Maybe my all time favorite low volume play-at-home rig

[Jim Soloway]

I've got a bunch of gear sitting in the corner of my office but this is what I always seem to play through these days. A Universal Audio Volt 2 interface into my Windows computer running the Scuffham S-Gear desktop app with a pair of Genelec 8010A monitors. The S-Gear software provides the amp, reverb, delay, trem (on one of the models), and modulation effects (which I rarely use). The Genelecs (my newest acquisition) make it all sound incredibly wonderful. The system has no projection beyond my office chair but playing in that chair it sounds inspirational and for those times when I want to let my wife sleep, there's a set of Sennheiser headphones. For playing at home at low volume, this is is a tough rig to top.

[wzpgsr]

I've got a bunch of gear sitting in the corner of my office but this is what I always seem to play through these days. A Universal Audio Volt 2 interface into my Windows computer running the Scuffham S-Gear desktop app with a pair of Genelec 8010A monitors. The S-Gear software provides the amp, reverb, delay, trem (on one of the models), and modulation effects (which I rarely use). The Genelecs (my newest acquisition) make it all sound incredibly wonderful. The system has no projection beyond my office chair but playing in that chair it sounds inspirational and for those times when I want to let my wife sleep, there's a set of Sennheiser headphones. For playing at home at low volume, this is is a tough rig to top.

I think there's a relatively recent update that has introduced a drive pedal and compressor.

[Jim Soloway]

I think there's a relatively recent update that has introduced a drive pedal and compressor.

I have that update. They've also added a pedal board but I never use either a compressor or a drive pedal when I'm playing and there are no other pedals yet so I don't really think about that. If they really wanted to make me happy, they'd make a pedal or rack version of the tremolo that's built into the Wayfarer model. I use that a lot and it's a beautiful tremolo. I'd love to use it with their Tweed model.

[Bflat233]

Jim -

Can you record with this app?

[Jim Soloway]

Jim -

Can you record with this app?

Absolutely and it's how I've recorded everything I've done over the last year.

S-Gear includes two primary pieces of software: a desktop app and a VST plugin. The way I work is with both of them. When I'm recording, I mute the track I'm recording to and what I'm hearing is the desktop app (with zero latency). That way, it sounds and feels right to me as I'm playing but what is being recorded to the track is just the guitar being recorded direct with no amp or effects at all. The desktop app has no effect on the recording at all. I then add the plugin to the track. It has the exact same user interface as the desktop app and uses the same presets. Like all plugins, it is non-destructive (i.e. it makes no change to what's actually on the track). That means you can experiment endlessly without changing the actual recording, trying different amps, speakers, mics, effects and different settings. It can feel a little confusing at first but you get into a rhythm pretty quickly.

[GuyBoden]

I think the main two components are a good audio interface and decent pair of speakers.

[Jim Soloway]

I think the main two components are a good audio interface and decent pair of speakers.

Agreed. I added this interface a year ago and it made a huge difference. The Genelecs are a brand new addition for me and the difference they made is remarkable. I had balked for a long time at spending this much on small monitors but now that I have, I understand how much of a mistake I was making by using budget monitors.

[pingu]

Hi Jim ,

How good does the direct recording
sound with no plugins applied at all

I’d be interested to hear that ….
(to hear how much work the plugins
are doing)

[Jim Soloway]

Hi Jim ,

How good does the direct recording
sound with no plugins applied at all

I’d be interested to hear that ….
(to hear how much work the plugins
are doing)

Here you go. I recorded an 18 second passage and copied it onto three tracks running end to end. The first 18 seconds is raw. The next 18 seconds is the Tweed model and the final 18 seconds is the Blackface model. There is nothing other than the S-Gear amp modelling (including reverb modelling on the tweed and verb and trem on the Blackface) on the second and third iterations.

[pingu]

thanks Jim
that’s very illuminating

[jorgemg1984]

I never tried S-Gear, but really like both Helix Native and Overloud TH-U - but they're not cheap. One thing that's worth investing on a digital rig, but it can be tiring and time consuming, is good Impulse Responses.

Good luck with your quest, I haven't used an amp in years!

[Bluedawg]

I just started dabbling with Amplitude 5 and the Cakewalk DAW with a Focusrite interface.

Latency seems to be the biggest issue the last time I tried it, but I'll keep working to see if I can fix that.

The first time I got it working I don't remember the latency being as bad, maybe I had less stuff running on my PC at the time.

[Jim Soloway]

I just started dabbling with Amplitude 5 and the Cakewalk DAW with a Focusrite interface.

Latency seems to be the biggest issue the last time I tried it, but I'll keep working to see if I can fix that.

The first time I got it working I don't remember the latency being as bad, maybe I had less stuff running on my PC at the time.

Assuming that Amplitude has both a desktop app and a vst plugin, the the way I address latency is to monitor the desktop app with the recording track muted. With S-gear, the desktop app has zero apparent latency so it's perectly synched to the unarmed tracks.

[Cordalis]

Thanks Jim for “spreading the word”. I use the same set configuration on Cakewalk. S-Gear is a wonderful piece of software with endless possibilities and extremely useful for practicing and home recording.

Mike is very committed on developing the product and on the last years he has provided nice and free upgrades to the users. It’s a fine product and very affordable. For some people maybe it’s puzzling to tweak but the presets and the preset sharing avoids that trouble.

I have not any kind of affiliation with Scuffham amps, just testifying.

[Bluedawg]

S-Gear looks nice, but I don't see any bass amps in the manual.

Hmmm

[Jim Soloway]

S-Gear looks nice, but I don't see any bass amps in the manual.

Hmmm

No. It has probably the narrowest offering of any of the well known amp plugins but it does clean tones for guitar really well.

[Bluedawg]

Lowering the buffer size for the Focusrite's ASIO driver helps with the latency. I'll have to see how low I can go before it causes other problems. I would prefer to not buy a new computer for this.

I spend most of my time playing bass lately. Something that handles bass and guitar would be optimum for me.

The free Amplitude bass amp sounds pretty good. I'll have to try some guitar rigs as well. If those sound good, I may buy the full version.

I would prefer to play guitar, but at least the gigs pay enough for me to avoid raiding my bank account for pocket money. We've already made enough this year to require the dreaded 1099 form for this year's US federal taxes.

[chris32895]

What kinda guitar you usually playing through this?

[rpjazzguitar]

I use a focusrite 2i2 and Reaper. If I get the settings right, there is no noticeable latency (if any). But it can be tricky to get the settings right. Every now and then I get something set wrong and I have to fiddle around until I figure it out and then I can't remember what I did.

One thing I do remember, is that you don't have to adjust a latency slider or guess milliseconds of delay, or anything like that. It's just virtual switch settings and maybe the hardware switch on the 2i2. Reaper figures out how to compensate for the delay and it's completely transparent.

[Jim Soloway]

What kinda guitar you usually playing through this?

I mostly play solid bodies and thinline semi-hollows no matter what amp I'm playing through. Lately I've been playing a Fender Mustang with a Lindy Fralin hum cancelling P90.