TOP 10 AMP SIMS FOR METAL (2024)

[@ynnoxmusic2774]

Totally agree on the Mike Stringer plugin. It not only got all the features, it also has the best core guitar tone of them all. Sounds and feels very real!

[@davidf6886]

My current go to is between the STL Tones Josh Middleton, and now the Gojira X. The Josh Middleton plug-in took over as my #1 from the original Gojira plug-in, but I’m loving the Gojira X update so far.

[@6695John13]

STL Lasse Lammert is better than both IMO

[@danieljwillen1993]

My preferred one is STILL the emissary AND it's free

[@troyfrink]

My favorite amp sims are in no particular order: 1. STL Tones Tonality Josh Middleton 2. STL Tones Tonality Lasse Lammert 3. Neural DSP Soldano SLO-100 4. JST Toneforge Dino 5. Neural DSP Archetype Gojira 6. Neural DSP Nameless 7. (Not an amp) Electric Eye Audio Mud Killer Plugin 8. (Maybe cheating) Line 6 Helix Native and I’m struggling to find the next two, so yeah! Good stuff, my man.

[@thet740]

I'm with you on the STL Josh Middleton. It's my favorite and imo one of the best Recto and 5150 sims.

[@elee2011]

I would like to see a comparison of Mike Stringer, Gojira, and 11 11 11 for low tuned guitars.

[@SpawntheFuries]

Here’s 4 that really like that you didn’t have on your list: Kazrog Ampcraft 1992, Waves PRS Archon, Nembrini Audio EN Hardball, and August Rose Audio The King, all are sick amp sims I’ve been using this past year or so and I love them all

[@OrlandoAponte]

Fortin Nameless is still my favorite. Such a crushing tone

[@compucorder64]

Mine too. Though for an alternative, the Otto 11 11 11 has got me interested, especially on sale can get it for £80. Could be good with Nameless, because that has extended highs, and Otto has super thick lows, and is a little rolled off in the highs.

[@DISSONVNT]

Heavily underrated sims that weren't here and are very much badass and sound killer: Hellbeast v2 Berried Alive Amp Suite Kernel (this one technically just came out) NeuralDSP - Fortin NTS Nalex amps (bless him) NeuralDSP - Granophyre (long live Ω) Positive Grid - Omnyss Bogren Amp Knob collection (especially the 6606+) NeuralDSP - Cali Suite Y'all want more?

[@KZ14.420]

I really wanna try the granophyre do you think it’s suitable for Slam?

[@robspectre1973]

I have two Neural DSP sims. The Mesa Mark 2C+ and the Gojira (and Gojira X now). I actually blend these two amps together in my songs and it sounds amazing IMO. Usually I pan one left and one right but they do blend well on the same channel. I actually prefer the MESA as a stand alone but I'm a GEN X and still love EMGs LOL.

[@Brkprsn]

Millennial Fishman player here, EMGS slap. Love em.

[@amirtak9886]

EMGs are the OG's of active pickups

[@CZitoMusic]

The mike stringer spiritbox plugin is an absolute gem. I’ve been using it for cleans, ambience and leads. But, in my opinion, I still think the Nameless Suite is the best modern metal plugin for high gain rhythm tones.

[@lucassanchez2148]

What tuning do you usually play in? I also have the Mike stringer plug-in and I play in E standard since my baritone guitar is broken and I can’t just get it to sound as good as I would like

[@CZitoMusic]

@@lucassanchez2148 I mainly use my 7 string Solar in drop A or drop G. But mainly it’s in drop A

[@thisguy2973]

I love the Disruptor plugin. I feel like it brought my 7 string to life!

[@lusario2650]

otto audio 11 11, jst loomis, gojira x, stl middleton. Big 4

[@THEJimmiChanga]

I've switched almost primarily to digital as of 2023. It truly is an incredible time to be a guitar player. The sheer access to quality products and the convenience of turning on your desktop/laptop and plugging into an interface is hard to beat.

[@mcchurch118]

1. Otto audio 2. Archetype Petrucci 3. Gojira X I might try the Mike Stringer again at some point and if you have an Affiliate link to it please let me know 🤘🔥🔥🤘

[@Sixfootdig]

OTTO 11 11 11 Is far and away my very favorite sim. It's just unbelievable

[@modernroyaljams]

Disruptor is a go to. Namless is the same as a go to. McRocklin is a favourite of mine at the moment. The STL Tones Tonehub Colin RIchardson pack and the preset called 'Heartwork' is a must have for riffs!

[@tatocta]

The new Archetype Gojira X kills everything in my opinion, I mean you have the transpose knob and the whammy pedal, what's more to say? The qualitfy of the pitch shifting is amazing, I play from Drop C down to Drop Eb, and it sounds good, this means a lot to me since i only have one or two guitars at a time, and I can change tunnings and play whatever. The new doubler effect is awesome, especially if you always use headphones, it makes them sound more realistic, there are also some new presets witch are awesome.

[@zenwarfare70]

My all time favorite is Bias AMP2. The sound is ok, but the biggest point is to have the opportunity to look inside an amp. To see all the different parts that makes up my tone. It has given me a stronger ide of how the tone is made !

[@modernmusicsolutions]

Thank you so much for the mention!

[@ethanmuro7779]

Love to see a video on gojira x! Would be super helpful if you shared some of your presets!

[@MichaelSheaAudio]

I've tried the Neural DSP stuff to see if I was missing anything, and I wasn't really impressed. They didn't sound much different than the cheap amp sims I was already using. Honestly, I use the Audio Assault stuff. I have the Sigma EX and the AHM 5050, and they're sick. I also got a bunch of IR packs from them for almost nothing, and it's more than enough. I used the Sigma on my recently released re-recording/bastardization of Metallica's album St. Anger, St. [b]Anger, and it sounds great. Crunch channel and Master volume cranked, no overdrive or anything, and it sounds fat. No complaints from me. :P

[@adolfpickler4295]

Hard to beat those 10 packs for $10 sales they run. Or any of their sales honestly

[@Nasty_Riffs]

The Andy James Suite was the first amp sim i bought. The lower the tuning the better it sounds. Super easy to dial in parkway, as i lay dying, avenged sevenfold type tones.

[@constantinranis]

Oh man since i tried Otto i was like damn that's brutal force, it sounds so unique, i think the next update of this amp will set new heights, mlc is my go to for everything that otto can't do

[@solarwinds5114]

Neural DSP, Audio Assault, Otto II II II II, and Mercuriall are my favorites

[@BillyTheKidsGhost]

My Go To Amp Sim Is The Nural DSP Omega Amp Works...In reality, for recording, I don't need any other amp sim or even a real Amp. 🍻

[@kylezakk]

Hell yeah I'd love to see a video on the gojira X archetype

[@thesearchlightsCW]

I enjoy STL Middleton and Lammert a lot too. Fun amps and cabs included for them.

[@krustdogg131]

Still using peavey re valver 4! The sound is alright but the amount of options it has are insane. You can even go in and mess with the amps schematics. Change tubes abd voltages etc.. Definitely time to upgrade

[@thomasbaldiscola4671]

I use the BogrenDigital MLC Subzero 100 AMP sim. I also own the Otto Audio & The Soldano SLO 100 AMP sims. Soo many good ones out there. 💪💪

[@MarcBlom]

funny that you came with this list.. by coincidence yesterday I had the chance to play the Plini amp sim at a friend's place.... I was quite surprised how good that sounded, so yes to me it could even be a bit higher in the list even

[@BrofUJu]

Love the Andy James 5150 too! Quick and easy high gain tones.

[@xanderraymondcharles]

Yeah it’s just really Solid and reliable

[@dresdensinn6669]

I've tried, trialed, and/or bought almost every amp sim out there and my top 3 are #1 Audio Assault's '"Triple Crown" (standalone, not the Amp Locker version), #2 Neural DSP's "Gojira X", #3 OTTO Audio's "II II". This is not withstanding that in a DAW (for recording) I do prefer some other/different options.

[@sepiarain]

You're a good man. I can't afford Amp Sims, but I like AmPlugs.

[@Sixfootdig]

There are several really good free ones out there just so you know

[@Durkhead]

There's a lot of good cheap amp sims like audioassault almost always something on sale for only 5or 10 bucks

[@donniejean]

I’m going back to my Atari 6800 :(

[@averyhargrave7343]

The only 2 amp sims that I have are your top two hahaha - I got the Mike Stringer plugin because of your review of it and it’s everything I could possibly need for stupid low tunings

[@Javii.Sardin]

Very suprised the STL Tonality Josh Middleton didn’t make it on this list, that’s been my go to for everything heavy

[@Raithmir]

I've been waiting for the update to Gojira for ages, just awesome to have the proper transpose and doubler now. Still love Neural DSP's Cali suite though man, I still say it's just so versatile for a single amp sim. Not sure if you've checked that one out? Just for quick practise or something, I frequently just load up the Bogren BDH 5169 AmpKnob. Just plain simplicity, no option paralysis, and there's just something they got so right with that IMO!

[@gussauve6926]

I love the ml sound lab bassford and bogren evh

[@onkel44lekno]

My absolute favorite is the Badonk. Formerly known as the Line 6 "Big Bottom". The Kazrog "Ampcraft 1992" is also phenomenal. If you like 5150's (which I never did before the Ampcraft) it's the absolute best, IMHO.

[@dilbophagginz]

That's the Buster Odeholm preset

[@jann_rygh]

I just can't stop playin' the Cali Suite.... bought almost all Neural Plugins which called me, and Cali was one of my Last Neural purchases .......damn that tone 🥴

[@krispwnsu]

What CPU are you using? I feel like none of these should crash your CPU if only using 4 at a time

[@marcushovatter2566]

I’m a big fan of STL and Audio Assault amp sims. Cheap and good. Though ive been using solely Amplitube 5 MAX since I bought it

[@casepalms4974]

I have no idea where to start with this stuff man. I've got a Marshall half stack and a pedal board....that's it. This is all so intriguing to me and I want to take the next step into it, but I'm kind of struggling to just wrap my head around it. Do you have any recommendations in regards to general knowledge ?

[@DeathsW1ngs]

I don’t leave a ton of feedback but I fucking love you for this. Picking the guitar up again after 10+ years and the space has so much new shit I didn’t know where to start. I tried the Neural DSP stuff but never got the sound or tone I wanted and was extremely discouraged, I ended up shelving it again to life and responsibilities. Had a few hours and found this video trying to get my stuff running. The Mike Stringer MixWave is plug and play F*cking fantastic. You’re the tits for this and I appreciate it.

[@vladharanich]

MixWave Mike Stringer is awesome, but... it doesn't work if you don't have an internet connection. In some cases, it's really uncomfortable.

[@xanderraymondcharles]

Oh wow I didn’t know that

[@vladharanich]

so basically I used this plugin in my band's Logic Pro project with backing tracks which we use for rehearsals. My laptop's wi-fi channel is taken by IE-system router, so there is no possibility of having an internet connection. Because of that, it's not possible to even open a project where MixWave is involved (loading takes forever & eventually you'll have an error). That's exactly what I faced :) But maybe I was doing something wrong :/|

[@davidb7422]

​@@vladharanichI thought I read somewhere that there was a possibility to have the ilok license put on an USB key ?

[@vladharanich]

@@davidb7422 let me check that. All of my plugins work fine & installed exactly the same way as MixWave one

[@vladharanich]

@@davidb7422 so I did a small research - in ILok this plugin is registered as a "guest cloud session", so I can't deactivate or do anything with it. The only thing I can do it's only close the "guest cloud session", and if I do this then I have a message "You're about to close a cloud session that doesn't belong to you. Would you like to continue?". After that, I need to re-register the plugin using the license key and there is only one option for license location - Cloud.

[@CrushingAxes]

Man MLC is awesome! Great plugin!

[@LukeCandelaria]

Will you ever come to Albuquerque New Mexico during tour?

[@xanderraymondcharles]

I really hope so! One of the few states I haven’t played in yet

[@Durkhead]

I like the berry amp from audioassault but I like to use ola englunds ir with it. Olas ir makes everything sound brutal

[@Tinyrick90]

I love the stl josh middleton with a york audio ir !! My go 2

[@Worran]

Archetype Gojira x is a really really awesome update, it has now Archetype Petrucci features and while Archetype Petrucci was really solid, but it’s not my cup of tea, archetype Gojira X with it’s added features is right up in my alley, while otto audio II II II has really nasty tones, Gojira has them too but they feel much tighter to me, it has that awesome bite when you just chug a single note, if they’d add those features to Omega Granophyre, I’d be set since that plugin is my second favorite.

[@Tomekkplk]

What about the JST Jeff Loomis plugin??

[@xanderraymondcharles]

It’s really good. It was on my list a year or two ago

[@davidb7422]

​@@xanderraymondcharles I like it too, but if they update it with some features that are now in the disruptor, it will be a top pick.

[@creepymcpeepers]

I was wondering if I could put those plug ins in my external hd so I could free up space on my computer

[@Shinigami11111]

You should check out the Novelists Kernel amp plugin, they made it themselves and it's amazing.

[@SebaAyan]

Try audio assault amps!!

[@johngalvao1969]

Otto Audio , ii ii ii ii , on the Crush Satan setting..lol by far the best Ive tried!!! Heard about it from you...thanks brother.

[@Josh-ix2ot]

Agree with you on this. Mixwave is fire 🔥

[@Vazaqin]

you gotta check out the laney ironheart plugin..it completely kicks ASS!

[@samsara107]

A very subtle CD arrived in Germany today. Thanks a lot. I'll be taking it to my workplace tomorrow, will help keeping me from falling asleep for sure. 😂😂

[@Algasaldi]

the Disruptor is sick

[@cedrix9105]

It’s a shame that a drop tuning focused Otto Audio didn’t come with a Transpose pedal. Would’ve been my ultimate amp sim of choice.

[@jachymdanis6340]

Great video! I was just wondering what app u use for all of the amp sims. Im new to em and couldnt find it. Does it work like u download sim to the software? Thanks man

[@joutynathan4168]

I just got into amp sim this week with archetype gojira into a real cab, and man my amp is probably going to be way less played

[@kellybrincks]

That ADA Mp-1 sim was pretty tight

[@bighornaudioproductions6104]

Can you do a video on the IRDX CORE please? Maybe on the Morgan amp suite and Gojira X

[@whipvashquiddity6689]

Great video man, cheers

[@donniejean]

Neural pissed me off when I got into modeling. I thought they went into the quad cortex. Turns out they are totally different. So I spent all that money and they aren’t even the same thing.

[@chriscalvert4625]

We need a review on Gojira X

[@scottnorton5670]

My condolences for the drubbing the birds took yesterday

[@rockr8840]

Laney iron heart plugin.. is also very good

[@templeoflunacy]

What do you think about Aurora dsp Rhino / Laney ironhead?

[@xanderraymondcharles]

Already made a video on it

[@EXT0RT98]

I like to run both Mesa & Goji in parallel per track

[@Earth-Worm-Tim]

Both of these belong in this list 1. Neural DSP Fortin Cali 2. STL Tonality Josh Middleton

[@tgstk2]

Again? Indeed you make tonsss of best amp sim.. so which one is ❤

[@TheChrispablo]

i really really like line 6 metallurgy

[@ashwanthjerry2210]

Nameless 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@chrisdover8507]

How much was the dime slime ? 🤞

[@psijicaugur2244]

I wanna hear you try Gojira X!

[@dbelche2]

Still love the Audio Assault SIGMA

[@Brentisahorse]

An Archetype Gojira X demo would be sick

[@smeemusic]

Well of course we wanna hear Gojira x!!!

[@jmaaybraak]

Gojira vid...yes, please.

[@chris_eternalis]

BOGREN DIGITAL 🔥🤘🏽

[@stevewoodyt]

Here I am put my money in IK…

[@RFDQE]

Polychrome DSP is the best!

[@BillyTheKidsGhost]

I think Amp Sims will destroy analog... On account of them being able to get rid of mud and sag in one's tone.

[@Smittz]

gotta swap that hat out with a redskins one

[@ElliottErnst]

You know ..

[@healer80]

Too bad that Neural Dsp JP is not in ypur top ten.

[@DavidAllenMD]

ive never been a fan of nueral dsp over rated imo

[@aldino9109]

the last time I was this early, dinosaurs weren't extinct yet. anyway, gotta watch the full video now because amp sims and XRC are awesome 👍