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.
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Anyone tried the 2 new rig libraries from theAmpFactory ?
I think I am going to pick one or both this weekend.
_ I play gigs so I can make money to buy my more apps so I can play more gigs to buy more apps._
Perpetual motion !
Let us know what you think ! I went cuckoo during the latest overloud sale and pull the trigger on many choptones rig libraries. Absolutely no regrets, is was worth it ! my wallet is less enthusiastic though. But if the theampfactory captures are up to choptones' ones I might go for the TAF summer shine while on intro sale....
I don't know why I waited so long but I bought the Bogie Mark V and the Soldano rigs! Holy Smokes! Wow.
I have all the Fenders but the LRS one, and the new TAF Summer Sunshine Rig is well worth the money. Every preset is usable and the rigs are different sounding than the Choptones or Overloud Fenders and what not that may be similar in other rig packs. Doh, makes sense, they captured different amps!
Exploring some of the non rig amps with Ownhammer IR's has also yielded good results.
But the Soldano BHS Sold has so much harmonic complexity that I think I will be on exploring it for weeks.
Thanks Fender Holy Grail thread contributors, you make my life better and my wallet thinner
@bobbyj8866 Yes the Mark V and BHS Sold are in the top 5 for me. The last 20 or so captures in Mark V (tweed channel) are some of the best cleans in thu/iOS. Don’t know if you’re into presets but in BHS Sold preset bank there’s one called Luke Seventh One (#55) that I think is incredible, huge thick texture but somehow still warm and articulate. Probably a Lukather style preset, so much lower mids and omnipresence in the sound. Also the “Clapton” presets (#7 and #8) sound amazing to me.
I haven’t gotten the new rigs yet, but last week I got the Mesa Boogie Tweed rig. It is truly magnificent. Mostly clean patches, and the preset bank has a “warm tweed” preset that’s to die for. This amp was released in 2019 and is a one channel ode to the original Mark 1s, it has a tweed architecture but a lot of Blackface era tone as well. So basically a refined tweed that doesn’t fart out as expected. Between the Mesa tweed and the Dang and Bassman rigs I don’t even have a favorite anymore.
A cautionary tale… the mesa tweed rig prompted me to get a housewarming gift for myself…
In some ways it’s the greatest amp I’ve ever played, but the combo has a really loud tube rattle across the whole chassis, probably came with bunk tubes. So, the amp is going back (for now) but the th-u rig of the amp is staying for good!
Thanks! So I take it the housewarming gift you got was not the stuffed lion? or the cool rug? Oh! Its the houseplant!
Thanks for the insights! I played with THU all day yesterday and got nothin else done!
How does the Tweed rig compare to the Tweed Captures in the Mark V or II C?
What I like about Rig captures is that they are all unique and depending on the guitar sound awesome with some overtones and richness and feel that I don't always get with the Nembrini amps, but those are good in their own way too.
Initially I thought that Mark V tweed setting was the same as the Mesa Cali Tweed, but they are not the same. The Mark V uses 6L6s and in some cases EL34s, as does the Mark V 25/35. Since the Mark V series is so versatile and packs a lot of Boogie amps into one chassis, it is basically their take on tweed sound within the framework of that amp. But it’s just a “tweed” flavor and not authentic. It’s a great clean sound, but very forward, a little scooped, almost like a Music Man amp. And the Mark V wattage is high so it doesn’t break up like a tweed. I really love it as a clean platform, but it’s not really tweed, and the speaker is wrong, although the rig captures use many different cabs. Now the Mesa Cali tweed uses four 6V6 tubes and a speaker that’s picked to rasp like a tweed. It’s a simple one channel circuit. So the Mark V tweed captures are just cleans but the Cali Tweed sounds like a deluxe, champ, or bassman circuit, and it has power scaling so you can get it at 2 watts and it really “falls apart” like a tweed amp. Except it’s more refined so it doesn’t fart out like vintage tweed amps. All this to say, they’re not the same hardware wise nor plug-in wise. Mark V tweed captures are basically clean and Cali Tweed has a lot of edge of breakup tweed in addition to great clean… but the Mark V has so many other modes, typical Mesa cleans as well as famous high gain. The Cali Tweed with 6V6s is low to mid gain so it can’t get to metal unless you use pedals…
I love Fender cleans, and fender dirt. It’s why I bought AmpliTube years back. But am happy to say I can get all those AmpliTube Fender sounds out of THU, but better. And obviously more expensive:) But to my fingers THU FEELS better to me.
There are some awesome presets in the SOLD rig. I had iTunes gift card and bought the Bogie Tweed tonight. I like it a lot!
Aw snap gettin that Boogie tweed. I use my own hardware pedals incl an Iridium as Fender/Vox/Marshall amp (it has stood the test of time), but when I need that clean Mesa sound I fire up TH-U. I still love hardware, but TH-U really ties everything together into a nice little great-sounding ready-for-production package that I still can’t achieve with hardware without throwing on a noise reducer, some outside eq and compression, etc. It’s an amazing solution, with the only downside compared to hardware being most of the effects are not up to par with my hardware stuff. But overall the competition is so close it’s kind of ridiculous to spend so much money on a real rig.
You make a good point. Hardware has been dying a slow but sure death because software has been getting so authentically good with every passing year, and it’s a fraction of the price. For me it has been both a great alternative and a gateway drug. With software there’s just one thing missing for me…
For the purposes of a recording studio or rocking out with headphones, there’s no question that digital amp sims are a fantastic choice. Profilers, re-ampers, Impulse response boxes, the Iridium, etc… it’s such a great solution, why hook up a 100 watt head and cab ever again when you have studio quality production ready guitar available direct, and with a million options. The feel and dynamic spread of a real tube amp is hard to recreate in the digital realm, but it’s so close and depending on what genre you play ( indie rock, djent, etc..) it can sound and feel just as good. However, my hesitation is with live gigging and how it all lives with a frfr speaker or front of house PA system. To gig with an iPad, you need to spend big bucks on a large speaker or a pair of them. Headrush speakers are affordable, but something like the Friedman frfrs are almost 1k. The point is that they can put out the sound of your amp sim and it’s loud, but it still doesn’t cut quite the same, and the sound comes off as “produced”, as in too polished. And if you’re doing high gain it can easily be fizzy or harsh with a cheap speaker or PA. I tried simply sending th-u through a 15 watt guitar combo, so not frfr, all knobs and eq in the middle. It honestly sounded good, but it was too clean sounding, like a stereo playing a riff. There was a certain frequency sheen to it. It wasn’t a tube amp pushing air. It wasn’t brash and beamy with a huge dynamic spread, like a giggable tube amp. So for me that’s the missing link. For home studios and making professional tracks in an untreated room, sims no question. For gigging, a 35-50-100 watt amp and a pedal board. Or a 15 watt amp micd to foh. In the case of the Mesa tweed, I got it because it has scaleable wattage, 40-30-20-10-2, so I can play at 2watts and get tube break up at bedroom volume, and it’s a great pedal platform, and I want to use my pedals! Am I playing in a band right now? No. But I’d like to!
S> @JoyceRoadStudios said:
There is no doubt that you could do professional reviews. A lot of what you write resonates.
The vocabulary you guys use to describe guitar tone is almost pornographic. 🥰
Hello,
new here and greetings to all.
I am after recreating some SRV tones on Overloud. My setup is a strat, kingtone duellist pedal fed into an audient Sono interface and into my laptop with Overloud software.
Can someone share some ideas. I know SRV used the fender vibratone amp and the dumble...not sure if there are any rigs with these amps. Also is there any means of creating the rotary effect. This is really a great effect to play his tune Cold Shot. If not, is anyone into this and maybe has managed to create this effect in some other way.
All in all and being new with this software I wanted to have some indication of SRV fans out there and how you create your tones with Overloud.
Look forward for any assistance.
Thanks to all.
I own a few rigs now. And I really love those. Specially the Mesa Tweed rig that @JoyceRoadStudios mentioned earlier.
Now, one thing I'd like to ask you guys !
When loading a rig you get matched cab but you can also choose to use the cab from a different rig. I found out that I can get sometimes amazing results but it can be time consuming specially when you own several rigs... So some of you do this as well ? And if so, do you have some of your own preferred combination you would recommend ?
Typically, Stevie Ray Vaughan used an Ibanez Tube Screamer as a boost. He set the drive around 3 or 4 and then cranked the volume up to 8 or 9. I've read that there are situations where he'd use 2 of them in series to get that super crunchy rhythm that boost the pick noise to make strumming super scratchy. You can test this using various Boost pedals in TH-U.
The gain on the amplifier was set fairly low as well. Pushing the front end of the amp rather than relying on the amp gain was a significant contributor to the character of the sound.
My recollection is the drive on the Tube Screamer was almost none and that the 3 or 4 referred to the gain on the amp. I could be wrong though. Too lazy to research it again.
Yeah it can be really time consuming if you go down the wormhole. I think of each rig profile as a preset. In each rig profile, the amp setting, baked in pedal, and choice of IR is something that the sound designers at Overloud assembled for us. It’s true that you can take a rig profile and cycle through all of the IRs available, you don’t have to stick to the matched cab, but I usually do. For me, I will go through each rig and instantly earmark it as “oh I like that” or “that doesn’t sound good with my gear” or “I don’t like that”. So I can’t imagine clicking on a rig and thinking “I don’t really like that, but let me cycle through 100 IRs to see if I do..”, because there are so many rig profiles/presets, once you cycle through them all you’ll find a bunch you will love as is. I prefer to go through each rig profile and pick the ones I like, and save them into the empty slots in the preset bank that already exists for that rig. So Mesa Tweed already has its own preset bank where they give you 10 or so presets with carefully chosen rigs paired with th-u pedals. So I expand that preset bank by auditioning more and more Mesa tweed rig profiles and saving them into the empty slots, with their matched IRs. Then I can add pedals to that, or sometimes change the IR by loading my own OwnHammers. I think it would be extremely tedious to do the “what if” game, and try to hear every rig patch with every IR. Basically, the designers already paired it for you.
With something like Nembrini it’s a little easier to get around. You pick a preset or set up your amp settings from scratch, then easily cycle through the 40 or so IRs preloaded in there. It seems easier to navigate this task than in the th-u modules. Nevertheless it’s the same idea you’re talking about.
But to really answer your question… usually I actually disable/bypass the cabs in the rig player and in Nembrini, and I load my own IRs into Thafknar. You can load them inside th-u as well if you want, and save as presets. But if I’m really sculpting something I’ll use my own IRs, and I use OwnHammer. I have a set of IRs for a darker bassier sound, for a thinner snappier sound, and for an upper mids sound which is what I prefer. So I like to use an IR that will balance out the amp sim in the opposite direction. Anyway, this is all based on our own tastes.
I hope this makes sense. I suggest that you make decisions based on an instant reaction upon hearing a rig or profile, because there are so many to cycle through. Maybe if there’s a rig profile you love, then take the IR from it and apply it to other setups. But if you take every single rig and try to hear it with every single provided IR, you won’t have enough time left to live! So earmark the profiles you like and move on. Or get yourself some top tier third party IRs, get to know a few of them, and use only those for everything.
Btw glad you like the Mesa Cali tweed rig. At this moment I’m literally A/B-ing the rig and the actual amp. This is the head with a 2x12 cab loaded with Jensen blackbird 100s. It is glorious, usually I leave the master volume completely opened up and just use the gain knob to dial everything in. It’s bassy, but that can be dialed out. I think the rig profiles that use the 40watt amp setting sound best, and I like the preset bank with th-u pedals. I think the 2-10-20-30 scalable watt setting on the amp sounds better in the room than it does in the rig profiles. But, the rigs have a larger variety of speakers captured as well as different overdrives baked in. For these types of sounds I would also recommend the Dang rig, Bassman rig, twin reverb rig, Tremolux rig. But the Cali tweed rig has a nice warm grind and just a hint of compression.
Wow… spending hundreds of dollars on amp sims really paid off for users of this forum. We should buy you a nice beverage.
Are you getting booked for any operas after Covid restrictions open up? (He’s a special singer too. Wow… spell checker changed singer to a N word variant like a citizen on an African nation. Close call… I could get cancelled.)
lol… actually right now I’m singing at this little hole in the wall called The Metropolitan Opera, maybe you’ve heard of it?? We’re on performance number 5 now and closing this weekend. The last performance was in the movie theaters as part of the Met in HD series, so I suppose I could say now I’m also a movie star. I am very fortunate to do this for a living. We were masked in rehearsal even when singing, tested twice a week, and the audience has to be masked and show proof of vaccination to attend. It’s the new norm.
After this it’s 2 months off, closing on a house, finishing a basement into a home studio, memorizing for future gigs, and lots of ear damage from amps and iOS. Then Boston, Vienna, Berlin, Nashville, Stockholm, etc… generally when I’m on an opera gig I need to keep my ears fresh. Singing without amplification over a 50-100 piece orchestra and no monitors, I need fresh ears to hear every minutia and frequency around me to perform at my best. As it is today I dimed the Mesa Cali tweed and my ears are blaring, got a show tomorrow.
The reason for a 40Watt amp and 200Watts of speakers is not because I’m abandoning amp sims or iOS, not at all. I’m perfecting a hybrid set up. iOS is great for recording, but real amps are better for gigging, and I want to do both. So a dual path set up allows me to use the amp and pedal board traditionally, but also as an output for the iPad, which sounds better to me than using an frfr. I haven’t bought an amp in 20 years anyway, so this was my gift to myself so I can annoy my new neighbors… it is loud.
Is this a demanding role for you, Aleksey?
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I only know MUSSORGSKY’S "Night on Bald Mountain" which was the closer for Disney's Fantasia:
Wow ! On top of sounding good, this guy also looks great ! I wish I had the room for this....
Thank you for your tips. They all make perfect sense and are actually very helpful. With the current ownhammer sale, I think I will dive in. Up until now, I was using bunch of old free seacowcabs IR that I downloaded before they disappeared from their website. But hearing the praise of ownhammer's IR (not only on this forum), I definitely have to get some. Now is the right time.
I suspect we have similar taste in terms of guitar sound cause I love all the rigs you mentioned, especially the dang. Therefore would you mind telling me which Ownhammer's IR you would recommend (apart from the (R)evolution bundle which I already plan to get). I am interested in their Zilla IR collection (I love the set of free IR from seacowcabs).
I know you're a thafknar user (I own it) but I sticked to impuslation as it is what I started with. I am also Planning to get altiverb2. I liked the first one. Have you tried it as cab IR loader ?
Having too much choice is the most terrible thing sometimes... These days, even when I get the right guitar take with proper playing and intention, I always end up tweaking sound endlessly hoping to make better what already sounds good to my ear. I sometimes hate myself for this... So lesson learned ! Once something sounds good, I should stick to it ! Or maybe, instead of recording the dry signal from the guitar, I should record only the sound coming for the amp sim (a bit extreme 😉) !
I love the OwnHammer Zilla IRs, they’re rich and full yet tight and present. I find them quite balanced. Find the “Summary” folder.
Besides that my other two favorite OwnHammers are in the revolution bundle… in addition to the 6 cabs/speakers you get in the bundle, there’s also an extra collection of Mixed Cab IRs included for free, and the Vox AC15/30 (VC15/30) is my absolute favorite IR period.
It has magic in the upper mids. I use it with high gain amps as well as clean amps, it works with everything even if you don’t expect it. This is the IR that convinced me. The folder is called “OH VC15+VC30”. In there you’ll find the “Summary” sub folder, and the IR I like to use is “OH VC15+VC30 L SS”.
The other IR I really like is the Marshall M-75 GNR, it’s available in the revolution bundle and can also be purchased as a single more in depth collection. But as part of the larger bundle it’s great, also because of the sparkle in the upper mids.
The other IRs like Mesa, Orange, Bogner, Friedman, they’re all on the dark side, if that’s what you’re looking for. Some people need and want that extra layer of darkness and bassyness, whereas I prefer to go the other way into tightness and sparkle. There are other IR collections like the tweed or fender type cabs and speakers, and some of those I find to be a little thin or anemic, which can work for an overly dark amp for example. In any case, the Zilla, Vox AC15/30, and Marshall GNR, are my 3 faves right now.
In terms of which app to use, it doesn’t really matter. They’re all supposed to do the same thing. I started with Thafknar and noticed how great the IRs sounded so I stuck with it. Maybe other apps with too many params can cause more harm than good, but, if you know how to use an IR loader app and get the most full spectrum unadulterated sound from the IR, it’s all the same. I can’t say if one IR loader sounds better than the other, I just know Thafknar sounds like it’s meant to be. You can always compare them and load the same IR into th-u, Thaf, or whatever other app you use, and you should hear no difference if it’s set right.
Not particularly demanding, but important, and I get some of the best thematic music in the entire score.
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Love Night on Bald Mountain of course, listening to this clip I couldn’t help but wonder “how would recording and producing this composition even work on iOS, considering the crazy tempo track..”. What a masterpiece.
Thank you for your precise answer, is is take helpful. I set my mind on the ownhammer revolution bundle and the Zilla. With this, I will most probably be covered dire a long time. Still scratching my head a bit about true stereo IR though. I will try to find answers on the internet. Thank you again !
@JoyceRoadStudios : is this the Zilla IR set:
https://www.ownhammer.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=447
Yes. Also it’s an MMMC IR collection, so more extensive and more files than an IR from the bundle. One speaker and 3 different grill configs are used. It’s a very good collection, if you want a 4x12 cab.
Just purchased THU's Marshall 1959RR Randy Rhoads Rig and impressed with how it sounds! I recorded a short jam with it and IMO it sounds really good!
Guys please help,
What is best to get? The full version at $79
Or Amps pack & effects pack and rigs?
am I missing only metal & rock packs if i go second route?
Thanks so much 🙏
>
I would not do the big amp bundle. The rigs are not included in the bundles and most seem to agree that the rigs are superior sounding. I’d go with a couple of rigs and maybe the effects bundle or not depending on whether you are covered already in that regard. You can also by fx a la carte.
Nice energy and classic rock sound.