STL Tones brings 5-time GRAMMY® -award winning mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge’s guitar tones to life with a one of a kind Expansion Preset Pack to use with the Tonality Howard Benson Guitar Plug-In Suite. Huge thumbs up to STL / Ignite for giving new life to an amp sim that so many of us spent so many hours shredding on!! The SL100 delivers a few variations of pure rock pleasure ranging from searing Ramones-esque punk tones to classic rock tones that will have your Dad’s New Balance kicks dancing in the closet waiting for him to fire up the BBQ. The plugin itself doesn’t have a lot wrong with it but there are a few things worth noting. The delay and reverb components are great for creating everything from lush atmospheres to just the right amount of “soar” for that one big bend in your next power ballad. Other plugin developers have also begun to do monthly bundle subscription pricing with a lot of success. STL Tones is also offering the individual models from within AmpHub to be purchased outright. Add A Review My KVR. $150USD (at time of release) puts the plugin in the higher price bracket with the Core Pack and one free pack so for users to afford multiple packs could be quite costly if the only packs available are premium priced. STL ToneHub is an expansive plug-in platform that hosts guitar and bass preset packs from the biggest names in the music industry. One of the most notable series of Fender clean machines has always been the Deluxe. For only $10USD/month, users get way more than their money’s full and complete worth. The addition of premium IRs doesn’t work the same with a Kemper as it does with any other modeler. However, STL just happens to be pretty damn good at not only creating these profiles but also at selecting some of the best players and producers in the world for the job. ONE pack selection comes with the purchase of the plugin in addition to the Tone Core pack that is built in. I’d say so. You can choose to subscribe for $10 per … It’s definitely worth trying the subscription model for a few months to a year. The cabinet selection has some great Marshall options that help the amps to sound closer to how they’d sound in an ideal analog setting. STL / Ignite have provided more than enough to get close to all of the above. The modulation components are a lot of fun and useful for constructing endless soundscapes from the subtle to the extreme. Could you do it? Originally, the NRR-1 was made in it’s analog form as a preamp for Italian metal guitarist; Cristiano Trionfera (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Eyeconoclast). In a Kemper profile, the cabinet as well as the mic(s) used are all a huge part of the profile. The “raw” mode has been removed which for most won’t be a deal breaker. It wasn’t hard to find but it was hard to change to the next amp after I’d found it. In recent years, developers have been experimenting with ways to use profiles for the revolutionary Kemper Profiling Amp in a plugin. The custom 5150 style amp head looks mean and ready for action. On the post-FX side, they’ve added delay and reverb pedals to add atmosphere, depth and a lot more flavors. Essentially and very simply put, the Kemper is a modeler that uses rig profiles. One thing I like a lot about most of the packs is that the pickups used to create the profile have been noted in the profile itself. Don’t get me wrong, there’s more than enough to get plenty of great tones with the current cabs but as mentioned, some of the amps could and will shine even brighter as cabs are added. When it comes to the pack selection available, STL Tones was nice enough to send us all of the packs for review so we had a chance to go over literally every file of every single pack. The Rockerverb is such a fun amp to play on in it’s analog form, everything just seems a little bit smoother. 50s cleans to modern hi-gain. We let you know what the newest and best stuff is while also finding out which older plugins are still competing. These controls are so handy while right in a mix session because with only the touch of a few things, the tone can go from faint to prominent in a mix. STL Tonality: Andy James Plugin Open up the plugin and it looks like a menacing beast straight away. Using more aggressive boost settings can tend to add harshness and thin the tone out a bit so take care in the interaction between the amp’s mid voicing controls and the boost pedal’s tone. Each of the post pedals provides a pretty solid range of controls and all of them are easy to use. I find that often presets for Line 6, Fractal, Headrush and other modelers can almost always benefit from the addition of premium IRs and the signal chain does not diminish whatsoever but with a Kemper profile, it’s a different story. It’s not really feasible for everyone to own every pack but they do cover so much ground and gear so a few packs would get the job done for most. There’s a really nice bunch of tube screamer / OD / boost pedals but beyond that, the plugin could use some additions to this area like fuzz, an HM2 maybe and just a few other toys to compliment the amps. Post-FX sections can be extraordinarily useful for standalone users but for those tracking in a DAW, the post-FX needs to be bypassed for the addition of EQ and other processing. Timeline of Latest Product Changes . Sometimes, only a VOX will do and this one does the job pretty well. The brain, control center and main feature of ToneHub is their revolutionary Tracing Amp. The AmpHub J45 is rich, full and warm for vintage / classic tones ranging from rock, blues, punk, rockabilly, psychobilly, funk, stoner/doom and so very much more. The operation and very useful controls in the cabinet section allows for a ton of customization. See more: STL Tones – Tonehub Audio Examples, Cover image courtesy of Federico Ascari – check his Youtube channel, We review every piece of guitar software being offered on the market today by today's standards. I have really grown to enjoy this amp for it’s country and blues abilities when coupled with the compressor in the pre-effects. I believe a beginner could pick up ToneHub and have it figured out in a day or two at most where experienced users should feel at home right away. The amp covers so many eras so in turn it covers a ton of genres and applications. The research I did had the analog amp and plugin sounding pretty close in comparison. Amp #5 was inspired by a Fender Bassman which is the cleanest of the 5 amps. High gain tone enthusiasts will literally be in their own personal tone dream world with ToneHub. I found the EMG 81/85 profiles sounded 10x better when used with my 81/85x set but the profiles were still great with passive pickups. I have always felt Soldano amps sounded best through Soldano cabs with Marshall being a close second. AmpHub consists of a Stomp section with 6 pedals, a robust collection of 12 Amplifiers, extensive Multi-Effects module, Dual 3D Cabinet Mixer, with 9 different cabinet choices, and … STL Tones aren’t offering their current plugins in a subscription service but rather a plugin that is in itself a subscription service. With the compressor and the 112 cabinet, it’s very easy to dial in some really nice cleans fast. Every single time I lay into the Lasse Lammert or Will Putney packs, I come away with a smile from ear to ear. It’s not my favorite amp in the suite but it’s capable of some really workable tones. The various channels really hold a lot of quality throughout, there just isn’t a part of the amp that isn’t full of tones. Users may want to pay attention to this as profiles made with active pickups may not translate the same to passives and the same the other way around. A potential negative towards subscription services as a whole rather than AmpHub specifically; they might not be as effective for those that don’t actively track and/or play a lot. Marshall, Orange, Engl, VOX and Mesa Boogie are just a few of the reliable workhorse names available but in time, it’s likely users will see several more additions to the IR selection. A long list of legendary artists known for a list of genres in fact. I like the Dragon more than the Cobra though I am admittedly much less familiar with the Dragon in its analog form. The price of the hardware modeler is quite lofty for the average Joe but the Kemper profile packs floating around look like a lot fun don’t they? They don’t get their wish but close. Both channels are well represented here to my ears but the boost channel does lack a little in the mid range. STL Tones ensured that there was a great variety in the 5 amp selection. The AmpHub version is not the best SLO100 plugin we have heard here but it’s definitely a really nice inclusion to the lineup. With a bit of drive from one of AmpHub’s terrific boost selection, the dragon can get to high gain territory but I really prefer the amp’s rock / medium-gain sounds. STL Tones has unveiled the AmpHub plug-in - an all-new subscription platform that promises users access to an ever-expanding collection of amps, pedals and cabinets. 4.5 out of 5, based on 1 Review STL Tones brings their "rig profiling" to the box. The majority of the gear is very well done by the fellas at Ignite Amps, their reputation for high quality tech and tones has once again been elevated. It’s not a one-step to mix-ready situation but it’s not a whole lot more involved to be completely honest. Knowing that, it’s to be pretty well understood that the amp is versatile and very good at all of it’s applications. The high gain tones are for the moment, the meat of the STL Profile packs. Rig profiles are basically a digital snapshot of a guitar or bass setup that can be edited to a certain degree inside the modeler. The profiling determines the proper parameters in the algorithm used to create the distortion. The companies proved they could put together solid Fender sounds with Tonality Howard Benson so it’s not surprising to see Fender well represented in AmpHub. The NRR-1 matches up well with all of the boost pedals and the majority of the IR selections available in the All Access subscription. NOTE: ToneHub does not capture profiles and does NOT play non-STL files of any kind. HEAVY: Starting with the clean side of the profiles included, I had a lot of fun adding the compressor and green drive pedal from ToneHub to many of them. Which is why STL Tones tapped him to curate the tones for their newest amp sim plugin, STL Tonality Will Putney. The GUI is terrific in every way shape and form. The gain control on the dirty channel is a bit tough to work with though I would assume that it’s more of a bug than the actual modeling in the way here. They have brochures in many languages so simply hit the link and select your language to get all the info. However, for those who prefer to own things, the player and components can be purchased. In the second update, the plugin received the ability to load user IRs which really gives users access to thousands more tones overall. STL Tones has released plugin suites from players like UK electric guitar shredder Andy James. Clean tones are probably the only real inconsistency from pack to pack as some of them felt like more of an afterthought than anything else but for the most part, good clean tones can be found pretty easily. Sure but why? you know, Ironballs, Fireballs and of course, the Powerball! See and hear STL Tones ToneHub at work on the multiple guitar tracks we recorded during a session in this free video. STL Tones releases its largest product development to date with the ToneHub plug-in. The tracing amp’s technology allows for a little more tweaking in either direction while keeping the profile’s tone in place. As a result, the list of packs available is pretty jaw dropping but being premium profiles from premium artists, some of them are priced accordingly. In other modelers, IRs can go right in flawlessly but doing so with a Kemper is almost like using photoshop to give yourself a six pack when you already have one. It’s all captured together. SLDN SLO100 – The Soldano SLO100 is an amp that has been used by one of the most ridiculous and diverse lists of artists imaginable. STL Tones new amp sim gives users a possibility to access the companies Kemper profiles without using the hardware and has got a lot of attention. There’s no bypass for the cabinet section which in most cases would concern me but with ToneHub not so much. FRMS Cobra – I had really high hopes for this one because at the time of release, there hadn’t been a good Framus Cobra plugin on the market in sometime. Putting signature packs on sale, bundling them or dropping the prices can be a nightmare for artist royalties and relations so in-house made packs could be the needed middle end solution. We let you know what the newest and best stuff is while also finding out which older plugins are still competing.View all posts by Honest Amp Sim Reviews. To make up for this STL Tones have dropped a compressor and three different boost / TS / OD pedals that can be used to further shape and push the tones. However, a TS may distort in ways not taken into account by his algorithm, and thus is not captured during the profiling process. NGL Power V1 – ENGL amplification has a ton of balls…. The amp works like a blank canvas for a painter or a high quality cut of meat for a chef in that so much can be done with the amp depending on what’s added to it. Tube screamers, the Horizon devices precision drive and many others cannot be profiled accurately. FNDR Bass 1959 – The Bassman is a classic and will likely remain a classic for a long time to come. The price will only start to look more and more attractive as new things are added to the already impressive arsenal of tone. STL ToneHub Plug-In Now Available STL Tones releases their largest product development to date with the ToneHub plug-in on March 6th. Any addition like that would instantly compromise the integrity of the profile. There are a huge number of presets included and the album presets even include custom impulse responses. The amp has been condensed a little bit to omit a few things while maintaining the general level of authenticity. It can be tweaked to sound pretty good but it does take a little more to get there than it does with the analog version. There’s literally not a single thing wrong with every section of the GUI. The new subscription service style plugin from STL offers users a ton of great sounding gear for a low monthly fee. In time, it would be nice to see an open back VOX 212 cab to go with the amp. I wouldn’t call any of the amps a dead-on 1:1 replica but almost all of the components provide users with at very least a solid impression of their analog inspirations. All of the sections are laid out clearly and concisely for the user which is important with any plugin but with a plugin of this complexity, it’s crucial to have a GUI that promotes ease of use. This VOX sounds and feels really good. The plugin is likely to be updated often and with that, our review will always be live. Collections that contain some of the best gear ever made. The amp has been brought into the AmpHub universe coupled with a power section whereas in the past the NRR-1 was best used with an additional power amp plugin. AMP LIST: (alphabetical as of release date). The AmpHub J800 does a good job of portraying the amp’s signature “cut” and “bite” at various levels of gain. Notice that the included FX are before and after the tracing amplifier, thus not needing to break into the profile at all. Like with the Orange, I used my own selection of fuzz pedals with all three Marshalls and it also turned up some really nice results. The Slate Everything Bundle has been killing the game for quite some years because it gives users access to tens of thousands of dollars worth of plugins for a low monthly price. If the plugin is designed to help create sales for the STL packs while allowing users to play in the Kemper world a bit, another option may be required. If the selection continues to grow and improve at this rate, the AmpHub collection will be more than formidable in no time. Country, blues, jazz, southern rock, brit pop and a lot of other genres are more than attainable with this plugin and the right profiles.