But that’s the case with most amp simulators. Trying to control breakup from the volume knob on your guitar is less effective.
It’s safe to say I won’t be using them again anytime soon.Ĭoncerns: At full output volume on your guitar, the amps sound and perform very realistically. For simplicities sake, I’ve been getting by with the amp sims in GarageBand for a while now.
You can open any of your amps in JamUp XT or JamUp Pro XT with one easy click and you can record them in GarageBand via the Inter-App Audio option.
I had to make sure I kept the output at or below unity gain, but I was able to add the sparkly cleans of a rolled off Fulltone ’69 germanium fuzz or the sweet echoes of my Catalinbread Belle Epoch to any of the low to mid-gain models with great success.īias also plays nice with other apps. But overwhelming in a good way.Īmazingly, Bias even tolerated effect pedals placed before it in the signal chain, something most amp sims can’t handle. Quite frankly, the options are a little overwhelming. I’m sure the combinations don’t sound exactly like what a real-world amp of the specific parameters might sound like, but it’s awesome to hear the differences between a Top Boost, Blackface, and Bassman preamp circuit or between EL84, E元4, 6L6, and 6V6.Īnd then there is the option of picking between a SM57 or a C414 and then moving said mic around in relation to the speaker cone. The ability to mix and match preamp tubes and topologies, tone stack type, power amp type and tube, transformer, and speakers and cabs is a real ear opener. My favorite “stock” amps were the Hiway 103 Clean, British TB30, Mini Duo Reverb, and British Plexi 50w. What We Like: The amp models alone are worth the price of admission. What I found is that even without digging into Bias and “modding” the heck out of the amps, it’s one of the better iOS amp simulators around. I spent the better part of a week testing Bias with my iPhone 5C, an IK Multimedia iRig and a Griffin StudioConnect, a range of guitars, and even a few effect pedals. It helps if you have a general idea of the building blocks of tube amps and what each section of the circuit does, but a little trial and error never hurt anyone (at least not in the digital realm).
Rather than offering you mere models of a slew of classic amps, Bias allows you to be an amp designer (without learning how to discharge filter caps or even learning how to solder).
Bias picks up where other amp modeling applications leave off. Thanks to the new Bias iPhone application from Positive Grid, you can try these combinations and more. How many times have you wondered what it would sound like to run a Deluxe Reverb through two Celestion Blues or maybe run an AC30 or a Tweed Deluxe into a closed-back 4x12 loaded with Greenbacks? Let’s think bigger – what would happen if you took the preamp from a Top Boost AC30, paired it with the four E元4s and solid state rectifier of a 100-watt Marshall, and then ran it into the 4x10 Tweed Bassman cab?