Guitar Amp Simulator reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 185 Reddit reviews across 10 subreddits and 22 posts to rank the best Guitar Amp Simulator brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/Guitar, r/Logic_Studio, r/Reaper, r/audioengineering, r/FL_Studio. Top-rated brands include Neural DSP (4.8/5), AmpliTube (4.2/5), LePou (4.1/5).
Stats
Reviews185
Subreddits10
Posts22
Brands70
Products71
185 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Neural DSP
4.8
(34)
"Plugins have gotten very good, but still none compare to the Axe FX and Quad Cortex."
"Download Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) and some nice IRs."
"Look into Neural Amp Modeler. There are a LOT of extremely good captures of ridiculously expensive boutique amplifiers."
"The Amp Snob in Archetype Cory Wong is incredibly good."
"Another vote for Neural DSP. They sound incredible, are touch sensitive, and cover a really wide range of tones."
"Neural amp modeler is excellent, free, and open source!"
"Like others have said, Neural DSP."
"Neural DSP Cory Wong sometimes wins a practice session over my deluxe reverb and $1000 effects board."
"Neural DSP stuff and IK amplitude are also great."
"I bought 4 or 5 from Neural DSP and I haven’t used anything else since. Neural DSP is doing an amazing job."
#2
AmpliTube
4.2
(12)
"If you like pedals, get Amplitube. Pretty fat collection of pedals, a lot of them are licensed, and it is without a doubt the most fun digital pedalboard out there. And the amps great, too."
"Amplitube is where it's at. My gear never sounded better."
"I like amplitube a lot because it has the best collection of stomps and effects, the best Leslie anywhere, and some of the models like the soldano and egnator are really pretty good."
"I prefer amplitube and th-u, as those actually gives you proper control."
"I like amplitude for fender stuff."
"For free version of paid software amplitude is better."
"You can tinker around with a free version of AmpliTube."
"I use amplitube. It’s free and it’s pretty good but I’ve also been using amped roots for more gain."
"I find I can get tones I like with basically anything. Amplitude, bias, s-gear, revalver, kuassa, kazrog...everything."
"Bias FX and Amplitube work pretty well for me."
#3
LePou
4.1
(10)
"The LePou amps are fantastic and free."
"Lepou is my go to, but I use Nadir's cab sim (lecab crashes a lot for me)"
"Any of the LePou plugins, ignite amps has a ton of good ones too."
"I like the ancient but free amps from LePou. Combined with an IR loader (like LePou's LeCab2), they sound really good."
"Also all of lepou's stuff (google lepou vst)."
"Many people like Le Pou's amp sims."
"Http://lepouplugins.blogspot.co.nz/ Load some impulses into the cab sim and you can come up with just about anything."
"LePou's Legion VST with impulse responses and the TSE 808 Tubescreamer VST by TSE Audio in front of it."
"+1 for LePou plugins! I'd also say that they sound their best with a guitar cabinet impulse after them in the chain."
"Look up LePou plugins if you're into heavy stuff. Great quality, and free!"
#4
Guitar Rig
4.0
(8)
"GR6 is also incredibly powerful, and a lot of artists love it."
"Guitar Rig 7 Pro (There may be a free version)"
"Guitar rig"
"Guitar Rig"
"There's no best. Guitar Rig can certainly handle it."
"I won't buy an expensive Amp because i am simply not aiming to be a professional guitar player."
"Guitar rig has a"
"Guitar Rig is pretty good but I find it has too much high end and not enough 'body' to the sound."
#5
Positive Grid
4.1
(7)
"Bias FX 2 is $59 bucks and has a ton of options and works really well with Reaper."
"I really like Bias from positive grid. the amp matcher is really cool"
"I get solid tones with Bias FX 2 for recording."
"Bias also has plenty of amps."
"+1 for BIAS! Switched from Guitar Rig a year ago and haven't looked back."
"For digital ones the Bias FX or whatever it's called is good."
"I used bias fx for a long time and it's fine, but the amps seem a bit fizzy and the stock impulses are nothing to brag about."
#6
IK Multimedia
4.7
(6)
"I hear Tone X is excellent."
"IK Tone X is the most real “amp” sim that I’ve heard."
"Amplitube 5 Max is my go to."
"Have used Amplitube for years. with great results."
"Amplitude has a gang of free stuff, all the basics you need for free to record."
"Second Amplitube. Have also had good results with Logic's amp designer."
#7
Ignite Amps
4.5
(6)
"The Putney version is all geared to modern high gain."
"The first Tonality: Benson is aimed at almost completely vintage tones."
"Ignite amps. Google them. Grab all their free plugins. Emissary is great."
"Ignite Emissary -metal type guitar sound."
"There's a lot! Look at stuff by ignite amps."
"+1 on Ignite."
#8
Native Instruments
3.7
(7)
"Native instruments guitar rig is pretty good, and the free version offers a lot of options."
"I used to use Guitar Rig, but the built in amp simulators and the pedal board do the trick now."
"GuitarRig is nice. So is Amplitube. I personally really like PodFarm by line6."
"Guitar Rig is very good, but also not subtle at all."
"Make sure you have a line-in port and not just a microphone one."
"Also you could try the free Guitar Rig and Amplitude options."
"I used to use Guitar Rig. Switched to Amplitube and the preset tones seem much more powerful for metal."
#9
Softube
4.3
(6)
"Softube Amp Room is the amp sim for people who know and like corner stone amp heads and cabs and mic, and room mics."
"The Softube Marshall pack is crazy. Pair it with a UAD Apollo HI-Z input and it sounds SUPER close to the real deal."
"Softube Amp Room is top quality"
"Softube Bass Amp Room would be another one that you could check out."
"Softube!!"
"I use Amp Room by Softube, some good sounds but not the best interface and can be laggy."
#10
Line 6
4.6
(5)
"I use Helix Native and guitar rig 6. I personally prefer the Helix because I’m more comfortable with it and it’s more versatile."
"Thousands of people use Line 6 Helix Native with Reaper and have zero issues."
"Line 6 POD farm with all 3 extension packs. Love it and get a great sound."
"Line 6 helix"
"I like Line 6 Helix."
#11
STL
4.8
(4)
"STL tonehub is absolutely worth investing in"
"I could not be happier with STL tones; specifically the Will Putney edition"
"The STL Will Putney suite looks real interesting."
"I demoed the STL Howard Benson plugin and even though I didn't end up buying it, I thought it sounded real good."
#12
Neural Amp Modeler
4.7
(3)
"I own a Neural Quad Cortex and NAM tones literally match it in quality. It's ridiculously powerful for a free plugin."
"Neural Amp Modeler has become a quick favorite of mine. It's open source and free and sounds absolutely incredible."
"A good free option is Neural Amp Modeler but less new user friendly."
#13
Overloud
4.7
(3)
"I use Overloud TH-U every day. Awesome clean and high-gain sounds."
"Overloud TH-U has a billion options and sounds great."
"I like Overloud TH-U + the NeuralDSP stuff."
#14
Logic
4.0
(3)
"I use primarily the stock Logic plugins. With tweaking and time you can get great sounds out of them."
"For clean tones you can get a pretty good one through logic stock plugins without having to even use Amp Designer."
"Honestly, the stock Logic amps are pretty good."
#15
Resonant DSP
5.0
(2)
"The free version of Swanky Amp is amazing for low gain, ambient, and edge of break up and often overlooked."
"Swanky amp is my new favorite"
#16
TONEX
5.0
(2)
"Haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but TONEX is fantastic"
"I think tonex is the best. The free version would be fine for most people."
#17
NaLeX
5.0
(2)
"NaLeX has rocked my socks, I wish the controls on the amp face offered a little more range but there's so many amp models it hardly matters."
"I think nalex is probably the best quality free set right now."
#18
Fractal Audio
5.0
(2)
"Plugins have gotten very good, but still none compare to the Axe FX and Quad Cortex."
"Axe FX"
#19
Orange
5.0
(2)
"2nd the Marshall/Orange combo."
"Try mixing orange/marshall. I usually get sweet tones of of that combo."
#20
STL Tones
5.0
(2)
"I’ve used STL Tones Emissary with the NadIR impulse loaders for years. The amp sim is good enough to tweak for most tones."
"The Emissary amp with God's Cab can literally be all you need for guitar. It's actually great for cleans as well."
#21
Amplitube
4.5
(2)
"Amplitube 5 - you can get the max version for £200 at the moment I think which basically gives you over hundred amps and 100 pedals. It’s awesome."
"Amplitube 5 works pretty fine for me but I haven't tried any other sim so not sure if it's the best"
#22
Nick Crow
4.5
(2)
"The Nick Crow Wagner Sharp preamp + Ignite Amps TPA-1 + Nadir 2.0 and Seacow Cabs FREE impulses create a REAL good sounding rig."
"Nick Crowe lab has some nice ones."
#23
Clairvoyant
4.5
(2)
"Upvote for Clairvoyant amp suite. It is absolutely killer."
"For just Metal and cheaper Modern Metal Songwriter - Clairvoyant Amp Suite"
#24
ML Amped
4.0
(2)
"Amped Roots has a free EVH 5150 EL34 sim."
"ML Amped's Roots or Stevie T amps -- both free, fantastic amp sims that also run as stand-alones."
#25
Voxengo
4.0
(2)
"I use Voxengo Boogex (free) a lot."
"Take a look at Voxengo Boogex"
#26
Peavey ReValver
4.0
(2)
"Peavey revalver also comes with a free amp/cab."
"Personally I've found Peavy Revalver to be the best."
#27
Scuffham Amps
4.0
(2)
"My favorite out of all of them has been S-Gear though I’m not sure if it gets updated that much anymore."
"You might try SGear from scuffhamamps.com. It's pretty cheap and has just a few models and cabs but what it has are solid."
#28
Genome
4.0
(2)
"For $79, Genome delivers so much."
"I got Genome as a bonus freebie when I bought the Opus. I use it all the time now- really good sims, IRs, and fx."
#29
Hardcore
3.5
(2)
"Hardcore is good, you can use cab IR from Convolver."
"Hardcore isn't terrible"
#30
Rednef
5.0
(1)
"Rednef twin is my favourite amp sim. It's just a got such great sound."
#31
Two Notes Audio Engineering
5.0
(1)
"Two Notes Audio Engineering - Torpedo Wall Of Sound. great cabinet simulator, with power amp option."
#32
ToneKing
5.0
(1)
"Also shouting out the Morgan Amp Suite and ToneKing simulators (by them as well). Gorgeous edge of breakup tones."
#33
Plugin Alliance
5.0
(1)
"Plugin Alliance has some pretty good amp sims. Lately I've been enjoying the Ampeg SVT VR and B15N."
#34
Marshall
5.0
(1)
"2nd the Marshall/Orange combo."
#35
Morgan Amp Suite
5.0
(1)
"Also shouting out the Morgan Amp Suite and ToneKing simulators (by them as well). Gorgeous edge of breakup tones."
#36
Atomic
5.0
(1)
"I use an atomic amplifire and really like it."
#37
Kali
5.0
(1)
"Kali LP6 is one I'd recommend."
#38
Nick Crow Labs
4.0
(1)
"Nick Crow labs."
#39
TSE Audio
4.0
(1)
"TSE Audio."
#40
Plektron
4.0
(1)
"Plektron."
#41
SimulAnalog Guitar Suite
4.0
(1)
"SimulAnalog Guitar suite."
#42
NadIR
4.0
(1)
"You also need a cab simulator, I use nadIR."
#43
Raven
4.0
(1)
"From non-native try Raven Volcanic and ToneLib"
#44
Amped
4.0
(1)
"If you want free, 'Amped - Stevie T' is very good"
#45
Nux
4.0
(1)
"Get a nux solid Studio which will give you power tube sound and speaker cab IRS."
#46
Peavey
4.0
(1)
"Peavy Revalver has killer crunch tones. It's just ok for clean stuff, but it's the only computer distortion I use."
#47
Darkglass
4.0
(1)
"I'm so torn between it and the Parallax. Everyone uses Darkglass or Parallax tho."
#48
Universal Audio
4.0
(1)
"I really like Universal Audio’s Oxbox for tracking guitar."
#49
Strymon
4.0
(1)
"Strymon Iridium is a pretty solid option as an “amp in a box” pedal."
#50
Boss
4.0
(1)
"I’m liking my Boss IR-2. Especially after adding York IRs."
#51
Waves
4.0
(1)
"Waves GTR or the PRS bundle might also be a good fit."
#52
PRS
4.0
(1)
"Waves GTR or the PRS bundle might also be a good fit."
#53
Mixwave
4.0
(1)
"I like the mixwave amps"
#54
TSM
4.0
(1)
"The TSM amps are great."
#55
Audio Assault
4.0
(1)
"I like Audio Assault amp and pedal simulations."
#56
Otto Audio
4.0
(1)
"11 11 11 11 by Otto Audio sounds great for heavy guitar!"
#57
ToneLib
4.0
(1)
"From non-native try Raven Volcanic and ToneLib"
#58
Amperage
4.0
(1)
"Amperage"
#59
Mesa Boogie
4.0
(1)
"I also like blending the Mesa and Carvin amps for moderate to high gain stuff."
#60
Carvin
4.0
(1)
"I also like blending the Mesa and Carvin amps for moderate to high gain stuff."
#61
Fender
4.0
(1)
"For low or moderate gain sounds, I like any of the Fender and Vox simulations."
#62
Vox
4.0
(1)
"For low or moderate gain sounds, I like any of the Fender and Vox simulations."
#63
Seacow Cabs
4.0
(1)
"Consider checking out Seacow Cabs."
#64
AMT
4.0
(1)
"AMT make amp pedals. The clean amps models are Fender or Vox."
#65
Mooer
4.0
(1)
"Mooer makes their Micro Preamps. Any amp sound you could ever want."
#66
Black Rooster
4.0
(1)
"Black rooster Cypress TT-15 -kind of like an orange amp."
#67
Kuassa
4.0
(1)
"Kuassa Amplifikation Matchlock for Classic Fender Tone."
#68
Joyo
4.0
(1)
"Joyo makes some great clones of the Tech 21 pedals."
#69
Bias FX
4.0
(1)
"Bias FX and Amplitube work pretty well for me."
#70
Distractor
3.0
(1)
"I think there is also a FL plugin called Distractor, it has distortion and cab sim"
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