#age old question: amp or pedals

66 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

midnight dune
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maybe get an audio interface some speakers and a plugin

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you can get all of those at honestly great quality and awesome sound

night jay
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Boss Katana isn't a tube amp? It's a modeller

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And really has some of the better I/O features for recording and headphone use

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Also if your "endgame" is something like an axe FX, why not try a HX Stomp or Pod Go? They are similar to the FM3 and in your budget

midnight dune
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what speakers were you using?

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about the neural dsp thing you can messa around with settings others artist's presets

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and if you dont find any of that good sounding try another software

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nowadays most pro guitarists or people who work around guitars use sims

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assuming you arent pro and are a bedroom guitarist plugins will def be enough

night jay
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Laptop speakers are hilariously bad. Even standard headphones with give you a better sound IMO

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Idk if Neural DSP plugins have cab simulations in them, but that is pretty much required for guitars also

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Personally I'm not a fan of plugins for just playing (as opposed to recording) just because of the setup required. I'm the kind of person that will get lost in the menus trying to dial in a sound instead of playing music. But they're pretty popular, and I'm glad people are finding what works for them

dire leaf
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im very happy with my UA dream 65. the convenience of pedals really caters toward the modern musicians.

ide say the need for a real amp is getting smaller and smaller. really for recording (and only if you are a knowledgable engineer) or are trying to relive the past

midnight dune
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you should probably get some nice speakers dude

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ill link you some nice in budget ones

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these ones are really popular

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but you should do some research yourself and find out what you like

solid plover
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these arent guitar cabinets

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theyre just general purpose speakers

night jay
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I think a helix might be a bit overkill for use with an 8 inch speaker.

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They can be your all-in-one solution for awesome recording tones, or through headphones

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Or you can have them simulate a bunch of pedals for your amp

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I think your tone issues are probably stemming from the 8 inch speaker. I would start by getting something with a 12 inch speaker. It's not just louder, it will have better range etc

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I upgraded recently myself, I got a cheap amp with a 12" speaker (used Line 6 Catalyst, ~$200), and a used Pod Go (~$400, which is like an entry level Helix by the same company)

abstract yew
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Amp 100% - it’s really worth mentioning that the sound quality through headphones can vary depending on the quality of the amp. The Spark 40, for example, sounded much better over headphones than my old Roland Cube, which is similarly priced to a LT25

knotty needle
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I have it and can say for certain it's one of the best you will get.

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Basically a pedalboard with unlimited pedals. I'm able to get organ sounds and all that out of mine and getting presets that are free is easy with custom tone on the helix site. Most versatile piece of gear you can have besides possibly a Quad Cortex.

halcyon wyvern
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@idle gulch you have the intention of playing through headphones or not?

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you want to record or not? which effects you need most?

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600 usd?

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one thing you can do is using pedals with your audio interface + IRs will sound good

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a multi effects unit would not be bad

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with some units they already have IRs so

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and lots of them on the market

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that's why I am suggesting pedals

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even better is you can use headphones with the multi effects no amps nothing needed but headphones :)

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IR Impulse Response Cabinet Microphone Simulator

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Boss GT 1 is good and cheap

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No

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Amp sims are the amps

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Without IRs playing through an audio interface sounds bad

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Add IRs and good

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Maybe

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which amps sims are you using?

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that's a DAW

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recording software

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you need amp sims with that

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also called plugins

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I see

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Wait a sec

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and it's free :)

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comes with IRs too

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Use a DAW like Reaper and open that plugin and the IRs called NadIR and you're good to go

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IRs are files

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just like amp sims

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your DAW will automatically scan them

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and you can open them after

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When opened you will see a tab with different microphones and speakers

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with different positions

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DAW means Digital Audio Workstation

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So you have it