Amplitube3 en

Overview

　With Version 3, the recording functionality has been slightly improved. You can now have up to four audio tracks containing audio files.

In Version 2, this feature was called the Speed Trainer, intended mainly for practice. It was basically just an audio playback function. However, in Version 3 you can record your performance directly onto the tracks, and you can also export the output. Perhaps because I was an AmpliTube 2 user, there also doesn't seem to be any limitation on the number of channel tracks I can use.

Supported input file formats

Wav
Aiff
sd2
Apple Caf
Flac
MP3

Supported output file formats

Wav
Aiff

Apple Caf

For very long songs, the waveform may not be displayed, but the audio is still loaded and will play. If no sound comes out, press the Empty button once to clear the track, then drag and drop the file again onto the channel number where you want to load it.

When you press the AmpliTube button, effects can be applied to that channel. Since the effects are applied after recording the guitar, you can take your time carefully choosing which effects work best.

　Stomp, Amplifier, and Cabinet are treated as individual pieces of GEAR (equipment), and the system allows you to purchase each item separately through the Custom Shop. Each item costs around €9 (about ¥1,200).

Collecting everything would cost quite a lot, but there were bundle packages available. At the time, it was possible to obtain around 150 types of GEAR at a reasonable price through these bundles. If you bought them one by one, it probably would have cost around ¥200,000.

IK Multimedia's idea was that users would casually purchase individual pieces of gear. In the real world, when buying actual equipment, people usually take time to carefully evaluate and choose what they want. Considering that individual pedals, amplifiers, rack gear, and microphones all carried significant weight as physical equipment, this idea actually makes some sense.

However, since these are virtual items with no physical form, it can still feel a bit difficult to spend money on them. You might wonder, for example, whether the sound really matches the real hardware.

Some people might prefer to buy everything simply because choosing them one by one feels confusing. If you buy them all at once, you can experiment and eventually find the ones that suit you best.

150 types of gear…

Still, the nice thing about GEAR is that it takes up no physical space, and you can never really have too much of it.

The improvements to the audio features are also welcome.

By recording multiple layers, you can record complete guitar parts and then import them into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation — a general term for computer-based music production software). This functionality is already available if you own AmpliTube 2.

Upgrading mainly allows you to use the GEAR that was introduced specifically in Version 3. As a serious guitar simulator, I don't think there are any major functional differences compared with Version 2.

How to Operate the Audio Tracks

　I touched on this a little earlier.

The sections labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent the tracks. When you select one, the color changes so you can see which track is active. But the next column—i1, i2, iS—might make you wonder:

"What on earth is this?"

i1 means Input 1
i2 means Input 2
iS means Input Stereo

Right… that makes sense once you think about it.

Input 1 and Input 2 are mono inputs. Stereo input is typically used when the guitar sound is captured from an amplifier with microphones and spread across left and right channels, then recorded as stereo.

However, DAW work is often a solitary process, so using Input 1 and Input 2 simultaneously, or recording stereo inputs, may not actually happen that often.

Mono inputs can be separated when connecting through an audio device via USB. If you plug directly into a mini jack, the mono signal is usually interpreted as stereo, with one side treated as channel 1 and the other as channel 2.

The red button specifies the track to be recorded. S limits which tracks will play when you press the playback button.

If all four tracks have S, or none of them have S, the result is the same. In other words, it's just a way of selecting which sounds to hear.

M means Mute, which does the opposite.

You can select S and M at the same time.

So… what happens if you do that?

Bzzzt! Wrong! The sound still plays. The S function takes priority.

Well… I said bzzzt automatically, but if you guessed correctly, I apologize.

GEAR List

Listed here:AmplitubeMAX

Amplitube3 en

目次

Overview

How to Operate the Audio Tracks

GEAR List

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