Amplitube sounds undergained for a lot of models - why?

[machinated]

I’ve wondered this for years, about why some models sound fantastic and respond just like my real amps and yet others are miles off.

Turns out one huge factor that I didn’t realise is some amps in Amplitube need a MASSIVE gain boost compared to others.

I’m talking about upwards of 15dB on a signal that is just tickling 0dBFS. Even then it sounds undergained compared to the real amp, but some amps sound much more like their real counterpart at this point and have a much more useful and sensible preamp gain taper.

I made a video to demonstrate what I mean, there are many other amps models that exhibit this problem.

https://youtu.be/IRBLJobxNCY

[jjguitar]

Very interesting
I always boost with the Diode or with another pedal in front of the amp to get more gain.
It would be very helpful to have a list which amps are undergained.

[ivaliotes44]

Yeah, this is a strange phenomenon. I know it's not the same, but the factory captures in the TONEX pedal varying so spectacularly (to the detriment of usability - tweaking MODELVOL helps some, but doesn't totally fix it) likewise feels like an oversight, but maybe not too hard to fix with an update.

[LuisAngel1980]

I also experienced this, I like a lot Fender amps, so I think I have the right input level for those (but it would be great if someone gives us some exact figure), but when I try other amps like the Brit 8000 I need to lower the gain I use with Fender amps like 16dBs to make it sound ok. I also experienced the same problem with some pedals.

Is there any way we can get a fix that unifies the input level for all models? (or a least a list of input levels expected for each one) I would be happy with just an option in the software to normalize the input in case you want to keep this behavior as the default for legacy compatibility.

I really want to calibrate my system for Amplitube (and Tonex) once and then forget about it. Otherwise exploring new sounds/gear is really unpleasant.

I've seen complains about Amplitube realism, and it is all because a lot of people can't setup their levels properly, once you get it right for a particular model it is awesome.

[ivaliotes44]

Feels like a "you get what you pay for" issue. This is just something they're content to do second rate. Which is a shame, because they have done some excellent work.

[machinated]

I think it’s a combination of a few small things, but generally an assumption that users either wouldn’t understand about this topic or don’t care. There’s also a generally slightly relaxed attitude towards documentation and manuals which could stand to benefit from more effort. The manuals are pretty basic and have countless examples of things like:

“Bass: use this to increase or decrease the amount of bass”

I believe in IK’s tech being really good, but on the whole they need to work on their communication, documentation, user interfaces, consistency between products and maybe a bit more attention in planning (before releasing products).

There are several products with a lot of promise that were rushed out and IK have to adapt and catch-up as they go. Other companies seem to handle this stuff better and are maybe a bit more self critical before a product is launched to the public.

IK’s support are looking into this topic so for the time being I’m excited/hopeful about getting a response. It’s really about the question being directed to the right person if we’re to receive an adequate answer on this