Anyone else find modelers/sims uninspiring?

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Airwave said:
I have a number of Tube amps and Love them (Soldano, Bogner, Suhr, Friedman, Marshall, Mesa etc.) but since getting an AXE-FX III Turbo from
my son as a b-day gift, I've really played with the settings, FRFR spkrs (my main studio monitors 12" 3-ways sound killer) I really like it for Recordings!!!

There is the convenance of going to a studio, hook up and play (many producers and engineers prefer) though many pro studio also have Tube amps.
For me it depends on the amp, some sound dry (my VHT Pittbull 100w) compared to 2203 w/o reverb. Some Clean tube amps sound sterile almost SS?
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Have you used the Kemper at all? I have one and have never tried a Fractal, so curious how you'd compare them as a recording pro.
 
JDs Couch said:
Have you used the Kemper at all? I have one and have never tried a Fractal, so curious how you'd compare them as a recording pro.
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The Kemper is great!! It’s also a profiler whereas the AXE is a modeler. There is more tweaks with the AX, and constant updates. I do like the Kemper as
I also own one. I’ve tried the quad cortex and that’s a great device as well. Still I’m a Tube Amp player for life, I just absolutely love them…
 
I have found the more you play modeler/profilers, the less you want to plug into an x-ray box. Inspiration comes from within the soul you apply to the tools, the tools have no soul so they can provide no inspiration, in my opinion anyway...lol Enjoy y'all...Dave
 
12ax7m said:
I have found the more you play modeler/profilers, the less you want to plug into an x-ray box. Inspiration comes from within the soul you apply to the tools, the tools have no soul so they can provide no inspiration, in my opinion anyway...lol Enjoy y'all...Dave
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This brings up a real valid point - gear isn’t always used to just play music but also necessary to inspire creation of music. I like analog for the alive attitude they have as you play - the amps seem alive.
 
I’m inspired by both.

Tube amps feel alive and raw, and are just cool. I also like the tactile feel of analog knobs and switches for dialing sounds, the clicking of relays when you switch channels, the heat, the tolex, the feeling that you’re burning the “fuel” of tubes that will eventually wear out as you play them to get that sound, all that stuff.

Fractal stuff is great too. The Axe-Fx 3 is effectively infinitely tweakable to the point that you can build just about any sound you can imagine, routed just about any way you can imagine. Also the virtual nature of modelers means you can run virtual components as hard as you want and they’ll never break, etc. I don’t know how anybody could see all the possibility inside one of those things, with all the ground they can cover, in as small of a package as they come in, and just go “no tubes, yawn.” They solve so many more problems than that.

The way I think of them is that tube amps are muscle cars and modelers are space ships. They’re both great.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
I’m inspired by both.

Tube amps feel alive and raw, and are just cool. I also like the tactile feel of analog knobs and switches for dialing sounds, the clicking of relays when you switch channels, the heat, the tolex, the feeling that you’re burning the “fuel” of tubes that will eventually wear out as you play them to get that sound, all that stuff.

Fractal stuff is great too. The Axe-Fx 3 is effectively infinitely tweakable to the point that you can build just about any sound you can imagine, routed just about any way you can imagine. Their virtual nature means you can run virtual components as hard as you want and they’ll never break, etc. I don’t know how anybody could see all the possibility inside one of those things, with all the ground they can cover, in as small of a package as they come in, and just go “no tubes, yawn.” They solve so many more problems than that.

The way I think of them is that tube amps are muscle cars and modelers are space ships. They’re both great.
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That's a great way to put it actually.
Muscle cars and spaceships. Both are pretty awesome. (My Tesla can slay most muscle cars though 😅)
 
I actually find the variety of tones available in the Kemper to be extremely inspiring. Whereas the amp always sounds like the amp; different profiles draw out different playing styles, stretching me as a player.
 
Of course.

Each Profile is literally a different mic'd-amp situation.

Different mics, distances, angles etc.
 
Even though some digital software/ hardware might lack in feel under the fingers vs an amp, I found some of the user presets I tried more inspiring than what I can dial in wrt to sounds and effects.
not all amp setups that sound inspiring in the room translate well recorded and for me downloading someone else’s preset that achieves a certain result is like having Bradshaw building me a rig.
I’m also past the stage where I’ll invest time
getting a good amp inc fx, cabs,
mics and preamps to work so even if digital was subjectively less inspiring, for me it’s faster to find inspiration with digital than working and adding to my amp rig.
My Wizard ain’t going anywhere but that’s about the only amp I’ve played recently where feel and presence is so unique and addicting. Had I not been spoiled by it, I’d have gone digital a year ago
 
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