Vandal Guitar/Bass VST

I am looking to buy a virtual guitar amp. The Vandal philosophy appeals to me. Have any of you guys tried it? I'm also a softube convert after trying the mix bundle, has anyone used their amp modeller? How does it stack up?

In brief: which guitar vst is best?

Thanks for that keith. I'm going to give the scuffham's a go.

Edit: awesome recommendation keith, and the price is right too!

I've demoed it last summer along w/ pretty much every amp sim that was available, except the PC only stuff. 

To me, most of them - including Vandal - are in the same ball park as Amplitube and Guitar Rig, both of which I already had installed (LE versions). No matter what the philosophy behind is, no matter the stories about the 3 years of research, the unique modeling approach, the raving users and the featured artists - in terms of sound, the difference is marginal. Just as with models of classic compressors.

I ended up uninstalling Guitar Rig and all the other demos and sticking w/ Amplitube full - not because it was absolutely better in terms of tones, but because it's the one I felt most comfortable with, relatively speaking. And it was on sale. ;) 

Otherwise, the only ones that sounded different/better to my hears are still Waves GTR and Line 6 Pod Farm. Amp Sims are one of the few things in which I opt for instant gratification. IMHO, the less flexible the amp sim is, the most consistent in terms of sound quality it'll be. GTR is the best example of that. A real amp sounds pretty much as I expect no matter how much I tweak the knobs. That's not the case w/ the majority of the amp sim - in fact, IMHO, it's quite the opposite.

GTR isn't good for everything but it's still my favorite. Pod Farm would probably also be there if they managed to get their act together and fix that bug fest. (EDIT - PodFarm issues seem to affect Mac users, primarily. The PC version seems ok.)

I really like Overloud's TH2                                                                   http://www.overloud.com/products/th2.php

I remember you mentioning Scuffham last summer, but IIRC, it was PC only back then. Seems that there's now a Mac/Audio Unit version. 

I'll have to check these out and report. :)


Edit - Just read that they're using Redwirez impulses for cabinets - that makes for a good start! I use these in conjunction w/ the POD's direct out all the time (well, back home). Probably my favorite combination, short of using a real amp.

How about acmebargig's Shred? It's free and bleeding Ace!

yorolpal


With a couple of exceptions (I like one of the Scuffham amps a lot and GTR does have a "different" sound) I agree with Rain that all the top tier emulators are very usable and not all that different.  It really just comes down to what GUI and operating mode you take to the best.  For me that's Amplitube.  For you it might be something different.  Try em all out and see.

Ol Pal, that Scuffham stuff really isn't bad at all. Seems like one of those plug-ins which provide that instant gratification I mentioned. My little LP Junior just seems to sing... I think I might not need to demo this one for a full 14 days before I buy it. :) Thanks for the heads up (Keith and RBH too, of course).

That's great news backwoods! Isn't it great to find out you were sitting on a gold mine? 

Of note, I've had some issues with the latest driver version for my Toneport DI box and had to revert back to the previous one (which works just fine).....your mileage may vary.

Happy Jammin'