Best Free Amp Sims?

[Iron1]

DL'ed ML Sounds - AMPED sim yesterday to throw in my DAW since the people responsible for Garageband have apparently never heard of metal. The ML Sounds sim works pretty decently, especially for free.



But, it got me wondering what else is out there. Since my Axe FX is packed up til we get settled in the new place, if I wanna jam, I need some sims. But, since I don't see myself replacing the Axe with a sim, I don't see the point in spending money on one until I've tried a number of them and found "THE one".

Came across this list over at Producer Hive. The Emissary and Amplion got my attention so far...



Might also look at that Ignite SHB-1 for my bass, too.



But, figured before I start DL'ing stuff wily-nily to my hard drive, I'd ask you fine people for recommendations first.

TIA!

[Budda]

https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/the-free-irs-amp-sims-and-boosts-post.345857/page-4#post-5306775

[Chris]

https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/...4#post-5306775

[The Snob]

Free? The only thing more demeaning than an inexpensive amp sim is a free amp sim.

[Budda]

I know i know but its a good resource.

Edit: and DT is hilarious, we should get him over here.

[Leon]

I love how /7/ is a thriving community, and MG is not

[desertdweller]

For me, there are two that stand out head and shoulders above the rest:

1) Nalex Pectifier. Get a free copy of the Mercurial Greed Smasher or TS808 to run in front of this and a great IR after it, and it's simply one of the most accurate Rectifier VSTs around. Link: http://nalexsoft.blogspot.com/2020/0...ifier-amp.html



2) Also Nalex. The Ninja, pure brutality, no OD needed.
Link: http://nalexsoft.blogspot.com/2019/0...mp-preamp.html

[Markus]

Lepou's Legion is pretty good IMO. These old SAW-tune are all that.

[tibernius]

I can vouch for the Ignite Amps stuff - honestly I just used to use the Emissary for everything. Running the clean channel on that with a TSB-1 as a boost (https://www.igniteamps.com/#tsb-1) gets some decent rock tones as well. I like that it has a bit of its own sound as well, rather than trying to be a VST version of a 5150 or whatever (makes sense since it's meant to be a VST version of one of their physical amps).

[Iron1]

For me, there are two that stand out head and shoulders above the rest:

1) Nalex Pectifier. Get a free copy of the Mercurial Greed Smasher or TS808 to run in front of this and a great IR after it, and it's simply one of the most accurate Rectifier VSTs around. Link: http://nalexsoft.blogspot.com/2020/0...ifier-amp.html



2) Also Nalex. The Ninja, pure brutality, no OD needed.
Link: http://nalexsoft.blogspot.com/2019/0...mp-preamp.html

Tried to DL the Nalex stuff and all it gave me was variations of TXT files... not sure if I was on the correct site, but I gave up after about 15 mins of trying.

Lepou's Legion is pretty good IMO. These old SAW-tune are all that.

The link I found to the Lepou site triggered a warning in my browser of "impersonating this website to steal your info" so I backed away slowly... VST4Free or some such site...

I can vouch for the Ignite Amps stuff - honestly I just used to use the Emissary for everything. Running the clean channel on that with a TSB-1 as a boost (https://www.igniteamps.com/#tsb-1) gets some decent rock tones as well. I like that it has a bit of its own sound as well, rather than trying to be a VST version of a 5150 or whatever (makes sense since it's meant to be a VST version of one of their physical amps).

Was able to DL the Igniter Emissary, but after knob fiddling with it for a bit, couldn't get it to sound as good as the ML AMPED I DL'ed the other day. The two mixed together sound cool, but a little too gain-stagey. Might be worth fiddling with if nothing else...

Of all these, the Nalex gets my attention the most, so maybe I'll keep digging for a better DL option...

[desertdweller]

Tried to DL the Nalex stuff and all it gave me was variations of TXT files... not sure if I was on the correct site, but I gave up after about 15 mins of trying.

Direct link to the Pectifier Drive file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eYF...fK7N1rVkG/view

I see two DLLs, which are the VSTs you drop into your VST Plugins directory, and a readme file:

[Iron1]

Direct link to the Pectifier Drive file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eYF...fK7N1rVkG/view

I see two DLLs, which are the VSTs you drop into your VST Plugins directory, and a readme file:

Thanks!

Can't seem to get GB to recognize the files, though. I know it finds AU files, but can't seem to get it to see the .vst or .component...

[Mike]

Garage Band = Apple. It's not going to see a Windows .dll.

[desertdweller]

Garage Band = Apple. It's not going to see a Windows .dll.

There is a Mac version on the same site.

[Iron1]

There is a Mac version on the same site.

The Mac file is a “.component” not an AU, which I’ve never heard of before.

[osiris]

Lepou's Legion is pretty good IMO. These old SAW-tune are all that.

I made an unofficial mirror for the last version of LePou's stuff after his blog was taken down: https://www.osirisguitar.com/lepou/

Got a lot of heat for that on Reddit since my blog has ads. This month I've made almost $1 from ads, so they're probably right to be upset.