You will have to have a system that can maintain latency in the 2 to 3'ish ms range so that you can monitor through the DAW, since you don't really have any other option when you use an amp sim. So you may need to freeze some other stuff (other soft synths or drum synths and such) if your system cannot get that low with those things active. So, for instance, if you are using a firewire or USB audio card, you may be pushing it a bit on latency for this type of setup, since they will have 1.5 or 2'ish ms more latency than a PCI based card, which kinds of eats up a lot of your allotment already, before you include the DAW latency.
You may want to consider getting a tube based pre-amp/DI box, so that you get a real tube component to the signal that you record to disc, and then you feed that through the amp sim. It adds to the realism of the sound.
BTW, I should say that, that you can teak to your heart's content after the fact, it's not a completely free ride. There is much to the sound of the guitar/bass that comes from pickup selection, pre-amp tube drive levels and lo/hi-z settings, where you pick (neck to bridge), what kind of pick you use, etc... Those things you still only get one shot at, and to change them you must re-track the part. But it still is hugely flexible.
Some people will prefer a POD I'm sure. I sold my POD and bought Amplitube2/Ampeg, and I've been quite happy with that choice so far. But I'm really just how starting to really learn them enough to find the tones I want. It's like having a whole room full of amps and pedals and microphones and cabinets, and as you'd imagine you'd spend a lot of time learning all those things if you suddenly got them, whcih ones to use in what situations and what settings and combinations.
post edited by droddey - 2007/11/29 14:46:34