Hi guys,
As
AmpliTube 3 is going to be released by this weekend, I thought that a proper "release thread" was needed, with more facts than speculation.
As said earlier, I'm with a bunch of other people being part of the last minute testers, so I got a thoroughly tested and debugged release candidate version of the product.
The installation process is quick and flawless and the software is stable. It reacts smoothly and is really easy to use.
For the beginners (read people who have never used any version of AmpliTube) as well as for the "power users", it's no big deal to understand what's happening and where it's happening. That means that the GUI is laid out well, and you don't waste time trying to understand what you want to do and tweak and where is that module or that effect. It's pretty straightforward. Not to mention that the GUI design is eye-candy but not too much, so it's a joy to use and to look at.
The diversity of the offered amps and effects give you lot of choice, and surely infinite combinations of tones or musical flavours. From clean to crunch, from crunch to high gain, from "conventional" to special effects... You can do everything, really. I was impressed with the multiple combinations possible, considering that you have 2 chains of effects possible. In these "mad tweakers" scenarii, the drag and drog feature (finally) is awesome and a perfect addition to the workflow !
Soundwise, there is no surprise. Every model is top notch ! They really nailed it this time. Yes, every model sounds great, some sound awesome like the new additions. The new creative effects are wonderful, as they open a new world of creativity, and the good news is that it now operates as a real stereo software, with the 2 chains, so you can really make use of it as a creative stereo effect for synths or pianos or strings or whatever you want. Not to mention the 3 new bass amps. If you're fond of deep and creamy bass sounds, the new models will make you more than happy. I was one the the people who was whinning for new bass amps and I'm glad they did it, and nailed it (that is what is the most important). So the BIG sound is here !
A word about the new cabinet/room module : it's the best sounding that I've ever heard, just that ! The sound is faithful and the new room module with the 2 mics blending/placement is cooler than cool. It adds that ambience that lot of other amp-sim are lacking. A real improvement in that area.
Well, lot of people may be afraid that a great sounding software with multiple CPU-consuming elements like : stomps + amps + effects chained is going to overload their processor. In fact not really, it depends of your usage, or if you're using it on sessions, or as standalone and so on. In fact, there is so many quality options you can tweak than everyone will be happy in that area. You can chose to oversample everything (amps, stomps, cabs, effects), to enable high quality mode and so on. The easier way being to use the 3 modes on the top of the GUI : HIGH / MID / ECO.
So to sum up all this,
AmpliTube 3 is a
REAL STEP FORWARD in the world of software amp simulations.
And I'm sure a vast majority of you guys will agree with all that when you'll get your hands on it, because I'm like you, always wishing for the best, and that time, it is THE BEST.
So, respect to all the IK teams for the hard work, and most importantly for listening to the customers. Because what we were whinning for, they made it for us.
Like I said earlier, can't wait to see what's going to happen in the near and far future in the modeling area from IK. Way to go guys !
All The Best,
Jay Key
PS : And for your listening pleasure, courtesy of
Dimitar Nalbantov, some video demos :