PC amp sims live?

R

Ribbon

Member
May 11, 2010
39
0
6
What is the exact reason nobody is really doing this yet?

What am I missing here? I mean, everyone is talking about how the Axe FX is such a great asset live, but it seems to me all you need to get the job done is a laptop and an USB controller for changing presets.

Further - not that I have any hands-on experience with it - from what I can tell, PC amp sims sound better than the Axe.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being condescending here - it's the exact opposite really. I know I'm not really in the loop here. People are shelling out all that cash for a reason. They gotta be, I mean, if the alternative is better and actually more often than not, free, something is really amiss here. This thing costs a nice fourth of your kidney.
 
Some people do this. I did about 2 years ago with wagner mk 1 and my desktop. The reason I stopped was cause my rig wasn't very portable and prone to physical damage. I like using heads again and don't need versatility from my live rig.
 
did it a few times, really liked it, a good friend of mine owns the axe-fx,
sounded better, but he's the better guitar player ;)
Would love to own the axe, would fit my style pretty well and I really like
the idea of having everything in one unit.
 
ill try it one day with a whole band gig

guitar 1
guitar 2
bass
vocals
other vocals
drum triggers
overheads
etc.

all into interface/laptop for live processing.

imagine using lecto with greg's impulse. awesome tone with minimal setup!
 
Too much of a hassle for me, and like someone else said computers are pretty fragile. Preamp + MIDI effects unit + poweramp for me. fits in a 4u rack and its all I'll ever need.
 
While we use a laptop partially for our live rig, setting up would be nerve racking hoping everything boots up fine with no issues. I hate hoping the MIDI for light show and amp changes go smoothly!
 
Another question - say I wanted to run, for example, Lecto through a real amp head. No impulses, nothing, just raw into the head. What output channel from my soundcard should I use? Would a normal line out do? What about headphones-out - is that a no-go?
 
Ribbon said:
Another question - say I wanted to run, for example, Lecto through a real amp head. No impulses, nothing, just raw into the head. What output channel from my soundcard should I use? Would a normal line out do? What about headphones-out - is that a no-go?
Click to expand...

A reamp box would probably be best , but it can be done without on. Ive gotten good results running the main out of my mackie onyx into the effects return of my 5150.
 
Couple of Reasons :D

1. Amp/Cab simulators have no balls in a recording, let alone a live situation (maybe ok for cleans). I've known people try it, and come back to me saying "man i was lost in the mix out there!" - I guess it may be a little too "hifi" unless everybody has been very well soundchecked and mixed.

People will not know you are not playing with a real amp, but they will miss the grunt and smack in the face that the toobz and cabs deliver, and then maybe just deem your sound shit.

2. Computer reliability

From my perspective I go to a gig to hear unfettered rock liveness usually and as technolgy evolves, a lot of goodness is being sucked dry from that. I'd like everything to work from a laptop though, it would be very cool. Its something I would probably make the choice to do personally as i'm ok with computers and if I didnt have a roadie, I wouldnt fancy carrying me 5150 everywhere- I am a lazy bazzard afterall.
 
One of the best live guitar sounds I ever heard was from a sim going through a fender deville. A guy named Bob Spencer who played for the Sky Hookes and some other classic Aussie band who runs the Weekend Warriors programs at Allans Music was responsible for it. I also know he is interested in the Axe Fx which makes me think the Axe Fx is infact much better than any sim currently available. Finally I know this Bob Spencer fellow is pretty fucking cheap, so he wouldn't be paying top dollar for an Axe Fx if it wasn't the shit.
 
I think reliability would hardly be a problem with a nice laptop and SSD. Regular HDs are the main source of problem 'cause of its mechanical limitations.
Not the real tooooobz?! No, but it's a lot lighter and will surely give you very nice results - thru a nice PA and monitoring, of course. And besides the computer and interface, you can get everything else free, as you already know (and I mean FREE software)
 
visceral said:
A reamp box would probably be best , but it can be done without on. Ive gotten good results running the main out of my mackie onyx into the effects return of my 5150.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but is that safe? Friend and I want to try this out, but he's telling me the discrepancy in output impedance can damage the amp. I won't lie that I really understand how that works, but I trust he isn't just being paranoid for nothing.
 
kev said:
Couple of Reasons :D

1. Amp/Cab simulators have no balls in a recording, let alone a live situation (maybe ok for cleans). I've known people try it, and come back to me saying "man i was lost in the mix out there!" - I guess it may be a little too "hifi" unless everybody has been very well soundchecked and mixed.

People will not know you are not playing with a real amp, but they will miss the grunt and smack in the face that the toobz and cabs deliver, and then maybe just deem your sound shit.

2. Computer reliability

From my perspective I go to a gig to hear unfettered rock liveness usually and as technolgy evolves, a lot of goodness is being sucked dry from that. I'd like everything to work from a laptop though, it would be very cool. Its something I would probably make the choice to do personally as i'm ok with computers and if I didnt have a roadie, I wouldnt fancy carrying me 5150 everywhere- I am a lazy bazzard afterall.
Click to expand...

Where I come from, you take what you can get. I won't be able to afford a triple recto any time soon, and I'd much rather use Lecto than a Boss pedal.

But that's besides the point. The question is not why people prefer real amps to sims, the question is why people prefer Axe FX to PC sims to the point they're willing to part with so much money.
 
Yeah, but is that safe? Friend and I want to try this out, but he's telling me the discrepancy in output impedance can damage the amp. I won't lie that I really understand how that works, but I trust he isn't just being paranoid for nothing.
Click to expand...

Gonna bump this in hope for an answer.
 
If you run the line out into your effects loop return you will not need a reamp box as they are both line level. I don't see why you would want to run straight in to the amps input as you'd be using 2 pres and it will sound shit. If you want to do it this way you should use a reamp box but you won't damage it not using one.
 
Sorry to bump this, but are we talking about amp sims going into a real cab? Or via a cab sim too and then into the PA? Because I used to find the latency on cab sims was frustrating, even just for tracking at home.

I know quite a few smaller bands who use their hardware amp sim into the clean channel or loop return of their head and it sounds good enough for them, but I'm guessing that's not exactly what is being talked about here?
 
Yeah Dark. We are talking about using amp sims to play live. In front a loop return, clean channel of an amp or to a PA. With a good computer and good settings it can be made with great results and low latency.
 
A/B/Y box to a real amp for emergency backup / cleans, and i think it'd be awesome. i've always dreamed of doing a completely self-contained digital live mix. trigger all drums, maybe real cymbals...or e-cymbals, ampsimmed guitars and bass, all into a laptop. superior or SSD for drums, complex guitar chains, my beloved ABG BIG for bass...

think about it...you could record a practice, show up at the venue, plug into the house at 2 in the afternoon, push play in the DAW and you'll be hearing basically exactly what will be going down for the real thing. sit there and tweak the mix in the DAW according to the house, soundcheck=done before putting a single piece of gear on stage.

MANN that'd be awesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
New amp sims?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Backline
Scottxx
S
wishtheend
Amp Sims LIVE: ?s on setup/programming
Replies
3
Views
595
Backline
Kadmium
K
egan.
aax amp sims
Replies
7
Views
2K
Backline
Cephara
C
S
Amp sims clashing?
Replies
13
Views
1K
Backline
FF666
F
atoragon
Free Guitar Amp Sims comparison 1/3
Replies
2
Views
969
Backline
atoragon
atoragon
Top Bottom
Back