Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
  • Guitars
  • Amps
  • Pedals
  • Drums
  • Synths
  • Software
  • Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Recording
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Live
  • DJ
  • Advice
  • Acoustic
  • Bass
  • About us
  • More
    • Reviews
Magazines
  • Computer Music
  • Electronic Musician
  • Future Music
  • Keyboard Magazine
  • Guitarist
  • Guitar Techniques
  • Total Guitar
  • Bass Player
More
  • How to make an AI cover song
  • 84000+ free music samples
  • Foo Fighters' new drummer
  • Ken Scott on recording The Beatles
  • First EVH Jump synth recording

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Computer Music

10 of the best VST/AU guitar amp/effect modelling plugins in the world today

By Computer Music
published 4 January 2017

Get some tube drive on your hard drive with the world's best virtual rigs

Super models

Super models

The guitar amp is alive and well, but thanks to digital technology, guitarists now have the option to load up a legendary rig on their desktop or right inside their DAW.

And they’re not the only ones who benefit - virtual amp emulations are there to be used and abused by musicians and producers working in any genre. The playing field is wide open, and anybody can put together a killer stack to put the heat into a tune, whatever the genre.

Here, we’ve rounded up 10 of the best guitar amp/effect sims that are currently available for you to buy. Read on to discover how they stack up...

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro
PC/Mac, $149

Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro

This simple package features no manufacturer- endorsed amps or fancy graphics, but the sound is excellent and there’s a selection of tone- tweaking controls and rack processing including chorus, tremolo, reverb, gate and wah-wah.

Read Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro review

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4
PC/Mac, €144

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4

One of the most established packages available, with a vast array of endorsed amps, pedals and cabs complementing home-grown modules. Flexible routing, twin rigs and speaker cone selection give it plenty of sonic flexibility.

Read IK Multimedia AmpliTube 4 Deluxe review

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Positive Grid Bias series
PC/Mac, From $99

Positive Grid Bias series

There are multiple elements to BIAS: Bias Amp simulates amp and cab units, while Bias FX lets you build complex chains of stomboxes, amps and cabs. Bias Pedal, meanwhile, lets you model pedal effects processors at the component level.

Read Positive Grid Bias Professional review

Positive Grid Bias Pedal review

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
Waves GTR3
PC/Mac, $129

Waves GTR3

This bundle comprises several individual plugins - Amps, Stomps and a Tuner - and GTR ToolRack, a host for combining up to six pedals, two amps and the tuner. Overall, there are 30 amps, 25 stomps and 30 cabs, all based on classic units.

Read Waves GTR3 review

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Audified ampLion Pro
PC/Mac, $99

Audified ampLion Pro

This one gives you independent selection of preamp and power amp, output to independent cabinets. An eight-slot pedal board precedes the amp section, and a six-slot effects rack sits after it, just before the cabinets.

Find out more about Audified ampLion Pro

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5 Pro
PC/Mac, £169

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5 Pro

Arranged as a virtual rack interface rather than in an amp, cab and pedalboard configuration, Guitar Rig includes no branded or endorsed components, but it’s a serious contender that sounds great - and can get MIDI CC involved.

Read Native Instruments Guitar Rig 5 Pro review

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Overloud TH3
PC/Mac, €299

Overloud TH3

This highly regarded virtual guitar rig features a scrollable and zoomable drag and drop interface, and endorsed amp models alongside proprietary versions of classic gear (over 203 components). The built in convolver can also import IRs.

Find out more about Overloud TH3

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Softube Vintage Amp Room
PC/Mac, $219

Softube Vintage Amp Room

This plugin covers three classic amp sounds - Fender, Vox and Marshall - with adjustable single mic placement for the cabinet. The sound is very good, but with no pedal board, tone shaping is limited to the amp controls.

Find out more about Softube Vintage Amp Room

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Peavey ReValver 4
$100

Peavey ReValver 4

Peavey’s hardware know how has allowed it to develop an incredibly accomplished processor with highly tweakable amp, cabinet, stomp and rack effect capabilities. Its ‘audio profiling system’ can also transform the sound of your source.

Find out more about Peavey ReValver 4

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Line 6 POD Farm 2.5
$99

Line 6 POD Farm 2.5

The intuitive splitscreen interface offers drag-and-drop rig construction, preset browsing and component editing across either single or dual signal paths. Opt for the Pro package ($299) and you’ll get over 100 guitar and bass amps.

Read Line 6 POD Farm 2 Platinum review

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
Computer Music
Computer Music
Social Links Navigation

Computer Music magazine is the world’s best selling publication dedicated solely to making great music with your Mac or PC computer. Each issue it brings its lucky readers the best in cutting-edge tutorials, need-to-know, expert software reviews and even all the tools you actually need to make great music today, courtesy of our legendary CM Plugin Suite.

More about guitars
Foo Fighters: A colorised image of a Foo Fighters press pic reveals the finish of Grohl's new Epiphone

Is Dave Grohl’s new Epiphone DG-335… Gold?

EarthQuaker Devices Disaster Transport Legacy Reissue

EarthQuaker Devices resurrects the OG Disaster Transport, with the cult classic ‘Delay Modulation Machine’ newly improved with expanded features

Latest
Noel Gallagher

Watch Noel Gallagher use a Fender Strat for High Flying Birds’ “blasphemous” cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart

See more latest ►
Most Popular
Learn 7 of the greatest blues guitar licks of all time

By Leigh Fuge2 June 2023

Orange Amps enters the Bluetooth speaker market with the Orange Box

By Jonathan Horsley2 June 2023

A Jazzmaster 12-string?! Squier steals the limelight from Fender with its new Paranormal Series guitars

By Rob Laing1 June 2023

Arturia’s FX Collection 4 lands with an all-new Leslie speaker plugin and emulations of Korg and Lexicon classics

By Ben Rogerson1 June 2023

Propellerhead’s ReBirth is reborn as a hands-on hardware synth, and it’s all thanks to Look Mum No Computer

By Ben Rogerson1 June 2023

Attica Blues: "This album opened doors for other people. We played our part so the Little Simz of the world could come through"

By Roy Spencer1 June 2023

Issue 397 of Future Music is out now

By Future Music1 June 2023

Karma Police: the story behind the Radiohead classic that started life as a tour bus catchphrase

By Michael Leonard31 May 2023

SSL’s UF1 promises to “set a new standard for single fader DAW controllers”

By Ben Rogerson31 May 2023

Pedalboard tour: how Petter Carlsen from the Norwegian duo Pil & Bue gets his juggernaut guitar tones

By Rob Laing31 May 2023

Akai issues a red alert as it launches the MPC One+, but it might not have all the upgrades you were hoping for

By Ben Rogerson31 May 2023

  1. Nirvana In Utero cover
    1
    Steve Albini recalls the secrecy around the Nirvana In Utero sessions: "I had to do everything I could to keep it under wraps to make sure that we didn’t get overrun by fans and the added nonsense"
  2. 2
    Gryffin: "After I discovered deadmau5, Skrillex and Avicii, I immediately downloaded Ableton Live"
  3. 3
    Jon Hopkins spent 4 months perfecting the synth riff for Open Eye Signal on a 1979 Korg MS-20: “So much effort into trying to make something sound effortless”
  4. 4
    Former 10cc keyboard player Duncan Mackay showing his Yamaha and Roland synths to comedian Mike Reid could be the strangest video you'll watch all week
  5. 5
    Is Dave Grohl’s new Epiphone DG-335… Gold?
  1. Orange Box: The iconic British amp brand enters the Bluetooth speaker market
    1
    Orange Amps enters the Bluetooth speaker market with the Orange Box
  2. 2
    Jon Hopkins spent 4 months perfecting the synth riff for Open Eye Signal on a 1979 Korg MS-20: “So much effort into trying to make something sound effortless”
  3. 3
    Former 10cc keyboard player Duncan Mackay showing his Yamaha and Roland synths to comedian Mike Reid could be the strangest video you'll watch all week
  4. 4
    Watch Noel Gallagher use a Fender Strat for High Flying Birds’ “blasphemous” cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart
  5. 5
    New Van Halen documentary takes us back to the early ‘80s to tell the story of how Eddie built 5150 Studios as the band were coming apart

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.