AmpliTube was one of the original modelling plugins. Now in its 5th incarnation, it has yet another full-scale update. IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 MAX comes bundled with over 400 gear models, including a virtual collection of meticulously rendered models of some of the most coveted gear on the planet. Production Expert's Mark Thompson takes a look AmpliTube 5 MAX and gives his conclusion.

When the review licence for the latest incarnation of IK Multimedia’s Amplitube landed in my inbox, I scrolled all the way down through my IK User Account to check when it actually was that I’d started using this innovative amp modelling software. I took delivery of the box that contained the first ever version on CD and the bright red USB dongle that authorised it back in July 2003. For the rest of that summer, and indeed since, not one of our band’s recordings would feature a mic’d guitar amp: it was all in-the-box from then on. Being able to choose from and record through that array of amps without having to shell out for the real thing was nothing short of wizardry.

Five years later, the manufacturers of some of the emulated amps and pedals started coming on board with the release of Amplitube X-Gear. Ampeg and Fender were first out of the gate, whilst the Jimi Hendrix collection was the first foray into official artist collaborations, and it hasn’t stopped since with a bountiful number of brands and guitarists alike endorsing official emulations of their most sought-after hardware. The few remaining “unofficial” models included are easily identifiable by their looks as much as their sound.

Nearly two decades on from that genuinely pivotal moment, and having personally tried pretty much every contender in the now over-saturated market, it’s time to see and hear what IK Multimedia bring to this crowded amp sim table with version 5: according to them an all new, built from the ground up, 2.5GB behemoth ready to stomp(box) all over the competition. So does it?

In a word, yes. It’s gorgeous.

The new freely resizable interface is easy on the eye and easy to navigate. The quality of each of the models (which includes amps, pedals, rack modules, cabinets, rooms and outboard units) is outstanding and, depending on which of the four available versions you go for, there’s just an insane amount of gear to choose from all immediately accessible from within the newly redesigned Custom Shop panel. Top-end gear that you can chain any which way you like and put in virtually any recording environment you like. You can stick your amp in a graffitied subway tunnel if that’s your thing, or for the more conservative of us there’s a superlative studio live room complete with a Clapton/Mayer/Lukather/everyone-these-days carpet under your feet.

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 Max In Use

So where do you start with such wonders? Normally you’d just plug in your axe and begin scrolling through the hundreds of included presets with knowing names (Sultans of Clean! Cliffs of Eric! There’s even the very subtly named Comfortably Gilmour Solo patch included here) and start jamming along to your favourite numbers. You can either do that and get lost for hours in all the fun and fireworks it has to offer, or you can do what I tend to do with new amp sims to test their capabilities: build your own rig from scratch and see if it holds up, sonically speaking.

When I say building your own rig, I genuinely mean YOUR rig. In my case, my “real” live rig consists of a Fender 65 Twin Reverb, a bunch of pedals old and new, and a rack reverb. This was all easily recreated in Amplitube 5 in just minutes with its new drag & drop function, but before I could save my work I hit my first snag. If you accidentally click on a model in the Custom Shop panel on the right-hand side of the app whilst browsing, it will instantly replace whatever you had previously selected in your rig. This is localised to model type thankfully: you can’t accidentally swap out an amp head for a flange or the stereo enhancer for instance. Annoyingly, the standard Undo command doesn’t help you here and once you return the correct model to its rightful place in your signal chain, it won’t recall the settings you’d previously dialled in. In fact, I’m yet to find a function in Amplitube that the Undo command actually undoes. Speaking of individual model settings… there are none. Zilch. Nada. There are no presets for any stomp boxes or amp heads or rack modules or master effects units. The user is only provided with complete rig patches. Whilst this is no issue for those confident in dialling in their tones from scratch, it makes it a little laborious to quickly throw in a delay pedal and simply select a slap back. You can, of course, save your own settings for each model for future use.

Once set-up (and saved), the quality of the emulations proved to be some of the best I’ve yet to hear. The cabinet and speaker impulse response processing (featuring IK’s new VIR Tech) is on point. I swapped in some other Twin cab IRs from various sources using Amplitube’s fully featured (and very slick) custom IR loader, but to my ear the few I tried sounded not as good or true to the amp as the in-house one did.

It is still, sadly, impossible to integrate 3rd party software models or even hardware pedals into the signal chain unless it’s in a separate plugin insert before an instance of Amplitube. Also missing from the pedal models is a compressor that features a mix knob.

Amazingly, despite its install size and sheer quality, Amplitube 5 gave me a very small amount of latency when running in Pro Tools (delay compensation reported a 7ms delay running the session at a buffer size of 128) and barely registered in my System Usage window even when using multiple models within one patch.

Endless Possibilities With IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 Max

As mentioned, the number of models available in Amplitube 5 MAX is vast. There will undoubtedly be more than enough tools in the box for any recording guitarist or bassist, but its capabilities don’t end there. The slew of outboard kit included can be utilised on any manner of instruments or vocals. From the Neve EQ and the LA2a and Fairchild compressors to the exceptional Leslie amps and cabs, you will find a use for the models included in any session, regardless of instrumentation.

The standalone version of Amplitube has some extra features not found when using it in your DAW such as the built in 8-track recorder, looper, phrase trainer and a live performance mode if you’re ever brave enough to use a laptop at a gig.

Pros

• Sound quality

• Intuitive user interface

• Integrated Custom Shop

• Light on CPU usage

• Seemingly endless automation possibilities

• Fair pricing & upgrade options

Cons

• No proper undo function

• No way to send multiple outs to your DAW

• No mix knob on any included compressors

• No individual model presets included

Final Thoughts

Whether you own a previous copy of Amplitube or are brand new to the world of amp simulation, I thoroughly recommend getting your hands on this latest one. More so considering that entry is completely free with Amplitube CS which showcases a relatively small selection of models but is fully upgradable at any time through the Custom Shop. This is also the case with the two versions (Amplitube SE and Amplitube) between CS and MAX. In a word, brilliant.

The base version IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 costs €149.99, currently on offer for €99.99. The version I’m using here - IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 Max is €399.99, currently on offer for €299.99. For full details and to download a trial, head over to IK Multimedia website.