i'd have to disagree with that statement - what ever about amplitube 2 (i dont use it) i use amplitube metal quite a lot and im able to pull a very raw tube sound out of it very easily with my presets - its a bitch to tweak but once you get it it works like a charm
my tip - compress medium on the virtual racks and it brings out the rawness of the virtual amp
I'm with you one this one - commercial amp sims have their place. Sure maybe it's not to get a cookie cutter metal tone, but if you are a tweaker at heart, you can coax some great tones out of these very diverse product offerings. I personally like having the options that the major amp sim manufacturers make available to me. I don't only play metal - in fact lately I've been playing pretty much everything but metal in an effort to increase my skills and musical capabilities - perhaps it's just me, but I never want to get pigeon holed as a player.
If you have not played IK Multimedia's latest amp sim, Amplitube Fender, then you really are not aware of how good they have gotten at capturing mush of the playability and sound of some truly classic amps. "Shitty" is the last term I would use to describe it, and given some of the feedback from some serious tones hounds elsewhere, outside the metal community, they did a great job, and that technology is what is being now even more improved upon in their newer products.
If you only want free products - feel free. I use the free ones too, there are some really great ones out and readily available - but I'm also willing to pay for a quality product which I think Line 6, Amplitube, and Guitar Rig provide (it's a hell of a lot cheaper than purchasing and maintaining all those amps - especially for someone without commercial aspirations like myself) and I for one find that variety is truly the spice of life and having so many tones at my fingertips is a rewarding experience.
Knock it if you want, but they are obviously doing something right as many people buy and use their products. I also hope that some of the developers that are making these free sims eventually see some financial gain from their skills as it is a talent and as such it should be rewarded - I for one would happily pay for the products they choose to give away if I felt it was a quality product - which in many cases I do.
Sorry for the long response, but I just feel it's funny that the same people that love other plug-ins made by the same manufacturers of commercial amps sims, suddenly think that those very same developers somehow lack the skills to make great sounding amp sims - the technology has come a long way and I just see no need to limit oneself because of old misconceptions. Sure - in many cases presets suck - but delve down a little deeper into these big amp sim programs and you can turn out some stellar results.
