devil’s advocate:
I doubt it. The developer is unlikely to substantially change the sound of the app no matter the feedback. That would alter the sound of people’s previous projects, and piss off people who like the app as-is. I guess Klevgrand could add amp and cabinet models, but improving the existing models is unlikely to happen IMO.
Also, I can’t imagine how in the world a developer could try to respond to such subjective and difficult to accurately describe feedback about tone. Trying to turn written communication from multiple, probably conflicting, sources, and from all different kinds of use cases, into code - sounds like a hopeless task. Besides, it probably sounds great to them or they wouldn’t have put it out. Trying to even understand the difference between what you think is great and what someone else does when it comes to tone ...
If you know what you like in an amp tone and the fundamental sound isn’t what you like, trying to dress it up is like putting lipstick on a pig. Why would you bother in the first place if you already have stuff you like? I’m not even a good guitar player, but I know tone I hate when I hear it.
I really like Stark - but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t waste time on it. I wouldn’t ask for a refund. But I would delete it.
I stated this in the other thread but I like it as a dead simple and passable (good even, in spots) tone shaper. I have played guitar long enough to be exacting (like Flo) about tone and I would not make this app my main squeeze. Others may find it justifiably works well for guitar tone--there are no "right" answers when it comes to something so subjective. I'm happy with the basic sound shaping it does.
Yup - this is exactly it. That's why I appreciate @flo26 creating a separate thread for us outliers
I hear ya, @McD - if you dig it, more power to you. At this point I need more reasons NOT to buy apps than anything else. Also, I've found a lot of redundancy in my app library, so I'm trying to be more aware of that moving forward.
I'm cool with ToneBridge for a quick AUv3 fix and ToneStack for the fuller, richer guitar tones. At least, I am until tomorrow when I change my mind and start extolling the virtues of Klevgrand's Stark.....
I don’t get the sense that there are many people here who know how a quaility guitar amp should feel or sound. That’s why I waited for your review.
Glad that there are people who are enjoying it with EPs like Tines etc... have they tried the same with, say, the Fender 2 models in Amplitube with high def settings? Or Bias? Just curious.
I agree, it has that "DI-sound', but that"s exactly what I need with my Godin SA Jazz!
But with my Tele, I"m always looking for that on-the-cusp-of-tube-breakup tone (basically clean but when playing harder, you hear smooth tube saturation and compression+sustain, and I prefer 6L6-like power tube breakup, not so much preamp tube overdrive). For that tone, Stark isn't the best option, but it's $10, and I was okay with skipping Starbucks this week. The only other AU amp sim we have is Tonebridge, and that's a preset-player, so not really comparable.
It's nice that the FX are in the signal before the amp, but even with the Boost, Compressor, and EQ, I still couldn't get that And Justice for All or Master of Puppets tone from my humbuckers.
It'll be even better if it gets a Passthru for the amp, since it's a wonderful colorizer and effect processor for keyboards and drums. Plus all the controls in 1 window is so convenient. I do like it and will use it on my guitars since once it's in a mix...
Appreciate this review… Thanks
Too bad we can’t turn off the cab emulation. I suspect their no IRs approach to cabs is part of the problem..
Isn’t that what the “Passthrough” setting does?
LOL at you people. One day gushing and hyping and then the next day trashing.
I'm sure it's a perfectly good sim that could be dialed in to sound great using a good reference.
Confirmed, that's exactly what it does.
Now I know this is an unfair comparison, but my usual chain for warming up a Rhodes or Wurlitzer is Soundtoys Radiator, Softube Vintage Amp Room and Soundtoys Little Plate, in that order. You couldn't get a more simple set of plugins to dial in a wide variety of tones - from nicely toasted to blistered & broken. I'd expected Stark to be similarly easy to tweak but nothing I did would get me anywhere near my target.
We're obviously talking $300+ of plugins here so it's asking a lot of a $20 app to be a match. But I thought I'd manage something.
I ran it through PluginDoctor and the main culprit of my problems seems to be a knarly mountain-shaped EQ curve that's hyping from the lower mids up to about 3.5k and then just drops away into the abyss. And this is with flat EQ, Boost and Presence. And the shape of this eq curve was fairly constant across all the amp models. That I suspect was at the core of the muddy characteristics I was experiencing. And the Cab models were where things got a bit boxed in for me. When I did attempt to brighten the amps with the built-in EQ. it made things brittle, even with moderate settings.
I love Klevgrand stuff and like others am a massive fan of REAMP
This is obviously one of those Marmite plugins.
I should clarify my thought: If you test Stark and find it lacking and get a refund, please report your thoughts here. Sorry for the confusion. I'm just encouraing folks to make their own evaluation while it's on sale. It's like ReAmp with iConvolver and some FX apps for $10 in a single AUv3 app for $10. So, ReAmp $2.00, iConvolver $2 and 16 FX for $0.75 each all adjustable in a single AU Window. It's a "must have". If you happen to have $5,000 of better gear around to record you might just pass on it as "thin". I get that. A dollar is a dollar after all. We do have to eat.
It's a true bargain. I like it and will use it a lot. I don't have ReAmp so that's good to know.
But you know what it reminds me of? The early digital amp modelers like the ART, DigiTech, DOD, Pod, J-Station - the inescapable 'buzz' in the driven amps and the boxiness and honk in the lower-mids. jonmoore's test with PluginDoctor seems to be what my ears are hearing. I suppose improving that would bump up the CPU hit a lot.
But I gigged with a Roland Jazz Chorus for years, and used those modelers with and without it, and the clean sounds are/were wonderful (to me), but by today's standards, the driven tones are a bit lacking. But I like the clean tones and Ambience, and the FX are decent - all that in 1 window is just so convenient if you just want to play.
Ooh this sounds juicy. Excited to try it.
It sounds better reframed as a “cheap” general purpose tone-shaper than the be all and end all of guitar tones.
I’m also waiting on ToneStack going AU but fear I’m going to have to double-dip $wise for the privilege.
I appreciate all the feedback pro and con here, it’s what makes this forum great.
What a goofy thing to say. The same people who were gushing one day aren't the ones trashing the next. They're different people who either like or don't like it. I like it a lot, but definitely appreciate people giving detailed opinions either way. "This is utter crap." with no reasons why is no help, but clear reasons why are beneficial for all.
Just curious, why are you sure that it can be dialed in to sound great? I don't doubt that some will be happy with it, but since Klevgrand's own demos aren't great sounding (to some of us that are reasonably happy with other amp sims), I am not sure sounding great with enough care is a given.
I'm focused on adding more tools into AUM to fill it's biggest holes:
Transport Controls (AB3 is the only solution for most problems here)
Looping (hoping Atom scratches that itch for MIDI and living with Enso's issues for audio)
This is a solid "add" for this week to augment ReAmp's capabilities with Impulse Response modeling for rooms and cabinets.
The "Vertical Slider Mixer" interface of AUM just seems to be the most productive a touch interface so that means everything needs a good AUv3 UI design to work for me. This App has a near perfect AUv3 UI (once you get your settings dialed in with those tiny knobs which is true of almost any AU UI). I should seriously look at IOS "zooming" again to see if that helps with this phase of set up.
RE: Waiting for the better AU Amp Sim.
I firmly expect Yonac to re-design their Guitar Amp Sim for the AUv3 limits in RAM and the
UI requirements. I'd expect an Amp Sim product, a Cabinet Product, a FX Line of Products and IAP's for each. You tend to replace "cash cows" with "cash elephants". Better to face the anger and get the cash than not. ToneStack as designed won't fit into an AUv3. It's better to start with a small sound engine and add features.
Similar expectations for Bias... new Apps.
ToneBridge was bought by the Ultimate Guitar Tab site to pull in new players to that subscription service ("How can they do this for free?").
IK Multimedia will keep the name and sell us a new "Amplitube AU" version with $100-200 in IAP's or maybe a subscription to rent FX.
So, wait at your peril for a better AU solution.
Yeah I realise they are different people. I just find reactions to amp sims funny because they're can vary so radically from person to person.
Here is the thing for me though, I hate playing through sims and always have but I can take any of them and get them really close to what my real amps sound like. This is why I say it's probably decent when using a reference to get what you want from it.
See above. I have no idea how Klevgrand develops apps but I'm sure they would compare this one to other sims and real amps in the process?
I don't own any of their apps but they seem to have a good track record and are quite popular here no?
@flo26 you are 100% correct. The fact you cannot bypass the amp & cab totally turns your sound to thin mono weirdness. It annoyed me that there is no On/Off switches for the amp and cab to the point where I emailed the Klevgrand devs who wrote back and said they will consider my request. This can make a difference and also an option to retain the original sound before adding any fx/cabs/Amp. At present this cannot be done. The Cab sounds muddy woody cardboard...you are right in all you say. Only way to widen sound through the Cab emulating 2 mics is very weird to me. I do really like the pedals though. The sustain on the compressor is really good.
Still enjoying Tonebridge. It’s no real comparison to a cabinet matched Bias sound to my ears, but it gets the job done for me. ymmv
The last option in the Cabinet list is "passthrough" but you do have to use one of the Amps.
You can route a stereo signal to 2 Stars instances and there's a Stereo Panning control in the Cabinet section to insure the sound gets routed to the correct channel.
I think we proved in the main thread that the app supports stereo and doesn't force you to just mono. And with an AUv3 you can ru one on each channel using a splitter or a buses in AUM or Auria Pro.
The last option in the Cabinet list is "passthrough" but you do have to use one of the Amps.
You can route a stereo signal to 2 Stars instances and there's a Stereo Panning control in the Cabinet section to insure the sound gets routed to the correct channel.
I guess the best way to by pass the amp is to just not use this Amp Sim. It doesn't make anything I put through it thinner. It's just thin compared to other Amp Sim's like Bias. It's actually pretty rich like ReAmp for beefy up a signal.
I find the internal FX to be so-so but I have a drawer full of AU FX to added before and after this one.
4Pockets has proven that selling narrow purpose $5 AU FX Apps will work better than selling one big FX Rack App for $30-40.
Amplitube and ToneStack proves people will start with a free Amp Sim and binge on $100's for the full collection or versions modeled on players or product lines.
@McD : One doesn't need to spend $100's on ToneStack or Amplitubd or BIAD IAPs to have a high-quality rig.
Can you explain what you mean that 4Pockets approach has been proven to work better than other approaches?
I’m not a guitar player, but all I know is that I’m having great fun running Aparillo through this, whilst tweaking presets in both. That’s what matters, right?
I really like it. I think its a steal at the intro sale right now. You get some nice FX and all of this in an AU plug half the screen. Yep, the stereo widener thing is not that cool and maybe they will add features like sync delay and tremolo and bypass the amp completely... but right now its great fun, as @Beathoven stated, that’s what matters
Indeed.