Tonex one

[Zoltan]

Hi D,

I'm not necessarily an authority on good sounds. I do claim that i occasionally find good sounds which i usually tend to spoil at the mixing stage. At that point i'm wearing yet another hat and the name of the game is "what fits the song". So that glorious fuzz driven guitar might turn into something tinny that's closer to a kazoo.

If you're happy with the sounds you're getting then there's no need to look elsewhere. That Zoom thing is probably good for what it is, but i doubt it compares favourable to Tonex / Neural Amp sim.

I did actually enjoy playing through Zoom 505 which is totally long in the tooth. But at that time there wasn't much to compare and it didn't really try (or maybe it did) to sound like 1:1 real amp. It was only after when the whole amp sim thing exploded things went kinda like 8mm, vhs, dvd, bluray. And now we're at the 4k-8k HIDEF stage where things are totally different.

But unlike comparing a bad vhs to a good dvd. The jump going forward isn't necessarily always that noticeable. Sometimes it's small details that some players don't even notice, or care for. Or it might be how it feels, take pedals etc.

For those who have new enough computers and use DAW i'd recommend hopping on that Neural Amp train. Tonex doesn't beat it. Tonex has more options and there's also other similar plugins like Two Notes Genome (which is great), but as far as amp sounds and stuff goes the Neural amp is great.

I have Genome and i'm only using it for the effects. It's compatible with Neural Amp (and Tonex) captures so i can use those without the Neural amp (or Tonex) software / gear.

(In any case, it could be that my inferior playing is the limitation, not my equipment...)

As long as it feels good. The playing is always the problem, but if the gear feels good... playing bad can feel good too

[Zoltan]

I came online to see whether you'd posted about the DSM & Humboldt Simplifier X yet

I didn't and i wont! There's no looking back. I loved that Simplifier although it doesn't really look that simple. Especially now in its latest incarnation.

The difference with that and the stuff i had previously used was huge. Then i got the UAD pedal and as i didn't feel that "digital disconnect" with that i was set... For a while. Now i have that Lion too and it's lovely.

Some better players feel/hear the difference between analog/digital, but for me those are almost disgustingly good. I feel almost shameful because of the way that Uafx Lion feels like a real Marshall

Maybe in 10 years these will sound like Pods sound like today. Still i kinda doubt it. When those Pods came they were something totally new and groundbreaking. There was nothing to compare and being that much closer to proper recording was a heaven sent. Now everything is more nitpicky and people know (or think that they know) a lot more about high end amps.

Playing through Pod feels like the sound is going in and then not really coming out. The same with J-station. A thing i'd still like to love yet it doesn't really hold up. Only if one was harking back to 90s and cheesy guitar sounds. There's a recording of Yngwie Malmsteen playing through J-station and even with his skills it sounds like a box of turds. That's that for the "sound is in the hands". It's true to certain extent yet thee's more to it.

Before i jump down from the soapbox i want to dedicate this moment to mention that for sound advice, or sounds advice people should look up to guys like AndyR and Blooby. They're putting the work into getting sounds people can enjoy!