Amplitube Plug-in - Mac/PC

 worth it's weight in gold
This plug-in is awesome. With the right computer set-up, this is easily one of the best software solutions around. Some important things to note to take full advantage of this plug-in. You have to already have compatible recording software to host this program. You cannot run it by itself. I've been hosting it with Mackie's Tracktion 2.1 and it works just fine. You also have to have a good quality soundcard with low latency drivers like ASIO 2.0 or WDM or else you will have a severe delay in response time from the time you pluck your string until you hear the sound come out of the speaker. You also have to configure your inputs on your host recording software in order to hear the processed sound while you're playing, which I'm sure will be important to everybody. You have to have your host software enable end-to-end on the input you are plugging into on your interface. I use an Echo Gina 3g, a very good, inexpensive interface. Be sure to research all of this beforehand before purchasing so you'll know if your set-up can handle this.

Now onto the sounds. I'm no audiophile, but I can tell you that I have been able to get this software to sound extremely close to the way that my rig sounds when mic'd up in a studio. My live rig is a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier 100w tube amp played through a modern 4 x 12 closed back cabinet and when I put this same combination together on Amplitube, I can dial in the eq and other settings and get pretty much the same sound. The bottom end is very tight, relative to the Line 6 POD I used to use as my desktop recording guitar emulator, which was flabby and loose in comparison. You can even choose what type of mic to use to pick up the signal and how it is set up (on/off axis, near/far from cab) The user interface is second nature with no learning curve because graphically, it looks like an amp head with all the knobs and switches as you would normally see them on a real amp head. This software has a ton of features and combinations with a more realistic sound than any other emulator I've tried (I haven't tried Guitar Rig yet though), and the best part is that you don't have to rig any outboard equipment up to use it. Just plug into your pc audio interface and load up the plug in and go. You can record your playing in your host software and because the plug-in applies the effect after the recording step in the chain, you can tweak the sound if you don't like it later without ever needing to re-record. You can just listen back to your own playing while swapping amps/cabs/mics/effects/preamps in and out on the fly. The track only records the dry, unprocessed playing. Even better news: IK Multimedia is getting ready to release Amplitube 2 which is looking to blow Amplitube 1 away and is offering a free upgrade to Amplitube 2 if you purchase Amplitube 1 and register it after 09/15/05. So if you buy Amp 1 now you'll save a ton of money than if you just waited and bought Amp 2 because Amp 2 is going to retail for about $400.00. If you buy Amp 1 now you only pay $250.00 and get all the Amp 2 goodies for free when it comes out. That's good customer service as they could have easily sprung Amp 2 on the public without warning and charged everybody for the upgrade if they wanted to. If you already own Amp 1 and registered it before 09/15/05, then their website says that those people will be charged for an upgrade, though. Get this now and enjoy a free upgrade later this month. It's so easy to use and realistic sounding that if I were a studio owner I would be scared that all of the new consumer end technology that is coming out these days was going to put me out of business very soon.