VINTAGE AMP ROOM USER'S GUIDE TDM/RTAS VST/AU/RTAS POWERCORE VST/AU TDM/RTAS v. 1.0.5, VST/AU v. 1.0.2, VST/AU PowerCore v. 1.0.
Table of Contents Contact Details..................................................................................................................................3 Support..............................................................................................................................................4 System Requirements......................................................................................................................5 Introduction.............................................
Contact Details If you would like to get in touch with Softube, please email info@softube.com. Alternatively, you could use the phone or send an oldfashioned mail (do you remember envelopes, stamps and paper?) to: Softube AB S:t Larsgatan 10c SE582 24 Linköping Sweden Web: www.softube.com Email: info@softube.com Phone: +46 13 21 1623 (9 am – 5 pm CET) Support is handled by TC Electronic (world wide distributor): Support inquiries: http://www.tcsupport.
Support On the Amp Room website (www.softube.com) you will find answers to common questions (FAQ) and other topics that might interest you. Support questions can be posted at http://www.tcsupport.tc, where TC's dedicated staff will help you. Email addresses and updated information are always available on the Amp Room website. Amp Room website: http://www.softube.com Support is handled by TC Electronic (world wide distributor): Support website: http://www.tcsupport.
System Requirements Please make sure that you have the latest Interlok drivers installed! The latest version of Amp Room is always available from the Amp Room website. Pro Tools HD|Accel Version (TDM) ● Pro Tools | HD Accel with Pro Tools 7.0 or higher ● System must meet requirements for Pro Tools HD from Digidesign ● Mac OS X (10.4 or higher) or Windows XP (or higher) ● iLok USB key and Pace Interlok version 5.4.1 (or higher) Vintage Amp Room uses less than 62% of an Accel processor.
Introduction Straightforward and simple, Vintage Amp Room emulates three great guitar amps in a complete studio setup with speaker cabinets and fully flexible microphone positioning. It's easy to use for live performances and recordings, as well as for reamping and last minute tweaking. Amp Room has none of the added gadgets or weirdsounding presets sometimes found in simulation software. Focusing on quality and accuracy, it simulates three amps, with sounds that are timeless and authentically raw.
production is about using your ears, not your computer skills. Simulation Technology Here follows three geeky sections, so you might want to skip directly to the next chapter on page 9. Once upon a time, when Softube was not yet born, three guys (the hacker, the guitar player and the professor) were involved in a research project at Linköping Institute of Technology in Sweden, aimed at finding a model that could simulate nonlinearities in audio equipment.
the real amp, which easily can have a dynamic range of 100 dB. From a technical perspective, this means that the signal path within Amp Room always has the highest dynamic range possible, and you won't lose any bits on the way. Patents This Softube product is protected by patent SE525332 and pending patents US2004 0258250, EP1492081 and JP2004183976.
User Interface Simplicity has been the goal when we developed this product; the amps and mics should work just as they do in the real studio. Unfortunately, moving a mouse cursor on a 17” LCD screen isn't exactly like grabbing the real mic stand in a cozy studio. Nevertheless, we have tried to imitate that feeling as far as it is possible, and if you have experience of working in real studios, you will notice that Amp Room handles and sounds the way you expect it to do.
Mic Position When the mouse is located over the mic stand, the mouse pointer changes to an “updown”arrow. Clickanddrag the mouse up or down to change the position of the mic stand. The microphone moves along a predetermined path (see Figure 3), so you only need to move the mouse up or down, just as if you were changing a knob.
Amp Selection You can change amp by clicking on the background and dragging the mouse to the left or right. The mouse pointer becomes a “leftright”arrow when you are pointing at the background to indicate that it is possible to change amplifier. Figure 5: Click on the background and drag left or right to change amplifier. Clicking on the background while holding the Shiftkey toggles between the amplifiers without any animations. www.softube.
Controls Summary Mouse Up/Down: To change a parameter such as a knob or the position of the mic stand (Figure 6). Left/Right: To change amplifier (Figure 7). Click: To toggle switches or activate the “About”box. Mouse wheel: Use the mouse wheel to change knob parameters and mic stand position. Figure 6: Up/Down cursor – changes knobs, switches and microphone position. Keyboard Commands for Mac OS X Use these key commands while changing a parameter.
Platform Specific Issues TDM/RTAS on Pro Tools|HD There are some specific issues to consider when using an RTAS plugin in recording mode on a Pro Tools|HD system. First of all, an audio buffer latency is introduced in the RTAS version, but not in the TDM version. So for the best live guitar experience, it is preferred to use the TDM version with zero latency instead of RTAS.
White Amp White is based on an allround great amp, a classic that set the industry standard for classic, distorted rock'n'roll sounds. The genius is its simplicity. It's stripped down to the bare essentials – all tubes, only one channel, and no reverb or any other builtin effects. Soundwise, it goes from mad screaming preamp shred, to warm, speakersabouttobreak poweramp distortion. Perfect when you need a characteristically distorted edge and a powerful roar.
Knobs Figure 8: White amp panel view. The functionality of the knobs on the front panel of the plugin correspond exactly to the front panel of the real amplifier. Presence: The presence is used to control the feedback loop and thus the amount of treble in the power amp. Turn it up to get a high frequency boost. Bass, Middle, and Treble: These knobs are the tone control of the amplifier. This circuit is located after the preamp distortion and is used to shape the sound of the preamp distortion.
Brown Amp Amp Room Brown is based on one of the most versatile classic amplifiers in music history. It's been used in all kinds of genres, and with all kind of instruments, thanks to a sound that is clean, crisp and clear, but also warm, thick and punchy. Brown can produce anything from the clearest countrystyle sound for steelguitars to a dirty, bluesy guitar sound. It works for both funky rhythms and mellow electric piano chords.
Knobs Figure 9: Brown amp panel view. The functionality of the knobs on the front panel of the plugin corresponds to the front panel of the real amplifier, except the spring reverb, which hasn't been included in this plugin. We have also added a “Vibrato” switch, which on the real amplifier is a foot switch. There is also a difference when all the tone controls are set at 0, see “Treble, Middle, and Bass” below.
Green Amp Green is packed with character and produces a pleasant guitar sound with warm yet intense poweramp distortion. Its edginess makes it shine through in mixes, without drowning out other instruments. Green is based on a famous britpop amplifier from the middle of the 60's. It has three different channels (“VibTrem”, “Normal” and “Brilliant”) with two inputs each, and normally a guitar player will connect the guitar to the “VibTrem” input and patch the signal to the other two channels.
Knobs The functionality of the knobs on the front panel of the plugin corresponds exactly to the front panel of the real amplifier, except that we have added the foot switch as a “VibTrem OffOn” switch. VibTrem OffOn: Turn on the vibrato or tremolo effect by moving this switch clockwise. VibTrem Speed: Three way switch that sets the speed of the vibrato or tremolo effect. VibTrem Switch: Select between a vibrato and a tremolo effect.
Pitfalls and Common Mistakes Impedance is Important!) (Input It is very important to have a line box or a preamp with an input that is designed for guitar (or bass) before the signal from your guitar enters your computer. More technically speaking: the signal from your guitar must go directly into a high impedance input (1 megohm).
although this will most probably rule out most input stages and A/D converters. Input Levels Make the Difference! If you experience the amplifier distorting too much or too little, you should experiment by attenuating or boosting the guitar signal before the plugin, for example by using the “Volume” plugin that usually come with most plugin host softwares. For most settings, try to have as high guitar signal as possible without causing unwanted digital saturation.
Buying Recommendations If you like the sound from Amp Room and would like to get that sound using the real deal (let's face it, a real vintage amp is always sexier than a plugin), here are some buying recommendations. White If you like the sound of the White amp, we recommend you to buy a Marshall JCM800 2203 with a 1960A 4x12” cabinet. Nothing beats the roar from a 100W valve amp. Brown Likewise, if Brown is your favorite, we strongly recommend a 1966 Fender Twin Reverb combo with a 2x12” cabinet.
Vintage Amp Room was made by Oscar Öberg concept, preamp modeling, sound and DSPprogramming. Niklas Odelholm cabinet and microphone modeling and sound design. Arvid Rosén power amp modeling and sound programming. Torsten Gatu interface and DSP programming. Per Connman amp selection and modeling. Örjan – amp selection. Tommy amp selection and modification. Anders graphics programming. Ulf graphics programming and 3D rendering. Micko 3D rendering.
