CHECK YOUR INTERFACE: The next
crucial step in the signal chain is the
audio interface. The quality of its
preamplifier and analog-to-digital
converters can have a substantial
influence over the quality of your amp
sim sounds. Fortunately, these days
even most cheap audio interfaces (and
most integrated soundcards, as well) are
pretty darn good, with very respectable
A-D conversion and clean, quiet,
transparent preamp circuitry. This was
not always the case, however, as the vast
sonic improvements in audio converter
technology have only trickled down
to the low end of the interface market
relatively recently, so if your interface is
old and sketchy, now may be the time to
retire it and get something new. There
are countless fine and affordable options
from Focusrite, Presonus, M-Audio, IK
Multimedia, and many others.
WATCH YOUR LEVELS: Unlike analog gear,
which can often sound (subjectively) better
when hammered with a hot signal level and
spiking transients, digital gear does not
like to have its inputs overloaded. Digital
distortion is an ugly, ugly thing, and there’s
no quicker way to make an amp sim sound
like poop than to clip the converters of your
audio interface with too hot a level. This
means that you must carefully monitor levels
at all steps in the signal chain, keeping gain
modest and keeping an eye and ear out
for transient spikes that may occur when
you play hard. Some interfaces have a soft
limiting feature that can be engaged, which
serves to prevent the odd digital overload
34
TONE TALK //
that can result from aggressive rocking. This
is an excellent feature to take advantage of
when using an amp sim.
“ALL OBSTACLES CAN BE
OVERCOME WITH SOME
ATTENTION TO ONE’S SIGNAL
PATH, AS WELL AS A FEW
SIMPLE WORKAROUNDS...”
USE REAL ANALOG PEDALS AND
PREAMPS: In my own experience, I have
found that using a real, analog pedalboard
or preamplifier, rather than the virtual pedals
found in a lot of amp simulator software,
yields a much better tone and a more
realistic feel. Setting the virtual amp for a
clean or slightly broken-up tone, and then
using analog dirt pedals for gain is often the
way to go with many amp simulators. I have
also found that using an analog preamplifier,
like those made by A/DA and Tech 21, for
example, can similarly improve the overall
amp sim sound and experience, especially
if said preamp has a gentle compression
or tube emulation component to soften
the tone somewhat and smooth out the
transients. Certain amp sims seem to
interact better with real pedals and
preamps than others, but I personally
have had success using this method with
AmpliTube, Guitar Rig, and Softube’s
wonderful Amp Room plugin. Again, keep
an eye and ear on gain staging and levels to
avoid digital clipping.
Amp Simulators: Taking Your Tone to the Next Level