Guitarists, anyone using Bias FX Std?

[mbfrancis]

Hey is anyone using the pedals and amps? I read great things about the quality but is this package (td not Pro) enough to get a good breadth of sounds?

And specifically - how are the presets? It says you can d/l a ton of pedal boards from the cloud, but what comes with the devices? I love all the presets w/ Guitar Rig (using the demo), they help me a lot get close to the sound I want. But thsi looks like a good deal.

Let me know what you think, thanks!

[demt]

i got fed up with it and switched to TH3

[Lempface]

Bias probably feels the best to play, as far as coaxing articulations that sound and feel like you're playing a real amp.

For me, presets on amp sims just don't make much sense. You've got way to many variables heading into the plugin that they'll never sound the same as the original producer. Sure you can use as a starting point but I like to just build from the ground up.

With that said, I still like Amplitibe 4 and Line 6 Helix Native waaaaaay better as far as overall tone. If your playing is super nuanced then you might prefer Bias.

[NekujaK]

I tried Bias FX and Amp LE. Cool concept, but after noodling with it for a while, it felt like I had to do too much work just to get close to a sound I wanted. And I never really did grasp how the two products are supposed to work together. I can see how some people would get off on tweaking every aspect of the amp signal architecture, but it's just not my cup of tea. I'd rather dial in my tone with a few knobs and settings and start playing.

There are so many decent amp sims out there, I would recommend finding a few good ones that compliment your sound, and work with those. My absolute favorites are the BX_ and ENGL amps from Plugin Alliance - a total joy to tweak and play through. A distant second are TH3, Mercuriall, and certain Amplitube 4 amps.

Just my 2 cents...

[mtbh]

I tried them all and ended up with S-Gear. Try it if you haven't. IMO it has the best tube amp sounds and "feel". The included speaker IRs and reverbs are also very good.

https://www.scuffhamamps.com/

[palkid]

BIAS FX sounds great in the "crunch zone" ie edge of breakup to serious dirt without being a full-on distortion, which I spend most of my time in.

S-Gear sounds great there too but I wish there was a dedicated AC30 simulation.

Amplitube and Guitar Rig have weird things happening in the high frequencies for me. Amplitube has great bass amp simulation though and Guitar Rig have fun presets to dick around with for sure.

TH3 sounds way too dark IMO and hence requires a lot of tweaking.

I tried Helix but I can't get used to the interface.

Speaking of interface, Positive Grid needs to quit using such a bloated UI. So slow. Especially in Reason. It lags and freezes and is generally extremely buggy. But t's slow in Reaper too, event though it's more stable.

[palkid]

By the way, if anyone is using BIAS FX, can you confirm a bug:

1. create a project with an audio clip and use BIAS FX as an insert FX
2. draw tempo automation in the transport lane
3. start playback
4. as soon as the tempo is automated, the UI of BIAS FX freezes

Thanks!

[Lempface]

Just played with Blue Cat Audio's Destructor and I really like it. It just simulates the pre-amp, power amp, and the cabinet though. They have a new product coming out this quarter called Axiom I'm excited to try, it has the amps from Destructor but also allows you to add effects almost anywhere in the signal chain including other VSTs or AUs. Imagine you really like a stomp box in Amplitube and Valhalla reverb and then you want to use the Destructor amp sim, but with Guitar Rigs cabinet, then recall it all with a single preset

[supersplaron]

By the way, if anyone is using BIAS FX, can you confirm a bug:

1. create a project with an audio clip and use BIAS FX as an insert FX
2. draw tempo automation in the transport lane
3. start playback
4. as soon as the tempo is automated, the UI of BIAS FX freezes

Thanks!

Just tried this and got a similar result. I'll report this to our test lead. Thanks!

[palkid]

Just tried this and got a similar result. I'll report this to our test lead. Thanks!

Awesome, thanks!

[sublunar]

As a guitarist, I've never found an amp emulation that I think sounds even sorta half decent. So, no I'm not using Bias FX anything.