Feature-rich modeling software adds 129 gear models, impressive new cab sim technology and much, much more
IK Multimedia has been making waves with the release of the new AmpliTube 5, which comes five years after the launch of the effects and amp modeling software’s fourth iteration and boasts big leaps in gear, features and flexibility.
Which is saying a lot, given how much big an impact AmpliTube has had on the modeling software world since it first arrived on the market.
“I think AmpliTube was the very first amp sim software I ever saw,” says guitar ace and YouTuber Ryan “Fluff” Bruce. “I’m pretty sure the original was something me and all my friends used to talk about like, ‘Wait – they’ve got amp sounds on a computer? That’s nuts.’ ”
Even taking into account how revolutionary a product AmpliTube has always been, IK has outdone itself with the fifth iteration.
Among many other features, AmpliTube 5 adds in 129 new gear models, improved power amp/speaker cab interaction and a redesigned cabinet section with new VIR (Volumetric Impulse Response) technology.
(Image credit: IK Multimedia)
“IK has reinvented the wheel here as far as how the tones are captured,” Bruce says, adding, “I think this is the best-sounding AmpliTube I have ever heard. It really does sound and feel incredible. And I think a huge part of that can be attributed to IK’s VIR technology they use when recapturing over 100 new cabinets.”
In addition to the new impulse technology, Bruce continues, “you’re also going to get 19 mixing effects derived from the T-RackS mixing effects suite, a mixer for combining amps, cabs and DI signals and a fully redesigned interface, 19 rack effects and a bunch of amp models. And it’s all new and all redone.”
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But enough talk – what Bruce is truly here for is to demonstrate those “incredible” sounds.
“My goal was to take a Rectifier tone, which is notoriously difficult to recreate in the amp sim world because there’s a lot of nuance to the rectifier circuit,” Bruce says of how he approached the demo.
Amazingly, he nails the tone immediately, “with no external effects or post-processing,” he points out.
Bruce then drills down into the nuts and bolts of how he went about crafting his guitar sound, and demonstrates several additional iconic amp tones to boot, matching amps, cabinets and effects with ease.
What’s more, he adds, “I have just barely scratched the surface of what AmpliTube 5 has to offer. How cool is that?”
Very cool, indeed.
For more information on the very cool AmpliTube 5, head to IK Multimedia.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
