IK Multimedia has upgraded AmpliTube, their guitar and bass effects plug-in for Mac and PC, to version 4. The new version offers an advanced speaker cabinet section, new speaker modelling, five new British amplifiers, a new acoustic simulator pedal, an additional “effects loop” slot between the preamp and power amp sections, a built-in 8-track DAW, a tuner, a looper section, and more.
The new Cab Room feature provides players with a new level of customization and flexibility. The cab room is a 3D speaker cabinet recording space that can be changed depending upon the desired “room” type and effect. Players can choose from a range of room types – from a garage to a dead room – and mix the room effect and color into the overall sound.
In addition, the cab room now has 5 distinct customization sections: There’s the cabinet selection, with size adjustment, where players can choose the speaker cabinet they’d like to match to their amplifier. There’s individual speaker selection where users can swap out individual speakers. There’s mic selection and placement for finding each speaker’s “sweet spot”. There’s room selection where players select the surrounding recording environment. And there’s also a mixer section that lets players mix the levels of their speaker mics, room ambience, direct amp signal and overall main mix. Never before has such a level of control and customization been available for fine-tuning tones from the speaker section.
Musicians can now mike their cabinets with up to two microphones in a full 3D space. With 18 recording microphone models available in AmpliTube Custom Shop, and its swappable speakers, version 4 allows for true cabinet miking with full speaker interaction. Plus, room ambience control, a new mixer for the cab section and new graphics to round out the enhancements.
AmpliTube 4 now provides individual speaker modelling. This lets players swap out individual speakers in their favorite cabinets at will, allowing for creative speaker combinations that utilize the many modelled speakers available. The AmpliTube 4 speaker cabinet section not only accurately reproduces the tonal characteristics of the individual speakers, but it also accurately picks up the harmonic interactions between the individual speaker models, the cabinet construction and the room. AmpliTube 4 comes with 29 individual vintage and modern speaker models ranging from classic British to modern American and everything in between.
AmpliTube 4 welcomes five new classic amplifier models to the mix that represent some of the best British tones from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Each amplifier has been modelled from scratch to embody a different aspect of powerfully classic British amplifier design: There’s the Brit 8000, Brit 9000, Red Pig, Brit Silver and Brit Valve-Pre – each sports its own matching cabinet.
New to the signal path in AmpliTube 4 is an effects “loop” insert slot situated between the preamp and power amp sections that can accommodate up to four daisy-chained rack effects. In addition to the new effects loop, any stomp or rack effect can now be placed into any effects slot. This means that stomp boxes can be used in the post “rack” section and rack effects can be used in any stompbox slot (on any pedalboard or in the effects loop section).
When used in standalone mode, AmpliTube 4 now features a built-in 8-track recorder. Its sequencer-like waveform editing should be immediately familiar to any modern musician, making it easy for anyone to use it as a sketchpad for new ideas or as a full-featured recording solution on its own. Each track features standard treble, mid and bass EQ, pan control, level, mute, solo and record enable functions, plus there’s an FX enable button that allows for the application of different tone configurations to individual tracks.
Rounding out AmpliTube 4’s new feature set is a MIDI-controllable 4-track looper. Dubbed the Super Looper, it’s a full-featured 4-track looper that musicians can use to lay down multi-part backing tracks with speed and ease, and then practise leads, chords and melodies over the top.
AmpliTube 4 comes with the built-in Custom Shop gear store feature that allows guitarists to add gear to their collections any time a-la-carte or in collections. The AmpliTube Custom Shop is the largest collection of virtual gear on the market. Its easily browsable selection of amps, stomps, cabinets and more includes officially certified models from the likes of such legendary greats as Fender, MESA/Boogie, Ampeg, Orange, Soldano, Groove Tubes, Gallien-Krueger, Jet City Amplification, THD and T-Rex, Fulltone, Z.Vex, Carvin, Morley, Wampler Pedals, Dr. Z, ENGL and more. In addition to these brands, there’s also signature gear from artists like Slash and Jimi Hendrix. AmpliTube 4 can also be expanded with legacy gear from previous versions of AmpliTube via the Custom Shop. Owners of previous versions can restore all purchases and gear with the “restore my gear” feature in the Custom Shop. All told, there’s over 290 pieces of professional-grade gear now available for trial and purchase in the AmpliTube Custom Shop! Gear released before AmpliTube 4 can be purchased individually or as bundles in either currency ($ or €) or in Custom Shop Gear Credits.
IK’s AmpliTube 4 is currently available for pre-order at a special limited-time price of $/€99.99 or 100 Gear Credits to everyone (users of AmpliTube 3, AmpliTube CS, AmpliTube collections and new users). AmpliTube 4 will be available in October via the IK online store and select music instrument retailers at a price of $/€149.99 and just 150 Gear Credits from the AmpliTube Custom Shop.
