Guitar Amp Modellers / Pod X3

so im looking at guitar modellers… i’ve tried guitar rig, which is pretty cool i think, but the latency was a major issue; i dont want to record clean sounds then process them after (or not only) - i want the proper processed sound in real-time, because if you want to record heavy distorted type stuff, you can’t really be messing around recording clean notes.

so im thinking maybe something like the POD X3 live is the way to go. anyone have one? or do you recommend something else for guitar/bass modelling instead? how does the sound compare to guitar rig, and can you effectively use it with renoise to process non-guitar sounds? basically i want something which will give me a variety of good quality tones for recording guitar and bass (ive never managed to buy a bass amp for my bass, so that would be another good reason to get the X3), and maybe sound good for some nice synth or kick drum distortions hooked up to renoise also. the expression peddle on the live would be handy aswell since i have always wanted a wah-wah, but never bought one.

from what i’ve read the X3 takes some time to figure out the programming of patches, and the presets aren’t good, but you can get good sounds if you take the time with it. i guess the question is whether its useability is actually a real stumbling block for creativity, and if devices such as the Vox Tonelab LE is a better thing to go for? i can probably handle learning it, so long as it isn’t unnecessarily awkward, if that makes sense, and ones ive made a few user-settings i like i can just switch it on and go instantly.

but yeah - what do you use and rate or not rate with guitar/bass amp modellers?

I like (and use) Slayer2 and Trash

http://refx.com/?lang=en&page=products/slayer2/summary
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/

I would recommend getting the free version of Studio Devils virtual amp before you look much further.

If you like the sound you can get the full version for 79$, which is a decent price at any rate, and it got a 10/10 in Computer Music.

It feels, and plays, quite like an actual amp - not too many bells and whistles.
I never got comfy with multieffects in a guitar setting, it always felt more natural to lug the combo and the bag of stomp boxes around, so this amp has a very familiar feel to it.

yeah cheers i’ll check these out. i agree about the multi-fx thing vs stomp boxes etc… i still use stuff like my boss metal zone, but the only multi-fx unit i ever had (korg 411fx) i ended up selling, it did plenty of stuff, but none of it in a way i particularly liked.

on that note though, this thing looks pretty appealing (although not cheap, its half the price they list in this article now, though):

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct06/arti…o.htm?print=yes

supposedly pretty straightforward to use, and it models loads of the boss stomp boxes. only downside is it doesn’t look like it models any bass amps, so i dont know if i could get a good bass sound out of it or not.

Well… If you want HW I doubt there is anything much better than BOSS GT series. Not the cheapest ones out there, but probably the best.

first of all I don’t believe there will be much difference between guitar rig and other amp software, be sure to use ASIO.

besides guitar rig 3 I can recommend FreeAMP.
http://frettedsynth.home.att.net/

recording clean doesnt have to be an issue, most DI boxes hav signal splitting capabilities, run one line off to a practice amp or something, and the other into your computer, hey presto, you hear the distorted sound of your guitar from your amp, but you record a clean sound ideal for processing!

necrophagist use this process to get the direct guitar signal recorded, then they put that signal out through an amp, and record the output of the amp, but as they still have the clean signal, they can mess around with amp settings, mic positioning etc to get the tone just right, without having to play the guitar part again!

i have to disagree with you here, every day in the studio im using boss gt-8 and line6 podxt, the gt-8 barely gets a look in, its only really useful for making odd noises, it sounds very unnatural, the line6 does a much better job of emulating the sound of a real amp.

For linux users, this was just recently released:

http://rakarrack.sourceforge.net/

i use guitar rig 3 all the time in real time with no latency issues at all. i’m curious to know why you seem to be having problems. anyways, i also use IK Multimedia AmpegSVX for bass, you can also run some synths through it to get some cool sounds.

I was messing around with this a little yesterday, I was wondering if there is a way to make rakarrack an vst similar to the way other track dsps act in renoise?

I got a Pod Studio GX for Christmas and I can can vouch for sound quality and lack of latency. Guitar Rig and Amplitube have too high CPU overheads for my liking although I really like Amplitube’s sound…so I am a Line6 convert

The LePou plugins sounds downright purdy.