Digital is working for me...

[riffy]

It just is. Better than my tube amps. In my situation which is at home and gigging maybe twice a month.
Digital is preferred by me. The work flow is easier, the sounds are there, (for me). I have a Kemper, a Tonex,
a Mooer GE250 as well as the Preamp X2 pedal with a stereo IR loader on my pedalboard.

Thoughts on them? Well, if I am being totally honest, the Mooer Captures, sound as good to my ears as
the Kemper does. The effects aren't up to the Kemper level though. Tonex, IS more true to the sounds of
the amps. In all their glory, the amps are wonderful, but also come with warts on their noses. The Tonex,
reflects that. Sometimes I don't want to see, (hear) those warts, read that (most of the time). I want the
idealized sound. I want the recorded sound. I want the sound I "think" I hear in a mix. My digital devices,
give that to me. Provided, that I know what I am doing with them and know how to build a preset.

OK, bashing can begin in 3, 2, 1.

 

[Mongillo19]

It just is. Better than my tube amps. In my situation which is at home and gigging maybe twice a month.
Digital is preferred by me. The work flow is easier, the sounds are there, (for me). I have a Kemper, a Tonex,
a Mooer GE250 as well as the Preamp X2 pedal with a stereo IR loader on my pedalboard.

Thoughts on them? Well, if I am being totally honest, the Mooer Captures, sound as good to my ears as
the Kemper does. The effects aren't up to the Kemper level though. Tonex, IS more true to the sounds of
the amps. In all their glory, the amps are wonderful, but also come with warts on their noses. The Tonex,
reflects that. Sometimes I don't want to see, (hear) those warts, read that (most of the time). I want the
idealized sound. I want the recorded sound. I want the sound I "think" I hear in a mix. My digital devices,
give that to me. Provided, that I know what I am doing with them and know how to build a preset.

OK, bashing can begin in 3, 2, 1.

I think a lot of us here are digital users! I'd take digital for recording any day. However if I needed loud, I'd choose a physical amp. Still want to try my hand at a 2x12 or 4x12 with a good power amp and my Axe Fx to see how it goes!

 

[norminal]

@riffy my lower back concurs.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I'm kind of in the middle territory. I like using mics on a tube amp, but I also like using a load box and then cab sims. Both can sound awesome. I love my Suhr RLRI. And for the first time last night I was using the Vox Valvenergy pedals direct into my DAW with the pedals' built in cab sim. Sounds great! I like the simple hookup. There are so many options now that sound really, really good. Any method will work, just choose the method that suits your needs and inspires you.

 

[Jaji]

I am also kind of in the middle. Indoors, it's my Kemper all the way. Outdoors, I like to rotate my amps and let them open up a bit. I like having those kind of options. It really is the best of both worlds for me.

 

[Stratzrus]

I want the idealized sound. I want the recorded sound. I want the sound I "think" I hear in a mix. My digital devices,
give that to me.

Frequently that's what I want too. It's one of the things I really like about Fractal gear. I can get the tones of a well produced record.

But there are other times when I do want the raw amp in the room tone so at those times I plug into one of my amps.

 

[James Freeman]

Modelers work for me too.
But I will never break the "always keep one favorite tube amp and cab" rule.

 

[the swede]

It just is. Better than my tube amps. In my situation which is at home and gigging maybe twice a month.
Digital is preferred by me. The work flow is easier, the sounds are there, (for me). I have a Kemper, a Tonex,
a Mooer GE250 as well as the Preamp X2 pedal with a stereo IR loader on my pedalboard.

Thoughts on them? Well, if I am being totally honest, the Mooer Captures, sound as good to my ears as
the Kemper does. The effects aren't up to the Kemper level though. Tonex, IS more true to the sounds of
the amps. In all their glory, the amps are wonderful, but also come with warts on their noses. The Tonex,
reflects that. Sometimes I don't want to see, (hear) those warts, read that (most of the time). I want the
idealized sound. I want the recorded sound. I want the sound I "think" I hear in a mix. My digital devices,
give that to me. Provided, that I know what I am doing with them and know how to build a preset.

OK, bashing can begin in 3, 2, 1.

No bashing needed. I think there are plenty of options for the “polished and ready to record” sound. Some of the neural dsp plugins seem to be considered to be like that.

 

[dronerstone]

Modelers work for me too.
But I will never break the "always keep one favorite tube amp and cab" rule.

Not necessarily tube in my opinion, but there's some good truth to that. Intentionally keeping one particular favorite that'll stand above anything else is perfect to avoid falling into the rabbit hole.

And nothing is better than also having that available in digital form, so you could always switch between platforms easily.

Polyamorous relationships can spoil the fun, I believe.

EDIT, to clarify further: That doesn't mean your favorite can't change as time goes by. My go-to amp was a clean-platform LAB L5 for a long time, these days I prefer the sounds of an edge-of-clean Model T (preamp).

 

[sleewell]

I love my hybrid setup. Kinda jealous of the guys going direct, especially after the show loading gear when it's late and I know my kids will be up early but damn if it doesn't always sound amazing having tubes move air through a 4x12. The shallow side of me thinks it looks good on stage too lol.

Using the helix to control everything is great and keeps it simple, plus I can send an xlr out in addition to the mic on the cab to give them something to blend. Super happy with my rig which kinda feels odd not wanting to shop for stuff, been a while too probably the longest I've been happy with my setup ever.

 

[Steinmetzify]

No bashing here.

I can go fro my amps/Suhr RLIR to a couple plugins I rotate through with no issues; one of which is the Bogren Ampknob that I don’t even mess with. I just set it up for that one sound and it’s fantastic at what it does.

I like having the amps I have available to me and end of the day it’s sort of overkill for me, but it’s one of my main hobbies so…

I could honestly probably grab an FM9 or something and be cool with it; I could probably off most of my big amps and go with a Synergy setup if I really had to.