TH-U Slate Edition vs. REAL TUBE AMPS?

[@reviewitforyou848]

No 2 amp heads sound exactly the same, so expecting these to be identical is a waste of time. The fact is that nobody will be able to tell the difference if you were never informed that you are listening to an amp sim. My only fear is that as Slate's popularity continues to grow, so will the prices... Slate products are the best deal out there, so PLEASE, I beg you, don't jack up your prices.

[@nolanneal]

You, sir, and the amazing team over at Slate Digital, have helped me bring so many songs to life on a budget that’s easy to afford! Thank you from the bottom of my soul!

[@G-Rockmusic]

I really love your Company. You guys are setting the standard of how to take care of your customers with awesome, new products, without price gouging us! The All Access is a no brainer!

[@raysmetaltracks6782]

I'll admit it, I'm a Slate THU junkie - this coming from someone 2 years ago would NEVER touch anything but a real tube amp. I've spent years building my collection of favorite amps, cabs, and gear. Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Randall, PRS, Orange, etc. Just to give it a try, I downloaded a few amp sims and was not impressed. Misha Mansoor JST was not for me, and a few other popular sims just sounded tinny or over compressed. I stood firm in my belief that there was NO substitute for the real thing. On a recommendation, I picked up a slate compressor, and figured I would do the monthly Overloud bundle. Okay, this is impressive. The amps sound full, and the versatility and gear is endless. I've been adding the Overloud Choptones packages and I am amazed with just how accurate they sound. I was sold in comparison by just how accurate they are to the real thing. I'm hooked by the additional packages of amps I don't have, and probably wouldn't shell out the dough for the real thing. For example, I dig the Randall heavy metal amp (Sanat I believe is the THU version), but wouldn't necessarily want to buy the real thing. With Overloud, I can get these tones for like $29 bucks, and benefit from tons of different cabs and mics. I don't even have the THU full version - this is still the version that comes with the bundle! I'm a bit picky with gear, the term "cork sniffer" has been thrown around multiple times. If you haven't tried this, give it a shot. The reason I write this is honestly to simply give credit where its due - these guys have really gone all out with this sim.

[@raysmetaltracks6782]

@George James Ha! 😁 I wish they would pay me! With all the praise I give their sims! Nah, I'm way too small for anyone to glance my way. 👍

[@thaddeuscorea]

Truly amazing. Nearly identical. Definitely glad I have the everything bundle.

[@theoccasionalsongwriter]

Hahaha good one. I love confirmation bias tests. Its very revealing!

[@jneiberger]

The only difference I could hear was in the Plexi comparison. One of them--I suspect the real one--has just a touch sharper attack that has a bit of "chime" to it that is missing in the other. Whichever one has that, I like that one. It's probably the real amp, though. For the other two, I couldn't really hear the difference. That's pretty dang amazing.

[@alf3k1]

It was the software (just emailed Slate a day ago).

[@josephvalo]

Wow! All 3! And they sound dead on! These 3 amp sim IR's will help everyone who cannot afford to get the real amps. I'm sold!

[@buddyalbert5808]

Absolutely cracked me up Steven. I am so glad you confirmed my brain bias! I will second guess myself the next time I second guess myself. :)

[@mizokaraokecentre7612]

Great... but how will it sound on a low budget input/Audio Interface?

[@zendakk]

Any quality loss would not be the amp sim's fault. A "bad" interface might have some input impedance issues. But I'm using TH-U with a 100$ interface on one of my setups, zero problems. Make sure you record at approptiate input levels and you should be fine, even with a low budget interface.

[@scottwhitlow8468]

Would love to see more content like this of comparisons. Especially some higher gain amps. Great video! 👍🏻

[@sohrab-siddique-music]

Tested these recently.. absolutely bonkers like you said! Just wow!

[@kennethwilson1984]

All three amps were great, but I thought the Champ had a noticeable thinning out from one track to the next. One was a bit fuller in the low mids and the other was thin.

[@seankenny5329]

In each instance the biggest difference was the sustain, one decays a little quicker than the other. Like if you put a very subtle compressor in line before the amp, when re-amping. I suspect the more sustained instance is the modelling. I have a quite few really nice amps and was re-amping just yesterday and I have to say, either way the modelling sounds really good. The thing is 3 mics on a cab can give you you so many colours (if properly phase aligned ) just by blending the mics. But that's not a criticism of this modelling just a defence of real amps. EG yesterday I had a 2203 '86 Modded JCM800 going through two 4 x 12 cabs, each with a Shure 57, a Sennheiser 421 and AKG 414 B-ULS; one loaded with Greenbacks the other with V30's. Very different sounds which combined to sound huge. My Guess FWIW JCM800: 2'50" Real 2'55" Simulated PLEXI: 3'55" Real 4'02" Simulated CHAMP: 4'48" Real 4'55" Simulated Like I say this is just an educated guess, based on recording a lot of amps ..... but still a guess. The difference could be down to a slight level difference between the real guitar and re-amped guitar DI, e.g. the latter being slightly louder and pushing more into the amp = more amp compression or 'Sag' as amp tech's refer to it. HAVE FUN!!!!!

[@metropolisamp]

Yes..you are correct! Amp has more Bass/harmonics.

[@matthisschwarz2227]

With whatever one of the Plexis was playing first I could hear a compression that was definitely lacking in the other one. Whatever that second one is lacking in that type of compression it adds in slightly more/different distortion. Funny enough when I first heard the tone, this compression was what I liked most about it. Really hope that one is THU but I doubt it. The characteristics of distortion in the champ definitely also have audible differences. Not that it matters in practice. All I'm saying is they're definitely not sounding exactly the same.

[@kimseniorb]

Matthis Schwarz theres a difference in how dynamic the real thing is. I’ll pick it in a blind test any day

[@HugoPaulo]

these old school tones sound amazing but i hope we get more modern tones too

[@DaveDemayClips]

I could hear just a slight (and irrelevant) difference in the Plexi comparison too, but that could have been a micro turn of a presence setting on one or the other when matching them up for the demonstration. Man, when it's THAT damn close to sounding identical, it then falls into the "holy shit! That's awesome!" category. Saving buying an amp, and micing it up, and all the other setup. Pretty stunning, and I'm in the biz recording in Nashville recording amps all the time!

[@PB72UK]

I'm lucky in that I own a Jcm900 SLX 100w head and 4x12 cab , but unlucky enough to now be married and not allowed to crank it up lol.. being able to get great tones while using headphones is great!! 🤘

[@mookiiieeee]

Any difference between the slate and the overload versions of the plugin??

[@michaelbriggs7328]

Slate version doesn't let you load your own IRs and also has less amps.

[@SlateDigitalTV]

We have OwnHammer IRs as well 🤘

[@LeviJules]

"Right *meow* !" Bro, you just took all of my money with that.

[@tillyshaker]

I like the second champ. I couldn't guess which is real, but the second champ sounds better to me.

[@catalinbrinzan2457]

I was thinking the same thing, second champ have better highs and sounds more pleasant to my ears. I hope it's TH-U 😁

[@markmalboeuf8675]

Reminds me of when my older brother's friend asked if we thought we could tell the difference between Schlitz and Stroh's (dating myself here). OF COURSE we could! We all had VERY DEFINITE opinions. They were both Stroh's. ; )

[@jarrydee2799]

I could hear a difference between the first 2. Not sure what one it was, but the highs came back with one of them, almost like one was not full bandwidth, and one was. Weird.

[@sandranoonan3141]

Where is the de esser on slates voice?

[@GundogduAkin92]

Please next add the Blackstar HT-5 and AC30 to TH-U Slate Edition, that would be awesome! Also incredible tones, love the amps, love the everything bundle, used it for 3 months and just commited to a yearly sub, and I will never look back! Incredible analog tones, incredible guitars amps. Love you Slate!

[@mostresticator5]

thank you! can’t wait to get home!

[@nethbt]

The CHOPTONES captures in Rig Player, specifically the PT Suhr, Friedman, Mesa and JCM800 has some of the most organically accurate tones I've heard in an amp sim, hands down nothing beats it at the moment.... OVERLOUD created the most simplified set up that requires the least hassle to get great tones, the color coding scheme is genius. Now I'm waiting for them to incorporate a backing track functionality in looper ( Bias FX2 already have this and Amplitube of course)

[@SpeedyMacan]

Just downloaded the latest installer and can't find these rigs in the rig player

[@SlateDigitalTV]

MolonLabe23 Rig Player Slate folder

[@SpeedyMacan]

Thanks found it. Sounds are awesome.

[@MesaGuitarGuy]

thanks!! You guys are the best!

[@TheFULLMETALCHEF]

Great demo. Will add to my TH-U

[@TonySmithDrums]

Great video. These sound great. The only difference that I “think” I hear is with the JCM Modded. One of them sounds a little brighter than the other. But that could just be me. I heard no difference in the other two. Either way, everything sounds amazing! Thanks!

[@akirathedon]

ＣＯＮＦＩＲＭＡＴＩＯＮ　ＢＩＡＳ　is real, I am predisposed to assume Slate Digital plugins make things sound better 🌊

[@KamiDisturbed]

how do i know that you're actually changing the tracks, when you're covering the solo buttons :D

[@MartinJovanovic]

I keep hearing the difference... though both sound awesome, can't argue with that

[@AllanGildea]

Superb, you guys....er...rock. To the max. Thanks for this amazing tech.

[@TakisKoroneos]

You can always hear the difference in the low end, the mids were accurate but I can tell they're not the same...

[@BackSlashJvb125]

Ha didnt fool me on the first test tbh, i litterally was about to say they sound the same before you said it lol

[@claudianreyn4529]

I have Adam Speakers and turned them loud and I could distinguish which one is which. Ppl don't understand this. It's not about the tone or the EQ. The tubes create a more organic distortion which is noticeable when the sound is loud! I admit that this is very good and probably now days the algorithms are more complex and the CPU's can process better simulations without too much latency. Well done anyway! They don't sound like the amp sims from 10 years ago.

[@claudianreyn4529]

Update: I don't think I will ever use these. I have a Bluguitar Amp 1 and that's versatile enough, plus the Orange cabinet (real one) makes a big difference.

[@Aluvienpisk]

Is this broadcasted from the Enterprise?

[@aj5542]

I think it sounds great. Even if we grabbed 2 of the same amp and cab and mic, pre and so on ... there would be differences. I LOVE real amps but I also love my Axe Fx. Everyone needs to chill. If it sounds good it sounds good. When was the last time ANYONE was shown a song or when you showed somebody something and instead of asking who the band was or saying if they liked the song ... they asked if thats a real amp? are those drum samples? is this one vocal take or is it comped? Music fans DO NOT CARE. These tools are here to make being creative easier. Work faster without sacrificing any to little quality. That is my opinion.

[@OTTOAUDIO]

Someone tell me which is real and vst? I liked the first one played in each

[@Kessellish]

I am confused! I have the full version! do I need to click this link: www.slatedigital.com/installers then Overloud TH-U Slate Edition 1.0.11 (Win) to get the extra 3?

[@jadonx]

you've probably sorted it now but I just upgraded from th3 to thu and found these slate presets within the rig player .

[@black10476]

I'm having an issue where I close out my DAW and open again all my guitar effects and amps are resetting to the default TH-U presets. What am I doing wrong here? What am I missing? I am using the Slate edition of Th-U. I never had an issue S-Gear. I am Using Ableton Live 10 -- Thanks

[@toro514]

So much for getting 8 hours of sleep tonight.

[@ISZAudio]

Slight differences but not enough for me to know which was the physical amp. Not that I care; 90% of the time I'm using amp sims or my kemper over a real amp head anyway. 98% of the way there is good enough for me. I will say, I suspect the THU champ was the one with slightly more crunch, but that's more a slightly off gain knob in the comparison than something against the rig capture. goddayum.

[@dedik8SKB]

wow. haven't had this much fun in a tone in a while... Great Job! all 3 are fantastic and some of the best I've ever heard.

[@alyxgonzales]

I was very impressed at first thinking they sounded exactly the same but that ended up being a silly confirmation bias spoof. Listening to the real comparisons I am blown away that anyone could say these sound identical or even close. The tones are similar but the TH-U emulations sound like if you took the real amp recordings and converted them to a 96kbps mp3. I am listening with Audeze LCD-X so perhaps the difference wouldn't be a big deal in real world scenarios but either way I really think there's much better options out there in the software world.

[@SlateDigitalTV]

Alyx Gonzáles So which are the THU versions and which are the real amp versions, notate them by the second marks and I will tell you if you are correct!

[@alyxgonzales]

@@SlateDigitalTV 2:56 real 3:03 th-u 3:58 real 4:05 th-u 4:50 real 4:59 th-u

[@deadhand2938]

Was he right?

[@gonebymidnight2881]

Your rigs sounded the best from all the packs, why not making some more 🙏🏻

[@AmagrasMUSIC]

Yes

[@gustanoid]

Oh hey I know you

[@anemoia980]

Haha. They got me with the first conparison.

[@Marcin79W]

Technology is so advanced that soon we will see no comparison videos, because it's going to be common knowledge, that amp sims sounds like real amp in 100% :)

[@zKo87]

Wait, you're gonna tell me you don't hear the difference in the Champ? A had more top end fizz. B sounded tighter.

[@MikeGervasi]

You knew all along. But still well played. Made us think about it :) First Plexi was a slight bit brighter on the chord.

[@danielmconnolly7]

Damn, thanks for the placebo...lol Actually the VSTi's sound great~ Going to download them now. Great stuff~!!!

[@drfordmusic]

one of them has more bottom. Can't say which, but damn they are practically identical.

[@escalonae]

Lol... I was thinking "they sound the same, but I need to think/say that they don't..."

[@pepelastarria6523]

Real amp demo at 1:33 sounds exactly like option A on the first amp test at 2:50. And I thought real amp was option B, which I also liked better! (biased I guess haha). This is dope tech!!!!!!

[@Producersfader]

there's a difference 4 sure.sounds like one has more room and is a little dull.the other way more highs and is a little flatter...not saying its not sounding great for what it is...and its free so many thanks!

[@aj5542]

It sounds great whether it is free or the price of the real rig lol

[@Producersfader]

@@aj5542 the fact that it's free is just a bonus.had nothing to do with my comment regarding the sound of it

[@andrewstevenson3807]

Slate. Best value on the market. Legends.

[@acpllc3]

Is anyone else wondering if anything is even being changed whilst the plugin window covers up the "switching" of the channels?!?!

[@SlateDigitalTV]

acpllc3 We are flattered that you think they sound so similar that you suspect it is the same tone! However it can be easily proven, do an audio capture and run each alternating section through an analyzer! :)

[@rahmchris]

Hello as always great stuff from slate...i am waiting when you will recreate the Rammstein sound just with one knob...That's on my wishlist.I am not a guitar player i am a drummer and mixer...I just want to have a clean heavy sound that sits in the mix right away...thanxs again and still supporting your product from day 1.

[@lorenne523]

Un mot ! vous êtes les meilleurs !!

[@audiofeeling]

Con auriculares puedes notar la diferencia y la preferencia por el ampli otra cosa es que pueda ser de utilidad .

[@Squalazza]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

[@AngelHiBass]

That is just really amazing!!! and wold be more amazing if you can add Overloud's Mark Studio 2 into the everything Bundle!!! Bass players will be thakful for life!!!

[@hanssackstark4690]

Just amazing!

[@SentientBeingMusic]

Yeah, I like this. I like it a lot!

[@stephenbruce5431]

Crazy awesome!!!

[@bikesnbeerz]

@Steve - 2:05 - between the two, the 2nd one actually sounded .5-1dB louder. (JBL LSR monitors)

[@guillermoseijo2437]

No entiendo, todo mundo promociona este th-u, que tiene 100 amplificadores, pero todos ponen el mismo amarillito ese, que es mentira que tiene tantos amplis que solo muestran la demo de ese?

[@pedrocamolas]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 thanx Steven :))

[@natehine8541]

Love ya man !!

[@helloitsjury]

Steven, you fucking legend

[@JoshuaLTRyan]

that is quite good.

[@ArthurStone]

Sounds very good.

[@wyrlismike]

I freaking love Steven! He's rad

[@Silakov1987]

пластмассу слегка все равно слышно.. нет трушности, ощущения движения звука, его присутствия как от рил ампа и даже в слепом a/b эту статику слышно.. как по мне, близко, ну как и многие другие эмули - по тону, ачх и тп, И все равно пока нет того самого ощущения, что включаешь A/B и.. о чудо, так же по-настоящему звучит. Все равно не захватывает эта технология так же, как микрофон с реального ампа и не дает движения звуку, какая-то переменная во всем этом отсутствует и мозг отказывается ее принимать за чистую монету.. а уже хочется)))

[@ZozillaThaGreat]

Exellent !!

[@metropolisamp]

The Bass is different

[@Sacrifice13]

Well Mr Slate. I wish you wanted a capture that wasn't in the 3 samples here. so us endusers could record our own sounds :D more diverse... It would be the kind of all. Period.

[@Maksitto]

I hear the difference between them

[@jarrydee2799]

I love that you tricked people. I hear no difference, but was sure all the golden ear people would.

[@danielmconnolly7]

It's very noticeable when listening at 96k 64bit... That's what insects tell me..

[@spartabus]

sounds amazing, nice work slate team. would be curious to hear the real amp and emulation together with one phase flipped to see if you could achieve total silence..........

[@blazersaint144]

impressive!

[@emptysetowl9715]

Right meow!!!

[@bobbyhavoc26262000]

Wooooow

[@josephn3496]

O difference. Simple perfection.... wow..

[@UREZY]

cant tell the difference

[@terran236]

humans listen with their eyes.

[@kylestair4803]

So cool

[@preach15316]

Wow!!!

[@josephvaldivia2632]

genial

[@hogblockula9335]

literally no difference to me, holy shit

[@vanessajazp6341]

Is this no longer available? I clicked on the link in my email to "Download Installers". It took me to the TH-U basic info patient, giving me info on how to install my copy of "Th-U Full". Well, I already have TH-U Full. So I sign into the user area, where it shows my licensed products and authorization dates. I click the upper-right link to "Download Installers" (redundancy, anyone???) and I get a list of the SAME products, with installers for each for Windows and Mac. Nowhere have I found installers for this "Slate Edition", or any directions on how to get there. So again … is this no longer available? Also, Steven … take some more acting lessons. Your sales schtick is a bit cartoonish and contrived.

[@kimseniorb]

Theres a world of difference

[@LahceneBelbachir]

There is always going to be a difference, real amp or not, but it's definitely not a "world" of difference.

[@manfredworner8528]

well very disappointed all access doesent give you nothing why dont you say right of the bat that its only subscription you have to pay fore everything else

[@SlateDigitalTV]

manfred worner What doesn’t the all access pass give you? What do you have to pay for? Did you download all the software? Definitely comes with THU which is described in this video

[@manfredworner8528]

SlateDigitalTV hi well it gives you access but when I downloaded thu you have amp section 15 days trial to try out then you have to pay after 15 days for the different packs soon as I seen that I uninstalled it last time I will use anything like that again every time it's the same thing Better of just saving the money and just get the real deal helix or headrush etc.....

[@licensetothrill]

Nearly identical... nearly. The 3rd ones sound quite different. Especially in the 200 to 400 range. Not convinced those two match. Of the two, the first one sounded better. On the second amp, they sound slightly different. More low end and beef on the first of the pair. More articulation on the second. The first sounds pretty damn close.

[@user-jm5hg3qi4f]

Right miav. 😂

[@marianobrascich]

Wow very nice artificial guitar sound !!!! lol .... yeah is a real plugin !!! nice

[@zeto2503]

i play guitar for about 32 years, i also am using emulated guitar amps and valve ones. i also produce music. You just made that Joke in the beguinning to orient people away from the real factor... the point is do they sound similar? Ok not even close, also no evolution in these years like you say. people that believe this are the ones that dont have decades playing guitar. also they dont know what to look for. first its still horrible and anyone can listen that the emulated is still very Harsh sounding, this is the same in all other emulators. then you listen to the real valve amps and theire warmer, but all notes and harmonics are well controled, and in the emulated you listen to harsh and no musical harmonics comming out from nowere, out of control. Now the transients, the first microseconds in real amp, you ear well the notes tone, in the emulated, the first miliseconds of the transient, you hear a crackle a non musical tone. this also is standart in all emulators. Also any experienced guitar player or producer knows that for a god comparison you would have to make a Small guitar Solo, for us to hear the sustain, the atack response, and the translation in diferent areas of the guitar neck. You didnt do none of that, and this is when i see that your opinion its not impartial. i think you shouldnt be a con man, we are artists, respect us, say its good but dont say its the same. Thats completly false. you need more white paint for your studio, but to buy it, dont offend our inteligence