With the explosion of popularity with amp simulator plugins in 2019, there’s a virtual sea of choice when it comes to choosing an amp sim for your recording, practicing, and jamming needs.
For recording metal especially, amp sim plugins are as popular as ever with guitar players in the heavy genres.
🔴 Download the files here ️ going to prove once and for all that you can get a usable tone using free amp simulators and plugins. Free VST Plugins are one of the most exciting things about mixing. In the past it was impossible to imagine that so many quality tools could be available at no cost. Today there are more great free plugins than ever before, but the freeware scene is always changing. How can you know which free VSTs are worth installing?
Why Amp Sims Are So Popular
🔴 Download the files here ️ going to prove once and for all that you can get a usable tone using free amp simulators and plugins. Spicy Guitar is a free plugin by Keolab which is a physical model of an acoustic guitar synthesizer. The great things about Spicy Guitar is that it has 2 different positions for each chord, chord inversions, one-hand up and down strumming, adjustable strumming speed, assignable switch key to trigger controls and much more. DSK Guitars Steel (VST / Windows / 32 bit) Spicy Guitar (VST / Standalone / Windows, Mac / 32 bit + 64 bit) Big Cat Instruments General Midi Soundset (has a guitar section / Kontakt) Free Electric Guitar Plugins. Now, let’s talk about electric guitars. Spitfire Labs: Peel Guitar.
The reason being the convenience, tonal versatility and palette of heavy tones on offer without racks of expensive gear.
Even the die-hard tube amp purists out there are beginning to switch over to virtual rigs for their recordings.
With all this choice in the modern-day plugin and VST world, which amp simulator plugins are best for metal players?
What This Post is About
In this post, I have taken the time to round up a selection of the best amp simulators which are best for metal players, including high-gain and killer sounding modern amps and effects.
How I Choose Them
- Most metal presets – which software provides enough modern tones in one package
- Best sound – the most authentic and realistic guitar tones for recording and practicing
- Features -depth of customization, amount of presets and effects
- Most value – for the price which offers the most ‘bang for your buck’
- Key features – standalone version, free demo, unique innovative features
Always Try The Free Demo
The best amp simulator plugin is the one that sounds best to your ears and tailors to your requirements the most as a recording guitarist.
So I always recommend giving the free demo version a spin before opening your wallet for a potential purchase.
So without further ado, here’s a selection of popular amp simulators in 2019 for getting a modern and selection of killer high gain metal tones.
Let’s get into it in no particular order….
#1- AmpliTube 4
- Price: €299.99 (Max version)
- Standalone: yes
- Win/Mac (64-bit only)
- Demo version: yes
Amplitube 4 has long been a heavy favorite within the amp sim community especially with metal players. It is regarded as a premium software with hyper-realistic guitar tones, bundles of features, and the ability to modify all components of your rig for ultimate tone tweaking.
Main Features
- Accurately emulated amplifiers and stompbox effects
- ‘Cab Room’ – in-depth cab, microphone, and room ambiance customization
- Rack effects
- Built-in recorder and DAW
- Easy to use interface
- Save and modify presets
- Downloadable content via the ‘IK Custom Shop’
- Hardware Support for MIDI foot controllers
With all these great features, Amplitube 4 is the top option for a sweet metal amp plugin for genuine metal tones and unlimited amounts of tone sculpting customization for professional recording in any DAW.
Which Version is Best
Each version includes all the standard features mentioned above. The differences with each version are the number of amps, effects and presets that are available for dropping into your custom rig.
Amplitube 4 offers a handy free demo for road testing a few amps and effects for getting a feel for things.
If you become convinced there is the option to upgrade to the premium versions later or purchase and download additional amp packs and effects to your rig via the IK Custom Shop.
The Base Version (€49.99)
The Base version is the most affordable version out the pick. The problem is, when it comes to modern metal amps, high gain stompboxes and effects the choices are very light.
There is enough to get you started with a handful of unofficial Marshall type British amplifiers. But when it comes to metal amps, there is only one modern metal amp (although it is based on a Mesa Boogie.)
If you are new to amp sims then this is a great program to dip your toe and get you going.
Deluxe Version (€299)
The Deluxe version is the next step up offering 140 pieces of gear with a large range of amps, cabinets, microphones, stompboxes, and effects.
All this gear is Amplitubes unofficial presets so no official skins, unfortunately. However, the presets sound authentic which are emulated versions of popular amps, cabs, effects, and microphones.
Again only a few metal amps to choose with most of the selection of amps being American vintage amps with a few modern high gain amps. Which brings us to the last version…
Best Option: Amplitube 4 ‘Max’ (€299)
The Max version, in my opinion, is the best bundle containing 300 pieces of gear although it is the most expensive investment.(See Max version full list here)
The ‘Max’ version contains the Deluxe version and all the awesome official amp packs including the sick sounding official Mesa Boogie pack (list below.)
- Official Mesa Boogie Pack – (6 official Mesa Boogie Amps)
- Amplitube Metal – Amplitubes unofficial high-gain amps and cabs
- Orange amps bundle – Official Orange amp bundle
- Slash – Official Slash Marshall amps and effects
- Jimmi Hendrix Pack – Collection of historic Fender Amps
- Official Ampeg bass pack – Ampeg amp and bass cabs
This version offers the most and valuable presets that will satisfy the metal players with a line of amps from Mesa Boogie, ENGL, Soldano, Orange, etc.
AmpliTube 4 – Official Mesa Boogie Pack
Conclusion
AmpliTube 4 is an ‘all in one’ amp sim for taking care of your metal recording needs. You will have to invest a fair bit for all the additional metal content through the IK Custom Shop or the ‘Max’ version. However, Amplitube 4 focuses on authenticity, aesthetics, and sonic realism ideal for metal tone purists. Hence why it is regarded as one of the best amp simulators money can buy.
#2 – BIAS FX 2
- Price: = $299
- Standalone: yes
- Win/Mac
- Free Demo: yes
BIAS FX 2 is an updated complete guitar tone studio VST plugin equipped for complete tonal customization.
The original BIAS FX was a popular amp sim within the metal recording community for an endless selection of options for creating any players virtual dream metal rig.
Features
- Genuine sounding emulated amps and effects
- A grand total of 200 presets
- 100 amplifiers and cabs (34 high gain amps)
- 100 effects total
- Tone Studio – create and download custom rigs from the online community
- ‘Guitar Match’ – Alters your guitars core sound to vintage single coils or humbuckers
- Recorder
- Looper
BIAS FX 2 is the new incarceration packing tons of high gain amplifiers modeled from popular amp brands such as Mesa Boogie, Engl, Diezel, Soldano, Bogner, and many more.
When it comes to choice, the software features 100 amps (34 high gain modern amps) with 100 effects allowing all the possible tone any metal player could need.
Screaming leads, heavy rhythm, ambient cleans, experimental effects the possibilities are endless with the amount of customization on offer with this package.
Guitar Match
‘Guitar Match’ is a new innovation feature unique to any amp sim. How it works is Guitar Match ‘samples’ your pickups then altering your core tone to a selection of 17 classic guitars to choose from.
For example, can alter your warm EMG humbuckers to a classic clean Telecaster single coil pickup for a brighter and more ambient clean tone adding some sparkle to your sound.
Bias FX does not just emulate amps… it can now emulate guitars! What a time to be alive!
Conclusion
BIAS FX2 is a premium amp simulator with tons of editing and tonal customization. This software directly rivals Amplitube 4 in terms of realism and having the ultimate platform for building your dream rig.
#3 – BIAS AMP 2
- Price: $269 (Elite version)
- Standalone: yes
- Win/Mac
- Free Demo: yes
For technical amplifier purists out there, BIAS Amp 2 takes amplifier tinkering and tweaking to a whole new level.
This amp sim plugin stands out from other programs as you have the ability to build your custom dream amplifier from the ground up. Everything in close detail!
For example, you can modify intricate components such as the pre and power tubes, transformers, biasing, EQ shelf-frequencies, etc all impacting on the overall tone and performance of your dream amp.
Features
- Intricate and deep tone sculpting
- ‘Amp Match’ – upload an mp3 file to create a custom amp to that tone
- Tonecloud – download and upload presets to and to the online community
- Standalone version
- 100 amp match features
- Official Celecestion speaker impulses
Keep in mind, this program is not a ‘build your dream rig’ plugin as there are no masses of effects and stompboxes.
Although it features a good selection of reverbs from small ambiance to long lush reverbs.
It’s more of a ‘build your dream amp’ sim as a stepping off point which you can either load another amp sim plugins alongside for adding effects and additional details around your dream amp.
Integration with BIAS FX
For ultimate tone customization, you could import your dream custom amp from BIAS AMP 2 into any version of BIAS FX.
Meaning you can add your dream amp into BIAS FX for adding the effects and ‘icing on the cake’ details to your dream rig which are lacking in BIAS AMP 2.
Conclusion
BIAS AMP 2 is perfect for tube amp lovers who want an immerse editing experience for creating a custom core amplifier from the ground up. It is not for users looking for the all in one tone library VST plugin like BIAS FX, Amplitube 4, Helix Native, etc. However, is an excellent software for crafting that perfect tube amp tone for jamming and recording.
#4 – Helix Native (Line 6)
- Price: $399 (Elite version)
- Standalone: no
- Win/Mac
- Demo version: yes
The Helix Native by Line 6 features 60 amps, 30 cabinets, and 100+ effects. Offering plenty of core presets for endless amounts of metal tones for your dream virtual rig.
All the presets are Line 6 reincarnated versions of popular amp companies… Mesa Boogie, Peavey, Engl, Bogner, Soldano, Orange, and many more.
The tones I must say are notably responsive and genuine to their modeled counterparts. You can create an army of metal presets that sound genuine as any other amp sim on the market today.
Features
- 60 amps, 30 cabs, 100+ effects
- Upload Impulse Responses (IR)
- Realistic amp emulations
- Versatile in sounds
Another good feature is you can upload custom impulse responses to improve on the current selection of sounds if they are not to your taste adding more flexibility.
The Helix has a logical and notably low-key interface which makes dragging dropping presets easy and customizing is a breeze with the movable sliders making customizing a simple process.
The Pricing
As great as the Helix is and deserves a spot on this list, I would say the $400 price tag is a little too steep in my personal opinion. I would say a price range of $150 – $250 would be somewhere more appropriate.
However, for a complete tone studio library, the Helix is a fantastic option and offers tons of value for the high price tag and is up there with the best amp sim plugins on offer.
Conclusion
Helix Native is ideal metal players looking for an ultimate guitar tone library plugin. Although the interface and visuals are not on par with other sims, however, the authenticity and depth of customization and quantity of presets make it a strong contender.
#5 – Overloud TH3
- Price: $269
- Win/Mac
- Standalone: yes
- Demo version: yes (15-day trial)
Overloud TH3 may not be at the same level as popularity as Amplitube or Bias FX in the amp sim community.
However, this is software has stepped up its game from the previous version boasting the most presets of any of the choices on this list. And with this comes a wide variety of sounds and tones.
Overloud TH3 features accurate versions of classic metal amps from Mesa Boogie, Peavey, Engl, Diezel, Randall, etc for massive metal variety.
All emulated to a high level of realism and tonal responsiveness for easily creating a legendary custom metal rig.
Features
- Tons of amps and dynamic effects
- Genuine amp and effect tones
- Online community for important and exporting presets
- Support for MIDI foot controllers
- Live option for playing live
- Standalone version for quick jamming
The interface has been redesigned and uncluttered all unnecessary distractions for easily dragging and dropping presets into your rig without any navigation problems.
There are tons of loaded features straight out of the box. This sim also does not sell you any additional content unlike other sims and is slightly more affordable than other larger sims on this list.
Presets
- 1000 custom presets
- 89 amps
- 50 cabinets
- 77 pedals and rack effects
- 18 microphones
Conclusion
Overloud TH3 Is ideal users looking for a reliable and premium amp sim for a variety of metal tones with simple navigation and tons of presets. It may not be the most popular sim compared to other premium software. However, It is very worthy of having a spot on this list.
#6 – Emissary (Ignite Amps)
- Price: Free
- Standalone: No
- Win/Mac
The Emissary was released in 2014 and to this day is still a very popular metal plugin continuing to receive praise from the online guitar recording community.
The Emissary plugin is a single emulated modern high gain amp head fully equipped for sculpting any style of metal.
Sound
The amps core tone is known for emulating the sound of a ballsy and aggressive tube amp perfect for enabling with any style of metal.
Although it sounds just as good with rock, clean and milder tones the plugin is really at home when used for aggressive metal tones.
Besides the great versatility of sounds on offer, let’s not forget this plugin is completely free for download and use on your tracks right away.
This software is not meant to be a tonal library like other programs, It’s simply to deliver one great sounding and versatile amp with the beauty of no cost up front.
Need a Cab Sim?
Keep in mind, you will need a cabinet simulator for pairing with the amp head plugin in order to get the best sound.
For this, I recommend the NadIR cab simulator which is another popular choice for a solid cabinet sim for pairing with your amp head plugins.
Conclusion
This software is a fantastic and popular free amp sim plugin within the metal recording community. Simply drop it in your DAW as a plugin for brutal tones without paying top dollar. This option is great if you are new to the world of amp simulators to test the sound and how to configure them which can lead to a paid program down the line.
#7 – The Nameless Suite & NTS Suite
- Price: $99 each
- Standalone: yes
- Win/Mac
- Free demo: yes (each offer 14-day trial)
For this selection, I couldn’t decide which plugin to choose between both of these metal monsters, so as a Brucie bonus, I included them both!
The Fortin amp sim series brings forward two epic and brutal sounding amp simulators covering virtual amp purists perfectly for the genres of rock, heavy rock and of course metal.
Electric Guitar Vst Metal
Both amps are aggressive, high gain, modern voiced, versatile and drapped in metal tones. Both versions also include virtual pedals being an overdrive, noise gate and boost for further tone shaping control.
The Nameless suite and the NTS are two separate plugins costing $99 a piece integrated with a handy standalone version for using the software independently outside of a DAW.
But what are the differences and which one to choose? Let’s discuss them both…
Free Metal Guitar Vst Plugins Vst
The Nameless Suite
The Nameless suite to this day is a popular metal plugin for unleashing a saturated modern tone on your tracks.
When it comes to tone, the nameless suite to my ears is modeled to sound like the classic ‘Peavey 5150’ with a beefy sounding 4×12 cabinet.
The Nameless has been regarded by the amp sim community as the ‘tighter’ and more ‘controlled’ version perfect for lower tunings for chugging, djent, and metalcore.
The amps sound is certainly tighter across all frequency ranges and is more at home with modern and heavier detuned versions of metal.
The NTS Suite
The NTS Suite is the newer alternative choice featuring the benefit of a second channel for sparkling clean tones and a different tonal personality compared to the original Nameless amp.
The NTS suite is modeled to sound like a ‘Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier’ and has a noticeably trebley top-end and a more saturated tone lending itself well to more extreme styles of metal such as thrash and death metal for example.
Which to Choose?
Both amps are awesome sounding high gain tube amp plugins perfect for sculpting any metal tone. Your choice ultimately comes down to personal preference and which tones you prefer.
Conclusion
Both options are affordable amp simulators for amazing heavy tones without paying the price for a premium amp simulator plugin. Although their price is small the sounds you can create can be huge.
#8 – Peavey Revalver 4
- Price: $99
- Standalone: yes
- Win/Mac
- Free demo: yes
Peavey amp fans and enthusiasts look no further! Here I bring to you the catalog of official Peavey amplifiers in simulated form for your enjoyment.
Peavey has historically produced some of the best metal amps over their existence, providing the heaviest and brutal guitar tones to the masses.
Well, as you expect from Peavey Revalver 4, some of the classics included in this package are the: 6505, Valveking, 5150 and many more classic Peavey beasts.
You also get unofficial amp brands modeled from classic models from Vox, Marshall, Diezel, and, Mesa Boogie which is unexpected but nice to have.
Features
- Large selection of amps, cabs, and effects
- Realistic ReValver engine
- Microphone selection, positioning, and ambiance controls
- Upload impulse responses
- Standalone version
- Modify your guitars core tone to sound like a different guitar
- Rack effects
- Slick interface
- Schematic designer
Conclusion
Peavey Revalver 4 is an honest and great value software with tons of features and presets without paying $300+. This is a great option for beginners getting into amp emulation and for the advanced users alike.
#9 – Scuffham S-Gear
- Price $129
- Standalone: yes
- Win/Mac
- Free demo: yes (15-day trial)
Scuffham S-Gear is another popular software placed in the affordable bracket on this list.
Concerning the metal players, the software boasts emulated amps sounding similar to a Mesa Boogie, Soldano, Marshall and a vintage Fender amp offering a nice palette of tones.
Features
- 5 versatile pro studio amps
- Rackmount effects (reverb, delay, modulation)
- Load your own impulse responses
- Includes a cab simulator
- Versatile option of tones
The stand out amp from the bunch is the ‘Wayferer.’ This amp can go from heavy chugging to crystal clear tones cleans and vintage crunch all from the one amp.
The new version of Scuffham S-gear includes rackmount effects (modulation, reverb, and delay) all integrated into a simple and easy to use interface.
I must admit, This is not the most flashy option on the list but for the price, the value is definitely there for an affordable virtual amp for playing metal. The best thing to do is give the demo a try and let it convince you.
Conclusion
S-Gear has been praised for its professional sound at an affordable price. It has been used by beginners learning the ropes or advanced users wanting to try something different.
Do You Play Bass?
Now we have come to the end of the list, as a guitar player do you play a bit of bass on the side? Then you must read my post…
I round-up the best and most valuable amp simulators if you are a recording bass player. These amp sim plugins are the best choices for any bass player who wants great DI bass tones.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there’s a lot of choice for acquiring an amp sim for a great sounding, saturated high-gain goodness and a variety of heavy tones.
I have always loved the convenience, versatility, and sound of amp sims from the first time I tried Guitar 4 Pro.
But not with the sea of virtual amp simulators due to their rise in popularity, there’s now almost too much choice on offer.
So with that, the take-home point again is to always try the demo version to see which software meets your tonal and recording needs out of all these options I have mentioned.
Thanks for Reading
While you’re recording your guitar during your home studio projects there’s something you want immediately right: your guitar tone. You want it aggressive, evil, distorted with great saturation and right EQ. What more? Nothing, the problem is that you have to render it as you’re actually thinking about it. That’s the hard part. Let’s start saying that this tutorial is for those guys who are starting their first studio project and who are trying to have more from their guitar sound. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, this is how I like to do it, keeping it the simpliest I can. Moreover I use free plugin, not bad for your wallet, isn’t it?
I’m not a guitar player, not at all, I play every now and then guitar just to remember some riffs and record them quickly, with my cheap SG guitar (I bought it some years ago for about 100€ on ebay), B drop tuned with some awesome strings: RotoSoundDarkZone. I recorded some chords and some palm muted parts for this tutorial and, I mean, remember I’m not a guitar player, so forgive me! I use Reaper but you can apply all the concepts to whatever DAW you like.
Let’s move forward: create a new track and insert these FREE plugins:
- TSE TS808(version 2.0)
- TSE X50 (version 1.0.2)
- ReaGate
Insert them following exactly this order in your VST chain. It turned out mandatory for me to add a gate at the end, Reaper’s ReaGate to be precise, because of the annoying noise coming from my SG cheap pickup, that was amplified by the VST chain. I just loaded the “rhythm guitar” preset tweaking a bit the threshold, the noise disappeared. Another really important point to stress is to remember to enable monitoring, otherwise you’re not gonna hearing anything from your speakers! On Reaper mixer find the little button on the right of the track volume fader and click it. Please remember to enable it, or it would be hard to hear you playing 🙂
Let’s have a more detailed look to the VST chain. The TSE TS808 is a good quality tube driver emulator, don’t think about it as a poor quality plugin just because it’s free, I found really few ones like this, moreover a brand new release has been recently released, and trust me, it sounds even better. This is exactly what we need to give to our tone the right amount of grit before sending the signal to the amp, on palm muting it will be a blast. For this tutorial I set it this way:
TSE X50 is a free VST clone of the famous and “evil” Peavey 5150, massively used in extreme metal. Even this plugin recently got a new release: a must. If your target is an aggressive distortion, it won’t let you down. If you remember my post on guitar amp simulators comparison, I used an old X50 version and it was already really good for me, then I modified the post with the new version and I realized how much better it sounded. My SG gets a badass tone with this settings:
Poulin LeCab 2 it’s a quite versatile cabinet simulator, if you already own some IR wav files it’s exactly what you need. What’s an IR? The Impulse Response is a signal that can be extracted (with a slightly complex procedure maybe someday we’ll talk about it in details) recording the signal of a real cabinet with a microphone. To keep it simple we can say that it’s the “fingerprint” of the cabinet and the related microphone. Why it’s important? Because you really can’t take just the output signal of the amplifier without the cabinet, try to think about it as if you had a real amp, would you record the direct output of your amplifier head without the cabinet? It would be awful and somehow dangerous for your recording system. Don’t do it. Neither with VSTs 😉 In this case I used God’s Cab IRs, they’re free and come with a detailed user manual, that explain the different techniques used to record the IRs. Load the WAVs files on LeCab, if you blend together more than one IR it would be like if you’re micing your cabinet from different point, experimenting different combination is quite interesting, this is how I like it with God’s Cab:
Here you are my final tone:
https://www.santoclemenzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HeavyGuitarTone.mp3As you can notice the sound need to be enhanced: it would be nice to add an highpass filter to cut everything under about 100Hz, then, lowpass everything above the frequency you hear “frying” on the upper part of the spectrum, usually these frequencies give to your tone a very digital character, it’s better to reduce it.
To summarize you can reach every sound you need just using free plugins you can find on the web, this is how I record my ideas and riffs, quickly and for free, I couldn’t ask for more 😉
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