The mother of all bass FX

[Fraktal]

Hello everybody!

I couldnt resist myself showing you all my new toy, a piece of (virtual) gear that so far has the potential of forcing me to reconsider my signal chain "Old school setup, "bass->cable->amp and everything else is a toy and will suck my tone away".

IK Multimedia is a very famous producer of DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software, those of you with previous studio experience will surely remember their Sampletank, T-RackS and Amplitube products as they have been so successful. Not long ago, they revised their aging Amplitube plugin, totally revamped and diversified it. Now there are 6 different Amplitubes: Amplitube 2, Amplitube Fender, Amplitube Jimmy Hendrix, Amplitube Metal, Amplitube Live and, last but not least, the holymotherofallthatisgoodandpure AKA Amplitube Ampeg SVX.

To run Amplitube software you need a decent PC, even laptops, and a low latency audio card with ASIO drivers or USB cable audio interface.

The Ampeg SVX, just as any other Amplitube software, can be run as a VST/RTA plugin or directly as a [b]stand-alone application[/b]. The latter has extra features such as "SpeedTrainer" that I will comment on soon. Ampeg SVX emulates a complete bass rig including rack-like tuner, 8 bass stomp pedals, 4 Ampeg bass amplifiers, 6 bass cabinets, and also some guitar amps, cabs and stuff thanks to Amplitube X-Gear, bundled with all amplitube models. X-gear also allows you to select 1 out of 8 signal path/chains with serial/parallel modes and all the goodies.

Enough chitchat already, lets watch some pr0n...

Here is the rack tuner:



Yup, thats me tuning the low B string of my Ibanez SR505. The tuner is very precise up to 1 cent, and you can calibrate it to ANY frequency you wish, simply by overwriting the "tune 440.00" field on the left side. I set it up at 900Hz once, just for fun!

On the upper left corner you can see the SpeedTrainer wich is a feature only available while running Amplitube as a stand-alone app. Im gonna explain how it works. First, the "open audio" button allows you to open audio files (MP3s, wavs and such) to play them, then you have the play and pause buttons that I wont comment on, LOL. The A and B buttons allow you to precisely mark the beggining and end point of a loop, for those passages hard to play you need to practice a lot. The clear button resets the loop. You also have Vol, Pitch and Tempo buttons, you can choose to play a song very slow so you can better hear a difficult passage, while keeping the original pitch, or choose a different pitch, in case you prefer to play the song on a different tonality.
Then comes the display, a graphical render of the audio file, where you can zoom up to 32x to set the loop A-B points with surgical precision. In this image you can see a white and a blue vertical lines, those are A and B buttons we spoke about. You can drag them or set them again by clicking the AB buttons.
Finally, there is a metronome with Vol and Tempo knobs.

On the lower part of the screen you can see, from left to right, an input pot and level meter, you also have an extra +24db digital gain in case you need it down on the white bar. Next is a very smooth noise gate, a parameter display that shows you the value of the last knob you tweaked, a mini-tuner, related to the rack tuner, but in case you leave it switched ON you dont need to go back to the tuner screen while tuning on the amp, stomp, cab or rack screens, very handy. The following controls are for mixing purposes, and a master pot and level meter.

The next screen is the pedal board:



Depending on the signal path/chain you choose (with those 8 little buttons besides the red patch name) you can have up to a max of 12 stompboxes on serial, or 6+6 on parallel. The stompboxes include overdrive, octaver, analog chorus, analog delay, bass wah, compressor, envelope filter and volume pedal. Their quality is absolutely impressive, they can be controlled via any MIDI device (such as a sequencer or pedalboard) and you can even expand them by purchasing other Amplitube versions, so you can use also guitar stompboxes and everything. You can use them on any way you wish, you can choose a pedalboard with 6 overdrives to annoy all your bandmates to death if you wish so, you maniac!

Ok, lets get serious... THE AMPS:


[b]Ampeg B-15[/b]



[b]Ampeg BA-500[/b]



[b]Ampeg SVT-4 PRO[/b]



[b]Ampeg SVT[/b]


The quality of the amps is superb, you can even use 2 in parallel thanks to the bundled X-Gear software, and there are plenty of tiny details that left me with a retarded smile in my face for hours long, such as being capable of overloading the compressor stage in the SVT-4 PRO for a very subtle but creamy overdrive, while leaving the gain and power stages completely clean, or realizing that the distortion coming out of the gain stage is totally different from that coming out of the power stage, even though both belong to the same amp model... Sweeeeeeeeet!!! That is what call serious modelling!

Now, onto the cabs:

[b]B-15 speaker, single 15"[/b]



[b]BA-500 speakers, 2x10"+tweeter[/b]



[b]BXT-410H cab, 4x10"+tweeter[/b]



[b]PB-212H cab, 2x12"+tweeter[/b]



Damn! I triggered the imagespam filter... LOL! Ah, well, if you want to check the looks of the SVT-410H and SVT-810E cabs, here are the links:

[url="http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/60/cabsvt410hpe8.jpg"]SVT-410H cab, 4x10"+tweeter[/url]
[url="http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6656/cabsvt810ebx5.jpg"]SVT-810E cab, 8x10" beast[/url]

Now, for unstoppable drooling, here you have a tweeter attenuator control available for all cabinets, save the 8x10" monster:

[url="http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2548/tweeterqp2.jpg"]Tweeter level[/url]

As you may have noticed by the pics, this software also modelled 6 different microphones, including the most popular ones such as Neumann, Shure, AKG... Its easy to recognize them in the pics if you are familiar with the original ones. You can choose the particular mic you want to use and the position. You can place it on-axis, off-axis, near or far the speaker. The differences in sound are huge, and they arent limited to different equalizations, the whole sound character changes completely when messing with the mics and their placement. You can also see a fader called "Ambience" that allows you to add room reverb to the dry sound. Its a very good reverb that simulates a medium sized studio recording room, and has plenty of early reflections. Upright bass + Ambience = Instant tone heaven!

If you purchase and install another Amplitube version, you can mix all the different amps, speakers, stompboxes, etc. and that will also add rack effect processors including digital delays and reverbs, 3 full parametrics with Q factor, a 31 band 1/3 octave EQ, tube compresor... You name it! Think about the possibilities! Uh, wait, you better dont... Please excuse me while I pick up the pieces of my brain.

[b]FINAL THOUGHTS[/b]

Overall, I think this is the most powerful bass processing tool I have ever seen, with the most intuitive user interface I have ever tried: Every single knob, fader or button you see in the screen works just as it should, like the real thing, they arent there for the looks, everything has a function and is placed at the spot you would expect it to be if you were just in front of a real bass rig. Using it is a joy, no messing with menus, no bullshit, just straight-forward "what you see is what you get". PISS EASY!

Sound-wise, I have never heard an emulation sound this good. I cant claim to know the original amps this software simulates because I have never had the pleasure to meet them live, but the same can be said about any other FX processor I have tried before, lets say almost everything from Line6, Korg, Rocktron and Digitech. So, when comparing this FX processor with all those, the only thing I can evaluate is the sonic quality, and in my humble opinion Ampeg SVX blows everything else out of the water. You can even process the sound at 96kHz/24bit if you are so anal about sampling rates and bit depths. The noise levels are ridiculous, providing you have a decent soundcard or audio interface.

The overdrive stompbox could easily be the best stompbox I have ever tried, it is really usable and has a character very well suited for the bass. Most other overdrive pedals I have tried so far were mostly noisy and sucked lots of tone. The octaver tracks very well. The analog chorus is superb. Maybe the only stompbox of this software that I dont love to death would be the envelope filter... Too many parameters, not so easy to tweak the sound you want out of it, though surely lots of people would argue the opposite, since its possibilities are almost infinite.

Regarding the amps, I am very impressed by 3 out of the 4 of them. The B-15 has such a vintage sound, the SVT-4 PRO is so versatile and the classic SVT can be insanely fun. Havent played much with the BA-500, so its not that I dont like it, simply I had such a wide tonal palette out of the other 3 that I didnt bother with the BA-500, LOL.

The cabs are wonderful, they drastically change the sound of the amp when you switch them, just like in real life. The microphones also have their own character each one, and the possibilities are endless: Choose an amp, then a cabinet, then a mic, then mess with the mic placement, add some room ambience, then mix it all with DI sound, or add a second chain with a different amp, or maybe the same amp but cranking up the gain and master pots to overdrive it... BOOOM!!! My head just exploded! If you cant dial your dream tone out of this software... you better retire and play balalaika!

If I have to speak badly about it, the only thing I can think of is that it is a software, and as such it needs a physical host and an interface to be functional, namely a PC and a low latency sound card or audio interface, but by these times, almost every musician has a PC, many of us laptops, and also ASIO driven soundcards. Even if you still havent bought an ASIO soundcard, there are extremely cheap alternatives out there, such as the StealthPlug (A cable with a guitar jack, a microscopic soundcard and a USB plug) or any of its cheaper clones. So, from now on, instead of thinking about buying an expensive, non upgradeable hardware multiFX, it might be wise to carry a laptop with this software installed to the reharsal room, studio and even gigs.

I am NOT endorsed by IK Multimedia! (I wish I was, though, heh!)

Edited January 30, 2009 by Fraktal

[Dood]

Ahhhh yes!!! The mighty SVX!! I have been using it for a while now.. and really love it that much, that I wanted to take it 'on the road' with me! But a standalone VST player in a rack is SO expensive, hence turning to the Line6 X3.. which I guess is the nearest thing to the SVX! I look forward to reading your complete review!! It looks great already!! AWESOME!!

[Fraktal]

Hey Dood,

No need for a standalone VST rack, you can simply use a laptop and an audio interface, such as the StealthPlug from IK Multimedia, wich is just a TRS-USB cable, and there are plenty of alternatives out there.

As long as you dont mind carrying your laptop to the gig...

This is what Im planning to do on an immediate future!

Edited January 29, 2009 by Fraktal

[cheddatom]

I use it as a VST plug-in quite a lot, but it totally sucks my processing power so sometimes I have to arse about bouncing down the bass track with the ampeg processed onto it, if you know what I mean. Does anyone else find this?

[Dood]

[quote name='cheddatom' post='395161' date='Jan 30 2009, 08:56 AM']I use it as a VST plug-in quite a lot, but it totally sucks my processing power so sometimes I have to arse about bouncing down the bass track with the ampeg processed onto it, if you know what I mean. Does anyone else find this?[/quote]


Blimey! Really? No, I haven't found that to be the case. I'd been using it with an XP Pro Pentium 4 HT with no issues and then on an XP Dual Core box with no probs. I havent got a new version that supports Vista yet, so can't try it on my 64bit OS.

[Dood]

[quote name='Fraktal' post='394978' date='Jan 29 2009, 09:44 PM']Hey Dood,

No need for a standalone VST rack, you can simply use a laptop and an audio interface, such as the StealthPlug from IK Multimedia, wich is just a TRS-USB cable, and there are plenty of alternatives out there.

As long as you dont mind carrying your laptop to the gig...

This is what Im planning to do on an immediate future![/quote]


True, true.. I could use the UX2 I guess.. but patch changing options could be a problem, if you are into that kinda thing. I do need to change patches from 'dirty amp' sounds to clean hifi tones regularly. But for a 'quick fix' to getting the SVX live, your idea is perfect!

[dannybuoy]

With X-Gear, can you use the stomps from the other Amplitube series? Like the fuzz face, big muff etc... I've got the old version but haven't updated yet, I will have to look into it.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='dood' post='395195' date='Jan 30 2009, 09:41 AM']Blimey! Really? No, I haven't found that to be the case. I'd been using it with an XP Pro Pentium 4 HT with no issues and then on an XP Dual Core box with no probs. I havent got a new version that supports Vista yet, so can't try it on my 64bit OS.[/quote]

Yeh, when i'm using cubase, I have the "VST Performance" monitor on, which is like a level meter for CPU usage. Running a standard mix projrect for me would be about 20 channels of mono audio, routed through 6 group channels, running between 10 and 20 VST plug-ins as well as EQ and stuff. My system is an Althlon Mobile running at 2.2GHz (overclocked) with 3 Gb RAM and a fairly fast IDE HD. My soundcards are M-Audio Deltas. Normally the meter will be showing at around a 3rd, jumping up and down as and when I adjust things. When I turn on the Ampeg plug-in, the meter jumps up to 2/3!!!

Possible explainations anyone?

[clauster]

[quote]Possible explainations anyone?[/quote]

It's made by IK Multimedia who IMHO produce the best (and therefor resource intensive) VST plug-ins known to man.

[99ster]

The RTAS version for ProTools is mighty lovely too!

[Dosi Y'Anarchy]

I had the SVX and Amplitube on my computer, however they've been crashing when i try to open them in fruityloops and Adobe Audition - im not complaining, maybe if i wasnt such a cheapskate i would BUY the programs and would actually bother to work out what the problem is. SVX is pretty cool, the FX are awesome too, once i heard their 'overdrive' i went wild

Overdrive=Ampeg Scrambler

I was lucky enough to own a re-issue Ampeg Scrambler and loved it to bits, but alas i part exchanged it for a B:Assmaster.

I think the SVX Overdrive is the closest you'll ever get to it.


If this stuff didnt sound like real ampeg stuff, their name wouldnt be all over it. so if you want ampeg tone on your home recordings: get Ampeg SVX...


















...or a VTbass (which I did - and even though i have line6 gearbox/podfarm software on my computer, the VTbass is still better than that)

[YouMa]

I use a lot of vsts and vstis,they dont cut the mustard.Sorry.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='clauster' post='395417' date='Jan 30 2009, 02:23 PM']It's made by IK Multimedia who IMHO produce the best (and therefor resource intensive) VST plug-ins known to man.[/quote]

So my issues are not surprising and the only thing I can do is add processing power?

[MananaMan]

cheddatom : yup, although you could try fiddling with your buffer size - not really recommended though as you'll trade latency for processor power.

don't know why they haven't brought out a stand alone box full of DSP of this - much as Guitar Rig and Liquidmix have. For live, I'd say a lappy with Guitar Rig would be the best bet - the models in GR are great too and you get the bonus of a full floor board to play with. The Kontrol thingy also handles a lot of the DSP stuff, so you get more processor power for the rest of the mix.

[Eight]

[quote name='MananaMan' post='396173' date='Jan 31 2009, 03:01 PM']don't know why they haven't brought out a stand alone box full of DSP of this - much as Guitar Rig and Liquidmix have.[/quote]
Probably sales. Guitar Rig spanks every VST known to man in terms of money spinning capacity.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='MananaMan' post='396173' date='Jan 31 2009, 03:01 PM']cheddatom : yup, although you could try fiddling with your buffer size - not really recommended though as you'll trade latency for processor power.[/quote]

I don't have any latency issues so are you saying that if I decrease the buffer size I will get more cpu power? But I might get some latency?

[MananaMan]

no, [i]increasing[/i] the buffer size will add latency but should help the CPU out.

TBH, I wouldn't bother though... latency is the last thing you want!

[cheddatom]

Cubase crashing every time I want more than one SVX running is the last thing I want! As soon as I get my new soundcard i'm going to build a slave PC to run all my plug-ins on.

[dumelow]

this looks awesome bit gutted ive just bought a bass micro cube rx to use for recording and practice, the stealth plug would have been a hell of a lot more practical. the cube is great for recording directly into the computer with but obviously doesnt come with the awesome software. tempted to just getting the software to run as a super cool vst with audacity.

I doubt id dare to use this live though dont think my laptop would be able to cope running it smoothly, not sure if it will run it smoothly as a vst, what kind of laptop specs are you guys running it well on??

[Fraktal]

I use no laptop ATM, I havent bothered yet, but on a desktop Intel Core2 duo E6600 @ 2.4Ghz it runs perfect. CPU usage never goes above 20% even using insane rig configs, just for geek purposes, such as tuner on + 6 stomps + valve driven amp + cabinet with ambience in one channel and a second parallel channel with the same config but different models and settings. This would be the most CPU intensive processing the stand-alone application is capable of.

99% of the time the stand-alone application (you need no VST host to run it, neat feature for live use) will only consume 10% of my processing power. On a Pentium D the CPU usage will never go above 25%. I would expect an intel dual core laptop processor around 1.8 Ghz to eat up to 50% CPU, wich sounds stable to me. Its only a guess, but in my opinion worth a try.

Watch out for the StealthPlug though, there are probably ASIO driven audio cards with better sound quality for about the same price, such as M-Audio Fast Track USB, wich can also run Protools M-Powered and is much more versatily than the StealthPlug, giving you 1 input XLR or TRS and 2 RCA outputs.



Edit: These are the minimal + recommended specs required to run Ampeg SVX copy-pasted from their official website:

System Requirements

Power PC based Macintosh®
Minimal: 866 MHz G4 processor, 512 MB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Suggested: dual 1.25 GHz G4 or G5 processor, 1 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Supported Plug-in formats: AU, VST, RTAS.

Intel based Macintosh®
Minimal: 1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo processor, 512 MB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later.
Suggested: 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 1 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later.
Supported Plug-in formats: AU, VST, RTAS.

[b]Windows®
Minimal: Pentium 1GHz / Athlon XP 1.33 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, Windows XP / Vista or later.
Suggested: Pentium 2.4 GHz / Athlon XP 2.4 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, Windows XP / Vista or later.
Supported Plug-in formats: VST, RTAS.
[/b]

Sounds to me like almost any PC, even singlecores, could run it, according to their own info.

Edited February 6, 2009 by Fraktal

[cheddatom]

Yeh, i'm talking about running it along side lots of other VSTs with automation on a mix file with 50+ channels, so one plug-in taking up 10 or 20% of my cpu power kind of sucks.

[Eight]

[quote name='Fraktal' post='401711' date='Feb 6 2009, 04:30 AM']Sounds to me like almost any PC, even singlecores, could run it, according to their own info.[/quote]
IME In the real world, no.

I have a spare Windows pc - 1.4Ghz cpu, 512MB ram, Windows XP (clean install with only a virus scanner) and tried Amplitube a little while ago. It runs, but doesn't really leave many resources left for the actual ASIO (audio card protocol) communication. Basically, I could use the tuner but couldn't play anything without a 2 second latency. And I do know how to configure latency etc. and build a workable DAW. There just wasn't enough processor cycles and memory in that machine to do it all.

My main DAW is a modest Athlon XP 3000+ build. 2GB ram, SATA hard disks and an optimised Windows XP SP2. Doesn't connect to the internet so no firewalls, no virus scanners, performance set for background tasks etc. It runs Amplitube perfectly - with loads of effects etc. inside Sonar (sequencer) projects with multiple tracks and other VSTs etc.

So you don't need much power; just a little more than they're claiming.

[KennysFord]

I'm clueless about software like so a little help please.
Can you run this as a stand alone or is it a plug in whereby you need other software to run it ??
I have a fairly decent pcmcia sound card on the lappy with a mic/instrument input which i sometimes use for jamming along to music.If i got this software will it run on it's own,ie with the bass plugged into the sound card.Also could i then plug the lappy into a bass amp ??
Told you i was a dumbass hehe.

[cheddatom]

Kenny - yeh, you could do that but only if your laptop's of good enough spec. I'm sure you could download a "trial" to see.

[KennysFord]

Thanks for that.I found the demo and downloaded it i'm just struggling a bit with the sound config.pretty cool though eh.I just had the nicest motown sound i ever had whilst playing along the the isleys tell me it's just rumour.Pitty it's just a 10 day jobby though as i rather like it... a lot.
It sounds a woopy though,i'll keep at it.
cheers.