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IK Multimedia Amplitube Fender Edition Summary: Modeling 12 of the most famous Fender Amps, Amplitube Fender is pretty amazing. It’s scary how close to the real thing this software gets! Pros: Super-easy to install, and super-convenient to use in your DAW software. The package comes with TONS of presets that require very little tweaking. Cons: This is just a little nit because it sounds so good, and I don’t want to take that away from this excellent piece of software. But it doesn’t quite respond like a real amp. Price: $229 Full Version / $139 Studio Version Specs (from the IK Multimedia site):
Tone Bone Rating: 4.75 overall, but for a recording plug-in, it gets a 5.0 |
Being a snobbish purist about “real” gear, 🙂 I’m not easily impressed by emulation software. But when I heard clips of the Fender Edition of Amplitube, I knew I had to check this software out. A million thanks go to the folks at IK Multimedia to letting me evaluate this software because I am definitely impressed by Amplitube Fender! It’s not everyday that you have access to 12 awesome Fender amps, and to have them literally a mouse-click away is just insane! I don’t think amp software will ever replace a real amp, but this software comes so close to sounding like the real thing that especially for recording, I’d be hard-pressed to NOT use it for recording lots of guitar parts!
I used an earlier version of AmpliTube a few years ago, and was not at all impressed by how it sounded. But being in the software development world, with time, software gets better, and I have to say that this software is absolutely incredible!
Now and then, I go off for a weekend alone, and I lug a couple of guitars, a couple of mics, an amp or two, and my MacBook, along with my MBox 2 interface to just do some writing and recording. With Amplitube Fender, I don’t need to lug my amps! I can just load my laptop and MBox an a couple of cords and a mic, and I’m home free! Hey! Not having to lug any extra gear is HUGE! I’m sold on using this software! Not only do I have my four real amps, I now have 12 other amps to choose from when I record! It’s really exciting!
How It Sounds
Imagine that! No need to write a section on fit and finish! 🙂
In a word, it sounds AWESOME! Right after I installed the software, I plugged my Strat into the DI jack of my MBox 2, opened up GarageBand, started a new project, added a new track, and selected “Amplitube Fender” from a plug-in drop down. It was literally that easy! I randomly picked a ’57 Deluxe Dual Mic, then started to strum this little ditty in Am. Before I knew it, I was adding drum and bass tracks, to record the riff.
I’ve played through a ’57 Deluxe in the past, and I was amazed at how the software emulated that warm, bright and crisp sound that that amp is known for! I kept on thinking to myself, “This couldn’t be software – it sounds to friggin’ good!” After I recorded that rhythm track, I took out the Goldtop to play a lead. I ended up playing for over an hour this evening just tooling around with different amps. In the end, I wanted to get a sample out, so I chose a ’59 Bassman with a Fender Fuzz-Wah plug-in to get some fuzz, then recorded the following sound bite:
I don’t know about you, but I really can’t tell the difference between the real thing and software. Maybe because I’m starting to lose my hearing and my ability to discern audio fidelity is kind of going south. No matter, I think this software ROCKS!
Overall Impressions
Amplitube Fender does a fantastic job of amp emulation – there’s no arguing that at all. But there’s a certain “mojo” about a real amp that just can’t be captured with software, no matter how close to the real thing that software sounds. That said, however, even one as snobbish as myself, and other gear freaks I know would be hard-pressed not to seriously consider adding this to their arsenal of recording plug-ins!
Guitar Gear 
Great review. I remember hearing about this software around Winter NAMM 2009 and hearing a lot good buzz about the quality of the modeling.
One question I had was the difference between the Full version and the Studio – given the $90 price difference was just wondering what might be different between the two packages?
Thanks! Studio seems to be a pared down version of the software, but it also includes the “StealthPlug,” which is a USB interface into your computer, so you don’t need to have a dedicated DAW interface. You can just plug your guitar directly into your computer via USB. Pretty cool! The StealthPlug alone costs around $100 by itself, so the studio package is a nice value if you don’t want to have all the amp models.
But that said, having the full package does have its advantages because there are TONS of presets.
Be aware that only E-mail support is available . No phone or chat support. Not even for new user installation problems.
The Stealtghplug driver would not load. Eventually tech support sent me an interim 64 bit driver that was not fully functional and contained bugs. For example, it does not include the Stealthplug control panel. I could not get the Amplitube software to configure with the Stealthplug. The settings would not keep my Stealthplug settings.
I tried all day to get tech support to assist me with a loud hissing noise in the background. So far, no response.
I called IK’s Florida office for live tech support. That’s when I learned that phone support is no longer available. Nor is chat support available.
I called IK several times, hoping to contact a live person. I tried multiple extensions. Each time, a voice mail told me I have reached the accounting department “Please leave a message”. It seems the company consists of several accountants and perhaps only one overworked tech.
Jim, sorry to hear about this. I’ve used IK support a few times, and haven’t had an issue, nor have I needed more than the e-mail support. But I can totally empathize with you about not being able to chat with a live person.
IK is not the only company to discourage phone support. My son has been trying to get through to someone at Adobe software for several days to no avail. It’s incredibly frustrating for him. He spent over 2 hours on hold before he finally gave up.
wow I have the same hissing problem and the ik tech told me it is normal……my shitty line in port on my macbook has better sound quality than the pedal…
[…] those computer-based DAW jockeys, you know about IK Multimedia’s Amplitube software. I recently wrote a review of Amplitube Fender Edition, and loved it. Now I have an even bigger reason to love it, and that’s IK Multimedia’s […]
[…] as of late, and so far, I’ve been nothing short of impressed with what I’ve evaluated. I totally dug AmpliTube Fender, and the StealthPedal blew me away with its high-fidelity signal processing. So it was with great […]
[…] as of late, and so far, I’ve been nothing short of impressed with what I’ve evaluated. I totally dug AmpliTube Fender, and the StealthPedal blew me away with its high-fidelity signal processing. So it was with great […]
My Vista laptop would not read the installation disk, but I was able to pass the content through from another machine using Bluetooth file transfer. The documentation is not so good, but not out of line with similar docs from dedicated software houses.
The installation is not really any different from any other insall on a Windows based machine, and I see little that IK could do that your local geek squad, or equivalent could do.
I do not think that IK Multimedia is that understaffed, unless the software is completely outsourced. There is a lot of tech savvy in that product, hardware, firmware, software…it is very complex, really.
The hiss is probably just normal noise. You don’t really hear that on a “real amp”, and you can usually eliminate it using the Noise Gate.
This product is outstanding, in my opinion. (I have yet to explore even half of its potential; you just want to play it all the time!)