MusicRadar

AmpliTube 3 adds models from the Metal and Hendrix editions of the software.

View in gallery

• Related News
• Review

The AmpliTube series of amp modelling software launched back in 2002 and became an immediate success due to its solid tone backed up by a wide array of amps, cabs and effects, decent routing and slick graphics. We've since seen v2 and various 'spin-offs', such as the Ampeg SVX bass amp, Jimi Hendrix, Metal and Fender packages, and the X-Gear 'shell'.

AmpliTube 3 builds on this success, combining an overhaul of existing features with the introduction of many new ones. On the technical side, modelling techniques first seen in last year's AmpliTube Fender are present, these being IK's third-generation Dynamic Saturation Modelling and Volumetric Response Modelling (used for rotary speaker effects).

All existing AmpliTube 2 models are present in v3, but they've been reworked to improve efficiency and dynamic response. There are new models in v3 (amps, cabs, pedals and effects), including some from Metal and Jimi Hendrix, so you're now looking at over 160 modelled elements in total.

In detail

The cabinet and miking section has received a substantial upgrade in terms of both choice and flexibility and both pedal and rack sections now thankfully include drag/drop and copy/paste functionality. Routing-wise, AT3 can now operate in full stereo mode, making it useful for general effects processing of non-guitar signals.

Meanwhile, in standalone mode there's an expanded four-track recorder with track-independent timestretch, which serves as an excellent tool for learning parts. The greatest functional improvements in AT3 have been drafted from X-Gear.

You can assign custom automation and MIDI CCs (up to 16 of each) using the context-sensitive menus or MIDI/Auto pages, plus there's built-in support for IK's StompIO and StealthPedal (of course, the forthcoming StealthBoard will also be fully supported).

AT3 can access the modules of all other AmpliTube products that you own, too. They appear in categorised menus, effectively doing away with the need for X-Gear. It also prepares for the imminent arrival of model 'singles' (ie, amps, effects, etc, sold on an individual basis).

Modules

One of AmpliTube's big selling points has always been its variety of modules. New amps based on Orange, Mesa/Boogie and even bass designs, such as Trace Elliot and Gallien-Krueger, spread the net wider still, so you now have 31 amps in all.

The pedals have also multiplied (now 51 in total), and to give you some idea of the breadth of selection, there are four types of wah wah, seven fuzz pedals and 11 distortions. New for the rack are the Step Filter, Step Slicer and Tap Delay.