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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.

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Guitar rigs: Analog vs Software

Curious to hear your thoughts and reasoning behind your rig. In this context, software rigs could be iOS or desktop based, but I'm mostly focused on iOS personally.

Do you think software stacks up? Is there anything you would never dream of virtualizing in terms of your pedalboard? Or do you prefer to keep the whole thing analog, and leave the software space for things like synths and recording? Does it matter if you are playing live vs recording?

Guitar rigs: Analog vs Software
  1. Which do you prefer for your guitar rig?17 votes
    1. All analog - physical stomp FX pedals into traditional guitar amp/head/cab
      52.94%
    2. Some (or all) software FX pedals into traditional guitar amp amp/head/cab
      11.76%
    3. Software FX and software amp/cab sim into regular speakers (FRFR / PA)
      35.29%

Comments

  • wimwim
    edited December 2018

    IMO, nothing will ever be as satisfying as playing good and loud through a good tube amp. That said, it’s not a practical option for me any more, so it’s software all the way. Voted #2 though since you asked about the setup I’d prefer.

    Been there, done that with pedal boards. I like the amazing number of options with software FX. With the exception of distortion and wah pedals, I’d still go software. My amp has an FX loop, so that works out nice. I’d have a tube screamer, something like a pro-co rat, my crybaby wah, and my amp. The rest would be software.

    Also some way to get other humans and animals out of earshot would be required.

  • i agree. nothing “feels” as satisfying as a board full of pedals plugged into a big amp, moving all the air
    in a room and shaking stuff off the walls.
    but Guitar amp simulators have become very very good, and when used in a mix correctly , it’s almost impossible to tell the difference. however there are a few things that aren’t quite there yet.
    effects pedals like Wah, and octave and fuzz pedals aren’t close but not quite there. Also, i’d live to have a way to triggers feedback,( while using headphones) as if standing in front of a huge stack.
    others than that, it’s awesome

  • The most recent generations of software really compete for me. The last hurdle they really got for me was dynamic speaker emulations. I long had a collection of IRs that just didn't do it for me, too static. Speaking of Amplitube 4, Atomic Firebox, Bias for pedals (desktop) but I assume the iOS is up there in quality too.

    I have not totally ditched the analog stuff for recording in part for latency. I have a few tube amps and a Quilter (solid state and still epic). But live, I can dial in the Firebox in so close to my other amps, I'd not be able to tell even on a good off the board recording. As far as 'amp in the room' ya I still can't get with in ear monitors despite being totally set up for it, I like the amp, in this case Firebox thru FRFR monitors...loud.

  • For performing, probably pedals, unless you want elaborate, modular synth style effects, or tempo sync, or a very wide variety of sounds. ios is fine around the house, but the delicate connectors and fiddly software takes a lot more attention from the player. In the studio, or practicing at home, the software seems fine, and sounds good in headphones. I've gotten software sounds on albums, that we later tried to replace with painstaking "real" reamped sounds, only to end up liking the software tone better, in the mix.

    The guitar effects world is interesting. The programmable multi-effect pedal seems like the solution to all these problems, why do musicians prefer clunky boards of pedals? I think it has something to do with, not needing to have a huge variety of sounds, but rather just a few high quality ones. I build guitar pedals, and had to adjust my thinking when I came to realize guitar players didn't necessarily want a ton of knobs on their pedals, that more knobs were a liability, when you are performing, because if something goes wrong, you need to understand why, which is easier with a three knob Rat pedal, than a crazy 10 knob syntho fuzz frobulator. Reliability, simplicity, and consistency, is more important to most performers, than tweakablity, versatility, programmability. In a sense, they do the tweaking and programming, by the choice of pedal.

  • wimwim
    edited December 2018

    @Processaurus said:
    The guitar effects world is interesting. The programmable multi-effect pedal seems like the solution to all these problems, why do musicians prefer clunky boards of pedals? I think it has something to do with, not needing to have a huge variety of sounds, but rather just a few high quality ones. I build guitar pedals, and had to adjust my thinking when I came to realize guitar players didn't necessarily want a ton of knobs on their pedals, that more knobs were a liability, when you are performing, because if something goes wrong, you need to understand why, which is easier with a three knob Rat pedal, than a crazy 10 knob syntho fuzz frobulator. Reliability, simplicity, and consistency, is more important to most performers, than tweakablity, versatility, programmability. In a sense, they do the tweaking and programming, by the choice of pedal.

    Well, yeh, that, but also drooling over that next stompbox you just know is going to finally give you the tone fix you need is sustainable over a longer period than f’cking with the knobs for a few hours and realizing it’s really just you that can’t get anything but crap tone. :s

    Self-sarcasm aside, I never found an all-in-one multi-fx box that didn’t sound like crap to me. I never could stand any of them. Haven’t tried for a long time though. Maybe things have changed.

    Jeez I hated my pedalboard though. So much to go wrong. I was actually kind of relieved when I forgot to put it in the car after a gig and returned to find it gone from the parking lot.

  • I've always hated guitar hardware except for amplifiers. Pedals only get in my way and a large pedalboard is too much to think about and manage during a live show. At the height of my guitar playing days, I used two pedals on stage: an eq booster and a DD-6 delay. So many people I know took so much pride in building their pedalboards and I just didn't, and still don't, get it. Not to mention that you're spending a TON of money per effects pedal.

    The only pedals I currently own are an MXR analog chorus and a Boss DD-500 delay unit. Not only does the MXR not do it for me compared to FAC Chorus, the DD-500 is a mess of menu-diving to explore and tweak to the point where it's unusable live if you don't have your presets rarin to go, so I just reach for Timeless 2 instead.

  • I seriously had to check to see if you are my brother, and I don’t think you are.

    My guitar player brother Jesse in Ohio noticed while I was showing him Bias Amp that it doesn’t break up like a real tube amp when you adjust the volume directly on your guitar. So, I’d say some virtual amps may not behave quite in the same exact way, and if you are looking for those behaviors then you really better just stick with a tube amp, etc at least for your rig.

    Amp Modeling and AUv3 effects are enough for me, but I am no guitar player.

  • I had a big pedalboard. Now I have an H9, a fuzz, and an analog amp sim pedal (Ethos Clean) into a small mixing board. It’s always consistent, sounds the same recorded as it does in the room, and works with headphones.

    I also use software effects in AUM, which is easy with the mixer.

    I have a valve amp, and I love it. But I rarely get to crank it up, and when I do, I put in earplugs, so it doesn’t sound so loud anyway.

    One thing I don’t like is digital amp sims. Not yet anyway. That’s partly because I haven’t found one I like, and partly because I don’t like digital simulations. To me they are, philosophically, false. Computer simulations of the real world are creepy, and vain. Better to use that power to create something new. Vinyl didn’t try to emulate the shortcomings of wax cylinders, for example.

    That’s why I prefer the H9. Eventide effects bring new ideas, instead of mimicking ones that have already been done perfectly.

    If I ran a recording studio, though, I’d be all over Kempers.

  • Hardware tube pre to software where i can put fxs, impulse responces etc if needed.

  • I used digital multi-effects for years until I finally wised up to analog pedals. Now everything goes through pedals with an old analog BOSS ME-5 at the end of the chain before hitting my audio interface for recording as I don't have luxury of micing for recording. I have some amp sim pedals which get me close to that sound. Much happier now than all my years of using digital effects. Digital reverb and delay pedals are fine though.

  • edited January 2019

    For recording, I use iOS apps, just about all of them. I find that the sheer variety of tones I can get from these guitar apps is mind blowing. For building songs and sounds, it’s hard to beat; additional, it’s next to impossible to tell if a finished track has amp sims or real amps.

    For live use, I’ve gone back to using a tube amp and pedals. I just unpack my board, plug in, and I’m ready to go. I tried playing live with an iOS rig, but there was too much worry about the fragile nature of iOS devices, interfaces, and wiring. I also didn’t like having my guitar tone and monitoring at the mercy of the house PA and sound guy.

  • The main difference I noticed between Bias and a pure analog setup (Boss ME-5) is a much better response to the input signal and the direct response of the headphone out, which also has a very natural impression.
    I haven't been able (yet) to capture that device by the iCA4+ with the same result.
    This applies to live use, as @supanorton pointed out - recoding a guitar track is quite a different subject on which the emulation doesn't matter at all (in my way of using it).

  • I will say analog but I will love to see standalone in the poll. It could be digital pedalboard or audio looper but in any case standalone. This for live gigs. I still trust in loopy and GTL but being iOS based I will not rely my career on them.
    For studio everything is fine ATM, I’m just noob keytarist so I didn’t notice too much lag when I play garageband instruments or so but even in that path I’m going microKorggie and I will go for pedalboards in the future (vocal fx and some retro fx for my nerdisco music)

    I wil let Mainstage/Live/Staelight just for backing tracks and Piano/synth pads but in my keyboard set). One machine, one tool, one function...

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