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Interface

Apart from the routing selection, the rest of the user interface is so intuitive that we didn’t need to look at the manual at all – operation really is that easy. One big surprise, however, is that there is no direct MIDI control or automation. Instead, all responsibility for remote control of parameters is handed over to your host sequencer.

It’s difficult to judge whether this was a good design decision or not. On the one hand, it does eliminate the potential confusion that’s undoubtedly caused by having two independent yet parallel mechanisms for controlling VST parameters. On the other hand, though, it doesn’t facilitate the delightfully simple ‘click-and-learn’ assignment system that we’re getting used to seeing on other products. Let’s hope that your host sequencer has adequate remote control mapping facilities, then!

IK Multimedia have clearly spent a long time researching the needs of professional guitarists when developing AmpliTube 2; there really isn’t much to complain about here at all. Some of the presets seemed a bit top-heavy with our Strat, but then it’s only natural to expect that they’ll need a certain amount of tweaking in order to suit any particular guitar, since all guitars are, of course, different. On the subject of presets, once again IK Multimedia have resisted the temptation to fill the library with gimmicky, high-impact presets, and instead have supplied a well-chosen selection of genuinely useful tones. Whilst AmpliTube 2 is very straightforward to use, it’s nonetheless a real bonus that a large library of realistic guitar tones has been supplied as a starting point.

The overall experience of using AmpliTube 2 is a very positive one. It doesn’t create tones quite as extreme as the likes of Guitar Rig 2, but for bread-and-butter, classic guitar sounds, AmpliTube 2 definitely has the edge in terms of authenticity. Most importantly, though, the supreme ease-of-use, and complete absence of any confusion during operation deserves a very big thumbs up; anything that makes computer technology easier for guitarists has to be a winner in our books!